TRAVEL WORDS

Inspiration found in the Kitchen

My kitchen is not the usual place you’ll find me with a camera, I’m more of an outdoor photographer with nature and flora my topics. But yesterday was a rainy day and I was feeling bored so I grabbed the camera and had a look around my kitchen.

It’s not a very tidy kitchen, surfaces have all sorts of appliances, jars and general ‘stuff’ on them. It’s not a normal kind of house being an extended and converted dairy milking stall so the kitchen is a kind of corridor linking the dining hall to the sitting room. No doors. And the cupboards are blue. Very blue. Nothing really matches – I still have things that belonged to my mother! And if it isn’t broken I never throw anything away.

I have tried to coordinate some of the new things I have bought like my Cornishware storage jars, but I’ll never win any design awards.

I have a lot of mugs even after giving dozens away to my daughter when we moved, and some have been bought by my grandchildren like the Gardeners one above. I use a plain white one for my herbal tea when I drink it. I had a thing for plain white crockery once.

But currently my morning cup of coffee is drunk from this new cup and saucer set. Definitely not blue. But very me…

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #256 | Kitchen

Nature Photo Challenge: Cacti

I am not a fan of cacti though I have been known to have some in the house many years ago and when I lived in Cape Town we had some of the lovely Lithops in the garden which look like living stones. But they are succulents so not quite the same. One very tall cactus only flowered at night so there were many anxious evenings once a bud appeared. And I do recall a trough of cacti into which my son fell at the age of 18 months. It happened at night and I hadn’t realised that his hand was full of the spines when I washed it under the tap!

But back in 2009 – 2012 I was lucky enough to spend some time in San Diego and on one occasion went to visit Balboa Park – a definite must see if you are ever in SD. There are several gardens including a desert garden with magnificent cacti and succulents.

The 1935 (Old) Cactus Garden was developed under the direction of Kate Sessions for the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition. It contains some of the largest cactus and succulent specimens in the Park and has also been developed to include the exotic African and Australian Protea plants.

Denzil’s Nature Photo Challenge #18 | Cacti

A – Z of Locations: Z is for Zennor

During this year I shall be posting photographs from places around the UK, many of which have not been published before. Where I have previously blogged about a location I will provide a link to the post, though you won’t be able to comment on it as I restrict comments to six months.

Z is for Zennor

The last letter in the alphabet just happens to be only six miles away from where I live. It is on West Penwith, a sparsely populated peninsula, ringed by high cliffs and rising to high, rocky moorland at its centre. It is surrounded on three sides by the pounding waves of the Atlantic Ocean.

The ancient landscape includes Zennor Head and Gurnard Head, granite moorland hills such as Carn Galver and Zennor Carn. Wonderful hiking country for those who are fit enough.

Access to most of the landscape is by narrow ancient lanes bounded by Cornish hedges.

In Zennor you will find the wonderful Tinners Arms, built in 1271, for good food and drink and a popular place for people who walk the South West Coastal path from St Ives to find well needed refreshments. Up on the main road is a bus route either back to St Ives or on towards Land’s End.

Also in Zennor is St Senara’s church, home to the famous mermaid chair.

I hope that you have enjoyed my tour around the UK and hopefully I have introduced you to some places that are not necessarily on the tourist trail. There are a lot of wonderful towns, cities, villages and countryside to explore throughout England, Scotland and Wales. I’m sorry that I haven’t been able to include Northern Ireland too. We are not short of history, interesting architecture, great walks and incredible landscapes so I hope that this series has whetted your appetite to discover new places to enjoy.

A – Z of Locations: Y is for York

Y is for York

I couldn’t miss out York seeing that I am a Yorkshire lass and spent a good part of my childhood growing up in and around the county and then moved back to South Yorkshire for almost 19 years. York was a city I visited fairly often as a child. My dad loved horse-racing so we would all go to the York races most years and my brothers and I would walk around the city walls, or go to the fair that was always there at the same time.

The City Walls form a walkway on both sides of the River Ouse.

York still has most of the medieval walls that surrounded the city 700 years ago. The tops of these walls were partly rebuilt about 150 years ago so the public could walk along most of them –and feel safer by having a tall parapet on one side of them. There is a guided trail walk for those of you that fancy it.

Later on I would take my own children to the city for a day out as it was easy to reach by train and the museums were fun. (Jorvik Viking Centre – all about the Viking era and complete with smells and my favourite the Castle Museum with its world renowned Victorian street Kirkgate. For the trainspotters amongst you the National Railway Museum is extremely interesting and there is even a chocolate museum now).

There is so much history to be found in this compact city including these wonderful gateways. Bootham is a continuation of Petergate outside the city walls. There has been a gateway here for nearly 2000 years and Bootham Bar stands on the site of the western entrance to the Roman fortress.

