Acorn Bank Garden and Waterwheel

 I discovered yesterday, after 126 blog posts, that if I double-click on any photo it brings it up to full screen size and there is a little set of thumbnail pics from each post underneath it...what a difference it makes when looking at scenery such as in yesterday's Lake District photographs! Who says Old Dogs can't learn new tricks? If I'm unaware of any other very basic tools here will some-one please let me know?

After visiting Long Meg(in 2008)and having lunch in nearby Melmerby, Unka Tom suggested we call in at Acorn Bank Garden, a National Trust property with it's own very old waterwheel. The gardens around the beautiful house are stunning and the waterwheel over the rushing stream is just fascinating. This is the back of the house and it's front face...note the differences?

The house appeared to be still occupied so we couldn't go in but the walled gardens are the part owned by the National Trust so please enjoy......

 A Blakeney Red pear on a very old tree(above) and a profusion of herbs which were all labelled and well-tended...

A 1778 water butt I do believe...

 Two people being silly on their way to the mill....

...we walked through the woods to the waterwheel next, it's still undergoing restoration but was really interesting as well as being in a lovely setting...the stream is diverted and water runs along this wooden channel(called the race) into the building where the huge wheel is ...it was very hard to photograph as it's so large...

The water would run into the large wheel downstairs and then as it turned it also turned a series of cogs leading to the upper part of the building where they would turn large grindstones such as the ones in the top-left hand corner of the last photo. This is the back of the mill with it's doors at different heights for ease of loading the wagons collecting the flour.

I'm not sure exactly what grains were grown in these parts, probably wheat, barley, oats and rye and there is another watermill in Cumbria at Little Salkeld(1745) which grinds it's own organic grains and sells the flour and breads all over the UK.

I hope you've enjoyed this little glimpse into the past.

Have a great day,
love, Sue
xxx

Stone Circles

Several years ago Joe and I read Dr M.Scott Peck's book, "In Search Of Stones" where he and his wife visited many of the main UK stone circles andhe discussed the journey of Life and all it's mysteries as he travelled. He also wrote "The Road Less Travelled" which you may have heard of and he is a renowned and well respected philosopher.

When we were in the UK in 2008 we mentioned these stone circles to Uncle Tom and he offered to take us up to Castlerigg in Cumbria, near the beautiful town of Keswick. This link will tell you what is known about this stone circle http://www.stonepages.com/england/england.html and I'll show you a few photos we took that day. The background was spectacular, high mountains and grassy meadows, warm sunshine and even today, an air of mystery remains. To get there we drove past the turn-off to Threlkeld at the base of Blencathra where my Grandad Kelsall had worked many years previously.

Us, purely for scale of course!

If you double-click on this map you will be able to read the print.

The whole field is surrounded by a dry stone wall such, can you see the steps of slate within this part of the wall? Suitable for people to use but not the sheep! Please excuse our backs!

What a spectacular view this hang-glider had.

Two weeks later we took the opportunity to visit Long Meg and Her Daughters near Penrith which is north of Castlerigg. It was a really wet and windy day and perfect atmosphere for this stone circle.
The next 2 photos are of twelve foot tall Long Meg herself and then a close-up of some of the carving on her.

Some offerings left by local pagans I assume....

We had a lovely lunch at Melmerby, organic bread baked on-site and recommended by Prince Charles and lovely hot soup. I'm sure coffee and scones were involved too ;) Well refreshed we set off again and also visited Acorn Bank Garden and Waterwheel and Brough Castle...another tale for another day!

That's all for today, hope you enjoyed my post and will read up a little more on these fascinating stone circles, every-one knows of Stonehenge but as you can see from my links there are other circles and many interesting sites dating back to The Bronze Age in the British Isles.


Have a wonderful Wednesday,
Love from Sue
xx

Beatrix Potter Part 3 Hill Top and Castle Farm

Today I am going to share some photos of Beatrix's home at Hill Top and it's cottage gardens, as well as a glimpse of Castle Farm across the road where she and William lived after their marriage in 1913. They had met through William's work as a solicitor....he acted for her as she bought up farms around the Lake District to preserve them. This is a much less known fact about Beatrix; she was fiercely devoted to maintaining the traditional farming practises with particular regard to the local Herdwick sheep which were threatened by farmers turning to other breeds from outside the area. As she bought up farms Beatrix changed her will leaving them and the land to the National Trust and therefore to the people of the United Kingdom.


Beatrix built up a celebrated flock of Herdwick sheep with the help of a shepherd named Tom Storey and won many prizes at Lakeland Shows in the 1930s. She was even asked to become a judge at the shows, such was her expertise.

