A-Z Challenge 2018 - British Rivers; 'D' Dee, Derwent

Why I chose the Dee and Derwent to write about I'm not sure. Now I find that there are four rivers for each of these names.

The Welsh Dee rises in Snowdonia and passes from North Wales into Cheshire, through the Roman town of Chester and enters the sea at the estuary between Wales and the Wirral.

In Scotland one River Dee is in Galloway, but it's the River Dee in Aberdeenshire with which I used to be familiar, driving up the A90 and over - 

Bridge of Dee

Uisge Dhè is its name in Gaelic; the Dee is one of the most famous salmon rivers in the world. In Royal Deesside it passes between Braemar and Banchory. It's this connection with the Royal Family, Queen Victoria and Balmoral that is known to so many visitors.

River Dee at Potarch (between Aboyne and Banchory)

The Cumbrian River Derwent runs through two of the district's major Lakes - Derwentwater and Bassenthwaite Lake. It empties into the Irish Sea.

The time I spent with British Rail at Derby in the 1990s gave me many closeups on Derbyshire's River Derwent. I missed out on its mainly rural route and its entry into the River Trent south of the city.

The River Derwent, River Gardens & The Council House, Derby

Despite my years in both Aberdeen and Derby I had no chance to take photos of the rivers. I regret that now - all work and no play!

Photo attributions:

• Bridge of Dee: 19 April 2009, ex geograph.org.uk by Anne Burgess - CC BY-SA licence
• River Dee at Potarch: April 1995, ex geograph.org.uk by Colin Smith - CC BY-SA 2.0
• River Derwent etc, Derby: c2004 by Eamon Curry - CC BY 2.0 licence

Tunnel Vision - Sepia Saturday

There is so much detail in this week's prompt that it's difficult to know where to start, especially when you have no photos of your own that are appropriate.

Let's look at the prompt again,

We know that it's Liverpool - a city where I have only been to Anfield, the football ground. Forced to look at the picture my eyes alighted on the sign showing the direction to a tunnel.

I have been through many rail and road tunnels in my time but never one on a canal like the one protected by this sign in Leicestershire.

Sign approaching Saddington Tunnel
31 July 2006 - by Kate Jewell - CC By-SA 2.0 - Geograph Project collection

Saddington Tunnel, also known as Fleckney Tunnel. on the Grand Union Canal was opened for traffic in April 1797.

Some tunnel signs may be confusing like this one you will find on a waterway under the Pennines.

Inside Hyde Bank Tunnel
8 August 2009 - by David Jones on Flickr - CC BY 2.0

Hyde Bank Tunnel is only 924 feet (300m) long and despite being unusually wide it has no towpath. If you are still confused by the sign - it means you are halfway through.

A much longer tunnel is to be found on the Settle & Carlisle Railway in Cumbria as you can see from this sign at its northern end.

Blea Moor Tunnel near Stonehouse, Cumbria
21 February 2002 - CC BY-SA 2.0

At 2629 yds (2404m) Blea Moor is the longest tunnel on the line and is located between The Ribblehead Viaduct and Dent railway station.

For a road tunnel I just have to come back to Liverpool for the Queensway (Birkenhead) Tunnel though it's not a particularly inviting picture. There are a few lamp posts and even a van, not one for furniture unfortunately.

Queensway Tunnel
3 August 2007 - by Quackdave - PD

If there are any Harry Potter fans reading this, you might like to know that the scene from Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows - Part 1 where Harry skips on a bus while on Hagrid's enchanted motor bike was filmed in the tunnel in September 2009.

If you wondered what the 'column' was towards the left of the Liverpool photo was, I've solved the mystery - it was one of these.

Light pylon near Queensway Tunnel exit at Birkenhead

26 March 2003 - by Rept0n1x - CC BY-SA 3.0

This was on of the original tunnel pylons.

If by now you have tunnel vision and suffer from claustrophobia, on your way across to Sepia-Saturday-207., you might like to take a -

Arthur's Castles - Sepia Saturday

As some of you may know I am taking part in the annual April A-Z Challenge again this year. Last year my theme was Castles and, where possible, haunted ones. This year I had intended to cover the legendary King Arthur and places associated with him. I abandoned that theme as my draft posts were far too long and the A-Z sequence makes the stories about him too disjointed. However I’m pleased to say that I have adapted some for this week’s Sepia post.

There are many sites associated with Arthurian legends. Tintagel in Cornwall is the king’s traditional birthplace.

Tintagel Castle 2002

 Arthur’s father was King Uther Pendragon. Arthur was conceived at Tintagel when Uther had Merlin smuggle him, in disguise, into the Castle to enable him to lie with Igraine, the wife of Duke Gorlois of Cornwall. Uther had besieged the Duke in another castle shortly before.

The ruined castle of today was built long after the Arthur lived. The medieval castle built in 1141 by Reginald of Cornwall, the illegitimate son of Henry I, had little strategic importance and the site proved a difficult building place. At one time owned by the Black Prince, by 1540 it was a ruin, In the echoing chamber of Merlin’s Cave the wizard’s ghost is said to wander, It’s also said that Arthur lives on in the form of the Cornish chough, a bird to be seen perched on the storm lashed ledges of the cliffs.

 

Pendragon Castle

Pendragon Castle in Cumbria is said to be built on the site of a fifth-century fortress constructed by King Arthur’s father, Uther Pendragon. He supposedly settled there after killing a dragon-serpent that was terrorising the region. He also tried unsuccessfully to divert the River Eden to make a moat. A local rhyme goes, “Let Uther Pendragon do what he can, Eden will run where Eden ran.” In his old age he took up arms against the Angles; and was to die at the castle from a water supply poisoned by his enemies.

The castle ruins we see are those of a later castle built in 1173 by Hugh de Morville, one of Thomas Becket’s murderers, in the 12^th century. It was destroyed by fire twice, but eventually rebuilt by in the 17^th century by Lady Anne Clifford. After her death it was left to fall into ruins. With Arthurian links and stories of Merlin living there and visiting Castlerigg Stone Circle there are many accounts of supernatural phenomena. When the moon cloaks the ruins in an eerie glow a ghostly horseman gallops soundlessly towards the castle. We will never know whether the horseman is the mortally sick Uther Pendragon returning from battle, or a messenger or a warrior of the Clifford Clan.

Stories abound about King Arthur and his knights. One of these is associated with a castle within 30 miles of where I live.

 

Richmond Castle - Curtain Wall from the southern bank of the River Swale

Built by the Normans the Castle overlooks the River Swale in Yorkshire. Richmond Castle shares a similar folk tale with other places. King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table slumber in a cave below the castle, waiting to be called to England’s aid. There are many such legends that he and his knights are not dead but merely sleeping somewhere.

Potter Thompson was a man married to a harridan of a wife. To escape her constant carping he took a walk and eventually finished up below the castle. When pausing for a rest he noticed a gap in the rocky escarpment which appeared to be the entrance to a cave. He looked in and saw a faint light glowing at one end of a long passage. Following the light Peter Thompson found himself in a large cavern where, fast asleep, were a king and knights in full armour.

He recognised King Arthur because on a table in the centre of the cavern were a horn and famous sword Excalibur. Excited that he had found King Arthur’s resting place, Peter decide to take Excalibur to prove his story was true. When he started to take the sword from its scabbard, the knights stirred. Terrified, Thompson ran but not before a sorrowful voice had intoned:

Peter Thompson, Peter Thompson,

If thou hadst either drawn

The sword, or blown the horn,

Thou wouldst have been the luckiest man

That ever yet was born.

Thompson began to feel better and braver once he was outside. If he went back for the sword or the horn all his troubles would be over. He turned back but the entrance to the cave had gone. Despite a frantic search all over the rocky banks of the castle the secret tunnel was never revealed to him again.

