It is amazing wandering around York and seeing all the medieval old shops and churches. It’s quite staggering they remain standing, some of their walls are so wonky, I guess there’s an invisible army of restoration people who manage the upkeep of them.
St. Sampsons Centre for the over 60’s. St. Sampson’s is an ancient church in the heart of York City Centre. It’s not know exactly when it was built, records show that it was in use in 1154 A.D. It is built on the South-east wall of the Roman defences of Eboracum (the Roman name for York). The Church has been rebuilt many times over it’s 850 year history. The North and South Isles were rebuilt in 1400 and 1445 respectively. The tower was first rebuilt in 1485 but was damaged by gunshot in the civil war in 1644. By 1844 the church building was so dilapidated that the church was forced to close. Only half the tower was intact! The church was most recently rebuilt in 1848 and later the upper stage of the tower was added in 1907. York Civic Trust was able to arrange for its conversion in to an Old People’s Centre in the 1960’s. Over 60’s = old people. Sigh.
Gert & Henry’s. The older part of the building was constructed in the 14th-century, at the end of Jubbergate, where it met Newgate and Little Shambles. This part is of two bays, timber framed, a jettied upper floor, and brick infill on the ground floor. In the early-17th century, another timber-framed building was constructed next to it, in two parts: a two bay, two storied section with an original attic and cellar, and a smaller three storey section. Over time, the two have become interconnected and are now a single property. Sadly it is the only remaining 14thC building in that area as the rest were demolished in the 1950’s along with the whole street of Little Shambles in order to make Shambles Market. Now of course the demolition of the historic buildings that originally stood in the place of the market is seen as insensitive, since a great deal of historic fabric was destroyed.
The Little Shambles Tearoom and coffee house. Can’t find anything about this one.
Herbert House. In the mid-16th century, the Company of Merchant Adventurers of York owned a house on Marketshire, a street which was becoming known as Pavement. They let out the house to Christopher Herbert, a merchant who later became Lord Mayor of York. He purchased the property in 1557, and later passed it on to his son, Thomas. In 1606, Thomas’ grandson was born in the house. He later became Sir Thomas Herbert, 1st Baronet, and the house is now named after him. The house has been through a lot of alteration and renovations. When we were there it was operated by Jones the Bootmaker but since 2019, it has been occupied by York Gin. You can see the buildings either side of it are more modern, and straight and true, not sure how it’s not collapsing in on itself.
Externally of 1893 when the black-and-white front was added but early 1700’s origins inside. This one you might think is a sad reflection on our times, but our ancestors gambled just as much as people do today. There were many different sorts of dice games. Among the favorites were raffle, where the winner had to throw all three dice alike or the highest pair, and hazard, which seems to have been aptly named because it had the worst reputation. It was most often played in taverns, and it attracted cheaters, who if caught could be led to the pillory and made to wear their false dice around their necks. And in my searches have also found out medieval recipes cover a wide range of possible pastry uses, from wide, flat open tarts to the great raised meat and fruit pies with a pastry lid. “Flat tarts and flans may well have been meant for complete consumption, cut in slices in very much the modern fashion,the more substantial pies, on the other hand, often have a fairly liquid filling, and it is perfectly possible that the pies were designed to have the lid lifted so that diners could spoon out the stew-like innards. In addition, elaborate subtleties such as Chastletes require free-standing pastry as castle walls, to which use a tender pastry will not really be appropriate”. So all in all I think Betfred and Greggs are strangely appropriate.
30 and 32 Goodramgate lies on the corner of Goodramgate and College Street. The part facing College Street was constructed in the early-14th century, while the part facing Goodramgate was constructed in the 1380s or 1390s as part of a terrace of houses, replacing a large stone house which belonged to John le Romeyn. The structure also includes a gatehouse which is believed to represent an entrance to the Mediaeval Minster Close, but which was completely rebuilt about 1600. The main parts of the building were altered in the 18th- and 19th-centuries, when much of the timber was replaced with brickwork. By 1752, part of the building was in use as the Angel Inn. The Goodramgate façade is of 2 stories and 4 bays, and includes a double-storey gatehouse built in the 18th-century. The ground floor of the entire building is currently in use as shops and cafes, with part occupied by the National Trust. It was listed at grade II* in 1954.
