U is for UNUSUAL

Round 19 has flown by!  Already, we're at the letter U so that means it's not long until our ultimate Round will start.  As Roger has mentioned, it will be the "Farewell Tour," thus the emblem for Round 20 is the ultra-deluxe t-shirt designed by Troy.

Those who have been contributing for a long time will remember that Denise Nesbitt (from North Yorkshire, UK) began ABC Wednesday many years ago and it became unusually popular, getting posts from people all over the world!  Roger took over as Administrator of ABCW several years ago and I became his Assistant Administrator.  We then managed to put together a team so that everyone who posted to ABCW would receive visits and comments from as many people as possible.  Now, after 20 Rounds that equals 10 years, most of us on the team are, as Roger says, "fried" and even though we want to continue, our lives and availability to put so much time into it have become limited.  I, for one, would like to continue but only in a contributing manner, not as someone on the team. A few people have expressed interest in continuing ABCW in a different way, so by all means, get in touch with Roger with your ideas and he will assist you in how to do it. 

Now for my "Unusual" photo of the week, I bring you a few shots of a very special and unusual train that I saw near Darlington in North Yorkshire last summer.  My host pulled over on the side of the highway and told me to get my camera ready.  Uncertain as to what I'd see, my jaw dropped at the sight of this unconventional and unadulterated work of art.

"Designed by leading contemporary artist and sculptor David Mach, Train is made from 185,000 local "Accrington Nori" bricks and commemorates Darlington's illustrious heritage as "home of the railways."  Here are a couple more shots from the website.

Mach describes his train as "as much a piece of architecture as a sculpture," 60 metres long and 6 metres high, it is a perfect rendering of the 1938 classic locomotive "Mallard", complete with plume of billowing smoke.  Creating a large scale, life-like whole out of thousands of commonplace objects is Mach's trademark. To read more about this unusual piece of art and the artist, view the website here.

See you all next week when we venture into the terrain of the letter V as in violet and vegetables.

T is for TENBY (Wales)

Last week I was telling you about stained glass windows in Liverpool and York, but this week we swing down towards the south west of Wales to a town called Tenby.  It's a walled seaside town in Pembrokeshire, West Wales, on the western side of Carmarthen Bay and it's known for the buildings that are painted in pastel shades.  It was a beautiful sunny day in June when I arrived with my dear friend Liz, who's from Swansea.  After finding a parking spot, we travelled by foot through the old center of town where lots of shops tried to entice the tourists inside to buy their wares. My camera was in hand and I was happily snapping away because I was transformed by the architecture, the bustle of the small crowds, and all the colour!  Oh the colour was totally amazing!

After wandering the shops in the town, we headed towards the water.  From there I could see high on the hill to my left, an entire wall of pastel coloured homes and other buildings that overlooked Carmarthen Bay. What a view they have from there.   The harbour was full of boats and it appears that almost everyone who lives there must have one! You could buy fresh fish and even fish and chips right there in the harbour.  Then we hiked up the very steep Castle Hill to see the view and the memorial statue of Prince Albert and the cannon that was used to defend this walled town of Tenby.

Other notable features of Tenby are the 2 1/2 miles of sandy beaches, the 13th century medieval stone walls, the 15th century St. Mary's Church, the Pembrokeshire Coast Path (part of Wales' only coastal National Park), and the offshore monastic Caldey Island.  I'd love to go back and travel over to this island to explore. Click on the link to see a bit of it. 

Tenby is so beautiful, I thought it best to do a slideshow for you because even though the photos would never capture it perfectly, it's better than just writing about it. I even caught some seagulls in a few of the shots. So do enjoy!  Please note that all the photos are mine except for #s 8, 10 & 21 all of which came from Mr. Google. Also, this post is dedicated to Liz, my friend who took me to Tenby for the day!

S is for STAINED GLASS

Welcome to ABC Wednesday, the superlative of weekly memes, created by the stellar Mrs. Denise and administered by the saintly Mr. Roger.  This week we celebrate the letter S as in sunshine, salad, sensational, soup, and sincere.  During my travels last summer, I chanced upon several spots where I stood in awe at stained glass windows. 

I was very excited to arrive at the sacred Liverpool Cathedral and exited the Hop On/Hop Off bus with spirit and sparkle.  After seeing the singularly exceptional entrance, I excitedly entered the cathedral.  Such was my anticipation of this visit that I had my camera secure and at the ready!  To the left, was a beautiful window with flower boxes brimming full of splendid and stately selections of showy blooms.

