North Lees Hall was once visited by Charlotte Bronte
Haiku or sushi?
Quite the same to me
Feed body and soul
Don't worry! There's going to be a little more to this blogpost than another haiku. Judging from the visitor count for yesterday, I would say that haiku poems are about as popular as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. In fact, I have previously found that when my blogpost title is "Poem", visitor numbers dip like limbo dancers. That is why today's title is "Sexy". As a consequence, I expect that this post's view count will rocket. The Russian bots will be panting like racehorses.
If you have got this far, I should inform you that this blogpost will contain no "sexy" revelations whatsoever. If you want "sexy", I suggest that you visit NakedBloggers.com or BloggerOrgy.org.
For February 18th, this was a good day weatherwise. The north of England saw sunshine and blue sky. I was determined to get out for a decent walk and make use of the clement weather.
Roadside wall with Stanage Edge beyond
Not wishing to travel far, I left home just after one o' clock. Twelve minutes later, I parked Clint in a lay-by to the west of Stanage Edge - close to Sheepwash Bank.
With boots on, I set off on a two hour circuitous walk that took in North Lees Hall, Ridgeway Side, Birley Lane and Gatehouse. Though this is a walk I have undertaken several times before, I had never previously noticed a special bench in a sheep field dedicated to Wendy Billing (1962-2020).
It appears that she was a wife, mother and keen orienteer. She lived in the nearby village of Hathersage. Cancer was responsible for shortening her life and stealing her away from her family, her friends and her approaching old age. I understand that Wendy designed the bench herself. It suggests the shape of an apple core and it bears that name - "Apple Core". It is an outdoor art exhibit that looks up to the sky.
Wendy Billings's bench "Apple Core"
Path behind North Lees Hall
Bronte Cottage near the track to North Lees Hall
View of Cow Close Farm from Birley Lane
A bright, sharp February day there by the looks of it. I hope it wasn't too cold - it was freezing here.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't too cold but I wore my fingerless gloves - like Fagin.
Deletegrand! I love the old stone gatepost with the holes in it!! i'd love a piece of stone like that for me garden but they're always buried about 8 foot deep like icebergs waiting to sink my battleship
ReplyDeleteWell I didn't know you had a battleship. Do you sail it in Wessenden Reservoir?
DeleteWhat lovely photos. Looks like it was an excellent day for a walk. That bench that Wendy designed is beautiful and heartbreaking. She and I were born the same year and I am thankful I am still here.
ReplyDeleteNo sexy? This is obviously a bait and switch, and it contravenes the Geneva Convention, or some sort of convention I'm sure. Perhaps a naturist's convention:)
I just knew that the word "Sexy" would snare you Nurse Pixie!
DeleteI love the Apple Core bench!! It's sexy ... for a bench.
ReplyDeleteI agree the curves are - well, sexy!
DeleteI love that apple core bench!
ReplyDeleteI sat upon it for a while and looked over The Hope Valley. I wonder, is there a Hopeless Valley somewhere? Maybe at Mar-a-Lago.
DeleteYour good walks will attract many readers. I enjoy the photos of your walks.
ReplyDeleteAnd I enjoy taking you along Red but please walk a little faster my friend.
DeleteAn interesting walk, and very nicely captured.
ReplyDeleteThe bench is a wonderful design but clearly Mrs Billing wasn't too old when she designed it, as there isn't a back rest.
I am just off now to check out your suggested websites.
Immersing yourself in those websites - I guess we won't see you for a while Andrew.
DeleteThe apple core bench is beautiful, and although the story behind it is sad, it is also beautiful.
ReplyDeleteWe had a sunny day here, too, but it was icy cold (-6C in the morning), and because I was working all day and then went to my Mum's for the evening, there was no time for a walk.
I think you have posted about North Lees Hall before, or haven't you? I can't remember whether it is open to the public or not.
As for visitor numbers, you have nothing to worry about in comparison to my blog. Ever since I have started to post a weekly write-up instead of more frequent, shorter posts, I rarely get more than a handful of comments anymore, and my book reviews seem to be as interesting to most readers as a bus timetable when they don't need to travel.
Yes. I have posted about North Lees Hall before as you could see if you type it into my search box. Writing your book reviews is a good way for you to store your history of reading for yourself more than anybody else.
DeleteThe bench is lovely and I like the rock walls too. I knew a girl named Billing once, long ago now, her first name was G.... and I believe her family originated in England somewhere. I can't ask because she died a few years ago and I'd lost touch with her long before that, probably 54 years ago.
ReplyDeleteBilling is a surprisingly common name and there are also other Wendy Billings in the Google library.
DeleteThat drystone wall is a thing of beauty.
ReplyDeleteIt is more precisely constructed than most drystone walls - probably because it marked the edge of a large estate.
DeleteBeautiful photos of Yorkshire countryside, although not quite what I was expecting from the title!! By the way, I received a meme on my phone yesterday... they are renaming the North Sea "Gulf of Yorkshire". Now I bet that's one change you'd be happy with.
ReplyDeleteHa! Ha! That's good to hear. In VIctorian times, it was widely referred to as The German Sea which you would no doubt be happy to have restored!
DeleteWith a title of Sexy, and a flock of sheep in the first photo, you will attract an interesting audience.
ReplyDeleteProbably a lot of Welsh visitors!
Delete(In Britain, it has become a standing joke that Welshmen enjoy sexual relations with sheep. This is untrue...I think.)
North Lees Hall looks rather like a prison from that angle. How do they KNOW that Charlotte Bronte visited there once. Once? And did any Brontes actually live in Bronte Cottage?
ReplyDeleteI do like the sheep. And honestly, all of these pictures are just beautiful. You have an incredible countryside surrounding you.
It is known that Charlotte Bronte visited North Lees Hall because it was recorded in her diary and it was also recorded in the diary of her friend Ellen Nussey who lived at the vicarage in Hathersage with her mother and father. Bronte Cottage was, I believe, built long after the entire Bronte family had died. The name of the cottage just recognises that Charlotte Bronte is associated with North Lees.
DeleteA lovely walk, Neil.
ReplyDeleteA walk like that is good for body and soul Ellen. Ellen Nussey lived in Hathersage and was Charlotte Bronte's friend.
DeleteSeems to be Brontë Week in my blog feed this week! (Jenny at saltairedaily.blogspot.com has also been posting about the Brontës, and Haworth.) - I do like Yorkshire views, and all those long dry stone walls impress me when I think about all the work involved in building them.
ReplyDeleteI was not walking in Yorkshire Monica - it was just over the border in Derbyshire.
DeleteSorry, my mistake. I'm still impressed with the stone walls, though! :)
DeleteHow lovely x
ReplyDeleteLovely photographs. What a difference now that winter has leached so much colour
ReplyDeletefrom the landscape, such a contrast from your spring and summer photos.