The gates of York are known as ‘bars’ this is Monk Bar, it is the largest and most ornate of the bars, it dates from the early 14th century. It was a self-contained fortress, with each floor capable of being defended. On the front of the bar is an arch supporting a gallery, including ‘murder-holes’ through which missiles and boiling water could be rained down upon attackers. A formidable structure even now.
Not sure what this building was, but we were just awestruck by the skill of the guy who made the window frames for this place.
St William’s College was built in 1465 for York Minster’s Chantry Priests, a community of around 24, known as fellows, who received advance payments for praying for the souls of their deceased benefactors. The fellows’ behaviour, which often included drunkenness, had previously brought embarrassment for the Archbishop of York and he deemed they should have their own residence. Over the centuries the building changed ownership and usage many times; it became home to the Royal Printing Press during the Civil War, a private house – having several changes and rebuilds, windows were added to the street frontage in the 1800s and finally the beautiful medieval building contained nothing more than slum dwellings resulting in its disrepair. In the late 19th century Francis Green, owner of the nearby Treasurer’s House,(which you’re going to get a whole blog post on) rescued St William’s from ruin, buying it and subsequently selling it back to the City Council at no personal profit thereby allowing the council to restore it to its former glory around 1902. It then came under the care of the Dean and Chapter of York Minster.
And finally, here is Phil looking at the menu in this 17th century inn, which Phil had been to before and rated really good, so we were planning on dining here, but the place has changed hands, and the menu didn’t impress Phil, so I never got to dine in a medieval building. Next time though 🙂 The building was a pub by 1772, when it was known as the Blue Pigg. It later became known as the Blue Boar, and has been the Royal Oak since 1819. From 1894, it was owned by the local John J. Hunt Brewery, while in the mid-20th century, it was acquired by Camerons Brewery.
As I mentioned in PART 1 the priory was home to the De Brus family cenotaph. That has since been removed and placed in St.Nicholas Church just by the priory. After we’d been around the priory Sophie and I toddled off to the church and were hugely disappointed to find that it was closed. I think that’s a first for us, so far all our church visits have had open doors. I suppose that’s because they’re mostly rural, so no-one around much whereas St. Nicholas is in a town. So we decided instead to go to lunch and I took a few pictures on our walk to the café.
This early 18th century building was a hotel called The Buck (hence the deer on top of it’s porch) before the Solicitors moved in.
The Buck
Formed in 1849 The Zetland Masonic Lodge is still going strong today. I was never sure what Freemasons are all about but learnt a fair bit from Fred and Barney 🤣
Zetland Masonic Lodge
Smokin’ Joe’s cocktail bar only opens at 4pm sadly, or I’d have been in like Flynn.
Smokin!
We had lunch outside by what I think was a rivulet coming out from under the road and going through a channel next to a footpath, I should have taken a picture but it was a bit grim, and after a nifty panini and cappuccino went back to the car to head for the Owl Center . As I drove down the road past the church I noticed the front door was open. Luckily there were a couple of parking spaces right by the church so I quickly parked up and Sophie and I hot footed it to the church. We met a chap inside and found out he was an electrician fixing something and the church wasn’t really open. I gave him the googly sad eyes thing and explained we’d come a long way to see the cenotaph and he said we could stay a little bit to photograph it. Which was cool, but we didn’t have time to explore the church.
The De Brus Cenotaph was possibly erected by Margaret Tudor, the Queen of Scotland, to mark the 400th anniversary of the foundation of Gisborough Priory. It was erected inside the priory church in memory of the De Brus family of Annandale and Skelton. Made of marble quarried at Egglestone, it takes the form of a Renaissance altar table, with exquisitely carved sides.
The north face of the cenotaph is carved with five figures of De Brus family members from Skelton, separated by the Four Doctors from the Bible; Jerome, Gregory, Ambrose, and Augustine. In spite of a childhood where Sundays were church~school days, I can’t remember ever hearing of the four doctors. I think maybe they were Catholics and we didn’t do them. So I’ve looked them up and in early Western christianity they were not Doctors of medicine or surgery, but rather great teachers of faith. (Edit:- the Doctors were not in the bible -thanks April- so that’s why I don’t remember them!)
