Rock Art Hunt - St John Lee, Corbridge Roman Site and Wallington

Yesterday we ventured out to find three pieces of Rock Art in three very different and unusual settings.

The first was to be found just inside the door of the parish church of St. John of Beverley, St. John Lee, near Hexham in Northumberland. The church is easy to find, just off the roundabout on the main A69 road.

The outside of the church is quite plain and Victorian in style, although its origins are in the 14th century. There are some carved gargoyles, a war memorial, and pretty standardised gravestones towards the front. So far, so normal. Inside however, the ceiling has some impressive wooden carved features and its obvious that there has been some serious money poured into it over the last 150 years. One of the most interesting things to me was the marble-carved tomb of a dead Great War soldier, his head lying on a saddle and his hat at his feet. The stained glass windows were OK, again mostly dedicated as memorials, from the Victorian era to the 1940's. I learned all about hatchments, heraldic wooden plaques made in memory of the dead, while waiting patiently for B to take photographs of the rock art!

Outside, we explored the churchyard in search of possible older gravestones, because there must be some if the place is so much older than the architecture... sure enough, I quickly found some old 18th century gravestones, placed against the wall of the church; probably unlikely to be in their original position. My eye was drawn to one for Robert Forester, complete with winged and wigged angel. The graveyard was quite overgrown and my explorations were hampered by possible bare ankle / nettle contact!

Then - bingo! "Memento Mori" (Remember you must die) - a gorgeous stone with skull and crossbones (the skull had a tooth missing)- I set B on the case immediately with tripod and flash to get the best from it. The other side of the stone was carved with wonderful 18thC lettering, as follows:

In memory
of Robert dixon
who died the 26th
may 1761 aged 32
Confide not reader in thy
youth or strength
But more than both thy
present moment prize
Graves here surround the
of each breadth and length
And thou may be perhaps
the next that dies

I loved this!

There was quite a few more similar-aged stones, most had the angel (with various hairstyles) and sometimes egg-timers, snakes eating their own tails, bones and books - all symbols of course representing either everlasting life, or death.

After we left here we drove the short distance to Corbridge Roman site - again just off the A69/A68 and well sign-posted (as with all things Roman around here). We flashed our English Heritage members cards and onwards, to find the Rock Art boulder sat on a wall here.

The site is quite impressive - bigger than I was expecting. The squared grid layout undulates pleasantly, thanks to subsidence into an earlier fort! (I thought this may have been iron-aged but apparently it was a turfed Roman affair). Again, B took pics of the single rock while I wandered about.

The weather was starting too a little bit ropey and during our drive to Wallington, the were a few spits but nothing to get wet about. We'd been to Wallington before, a couple of years ago before I started this blog.

We had a poke about the farm shop and had a cuppa and scone, then headed down to the walled garden. The interior of the house will have to wait to another visit; we'd been before and it would be closed by the time we got back up hill anyway.

We followed the path down the eastern side of the site, across the stepping stones and past the fat couple fondling on the riverbank, up through the trees and back towards the road. The bridge was our target - there is a small "portable" rock art boulder concreted into the inside of the bridge's legs - rendering it not portable anymore. We missed it the first time so crossed over and no it wasn't there - started to panic but found it when returning to the first, southern side of the river.

B took some pics while I listened to the cars honking their various horns (there's a roadsign which commands it!) and watched a strange bob-tailed yellow-blobbed bird pecking amongst the reeds (since identified as a grey wagtail)

Then, back up the hill to the car, stopping to take pics of the Griffin Heads (it's the law).

On the way home, saw a hot air balloon taking off at Chollerford, before following the Hadrian's Wall route towards home.

B's photos of St Johns Lee on Flickr

Overhead view of St Johns Lee on googlemaps

St John's Lee Rock Art on themodernantiquarian

Beckinsall Archive details for St John Lee Rock Art

St John Lee website

Corbridge Roman Site overhead view on googlemaps

Corbridge Roman Site on English Heritage site

Wallington overhead view on googlemaps

Wallington National Trust site


St Johns Lee:




















Corbridge Roman Site:






Wallington:

Space chasing - wooooooo

Last night, I had a tip-off about the overhead pass of the space station and shuttle, at about 10.30 pm.

I stood out in the back garden with a compass ("they" said it should be seen moving west to east at about 77 degrees), wondering if I would be able to see anything in the still-a-bit-light sky, and with the orange streetlights glaring. The sky was incredibly clear though, amazing considering our pathetic summer weather.

After a while in the back garden, I realised that the house was in the way - doh! So I went to the front and stood leaning against the front of the house, watching the skies.

