Beautiful Lancashire

[Mathos]

It's been nice day in Lancashire today, it appeared to have rained most of the night, but from early morning up until now even it has been dry, in fact quite sunny for most of the day.

Nights are drawing in though, it happens fast it's quite dark now and it's only 9.15 pm.

I've done a good days work today, some grass cutting, about four hours of that, put some trellis up, kept an eye on my grandson who has been doing some fence painting for me and took him and one of the others down to the gym tonight for their boxing training. We get back into the season now, this week we have gone up to three nights a week training from the obligatory two per week during the summer nights, end of the month it will be the normal four nights.

I was thinking about Walters questions, they deserve a separate thread to be honest.

On a lighter note, and considering the differences in people not simply colour, religions and accents, if you put all of those to bed, God help the guys with red hair.

We are a funny old lot.

Back to the trip.

First port of call yesterday was St Winifrides Well, at Holywell North Wales.

It quite amazes me how certain tales of old create so much interest and so many side issues.

These are the basics regarding the same, which I have to say are interesting:-


St. Winifred's Well was an important place for pilgrims to visit during the Middle Ages. The story is told of how in the 7th century a young prince, Caradoc, visited Tegeingle near the mouth of the River Dee. Caradoc saw a pretty young girl called Winifred and made advances towards her. Winifred rejected and then ran towards the church. Caradoc, furious for being treated in this way, chased after her and cut off her head with a sword.
The head rolled down the hill towards the church. Winifred's father, Beuno, was just leaving the church and realizing what had happened, "cursed Caradoc so that he fell dead". Beuno lifted the head, wrapped it in his cloak and returned to Mass, where he asked the people to help him with their prayers for Winifred. He then joined the "head to her body and she at once revived, and afterwards bearing only a red threadlike mark around her throat."
Legend has it that where Winifred's head had fallen "the stones surrounding the fountain were stained forever with her blood, and the blood falling in the water coloured also the moss that grows there and which has the perfume of frankincense, though some say of violets."
A well was built where Winifred's head fell and people believed in the Middle Ages that its water had a curative quality. Therefore people visited St. Winifred's Well seeking physical help rather than a pilgrimage of penance.
On 23rd November, 1851, Pope Pius IX granted indulgences to pilgrims who visited St. Winifred's Well. This increased the number of visitors but on 5th January, 1917, disaster struck when the spring, which had been bubbling at the rate of twenty-one tons a minute, went suddenly dry. The reason for this was that tunnelling by a local lead-mine company, had caused the water to drain away into the River Dee. Later that year the lead-miners had managed to divert another underground stream to restore the supply of water.

St. Winifred's Well, Holywell

It's an extremely impressive old church, that's for sure.

There's an outside type of bathing pool area which enables the faithful to bathe in the spring water and say various prayers.

Apparently there is quite a good response to the 'healing powers' of the water.

Inside the building there were quite a large number of crutches and other walking aid paraphernalia, which had been discarde by the 'healed'

You can see from this photograph that there are several tent type modesty units to allow folk to change prior to bathing in the water.

I always look at these places with considerations that if they each do one person any good, it's alright, carry on. It's not like there is a massive fee or any fee above a few 'bob' admission and no claims are made to the same being a cure for anything. It's a kind of faith thing, if it works for some. So mote it be.

There are additional wells, or bathing places inside the Church building.

Personally I was really impressed with the architecture.

I'm not at all sure how old the building section above is, it's obviously clocking on a fair bit, there are more modern additions to the Church in general throughout the grounds as well.

This information is quite interesting though.

Holywell first enters written history in 1093, when 'Haliwel' was presented to St Werburgh's Abbey, Chester. In 1240, the Welsh prince Dafydd ap Llewelyn, once more in control of this area in Wales, gave the holy well and church to the newly-established Basingwerk Abbey; and the Cistercian monks cared for the well and its pilgrims until the Reformation.

Winifred's fame, and with it the fame of the Well, continued to spread throughout the middle ages, but little is factually recorded about the pilgrimage. By 1415, her feast had become a major solemnity throughout Wales and England. Kings could be found among her pilgrims. Henry V came in 1416. Richard III maintained a priest at the Well. But it was during the reign of the Welsh Henry VII that devotion reached its pinnacle, with the building of the present well-shrine under the patronage of Henry's mother, Margaret Beaufort.