North
The south face shows five de Brus family members of Annandale, separated by the Four evangelists; Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. I do remember them, just about.
South
The east end shows a prior with kneeling canons. The west end has been damaged, and I couldn’t get round to photogrpah it, but historians think it may have depicted a king, possibly King Robert Bruce of Scotland.
East
On the floor next to the cenotaph is a collection of medieval mosaic floor tiles found in the grounds of Guisborough Priory.
And that is the end of our day out in Guisborough. Stay tooned for wherever we go next!
(photographs taken in Guisborough with my Contax Aria loaded with Portra 400, photographs in the church taken with my fuji XT2.)
I took Phil and my iphone with me on my daily stay alive walk, and used the hipstamatic app, which is about the only photography thingy I have on my phone other than it’s inbuilt camera. Can’t wait for Sophie to get back and us to start up our outings again!
Here we go then!
Just outside our house on the drive
Lord Vincent
at the end of our drive are some unruly rose bushes, at least I think they’re roses,
maybe roses
round the corner and back on ourselves, up the pedestrian path and we found blackberry bushes growing amongst the trees by our fence.
jam!
The path that leads to the common has really grown over since last I was here, in summer last year. I used to be able to see to the end of this bit of path.
foliaged
Not sure what little flowers these are, they were all over the wilderness part of the common.
pink flowers
The common is actually marshland, and half of it has been left to go wild, and the other bit has a nicely mown large lawn about the size of a tennis court, maybe a bit bigger, where kids can play footy, and people train their dogs to fetch. In the marshy bit there are 2 ponds which serve the wildlife and birds, but even though we’ve had 2 days of heavy rain last week, the ponds have gone down the road of drought.
pond life
the oak that a few of you might remember, well Pete will anyway 😊, is still going strong, all alone in the ridge between the ponds-that-were.
The Wardley Oak
after the common we got to a path that used to be a road
5
and then we walked back home through the estate. The buildings here are a small busness kind of estate, mostly car fixers and pimpers.
MOT stations
This is the long road that cuts through the middle of this estate, from the metro station and out towards the A1 or A19. The trees are lovely.
This is one of the houses we walk past on the way back and I love the giant cactus in the porch, it’s been there a long time, and whoever lives there decorates it at christmas 🤣.
Cactus – house.
A random flower poking out of someone’s fence, think it’s a honeysuckle but could be wrong.
I like the shared creeper here, I’m thinking it’s liking No.32 best.
32 for the win!
this is the last one, just before we turn into our bit, beyond the trees.
So that’s it, stay tooned in case I do something interesting for next time!
Abbreviations you may come across during this post. AFAC~ airy fairy abstract concept. AAFP ~ annoying as F-bomb prompt. CBBP ~ completely bloody barking prompt.
This week has been all about ‘motion’. I haven’t been that successful, and have frozen motion rather than blurred it as blurring usually requires a tripod, slow shutter speed and specialised filters which I haven’t got. Anyway, on with the show!
Day 248 ~ Stream. ~ We will stretch ourselves with new skills and revisit some old ones. Photographing motion can be tricky but, with the right shutter speed and a little patience, it can also be FUN! Adding motion to your image can help tell the story, convey an emotion, or even set the overall mood. Water makes a great subject to practice shutter speeds from streams to streaming water! Tips: Faster shutter speeds will freeze the action and capture the details. Use a SS of 1/250 or higher. With slower shutter speeds, movement is captured as a blur – SS of 1/60 or lower.
Water sounded a bit boring to me.
stream
Day 249 ~ Fowl. Don’t let this word limit you. When I searched what the actual definition of fowl is I found this: “A bird, such as a chicken, duck, or dove that is raised or hunted for food. Or in scientific usage, any of various birds having large heavy bodies, short wings, and legs built for running and scratching the ground. Most fowl nest on the ground. The turkey, pheasant, quail, grouse, partridge, and chicken are fowl.” I am lucky to live near many lakes, rivers, and ponds and all throughout the year we have no shortage of fowl that can be seen on or near them. See if you can find one of these feathered friends in motion today. You may be surprised by how many you see once you consciously watch for them!
