Postcards from the North

I remember everything.....

The Queen's Arms, Litton

I've been down this road before.....

And I have used this song, by John Prine and Pat McLaughlin, before, but it's true, and it's good, and it fits.....

I have been down these roads before, but I don't tire of that, there's always something new; the light is always different, as is the mood.....

Littondale

Almost ten years ago I was in Hubberholme, where in 1934 J B Priestley wrote that, Once up there you seem at first at the world's end; and indeed you are a long way from anywhere....

Inside the church the Buckden Knit and Natter Group show their take on the landscape of the Yorkshire Dales; Priestley's ashes would approve: 

Over the hills, we stop to admire the Aysgarth Falls, where the River Ure careers down into Wensleydale.....

And then we drive on to explore Bishop Auckland, whose castle was the home of the Bishops of Durham, though after the closure of the coal mines the town went into a decline. The castle re-opened on November 2nd, 2019, after renovations by the Auckland Project; the founding partner of the group being the owner of the castle, Jonathan Ruffer, who purchased the property and all of the contents in 2012, including the artwork by Francisco de Zurbarán.....

Zurbarán's paintings of Jacob and his twelve sons adorn the walls of the Dining Room (though two are currently on show - until August 23rd - in the National Gallery in London):

Also in the palatial complex there is a brand new Faith Museum (A unique museum exploring 6,000 years of British history through the lens of faith).....

And then, in the Market Place, apart from the Mining Art Gallery, we find the Spanish Gallery (The UK’s first gallery dedicated to the art and culture of the Spanish Golden Age).....

Here there are copies of El Grecos:

And explorations of Velasquez:

I have to say, however, that, though the aim is to make the town a significant tourist attraction, it is all a little over-whelming, and it may not surprise you that Wetherspoon's The Stanley Jefferson, also in the Market Place, seems to be more popular on a Saturday afternoon than either the Castle or the Spanish Gallery.....

Anyway, it was an experience, and we have an appointment with Music in Country Churches at the Church of St Mary, Wycliffe.....

And then a dusky drive over the moors to stay with friends in Stanhope:

It's a blowy day on Sunday, but the rain holds off and we drive up to the northern edge of the Roman Empire, first at Vindolanda, an extensive settlement just south of Hadrian's Wall, built originally to service the Stanegate Road (pretty much between modern Newcastle and Carlisle), but later used as a garrison camp for the wall.  Excavations have been going on here for 50 years, during which time over 5 million people have visited the site, but it is estimated that there are still at least 150 years worth of archaeology to be explored.....

From Vindolanda we move on to Housesteads, Britain’s most complete Roman fort, standing on the dramatic Whin Sill escarpment, flanked by stretches of Hadrian’s Wall. Here we see Fairy Foxgloves and Wall-rue clinging to the north face of the wall:

And to the East and to the West the wall snakes its way across the land, an extraordinary stretch of imagination and engineering, still standing after nineteen hundred years.....

The day is fine, but I know how bleak it can be up here, and am reminded of W H Auden's Roman Wall Blues:

Over the heather the wet wind blows,

I’ve lice in my tunic and a cold in my nose.

The rain comes pattering out of the sky,

I’m a Wall soldier, I don’t know why.

And so, on our return, we pay our respects to Auden at Blanchland Abbey:

Where in the 1930s the poet stayed in the 12th century Lord Crewe Arms and, apparently stayed up late drinking champagne and playing Brahms on the pub piano.  His view was that, No spot brings me sweeter memories.....

Monday is grey and cloudy, and we head south, back to the Yorkshire Dales, where Hardraw Force still spills down the cliff despite the recent lack of rain....

Then, again through cloud and over winding hill roads, to Muker:

From where we walk up Swaledale toward Keld, through hay meadows some of which are protected as part of the Muker Meadows Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and the Northern Pennine Dales Meadows Special Area of Conservation (SAC). 

The fields here are ablaze with meadow buttercup, selfheal, pignut and red clover:

And here are some wood crane's bill:

The river is half full, if that, but there is still a great deal of life to be seen: common sandpipers flit up stream away from us; dippers bob in the gushing rills and martins whip past at speed, 

The valley is decked with ruined farms and barns, where life went by for centuries, it is now in part abandoned:

But at Reeth we find tranquillity, the river calmly slipping away to the east,

The sky cloaking the hills, as night begins to close in and our journey north comes to an end....

And I remember every town

And every hotel room.....

And I remember every night

Your ocean eyes of blue

How I miss you in the morning light

Like roses miss the dew

I Remember Everything

Pat Mclaughlin / John E Prine

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Should you wish to see more pictures of Hadrian's Wall and the Yorkshire Dales, please see:

https://www.richardpgibbs.org/2014/08/hadrians-wall.html

https://www.richardpgibbs.org/2017/07/mrs-yorkshire-dales-diary.html

and for the Yorkshire Sculpture Part (and John Prine) 

https://www.richardpgibbs.org/2025/04/north.html

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