Yorkshire Sculpture Park, near Wakefield

This is a pivotal post in the lifetime of this blog as I met three people with different agendas during the course of this weekend that influenced my direction and journey in the short and medium term. About 75 % of the material I have in my photo library still to show at this moment in time can be traced back to this point. Having said all that, you can guess that the text in my opinion is more important than the images here !

I passed the sign for The Yorkshire Sculpture Park on the M1 motorway a few times and often wondered what it was all about. The organisers of The James Bond Ball, that I briefly mentioned in the previous post, arranged an outing to this location the following day. It was an opportunity to talk to people that we had met the night before and provided the opportunity to discuss what we thought about art and its relevance here. Personally I saw it as a historic park with additional features to attract other visitors from outside the area. There were elements to the art that I didn't understand and it was difficult looking at a landscape scene in a vast park with something that maybe shouldn't have been there. However there were a few images that I thought were worthy of being displayed.

The estate is steeped in history stretching back to the time when it was mentioned by William The Conqueror in The Domesday Book of 1086 when the De Bretton family owned it. Despite the Bretton name being kept as a title, the ownership saw a few changes down the centuries generally through intermarriage of the nobility, Knights to the king with created titles of Baronet (Henry VIII, Charles I and Charles II ). The Dronsfield family name taking it during the 13th century, the Wentworth family name in 1407 until 1792.

The present house, Bretton Hall, was built by William Wentworth (4th Baronet of Bretton) 1675 - 1720 and replaced the wooden structure of 1508. Diana the daughter of the last Wentworth who had earlier married a Northumberland MP, Colonel Thomas Beaumont inherited the house in 1792.

She made substantial additions and modifications to the house that included a portico, Stable block, one of the largest conservatories at the time and follies around the estate ... the birth of the Sculpture Park ... :-) haha.

The Park and garden work was looked after by head gardener Robert Marnock who went on to greater things with the Botanical gardens in Sheffield and eventually London.

Three generations later and Bretton Hall became under used as a residence in favour of a race meeting and shooting venue with the owner spending more time in more important places working with Royalty. It gained some use during World War II when the War Office wanted it before the house and large parts of the estate were was sold to the local council in 1948.

Bretton Hall College was born the following year as a teacher training college for art, music and drama. The inception of the Yorkshire Sculpture park in 1977 came about largely due to the progressive syllabus that the college taught. The Principal Lecturer in Art, Peter Murray, became the Founding Director of YSP due to a sculpture exhibition that he organised in the college grounds during 1976. The idea to make it permanent came about with a financial grant from Yorkshire Arts.

The YSP went from strength to strength purchasing large areas of the original estate and opening a variety of galleries across the site.

Lastly, The 21st re-alignment of colleges and polytechnics saw Bretton Hall merge with Leeds University and its subsequent disuse once again as the building was sold back to the council. The Yorkshire Sculpture Park organisation are keen to have the building occupied and they are probably keen for obvious reasons to see the property turned into a ... Luxury hotel

Whatever your thoughts about Sculpture parks are, I felt much more comfortable dealing with old & new friends on this trip than I did the previous night at the Ball even though it gave me less time to take decent images. Hope this post doesn't leave you speechless ...

Wetherby, Yorkshire

The final post in my series about Mothers coach trip to Llandudno is a little surprising as it is no where near North Wales. As we stopped at Wetherby services on the outward journey, the driver decided to give his passengers a change of scenery with a late lunch stop here. I followed the coach on a torturous route around the town wondering where he was going to park. In the end, although I was pleased for the passengers that they were dropped off in the town centre, I had to spend the next ten minutes frantically finding somewhere to park in order not to lose the group. As it seemed like a busy day, my search proved fruitless and had to find a space on the roadside out of town to the north.

( On a side note, family health difficulties with re location have restricted my blogging at the moment. I usually get home about 8:30pm and have to prepare dinner after that. Looming legal and associated house issues mean that my time may be a bit restricted for the next few months ... sorry, it looks like 2012 wasn't my year ... for blogging)

Wetherby Town Hall built in 1845 stands in the market square and replaced prominent buildings such as the prison, courthouse and chapel. The building has since been used as a church school and magistrates court.

"Can we have some business please ? !! "

Wetherby was most famously known as a staging post for travellers on the Great North Road from London to Edinburgh ... yes, that was the main A1 many years ago before motorways ! At one time there were about 40 coaching Inns for this purpose in the town.

