I may not be able to match that with old photos but the doors I am going to show date back hundreds of years.
Fountains Abbey |
Fountains Abbey was the second Cistercian outpost founded in the North of England. From rather difficult beginnings it became the largest and richest Cistercian abbey in the country.
Doors among the ruins |
Tucked away among the grounds there are doors of a different sort, you find them in many places.
Earlier this week we spent a day in York where I took this shot of York Minster.
York Minster |
What you can't see is that notice in front of the door - it says, "Exit only."
Walking round the city I was studying doorways closely when I came across one just right for this week as you can see from what is standing next to it.
Stonegate's Original Teddy Bear Shop |
Finally in my archives a photo I showed you almost three years ago.
Doris in front of John Walker's shop door at Preston Park Museum |
It's not polite for me to reveal how old Doris is but she matches the theme.
I thought about ending with a piece of music and had a choice to make - church music or the Teddy Bears' Picnic? But neither could quite match
To knock on other doors and be invited in, cross over to Sepia-Saturday-203.
24 comments:
Bob I'm so happy you closed with a song from The Doors, as of course your title brought them straight to mind. Good match on the old lady after my favorite shop for Teddy Bears. That would be so delightful to visit. Great set of doors, each and everyone a treasure to walk through.
A terrific medley of doors, Bob. Last year we visited the Rievaulx Abbey in North Yorkshire which introduced me to these wonderful structures. It is astounding how many were built around England and Wales. A stone mason in the 12th century could always find work.
Nice varied collection Bob.
Perfect music choice! I would love to visit that Teddy Bear store, and am so grateful that all the words on the windows behind Doris are clear as a bell.
Fountains Abbey is quite remarkable.
I "a-door" this post!
I'm now down to the "Exit Only" part of the post ! Loved the photos. Bye till next post.
Great shots.
You got me. Can't approach those here in Florida.
;O)
Very intersting set of doors. And now I'll use the amazing "Exit Only" door. Until next post.
It's years since I gave been to Fountains Abbey. Your photographs prompt me to make a return journey
Love the teddy bear shop
What spectacular architecture! We've got nothing like that here in the US; our oldest buildings aren't old enough to show such grace! And you really got me on the Doors...
Thank you for bringing back memories of places I know in Yorkshire.
What a brilliant selection of pictures! I liked a lot that lonely tower standing in the garden all by itself in the Abbey. It's gothic, beautiful and... I've got no clue what a building like that can serve to? Kind of gazeebo? Gate?
We don't have such historic buildings in Australia - had to comprehend something built in the 1100s.
And, I love that song - one of my favourites.
Great doors Bob. Love the Abbey. Was it destroyed by Henry VIII? So many were. Haven't been in Yorkshire since I was about 15. I too love the Teddy Bear shop too.
I love ruins! Will try to find Fountains Abbey when I visit England again. Yay York Minster! That's a lovely song.
Hazel
Lovely post. I visited Fountains many years ago. Here's an excerpt from a poem I wrote afterwards... not sure how the linebreaks are going to render here...
In constant devotions, the Cistercians can’t
know the sanctuary of Fountains Abbey
still will lie in its glade, but in a peace
crestfallen. Here they farm, brew,
chant, raise wool,
before Henry
dissolves the monasteries. Pigeons
nest today in the wreck of walls. Chunks
of column in the grass, fractured
stairs to nowhere, doors to nothing but
clouds through which a fighter tears,
Yank or Brit, following the valley,
as they do above Hailes Abbey. And
Tintagel, and through the winding
Cotswold dales, and the wildest islands
where I come from. Maneuvers.
Flocks burst from their niches, wingswirl
like small cassocks in the cloister
of a dust devil. Our leaders are still
up to no good.
@Mike - we live closer to Rievaulx than Fountains Abbey. I must check my Rievaulx photos too.
@Sean - thanks for the poem; the breaks didn't come out too badly.
I love Fountains Abbey. We had a spate in the 80s and 90s where we seemed to visit every abbey and monastery on the map. Great shots of the doorways - even the ‘exits’.
I love the little tower off by itself. I remember finding little out buildings like that at many manors and they were usually mausoleums.
The photos of Fountains Abbey are just lovely. As Sean said, doors to nothing, stairs to nowhere --- and windows framing now and then. Thanks
Interesting progression through that theme what a surprise to find The Doors video at the very end. Thanks for sharing that.
It's a good thing the theme isn't "roofs" because then we couldn't have enjoyed those beautiful castles. (Funny ending with The Doors -- only you, Bob!)
oh very magnificent doorways into and from the past...and the Doors well, why not! The 3rd photo of a type of gazebo is most fascinating to me
Of course!! The Doors! Why didn't I think of that?
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