Apart from my interests in all things WW1,WW2, art deco travel art, Italy's national food and sharing a few drinks with my good friends and fellow collectors in London....I have another hobby that my wife and I have shared for more than twenty years.
This is discovering British Castles/stately homes and other historical sites from across this great country of ours. For years we have visited dozens and dozens of them famous and obscure from mainly the southern half of the country, from London, to Gloucester, from Cornwall to Wales . But up until this last weekend we'd not ventured north. However we put this right with a really enjoyable trip to the great city of York. For those who have not been there York is packed with history and things to see and do. It also has in its outer environs many Castles and stately homes that are in the great tradition of this country, world class.
In three days we took three hundred pics! But don't worry I'll only post 299 here:wink2:
Here is the lovely Rievaux Abbey. Its set in beautiful and peaceful countryside to the North of York. Was a thriving and hugely successful community for hundreds of years with its inhabitants farming and making the most of the host of nature's bounty available right on the doorstep. That was of course until Henry VIII needed the cash of course and it was closed. The inhabitants were forced to give it to the King and were paid off. Contractors were brought in to partially demolish this wonderful building, a huge shame as it must have been magnificent . During this partial demolition one of the huge supporting columns fell on to one of the foreman overseeing the work crushing him beneath. The workers thinking it was an act of God fled the seen and never returned, leaving their fellow workers body to be eventually found hundreds of years later.
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