(Was that it? No it's flashing and slow, it's a plane. They said it would only take at most 7 minutes to totally cross the sky so it'll be quite fast. )

Then, wow! A bright light, like someone running across the sky with a torch! No flickering, coming from the south west and not too high up to have to crane my neck. I shouted for B but he was unimpressed and obviously immersed in something more fascinating and rare (!)

The first, brighter object was the Space Station. B made it downstairs for the last few moments of it's passby. Then, when I was alone again, another light appeared, in the same pathway... meanwhile B had phoned his Dad, who was now outside in Dumfries watching it!

I tried to watch through my little binoculars but 1. they were too crappy (no surprise) and 2. these things really scoot, so I couldn't follow it quick enough!

Weeeeeeeee!

It was all made a little bit more exciting because I accidentally watched the space shuttle launch last night; I found it while flicking through channels at about 6.30pm. The shuttle's on its way to dock with the station. I suppose this spectacle happened quite often, the difference being that it would be only the station not the shuttle. I will have to keep an eye out for it in future!


bbc webpage

heavens above website, from whence came the diagram above

nasa space station website

nasa shuttle website

Talkin Tarn - in better weather

We made a return trip to Talkin Tarn yesterday, to make the most of it before the parking charges are introduced (as it turns out, the first 2 hours are free anyway)

Last time we were here in March, the weather was obviously quite a bit different and the trees were appropriately bare, allowing us to see the red squirrels clearly.

This time, we had more leaves and no squirrels (that we saw) but had people in boats and plentiful ducks, but best of all loads and loads of lovely little blue Damselflies!

Not sure what the spikey thing was though - best guess was some sort of hornet with a big spikey bit coming up from it - it was moving (by flapping the water) towards us so couldn't get another perspective... mysterious, whatever it was!

Wolfy's Talkin pics on flickr

Talkin Tarn on BBC website

Wreay church and Cockermouth & Maryport briefly

We set off in the car yesterday following our noses (or rather my random decision-making).

So we ended up first wandering to Wreay (pronounced "Rear"), which is only about 3 minutes from junction 42 of the M6. I'd been before - the church here is famous - but last time I came I didn't even get out of the car, no idea why (I'm daft like that).

I'd heard some of the story of the church - that it was designed and built by a Victorian woman (Sarah Losh) and is a favourite of people who are generally known to have respectable architectural opinions. It's often mentioned in the same breath as the famous Rosslyn Chapel, for instance, as being a building full of great craftsmanship and delights.

So this time we got out of the car. As soon as I focussed my eyes on the carvings around the door, I knew I was in love!

After exploring the carvings outside, we tried the doors (complete with arrow insets) and yay! it was open... The first things that greet you are two marble pinecones either side of the aisle. To the right is a fabulously-carved marble font with a mirrored pool (supposedly carved by Sarah herself). There is the usual church visitor paraphernalia, plus postcards and leaflets outlining the history. The pews are a bit boring but the windows were fab, with little interesting bits of glass.

The design of the church is apparently based on places Sarah saw on her visits to Italy during her Grand Tour. The layout is similar to a Roman basilica, ie a rectangular building with an apse (round bit). The numbers of columns and windows are significant, there are lots of references to nature including passion flowers, lillies and fossil stencils in the eastern apse windows. The lectern is made to look like a tree, while the birds sitting either side of the apse are sitting on real bog oak stumps. Outside, there are some lovely gravestones with oyster shells and pine branches, and a large cross based on the Bewcastle Cross.

Sarah built the church in memory of her sister, which was nice. The thing to bear in mind here is that she showed incredible talent and foresight, building what is really an Arts & Crafts-syle building about 20-40 years before everyone else.

Carvings of pinecones and palms are to be seen everywhere, as a reference to a family friend who sent seeds home from abroad just before he died - but there is also an overall theme of resurrection and growth.

We spent ages taking photographs, being briefly interrupted by some people who had been for Sunday lunch at the pub nearby and decided to stop. They too were locals who didn't even know this place was here! We signed the book on the way out, after reading it of course (full of comments from people visiting it after seeing it on telly)

For more information about the church, see the links at the bottom of the page. Otherwise, enjoy the photographs...

We then headed for Cockermouth, intending to revisit the great little cafe we'd been to a few weeks ago only to find it shut. In fact today, Cockermouth was shut. (Note to self - go on a Saturday)

So Maryport was next, to visit the Senhouse Museum as it holds some prehistoric rock art carvings as well as having Roman stuff. We were disappointed here too, because the small portable stones we were looking for were hidden behind screens, nailed in place to display information about (ironically) the spread of the empire ... typical!

There were some paragliders flying above the cliffs here, looking very relaxed floating about on the soundwaves sent upwards from the jazz festival going on below. It was a very clear day, and when I climbed the reconstructed watchtower I could see much of the Solway Firth, and over to the Isle of Man.