Such glory was short lived, though the Well's fame was never eclipsed. The Reformation swept away shrines and pilgrimages; but no attempt ever quite succeeded in destroying devotion to St Winifred at her Well. Through all the years of religious persecution, pilgrims, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, continued to visit Holywell. It became the centre of Catholic resistance. James II and his queen visited the Well in 1686, to pray for an heir. But James was exiled, and the persecution renewed. Through these long years, Holywell and its pilgrims were served by the Jesuits. They wrote popular Lives of the saint; and even kept inns in the town, where Mass could be said in comparative safety.


In the nineteenth century, after Catholic Emancipation, it was the Jesuits who oversaw and directed the spectacular renaissance of the pilgrimage. A church opened in the town in the 1840's was constantly enlarged and enriched. A pilgrim's hospice was erected shortly afterwards. And under Fr. Beauclerk in the 'nineties, the pilgrimage underwent a revival of medieval proportions. Pilgrims came literally in thousands, necessitating a branch rail line into the town. The popular press gave account of each reported cure. And the sick reported cures in such numbers that Holywell came to be called the 'Lourdes of Wales'. Despite the alterations to pilgrimage patterns caused by the increasing secularism of 20th-century life, and by devotional changes within Catholicism itself, the Jesuit's heritage continues: people are still coming to Holywell on pilgrimage.


The Well Crypt and Chapel



Unlike Gwytherin, with the grave and other relics of the saint, or Shrewsbury Abbey, which after 1138 enshrined Winifred's body, the Holywell pilgrimage has always centred on the Well itself. A church, almost certainly on the site of the present Anglican church of St James, over-looking the Well, has stood by the Well, certainly since 1093 and probably since Winifred's own time. And there may perhaps have been a further small chapel, connected more directly with the Well. But we have no indication as to the form of the Well itself throughout the middle ages. Celtic holy wells take many individual forms, and it is possible that until the end of the fifteenth century there was no form of structure at all around the spring itself, which is what the medieval Welsh votive poems suggest.

The sheer force of the spring would support this.


The present glorious structure was begun around 1500 and probably took 10 or 15 years to complete. It is unique, having no parallel anywhere in Europe; and is a masterpiece of late Perpendicular architecture. It takes the form of an almost square crypt, built into the steep hillside, but open to the North through a triple arcade which gives access to the Well. In the centre the spring rises in a star-shaped basin, before flowing into an oblong bath, access to which is gained at either end by steps. All around the Well graceful columns rise to support the elaborately vaulted roof; and in the centre, directly over the source, is a large pendent boss, beautifully carved with the legend of St Winifred, but now badly worn. Originally, the spaces between the columns were filled with delicate Gothic tracery, destroyed by the Puritans. An open gallery in the west wall originally gave the pilgrim his first glimpse of the holy well as he descended from the chapel above, to enter the crypt through the now closed door. An elaborate niche houses a statue of St Winifred, placed there in 1886 to replace the original much-venerated Gothic image, which was destroyed in the seventeenth century.

The chapel comprises a nave and a side-aisle, and is built directly over the crypt, with which it is contemporary. At its east end an apse was built out onto the hillside to contain the altar. The well-crypt has never ceased to be used for its original purpose, but the chapel has seen many changes of use, used at times as a court-house, at others as a school. In consequence, it suffered great damage, but it was thoroughly restored and re-roofed in 1976. Both the interior and exterior of the chapel are enriched with fine, and often amusing, sculptures.

Considering the superior quality of the architecture, and the degree of technical skill required to build directly over the source of a small river, it is odd that not a single hard fact concerning its construction has survived. We do not know the name of its architect, nor the name of those who commissioned and paid for the shrine: not even the dates of its construction. The building itself yields the only clues. The emblems and coats of arms carved on the bosses of the crypt ceiling suggest the patronage of Margaret, Countess of Richmond and Derby, the pious mother of Henry VII. Margaret died in 1509. The arms of Catherine of Aragon suggest further royal patronage; and yet other badges indicate the beneficence of other noble families. Such patronage, which alone could account for the building's splendour, is also the only real clue to dating it to the first decade of the sixteenth century.

Though its exact history will probably always remain a mystery, the shrine remains a fitting setting for the only British pilgrimage to have survived continuously for over 1300 years.


The history is quite amazing, in my opinion anyhow.



As mentioned before the architecture and buildings in general are wonderful.

A pleasure to look at.