As a postscript, most town councils concerned about the increase in traffic discuss the possibility of a diversion. The first simple move was created with a roundabout in 1959 followed by a major road bypass in 1988 at a cost of £11.5 million. Further upgrading of the road took place in 2003 - 4 and 2007 - 9. Interestingly enough it incorporated a modern day staging post in the form of those horrible things called Motorway services ... great for a comfort stop, not so good on the landscape or the wallet ! ... as I discovered on the outward portion of this trip.

The Swan and Talbot which was first licensed in 1678 is maybe a little quieter these days. At one time it brewed it's own beer in a malt kiln and there was a dedicated soldiers room in the eaves ... not that I am suggesting that there is a link !

There has been a market in Wetherby since at least 1240 with a more formal structure called The Shambles built in 1811.

This was originally only meant to open on market day and was designed for a group of butchers. Later in 1888, the building was covered with a roof and farmers were added to the trading list.

The site of the old watermill

Trying to get to grips with a place and what to photograph in a one hour lunch break stop is difficult, particularly when I can't ever recall being here before. The bridge and river is always a good starting point as the ancient name "Wedrebi" is meant to have some additional meaning to "a settlement on the bend of a river "...

The bend of the path !!

Relaxing by the river ! ...

Historically there was a toll for entering Wetherby on this important route into town half way between London and Edinburgh. It's importance proves a little difficult to understand in modern times as there was a serious reprisal raid on the town in 1319 following The Battle of Bannockburn in Scotland.

Later in history there was further involvement as a result of The English Civil War in 1644.

Several things seemingly barred from The River Wharfe these days ...

... but peaceful nonetheless !

Since it first entered in 1989, Wetherby has won a few national awards over the years for the Britain in Bloom contest. At the outset, most towns see it as an excuse for keeping the place tidy.

The Huguenot Arch is located in a small strip of garden next to the main road and was a small passageway between two houses. It was thought that French refugees built it back in 1827 with a foundation stone that reads "Love your neighbour as yourself says the Evangelist".

( Sometimes in life, if you want something done, it's easier to do it yourself but not in this case as it took me hours to "tidy" away the Queens Diamond Jubilee bunting !! )

The not so "cut price" Wetherby House !

The Doctors surgery ( 1890 -1971 ) is now partitioned off with various uses, it depicts the comparison of how business and service industry lasted on one site both then and now. I wonder how long the bookshop will last.

The Black Bull ... a market place feature still here.

The customary J_on_tour alley shot !

... and window shot !!  (toyshop)

All this talk takes my mind from the reason why we stopped here to get some lunch. If I keep distracting you with idle chit chat ...

Thought I'd get rid of the annoying bins and allow other fish to slip away ...

Betws-y-Coed, North Wales

Following on from the previous post, this was the first place that the coach driver took my Mother and her friend to on their mini coach tour of North Wales from Llandudno. To put this post into perspective, the occupants of the coach were allowed a small amount of time here to see a few shops and enjoy the delights of a tea shop visit while my task was a little more rushed as my retrospective camera data showed that I took 40 photographs between 10:56 and 12:26. Unfortunately not enough time to photograph 3 key viewpoints on the perimeter of the village.

Ex Lead mining Betws-y-Coed is the principal village within the Snowdonia National park and is located in the Conwy valley of North Wales at the junction of the valley and River Llugwy. It takes it's name from rather misleadingly from the classic village image above of "Chapel or Prayer House in the wood", however this refers to a 6th century monastery, later replaced by a small 14th century church called St Michael's. Due to political struggles of the time, the great bridge builder Thomas Telford helped not only improve the links to Holyhead and beyond to Ireland at the head of the Conwy valley, but also on this more direct route by building the cast iron Waterloo Bridge over The River Conwy to the south of the village in 1815. Despite improving this link he had no idea that Betws-y-Coed would eventually become a destination in itself 30 years later when the first Victorian explorers, landscape artists and anglers who came to enjoy the beauty of the scenery and the contents of the river !!

Ancient Coaching Inn on the A5 road ( London - Holyhead - Ireland) ... Where's all the cars now ? ;-)

The most famous of these artists was David Cox (1783 - 1859) who no doubt stayed in the Royal Oak Hotel as he made several visits to this area of North Wales who not only painted the famous Swallow (water) Falls but also an early Royal Oak signboard still on display in the Hotel.

The Stable block that used to service horses on tour from London to Holyhead and beyond now caters for visiting tourists as an adjacent and separate hotel.

As this was such a big operation, there were additional stable facilities across the road and down a short tree lined drive. This block has been redeveloped as a visitor centre incorporating a tourist information centre, a display room and a craft / art shop unit.

Fusion or clash of Outdoor and tourist shops

Due to the subsequent popularity of the village, St Michael's church became too small and a new larger and accessible St Mary's parish church was built in 1873. The old church became inactive and eventually fell into a state of disrepair which was eventually restored as one of the most historic in Wales by a Trust in recent years. The village began to develop into a tourist destination which has remained until this day.

According to the coach driver, Swallow Falls have started charging for the privilege of the visit and consequently, the coach tours no longer stop there but instead a detour is made over the ancient miners bridge in the village to observe it's little sister Pont-y-Pair Falls.

These Falls on the edge of the village are close enough to the provide the visitor with a small substitute for those on a budget of time and for the main event further upstream !!

Accommodation with a view ... looking the other way downstream from Pont-y-Pair in the direction of the village.

There has always been controversy with the pronunciation of the name due to the incorrect lazy English way of Betsee Co-ed, there is always some doubt on whether it should be Bettus ee coed or Betoose ee coed. My idea rested on one of these for years until I was told that I was incorrect. My trip to Llandudno last October last year involved meeting a Welsh person from Anglesey and one from South Wales and after much discussion, it was agreed that the pronunciation depended on whether one was from South Wales, North Wales or ... Anglo Saxon !!!

The railway played a great part in the development of Betws-y-Coed with it's arrival in 1868. Like many of the rural Welsh railway lines, it's initial use was to transport slate from the mountains down to the sea. For cost saving exercises, many of these railways were built to narrow gauge standards but the terminus further down the line at Blaenau Ffestiniog that resembles something of an alien and lunar landscape to the first time visitor was unsuitable for this purpose. Such was the extent of the slate operation here that narrow gauge plans were abandoned in favour of a conventional size railway. The torturous route of excavation from Betws-y-Coed to Blaenau Ffestiniog meant that the railway line took another 11 years to complete.

My first arrival through this arch back in 1986 ! ... or 5 minutes of my 90 waiting for a people free zone !

The station at Betws-y-Coed in 1868 provided a link for tourism by connecting with local buses to onward scenic journey via The Swallow Falls to the picturesque Snowdonian destination of Capel Curig.

Tea anyone ? ! ... over the bridge to the Railway Museum and cafe

Back in the day, the railway station was a busy thoroughfare with many platforms but as they were gradually removed the empty space was later occupied by The Conwy Valley Railway Museum in the early 1970's to retain some of the heritage albeit in some unauthentic forms including a selection of vintage cars.

Large railway, small railway

Imagine if plans were successful to run a narrow gauge railway back in 1868 ... it would take all day to get to the North Wales coast !!

Tourism over expansion ... closure of the original doorway.

During the 20th century, tourism took off in a big way with Anna Davies who has been trading and expanding her operation since 1956.

Coach tour goodies !!

The area around the railway station has developed as a bizarre mixture of tourism, shopping and sculpture.

Sharing the love in Wales !!

Weird Fish, weird sculpture !

If tourist shopping is not quite your your thing, imagine my surprise when I saw this big and impressive fellow !! After much research, the existence of this cast iron statue made by Garden Art of Dolgarrog remains much of a mystery to me other than being an object of humour, discussion and distraction from the shops ... and another 5 minutes waiting for a people free scene !!

The Cockerel and it's size may be difficult to comprehend but maybe more surprising is this nearby sculpture. Although it struck me that apart from The Conwy Railway Museum and the village green, there are not a lot of things for entertaining children. Kazie the Gorilla may redress this balance as it seeks to raise money for several animal organisations such as Ape Action Africa and The Orangutan Foundation. These projects are supported heavily by the adjacent Alpine coffee shop who are passionate about animals .... even to the extent of their "sausages for dogs" loyalty card !!!

It was time for the coach to leave and continue the tour for the day. ... Yes you've guessed it , it was up the Llugwy valley past the Swallow Falls and Capil Curig and down the mountain pass through Llanberis with the next destination looking like Anglesey.

The tour continued over Robert Stephenson's Britannia bridge with views of material from my previous posts Menai-bridge 2011/06 (Thomas Telford) and the torture of a Woollen mill that pretends to be Welsh but has it's roots in a more Northern part of the UK at llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwll 2011/06 ...

Watch the cones ... Coach friendly destination ?? !