B's Wreay photos on Flickr

B's Paragliding photos on Flickr

St Mary's, Wreay on VisitCumbria.com

St Mary's official website

Songs of Praise

Birds eye view on googlemaps

Mayburgh Bats

We took a short trip to Mayburgh Henge the other evening to try to get some sunset photos of the central stone.

After a while the swallows turned into bats. Honest! They were roosting in the trees and making those wonderful squeaking, clicking noises, and scooting past our ears.

I stood for a while, large flash on my camera, pointing it up into a small tree on the "wall" and got this shot:




PS - yeah I know I haven't finished my Lewis thing yet blah blah blah but hey I've been busy and away a lot, so I'll just have to catch up at my own pace, OK?!

Western Isles Holiday ... Part one - Getting there

We've been on holiday!

We'd been talking about going up to Lewis and Harris for ages; for stone-hunting reasons of course but also because of my good memories from the very brief trip I took up there with work a few years ago. I had to go back - And this time I had a new camera to play with, and someone to show it all to!

We flew up from Glasgow to Stornoway on my birthday, to stay for three nights at Leumadair Guest House.

I have to comment on the travelling bit, I'm afraid, because it's as much an enjoyable part of the holiday for me as the getting-there.

We were flying out mid afternoon so had lunch in the Food Village upstairs, in a little place that does freshly-squeezed orange juice and real healthy meals, not your usual airport fare - nice! (Just go past all the tartan toys, over the bridge and it's on your right in the far corner.)

The plane was a little Saab number with a beast under the bonnet. Unfortunately it was cloudy for most of the 1-hour journey, but when we descended we were travelling low over the sea so I entertained myself trying to spot dorsal fins or interesting birds. I'd been to Lewis once before and travelled by ferry from Ullapool and there were loads of twitchers on the upper deck with their binocks trying to spot - I dunno, an albatross or something.

The airport in Stornoway is fantastic! At first, we taxied past a large green hangar which I was joking was the terminal building - well the real one wasn't much bigger! It was all so personal. I love these little places. As soon as we were off so were the bags and it wasn't long before we were seeking out the car hire woman. A Clio! Perfect! Just like home.

Somehow, the hire-car woman left without giving us the folder containing maps, leaflets, emergency contact details etc. I've no idea how this happened - one minute she was talking us through it, the next she was driving off and we were sitting there in the drizzle wondering which way to Callanish!

Luckily, the roads aren't that complicated. I guessed a road and guessed it right. I recognised it from last time - turn left before the hospital. Easy!

Soon we were driving onto the moors of Lewis. Lush! I love this countryside; the peaty, heather landscape feels so homely and familiar. As we drove onwards it wasn't long before we saw signs for Callanish - or actually Callanais in big letters with Callanish underneath. Driving through the Western Isles is like driving through Wales in many ways. There were times when I felt like this was a foreign country, but then I'd remember that this is Scotland, isn't it?

A vivid memory I have of this part of the trip was the music playing on the radio - it was Stuart Maconie talking about Laurie Anderson's reissue of Big Science and he played bits from Walk the Dog, O Superman and Let X=X. Brilliant! I had a smile on my face the whole time, fantastic! :D

It took three drive-bys to get the right gate for Leumadair guest house - first impressions were slightly Deliverencesque, but we got a fine welcome from both humans and cats and the room couldn't have been nicer - gobsmacking view from the window over to the standing stones of Callanish - and my first photo!

(It was to be the first of many...)

We quickly got changed and visited Those Stones (how could we resist it any longer?), then on to Dun Carloway before stopping at the Doune Braes Hotel, to have a warming plateful of lamb hotpot.

Did I mention that the weather was officially "bloody freezing"? I shouldn't complain too loudly - the rest of the UK to our south was experiencing all that horrible rain and flooding - the rain stayed away from us thanks to the northerly winds blasting down; but this meant that the two fleeces, two hats, waterproof and glove ensemble I donned for most of the trip wasn't really cutting it!

Oh yeah and did I also mention that our room had no TV? I mean - shock horror, how would we cope?! Well we did; we stayed out late, and read maps and tourist leaflets until we flaked.


The Stones, from our window

Closer-up

Gratuitous but inevitable use of the colour-fiddling setting!

Testing the macro - a Callanish orchid

Dun Carloway.
With this camera I can take wide-screen format pics without having to edit them afterwards... Fantastic, saves lots of time.

The steps inside the Dun's walls

One of the stones inside the Dun - the Lewisian Gneiss looks like gorgeous marbled cake.

The Dun has grown straight out of the bedrock.

Part two coming soon...