[Mathos]

Some of the older parts of the Church, were amazing, it was a pity though to see the rate of deterioration, I hope there is concern to rectify the levels of wear and erosion which stand out so obviously.




The UK could really start an interesting job creation scheme with renovation and or repairs of these 'Ancient Chapels, and Castles'


A bit of lottery funding wouldn't be amiss going this way either.



I thought the ceiling over the main interior 'Well' section was amazing.




There were rooms and sections inside the old church set aside for people wishing to pray
and light candles for their departed loved ones or other reasons.



It's quite interesting to note from the number and thickness's of visitors books
alone how much of an interest the Church and Well have by the volume of visitors.



This particular area was quite striking in it's appearance and setting.



The cemetery was obviously very ancient,
most of the old head stones and general markers
were covered by long grass unfortunately
it wouldn't have been prudent to go walking about among the same.



Although it's difficult to see from the photographs
some of the markers were shaped quite different
from any other markers I have noticed over the years.



Giving consideration to the same, it is probably quite a delicate job cutting the grass
around these graves, the markers having been there so long,
looking rather fragile by modern standards,
things are perhaps left best as they are.



These particular marker stones appeared to have been removed from the cemetery and placed here to offer them protection.





They were extremely ancient.

We took a couple of photographs which captured the old with the new so to speak.



They both show almost the same parts of the Church complex, but I couldn't make up my mind which was the better of the two.



That sorted it though.

[Mathos]

All being well I'll carry on with more posts tomorrow evening.

Busy day tomorrow though.

I have elected to attend a 'Speed Awareness Course' in place of having
three points put on my driving licence.

Would you believe it, thirty seven miles an hour in a thirty zone, and one of those bloody cameras nailed me.

Only my self to blame though.

But 8 am start and 2 pm finish and I have a lot of my own jobs to do.

I'll leave you with a photograph of an exceptionally nice house in a beautiful location we came across.





It really appealed to me.

[Mathos]

Glad to have the 'Speed Awareness Course' out of the way.

I've mixed feelings about it.

The course lasted from 8 am until 2.30 pm. There was a canteen for a spot of lunch, a fifteen minute break which appeared to benefit the smokers.

The tutors were quite intense and certainly gave an excellent view on improved and better driving techniques. They would be of course, it's their job. A bit like being a plumber or mechanic, you do the job better than the layman, as a rule.

It's optional to take the course, it's offered to you when you are caught speeding. Maybe for other traffic infringements as well, it never occurred to me to ask.

You can pay the fixed fine of £60..00 and get three endorsement points on your licence. Alternatively you can pay £80..00 no points on your licence but you take the course.

I mentioned today, that although I was impressed with the course and the advice given, (plus the marking up schedule I passed by the way.) I did consider the same to be an exercise in improving taxation levels as well as a really good job creation scheme.

That caused a few glowering looks.

I'm right though. Two tutors, a dozen additional driving instructors with their own cars to test you and explain the errors of your driving to you. All the cars. That means fuel. Servicing. Canteen staff. Car park attendant. They didn't divulge how many courses a week. They did tell me at least two a day five days a week from the one class we were herded into. There were about fourteen of us (at least) so that's 28 a day at £80..00 each. £11,200..00 a week from one class-room. Two of them coughed to it being their full time mode of employment.

No wonder they keep the cameras well serviced and in discreet locations.

______________________________________________

We came across this railway station whilst we were on the road, it was rather 'cute' as Flobo put it.




From the rear, it was obviously a residential home as well, very attractive.

It must have been a fair sized old station, once upon a time.




It was a nice area as well Tal-y-cafn, it's in the Conwy Valley.

I noticed several superb looking places advertising bed and breakfast.

I thought I'd pick one at random and place it on here.

After Major Investment, Internal and External Refurbishment we present our new Website -
Forbed and breakfast in north wales - The Tal-y-Cafn situated in the Conwy Valley is the ideal base to explore all that North Wales has to offer. Our warm hospitality, great food and cosy surroundings will make your stay complete. Our latest features are - an “Internet Connection” in the lobby and “Wireless Internet Access” in all our bedrooms!