This stained glass window, although extremely pretty with its pinks, blues, yellows, and greens was nothing compared to what awaited me in the cathedral proper. As I slowly walked down the wide entry hall, I was completely unaware of what awaited me. To the right, I gazed upward toward the west window which has been designed around the "Benedicite," a canticle (hymn of praise). Below it, in pink neon, reads "I felt you and I knew you loved me“ and was installed 2008 when Liverpool became the European Capital of Culture.

 I then turned to the east where the altar is located and took a photo of it with its stained glass window rising strikingly above it.  Unfortunately the lighting was not conducive to very good photos, but this is the best I could do.  Then I moved closer to take a shot of just the window itself.

In the front of the abbey in Rosedale (that I wrote about last week) I found this next stained glass window with a lace-covered table beneath it. 

The Liverpool Cathedral has many more stained glass windows within its walls, but as I mentioned, the lighting was not good for taking photographs, but I must say I thoroughly enjoyed my visit.  When I had a day in York, I found two more very special stained glass windows.  One was in the Medieval Guild Hall, one of the most important buildings in the medieval city.  It was built in 1357 by a group of influential men and women who came together to form a religious fraternity called the Guild of Our Lord Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is the largest timber-framed building in the UK still standing and used for its original purpose. Inside, I found this stained glass window that appears to evoke life in medieval times in York.

Finally, in a second location, I found this one that symbolises agricultural life in the York area.

We don't see many stained glass windows here in western Canada, but there are probably some in the Catholic churches here or in the east.  So it was a real treat to see these ones in Liverpool and York.  There are some artisans who make them here, but they're more modern and artistic in style, not like the old religious ones of the "old country."  Hope you enjoyed these shots, and that you have a sensational week.  I'll see you all back here for the letter T when I'll show you what it's like in the town of Tenby in the south west of  Wales.

R is for ROSEDALE in the North York Moors

One of the most fascinating places I visited last summer was the village and surrounding area of Rosedale, found in the North York Moors.  Now a peaceful, rural dale in the heart of the National Park, in the 19th century, Rosedale was part of industrial Yorkshire, with its ironstone mines, kilns and even a moorland railway. There's a fabulous 7½-mile circuit you can walk from pretty Rosedale Abbey village through rolling valley farmland and back into Rosedale. Along the way, you pass the old railway tracks and the impressive ruins of the old iron mines. 

We first went into Rosedale Abbey where services are still held.  There was a lovely tapestry hanging inside, old wooden pews, and a beautiful altar.  Then we wandered the village itself, with its row houses beautifully decorated with climbing roses and other exquisite gardens.  Entering what we thought was a china shop, we discovered Mr. Gillies Jones working on his stunning glassworks! He uses buildings built in 1827 that were used by village blacksmiths.  We had a lovely time admiring his absolutely stunning works but I was disappointed that I couldn't buy anything - because of the fragility of his pieces (and the cost was quite dear!).  To see his website click here.

After lunching at "Graze on the Green", we took a tootle around the countryside to see the moors full of sheep and the old iron mine entrances.  They really are quite impressive! We also saw farmyards with outbuildings, the old railway line, which was an impressive feat of engineering, built in the 1860s and winding 14 miles over the moors, across difficult terrain. 

From 1855 until 1926 the entire area rang with the sound of the Victorian industrial age. The valley was transformed with the opening of the ironstone mines, especially because of the building of giant roasting kilns, where the miners roasted the iron ore to reduce its weight for transportation and remove impurities. Vast quantities of ore were tipped into the kilns from the railway line above, mixed with coal and then set alight. A huge workforce was needed and the population of Rosedale increased rapidly to nearly 3000 people – more than ten times what it is today. Terraced houses in the dale were built for the miners, while the railwaymen occupied homes closer to the mines – you can still see their ruined remains.

Now you know a bit about the village and area of Rosedale, I'd like to present a short musical slideshow so you can actually "see" some of it.  Hope you enjoy it.  And with that, a resounding thanks to Mrs. Nesbit, Roger, and the team at ABC Wednesday for their unending work in keeping ABCW one of the longest running and most popular meme on the internet today.

Note:  all photographs were taken by me except for the ones of Gillies Jones and his studio and glassworks. Please see his website here.