Masham is a small historic market town in the lower part of Wensleydale standing near the River Ure. It is pronounced "Massam" coming from the name Maessa's Ham which was a the Anglo Saxon homestead (Ham) of the man Maessa.
Although the Romans lived here, It was more noted for inhabitants in Saxon times and then later when the Viking raiders came in 900 AD. Apart from burning the town and starting again with their own identity, they did bring an industry to the town for which it is still famous today ... sheep farming.
The market place has a nice mixture of Georgian houses and was the scene for sheep trading. The first market charter was granted in 1250 AD and still continues today on a much smaller scale during September.
In modern times it is probably more famous as the centre of brewing with Theakstons and The Black Sheep Brewery within walking distance of each other.
We arrived back at the square from our walk and some of the group seemed a little exhausted due to the acceleration at the end. The walk leader, who had booked a meal at 6pm, seemed worried about the time constantly and wanted to squeeze a tea /coffee shop break in as well at 4.30pm !
The group split into two and I joined the half that just wanted a seat until closing time and didn't include the walk leader !!! Apologies to him !
At 5pm it was time to leave the tea shop as it was closing and have a very quick 1 hour tour around the market square.
Four of us decided to have a look in the church yard and subsequently inside the church before we were also kicked out of there !! ... at closing time.
Despite the building having a small amount of Saxon stonework, St Mary's church is mainly of Norman architecture that had later 15th century work modifications.
We were reminded at this point that the church was closing and it was time to think about the next phase of the day..... or rather evening
My driver thought it best to go down the stairs to the car park, change out of the muddy boots and bring the car up to the square for a quick exit after the meal...
17 of the party were booked into The Bay Horse in the smallest room possible for dinner. Anyone wishing to leave the table to go to a certain smaller room had to disturb half of the diners in the process. The other problem was that although the food was cooked fresh, it was extremely slow trying to serve 17 people and the whole experience took two hours. On the other hand, we were thankful that the walk leader didn't choose the other Pub !!.....
That church is gorgeous. Also love the Georgian achitecture.
ReplyDeleteI'm in awe of that church. We don't have buildings in the US that date back that far, so I'm really intrigued by the older buildings you have in the UK
ReplyDeleteFunny last shot! :-) And I always love to see steps, doorways and arches. Your pics of St. Mary's are beautiful. Make me want to go back to Masham!
ReplyDeleteI laughed at your comment (on my blog) about pubs there. Your description reminds me of Onslow of 'Keeping Up Appearances.' :-) My favorite British pub experience was at Jackfield, where we walked into a dark, cozy little pub with a fire in the stove and a couple locals with their Border collies lying at their feet. I've found that dogs are always a great way to start a conversation. Brit's Pub in Mpls. is a far cry from a real British pub, but still a great place to spend an evening.
I loved the wall full of ivy! We don’t have a colorful fall like you do in your country…I’m soooo envious!!!
ReplyDeleteAs usual, very nice photos of a great place! I like those walls with the red ivy.
ReplyDeleteSuperb shots of the church. They are never easy. I must have a look round Masham. Thanks for the information.
ReplyDeletevery peacefull place.and your photo make me want to go an visit the place.
ReplyDeletemind me for asking such silly, ignorant question. the leaves on the wall, is it seriously that red. if yes - WOW!
ReplyDeleteA very good text as always ! :))
ReplyDeleteI liked your beautiful photos, the series with the church and cemetery are my favorite, the colors and light are gorgeous !
Bye**
Thanks for the two tours, I love that looking up at the tree shot on the walking tour, Theakstons and the Black Sheep Brewery, I can see us giving it a visit if we are up that way.
ReplyDeleteNice fight of steps to, is that the invisible man I see :)
Jan
Thanks for stopping by my blog---I'm just getting started, but having fun learning how to navigate my way around. Hard to believe someone from England looked at my photos!!!! Your pictures are great and your dialogue interesting --I'll come back. Thanks again for the nice comment. Come back!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful interior of that church. I love all the photos esp the 3rd photo from the last. Beautiful lamp post shot. :)
ReplyDeleteI've already tried to decide which photo is my favourite, but it's difficult task - all of them are superb. Love the blue doors - every time I'm in the UK, I fell in love with the blue doors:)
ReplyDeleteGreeting:)
“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” – Miriam Beard
ReplyDeleteThat's why I like to come here: to see, to feel the new places, to here your words, to go deep down in your images... beeing in a long neverending journey!
Best regards!
See you soon!
I liked Masham, and your reportage is very agreable.
ReplyDeleteThe photo are very peacefull, ... well, the last one, I don't know...
:) Felisa
Farmchick... &
ReplyDeleteSweet Virginia Breeze... Thanks, I could have spent a bit longer in the church, I think I tried to do the interior a little justice in the 15 minutes we had left before closing.
Cranberry Morning... Thanks, Not a lot of people would understand the significance or rather.. humour ;-) behind the last shot. It's definitely not what you expect to find here !! We climbed these steps from the cricket car park and I fancied photographing them first thing but there were too many people on them... shame. It was only when we had to go back to the car to change our boots and bring the car to the square for a quick getaway after the meal that I had my chance.
Onslow is a star :-)
Vania Moreira... &
Travelling Hawk... Thanks, The colourful shrubbery was only on about 4 or 5 adjacent buildings but I still managed to capture it on 5 photos.... not doing the rest of the square enough justice... or rather hiding the ordinary buildings from you !!
Adrian... Thanks, Considering what we talked about before in Ingleton re: following people around while using a camera and less than 20 minutes between photos 8 and 13, I'm quite pleased with what I got. I like to give myself extra stress !!
Pharaonx... Thanks, A very peaceful place, but this post photographically was one big rush. I did the place justice I think but not myself. Apart from photo 2 and the last two, the rest were taken in less than an hour before it got dark.
Lily Riani... Thanks for asking. Seriously it is this red. I also thought WOW. It pained me to leave it behind to go on the walk mentioned in the previous post knowing what might happen with the British weather later!
Mahon... Thanks, I had to select a few images from a large collection today and it was difficult to eliminate the post to 10 - 15. Although I can't pick a favourite, the cemetery shot was always going to be in the set.
George the Lad... Thanks Jan, Today is saturday, so it is so apt to be talking to you about steps... & on George's birthday too.. "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear George, happy birthday to you ". I remember seeing the brewery the first time I was here but we must have come in a different way and didn't see it.
Forget me not... Thanks, It's not that long ago since I got started with blogger, so I know how difficult it can be to find people. I had an idea of which profiles I wanted to deal with at that time but as you can see from my blog list, it's been an incredible journey so far travelling the blog world.
Rizalenio... Thanks, It was quite surprising to find that kind of church interior. The lamp shot had to be cropped at the base to get rid of buildings and chimney pots. I would have liked the bottom of the picture to breathe a little more. I could have taken a few more shots of it given more time, but the other three were heading for the steps and the car park as we were all hungry for food by this point.
Joo... Thanks, I love door photographs, I used to think it was boring and my friends laugh when they see me taking a picture of a door as they think I am spying on someone !
Wind... Thanks for your inspirational words. My friends and colleagues see me as a bit different.... so I have to fulfil that character !!
In the past, I have just taken tourist or photographic shots depending on if I'm away or at home. My development came on Facebook and it is being finely tuned here on blogger to people like yourself who finally understand it. Regards to you.
Felisa... Thanks, Yes it's a peaceful place that I would like to see again at my own relaxing place. The last photo is a one that you would normally find in the inner city.... hence the humour of it being in a country town.