Well what an AAFP! What if you don’t live near lakes, rivers and ponds?? What if you’re at work all day, then cooking dinner for visiting family members and don’t have time to get to a lake??? Are all these prompt ladies retired or living off their husband’s salaries?? There was no chance I was going to find a duck swimming about on the streets of Wardley. However, it didn’t stop me photographing a ‘fowl’. Crispy aromatic duck served with pancakes, spring onions, cucumber and hoisin sauce. And yes, it was delicioso!
fowl
Day 250 ~ Space ~ I used space to help show movement in this photo. I have space in front of the vehicle so that there is room in the photo for it to travel. I used a technique called panning in attempt to capture the movement. For the perfect panning photo, use a shutter speed between 1/30 and 1/125s. The faster the subject is moving, the higher your shutter speed needs to be. Focus on your moving subject and pan your camera from side to side in tandem with the object as it moves through the frame. This will cause blur in the background giving the illusion of movement. Panning is a lot of fun, give it shot!
And another AAFP. Actually panning is not a lot of fun when you’ve been at work all day, had your dinner, then have 1/2hr to get your shot and you’re rubbish at panning. Phil didn’t fancy driving up and down our street, so we tried with a toy car that rolls forward if you pull the wheels back. I had about 50 goes before Phil headed for the whisky bottle, but it was no good as you’re supposed to have space for it to enter, not space that it’s left! So I sat upstairs looking out of the bedroom window with my pap lens on the camera, and managed to pan a magpie flying across the sky and out into space. It’s not great but it fits the prompt. Just. Not winning at panning.
space
Day 251 ~ prompt free. ~ Prompt Free Days often bring to mind the saying, “The grass is always greener on the other side.” Some days, we feel restricted by the prompt, but on other days, no specific prompt makes us feel lost by having no point of departure. Think about these prompt free days as a check-in as to how this project is changing you. What do you notice that you would have overlooked previously? What small moments in you day now feel bigger and call to be documented? Today is a blank canvas for which all of the other prompts have prepared you. Keep your eyes open and have fun!
When I got home from work and parked the car, I noticed a giant spider and web across 2 of the bushes opposite our house and thought that’d be a good one if I can get the spider to move. Didn’t go quite as planned, although he was travelling his web the slow shutter speed photo’s were a bit of a mess so I froze the action instead. That little black blob on the left is his aim, a nice juicy morsel. Anyway as I was shooting Vinnie came out and nudged the bush, which made the web wobble, which made Spidey shoot off like a bat out of hell and that made me do the same!
prompt free~ motion ~ Spidey
Day 252~ Animated. ~ The dictionary definition for animated is “full of life or excitement; lively.” Based on this definition, nothing says animated more than a two year old…and even more so when he is being chased by his auntie! Animation is not contained only in motion, but also in facial expressions and the “mood” conveyed by an image. Today’s photo should be full of excitement. Your subject may be a child; but it might also be a pet, another adult, wildlife…or some other creative subject that you might conjure up. Whatever you choose, show us a photo that is full of life!
Well this is a bit of a failure- ‘today’s photo should be full of excitement’, I don’t have kids to hand, or excitable dogs/deer/ etc. Winnie is definitely animated and excited, but not until about 9.30pm when it’s dark outside and she can leap about like a loony chasing moths. Lord Vincent is not really animated or excited about much at all, but he does love to rolly polly on the patio when the sun is out and will roll over several times and have his belly tickled too. Might not be exciting to anyone else but it is to us.
animated
Day 253 ~ Underneath. ~ How do you like to show motion? Knowing the best shutter speed is important. Remember that slow shutter speeds cause blur and fast shutter speeds stop the motion. I tend to go for a fast shutter speed, and to stop the motion. Standing underneath my brother in law as he takes a swing on the rope that we found on our walk, I managed to get a great angle to show his enjoyment. What will you find to photograph from underneath?
