Crypt-ic

I think this was the first time I'd ever descended into the Crypt under York Minster. It is fascinating. There is a window in the floor illuminating what lies even further beneath: the remains of a Roman fortress. The Crypt is the earliest part of the Minster and dates back to Norman times, with curved rib vaulting and carved pillars. 

It contains the tomb of York's patron saint, Saint William. William Fitzherbert was Archbishop of York from 1141 to 1147 and again from 1153 to 1154, dogged by controversy and power struggles. His death may have been by poisoning. See HERE for more about him.

The Crypt also contains the gruesome Doomstone, which has been dated to the 12th century, a remnant from the original Norman Minster. The carvings depict one of the mouths of Hell, crawling with toads and with sinners tumbling down into a cauldron of flames held up by demons. There is someone with two bags of money (greed) and a well-dressed woman (lust). It was meant as a visual warning as to what may happen if people behaved in an un-Godly manner. 

When in York...

When in York, I usually like to visit the Minster (cathedral) and, on a cold day just after Christmas, it was good to spend time inside rather than pounding the chilly streets. I've taken (and shown here) so many photos of it before and it was challenging to find a slightly different angle. The Christmas lights outside provided one way of framing it. 

Looking from the central crossing down the nave towards the west window, it was hard to believe the building was packed with visitors. 

It's always good to look up and appreciate the soaring vaulted ceilings. The one above is a side aisle to the nave. 

The Minster's stained glass is celebrated. Attention is usually focused on the great East and West windows but those along the nave are also worthy of study. 

A small part of the nave is roped off as a chapel dedicated (I think) to the Yorkshire Regiment. I can't say I'd noticed this before so perhaps it is new. It had a painted canopy (below) but I didn't note down the name of the artist. 

York floods

I made a visit to York at the weekend; such a lovely, interesting and historic city. When it rains in the Dales and in the valleys up here, all that water makes its way downstream to join the River Ouse which flows through York. It's a fairly regular occurrence therefore that the city floods, at least along the riverbanks. The businesses along here are used to it and have measures in place that mean they can recover fairly quickly, though it must get tedious. Flood alleviation schemes have been installed, so to some extent the flooding you see now is part of what they have decided is acceptable disruption. It's the first time I've ever visited the city when it has been flooded and could see for myself what they have to contend with. It was clear that the water level had already dropped by a couple of feet - you can see the high watermark on the wall of the pub (above). Normally this area looks like THIS.  Some of the paths I walked along were slippery with mud and had obviously recently been underwater and the river was much wider than it normally is, with the riverside promenades completely submerged. The rest of the city carries on as normal. 

Friday round up

Friday has come round again, and I still have no hint of a moving date. This is getting extremely frustrating but there is little I can do about it. 

I always start a New Year with good intentions, usually related to taking more exercise, so I've had a walk most days this week. It's one way to take my mind off things. I am still finding bits and bobs to drop off at the charity shops. I must have halved my book collection over the last few months. Gordon Terrace in Saltaire happens to have a thriving Children's Society bookshop (apparently one of the most successful charity bookshops in the county) so most of my surplus volumes have ended up there. Walking home down Victoria Road there was a lovely sky and mist wreathing around Hope Hill in the distance. 

I also had a walk one day from Burnsall, along the River Wharfe. Again, there was a good sky, though the terrain was so muddy that most of my attention was on the ground, not the sky! I did look up enough to glimpse a splash of sunshine on the distant hills; that's been a rare sight this winter! 

So much rain in recent days has swelled the River Aire afresh. It was about as full as it could be without overtopping its banks and the riverside path was very muddy indeed, despite having been relaid and resurfaced during 2023.  The water was flowing fast but silently. It made me think of a slithering snake, and there was a slight sense of menace about it.  Not that the mallard ducks seemed to mind, gliding along on the current.

I made it to the aqueduct without mishap, thankfully. My two favourite trees are skeletal though no less beautiful in their winter tracery. They had company: a small herd of cattle. Milner Field Farm is a dairy farm but these looked like calves rather than dairy cows. Not that I'm an expert! 

