Easter Holiday in Yorkshire

Our Easter weekend began with Easter Service at the York Minster. We attended a beautiful service conducted by the Archbishop of York complete with the Children's choristers, the Adult Choristers and a wonderful processional with herald banners and all the traditions of the Church of England. Julie and I arrived early enough to experience the pealing of the bells.  Arriving early allowed us to get seats near the front of the church and time to have a pleasant chat with the parishioners around us. As a Christian working for the YMCA I've been blessed to worship in varied settings all over the world. Whether with a small group of friends praying in Russia , 200 gatherers in a dirt floor village church in northern Thailand, my home church Westminster Presbyterian or 1000 worshipers at the Minster,  I have felt the presence of God in all of them. This being said I must give accolads to the York Minster for excellence in pagentry.

With temperatures is in the 70's, Julie and I decide to fill out our day in the Yorkshire countryside. First a full English Breakfast at a city cafe and then the walk back to our apartment.

The ancient city wall of York

built to repell the Scots and the Vikings

On our return walk Julie found the shortest route home by walking the top of the ancient city wall. Now I must say, I've been walking gingerly with a cane for the last two years while healing from several pinched spinal nerves, which have weakened my legs. Tackling the city wall walk, complete with a lack of safety barriers was definitely a challenge I will not forget. I survived and saved 5 pounds for not taking the Taxi.

After a brief rest and a change of clothes we head north to the north country. Next destination Rievaulx Abbey.

 The Abbey was built in the 1100's by the Order of Cistercian monks. As the Orders height they had over 600 followers both lay and ordained. The abbey was placed in an absolutely gorgeous valley. Driving to the abbey was an inspiring experience in itself. During the reign of Henry VIII, the Abbey was destroyed and all its artifacts were confiscated by the Crown. The ruin today stands as a memorial to these devoted and enterprising people.

 After a lovely afternoon we drive back to York with the cars navigation system set to "Scenic Route"

 The fields planted with rape seed are in bloom

Arriving back at our home base in York we went to sleep exhausted by a very special and beautiful day.    Happy Easter to all.

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Upon awaking Easter Monday morning, Julie and I decided to head back to the countryside and seek out Thirsk. Thirsk is the home of the late James Herriot, author of many books. His best known is All creatures great and small which was made into a movie with Anthony Hopkins. Julie and I are fans of "The Yorkshire Vet" TV series, which can be found on the Acorn Channel. The Yorkshire Vet is a series about the continuation of James' practice and stars the varied animals of Yorkshire.

 We arrive in Thirsk and to our surprise its market day. Julie is ecstatic as she was hoping to find an open market to peruse. I was pleased to find a nice bench in the square and locals to chat with.

This "Barker" selling her produce was just too much fun not to record. 

To my surprise we didn't buy anything at the market other than a bag of scones which we will enjoy tonight. After another traditional English lunch we headed off to the home of James Herriot.

After our visit to Herriot's home and office we stop for our daily ice cream and drive the slow route back to York. 

This has been our last full day on our adventure. Tomorrow we head to Manchester Airport for a night stay at the Holiday Inn and then home on Wednesday. We will find some sites along the way to Manchester but for the most part , its time to head home.

This was a trip that nearly got canceled. Julie did a wonderful job picking locations and housing but my back and leg problems concerned me as to whether I could handle this trip. Several months of physical therapy brought me to the point where I could safely drive and walk short distances.  The trip was on and I am so glad we did not cancel. I thank Julie for putting up with my slow pace. We enjoy our travels, whether through the Blue Ridge of Virginia or far away as these past two weeks. We feel very blessed to have each other and the promise of many more adventures near and far.

The Gannets of Bempton Cliffs

A brief post tonight. Julie and I were up early in the car and off for a 1 hour drive to the coast to Bempton Cliffs. We were able to get a jump on the shore traffic as Easter weekend with temperatures in the 70's was sure to fill the roads towards the coast. This has been on my bucket list since last October when we planned this trip.  Bempton did not disappoint. We had a perfect day. Warm sunshine and the Gannets returned to the cliffs from the sea right on schedule. These sea birds spend their winters out at sea and return to the cliffs each April to nest and raise young. A special thanks to the outdoor preserve who allowed me to park in disabled parking and provided me with a scooter to get out to the cliffs.

Tonight it's just photos....more on our specular day, continuing on through the moors, later.

Video Produced by Julie

Dad out gathering nesting material

The Stately Homes of England

Today our rented Volvo is pointed towards two stately homes not too far from our cottage. First stop Burghley, the home of Willian Cecile, confidant and head of the Treasurery for Queen Elizabeth I. I remember him from the movie Elizabeth I, where she refers to him as "Pigmy" due to his short stature. No recollection of this from the guides we spoke to. Regardless of his size he obviously amassed a great amount of wealth in his position which passed down through successive generations until Estate taxes made it no longer feasible for the family to afford the expense of the home. As in other houses we visited, the current family occupies a floor of upper rooms and allows the public to tour the facility which supports the upkeep.

