Scale has been the big perspective of the past couple of days; the scale of size, and the scale of time. We stood in the awe-inspiring York Minster today and took photographs with the intent of showing the sheer scale of the place, but knowing the futility of those efforts. It just cannot be conveyed in a two dimensional image.
Similarly, I've been struggling to come to terms with the scale of time. We come from a place where a 200 year old building goes back to the dawn of European settlement, yet we can somehow comprehend what that period means, perhaps because we can measure it against what we know of our local or family history. In the past couple of days we have stood in and on constructions which we commenced within twenty years of the Battle of Hastings! What does that mean? It's almost beyond comprehension. Richmond Castle caught me a little off-guard - for a bit of both of the reasons described above. I've been trying to rationalise why, and the best I can come up with is that it is my first conscious encounter with any building over 200 years of age (there were probably other such encounters when I spent some time in Japan many years ago, but I was way younger and these kinds of considerations were a long way from the front of my consciousness). Anyway, I was completely engaged by Richmond Castle: it's commanding position on the bluff above the Swale; the massive keep with the tiny cramped stairwells, each step worn like the back of an old and weary workhorse; the great hall; and the ruins of the remaining buildings, including Scolland's Hall which was part the original structure erected according to the wishes of Lord Alain le Roux (Lord Alan Rufus) after the lands were granted to him personally by William The Conqueror. York Minster and Durham Cathedral each also had my jaw dropping, mainly at the unthinkable degree of intricate masonry created and erected on such an large scale. They are truly spectacular structures and I'm glad we made the time and effort to travel to York and Durham to see them. In thinking about the Minster and the Cathedral, I suppose there is a third aspect of scale which comes to mind: the scale of value (and power). At a time when the majority of people in the newly formed "English" nation where subjected to serfdom, such massive and imposing buildings must have said something to the serfs about the wealth and power of the church. I'd like to post lots of photos, but that will have to wait a few days. One of the few things I forgot to pack was the cord for transferring the photos from the camera to the iPad, and Richmond, for all it's charms, does not seem able to assist in that regard. I have plenty of them, and will post the best of them at the first opportunity. I'm very tired now, and am going to retire to bed in order to be full of energy to accompany the intrepid Coast to Coast walkers tomorrow and Friday as they follow the Swale into Richmond.
0 Comments
The First Trans-Pennine Express 11.06 from Manchester Airport station to Newcastle rolled gently northwards at 11.06 and 20 seconds on Monday morning. We were comfortably housed in our reserved seats. We knew they were our reserved seats because - well, they had numbers which corresponded with those on our tickets - but, more interestingly, they had a little place card inserted in the top of the seat saying, "Reserved Manchester A. to Darlington". We (read Kleppy) figured out that the little card is to advise passengers without a seat reservation that that particular seat is open to anyone except for the part of the trip between Manchester Airport and Darlington. It's a small idea, but a good one in terms of making the most of the available seats.
What's that you say? Who is Kleppy? Earlier in the day, prior to leaving our overnight accommodation, Moggy had elected to retain a couple of the complimentary small jars of condiments (mayonnaise, ketchup and mustard) which she thought, quite rightly, might come handy for us over the next few days. Then at breakfast, she made the mistake of suggesting that, if there was any fresh fruit in the breakfast buffet, we grab a couple of apples or bananas for the train trip. Well, the girls and I couldn't resist launching into a detailed and fanciful, but very funny, exploration of their mother's criminal tendencies. Hence her being anointed the title of "Kleppy". The trip north on the train was pleasant. It was interesting to see the pockets of what we guessed had been originally built as housing estates. Every house contained in them was exactly the same as the one next door to it, and set out on a geometric grid. They looked like little Monopoly houses which someone with a serious case of OCD had painstakingly laid out on a board. The glimpses we got of Manchester and Leeds were interesting for their differentness, particularly as the train line often runs past the rear of apartments and business premises. I'm still a bit intrigued by the "LIVE DRAG SHOWS" sign that I saw. Display races between toy cars perhaps? The journey through York provided only tempting glimpses of the Minster I'm so keen to