AAFP the third. I don’t really go about ‘showing motion’. I’m not a sports photographer or one to be shooting motor vehicles. Sigh. If I’m photographing birds or cats I stop the motion, if I can. I took my iPhone with me on a walk this morning but the only thing I could think to shoot was the stormy clouds above me.
underneath
Day 254 ~ Discovery. ~ Capturing wildlife on camera can be difficult. They are constantly in motion and you have to be quick! My little buddy was scurrying about quite ferociously and begging me for peanuts. When he discovered the cache I had left, I managed to capture him in motion munching on his treats. His little body was either trembling in anticipation for his tasty snack or because another squirrel was running about and threatening to take it from him. (I am in the habit of causing “squirrel wars” with my peanut snacks!) In order to capture wildlife in action it is best to use a high shutter speed and multiple high speed shots!
Ah Mrs.Cocktail ~ Dress, let me down with an AFAC. Why didn’t you just call it ‘wildlife’? Do all the prompt ladies live in the Great American Outback, where the deer and the buffalo roam?? There’s precious little wildlife in urban Gateshead I have to say, other than dicky birds, and I’ve done a couple of those in other prompts. Luckily 10 minutes driving brings me to the Washington Wetland Centre where they have some Asian Shortclawed Otters, so Phil and I went off for a mini-outing and we got to see them swimming about. This one discovered a fish in the water, I think the keepers throw some dead ones in while the otters are asleep for them to discover when they get up. Anyway the blighters move so fast and even with a fast shutter speed I had a lot of misses. This one isn’t quite as sharp as I’d like but it fits the ‘discovery’ bit.
discovery
So another week done, and ‘motion’ is over. Not quite as onerous as double-exposure week was, but still a bit of a struggle. As usual I’ve learned some stuff, and I’m adding doing otter photography to my practice, I’d like to get some good ‘motion’ shots of them. Onwards then dear reader, onwards to the sodding selfie week. Deep joy. 🥴
This week we are back to the sodding selfie challenges, which as you know by now, is my bête noire, and this week has been no different. I haven’t even got annoyed with it all, just slogged through, fed up. I think also the incessant cold temperatures, grey skies and rain have taken it’s toll, it’s end of May FFS, it should be a bit warm at least, and I just felt like hunkering down, reading books, and wasn’t inspired to do photography. But I committed to myself to do the year, and stopping now would harm my doggedness! Anyways, on to the pictures, slim pickings though this week, sorry. The extra theme to this week’s selfiefest, is ‘skills’. I don’t actually have skills, superpowers would be more appropriate, but I can take a step down the ladder for this. 😜
Day 143~ versatile. ~ It is PICTURE YOU Week and that means it is all about you. This week we are celebrating and featuring our skills! Skill :-
a) : the ability to use one’s knowledge effectively and readily in execution or performance
b) : dexterity or coordination especially in the execution of learned physical tasks
c) : a learned power of doing something competently: a developed aptitude or ability
I don’t know about you but I do a variety of activities (none of them that well) and therefore have acquired a skill or two along the way. I am quite versatile in the number of physical activities I do…cross country and alpine skiing, water skiing, kayaking, cycling, swimming, backpacking, running, and snowshoeing. For me, versatility is the spice of life! I like changing things up and keeping things fun! Show us a skill or two that you have! Even better, show us a picture of yourself multitasking!
Sigh. I am not so versatile as all that, and this lady’s picture was of herself jumping high in another cocktail dress + red stilettos which I greatly admired as I would kill myself on landing if I tried that. Not that I have a cocktail dress, and my stilettos are consigned to the back of the wardrobe. So I figured my photography is quite versatile as I shoot film, instant and digital.
versatile
Day 144 ~ work. ~ I enjoy strolling the beach looking for treasures. It takes a bit of skill to know where to look and it can also sometimes be hard work… especially if you’re in a race against the incoming tide. I can be a picky sheller so only a select few make it back home with me. I’m always on the hunt for my favorites – sharks eye, baby ears, and conch shells.Is there something you enjoy that also takes a bit of work? maybe it’s a hobby or activity? Give us a glimpse of it today!
