Casting Off for France

No posts for a couple of weeks as I will be heading for the M6 down country. Hopefully not in the above direction, as that is going north (note to self, must remember to turn right). I used to travel from Junction 36 up to Carlisle a lot in a previous job. If it is possible to have a nice section of the motorway, this is it, not too busy and good views. On a sunny day with some good music it is quite relaxing, (or perhaps that was because I had escaped from the office). Maybe spotting a walker making their way up hill going over the highest point of Shap and the odd buzzard hovering in the sky would lift the heart. The distant hill in the photo is before you get to Shap and is part of the Howgills which spans the Cumbria and Yorkshire borders. Until the weather of July and August turned into a deluge, we had great plans for doing a lot of walking in this area for a change, maybe next year.
That's next year, but for now I am looking forward to the ferry casting off from Portsmouth to set sail for France, yippee, (I'm cheating a bit with this photo as it was taken as we left Tynemouth a couple of years ago). I love arriving on islands and countries by boat.

ABC Wednesday - L

L is for Lighthouse

To start with the youngest of our trio above is the Tynemouth lighthouse and pier built in 1903. The ferries pass here on their way to Scandinavia and continental Europe. Tynemouth is a historic town and resort at the mouth of the River Tyne. The pier is closed in stormy weather

Next comes the Chanory Point lighthouse (the white building in the distance built in 1846) on the Black Isle in Scotland. This is on a narrow spit on the Morray Firth where the tide sluices through the narrows. The point is a popular place for dolphin watchers and the colony of bottle-nose dolphins are the most northerly in Europe. It is also a good spot to watch porpoises and seals.

Now you may think that lighthouses mark dangerous places and hazards but here is one (just to the left of the cherry trees) that is well inland and has never flashed a light although it is lit up at night with spotlights.
This is the Sir John Barrow monument built in 1850 to commemorate Ulverston's famous son who was the 2nd secretary to the Admiralty. It is based on the John Smeaton designed Eddystone Lighthouse of 1759.
The hill is called Hoad (436 ft) so it is generally known as the Hoad Monument or the 'pepper pot'. The monument is 100 foot high and there are is a 112 step spiral staircase inside leading to magnificent views at the top to the sea and mountains.
Unfortunately it is no longer open as it is in need of repair (see the cracks below) however money is being raised to bring it back to its original state.
Hoad Hill is a popular walk but it will be busy this Easter week-end because this is where the children will be rolling their Pasch Eggs on Easter Monday. These are eggs hard boiled with onions skins and various other things to colour them although sometimes today they are painted. The aim is to roll yours the furthest without cracking it. The dialect word is Pace Eggs which is which is derived from Pasch meaning easter or passover and is supposed to symbolise the stone being rolled from Jesus's tomb although it may come from an earlier Celtic tradition.

There is an old Lancashire superstition that the empty pace eggs must be crushed because they can be used by witches as boats! Well it must be boring always being on broomsticks.

For Lots more Ls go to Mrs Nesbitts ABC Wednesday