Pendragon Castle, Mallerstang

When I first mentioned Pendragon to my wife she thought we were going to Cornwall. But no, in spite of the Cornish-sounding name it is in Cumbria, in the upper reaches of the Eden Valley as it climbs up beyond Kirkby Stephen to the Pennine watershed (and beyond there is Wensleydale).

My last visit to Pendragon was on a rather dull day but Saturday was a beautiful clear sky and even warmish sun. Here then are the ruins of Lady Anne Clifford's Pendragon Castle on a nice clear day.

Cockermouth's Famous Five

The River Cocker running into the Derwent at Cockermouth seems quiet enough on the day of this photo last month, but the talk in the town this week is of the flood defences being proposed following the 2009 floods. Heavy rain in the Lake District mountains makes a rapid and massive difference to these two rivers.

That, however, is not the main subject of my post today. Rather it is something I've noticed about Cockermouth in the late 18th century. Some time ago I blogged on Around-England that there were three famous born in the town within about a decade - William Wordsworth, John Dalton and Fletcher Christian. Now, however, I've discovered something that seems strange to me.

When you ask people interested in the history of Cockermouth about famous people born there they quickly come up with those three names, then if they're particularly knowledgeable they add another two: Fearon Fallows, the Astronomer and William Woodville, the pioneer of smallpox vaccination.

So what is strange about this? Well check their dates of birth: 1752, 1764, 1766, 1770 and 1789.  Four of the five were born within an eighteen year period, and the fifth less than twenty years later.  What did they put in the water at Cockermouth in those days to generate the town's outstanding men so close together?

Longsleddale - The Beautiful Valley

On Thursday I drove up Longsleddale and then walked a little from Sadgill. This really is a very special place. I'd have liked to photograph the quarry area further up the Gatescarth track but didn't have time.  Here is one of my photos from the afternoon: Longsleddale above Sadgill, looking up to Gatescarth Pass.

There's more on Longsleddale on the Around-England blog.

A Derwentwater Evening

There's nowhere quite like the Lake District in August. It rains sufficiently to keep everything green but then has beautiful days in which the sun lights up the lakes and mountains differently every time as the patterns of cloud play on the landscape. I love it.

Here is a picture of the boating jetties taken during my walk along the northerly shore of Derwentwater ealier this week. There's more at "Derwentwater at the End of a Day" on the Around-England blog.

The English Lake District: Ullswater this week

Everyone has their own favourite when it comes to the English Lake District. Personally I find it hard to choose as each lake has its own unique character.
In fact, a single lake can create very different impressions in the mind depending on the light, the weather and the direction in which one is looking.

Here is a photograph of Ullswater from near the steamer jetty at Howtown.

and here's another looking toward the mountains.

Skipton Castle - Intact Medieval Fortress in the Yorkshire Dales

On New Year's Day I visited Skipton Castle. Although I've often seen it from the High Street this was the first time I'd actually looked around it. What an interesting place!

With nine hundred years of history there is no shortage of angles to follow up after the visit, and since then I've spent several hours happily reading the history of its construction and the noble families that have lived there.

Once inside the Outer Gatehouse with its four round towers the castle is immediately ahead, and there are two main parts to it. The photo here shows mostly the 16th century Tudor section with its long hall and the octagonal tower at the far end. This was built when the then Lord Clifford married a neice of Henry VIII and wanted to keep her in the style to which she was accustomed. Today it is still a family home and this part is not open to visitors.

The day was wet and dull, and I had not taken my better camera so this is a hurriedly taken snap on my phone. I wish I'd turned around a little to the left and caught more of the medieval fortress. The South-Eastern drum tower is visible, though. There are several (five or six, I should check) of these with interconnecting structures, incorporating the ultimate in the defensive military technology of the period. The walls are over ten feet thick and, thanks to the restoration work of Lady Anne Clifford after the 17th century Civil War plus more recent work by the present family who have owned it since the 1950s, there is a fully intact roof.

Visitors can walk around at their leisure, exploring the many rooms. They are not furnished but between the information boards in each room and the guide sheet (or even better, the colour booklet available for a token price on top of the admission fee) one's imagination can picture the life in this place centuries ago - although it is more difficult to imagine what things must have been like during the 3-year siege in the 1640s.

The Gift Shop has several very interesting volumes on the castle's history if you're interested in following up further and linking Skipton into the broader history of the North of England.

If you get the chance while in the Yorkshire Dales take a look at Skipton Castle.

Travelling Around England in Photographs

I'm launching this today to show some of the photographs I've taken over many years (more than I like to admit to, but over fifty years) of travelling around England, sometimes on business, sometimes on holiday. I'm based in the North, just outside the Lake District, but have also lived in Lancashire and the Midlands as well as for a time having an office in London.

I'm not a professional photographer, and quite often I'm disappointed with my own shots. But I'll display here some of the pictures that I like from various parts of the country. If you like these why not also take a look at my other blog which is chiefly about the North of England, the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District.

So here goes, and we'll start with a picture of the River Lune at Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria. John Ruskin, in the 19th century described the scene below as one of the most beautiful views in England, "and therefore in the world". Who am I to disagree with him?