21 October 2015

Today we went on a coach trip to Cannon Hall, near Barnsley (amazingly it's freehttp://www.cannon-hall.co.uk/).  

As you can see from these photos, there was a very good display of Moorcroft Pottery, both older and modern. Also several paintings on loan and it's a place which is well worth visiting, both for the exhibits inside the building and the extensive grounds.
(http://www.moorcroft.com/).













John Singer Sargeant

Edward Alexander Wadsworth (1889 - 1949)

Edward Alexander Wadsworth (1889 - 1949)



View over some of the parkland

autumn leaves


one of the splendid trees




autumn fungi














a surprise rhino coming out of the glass house

... then this afternoon we visited Nostell Priory near Wakefield (NThttp://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/nostell-priory/).  
This place is especially interesting to those who know our local Kedleston Hall, just outside Derby (NThttp://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/kedleston-hall/) as James Paine was the architect of Nostell and then went on to design Kedleston Hall (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Paine_(architect)).  

I didn't take many photos at Nostell Priory as there were stewards in every room and I didn't think they'd take kindly to someone wielding a camera.  
One of the best rooms, to my mind, was the state bedroom with fabulous bed hangings, so to look at this it's best to go to the Nostell website, see above.














3 October 2015

The top 10 most beautiful villages in the UK are given in the link given below.

No 1 is Tyneham in Dorset, a village which we visited way back in the 1970s and even then it had a charm all of its own:
Tyneham
"It’s still 1943 in Tyneham, where time stood still when the army told everyone to leave because they needed the surrounding hills for training. Most weekends and throughout the summer school holidays the village is open to the public and you can stroll along the main street, between the abandoned stone cottages and poke your head into the old schoolhouse and church. Look out for wild flowers, abundant here thanks to the army keeping the public out and unable to trample them."

The site then goes on to list the rest of the top 10, including: Port Isaac in Cornwall, Staithes in Yorkshire, Crail in Fife - do you get the drift?   These are all coastal villages ..... except for Bedgellert in Wales and Avebury in Wiltshire.   
I've visited nearly all of this top ten and would agree that they are fabulous places, but would love to add a few more beautiful places to live, especially ones which don't rely on water for their beauty.

Here's BT Lifestyle (?!, I though BT was a telecoms company!) 50 most beautiful rural places to live: http://home.bt.com/lifestyle/house-home/revealed-the-50-best-rural-places-to-live-in-britain-11363967843956.   If BT's recommending them then let's hope that they also have good broadband connections.


Top 10:
http://www.skyscanner.net/news/features/the-top-10-most-beautiful-villages-in-the-uk/?utm_medium=social+paid&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=uk-article&utm_content=UK-dm10-uk-sa-most%2Bbeautiful%2Bvillages-+sepw3-55%2B65-desktopfeed-Link+Post-Villages_Plockton_Sept15-9213701292_10153477238776293-N%2FA&utm_id=55f8579b58e7ab5a208b459c&AssociateID=SOC_FCB_00640_00012