ENGLAND'S UNIQUENESS

                              Just so You Know

            Nearly everywhere I‘ve traveled I have found something totally unique, some more than others. England seems to have a fair number of interesting  things that are pretty much English.

Maybe we should start with a few common words. Fell=mountain, beck= small stream, dale=valley

weir=small dam, Brits don’t phone but ring up,  free house sells a variety of a brew, not the only one of the sponsor.              

In the lovely Lake District the fells and meadows are dotted with a patchwork of shoulder high slate fences. Some of these fences go right up over the fells disappearing into the sky—picturesque.

I learned The Enclosure Act passed in the 1700s allowed for fences on the fell. The walls are dry set in a double line maybe 18-24 inches apart.  Then the space between is filled with rubble. Periodically a stabilizing stone is placed all the way through. It is quite a knack to successfully build these walls. No mortar here! Most of the fences were in as good a shape as they were when built 250-300 years ago. Really amazing.

A bank barn  is literally built into the side of a bank. The top level is easily driven into as it is level with the hill and the hay and feed are stored on the upper floor. The cattle are kept on the lower level. These barns almost always have a winnowing door which really is a window opposite the double- wide barn door.  The window is opened with 3-4 horizontal slats. When the big barn doors are open these winnowing doors allow the air to circulate.

A hole in the wall is an ATM machine.

We saw many and crossed over a couple of pack horse bridges. These arched stone bridges are very narrow.  Many are still standing 3-400 years later and are in good condition.

Mushroom management—being kept in the dark with stuff coming down on you. I love that one!

Few roads have shoulders. Many roads are alley wide.

The Mountain Rescue teams are kept busy as there are many mountain accidents, often because people are ill prepared and weather changes can be quick.

In areas where barns are not bank barns, but regular buildings and are not used any more, they have become stone tents for hikers and backpackers.

Celtic crosses are found intermittently on the moors and serve as direction finders as it is easy to lose a sense of direction on the moors as it is in the desert.

We found ripe raspberries on two different hikes and had great fun indulging!

Waddle and daub refers to wood and mud construction, the mud being used as mortar.

English clothing tends to be in dark colors--tough for me who likes shades of red, cranberry.

COTSWOLD INFO

                        Picturesque Villages and More

     I can’t imagine anyone not being enthralled with the Cotswolds with its quaint villages, charming thatched-roof homes, lovely gardens and the picturesque bridges over all the rivers running though towns. Here are some of the  neat and different things I found to learn about and photograph.

 Avon is a Celtic word meaning river. Stratford is a Saxon word: strat means soft road and forde means over a river, in this case the River Avon, not the Avon River. Over time the final e has been dropped from Stratford. Richard I (King Richard the Lion Hearted) granted Stratford-upon-Avon a charter in 1196. A charter was necessary to become a market town.

      

Upon boarding a canal boat we learned all of the locks are manual, no mechanized ones, and are operated by the same winch—(or whatever the tool is)—which is given to you when you rent the boat. We found out soon enough that it is rather strenuous work to open and close the locks, but one soon gets the hang of it.

    

 Mr. Wedgwood helped finance the canal system built in the 1700s---too much of his merchandise was being broken via horse and wagon.

In town we boarded a  manual winch ferry to cross the river, as we needed to be on the other side of the river. On this small ferry the fellow stood up and turned a wheel which moved a chain that propelled us the short distance across the river. This mechanism was new to me.

     

 Windows in the 1700s were only open wooden framed spaces in the walls and tended to be few in number. Being open left the home exposed in bad weather. When it rained a cloth, smeared with cooking fat covered the wooden frame placing it over the window opening. Perhaps this was the original storm window?

A yeoman farmer is one who owns his farm vs. a tenant farmer who rents his plot of land.

By law, all bus and truck drivers in England are required to stop for a 45-minute rest every 4-½ hours. They are limited to driving only 9 hours a day.

China clay is quarried, but only a small amount of it is sent to the china/porcelain industry. It is the paper industry that has a big demand for it, as it is the substance that makes paper shiny for all those slick colored ads.

Hailes Abbey ruins, built in 1246, once housed 20 monks and 10 lay brothers. Richard, Earl of Cornwall, and brother to Henry III, was caught in a storm at sea in 1242. He vowed that if he survived the storm, he would build a religious house. Hailes Abbey was the fulfillment of that promise. The first cloister was built of wood, but replaced with stone at the end of the 15^th century. The abbey was destroyed, like nearly all others, during Henry VIII reign. All churches were catholic until that time. Henry just ravished England with his destruction of the churches.

THE CANADIAN MARITIMES

      We found a journey through the Canadian Maritimes one rich in cultural diversity, charm, and absolutely gorgeous natural beauty. The historic and picturesque province has many historic villages, a rugged coastline with winding roads, and dense forests.

Samuel de Champlain discovered Nova Scotia in 1604. Nova Scotia is Latin for New Scotland. The native people were Mi’kmaq, but today are commonly called Micmac; the two terms are interchangeable.

     Canada has three territories and ten provinces, two of which, PEI and Nova Scotia, are in the Maritimes. Nova Scotia with its northeastern chunk of land known as Cape Breton Island and Prince Edward Island (PEI) make up Canada’s Maritime Provinces. Add Newfoundland and then one speaks of the group as the Atlantic Provinces.