Tower Bank House is next door to Hill Top and was bought by Beatrix just before her death.

I hope you enjoy this virtual tour of Near Sawrey, Cumbria.

The white building in the background is Castle Farm where Beatrix and William lived after their marriage. They kept Hill Top just as it was and often entertained visitors there.

These photos are of the lush garden on the way to the front of Hill Top.....

...and this is the Kitchen Garden where Peter Rabbit had so much trouble with Mr Mcgregor...

 The front of the house, yes it was still raining!

It was difficult to take photographs as there were so many people around and it was such a grey day so here are some much nicer ones at http://www.visitcumbria.com/amb/hill-top.htm

Photography is not permitted at all inside many National Trust properties but I do have this lovely book here called, "At Home With Beatrix Potter" by Susan Denyer and I have taken photos of some of the pages...you may recognise some of the scenes from Beatrix's books as this is where most of them were written and illustrated...

Beatrix's bed before her marriage, she worked the embroidery on the top hangings herself later in life.

The Hall or Firehouse where the family would spend most time in days gome by. This room features in The Tale of Samuel  Whiskers. 

This huge dresser bears an oil lamp...Beatrix refused to have electricity installed. The  oak longcase clock dates back to 1785 and appears in The Tailor of Gloucestor.

Looking down the stairs which appear in several books

I do hope you've enjoyed this journey to the home of a very special person, her books are much-loved by people all over the world and her work to preserve a large part of the beautiful Lake District is an enduring legacy.

When Beatrix died in 1943, aged 77yrs, she had bequeathed 4,049 acres of land with 14 farms and 20 houses to the Nation. She specified that only Herdwick sheep could be raised on these farms. William died just 2 years later, some say of a broken heart, and left 3 farms and 3 cottages as well as the Hawkshead offices of William Heelis and Son I showed you yesterday.

Beatrix Potter Part 2 Hawkshead

Now we fast forward to July 2008 and this time my Mum and Dad were on holiday near Lancaster too. This was really special for us to be there together and visit places from my childhood, 40years previously. Dad was very busy re-painting Auntie Jessie's house so he stayed behind this day and Unka Tom took Mum, Joe and I to the Lake District to see Beatrix's home at Hill Top, Near Sawrey.

We stopped for some sandwiches and drinks at the big Tesco supermarket near Hest Bank and Mum thought she'd have a little ride in Captain Pugwash's ship...that got the day off to a really great start!

I find this street sign fascinating

We drove up to the village of Hawkshead and went for a walk around, it was cool and drizzly but still a wonderful experience...these house look so tiny, I know people were shorter when they were built but these looked like dolls' houses at times.

I hadn't remembered that Hawkshead was where William Heelis, Beatrix's husband, and his cousin worked as solicitors so as I walked past the buildings below I suddenly recognised them from my book, "At Home With Beatrix Potter" and got very excited....the cream building on the left was their office and the cottage in the middle is "Bend or Bump Cottage".....so-called as the doorway is rather low and if you don't bend you will bump your head. The projecting wing of the cottage has a slate hung wall supported by massive stone flagstones. Unfortunately some-one saw fit to white-wash the slate which is very beautiful raw and mined to the north of here. Many of the Lake District buildings are made from slate mined at Honister, you can see the roofs here are tiled with it and the bigger house on the right has it's walls built from "bricks" of slate.

This friendly butcher and his van were very popular with the local shoppers, I'm sure his meat was from nearby farms.

Mum sheltering outside the former offices of W.H. Heelis and Son. This building dates back to the 17th century but was re-fronted in the early 19th century when that unusual Venetian window above Mum's head was added.

A very tempting Hawkshead shop with a wonderful array of local produce...

An old public house sign, Queen Elizabeth the First. The other pub in Hawkshead is called The King's Arms which makes me smile.

A peek down the back-streets...notice the cobble-stone pathway?

If you'd like to see more of Hawkshead click on this link, the photographs are very good and there are aerial shots of the town too. http://www.visitcumbria.com/amb/hawkshead.htm

Mam tucks into her well-earned lunch...there was hot vegie soup too, all home-made.

After walking around the village and buying a few souvenirs we went into this larger shop that was selling all manner of hiking equipment and clothing....hiking and fell-walking are very popular activities in the Lake District in all kinds of weather. There are Youth Hostels dotted around where you can stay overnight for a very reasonable fee and use the bathing and cooking facilities as well as a much needed bed!

Lunch over and much-enjoyed we went back to the car to drive to Hill Top to wait for the afternoon visiting hours to begin. I'll show you those photos and some from my book of the inside of the house tomorrow.

Hope you have a wonderful day, a little sewing is on my cards I think.

Love from Sue

xx