All Aboard for Appleby and ABC Wednesday

Let me take you on a journey to Appleby -  arriving by train, which is really just an excuse for me

Union of South Africa A4 Locomotive moves off after taking water at Appleby.

to show once again an A4 Pacific locomotive.  This one is, at the moment, halted in York and rests on a turntable in the National Railway Museum, joined by the iconic Mallard (the fastest steam locomotive in the world reaching 126mph in 1936) and the Bittern which became the fastest steam locomotive of the preservation era in June this year reaching 92½ mph.  The Dominion of Canada and Dwight D Eisenhower have crossed the Atlantic from Canada and the USA, been painted. cleaned and rebuilt at the Shildon workshop and become part of the Great Gathering of the six surviving A4s, including of course the one named after the great designer himself Sir Nigel Gresley.

But its time to leave Appleby Station and walk down the hill although perhaps pausing awhile to look

at the plaque commemorating Eric Treacy (1907-1978) railway photographer extraordinaire who died on the station of a heart attack while waiting to take photographs of the 'Evening Star', the last steam locomotive to be built by BR.

And it seems to be market day by the Low Cross which is an 18th Century copy of one from the 1600s there is also a 17th Century one at the top of the hill called, you've guessed it, the High Cross

This view is down the wide street of Broughgate and its Lime Trees which as this was taken in March have yet to acquire their intense green leaves

Going round the other side there is some writing from the 17th Century which says "Retain your loyalty, preserve your rights" which I presume is a reference the English Civil War. I wonder if it was put there by Lady Ann Clifford who was, as her title infers, a loyalist to the crown.  She is better known for her tenacious fight for the right to inherit her father's property against the prevailing male line of inheritance.

She is buried in a rather grand tomb in the St Lawrence Church for on obtaining her inheritance on the death of her father's brother she went on to repaired churches and built almshouses. The St Lawrence church dates from the 12th Century but was rebuilt in the 14th Century after being burnt down by the Scots in the Border Wars. The porch is 1300 but the dog tooth moulding is 100 years older, the church itself has been continued to be altered throughout the 17th-19th centuries. With regard to the Ann Clifford's tomb I appear only to have taken a photograph of the sheep

on her mother Margaret's tomb but I think it is rather sweet.

Maybe if I had called in at the Tourist Information (located in the 16th Century Moot Hall) they would have said take more photographs, although my long suffering partner would probably not agree with that last statement.

I could also have taken photographs of the Alms Houses built by Lady Clifford to the right of this white building but of course the white took my eye. If my memory is right it is the Masons Lodge.

 Time to take another photograph you never know when an A might needed for ABC Wednesday and an Astral Circus parked in Appleby might come in handy!  Time for a rest?

 
Then take your ease in the ABoard Inn (like the High Cross also dating from the 17th Century), and join these two enjoying drinking and playing draughts.

An entry to ABC Wednesday - join the journey through the alphabet now starting its 13th Round

Aldeburgh Art Ancient and Modern

Amazingly another alphabet gone and we are at number 12 of the rounds of ABC Wednesday, so new year, new badge and new alphabet words. With no more ado let me take you to the south east of England to the coastal town of Aldeburgh in Suffolk and head for the beach, which may have snow on it at the moment, but what better time to dream of sunny summer days when you can wander along the beach picking up shells, but this one is not for picking but for admiring

"Scallop" by Maggi Hambling is dedicated to the composer Benjamin Britten who lived in Aldeburgh and used to walk along the beach in the afternoon.  The words written on the edge say "I hear those voices that will not be drowned" and are from his opera 'Peter Grimes' which was based on part of a poem by George Crabbe a native of Aldeburgh.  This year a beach performance of Peter Grimes will take place at Aldeburgh as part of the music festival.  East Anglia is the driest part of Britain so hopefully they get a day like the one in my photographs.

Mermaid on the Scallop

Maggi Hambling's idea was for the Scallop to be both visual and tactile. It proved controversial with some local people who said it spoilt the shingle beach.  I went to see for myself and loved it on the crest of the beach, it would seem that

visitors do too for every time I passed it was either being photographed or as in the previous photo sat on. Hambling thinks of it as a conversation with the sea

"An important part of my concept is that at the centre of the sculpture, where the sound of the waves and the winds are focused, a visitor may sit and contemplate the mysterious power of the sea,"

Maggi Hambling, before The Scallop, was probably most famous for being a portrait painter full of bold strokes and lots of paint.  She also became well known for appearing in the 1980s as captain of the TV quiz show "Gallery" where the panellists of the two teams used to identify and discuss works of art. Described as a "cerebral quiz show" I couldn't see it being made for today's television even discounting the fact that Hambling was rarely seen without a cigarette in her hand.

That is the modern (2003) part of Aldeburgh in my title but walk away from The Scallop and towards Aldeburgh to find the ancient

 Moot Hall built in 1520.  Moot Halls are local meeting places and this once this held local council meetings but today although the Town Clerk has an office here the rest is a museum, which as the sign says is "open".  The building was restored in 1854 hence its good condition.

 Going around the side and there is the sundial from the times before the railways when each part of England had a different time.  The coming of the railways meant that there had to be a standardised time for all the country otherwise the timetables would not make any sense.

Go around the back and a couple of cyclists have arrived, the relatively flat and rolling county of Suffolk being ideal for being active on a bike.