August 22, 2015

And it’s from the old I travel to the new

With help from Harry, who sent me to his friend Andy Kinsey (see his website here), we are back up and running. A huge thank you – and Harry will buy him a pint (or four). All the posts have transferred from wordpress.com to northernvicar.co.uk with the exception of 1, 2 and 3. We are now trying to find out where Whitley Chapel, Stannington and Wylam have gone … we’re blaming wordpress themselves. You will now get a steady stream of beautiful churches, and I have my own website. This gives me an opportunity to include a John Wilson...
Categories Personal/Railway History Comments: 0
August 10, 2015

To be continued (we hope)

I tried to add a final photo to the Ironbridge blog, only to be told my storage space (all 13 Gb of it) was full. Not that I had had any prior warning of this … . It seems as if I can only add more storage space by upgrading to a site which costs me about £15 a month (as opposed to £10 a year). Alternatively we have to do something clever by changing server, but that will change the web address, or start a new blog (northernvicar2 perhaps) which will also change the web address. Whatever I...
Categories Personal Comments: 0
August 9, 2015

Ironbridge, Shropshire – St Luke

The other reason for a holiday in Shropshire is an exhibition at Coalbrookdale Gallery “To check the tide of prejudice: John Cooke Bourne and the London & Birmingham Railway” – website. I wrote an essay for my York Railway Course on this early railway artist, and met Matt Thompson, the curator of this exhibition, last time I came here (October 2012). It was an excellent exhibition, although only one room. There was some of Carmichael’s early work I had never seen, some beautiful doodles of workmen and their animals, the L&B lithographs and some watercolours that went with them. This is a watercolour of...
Categories Outside Northumberland/Railway History/Shropshire Comments: 0
August 9, 2015

Llanfair Caereinion, Powys – St Mary the Virgin

I start my holiday on my birthday (Monday 3 August) and we arranged to meet Roger and Julie (Roger is my Julie’s cousin) at the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway. It is a long way from Ponteland. I set the alarm for 0545, but Julie was awake earlier, so we were away by 0537 (I remembered to turn off the alarm). We entered Wales soon after 0900. Through Welshpool, and we were at Llanfair Caereinion and my favourite railway by 1030. What a wonderful place to spend my birthday. Before we went for a train ride, we walked up into the...
Categories Outside Northumberland/Railway History Comments: 0
August 9, 2015

Cullercoats – St George

I am not a person who does the seaside. It was a gorgeous day (16 July 2015) when I headed to the North Sea coast for a meeting at Cullercoats, and we could have spent the afternoon on the beach. I could have done the Cullercoats Art trail – here – indeed, that would be good for my waistline and my intellect. (You will be glad to know I avoided the burger stall and the candy-floss stall in the car park next door). My friend John Wilson Carmichael was one of the artists here – this is his “Cullercoats looking towards...
Categories Evetts' windows/Newcastle upon Tyne/World War 1 Comments: 0
July 25, 2015

Falstone – Methodist URC

  I went back to the Old School, and had a look at the 1897 Jubilee Fountain. There are lovely yellow irises, and the URC/Methodist church is just down the road, and also open. The chapel is at NY723875. Here is the Circuit website. It is well planned in that the chapel has a fortnightly service, on the weeks the Anglicans don’t. This is a Presbyterian church dating to 1807, with the tower added in 1876. I hate the plastic chairs, the pink paint is wonderful and what a marvellous chandelier – I want one! They have done an excellent...
Categories Northumberland/World War 1 Comments: 0
July 25, 2015

Falstone – St Peter

We don’t often drive right up to Kielder Water and this part of Northumberland, and it is a while since we have been to the Old School in the village which is now a café – website. I left Julie and went for a wander. St Peter’s church – NY724874 – is beautifully kept and the graveyard is immaculate. Bits of Saxon cross and other interesting inscriptions have been found nearby, but nothing is known of a pre-Reformation chapel. The church website  – says   “In 1650  parliamentary commissioners recommended that ‘the Chappell at Falleston be rebuilded and made the Parish Church thereof’,...
Categories Northumberland/World War 1 Comments: 0
July 24, 2015

Byrness – St Francis of Assisi

We continued north up the A68 and drove past Byrness church – NT771024. We turned round by the Forestry houses a mile or so further on. A very large timber lorry was parked in the laybye. After my recent incidents with other vehicles my wife asks, in her most solicitous voice, “you have seen that lorry, haven’t you”. We drove back to the church. It is locked. A posh noticeboard directs walkers on the Pennine Way to collect a church key at the Byrness Hotel across the road. The building that I think was the Byrness Hotel is looking...
Categories Northumberland/Railway History/World War 1 Comments: 4
July 24, 2015

Horsley – Holy Trinity

We continued up the A696, onto the A68 and stopped at Holy Trinity, Horsley – NY841972. The view across the valley, looking west, is lovely. The church is on the east side of the main road and there is little parking, just some hardcore on the verge. Much better to stop on your way south rather than north. My wife is disabled – and Horsley is not a church for her. Look at all those steps! The church was built in 1844 by J. and B. Green, at the instruction of Lord Redesdale. Pevsner says it is Neo-Norman. There...
Categories Northumberland/World War 1 Comments: 2
July 22, 2015

Kirkwhelpington – St Bartholomew

We decided it is a very long time since we have had a drive-round-Northumberland-and-find-lots-of-churches day. So on Saturday 11 July we drove north up the A696. There was a plan to do a tourist church trail along this road, here is my version – none of these churches I called into today can even muster a guidebook. On this occasion I found Kirkwhelpington, came into the village, jammed on the brakes and pulled onto the verge. I was yelled at by my passenger. “But, look, it’s a North Eastern Railway bench”. She wasn’t impressed. You do get some strange...
Categories Evetts' windows/Northumberland/Railway History/World War 1 Comments: 8