I've noticed a curious cultural difference between the English and us that is exemplified when sitting on a bench. As I take a rest while Julie surveys the gift shop I have sat on benches only to have a "older gent" sit beside me. When this happens there is no acknowledgement of each other regardless how close you are sitting to each other. In my gregarious American way after a few moments I'll say "So where are you from". Having broken the ice a flood gate of conversation begins. I've had several of these conversations now and I would place the conversations in two categories. A) Those who comment on the house, love the beautiful art and surrounds and have a fond affection for Royalty. And B) Those who go into a rant about the wealth, how it was made on the backs of the working man, a detest for the Royalty and that they only came to the house because their wife drug them.  I've never had this strong reaction when visiting the palatial homes of the barons such as Vanderbilt, Carnegie, Hearst, in America. There is an acknowledgement of the excesses of wealth however a sort of envy that someone attained this wealth through their resourcefulness. I don't hear of too many people in America ranting about the evil Bill Gates who made his money on the backs of the programmers. Having said this the homes we are seeing and the obvious excessive accumulation of wealth at the time of such poverty outside the estates would lead to the social upheaval of the post Victorian period.

William Cecile 

Lovely lunch at the Cafe at Burghley in the Orangey. 

Our next stop at Grimsthorpe Castle, Home of the Willoughby's.

The home we are visiting, at the end of our day is still occupied by the owners who have opened several rooms to the public to support the upkeep of the Castle. Like many of these places they have been added to over the years and the original castle style has been modified.  Pictures are not allowed so we can not share the rooms with you, an enticement to buy the book in the gift shop.

The family who lives here includes Dukes who have served as the leader of the house of Lords, a position which is only ceremonial today. Most recent Royal visiters to the house have been Prince Charles and Camila.  The resident family has a prominent ancestor named Breese, who was a New York socialite who married the Duke in the early 1900's. She provided her wealth to restore the Castle and infuse an influx of cash into the estate. This "Downton Abbey theme" seems to have been prominent at the time as American's wealthy daughters wished to attain titles. In our local area we  know of the story of Mirador's, Lady Astor.

Well that's enough about historic homes. Tomorrow were off to unite with Juie's Cousins and then up to our last stop in York. I'm looking forward to Easter Sunday service at York Cathedral.

Heading to the Coast to find Birds

Thankful the predicted rain is not falling we decide to satisfy my bird obsession and head for the coast. I think Julie would have stated it like,"Alright get it over with".  We spent all the day in lite fog which caused terrible glare, not the best for photography but a quick fix in photo post processing improves the results...thank you Lightroom for the "Haze slider".

Driving to the coast took us into a different landscape, flat farm fields with large drainage ditches which have drained the marshes to provide for agricultural farms. This area, 100's of years ago would be the marsh where the Saxon King Hereward marched his men to avoid the Vikings who were pursuing him.  Today we see broad expansive fields of Rape seed, Potatoes, and Strawberries. The lack of hedgerows provides broader views of the fields.

We pass a field of Sheep who have been released in a field to clear a crop of something 

that looks like Kale or Cabbage.

We arrive at an estuary from the coast at the Frieston Preserve. We decide not to travel the extra half hour to the Ticthwell Conservation area because the fog and haze is just too strong.

The Frieston Preserve did not disappoint as I was able to capture a few photos of birds and waterfowl, some species of whom I have never seen. While I was standing at the hedge photographing a little boy came up to me and said, "excuse me Sir, are you Rich?" I had to laugh as his father probably commented.."That's an expensive camera"...its really not, there's better! I do feel rich as the weather is relatively good and I'm enjoying the trip with my partner best friend at my side

Greylag Goose

Brent Goose

Mallards with  beautiful Blue heads

After my allotted hour at the preserve we head off on a leisurely drive to our next destination, Tattershall Castle. On the way we drive through the small town of Boston, no doubt the namesake of our capital city of Massachusetts. In the town we pass a beautiful old windmill nestled amongst the village cottages. We can't find a good place to park so we carry on.

We arrive at Tattershall Castle and find that there is an adjoining old church on the site also. We explore both of these sites however there is not much historical interest associated with them so we feel a bit disappointed.

While taking a rest on a bench Julie and I are treated to a low flying F16 fighter jet taking loop de loops in the sky. It is a pity it is such a cloudy day as the fighter jet went in and out of the cloud cover.   We are in an area with several air bases so apparently this is a common occurrence.

As we reach the end of the day we head back to our cottage and toss some wood in the stove for a cozy fire and another dose of British TV.