10 December 2018

East

St Winifrid's, Stainton
It has been a rather weird weekend. Shirley has been at the coast with several of her many cousins. Meantime I have been at home getting better.

Thankfully, on Sunday I felt well enough to drive out of the city. I travelled east beyond the former pit village of Maltby and did some walking and picture taking. It was a lovely December day after several grey and rainy days.

On a quiet country lane, a fellow who was out walking with his family turned back specially to speak with me. He wanted to know why I was taking photographs. I told him that my hobby was legal and that some of my pictures would be submitted to the "geograph" website. He was perfectly happy with my explanation having just spotted my bulging biceps and our height differential.
Woolthwaite Farm
I must admit that I felt a degree of sympathy for him and his family as they live in such an isolated location. Rural crime has been on the increase and the sight of a lone figure in a black Hull City manager's coat must have been slightly unnerving.

I visited nearby Stainton where the great Yorkshire fast bowler Freddie Ttueman was born. There was a massive stone cross in the churchyard - apparently it is the village's war memorial. In front of it was a grave that contained the remains of a teenage boy who was electrocuted at the nearby colliery in the 1920's.
Ivy covered tree near Sandbeck Lodge
It's always nice to visit map squares I have never entered before. I drove home feeling hungry and planned to prepare a nice rump steak with two small jacket potatoes, garden peas and fried mushrooms with onions.

After half an hour this simple culinary dream came true.

I forgot to mention than by a quiet country lane on my way to Stainton I spotted a memorial to coal miners who were lost in a methane explosion at Maltby Colliery in the 1920's. Twenty five bodies were never recovered. Followed by the names of those men, this was the inscription:-
"THIS MEMORIAL IS DEDICATED TO THE ETERNAL MEMORY
OF THE 27 MEN WHO TRAGICALLY LOST THEIR LIVES AS A RESULT
OF THE EXPLOSION THAT OCCURRED IN MALTBY COLLIERY 
ON JULY 28TH 1923

25 OF THE BODIES WERE NEVER RECOVERED AND THEY ARE
FOREVER ENTOMBED 800 YARDS DIRECTLY BELOW THIS MEMORIAL"

17 comments:

  1. The man asking you about your photographing did the right thing - he made sure you were no threat to himself and his family. Like you say, crime is on the rise, and although people now take photos all the time with their mobile phones, where ever they are and whatever they do, someone with a "proper" camera still makes a difference to most people.

    I wonder what the letters on the paddock mean. Do they hold races there, or set up a Christmas fair?

    Anyway, I am glad you felt well enough to go for that walk and enjoyed a very nice meal afterwards.

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    1. I would say that the letters are connected with show jumping and suspect that the man's three daughters are keen on that activity. Although not visible in the picture, the paddock contained several "jumps".

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  2. I always question anyone I hear wandering about the lane outside.beside my cabin. As I've described previously, this is a short, in length, dead-end lane, with only four houses and my little abode thereon.

    I'm not one to back away...I stand firm and upfront, looking life and those in it squarely in the eye.

    If there is someone or some persons (strangers)are wandering around out there on the lane I, pleasantly, call out from my window to ask them if everything is okay. Primarily, to let them know there is someone who lives here in this little dwelling...in case they're have thoughts of sizing the place up for reasons of which I am not agreeable.

    Another nice set of photos...I love that tree.

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    Replies
    1. By the way, Yorkie...I'm pleased to learn you're feeling much better. :)

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    2. Thanks for warning me. If I ever find myself strolling around Tamborine Mountain with my camera I will endeavour to walk by your cul-de-sac as I have a feeling that you would win if we had a big row.

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  3. Freddie Trueman once came to our house for tea.

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  4. I love that ivy-covered tree!

    I always get defensive when people ask me why I'm taking pictures. I try to patiently explain that it's just my hobby but inside I am always telling them to F off.

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    Replies
    1. At least this fellow was well-mannered. Generally I do not like the assumption that it is okay to challenge photographers. I have had one or two unpleasant encounters.

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  5. Glad you're feeling better, Mr. P.
    That last bit with the memorial- heartbreaking.

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    1. I read each name and noted their ages and thought about deaths in coal mines.

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  6. We have a similar memorial to twenty-six coal miners entombed in a mine here in Nova Scotia. The mine was Westray and the explosion and deaths occurred twenty-six years ago. I may have mentioned that we are -- or rather were -- a mining province. My grandfather spent his life in the pit.

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    Replies
    1. There's another thing that we have in common Jenny.

      Around the world, thousands of miners remain entombed in the tunnels where they worked.

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  7. P. S. I bet you enjoyed your walk, after being unwell for a bit. I like that horse and that tree!

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  8. I envy your access to rural land. It would never happen here. Now there is rural crime but the bad guys wouldn't walk to commit a crime.

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    Replies
    1. I did not understand your second sentence Red.

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