I returned along the canal towpath - whilst I still can. As the sign declares, they are starting remedial work on the stretch from Shipley (Otley Road) to Hirst Lock, which will be closed from mid January until mid March. More on this HERE.  Once I've moved house, it will be easy enough for me to walk down to Hirst Lock and along the canal towards the aqueduct, before following the river path to Saltaire, so I'll still be able to do a circular walk. 

Look in any window...

Ooh, sorry, tiny photo! It's because it's long and thin. (If you click on the photo, you should be able to make it bigger.) I just made a triptych of some of the reflections I caught in windows around the canal area at the back of Leeds railway station. I love the way the glass distorts things. 

I hope soon to be looking out of different windows, as I will, all being well, be moving house. I still don't have a confirmed date. The legal process is taking a frustratingly long time to complete. I do, however, hope to move before the end of January. With that in mind, I will not be posting as regularly on here (if at all) for a couple of months. I shall need to get organised and get a broadband connection up and working. (There isn't one at the moment.) Then I shall have to find time to go out with my camera again. I shall still do my best to keep up with the blogs I follow - and I will be back, so don't go away! 

Wishing everyone a very happy New Year and good things in 2024.

Thira

There's never a dull moment when you're walking along the canal towpath. I didn't expect to see a man looking into a hole (see yesterday) and I didn't expect to see a Greek statue - but there you are! The narrowboat it was on was named Thira, which is another name for the Greek island of Santorini. The mythology around it is complicated, starting with Jason and the Argonauts but I can't find a god or goddess named Thira. 

A man and a hole

On one of my wanders along the canal I happened upon a man looking into a hole. The man was a Canal and River Trust (C&RT) staff member and the hole had appeared beside the canal pound, between the swing bridge and Hirst Lock. As I peered into the hole alongside him, he explained that when the water level rises it can overtop the bank and then, as it soaks away it takes a little bit of soil with it. Over time, that causes the ground to sink - a small sinkhole. He and his mate (who declined to be photographed) were just about to try and repair it. The C&RT staff and volunteers must constantly be busy as there are frequent issues with leaks and collapses. The canal is 250 years old and needs endless maintenance. 

The canal and river network was at one time managed by British Waterways, a governmental corporation. In 2012 its assets were transferred to a charitable trust. The grant received from the Government is reducing all the time. When I asked my MP about this, the reply from DEFRA (Dept for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) was that 'it is wrongly assumed that there is an obligation on the Government to fund C&RT beyond 2027 and that it [the funding] should be inflation-adjusted; neither of which is the case. The Government does not routinely inflation-proof funding it provides, and organisations ranging from charities to Government departments are expected to absorb inflationary pressures. We want to avoid a cliff edge in C&RT funding and so the new Government grant is being tapered at an annual 5% reduction to help the C&RT continue to meet the objective of reduced reliance on government funding.'  In other words, the charity is expected over time to generate its own funding - but I find it hard to see how they can do this. It's not like the National Trust, which can charge massive entry fees or annual membership to visit their properties. There is only so much that can be raised in fees from boat owners and it's impractical for the C&RT to try to charge the people that use the canal and river paths. They do operate a membership scheme but I think only the most public-spirited canal users bother to join. It is a huge black hole opening up, not just on the canal bank but in its funding. It's such a short term view from the Government. Once the waterways network starts to crumble it will rapidly become unusable and that will accelerate the decline. Such a shame. 

The Poet Laureate

I bought myself a book in Salts Mill - which, in itself, isn't unusual. The bookshop there is such a rich and tempting cornucopia of literary goodies. What made this more exciting was that the author, Simon Armitage, was there doing a book signing. Simon is the current UK Poet Laureate, an honorary position granted by the monarch, on the advice of the Prime Minister. He was appointed to the position in 2019 and will hold it until 2029. The role doesn't have any specific duties but the incumbents generally provide suitable verse for national occasions (which must be quite a daunting task!) You can read Simon's poem for King Charles' Coronation HERE.  I rather like it. 

Simon Armitage was born and lives in Yorkshire, and is Professor of Poetry at Leeds University, amongst other positions. I've read some of his work before but he came to my attention originally when he created the Stanza Stones, in collaboration with the sculptor Pip Hall. They are rocks scattered across our moorlands, inscribed with verse by the poet and forming a sculpture trail of some 47 miles across the high Pennines.  I have been to find a few of them in the past. (See HERE).

