Ae Fond Kiss

Taking a photo of the ruined interior of Ewloe Castle with children scrambled over it I did not notice the romance in front of me until I downloaded the pictures. A kiss in the castle, or for the purposes of this week's ABC Wednesday I'll switch to Esperanto and say , kisi en la  kastelo.

The day was not grey as it looks in the pictures (I was shooting into the sun), and was in fact a

blue sky day.  This was  a peaceful border land until the Norman invasion of England in 1066 and then was fought over for 200 years by the Welsh and Norman England. Happily today it is just a place for walking and a kiss rather than a killing.

An entry to ABC Wednesday - a journey through the alphabet, sojourning this week at K 

 

A Jetty for the Millennium

One joyous effects of the year 2000 was communities across the country created something to commemorate this point in time with an object. In the seaside village of Seascale they reinstated the former wooden jetty

and created the Millennium Jetty, a simple object but one that is enjoyed to the full.  This day was

the end of August bank holiday, nearly time to go back to school and, as it turned out. the last week of true summer.  For all but the year round hardy types this may have been when the water sports equipment was put away after a fun filled summer, unless of course jetting off to warmer climes. 

Jetty Walk

An entry to ABC Wednesday - a journey through the alphabet sojourning this week at J 

Champion Ice Cream

Time for an ice-cream from this cute van parked outside York's Castle Museum (the building used to be a prison in the 18th Century). While waiting for the Ryeburn's ice-cream I read the  notice 

which explains that it is award winning and the van itself is a E83W Fordson Thames originally made as as what it is today ,an ice-cream van, and one of the last of its kind working today. The Fordson Thames were produced in Ford's Dagenham works from 1938-1957 and could be, amongst other things,  flat backed trucks or grocery delivery vans.  This one proudly bears its date of birth

as 1949.  The pitch is a tourist hot spot standing as it does between the two museums and

 Clifford's Tower where I suppose one could test fitness by running up the incline. The tower is a ruined keep and the only remains of York Castle (originally built by William the Conquer in the 11th Century).  Today the ice-cream van stands inside, what would have been in centuries past, a castle, or in the 18th Century a prison complex.

An entry to ABC Wednesday - a journey through the alphabet, this week sojourning at I

Harewood House

I visited the grounds of the 18th Century Harewood House on a very hot July day. We ambled through the grounds and by the lake, through the walled garden and then later in the day arrived at the house itself to admire its topiary. Hidden within the clipped hedges

were little pink flowers.

The borders had been sprinkled with a hosepipe; I imagine it is quite a task in the long hot days we had this summer

but everything  was looking well watered

And here stood Orpheus with a leopard resting on his arms. The sculpture is by Astrid Zydower (1930-2005) who in 1975 starting with a 12" maquette  to make a small sculpture for Lincoln Kirstein, he  happened to be a mutual friend of the late Lord Harewood through his involvement in opera. When the  fountain which stood on this spot crumbled and then was further damaged by frost in 1982  it was replaced in 1984 with this imposing and enlarged version of Orpheus who stands 8 foot high (I imagine with the plinth it must total 12 foot). The diminutive Astrid Zydower said it was the hardest thing she had ever done. The legend of Orpheus says his playing and singing could captivate both humans, animals and even inanimate things like rocks. The subject of Orpheus charming the animals has appeared in art from Roman mosaics to modern times.  After admiring the sculpture and formal garden we made our way to those umbrellas on the terrace where they were serving cream tea.

heading past the remaining fountain, going up the steps

and settling down on by crisp white tablecloths, we and Orpheus gazed over the landscape created by Capability Brown as a lone red kite hovered low into view, its feathers ruffling in the thermals could be clearly seen which generated much excitement on the terrace.  If my zoom had not been in the car that might have been the next photo! 

An entry to ABC Wednesday - a journey through the alphabet sojourning at H