St Mary's Church, Lead

I've lost count of the number of times we've passed by this church, standing alone in the middle of a field adjacent to the B1217, and wondered what its story was.

St Mary's Church is in the hamlet of Lead, less than a mile away from the village of Saxton in North Yorkshire. A redundant Anglican chapel, it's generally referred to as a church.

The chapel stands very close to the site of the Battle of Towton which took place in 1461, part of the Wars of the Roses. I've written about this a couple of times when we've visited various places associated with the battle, A History Tour In Four Parts and Towton Battlefield Trail. You can enlarge the information board above by clicking on it, it gives a little more information and shows the points of interest.

On Tuesday, we decided to finally take a look at the church. It's less than five miles from where we live yet it's taken us all this time to take a closer look.

We wasn't sure if the church would be unlocked as it's suffered from some vandalism in the last couple of months. Vases have been smashed, the cross broken and litter strewn everywhere. To add insult to injury, a note was left apologising with a fake phone number. What's wrong with people? This church was saved from neglect back in the 1930s by a local group of ramblers and has since been known as The Ramblers Church.

The tiny church is only 18 foot long and has a simple interior. The benches date possibly from the medieval period.

The chapel is believed to date from the 14th century, though there may have been an earlier church on the site. After being rescued by the group of ramblers back in the 1930s, repairs have been recorded on the back of the church door. This door is now in a poor state of repair and funds have recently been raised for it to be renovated. A temporary door will be installed while the work is carried out.

The cross stands on the altar.

Tombstones near the altar.

The font. I wonder how many babies have been Christened here.

You can read more about the church by clicking the photo above and reading the information board.

There is a bellcote at the west end of the church. St Mary's is looked after by a group called the Friends of Lead Church and there is an annual service.

Looking back towards the road, you can see how remote this little church is.

By the roadside is the Crooked Billet. We didn't pop in on this occasion but if you're partial to Yorkshire Pudding, this is the place to be as it's famous for its Giant Yorkshire Puddings with a choice of fillings.

I'm really pleased that we've finally visited the church at Lead, and it just goes to show that there's always something new to discover on your own doorstep, you don't have to travel very far for an interesting afternoon out.

Agnes Grey

With the success of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, and Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, the third Bronte Sister, Anne, sometimes gets overlooked. I've actually only read one book by the Brontes and that's Wuthering Heights, I chose Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte as the second.

"When Agnes's father loses the family savings, young Agnes determines to make her own living - as a governess. Working for the Bloomfields, her enthusiasm is soon dampened by isolation and the cruelty of the children in her charge. Agnes hopes for better in her second job, but when the scheming elder daughter Rosalie makes designs on Agnes's new friend, the kind curate Mr Weston, she feels herself silenced and sidelined. Becoming a governess is one thing, becoming invisible is quite another."

I was engaged in this novel right from the very first page. They do say write about what you know, and as Anne Bronte was a governess herself, she did just that. Although a work of fiction, various aspects of Agnes Grey's life mirrors that of Anne Bronte. The book highlights the huge differences in class in 1847 when this novel was published, and what is expected of marriage. A predictable ending but I don't mind that. It's a shame that the book was published a couple of months after Jane Eyre, as Charlotte stole Anne's thunder, otherwise I'm sure that more would have been made of this book than was.

I shall definitely read more from Anne Bronte, in fact I'd like to read more from all three of the Bronte Sisters.

Shopping For Houseplants

I'm a recent convert to houseplants. I've had the odd one or two over the years, and I've had a few orchids for some time, but over the last couple of years I've increased my collection. I didn't bring them all with me when I moved house, just a money plant, a couple of Christmas cactuses and a teeny tiny poinsettia which I bought last year. It's dropped its flowers since we moved house but it's still going strong. Oh, I brought an orchid with me too and though it's not flowering at the moment, it is growing a new leaf.