Advent Windows #6

Here are two detailed windows that both need close inspection to enjoy their full beauty - but beautiful they are. The first belongs to Martins, one of the estate agents who have premises in Saltaire. Appropriately, it features intricately cut houses and a church, and Father Christmas on his sleigh, pulled by reindeer, swooping through the night sky. 

The one below takes inspiration from the wonderful C S Lewis series of Narnia books: 'This is the lane of Narnia', said the Faun. 'Where we are now; all that lies between the lamppost and the great castle of Cair Paravel on the eastern sea.'  Aslan, the great lion at the heart of the books, is depicted at the top.  

 

Christmas sparkle

Just to continue the Christmas theme a little longer, here are some of the decorations and Christmas trees that adorned Harewood House last year. It must take them days to set it all up so beautifully each year - and there are always enough baubles to supply the entire city of Leeds!  

It was delightful though. You have to be pretty hard-hearted not to be warmed by the sight of a traditional tree laden with lights and trinkets. There were as many decorations below stairs as there were in the State Rooms too, with an array of Nutcracker soldiers in the kitchen as well.  

Christmas Day 2023

Wishing everyone a very happy Christmas, if you celebrate it. 

'For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. 

And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.' 

Isaiah 9: 6-7

This nativity scene is part of the reredos behind the altar in the Lady Chapel at York Minster, directly under the extraordinary Great East Window, the largest expanse of medieval stained glass in England. (See my earlier post HERE). The reredos isn't medieval, because this part of the Minster was destroyed in a fire in the 1830s and was closed for a long time. I think the carved altar screen dates back to the 1920s. It is ornate but pleasing nonetheless, showing the magi on the left and shepherds on the right, worshipping the infant Jesus. 

These depictions of the Christmas story (the reason for the season!) can leave us feeling that it is all rather sweet, lovely and 'far away' but, as the video below shows, it is a very current story. 

Baubles and candles

More from Harewood House: 'Below stairs' (that is, the servants' realm) was decorated rather more traditionally than the State Rooms that I featured a week or two ago but still sumptuous and with more baubles than you could count. If I just had a single tree as pretty as this one (below) I'd think I'd done well! 

For those heavily invested in Christmas decor, the gift shop had baskets full of trimmings. Basically you could choose any tasteful colour scheme and find masses of decorations to bring it to life. 

And the stairs were twinkling with (battery-operated) candles. It was delightful. 

A different kind of rainbow

Many people locally have been excited at the appearance of extremely rare clouds known as nacreous clouds or 'mother of pearl' clouds. My Facebook feed was full of photos one morning and I was a bit frustrated that I'd missed them. I've said before that I can see hardly any expanse of sky from my current house and I hadn't been out anyway because of the wind and rain of storm Pia. Later in the day, towards sunset, I popped out to put some recycling in the bin and I glanced up. I thought I could see a bit of pink so I raced inside and grabbed my phone and took a few photos. On reviewing them on my phone, I couldn't see any colour so I concluded I'd stared at a bright spot and got one of those retinal smears that can temporarily happen. Excitement over. 

It was only later that I looked at the photos on a bigger screen - and - yes! There it is, unmistakably, a little patch of rainbow cloud. Wow! It feels like a real privilege to glimpse this, even such a small patch in such uninspiring surroundings. They are usually only seen in winter at higher latitudes in Scandinavia and northern Canada. The technical explanation is HERE on the Met Office page.  

It seems that even a storm can bring gifts with it. 

Advent Windows #5

Here's someone with a sense of humour! Jane's 'Christmas Down Under' window is a tribute to their friends who live in New Zealand. 

The window below makes wonderful use of the stained glass which is a feature of many of the village houses. It was added when Saltaire's housing stock was sold by the mill's owners into private hands in the 1930s. People started to make alterations to the houses once they were no longer bound to the mill and leaded windows were fashionable at that time. 

Advent Windows #4

Here are two more successful, clear and colourful window designs. Window maker Jamie chose the theme (above) 'to pay homage to all the cheeky cats patrolling the village'. (There are so many that they even have their own Facebook page - Cats of Saltaire!) As I was taking the photo, a man I presume to be Jamie came along the street and entered the house - with a dog! 

The other window shows a variety of objects with a Christmas feel, simple but bold: