Haworth, West Yorkshire

It's sometimes quite difficult choosing a title image that is attractive, grabs the attention of the viewer and is the essence of the post. With that thought in mind and what's currently in my head, I'm not sure that I'm going to achieve any of that particularly as I have been absent for so long on other travels !!

Following on from the previous post and the James Bond Ball I attended, I was given an invitation at the dinner table by a fellow guest (someone who I shall refer to as "Stockped") to a similar event in Manchester. Despite having passed it on the motorway on numerous occasions, it was an opportunity to meet new people and see how the city had progressed since I last visited it during my first year of rail travel.

Couldn't get into this Bed and Breakfast !! .. haha

I was fortunate to have the preceding week off work and I was interested in attending another event on the way. Haworth was the ideal location for a three night stay to attend the first event and explore undiscovered parts of the area.

Avid readers will realise immediately that Haworth is famous for and was home to the Brontë family. The father, Patrick Brontë, was employed in several trades in Northern Ireland before deciding to become a teacher and subsequently a Church of England minister.

To the Parsonage

After studying theology in Cambridge, he took on a series of pastoral roles in Essex, Shropshire and nearby Guiseley and eventually settled in The Parsonage in Haworth.

Life in the West Yorkshire area wasn't pleasant for the majority with poor working and social conditions giving rise to ill health and disease, a topic that is enforced upon the visitor during the tour of  The Parsonage ... it makes grim reading !

Parsonage and Sunday school 

Patrick was not only known for his sermons from the pulpit but also as a local health and education reformer with the creation of a clean water supply and the building of the sunday school.

The health of his family may have been the inspiration for the action on health but it was unfortunate that he outlived all of his six children.

The sisters Charlotte, Emily and Anne shared their creative experiences with each other in a downstairs writing room often running around the central table in the room. The content of their books (Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall ) was very much influenced by their life experiences which can be sampled by both visiting Haworth and The Parsonage.

From a personal point of view, the house seems to be a place of pilgrimage for many Brontë fans from all around the world ....

How exciting to be here  ... LOL !!

... who probably know the tragic personal stories. In my opinion, they are in for a reality check when they arrive as they discover that it was probably the so called ....

... "chocolate box" looking village that it took it's toll. The call to a needy parish was the ultimate price of his family.

Branwell, the only son had an interest in writing but wanted to pursue a career in Art with his most famous painting being the one of his three sisters and the erased image of himself from the canvas. The evidence suggests that Branwell occasionally underachieved and avoided further training in London in favour of The Black Bull behind his fathers church (the building that preceded the church in the photo) ...

... and some drugs from the shop across the street, now a famous tourist destination for other sales ...       http://www.rose-apothecary.co.uk

Tourist Information, Railway Children film location

On a lighter note, Haworth is trying to bring a bit of colour into the Pennine stone these days from the business's that survive on tourism.

Yorkshire food ...

... takeaways  ;-) ....

... Ice cream  (always read the label ! ) ...

... and Yorkshire tea !!!

As some of the creatures seemed quite dangerous .....

One thing I did notice were the village cats, they were everywhere ... outside the shops ...

... outside the pub ...

... and even in the church !!!

...  one could assume that even though the telephone box was a little to late for Branwell to get some some help ...  it's always useful for something  !!!  ...

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 ...