There is a choice of setting for a relaxing drink before & after dining, with log burning fires & oak beamed ceilings. The Main Bar, with wood-panelled bar provides space for diners & drinkers in a relaxed setting.
Across the Inner Lobby, is a dining area of smaller proportions with individual, larger dining tables more suited to parties or families with younger children.
Just off the Inner Lobby is our Snug, designed for comfort, for a relaxed drink in mind, with soft leather-look chocolate sofas & coffee tables moulded into the intriguing shaped room, with impressive ‘still-life’ historical nude paintings, gracing the warm cream & terracotta walls.
The Bar offers a comprehensive, impressive range of house wines. We like to offer choice for all palates at a reasonable price and for the more discerning palate we do have a full wine list. We also have a minimum of two real ales at any time The bar operates normal licensing hours but additional hours can be arranged for private events & residents. Our food features fresh, regional produce creatively used in a modern British Style. We offer a selection of menus for functions, weddings & conferences – with each menu acting only as aguideline. We are able to cater for individual requirements, uniquely.
We look forward to welcoming everyone!

Flobo, wants to spend a couple of nights in this one..

I have to admit to finding it really attractive as well.


Nice isn't it.

There was some really nice property in the area quite impressive all in all.



How Green Is My Valley.


The level crossing was a manually operated affair.

I drifted a little, wondering how many of the'old steam engines' had passed through these gates in past years.

I have a habit of doing such meanderings.

I could hear the train coming, the whistle blowing, see and smell the smoke belching out of the chimney.


Brilliant.




Scenes like this, may to some people appear nothing special.

There aren't too many stations left though looking like this, and those that are will be lucky to survive much longer no doubt.



Quite priceless really. Perfect and then some more with the added bonus of a well stocked bird table.

[Mathos]

Wales really has a great deal to offer as a holiday destination or as a sight-seeing and very historical part of the UK.

The Castles are fabulous. I think later in the year, we will do a trip and make two or three nights out of it to photograph several of the Castles.

{If I keep making all these arrangements for travel, we will never be home}

As it is, we were only out for the day and whilst we covered a fair mileage, we were limited as to what we could accomplish for the benefit of the thread especially.

Betws Y Coed was beautiful, we have been in the past. In fact, I cycled to here from Manchester on the old roads in 1961. It was a hell of a ride. The hills in Wales especially are not to be scoffed at, believe me. I was on a Holdsworth Hurricane. Brilliant bicycle.


The Swallow Falls Hotel is quite a famous landmark.

We have never stayed there ourselves, but it is a very impressive building.




This beautiful Hotel was purposely built in the 1900's to take advantage of the local views and proximity to Swallow Falls.

Set in an area of outstanding natural beauty and combining the classic quality of a Victorian Coaching House with the informal ambience
of a modern hotel, Swallow Falls Hotel affords a memorable experience to all its guests.

Over the years the hotel has been developed into a holiday complex with the addition of a campsite and youth hostel offering the best in facilities.
Within the hotel, the spacious bedrooms are all en-suite and benefit from panoramic views of the surrounding countryside. All of the bedrooms are centrally heated and all are equipped with remote control colour TV and hospitality trays.


We have stayed overnight in Betws Y Coed twice with our grandsons, but they were much younger.

We stayed at the Waterloo Hotel on the other end of town. Very nice accommodation as well.

The Best Western Waterloo Hotel with hotel and cottage style rooms is set in the beautiful picture postcard village of Betws-y-coed amidst the remarkable beauty of Snowdonia National Park and complete with Leisure Complex it makes us the ideal base to explore the magnificent mountains, stunning passes, the breathtaking countryside scenery and the beautiful North Wales coastline either by car, coach or foot.

• 
  Click here

The village is spectacular as well, really impressive.



Some amazing property, quite unique in appearance and nestling beautifully into the side of the mountain.



The little cottage on the end was for rent. It really was petite.

The dry stone wall at the front and setts behind looked brilliant.



These cafés are outstanding.

There's quite a lull in the flow of the River Llugwy after the ferocity of the Swallow Falls, it runs down from the bottom of the falls alongside the road and into the village of Betws Y Coed.




Then just behind 'The Chippy' it drops down again into the Cauldron as it meets up with the Rivers Conwy, the Lledr and Machno.



We were quite glad we had suffered so much rain of late. The flow of the river, impact from the falls and the drop into the cauldron was spectacular,

The power was amazing.



It really was impressive to view all of this with the naked eye.

It's nice to share it too.

There are many Bridges along this main stretch and in the local vicinity. Pont-y-Pair (the bridge of the cauldron), built in 1468, is buffeted by foaming water after heavy rain. A number of sign-posted walks in the surrounding countryside start near this bridge. A mile or so away is the Miner's Bridge, on the road to Capel Curig, where the miners crossed the river on a steep ladder to their work

I took the next couple of photographs from the Pont-y-Pair Bridge.



