A-Z Challenge 2018 - British Rivers: 'O' Ouse, Otter

There are several British rivers named Ouse from the Sanskrit word for water. The Great Ouse is the longest at 160 miles but it is the North Yorkshire Ouse with which I am most familiar.

This is a continuation  of the River Ure; the Ure/Ouse combination at 129 miles makes it the sixth longest in the UK. Tributaries include the Aire and the Nidd (earlier Challenge entries). Its catchment areas drain much of the Yorkshire Dales and the North Yorks Moors.

Map of the River Ouse and its catchment area

The Ouse and the River Trent combine to form the Humber Estuary (see A-Z 'H'.)

As the city of York knows to its cost the Ouse is prone to severe flooding. York is a place that we know well but again I have only one decent photo of the river as it flows through the city.

River Ouse in York - 2006

There are many bridges over the river that give great opportunities for photography.

The Ouse from Skeldergate Bridge with the Ouse Bridge in the background.

Shame I haven't taken any.

I have chosen the Somerset/Devon River Otter because of its name. It's only c20 miles long from its source to where it runs into the English Channel at Lyme Bay on the Jurassic Coast.

River Otter near Otterton

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1771-18340 wrote the 'Sonnet to the River Otter'.

Dear native brook! wild streamlet to the West!

How many various-fated years have past,

What happy, and what mournful hours since last

I skimmed the smooth thin stone along thy breast,

Numbering its light leaps! yet so deep imprest

Sink the sweet scenes of childhood, that mine eyes

I never shut amid the sunny ray,

But straight with all their tints thy waters rise,

Thy crossing plank, thy marge with willows grey,

And bedded sand that, veined with various dyes,

Gleamed through thy bright transparence! On my way,

Visions of childhood! oft have ye beguiled

Lone manhood's cares, yet waking fondest sighs:

Ah! that once more I were a careless child!

I wonder if he wrote that today whether he would also sing the praises of the beavers that have reappeared in the river in recent years. The Otter is the only river in England known to have a breeding population of this industrious animal.

Mouth of the River Otter at Budleigh Salterton

The pebble beach and cliffs at Budleigh Salterton are part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site.

Photo attributions:

• River Ouse - catchment area map: 5 March 2014 ex Ordnance Survey OpenData by Nil j Fanion - CC BY-SA 3.0 licence
• River Ouse in York from Skeldergate Bridge: 30 September 2007 by Chris Wood - CC BY-SA 3.0 licence
• River Otter near Otterton: 30 July 2008 by Liz Moon - CC BY-SA 2.0 licence
• Mouth of River Otter at Budleigh Salterton: 18 March 2012 by Barry Lewis - CC BY 2.0 licence,

A-Z 2018 Challenge: British Rivers - 'A': Aire, Axe

The problem with my researching British rivers is that it is easy to be sidetracked and this has happened immediately with both the Aire and the River Axe.

Horses cooling off in the River Aire

The river rises at Malham Tarn in North Yorkshire, and drains the central  Pennines to flow south-east through West Yorkshire until it joins the River Ouse. Its upper reaches are in the valley of Airedale - where the Airedale terrier originated.

But not this one!

After leaving the Pennines it crosses the Yorkshire coal field to be joined by its major tributary, the River Calder. Leeds is the principal city on its route.

The River Axe gets its name from an ancient Celtic word meaning 'abounding in fish.' I thought I knew where the river was located but now I've found there are two rivers with that name located in the South West.

One rises or rather emerges from the limestone caves at Wookey Hole.

Wookey Hole and mill leat

This flows westward and northward through Somerset, splitting into two Axes before reuniting and entering the Bristol Channel at Weston Bay.

My other Axe flows south and enters the sea on the south coast at Lyme Bay.

The river rises in Dorset but passes through Somerset and Devon. The photo taken in 2007 shows cattle standing within a meander likely to have become an island by now as the river eroded the neck. The houses are at the northern end of the town of Axminster (famous for its carpets).

Photo attributions:

• River Aire Close to Woodhouse Railway Bridge: 22 June 2005, ex geograph.org.uk, by Mick Melvin  ; CC BY-SA 2.0 Licence.
• Wookey Hole and mill leat: 18 Feb 2005, ex geograph.org.uk by Pierre Terre CC BY-SA 2.0 Licence
• River Axe (Lyme Bay): 17 May 2007, ex geograph.org.uk, by Derek Harper CC By-SA 2.0 Licence

A-Z Challenge 2017 - Houses, some real,some not - 'X'

X - EXmoor House

I hope you will agree that this is one way to deal with the troublesome letter 'X'.

Exmoor House, Dulverton, Somerset
(20 July 2010, by Nilfanion - CC BY-SA 3.0)

Exmoor House was built as the Dulverton Workhouse. The golden lettering above the door declares that date to have been  -

The west half of the 'T' shaped layout was the men's and boys' accommodation with the women and girls in the east.

After 1930 only vagrants' casual wards remained; later it was used as the Exmoor training centre for girls.

It then became the Rural District Offices. Today it is the Headquarters of the Exmoor National Park Authority.

Dulverton lies in the valley of the River Barle; river and valley are a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest.

The river passes under a pre-historic clapper bridge. The name clapper derives from the medieval Latin "claperius" - a pile of stones. The bridge appeared in a commemorative series of Great Britain's postage stamps in 2015.

Tarr Steps

It's now a scheduled ancient monument and dates from c1000BC.

The stone slabs making up the bridge weigh up to 5 tons each and according to local legend were placed there by the devil to win a bet.

Now doesn't 'X' have associations with the devil??