visit in coming days. Then there was sameness. The countryside between York and Darlington could have been the southern midlands of Tasmania. I kept expecting to see the Oatlands flour mill in the near distance. Arriving in Market Square in Richmond was a surreal experience for me. For the last six months I've had a picture of that place as my desktop wallpaper. Stepping into the middle of it had something of a sense of achievement about it. More about Richmond and surrounds over the next few days, but I wanted to finish this post with a story of serendipity. For months now I've been annoying Ella with my semi-serious suggestion that as soon as we step off the bus in Market Square, I intend to choose one of the many Ye Olde Pubs in the area for my first Ye Olde Pint and that she can wait outside for me - a plan I immediately implemented on arrival. Well, to be fair, we modified it a little. Kleppy and the girls went for a stroll to check the lay of the land, while I guarded our bags in the lounge of Y.O.P. The only issue was which Y.O.P. to choose - there we at least 11 within line of site of the bus stop. Eventually I settled on The Kings Head, for no reason other than it was close, and it looked large enough for me to enter with 4 large items of luggage and not feel overly self-conscious. So, happily I settled in the dining room of The Kings Head with a pint of Theakston's Best Bitter and a plate of bangers & mash. I grabbed the Kindle and opened the contemporary novel I have been reading, but the reading material did not match my Y.O.P-induced nostalgia, so I scanned the available texts (the TRUE wonder of Kindle is that you can keep a library in your pocket), and settled on Gordon Home's 1908 edition of Yorkshire, which includes a chapter on Richmond, which was perfect for the occasion. About 4 pages into that chapter, Mr Home speaks in favourable terms of one of the many hotels in the vicinity of Market Square: and it was the very pub in which I was sitting! All in all, a perfect welcome to Richmond. We’d been in the UK all of about 30 minutes when the wisdom of a couple of pre-trip decisions became evident.
Firstly, it’s fair to say that the length of travel took its toll. Moggy was feeling sick before we left Melbourne, Elby crashed towards the end of the long leg to Dubai, and Mollie was feeling ordinary as we crossed the Black Sea. So it’s fair to say that, by the time we touched down in Manchester, our decision to book a motel near the airport rather than immediately catch a train north looked like a ripper. I reckon I’d have had a mutiny on my hands if we had to go further today! Secondly, and predictably, a couple of our main bags failed to make the connection between Dubai and Manchester. They are still finding their way to us and we are assured that we will have them back later this evening. So again, we’re patting ourselves on the back for having the foresight to carry a few items of each other’s clothing. Thankfully, the bags that arrived with us contained sufficient reserves for us all to shower and change into fresh clothing. In fact, I could almost sneak a third success story into the pre-trip planning regime. We were concerned about occupying ourselves during a 7 hour stop-over at Tullamarine yesterday, so after some research we booked a room at the Park Royal on a daytime hourly rate (which an un-named associate assured me is a spin-off from continuance of the oldest commercial transactions. He may know these things; I couldn’t possibly comment). Anyway, it turned out to be a fine idea. We all had a swim. The girls lazed in the room while Mog and I sat in the bar for lunch and watched the VFL football on the big screen. Then we all got to have a shower before the long flight. I commend the place to anyone with a long stopover in Melbourne. So we’re now parked up at the airport motel in Manchester, feeling clean, hungry and very tired. Room service is one its way and I can see most of the team being asleep before 6pm local time. We have a casual start tomorrow, a quick stroll along the “Skywalk” to the airport train station for an 11am departure to Darlington - so, hopefully plenty of rest will be garnered. While on the subject of trains, I’ve had nothing but ease and assistance in dealing with thetrainline.co.uk in booking and purchasing train tickets for our journey. This afternoon I wandered over to the train station and, following a couple of simple instructions, printed out tickets I had booked and paid for 2 months ago. One final observation on arriving in Manchester on a showery afternoon of 11 degrees Celsius: Manchester airport looks for all the world like Tullamarine, and the weather was so Melbourne like, that we wondered if we hadn’t spent a very long time in planes to wind up exactly where we started. I’ll include a picture from the hotel window. So, more in the next few days from “oop north”. I hope those bags arrive soon. My eyelids are getting VERY heavy. As I type I can hear the slightly snorky breathing of sleep - and my watch says 4.50pm! |
AuthorDanny Russell Archives
July 2020
Categories |