You can see the power it was spectacular.



It really pisses me off though, to see parents taking children onto dangerous and slippy rocks over waters like this. One slip and it's all over.

You can't dig them up to say you're sorry either.

[Mathos]

There's some really interesting and very old history I came across here.


Stone Age man lived in the area and was responsible for the Neolithic Burial Chamber at Capel Garmon.

During the Bronze Age (at about 2000 BC) the Beaker Folk who originated from Spain sailed into Britain, bringing with them metal-working, although they did not penetrate into the mountainous areas which remained the preserve of the Neolithic people. The Celts arrived from Central Europe about 600 BC introducing the use of bronze and later iron-working. They developed tools bringing improvements in agriculture and during this period the roots of a distinctive Welsh life and culture can be detected. These Celts were known as the Britons.

The Romans invaded Britain in AD43 and by AD78 the conquest of Wales was complete. The lives of the Celtic peoples was not greatly affected in the area as the Romans were largely confined to their hill forts and roads. However the Romans left a legacy of improved agricultural practices (including the introduction of sheep) and mining technology when they left Wales in AD383, as well as introducing Christianity.

After the Romans left, much of Britain was overrun by the pagan Anglo-Saxons and others from the continent, and the Picts of Scotland and the Irish also attacked the Celtic Britons. This was the period of the Arthurian Legends, but the area around Snowdonia remained a Celtic stronghold, although the Welsh became separated from their Celtic cousins in Cornwall and Cumbria.


The area was part of the Kingdom of Gwynedd which covered north west Wales, although its borders changed depending on the fortunes of its ruler at the time. Although England was conquered by the Normans in 1066, Wales was not successfully conquered for over 200 years and it was during this period that many castles were built such as Dolwyddelan by the Welsh and Conwy by the Normans.


During this time Wales was perhaps at its strongest when Gwynedd was under the rule of Llewelyn ap Iorwerth also known as Llewelyn Fawr (Llewelyn the Great). He was born in Dolwyddelan, succeeded in uniting Wales when King John was on the English throne and had a lot of connections with this area.


With the final conquest of Wales by Edward I, and the death of Llewelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales (grandson of Llewelyn Fawr) in 1283, Wales was ruled by the English. This was the last Celtic rule until Merlin's prophecy came true and the Welsh Tudors took the throne of England.


During the Tudor period laws discriminating against the Welsh were repealed which led to the prominence of local families such as the Wynns of Gwydir.

The local economy was based on agriculture, and in the 19th century slate quarrying and woollen mills were developed. The slate quarries are now shut down, but agriculture continues to be the mainstay of the economy along with tourism which developed in Victorian times.

Up in the hills at nearby Capel Garmon there is a celebrated cromlech; a 5,000 year old Neolithic burial chamber. There are also spectacular views of the mountains of Snowdonia from Capel Garmon.



I took the above photograph from up in the mountain area to the north of Betws Y Coed, I'm about 100% certain the mountain in the distance is Snowdon.

I'll stand being corrected on that of course, but I cannot see it being anywhere else.

I'll put a few photographs on of the Swallow Falls themselves next visit.

I hope this is being enjoyed, I'm enjoying recapturing the day out, it was really a great day, with some spectacular views.



A quick one here from the falls.

I looked on this as the creator ejaculating life onto the planet.

Spectacular.

[wanderering walter]

Mathos no wonder the Welsh hate the English (or should that be Anglo Saxons)even today although not as bad as e few years ago ! , half of my roots (inc my hair roots ) are Celtic, I read somewhere recently that the Celts from Ireland who then went on to Scotland came from the area now known as Spain, so I suppose the Welsh were usurpers of the previous encumbants only to edure the same fate!! Its all linked to our previous comments on accents, regional characters etc, just who the F++K are we?? a mishmass of many tribes, looks like it, so who were the "Picts" as opposed to the "Scots" in turn were they Celts from Ireland ?, If you visit Stranraer there is great affinity with the Northern Irish "christ"!!! that,s one accent I can,t stand!

