Valentine Venue

Had a great Valentines weekend. Stayed at the Gainsborough House Hotel in Kidderminster– using a chrissie gift token from Marion :) The largest town in the Wyre Forest District, just 17 miles south west of Birmingham, Kidderminster, on the River Stour and the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, boasts Victorian buildings.

On the way up we spent an interesting few hours at the old Bishops Palace at Hartlebury, now a museum. You are guided round by animated portraits on the wall – an inventive and amusing idea. Hartlebury was owned by the Bishops of Worcester for over 1,100 years. There are records of a land grant to the Bishop of Worcester by King Burghred of Mercia in the late 9th century, with records of the first building on the site in 1268, making Hartlebury the centre of civil and ecclesiastical power and influence in Worcestershire.

You enter the grounds through a series of out buildings housing cider presses, butter churns and the most amazing collection of horse drawn vehicles.

The early Castle was fortified and moated ready to house soldiers and quell unrest along the borders with Wales, by the 15th century times had become more settled and the Great Hall was built, transforming the Castle into a place of status and comfort. During the Civil War the Castle received major damage and was abandoned for over 40 years. In the late 1680’s Bishop Fleetwood started the transformation from medieval castle to gracious country mansion and grounds. Successive bishops throughout the 18th century beautified the Castle and surrounding estate to create the Castle in its current form, except for the remodelling in the 1960’s. This most recent chapter in the Castle’s history arose as the Castle was becoming too much of a burden for the Bishop, so the north wing was leased to Worcestershire County Council to house the Tickenhall Collection of rural life. The retirement of the Bishop of Worcester in 2007 saw the end of the Castle role as a Bishop’s Palace.

The Long Gallery charts English History

The Palace is situated in over 40 acres of parkland and garden.

After a walk by the river in Bewdley, which surprisingly ended opposite the Bewdley Brewery, we headed off to the hotel. Valentines evening was spent over an excellent Italian washed down with red wine.

The area is crossed by the steam railway (which unfortunately wasn’t running whilst we were there. The Severn Valley Railway Company began operations in 1970 from Bridgnorth to Hampton Loade, extending services southwards to Bewdley in 1974, then to Kidderminster in 1984

Kidderminster is also on the eastern edge of the Wyre Forest through which we walked on a beautiful spring day. We drove and meandered many country lanes, walked the East side Severn Valley Country Park then drove south to revisit Shipston upon Stour.

Ending the trip with tea n n cake at an olde world candy store

Blizzard of Snowdrops

What a difference a week makes. Last week the snowdrops were snowed under these week they shone in profusion on a bright, crisp winters day.

It is certainly proving to be a good year for early spring flora. The snowdrop collection at Colesbourne Park originated in the plantings made by Henry John Elwes (1846-1922).

The walk begins by circumnavigating the lakeside path passing the old mill building.

The present day collection is down to Carolyn and Henry Elwes, who have devoted much time to replanting and expanding the snowdrops. New varieties are added each year, with the collection now totalling some 250 cultivars. Colesbourne Park is renowned as one of the best places to see large groups of snowdrops. 

In the hollow is the old Ice House.

On the opposite side to the ice house hollow is the Spring Garden, started in 2003. which displays an area for snowdrops, hellebores and other woodland plants.

Like all good garden visits it ends with tea and cake in the manor house.

Snowdrops Snowed Off

We are doubly blessed in Gloucestershire at snowdrop time. We have Mr Elwes’s national collection at Colesbourne Park and the acres of snowdrops at Painswick Rococo Gardens. Both should have been open this weekend but were snowed under.

Saved by NGS and the lovely people at Rock House Elberton. A couple of acres, not far from the first Severn crossing, covered in snowdrops and what a wonderful day to enjoy them. Bright sunshine, crisp and bracing.

There was also a sprinkling of other seasonal flora.

and traditional bee hives.

Hoping to make Colesborne next weekend weather permitting.

An Evening with Malala Yousafzai

The three tiers of the Barbican Theatre were packed to the gunnels. They had come to hear from a most remarkable confident yet unassuming young woman who has become the figurehead for the campaign for universal education for girls and women.

A proud citizen of the Swat Valley, together with her family they were driven from their home by the rise of the Taliban. You can read her own story in “I Am Malala”. After being shot on a school bus and placed in an induced coma she eventually ended up in Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham where she was nursed back to health and Birmingham became her adopted home.

