Yorkshire & Cumbria

Moors overlooking Saltaire

Leeds Town Hall

Leeds City markets

Leeds Shopping Arcade

St Mary the Virgin, Gisburn

Tarn Hows

Easedale Tarn

Near Easedale Tarn

Grasmere

Grasmere from the track up to Easedale Tarn

I am now back in London preparing to fly tonight to Hong Kong, my European journey over. Here is hoping that Chilean Volcano behaves itself and I can fly right home to Dunedin next Wednesday.

After picking up a car and getting thoroughly lost in Manchester, I spent 4 delightful days with my friend Tony in Saltaire, near Bradford. He kept me fit with local walks, one up onto the nearby moors and also showed me how to play bowls and even making an attempt to teach me to throw a boomerang.  I let the Aussie side down.

Sunday being wet, we visited Cliffe Castle Museum in a furnished Victorian era home but also having displays of industrial history and Geology at nearby Keighley. On Monday, before the climb up on the moors (Photo), we visited an art gallery dedicated to local artist, David Hockney. It was in a renovated Cotton Mill and the whole of Saltaire is a world heritage site due to the village having been built by a far sighted industrialist who provide homes and other facilities for his workers that were much better than what was common in that dark industrial time.

On Saturday I visited and had lunch with an internet friend, Jack (Sir),  in Leeds who showed me around the highlights of that city including the Town Hall and some very ornate shopping arcades (photos). We visited the Art Gallery which has many works by Henry Moore.  Leeds is much improved from the very dingy city I remember on a quick visit way back in 1974.

On Sunday I drove about 40 km to the little village of Gisburn and met my soon to be Vicar, Rev Eric Kyte. he leaves the parish of Gisburn (Photo) in 2 weeks and will be installed at Roslyn, Dunedin in mid-August.

I left Yorkshire on Tuesday and drove back across the Pennines to the Lake District where I spent 3 nights in Ambleside. I also spent 3 nights there last September and did several walks and wanted to do more especially with the use of a car.  I am not sure that was a good idea. the car gave me more flexibility but the parking fees are very high. It was a surprise to pay over 3 pounds for parking in a car park 2 miles from the nearest village. The weather was very mixed, raining at breakfast but fining up later on both full days there. Wednesday was spent around Coniston, walking about 6 km around Tarn Hows(photo) then, disappointed the ferry was not doing the whole lake to pass the island in “Swallows & Amazons”, I instead drove around Beatrix Potter territory to Hill Top and Hawkshead.

On Thursday I drove to Grasmere and climbed up to Easedale Tarn (photos), a little over 7 km round trip and 250 metres up. it provided wonderful views. I had planned another similar climb in the afternoon but thought better and instead did part of a walk, fairly level around the lake (photo) that I did last time but this time in much better weather. It is a very pretty area.

Yesterday I drove back to Manchester, left the car and continued by train to London.  I went back to the Royal Albert Hall for a program called ‘Strictly Gershwin’ by the English National Ballet with a big jazz band. It was a fitting finish to my tour of Europe as there was a long section at the end of the first half based on ‘An American in Paris” with views of Paris where I started my European journey on the large screens and later the main singer, Maria Friedman, sang “A Foggy Day in London Town. Fortunately mine was not foggy though rather wet but today looks fine so I think I am headed for Kew Gardens.

Did not have time to send this before leaving hotel on Saturday, did not make it to Kew gardens but am now in Hong Kong.