Mick's got a fortnight off work at the moment. We thought we might get off for some days out here and there but Archie has, yet again, developed a limp so he's on enforced rest at the moment. He does seem to be on the mend though so we're keeping our fingers crossed that we'll be able to head off somewhere soon. In the meantime, we're staying close to home as we won't leave Archie for long, so we're trying to get some bits and bobs done that we keep putting off at home. There are areas in my new house where I'd like a plant or two so yesterday, we had a look around a few local garden centres.

There was limited choice in the first two, the third was a little better, though the prices were extortionate.

Our last port of call was a local florist who we've used many times over the years and their prices are really reasonable. They had quite a bit of choice and though I didn't buy anything yesterday, I'm going to go back and buy a Ceropegia woodii (string of hearts) and possibly a pilea glaucophylla. I thought I'd better read up on their care before buying them, I'm no expert when it comes to house plants.

Do you grow houseplants and if so, do you have any particular favourites?

A Wedding Gift From Down Under

I've made lots of friends through blogging, some I've already met in person, others I've yet to meet in the flesh, but Susan from Granny Smith's Quilting is the friend I've met up with the most, which is rather funny as she lives the farthest away on the other side of the world in Australia. We met for the first time back in 2014 and I wrote a post about our Bloggy Meet Ups. We've met up a few times since then when Susan and her lovely husband have been over here visiting family. 

When Eleanor and Jacob announced their wedding plans, Susan contacted me and asked if she could make a quilt for them as a wedding gift. She didn't have to ask twice, I drool over the quilts that Susan shows on her blog, she's such an accomplished quilter.

The quilt has arrived in good time, the wedding isn't until October but Susan made sure to send it with plenty of time to wing its way right around the world. I did ask her if I should hold onto it until the wedding but she said that seeing as they already have their home, I could pass it on to them straight away, which is perfect as they're just in the middle of decorating their bedroom and it will make a wonderful addition.

Isn't the quilt beautiful. Susan's always been very generous sending lots of lovely gifts from Australia. I have a bed runner that she made for me and I love that, but this quilt really does have the wow factor.

You can see the quilting a little better on the reverse of the quilt, just excuse the creases, remember it's travelled all the way from Australia so it's done very well, I'm much more crumpled when I've been on a flight.

Thank you so much, Susan. Eleanor and Jacob are thrilled with it and I know it's something they're starting married life off with which will be treasured for a lifetime.

Summer Makers Market

We saw that the Halifax Piece Hall was staging a Summer Makers Market last weekend so on Sunday we decided to have a drive over.

This Grade I listed building is the only remaining Georgian cloth hall in the world. It dates back to 1779 and was built as a hall where 'pieces' of cloth (a 30 yard length of woven woollen fabric produced on a handloom) were traded.

The link at the beginning of this post takes you to a post I wrote back in 2011. The Piece Hall was rather run down then, but in 2014 a £19 million restoration project commenced and it reopened in 2017. Since then, it's welcomed over eight million visitors.

There are various exhibitions held at the Piece Hall, as well as live entertainment. I'd hoped to visit earlier this year when there was an exhibition of Sophie Ryder's sculptures in the courtyard but I missed that.

The Piece Hall is now home to a huge selection of independent shops. There's everything from toys and collectables to homeware, fashion and accessories to arts and crafts, on sale here. There's even a Christmas shop which is open the year round. There's also plenty of places to eat and drink with a selection of cafes, restaurants and bars.

There were 34 stalls making up the Summer Makers Market focusing on local produce alongside arts, crafts and gifts. There were quite a few speciality alcohol producers selling flavoured gin, rum, liqueurs and spirits and quite a few stalls selling baked goods, but there were many other things on offer too.

This sculpture, called Contemplation, is of Anne Lister, also known as Gentleman Jack, the owner of Halifax's Shibden Hall.

Created by Diane Lawrenson, it's the first public sculpture of the famous lesbian diarist and businesswoman.

