Haverbrack

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In the fields and woods around the hamlet of Haverbrack it looks as though nothing has changed for centuries, apart from the field gate, oh and the tarmacadam lane.  I rather like the stile with its steps, the limestone supports (which look like old field markers) and the fact they really do mean the "please shut" written on the gate because not only does it have a spring hinge there is the rope loop.

The post box in the barn end across the road is quite modern as well as it is an 'Elizabeth Regina' model, although as she will become our longest reigning monarch on 9th September, her innings, so far, of 63 years covers a reasonable time span.  Opposite the barn is one of the hamlets 17 houses and if I had planned this post I might have taken a picture of it with the children playing outside but we were just strolling along the paths and byways in the summer sunshine.

I find the name of the hamlet, Haverbrack. interesting but wonder how it gets its name.  One idea is that it is from the Old English:- hafri  - which is a ridge of land sown with oats and brack - a piece of ground broken up for cultivation.  (Place names starting with Haver are common around here).

Perhaps this is the ridge once sown with oats as we look over the river towards Farleton Fell

To complete the bucolic scene there are some wonderfully large and mature trees.  On the other hand if one looks through the historic records after the Norman invasion of 1066 when land was being doled out to the French victors those granted here in 1087 went to one named Haverbrec.

An entry to ABC Wednesday, a journey through the alphabet, this week sojourning at H here

   

Over Hedge and Gate

Taking a break from munching on the sweet grass this cow wondered who was coming down the lane so took a look over the hedge.

Not too far away on a warm April day a farm gate was the perfect place to lean and contemplate the distant hills.

It may not be a case of anyone looking over this gate but perhaps something with a zig zag pattern slithering underneath. When the wooden gate leading onto this woodland path gently rotted away and became more difficult to open and shut it was replaced by this new one. What amused me was the installer opted to use the old notice that was attached to the old gate

Obviously he considered it had not outlived its useful life.

An entry to ABC Wednesday, a journey through the alphabet, this week sojourning at O here   

Aye Eye

I thought I would rest the London Eye on the Shell Building for this photograph and handily for an ABC Wednesday letter E its branding at the moment is the EDF Energy London Eye.  135 metres high its 30 minute whirl  is a popular destination.  The Shell Building is clad in Portland Stone which has meant that it has weathered better than other high rises built in 1961. London's new year countdown is projected onto the tower.   While taking this photograph I was stood on the Victoria Embankment

where an eagle flies.  Perhaps it may soar away north to York where

 the Euston railway station gates have made the journey.  Here at the National Railway Museum it is a popular resting area, maybe the essence of railway entrances lingers as a meeting place.  I wondered where they were on the original station and found this photograph from the 1950s

and they can be glimpsed by the columns. Euston was the world's first capital terminal and to mark the opening in 1837 this 70 feet high entrance was constructed of Portland Stone as a scaled up replica of a Doric Portico such as might have been seen in ancient Greece, but on a colossal scale.  Demolished in the 1960s when a lot of Victorian London was lost it was replaced by what has been described as "mundane modernism" and the dark uninviting station it is today. The Victorians also built outside the station four small lodges in matching Portland Stone for parcel collection and two of them survive but cast adrift with no purpose

I had no idea of their original use and took this photo only because of the interesting list of northern towns, one of which I sometimes change at to take the train down to London. Now knowing the original purpose I realise these are the names of the towns served by the railway.  The only other reminder of the old stations is

the reimagining of the Doric Arch on Euston's pub sign.  

An entry to ABC Wednesday - a journey through the alphabet

ABC Wednesday - Gateway

The gateway to the Kirkby Stephen Parish Church, whose byname is the Cathedral of the Dales. A sturdy, small and pretty church, the gateway was built in 1810 with money from the will of John Waller a former resident and leads through the cloisters to the entrance of the church which stands on an old Saxon site. One of the things the church is famous for is its possession of a Viking carving called

the Loki Stone. It features the horned figure of Loki who from Viking stories was sometimes on the side of the gods and sometimes he plagued them for he was a trickster.  At the end he went too far and killed the son of Odin, the result, eternal punishment, which is why this stone shows him bound. And just to add that little bit of detail is is with the entrails of one of his sons.  A serpent drips poison, which his wife collected in a bowl. When the bowl is full she had to pour it out and the poison then dripped on Loki, his pain as he writhes and cries out in pain causes earthquakes. Gosh I feel like a walk to clear my head after that thought.

maybe through this gate on a path lined with gorse. Or perhaps a walk in a country garden

 Tatton Park

with a cool archways of trees. On second thoughts although today has been spring like, no shade required yet,

the gritters are out again tonight.  Only for ice, all our snow has gone.  Wooden gates need a bit of upkeep

 Lancaster near the River Lune

not this one, the building is due for conversion into flats or redevelopment. Sometimes things have gone too far

when lichen and rain have worn away its purpose. Standing propped against the wall is its replacement.

Go to ABC Wednesday where there will be lots more words starting with the letter G