Bootham bar is topped by three statues which were added in 1894 to replace the rather weathered medieval originals. From left to right there is a stone mason holding a model of the bar, 14th Century Mayor Nicholas Langton and a Knight carrying a sword and shield.

Another beautifully preserved gateway is Micklegate Bar, famous for displaying the skewered heads of rebels and traitors above the gate as a warning to others. These were a regular fixture with the longest being up there for 9 year. The last one to be displayed was removed in 1754.

Taking its name from Mykill (Great) and Gata (Street) Micklegate Bar is the prestigious entrance to within the City Walls at which important guests from London and the Monarchy would be met and welcomed into the city.

The best way to explore York is on foot. I love simply wandering around the centre of the city, within the city walls, walking alongside the river and on the walls themselves.

The majestic York Minster is very difficult to get a good photo of as it is hidden behind trees, even in winter they obscure the view. It is quite expensive to visit so we didn’t actually go in (plus there was a service on at the time), but it is an impressive building and I hope one day to actually have a look around inside.

York Minster in evening light. The huge 13th-century Gothic cathedral has medieval stained glass and 2 functioning bell towers. The south transept contains a rose window, while the West Window contains a heart-shaped design colloquially known as The Heart of Yorkshire.

West doors of York Minster – not the entrance to the cathedral

Bronze statue of Constantine the Great (274 – 337 A.D.) Commissioned by York Civic Trust to commemorate his accession as Roman Emperor in York (then Eboracum) in 306.

The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe.

Tucked behind York Minster, Treasurer’s House is not as it first appears. In 1897 it was bought by Frank Green, the grandson of a wealthy industrialist, and by 1900 he had transformed it at great speed into an elaborately decorated town house, ready for the visit of Edward VII.

Treasurer’s House. An example of Dutch stepped gables. A classic architectural feature.

In November 2008 I was in the city for a few days when it happened to snow. Although rather cold, the place was decorated for the coming Christmas holidays so looked rather cheerful. We stayed in a typical terraced guest house (the type with brown linoleum in the hallway and heavily patterned carpets in the rooms) just outside the city walls which was convenient for us to walk along the riverside and through the museum gardens and into the city.

Ruins of St Mary’s Abbey in the Museum Park. Built in 1088 this was one of one of the wealthiest and most powerful Benedictine monasteries in England.

The Hospitium was built as part of St Mary’s Abbey. The name Hospitium (related to hospitality) suggests that the building was used for housing guests. These would have been people such as merchants who were not allowed to stay in the main abbey with the monks.

There is so much to say about York and Yorkshire (we also took a trip out to the North York Moors and to Whitby Abbey whilst there) but this would turn into a very long post. If you haven’t discovered the pleasure of this lovely city then I urge you to find out about it for yourself. Shops ✔ Restaurants.✔ Great Pubs. ✔

What are you waiting for?

A – Z of Locations: X is for eXmoor

X is for EXmoor (I know, a bit of a cheat, but I don’t think there are any places in the UK beginning with X – maybe Cross could be used? I have been to Cross Houses near Shrewsbury, but it’s not a very interesting place and I certainly haven’t got any photos!)

EXmoor is a National Park in the south-west of England covering both parts of Somerset and Devon. A beautiful landscape of moorland, woodland, coast and rivers. We’ve had a couple of holidays around this region, once staying in the pretty medieval town of Dunster (Somerset) which we used as a base to explore the moor, its towns and villages and the north coast.

Dunster itself is well worth visiting with a lovely castle and a working Water Mill and a pretty 15th-century stone Gallox bridge as well as unique shops, a Yarn Market and a hidden secret garden.

Gallox Bridge. This ancient stone bridge – originally ‘gallows bridge’ – once carried packhorses bringing fleeces to Dunster market.

A view towards the Valley of the Rocks on the North Devon coast.

A walk to the Dunkery Beacon at the summit of Dunkery Hill which is the highest point on Exmoor and in Somerset, England is a must from where you have views over the Bristol Channel to south Wales. Just make sure you use the correct track unlike us (we had to double back when we couldn’t find a route through the thick gorse and bracken).

Make your way to the village of Winsford which might be the prettiest in Exmoor Park and does indeed have a ford. With its thatched cottages, two medieval packhorse bridges, a Grade II listed telephone kiosk, a medieval parish church and a picturesque thatched country pub it is a village well worth stopping off in to explore. West of the village is The Punchbowl, a geological hollow created by glaciation during the last Ice Age.

Tarr Steps is another great place to go when looking to explore Exmoor National Park. You can head straight there, utilising the on site car park and toilet facilities, with just a gentle walk down to the ancient clapper bridge.