Yes I like beachcombing too, and other stuff, but today I was actually AT work, the paid kind. Of course I can’t do photography there, but I do check Phil’s ears on a regular basis so figured that’s a fair representation of ‘work’.
work
Day 145 ~ pleasure. ~ I may not look like I am finding much pleasure while pruning my spider plant, but I really am. I have to keep it pruned in order for it to stay a reasonable size because it comes in every winter and I just have no space for a larger pot. I am excited to get it back outside now that the days/nights are warm enough. It thrives going in and out each year and I take much pleasure knowing that I have been successful at keeping it alive. I do not have a natural green thumb so I am thankful that it’s such a hearty plant. What is something that you take pleasure in doing? Show us what it is!
To be honest, most of the things that I take pleasure in I’ve already photographed in previous selfie weeks, but I took the cue from the lady and watered my flowers, which I love to see growing. (It was raining at the time! 🤣)
pleasure
Day 146 ~ 5 o’ clock. ~ What is happening in your life at 5 o’clock? Is it the end of your work day? Your work out time? Dinner time? Family time? Or something else altogether? Maybe, 5 o’clock in the morning is more your thing! Whatever 5 o’clock you go with, show off a bit and give us a glimpse into whatever mad skills you have!
5 0’clock in the morning??? 😳 Pfft! So at 5 o’clock pm I’m feeding Lord Vincent, though it’s not easy to get a shot when he is so intent on putting his head in the trough!
5 o’clock
Day 147 ~ engaging. ~ What a great word, one with so many interpretations! My first thoughts about engaging make me think about participating in some type of activity or becoming involved with some type of object such as a musical instrument. There is also the perspective of an engaging your personality. My granddaughter has a delightful laugh that is so engaging I want to hear it every day. Being an outdoor kind of gal, I prefer engaging in any outdoor activity that holds my interest. This is our favorite lake to go fishing and its not too far away. My husband is an avid fisherman and everything I know about fishing I have learned from him. Sometimes I wonder if catching fish is skill or luck!Show us what skill you have, that you are engaging in today.(Picture for the prompt is of me in a boat on Jackson Lake – with my fish, of course… heehee)
Today I was engaged in doing repairs to my mosaic dragonfly which I made to go on the outside of my shed studio. The weather forecast is promising fine weather for the weekend and Phil is going to revarnish it to keep it nice and protected from the North East winds we get and when he’s finished, it will join the butterfly I did a couple of years ago.
engaging
Day 148 ~ craving. ~ A craving is a longing or a desire for something. We often associate it with food, but we can have these feelings for almost anything. I crave calm and stillness…but most days both elude me. Maybe it’s all those other skills that we have celebrated this week that overpower this desire.We often think that portraits are about showcasing beauty and hiding imperfections. For me, the most powerful portraits illustrate realness and connection – connection to another person, a place, a thing…or yourself. Your face is not necessary to show this kind of connection. In this image, standing still in the greenhouse, a place that slows me down, tells the story of finding calm much better than seeing my face would have. What do you crave? Illustrate it in today’s self portrait.
this one was easiest of the lot! As I mentioned, May has been one long slog through pants weather, and we’ve been longing for sunshine and warm temperatures. Today the sun came out and it was lovely!
craving
Day 149 ~ splendid. ~ So where does my skill come into this photo, you may ask! These are alliums in my garden, which I planted years ago, and every year they pop up. Just so that I can take photos of them. The skill is choosing the fabulous bulbs to plant, deciding where to plant them, and then enjoying the pleasure of having them show up every May so that I can photograph them. What is splendid in your life that you have skilfully managed to grow, look after, or just admired!
This lady didn’t put herself in the picture at all! So naughty! Anyway I already photographed my flowers on day 145 but moved them around for this one. Every year (except last year obvs.) I go to the garden centre and choose some flowers to grow over spring and summer, not necessarily for photography purposes but just to look at and enjoy. Lots of cleaning out the old stuff from plant pots, planting the new stuff and making sure the snails can’t get at them. That’s what the copper strips are for around the pots, it keeps the slugs and snails away without killing them. They are looking quite splendid in the sun I think.
splendid
Thank fully that’s the last of the Sodding Selfie’s for now, until next month. So nice to have the sun at last, and we are planning a mini Bar-B-Q for ourselves later.