She became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for her campaigning work. As she acknowledged she owed so much to her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai a Pakistani education activist who, against the custom of his culture, took pride in having a daughter, encouraged her independence and pioneered female education in Pakistan in general and the Swat in particular. Being proud of a strong, confident daughter who now operates on a world stage is something I share with Ziauddin. It is wrong that in our times, in so many countries, women's education is at best curtailed, at worst non existent.  It is a travesty in our own country and our own time that those who should understand instead force the closure of libraries and use fiscal restraint to force music and drama from the mainstream curriculum!

Malala took to the stage full of confidence. Enthralled the audience and raised more than a few laughs, answered many questions and left to a spontaneous, rousing and lasting standing ovation.

In her latest book “We Are Displaced” Malala strives to bring to life the personalities, aspirations, hopes and dreams of displaced young women, often caught up in refugee camps, showing them not as stereotyped groups to be feared or hated but as individuals hit on hard times, not of their own making, striving for better more normal lives.

Malala Yousafzai – a wonderful human being and a great humanitarian. 

(All proceeds from the sales of her books go to the Malala Fund)

The Trip North

Bitts Park

Bitts is Carlisle’s main park running the stretch of the River Eden through the City.

We headed from the main car park along to the Sheep Mount. Hadn’t been here since school sports day, many many moons ago, and was surprised at how it has developed from a grassy mount with a rough running track to a fully developed sports centre.

Turning back on ourselves we followed the river, under Stanwix Bridge, past the Pitch n Put to the suspension bridge. This was the route of the old schools cross country. Have to admit me and my mates used to duck under the bridge support and have a quick fag whilst the others continued round the Cenotaph and back over the bridge whence we rejoined the tail end for the return trip. M insisted on taking a photo of me at the Cenotaph just to prove that I, eventually, made it :)

It was then back, on the other side of the Eden, through Rickerby Park to what we knew as the Chinese Gardens but now refurbished and renamed Eden Bridge Gardens.

Talkin Tarn

Last time we circumnavigated the Tarn we got drenched, not this time pleased to say. The tarn is glacial in origin, being formed about 10000 years ago, and is fed by underground streams. 

The Country Park is a 165 acre site rich in mature woodland and meadows, all surrounding a glacial lake with the stunning Pennine Hills as a backdrop.

A most pleasant meander ending in soup on the balcony at the Tarn Cafe.

Keswick

Another unexpectedly bright winters New Year Day we headed down to the lakeside at Keswick and strolled out to Friars Crag Point and its stunning views over Derwent Water.

should've taken more water with it!

Returning past The Theatre by the Lake we passed up into town for tea at the lovely Wild Strawberry Cafe.

Kielder Forest

Taking the road through Canonbie we initially overshot the badly signed turn off to Kielder Reservoir and enjoyed an unexpected drive through part of the Forest. Kielder Forest is a large forestry plantation in Northumberland surrounding Kielder village and the Kielder Water reservoir. It is the largest developed woodland in England with three-quarters of its 250 square miles covered by forest. Over the past 25 years, the landscape around Kielder Water & Forest Park has become home to a unique collection of visual art.

Parking up at Kielder Castle we were joined by a number of hikers, dog walkers and cyclists. Even towards the end of a crisp winters day Kielder is a popular place. Formerly the hunting lodge for the Duke of Northumberland, the Castle is now home to a variety of exhibitions. It is also the centre for cycling within the Park.

We took the Viaduct path a mile or so down to a panoramic view of the lake/reservoir then back along the top path to the Castle. Glad to complete the mainly single track road back to the main drag before complete darkness set in.

Port Carlisle

In its bustling hayday Carlisle was connected to Port Carlisle, across the treacherous Brough marshes, first by canal then rail. 

The village of Port Carlisle, originally known as Fishers Cross, was developed as a port in 1819 to handle goods for Carlisle using the canal link built in 1823. The canal was 11¼ mile long, and had 8 locks. The building of the Bowness-on-Solway railway viaduct altered the deepwater channels, causing Port Carlisle to silt up, and the railway was abandoned, but its course can still be traced.

Port Carlisle Junction railway station was a very short lived station that first came into use in July 1863 which brought many Scandinavian emigrants through Carlisle on their way to the USA. There was some untimetabled use until 29 October 1863, but the station closed as early as 1 July 1864. After closure, the up platform was retained for use by those northbound crews requiring change.

Walking from Drumburgh we picked up the tail end of the Hadrians Wall Path hugging the Solway Coast, circumnavigating the village of Port Carlisle.