Finally we come to the castle that ultimately led to Arthur’s death.

Dover Castle 1887

 

 

 (By David MacGibbon & Thomas Ross)

Dover is associated with the conflict towards the end of Arthur’s life between the King and his son (or nephew) Mordred. During Arthur’s absence in a French war Mordred seized the crown and garrisoned an army at Dover to prevent his father’s return. Fierce fighting ensued before Mordred was driven back. At the end of the battle Sir Gawaine was discovered badly wounded. Before he died Sir Gawaine wrote to Sir Lancelot who was overseas, calling him back to Arthurs’s aid.

Sir Lancelot assembled a huge army and landed at Dover – too late to help Arthur who had been slain at the Battle of Camlann.

For more on castles and monuments cross over to the links at Sepia-Saturday-171.

Photos:

• Tintagel - Alan Simkins - CC BY-SA 2.0 - Geograph Project Collection
• Pndragon - David Medcalf -  CC BY-SA 2.0 - Geograph Project Collection
• Richmond - David Dunford - CC BY-SA 2.0 - Geograph Project Collection    

Roman Fort - Grounded Thematic Photography

This is my second post for Carmi's grounded theme.

Hadrian's Wall built by the Romans stretches 73 miles across England from the North Sea at Wallsend to the Solway Firth, Cumbria in the west. Along the way are the remains of a number of forts.

Pretty cool for something grounded around 2000 years ago.

Muncaster Castle and Tom the Fool

 A-Z Challenge 2012 - M

Muncaster Castle

Muncaster is another castle that stakes a claim to be one of Britain’s most haunted.

Muncaster Castle (Morris - 1880)

Muncaster Castle overlooks the River Esk near Ravenglass, Cumbria in North West England. The lands were granted to Alan de Penitone in 1208. Roman foundations on the site date back to 79AD. The castle was built on these in 1258 by Gamel de Mulcaster. Extended and enlarged over the centuries records show that the castle had 14 chimneys in 1678 while in 1746 window tax records indicate a total of 103 windows.

After his defeat at the Battle of Townton in 1461 Henry VI was sheltered at the castle by Sir John Pennington. On his departure Henry presented Sir John with his glass drinking bowl as a token of his gratitude, saying that they would prosper for as long as the bowl remained unbroken. To this day the glass, known as “Luck of Muncaster” remains intact.

Of all the ghostly tales about Muncaster the most famous is that of Tom the Fool. Tom Skelton was a jester at the castle who died around 1600. He is said to be responsible for a number of deaths. He loitered under a chestnut tree outside the castle and directed travellers looking for Ravenglass down to the quick sands rather than to the road. He is also supposed to have cut off the head of a local carpenter under the instructions of Sir William Pennington. The carpenter had been the lover of Sir William’s daughter Helwise.

Thomas Skelton’s portrait still hangs in the castle. One tourist standing looking at the portrait said she heard footsteps on stone flooring behind her. When she turned there was no one there. It was later pointed out to her that the stairs and corridor were, in fact, fully carpeted.

It’s believed that the expression “Tom Fool” and “tomfoolery” originated with Thomas Skelton.

The Tapestry Room is supposedly the most haunted room in the building with people experiencing disturbed nights, hearing footsteps outside the room, seeing the door handle turning, and the door opening although there is no one there. A child is heard crying, and sometime a lady sings as though comforting a child.

The “Muncaster Boggle” or White Lady haunts the gardens and roadways. She is the ghost of Mary Bragg, a young girl murdered in area in the early 1800s.

Muncaster Castle - North East Front - 2007

Hilary Melton-Butcher's castle for L was Lullingstone Castle, Kent.

Attributions:

• Muncaster Castle in England from Morris's Country Seats (1880).
• North East Front of Muncaster Castle 2007; author Alexander P Kapp; Creative Commons Attribution Share-alike license 2.0