Stay tooned for our next adventure which will be ‘minimalism’.
For three days it rained non stop, right up to 11pm last night. Then we went to the kitchen about 11.30pm to make a cup of tea to take to bed and through the window we saw
Snow
It’s been a long time since we saw ‘proper’ snow and we ran to the conservatory and opened the door and stood watching, as big clumps of snowflakes floated to the ground, and stayed. It made us smile and wonder. The world was quiet all of a sudden, the traffic noises deadened in the whitening. I grabbed my phone to take some pictures, but it gives an other worldy orange filter to everything
So I took some from all our windows and converted them to black and white
We spent a long time watching it, and were glad that we could enjoy it and not have to go anywhere in the morning. But we got up this morning and it had gone. It left us as swiftly as it arrived, with only a vestige of it’s former self on the lawns and shed roofs. We sighed, our winter wonderland was a fleeting visitor, and I’m glad we didn’t miss it.
After lunch in the Biscuit Factory, we went off to see the Laing Art Gallery. On the way, we came across a little church hall
and as you can see from the sign on the right (which I completely missed in the photo!) had an art exhibition. Well, we came for art, so decided to do a detour and see what was going on. It turned out to be a one-woman exhibition by one of the church’s congregation.
and this was the artist
Sarah Ann Davies
Her arty bits were interesting, with lots of cut and folded canvasses
but I don’t think I’d have them on my wall. The artist lady was very nice and chatty so we wished her luck and went on our merry way.
We spotted a Lutheran Church for German-speaking Geordies
and back by the blue student accommodation, this time sneaking a peek in the windows
rainbow girl
There are a couple of furniture shops in the area.
😳 imagine waking up to all this bling!!!
Beds for children of insane parents. 🙂
Newcastle has its own version of Boris Bikes
and plenty of cafes
Channeling J.K.Rowling?
We went back over the flyover and spotted a breakdown
Not the best place to park.
and we peeked through the bars of the graffiti building corridor which is my featured image at the top of the post.
Wasted
The New Bridge Hotel nearby. Probably not a 4 star 🙂
Grim up north.
and then we got to the Laing gallery, but that can wait for the next post, so stay tooned for that!
Back in January Sophie and I decided to visit a couple of the art galleries in Newcastle, The Biscuit Factory – the biggest commercial art, craft and design gallery in the UK, and The Laing, home to an internationally important collection of art, focusing on British oil paintings, watercolours, ceramics, silver, and glassware.
But before we get to the galleries, we must get off the metro at Central station and walk to Ouseburn, there’s plenty of photo ops along the way. We get to the crossing over the central motorway, and before the crossing, we see The Oxford.
£134 per week.
Surrounded
The Oxford Galleries dance hall on Newcastle’s New Bridge Street opened in 1925 and was one of the most popular venues of its time. Over the years it went through many reincarnations and was known to generations of dancers and partygoers as Tiffany’s, Ikon, Ritzy’s and Liquid Envy. In 2017, the building was converted into student accommodation with only its listed frontage remaining. There’s progress for you.
Looking back when crossing the motorway we see
Dereliction
am not sure but think this used to be a Premier Inn.
Over the motorway crossing, we can see the reason for so much student accommodation,
Northumberland University – City Campus East
City Campus East, designed by Atkins, opened in September 2007, winning awards from The Journal newspaper and the Low Carbon New Build Project of the Year accolade. It t is home to the Schools of Law, Design and the Newcastle Business School.
There’s a saying in England- “It’s grim up North”…
Under the flyover
As we walked past the college we realised there was a football match imminent.
Jolly Boys
There are a fair few historic buildings in this area of the Toon (as Newcastle is called by natives)
The Dispensary was established in April 1777 and funded through subscriptions, gifts and legacies. Its first site was in The Side but in 1782 or 1783 it moved to Pilgrim Street where it remained until 1790. For the next fifty years, the Trustees leased a building in Low Friar Chare. At the expiry of the lease, the Dispensary moved to 14 Nelson Street, where it remained until 1928. Its final move was to 115 New Bridge Street which was still its home when it finally closed in 1976. Now a Chinese store.