      Our ferry docked in Yarmouth, a city of 7800. Located on the southern coast of the island where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Bay of Fundy, the city was established in 1761 because of its proximity to New England ports. A lucrative trade with the West Indies brought prosperity and many beautiful old buildings and elegant homes in the city reflect that. Now the main ferry terminus, the area was once the center of ship building. A large herring fleet remains active today, and lumber and Christmas trees continue to be shipped from the harbor.

Trivia: Paul Revere studied free masonry in Yarmouth. In more modern times Yarmouth was the home of Charles Fuller of Fuller Brush fame

The Acadian coast runs 70 miles up the west coast from Yarmouth to Digby. All along the way fishermen homes were painted cheerful pastel colors.

Halifax is the largest urban center in Atlantic Canada for business, education, and culture. The area’s history can be learned at Nova Scotia Museum, which has 25 locations and historical sites. In addition there are 75 community museums.

Halifax is a city with small town friendliness while maintaining big city sophistication.

You may also want to check posts:

Evagline 8-31-14

Digby 10-3-12

Titanic 11-23-14

PEI 12-8-13

Algonquin 2-2-14

ENGLISH ODDS AND ENDS

                                    A Little Trivia

 A word about James Herriot country. I loved the Herriot books as much as my children did and always wanted to meet the friendly vet---who actually was a fictional character. The village of Thirsk is where the real Alf Wight practiced as a veterinarian  for many years and is the setting of his fictional town of Darrowby. In reality Dr. Wight also had an outreach office in Leyburn. The Herriot movie was actually filmed in the village of Askrigg, as Thirst has no village center---that was a figment of Wight’s imagination.  His office is now The World of James Herriot Visitor Center. Riding through the countryside of Dr Herriot was almost like I’ve been here before.

     The population of the North York Moors  National Park is 18,000. The National Trust only owns 1.5% of this park. The medieval cross is the North York Moors symbol. These crosses are named and were used as guide posts across the moors. One dates to 600AD. The tradition was to leave coins on top of the cross if one was able; if one was in need he could take what he needed.

     The North York Moors National Park is the most easterly of all the parks in England and has only 12 million visitors a year. The Peak District National Park has 26 million visitors a year and is second only to Mt. Fuji for annual visitors.  The park, established in 1952, is England’s fifth National Park and its 553 square miles makes it the country’s 4^th largest. It is also the only upland park in the east of England and is in a relatively remote area. 

      Farms are located part way up the dales to hook into water supplies from streams and springs.  20% of the park is forested.

      Our Scarborough hotel, originally built as a 19^th century four bedroom home, was converted to a hotel late in the century. During WW II the hotel was used for billeting the military. Located on the ocean cliffs, we had a spectacular view of the city, beach, and North Sea. It was peaceful and quiet.

     Scarborough is a typical coastal tourist town and part of the city has all the entertainment that plagues the peace and quiet.  Located just outside the National Park, it is not on American tourist agendas, but the British do holiday here. The park has the most extensive track of heather in all of England and Wales. A sea of purple covers 160 square miles when in season. The red grouse, indigenous to the area, has a big relationship with the heather; 20% of the park is in coniferous plantation, about 45% is enclosed farming, leaving 33% open moorland.

     A large spa was built below the cliffs in 1640 and for years people flocked to the baths. Sometime ago pollution shut down the spa and now it is used as a convention center.

RIEVAULX ABBEY

                           Gorgeous Ruins in a Lovely Valley 

            Set in a remote valley in the North York Moors National Park, the abbey lies in a wooded dale by the River Rye, sheltered by hills. Rievaulx is one of the most complete, and atmospheric, of England’s abbey ruins.

To have enough flat land to build on, a small part of the river was diverted several meters west of its former channel. The monks altered the course of the river three times during the 12th century---one example of the technical ingenuity of the monks.

            Built in 1135 by twelve  monks from Clairvaux Abbey, it was the first Cistercian abbey in northern England. Over time the monks built up a very profitable business mining lead and iron, raising sheep and selling wool to buyers from all over Europe. It became one of the wealthiest abbeys in England.

       The abbey was very large housing 150 choir monks and 500 lay brothers. The chapter house, where the monks went to read, was on the south side.

Towards the end of the 13th century the abbey had incurred a great deal of debt with its building projects and lost revenue due to an epidemic of sheep scab, which was  compounded by Scottish raids in the early 14th century. Then came the Black Death in the mid 14th century making it difficult to recruit new lay brothers for manual labor. As a result the abbey was forced to lease much of its land. By 1381 there were only fourteen choir monks, three lay brothers and the abbot left at Rievaulx

After 400 years it was one of the last monasteries to close under King Henry VIII, in 1538.

It must have been exquisite in its day because the ruins are now, over 800  years later.  Many of its graceful Gothic arches remain standing. Excavation of the abbey started in 1920.

The setting and scenery was lovely, restful and peaceful. We wandered around the ruins for sometime trying to imagine what it must have been like in its heyday. I’ve visited many such ruins and these were some of the largest and loveliest.