[wanderering walter]

Just watching Mid Summer murders ! at least 2 per week!! anyway just thinking about the Police back in the 50s, in Preston before the amalgamation into Lancs constab, we used to have a group called the "Watch Committee", who monitored the activity of the local Police force, "Watch", must be a term /description from early constabulary, there,s some history about constables , a bit remote from what we would now understand,equally likewise are our current Centralised beaurocracy so remote, !! another daft diversion

[Mathos]

Originally Posted by wanderering walter

Mathos no wonder the Welsh hate the English (or should that be Anglo Saxons)even today although not as bad as e few years ago ! , half of my roots (inc my hair roots ) are Celtic, I read somewhere recently that the Celts from Ireland who then went on to Scotland came from the area now known as Spain, so I suppose the Welsh were usurpers of the previous encumbants only to edure the same fate!! Its all linked to our previous comments on accents, regional characters etc, just who the F++K are we?? a mishmass of many tribes, looks like it, so who were the "Picts" as opposed to the "Scots" in turn were they Celts from Ireland ?, If you visit Stranraer there is great affinity with the Northern Irish "christ"!!! that,s one accent I can,t stand!

Hi Walt.

Everybody wants to know the real answer to your question Walt.

You could say we are some form of evolved bug for instance. It's certainly a deep and somewhat very complicated scenario.

If we look at the monkey family and check out the DNA for instance, it is still quite deep and there are scientists doing all this for us.

The evolution keeps running along quite nicely, Neanderthal Man is part of the equation, as to who we are or might be.

There are no scientist to my knowledge anyhow who dispute that ancestors of the human species originated in Africa.

It is quite well documented that humans in modern form originated in sub Saharan Africa, and migrated virtually unchanged, to populate Europe and Asia.

Referring to Neanderthal Man again, I think they were regular humans, who looked a little different to how we do today.

Aborigines and human beings from various parts of the globe look different even now, but we are all humans.

Neanderthal Man worked with animal skins, they fashioned beads and simple weapons, they buried their dead, even covering the bodies with flowers. They took care of each other, all in all they probably had tooth-ache and every other problem facing us, they were human.

Their brain was much larger than the brain we have today, they were certainly not the animistic fierce brute they are often painted as.

Many Neanderthal suffered Vitamin D deficiency, this resulted in their bones growing soft and badly deformed, resulting in the mis-conception of ape man type appearance.

They had a poor diet and lived mainly in caves and in colder climates ( ice age,) therefore keeping their bodies covered up and hidden from sun-light. This would encourage the problems caused by Vitamin D deficiency.

Basically he was a human stone age type cave dweller.


As for us Brits Walt, we are probably the biggest bunch of mongrels on the planet.

Yanks excluded of course, but they have only been in the equation for a few hundred years.


In a nut shell on a personal basis Walt, I have no idea really. There might have been intervention in our being, we don't know.


It's quite well known that dogs for instance originated from Wolves.

When I look at the really dramatic differences in dogs, I'm baffled by that particular issue.

[Mathos]

Originally Posted by wanderering walter

Just watching Mid Summer murders ! at least 2 per week!! anyway just thinking about the Police back in the 50s, in Preston before the amalgamation into Lancs constab, we used to have a group called the "Watch Committee", who monitored the activity of the local Police force, "Watch", must be a term /description from early constabulary, there,s some history about constables , a bit remote from what we would now understand,equally likewise are our current Centralised beaurocracy so remote, !! another daft diversion

All of these issues relate to simple 'Job Creation Schemes'

They based most of the modern day changes, on books, fiction at that.

H.G. Wells:-

'War of The Worlds'

'Time Machine'

'The Invisible Man'


Aldous Huxley:-

'Brave New World.'


These sort of books have had amazing influences on our development.

We really should look at how we have diverted from good system running.

Perhaps look to our not too distant past for inspiration, be it with the youngerr generation, education, public services in general as well as policing.


Far too much has been taken away from us, the result is not a pretty picture at all.

[Mathos]

From the area of land just prior to the Cascade, the river can be seen gathering momentum as it approaches the initial fall.




The foam on the water starts to form as it hits the heavy rocky structure on its way lower down the worn gulch.




I managed to get into a better position further back and slightly higher up, the angle was good to obtain a neat photograph of the water as it ran over the top and began the first stage of it's plunge.



It certainly gave an impressive roar as it thundered down the canyon and the spray was being well thrown over most sections of the viewing platforms.

You wouldn't want to be sat on a big black inner tube for instance coming down this lot.



I wonder how many fish get washed down those falls in the course of a day?



