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July 15, 2016

Hadrian’s Wall Exploration 10 – Housesteads

Although I ended a walk at Housesteads and started a walk at Housesteads, I did not manage to find time for a proper walk round the fort and the museum. Here are some old photos, some taken on a visit with Gareth in 2013. It is an English Heritage managed site and National Trust members get in free as well. As I am a Life Member of both EH and NT I think they should pay me to visit. It should be noted that it is a steep uphill walk from the car park, which is on the Military...
Categories Hadrian's Wall Walk/National Trust/Northumberland Comments: 0
May 10, 2016

Hadrian’s Wall Walk 7 – Shield on the Wall to Housesteads

Saturday 7 May. I had written my sermon and decided there was time to hit the Wall for a couple of hours. I drove to Housesteads and parked. The final AD122 buses of the day arrive together, and I caught the 1739 in the Haltwhistle direction. I was the only passenger, but we picked three more up at Vindolanda. I was dropped on the main road where I ended last time, and walked to the Wall at Shield on the Wall – NY727669. An interesting shoe deposited beside the road – why is it here? I looked back along...
Categories Hadrian's Wall Walk/National Trust/Northumberland Comments: 0
August 24, 2015

Benthall, Shropshire – St Bartholomew

Driving from Much Wenlock to Ironbridge we saw a National Trust sign to Benthall Hall – I hadn’t even noticed this in the handbook (£6.40 each saved) – here is the Trust’s website. The car park surface and gravelled path to the Hall were horrendous for us wheelchair pushers – one hopes that the Trust’s disability advisor was not involved. Reception is in the church of St Bartholomew, so I can blog this one too (although my camera has died so it’s a phone camera job, plus a few photos from the www – if I have offended anyone’s copyright,...
Categories National Trust/Outside Northumberland/Shropshire Comment: 1
May 20, 2015

Cambo – Holy Trinity (again)

I visited this church in 2012 – it seems to be open during the day. We are having a week’s holiday in sunny Hexham, and on Monday 18 May we rose late and headed north. We stopped at Cambo church as one of my blog readers had asked “Is there a stained glass window in the Church dedicated to Charles Trevelyan who was the Permanent Secretary of the Treasury during the mid 1800’s?” Yes, there is, the west window under the tower.               According to the Wallington National Trust guidebook. Sir Charles Edward...
Categories National Trust/Northumberland Comments: 5
July 26, 2014

Colsterworth, Lincolnshire – St John the Baptist

Driving up and down the A1 it is good to know good stopping places. I recommend the Windmill at Tuxford – we’ve been stopping here for excellent home baking since Hannah went to Durham in 2005. Do check their opening days on their website. Driving from Suffolk back home we didn’t make it as far north as Tuxford before I needed refreshment, so went to Woolsthorpe Manor instead. A National Trust property – http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/woolsthorpe-manor/. “Typical of a small provincial manor house, the house of comfortable, if not particularly affluent, yeoman farmers” to quote the NT guide. Isaac Newton was born here on...
Categories Lincolnshire/National Trust/Outside Northumberland Comments: 0
June 16, 2014

Stourhead, Wiltshire – St Peter

One of the most beautiful National Trust properties is Stourhead. We met our friends Geoff and Anne here on Tuesday 3 June and walked round the Lake. It is not very easy to push Julie’s wheelchair round, on occasions we needed a banking engine, but we managed – with plenty of sits. The weather was not brilliant, we got quite wet on a couple of occasions, and the sun never really shone brightly until we were leaving – but we hadn’t got the energy to go round again! In 1717 the medieval Stourton Estate was bought by Henry Hoare (known as...
Categories National Trust/Outside Northumberland/World War 1 Comment: 1
June 15, 2014

Lanhydrock, Cornwall – St Hydroc

From Blackburn in the north (though still south for northern vicar) we head down to Cornwall in the south. An excellent holiday cottage (16 Brunel Quays, Lostwithiel) through the efficient Sykes Cottages. Lots of trains, steam and diesel. I managed every railway line on the peninsula, the branch lines (especially the ones from Liskeard to Looe, and St Erth to St Ives) are beautiful. On the Launceston Steam Railway – http://www.launcestonsr.co.uk – the wheelchair space is practically on top of the coal! Just one church and one Cathedral. Lanhydrock is a beautiful National Trust property, and the weather was soaking. The church is next...
Categories National Trust/Outside Northumberland/Railway History/World War 1 Comments: 2
May 21, 2014

The Chapel at Little Moreton Hall, Cheshire

  One of the pleasures of life is our National Trust Membership – we bought life membership when my Grandad died and left us some money, so every time we visit we remember him. In Cheshire on Thursday 15 May we went to what is probably my favourite, Little Moreton Hall – National Trust website. They had very welcoming people when we arrived, “if you push the wheelchair round to the right the cobbles are slightly flatter”, and a very nice cafe. Julie and I did downstairs, I climbed to the Long Gallery, and we had a wander round the garden...
Categories National Trust/Outside Northumberland Comments: 3
May 21, 2014

Middle Claydon, Buckinghamshire – All Saints’

Monday 12 May and we’re en route from Oli & Kati near Kettering to Deb & Larry in Oxford. We arranged to meet Geoff & Anne at Claydon House, a National Trust property, rebuilt between 1757 and 1771. First we walked along the front of the house, and pushed up the ramp into church.  The first Rector was John de Blarewich in 1251, and the Nave is C13 “much restored”. In 1509 the Chancel was rebuilt during a lease of 100 years granted by the Verneys to the Giffords – rebuilding the chancel took ten years. There was a restoration under George...
Categories Buckinghamshire/National Trust/Outside Northumberland Comments: 0
December 28, 2013

Personal pause – update

I’m sorry to have to report that Gareth died on Boxing Day – the Feast of Stephen. We are very grateful to the staff of the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle, to those at Great Ormond Street Hospital who gave him his heart transplant 9 years ago, and (above all) to the donor and family who gave us all hope and life. Gareth was a chorister at St Edmundsbury Cathedral, sang in the St Cecilia Chorale, worked in the Cathedral Refectory, and was a server – one Saturday he had spent the whole day serving food in the Refectory, had...
Categories National Trust/Personal Comments: 4