Amy's horses and Coldstones Cut Quarry, nr. Patley Bridge.

Last few days of September and really the end of what passes for a summer in Yorkshire.  To be honest, we are probably acclimatised to the short summers now as this year we really enjoyed the sun shine and took every advantage of the fine days.  It was a much nicer summer all in all. 

On the remaining days of Gail's scheduled days off we took a drive up to Coldstones Cut near Pately Bridge, about 45 minutes from Wetherby.  http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/york/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8994000/8994655.stm 

This site tells you all about the cut but briefly, it's at the top of the Yorkshire Dales, views for miles, has been a limestone quarry and Lime kiln for well over 100 years and the sight is more spectacular that these pics can relate. 

On the day we went it was cloudy and the winds were ferocious but that just added to the stark raw feeling of this exposed spot.  We have put it on the must see list for future visitors to our home in Wetherby.  

The viewing platform is in fact a major walk-through landscape sculpture.  There is the usual artistic interpretation, in this case a street scape indicating the location as a common cycleway and walking route, a junction for historic trade routes and old farming and mining  settlements blah blah blah as you do.

The scale of the Quarry is a little bit big but nothing to rank highly on the scale of world quarries, despite the local claims.  The Quarry has an expected life of another 20 or so years as the mining methods are much more efficient now and much more limestone and associated mineral recovery is possible in larger volumes and over shorter timescales.  That said, the viewing platform will endure for much longer and hole in the ground working or not, the views, the climb and the information boards erected on the monument are all worth the visit. I mean there is even an indicator board showing where Wetherby is from the top of one of the spiral viewing platforms. 

The next day Gail was off at work again and I had arranged to meet up with some other folk to draw some horses,  That is, not draw horses as in harness them to traps and carts, but to try and sketch them on paper with pencils.... It was to be a nice afternoon with a few ales after and to compare what we each had drawn.... I was unable to produce anything that looked much like a quadraped let alone a horse.

But Ginger was really sweet, liked a hug and the day was most enjoyable.  I did take these photos and some others with the intent to try and draw a horse from the 2 dimensional image.... I may still give this a go but I do wonder if I have the basic motor skills or in fact the passion and patience to draw recognisable things.

October holds a couple of events, the Wetherby Festival of Comedy, Drama and Music is on again, a rather scaled down version from last year but Gail has already identified some Barbershop and Lady Choir shows she wants to see.  I quite fancy the music/comedy/burlesque show which is again on in the crypt of the St James church.  I have booked a trip to Sheffield and so with any luck and our usual habit of finding things to do no matter what the weather, next month's blog should hold some interesting reviews. 

canal boat Silsden to Saltaire

This would have to be the best way to spend a long weekend. 
Great scenery, interesting views, fantastic food, wonderful friends...
It all sounds too good to be true and as words will fail to capture the joy of our most recent trip I have decided just to load up lots of photos with some captions so you can follow our September weekend adventure.

 

It all started with a night lesson in canasta at home with Jon and Kylie.

They are both very clever
and after some initial problems, really enjoyed the game.



http://www.silsdenboats.co.uk/ is the web site for the boat company we rented our narrowboat off. 

At 10am we headed off to Silsden Marina to collect
Dan's Drum, our boat.  It was moored, bow pointing west.
Skipton is west, Saltair is east. 
We were going to Saltaire.
It is 2 miles to the turn around point (winding)
 at a little village outside Skipton. 
You can't just turn a long narrow boat around anywhere,
the canal is too skinny.
We headed off West, learning how to canal boat.





gaining more canal skills all the time



but of course all the learning and organisation created an appetite, Luckily there was a canal side pub really handy to the winding point..
 By the way, that's winding, as in the wind blows the boat and helps turn it around.  Our boat was about 60 foot long and 7 foot wide.  Actual dimensions are on the Silsden site if you want to be a pedant.







After a feed and a fine ale we were heading back
 towards the Bingley 5 and 3  Rise locks, our target for the night.





This was one of the more complex swing bridges,
you have to open them to boat through.
It has traffic lights siren, and everything. 




we arrived after the Locks were closed for the day so moored up

and walked to the bottom of them  to look at one of the

7 wonders of the old industrial world. 