They certainly looked fantastic.

The water then ran down an extremely fast flowing section of the gorge, obviously the projecting rock formation must have been forced smooth over the thousands of years and more that this cascade had been forcing a route through the rocky mountainside.




Nobody was coming down the chute in a boat.



You'd never keep your hat on if you tried to swim down that little lot.



If you look at the sides of the gorge, it's possible to get an idea of how much the water has eroded down and smoothed out over the centuries.




The photograph above is probably a brilliant example to express the force of the fall.


This final one is the same section of the drop from a different location.

[friscofrankie]

This has got to be one of the most interesting threads on this forum.

And it ain't got a damn thing to do with Asia.

Great stuff, man.

[wanderering walter]

Mathos if it ain,t a big JOKE we may yet know a bit more about our origins, Some guys in America have found a body of Big Foot!! and its family, (hope they did not shoot it), they are awaiting legal advice before revealing more!!! aways thought they existed based on research and sightings and footprints that have been evaluated, Can,t wait to see more ,

[wanderering walter]

Just looking at the Falls Pics, it,s obviously in flood, fancy a bit of white water rafting? , there,s something very attractive and powerful in such a sight! , one of the Greek Philosophers so enamoured with a Volcano and it,s power ,jumped into it!! silly twat !! That river reminds me of when I used to go Motor Bike Trialing back in the 70s / 80s, ( it,s where you ride feet up ) there was this section laid out in a stream with flags the day before, now a raging bloody torrent!!! being one of the first to arrive I pondered the results of riding into such a morass!! A guy decided he would have a go, leapt from the bank and missed one of the rocks protruding! and disappeared only to surface 20 yards below still holding onto his bike, I tried , hit the rock , cleared it and disappeared over t,other side, it was good fun in those days???

[Happyman]

Originally Posted by friscofrankie

This has got to be one of the most interesting threads on this forum.

And it ain't got a damn thing to do with Asia.

Great stuff, man.

With you there !
The site is for people with an interest in Thailand - right ?
There is nothing to suggest that threads should be to do with Thailand !!
This thread is under "travel the world- travellers tales" section !!
Keep it running!

[wanderering walter]

Yer getting praise Mathos (,bout time!). Lancs is in Thailand ain,t it? well I am!

[Mathos]

The hard drive on my pc has gone

Just borrowed a lap top for basics

Will be back on line asap

[Mathos]

Originally Posted by friscofrankie

This has got to be one of the most interesting threads on this forum.

And it ain't got a damn thing to do with Asia.

Great stuff, man.

Thanks for that Frankie, much appreciated mate.

Glad you like it as well.
Just putting a bit on tonight, using lap top and I don't like it at all.

[Mathos]

Originally Posted by Happyman

With you there !
The site is for people with an interest in Thailand - right ?
There is nothing to suggest that threads should be to do with Thailand !!
This thread is under "travel the world- travellers tales" section !!
Keep it running!

Thanks Happyman, glad you are enjoying same too.

Be glad to get my pc back though, this diddy thing is awful to use.

These things are sent to try us.

[Mathos]

Originally Posted by wanderering walter

Just looking at the Falls Pics, it,s obviously in flood, fancy a bit of white water rafting? , there,s something very attractive and powerful in such a sight! , one of the Greek Philosophers so enamoured with a Volcano and it,s power ,jumped into it!! silly twat !! That river reminds me of when I used to go Motor Bike Trialing back in the 70s / 80s, ( it,s where you ride feet up ) there was this section laid out in a stream with flags the day before, now a raging bloody torrent!!! being one of the first to arrive I pondered the results of riding into such a morass!! A guy decided he would have a go, leapt from the bank and missed one of the rocks protruding! and disappeared only to surface 20 yards below still holding onto his bike, I tried , hit the rock , cleared it and disappeared over t,other side, it was good fun in those days???

Hi Walter, trust you are ok mate.


Did you know David Pete, he was pretty good on those trial bikes.

I know him quite well.

That Big Foot Walt, I think I saw him a couple of years back, probably the same one, swimming with a big freaky looking critter in Loch Ness.


What about the guys who have been kidnapped by spacemen as well, Isn't it fantastic, even marvellous that they always bring them back too.



I used to fetch that one up years ago in the pub, you know, wind them up a bit, the tales they came out with were fantastic.

The Johnny Walker Wisdom running wild.

I don't like this laptop mate.