Spooky Wookey Hole - Sepia Saturday

Not being much of a caveman my heart sank when I saw the Wombeyan cave shot chosen as this week's feature.

However the local flea market came to my rescue when I found this postcard.

Solomon's Temple, Gough's Cave, Cheddar Gorge

Cheddar Gorge in Somerset is famous for its caves; it's a spectacular place to visit and is a favourite for those hardy souls who spend their time rock climbing 

Rift Cave

There can’t be much doubt how that cave’s name came about.

A number of the caves have great shows of stalactites and stalagmites.

Cox's Cave showing stalactites and stalagmites

Some 40,000 years ago the inhabitants were said to have practised cannibalism, yet 200 years ago the Gorge was little known and the track to it had been abandoned following tales of ghostly attacks by beings from the hillside.

Modern ghost busters who spent the night at Cox's Mill nearby reported light anomalies, a sudden feeling of sickness and a face that appeared from the wood panelling around the fireplace.

However if it’s spooks you want, then the place to be in Somerset is undoubted the caves at Wookey Hole.

Wookey Hole Cave and underground river

Human remains, pottery and crude jewellery have provided evidence that the caves were inhabited by Stone Age hunters. 

The caves have been formed by millions of years of erosion by the River Axe. Many stalactites and stalagmites have been left behind. One large stalagmite is said to be the Witch of Wookey, turned to stone for her evil deeds.

The Witch of Wookey

Supposedly, the witch lived in the caves with a goat and its kid as her familiars; crossed in love she cast spells on the Wookey villagers. A monk sent to the cave by the Abbot of Glastonbury sprinkled her with holy water. She turned to stone where she stands today on the bank of the Axe in Wookey’s Great Cave.

In 1912 excavations in the caves discovered the bones of a Romano-British woman with, nearby, the bones of a goat and kid, a comb, a dagger and a round stalagmite like a witch’s crystal ball. The relics are on show in the Wells and Mendip Museum.

Skeleton labelled the Witch of Wookey (Wells and Mendip Museum

My trips underground have been restricted to the Tube and to old copper mines at Alderley Edge in Cheshire – not haunted, I’m pleased to say.

If you fancy yourself as a speleologist then cross over and follow the links at Sepia-saturday-183.

Photo Attributions:

• Rift Cave - Nov 1967 by John Reston - Geograph Project Collection, CC BY-SA 2,0
• Cox's Cave - Oct 2008 by Throwawayhack - CC BY-SA 3,0
• Wookey Hole Cave - April 2012 by Becks - CC BY 2.0
• Wookey Map and the Witch of Wookey - freepages-folklore. ancestry.com
• Skeleton in Wells and Mendip Museum - June 2013 by Rodw - CC BY-SA 3.0

Taunton Castle and the Bloody Assizes

A-Z Challenge 2012 - T

Taunton Castle

Back in Anglo-Saxon times, c 710 AD, King Ine of Wessex “timbered him a burgh” at Taunton in what is now the south west county of Somerset. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle related that Ethelburga, his consort, destroyed it 12 years later when recapturing it from rebels.

A minster and a manor house built by the Bishops of Wessex were later to occupy the site before the minster became an Augustinian Priory in c 1120. Henry de Blois transformed the manor house into a mighty castle in 1138 during the Civil War in the reign of King Stephen.

Walls of Taunton Castle - 2009

In the first half of the 12^th century Taunton was a typical Norman keep, 50 feet by 40, with three stories and 13 feet thick walls. Now it is more Edwardian than Norman in appearance.

The outer ward of the castle has been invaded by two hotels, but the great gate-house opening into this enclosure dates from the time of Edward I (1272-1307. The inner ward is ‘triangular in shape with the Great Hall on the north side.

Inevitably the castle has a reputation of being haunted, the Great Hall of the castle especially. Somerset has many traditions and legends relating back to the Monmouth Rebellion of 1685. Somerset people suffered at the hands of the authorities after the failed uprising. Taunton Castle was the scene for some of the trails of the Bloody Assizes.

The rebellion was led by James Scott, 1^st Duke of Monmouth, the illegitimate son of Charles II and his mistress Lucy Walter. After the death of his father in 1685 Monmouth tried to win the throne from his uncle James II. Having captured Taunton his followers took up residence in the Castle where he was proclaimed King. His supporters celebrated at the castle with wine and dancing. Their high spirits were to be short lived.

In the early morning of 6 July 1685, Monmouth’s army was crushed at the Battle of Sedgemoor. ON 15 July James Scott was beheaded in London. The King sent the infamous Hanging Judge Jeffries west to dole out savage retribution.

Excalibur and Taunton Castle Gate - 2009

It was in Taunton Castle’s Great Hall that Jeffries condemned 200 of Monmouth’s followers to the gallows, with many more sold into slavery. The women who had taken part in the dancing were flogged.

The museum, now occupying the Great Hall is said to echo to the marching feet of soldiers bringing prisoners to trial. A man in period dress and wig, carrying a sword and pistol has been seen. In addition to poltergeist activity the ghost of a fair-haired woman in 17^th century costume also appears in the castle.

Castle Hotel guests often hear the soothing strains of a phantom violin or fiddle which are said to be sounds of the Duke of Monmouth and his followers continuing to celebrate a ‘victory’ for which they were unknowingly to suffer Jeffries bloody justice.

Hilary Melton-Butcher’s chose ‘my castle’ in Kent on Saturday - Scotney Castle

Attributions:

·        Walls of Taunton Castle 2009; by Ken Grainger; Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License.

·        Excalibur and Taunton Castle Gate 2009; by Ken Grainger; Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License.

·        Images from Geograph project collection