There's always some Yorkshire merchandise for sale featuring Yorkshire humour when visiting touristy places in the county.

It was an enjoyable, well-attended event, and it was also nice to look around the Piece Hall again. We visited a little while after it reopened after the restoration project was finished but many of the shops were stood empty at that time. It seems very popular now with most of the shops fully occupied and the amount of visitors it's attracted speaks for itself.

Eleanor's Hen Weekend

Eleanor and Jacob get married in October. It used to be tradition that the hen and stag events were a night out, just before the wedding, to celebrate the bride and groom's last night of freedom. These days, the nights out have turned into major events which go on for a weekend, or even longer, are held long before the wedding, and see some groups heading off to far flung places. Last weekend, Jacob and his stags headed off to Newcastle where they went go-karting, played zorb football and had some nights out. I believe a good time was had by all.

Eleanor's hen do is this weekend. The hens are currently in Manchester, what they're up to is anyone's guess as it's all a closely guarded secret, however, I do know that there's some pampering sessions, fancy meals and nights out, and fun for all. The weekend actually started yesterday when we all headed off to the Sky Lounge in Leeds for afternoon tea. I think Eleanor wanted to kick the weekend off doing something which the oldies could be a part of too. As well as the hens, me, Jacob's mum, Jacob's grandma and Mick's auntie were invited.

The Sky Lounge is where Jacob proposed to Eleanor and She Said Yes. The afternoon tea was delicious and rather substantial, we all took doggy bags home with us.

There were cocktails too, a Cosmopolitan for me but everyone else had something different.

I'm looking forward to hearing all about the weekend on Eleanor's return, and then it's the countdown to the wedding. It's less than two months away now, it's come round fast, and we've still got some last minute things to organise. Eleanor and Jacob had to postpone their menu tasting evening at the hotel where they're getting married, as well as their pre-wedding photo shoot, because they both had covid at the time they'd been arranged, so they've still got those to come, and there's still some minor details for the wedding to organise but I think we'll be saying that right up to the big day, there's always some little extras to add.

Second Time Lucky

I recently wrote about our Scuppered Plans when we tried to visit the Walled Garden at Temple Newsam, only to find that it was closing just as we arrived. Not to be put off, we visited again on Sunday and this time we were lucky and found it open.

The walled gardens have been on this site since 1788 and were originally used to supply the house with vegetables, fruit and cut flowers. 

Herbaceous borders run along the walls and some are 800 yards in length, it's a large garden. They're well stocked, though I must admit that I've seen them more colourful in the past than they were on this occasion. I think the hot weather probably has something to do with that, many plants will stop flowering after prolonged exposure to high temperatures.

There's a good selection of flowers but the hollyhocks really stood out. I like this really dark variety.

They make quite a statement in the border.

I think the red and pink varieties are really pretty too.

The echinops are repeated at intervals throughout the borders and give a different shape and texture to the planting.

The insects absolutely love them, they were covered in bees.

In fact, the borders were filled with lots of different insects enjoying the plants.

There's a good mix of flower heights and shapes in the borders. Here's the giant of flowers, the cardoon, reaching for the sky. Cardoons can grow up to six feet tall.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I've been visiting Temple Newsam all my life. I remember the walled garden from my childhood as it presented a beautiful rose garden which originated from about 1923. Sadly, it's not so outstanding these days, there are roses growing in some of the beds but many are empty.

I don't think my visit showed the walled garden at its best. The borders have been stunning on previous visits, I think I'm just a little too late this year, especially after the heatwave. It's a shame that the rose beds are lacking though, it would be good to see them stocked with more plants to bring this garden back to its former glory. 

There's also a huge conservatory which contains more temperate plants but as we had Archie with us, we didn't go inside on this occasion. It's a nice garden to visit and there's plenty of seating for the less mobile or anyone wanting to take advantage of the tranquil atmosphere, but more could definitely be made of these grounds.