Public Washery
This former municipal washhouse and baths are located on the corner of Gibson Street and New Bridge Street in Newcastle. It was built in 1907 and designed by F H Halford. The baths had separate men’s and women’s entrances and are notable for its ornate tiles. The baths were closed in 1965 after which the pool was boarded over, and sometimes used as a badminton court. During the Second World War, the pool was used by the Fire Service as a reservoir, for water used to put out fires caused by air raids. The former baths are a Grade II listed building. I would love to go in as I’ve seen pictures of the inside, the tiles are gorgeous, but the council is trying to sell it off so it’s unobtainable for now.
next to it is St.Dominic’s Priory.
A Roman Catholic church, by Dunn and Hansom, it has a foundation stone dated 1887 and is a Grade II listed building.
Back over the road where there is more rather gaudy student accommodation
It’s not easy being green
Got the blues
we saw a student at the window 🙂
Maggie
and finally, we get to the Biscuit Factory
The gallery’s home is a former Victorian warehouse, constructed in 1870. Prior to 2002, the Building was used in the manufacturing of biscuits. Surprise surprise!
But that’s enough for today, stay tooned for next time when we will go and see the beautiful artworks and craftworks the gallery holds.
Leaving history behind more or less, we had a wander around the modern (ish) town centre, though that still had a lot of tudor buildings around the square. Some random shots were taken along the way.
Waiting patiently
No photo’s please.
Cool name
Phil got to re-visit his boyhood.
Shop assistant
Sir Clankalot and me.
swan shop
Frida and a pink flamingo
Shoe sale
and who wouldn’t want a full size zebra!!?? (Phil wouldn’t let me )
This would be great in my shed!
I think that will do for now. All the photos are embiggenable if you click on them to see them better.
The Guildhall was used by the Freemen of Newcastle. The origins of the Freemen are obscure, but the modern view is the possibility that the origins are partly Anglo-Saxon but also partly British and partly Roman. There were, broadly speaking three classes of people – nobles, free men and slaves. The free men were a middle class, comprised of those who were permitted and obliged to carry arms. .Free men were the inhabitants of Burghs, communities which had gradually come together for purposes of mutual defence. They were without overlords and cultivated the arable & common land and also established the customary rules that regulated their own dealings and their local justice. They paid their taxes and dues direct to the King. These rules were administered by the community in their Moot or Assembly. King John, by Charter, granted Newcastle to the Freemen at an annual payment of £100 which appeared until quite recently in the City’s annual accounts. This Charter and its successors were repeatedly confirmed by successive Sovereigns who granted many further privileges to the Freemen.
About the end of the 12th century the leading Freemen combined together in a Guild known as the Guild Merchant, which was granted a Charter in 1216, for the purpose of controlling the trade of the town. This Guild soon obtained control of the town’s affairs. Other merchant guilds of Drapers (wool merchants), Mercers and Boothmen (corn merchants) were formed during the 13th century but these were later absorbed into the Merchant Adventurers who claimed to be the original Merchant Guild.
The different guilds coats of arms are all displayed around the Guildhall.
The Mayors Parlour is where the Freemen held their council meetings, and apart from having wonky walls and floor, is quite spectacular.
These old paintings of C17 Newcastle have unfortunately have been ‘restored’ by a madman, who basically painted over them 🙄 god knows what this next one on the right is all about.
After we’d finished at the Guildhall, Sophie and I had a wander down the Quayside, and took a few more pictures, and were treated to a great sunset.
A couple of weeks ago, when it wasn’t rain, Sophie and I embarked on one of the river cruises which set off from the Quayside in Newcastle. There are 2 choices, you can go Quay to sea, a 3 hour trip to the piers at the river mouth, or Quay to countryside, a 2 hour trip going under 11 bridges, as far as Ryton Willows, which is the one we took.
More information on the Freemen at 
fraggle ~ rocking a camera across the Universe 
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