We were all atingle at the prospect of going down them the next morning.







the Bingley 5 rise milestone

 

moored up for pre-evening drinkies



   

on board meal prep prior to the big descent.



Entering the first of the 5 locks, two boats at a time.
If we thought we were novices,
these blokes beside us had taken lessons in hopelessness









trying to stay dry as the lock empties,
not too far forward, not too far back...



One lock door  opens, another is closed.
 Forward a little bit and down we'll go again.



Made IT!
Pity about the rain but all is well,
we are now expert Lock navigators.
Also a shame one of the lock keepers was such a grumpy bugger.
He is well known and widely disliked.  But he has a job.







It's not all beautiful scenery



But mostly it is.
The little white dash is what you have to aim the
boat at to go through in the centre of the channel. 








Just down one more set of 3 locks before Saltaire.   




And there is the Saltair tower and the icecream boat!
Made it ! YAY!



We moored up behind Excalibur. 
As we all now quite like this boating lark we decided we wanted a boat like her. 
Huge state-room, granite kitchen, wood burning fireplace,
like a floating apartment.  even had real trees growing in the front. 
Loved the red umbrella over the back bbq porch.  
Envy afloat.



It was the Saltaire festival with stalls, street performers and old buildings open to the public.
(these blog pages have been to Saltaire before, use my B search box if you want to see more pics.) 
These guys were nothing short of fantastic.  Great sets, Be-Bop Jazz, honkey tonk and blues. 
None of them a day under 50 and every one of them fantastic players.
 Even some great choreography.



a quick visit to the Saltair church to pat the world's friendliest church dog
and then a lunch at "Don't Tell Titus",
a walk thru the gallery and home shops, detour thru the back streets
into the town hall, a quick look at some Morris dancers
and back to the boat to find a night mooring.



This will do.
As night moorings go this was a peach.
Gail drove us into to the locks you can just make out behind us, but they had been closed for the day. 
She had to reverse the 60foot boat out, turn it around in a winding, and moor up. 
All done like an expert. 
Drinkies were well deserved and Jon broke out a fine bit of bubbly. 



Lots of laughing and happy chat



Evening fell



The sun set



And we had a little bit of  dinner,
Gail had made a lamb shank and a small mountain of mash & vegetables for each of us, followed by a little bit of exquisitely flavoursome cheese,
a dribble of fine wine
and some chocolate.
It was only wáffer thin...
A very refined evening.
Some of us, perhaps all of us, may have,
just may have,
over-done it, 
just a little.



Next morning we returned past Saltaire
and back up the locks. 
As I had taken us down them,
Gail, Jon and Kylie took us up. 



Half way up the 5 rise





Making friends. Mr and Mrs Taylor are building
a boat to live on.  He's a harbour pilot and they take
lots of canal boat holidays.
they have two cats
Their current boat cost them 68 000 pounds, 
their next one is ordered and going to be better. 
We think we'll just keep renting boats.



By heck we used some water, took nearly an hour to fill .
We were at a nice place though,
Looking over the Aire Dales,
the Aire river runs through Leeds.
A breed of terrier dog comes from here.
That would be your Airedale Terrier then. 



OH !  LOOK!
There are some.



And there are some more!. 
In fact it was their club day.
There were over 80 of the bloody things
Walking along the tow path raising money for something.
So,  for those of you who expect them,
these can be your furry animal shots for this blog entry.





And that was pretty much the end of the trip.
Well, its the end of the things I can put in the blog.
( what happens on board, stays on board)
I apologise that the photo is blurred.
It was late. There had been  EVENTS.
But Autumn was arriving and these aer the sort of
nice colours our memories will retain. 
A lovely lovely lovely lovely four days.



Woodhall walk , sketching and Newby Hall tour

Early September 2010

Before we head off on our long awaited 4 day narrowboat adventure I wanted to make a note of a couple of lovely days out we had at the start of this month.  I do this now so the memories don't get lost in whatever wonders the Leeds Liverpool Canal throws up in the coming days.
A surprise visit by Jon and Kylie from Manchester meant that we had a chance to go for a nice long walk in the country and fields of Wetherby.  (the Leeds music festival was on near Wetherby at the time and they didn't go... http://www.leedsfestival.com/  )

It was decided that a stroll from home to the Windmill pub  http://www.yorkshire-escapes.com/yorkshire/restaurant-reviews/123-windmill-linton for a fruit juice would be an achievable task following the excesses of the previous night and  it proved so doable that after a refreshing OJ or cola we decided to stroll further to our nearby (2mile walk) grand country home. Now a hotel and spa, Woodhall at Wetherby  http://www.handpickedhotels.co.uk/hotels/wood-hall-hotel/ is typical of the grande residences of days long gone..  The walk there is down a lovely long country lane and that day was harvest day with the headers and tractors buzzing and humming in the country side.  The weather was kind and the walk beautiful through typical Yorkshire fields ending with our arrival at the same time as a bride in full gentry style . Guests arrived in their Bentleys, Rolls and Astons and paraded in their top hats and tails and fancy gowns.... All very classy, these Wetherby family folk were the real deal, none of your wannabe nouveau riche footballer muck here.

.

  The Woodhall staff, being as this is a true class establishment, spotted the four of us in our sweaty and casual attire wondering if we could get into the hotel, and welcomed us in graciously through the grand front doors swiftly ahead of the bridal party..  Gail and I have been to Woodhall before as you may recall from these blogs and each time have been made to feel equally at home.  As the whole hotel was booked out for the rather swanky wedding we found a table in the corner of the private bar area

and shared some champagne or personal preferences before heading out into the newly rain- washed countryside for a delightful walk home through the woods, across the golf course and over a field where Gail was distracted by a friendly little bull calf .  We returned home in plenty of time for a Pimms on the lawn which by popular request was swapped for a champagne cocktail in the cooling afternoon sunshine. 

Quite a delightful day all-in all I am sure you would agree.  

The next day , a Sunday , I had said I would met up with some of the other Leeds savages http://www.leedssavage.com/ for a few hours sketching in a little park in the centre of Leeds. My sketching skills are exceeded only by my competency in brain surgery so I will not include the suspect product of my attempts to capture the scene but the photo here gives you an idea of what I thought I'd try my hand at getting onto paper.  I didn't. Probably set my sights too high for a beginner but I thought it just looked like lots of straight lines. It isn't.  Anyway, good to try and we all met up for a nice chat and an ale in a nearby pub after and I got to look at what the others had drawn that day, and on other days, so that was rather a pleasant experience too. 

One of the things Gail and I do when we have a couple of days together, and when work doesn't interfere, is to look at a local map and see places close to Wetherby where we have yet to go.  Last Sunday we found Newby Hall http://www.newbyhall.com/ which was a rare find really.  It is a wealthy merchant's home dating back over 400 years which has remained family occupied until this very day.  It is rare indeed that you can find such a place with furniture and decorations from Adams and Chippendale designed specifically for the rooms in which they still reside, regency extensions to the home, in fact all the wonders of the landed rich.... Including the impossibly rare Pompeii and Herculaneum marble sculpture gallery.... Some of those stone folk are more than a couple of thousand years old.  The following photos give a sample of the place, and it's grounds.  No photos allowed of the inside of the home unfortunately, have to rely on the website above... All you can see from whereever you roam in the estate, off into the horizon,  is part of the place..... I am only sorry we didn't know about this place earlier, as past visitors to our home in Wetherby have missed out on us taking them there...  A truly wonderous day.  If you like that sort of thing.

                                                  

For those of you who have come to expect an animal shot at the end of these updates I will not disappoint.  Gail found two furry animals at Newby.  Well, neither terribly furry or soft to the touch, one in the sculpture park at Newby and the other doing whatever they do in the grass in the gardens surrounding the Newby Lime tree walk.

baby hedgehog in clover

As I write this the temperature is 17.5 degrees and the first tinge of autumn is on the breeze.  In fact the breeze has been rather more of a gale and heavy rain is predicted.  This is hopefully all going to have passed for our long weekend aquatic adventure.  But either way I am sure we will all have a great time.  I'll post the snaps of the canal boat discovery tour early next month I suppose.