Beautiful Lancashire

[Mathos]

Nice to look at a little Christmas Fayre every now and then.





Cheese like the above takes a bit of bettering.

[Mathos]

I saw this somewhat unique vehicle on the garage forecourt the other day.





I don't think I'd find much pleasure in driving it about the roads though.


I'd mentioned the steps in the garden some time back, along with the punch bag at the top for my grandson.



It fair takes it out of the body running up there,
punching away at the bag for a minute,
then down again and repeat the exercise twenty times.

Had to cancel his bout for tomorrow as well.

He got a broken nose whilst sparring.

I'm in bad books with his mum!



It should be alright when the swelling has gone down.

Time will tell.


It's that time of year again when the leaves start to fall.



This will keep me busy for a good few weeks.

There seems to be more up on the trees than ever this year.

Still, it's nice to be kept busy.




That 'Old Feral Cat' has been getting more of a friend of late.

No chance of touching him, he won't tolerate that, but he's following both Flobo and myself around the garden.




Maybe he likes the aroma from the burning leaves.

[Mathos]

I have more than enough with my own trees, but I'm surrounded by others, which is great, but very time consuming when it's this time of year.




I thought I might have got away with the last cut of the
lawns as well, but the temperature has been in the high
50's of late, and that means more growth.


That Cat has been making himself at home between
one of the doors and the security gate.




Gorgeous critter, but I doubt there being any chance
of him becoming domesticated.


I enjoy working in the garden, any time of year.



Always plenty to do.



Sending smoke signals can be fun!

"Hey Crazy Horse, 'Custer' is on his way!"




Hey up, he's here again.



Have to make sure the wind is blowing west to east though.


I think there could be a complaint or
two if that was going across the road.

[Mathos]

Just had to put this on board.




What a cracking 'Pork Pie'

I'll be putting that on my 'Wish List for Chrstmas'

[Mathos]

Regardless of my grandson not being able to box last we night, we went to watch the show.

It was a really good night as well.

Plenty of customers, several hundred actually and no-body went home dissapointed.


I got talking to a lad who I knew as an amateur, he went into the army some years back and did quite a bit of boxing for them.

He had the desire to turn professional so he came out of the Forces and is trying life as a Pro.

Thought I'd stick his picture up.





Maybe he will do alright in the future.

I'm going to watch him in a contest at St Helens next month.

Might just be worth keeping an eye on.

[Mathos]

It was turned midnight when we came out of The Venue and the first signs of winter were quite obvious.


A slight frost and folk, especially the girls and ladies
being scantily clad were stating how cold it was as
they made their way towards the cars, mini-bus's,
an odd coach and quite a few taxis.




Memory cells returned to thoughts and days
out in the frost last January especially.




The frost works magic on the countryside.

Snow too, but we haven't had a great deal
of snow at all for many years.


Maybe, just maybe, it might change this winter.




Both Flobo and myself enjoy walking for a few miles on a frosty day.

Decent footwear, loose fitting casual clothes and a decent anorak or similar type coat if it's bitterly cold.

Really enjoyable.




Sun in the sky like this, it takes a bit of beating.

These photographs are from The Ribble Valley.

It seems like yesterday.





We have been talking about spending
time abroad of late and apart from my
current desire to visit Moscow and
St Petersburgh, the present feelings
towards travel outside of these shores, is non-existent.





We both feel there is much to see and enjoy on these shores.

We haven't put a cap on it,
life makes you aware that feelings change
or vary on a regular basis,
so we will simply leave it at that.

[Mathos]

Found a couple more photographs from last winter.

Looks quite good.






Difficult to accept we are so close to Christmas and The Year end though.




Nice to be looking forward to some of Flobo's winter food though.






She'll be keeping the birds well fed too.




The youngest grandson, reminded me earlier today it will be
Bon-Fire night in less than three weeks.

[Mathos]

Pendleton in Lancashire.


Gorgeous Village.





There always is something rather special about these country places.




The general feeling is that the residents take a
great deal of pride in the overall appearance.


Special.


Gorgeous stone houses and a really quaint village pub.

The Swan With Two Necks.


The added beauty of the river running
down the village centre is a naturally added
and quite impressive blessing.




Sawley Abbey.

Dates back a fair few years.

1147. Seems like yesterday.



Quite a bit of maintenance work being
carried out on the same at present.

Most of the cottages and homes in
the village were apparently built with
stone plundered from the Abbey.


Amazing how we develop on this journey of evolution.



But Old Man River
He don't say nothing
He just keeps rolling along.


Now that really takes me back.

Paul Robeson (deceased)


Ol' man river,
Dat ol' man river
He mus'know sumpin'
But don't say nuthin',
He jes'keeps rollin'
He keeps on rollin' along.

He don' plant taters,
He don't plant cotton,
An' dem dat plants'em
is soon forgotten,
But ol'man river,
He jes keeps rollin'along.

You an'me, we sweat an' strain,
Body all achin' an' racket wid pain,
Tote dat barge!
Lif' dat bale!
Git a little drunk
An' you land in jail.

Ah gits weary
An' sick of tryin'
Ah'm tired of livin'
An' skeered of dyin',
But ol' man river,
He jes'keeps rolling' along.

[Colored folks work on de Mississippi,
Colored folks work while de white folks play,
Pullin' dose boats from de dawn to sunset,
Gittin' no rest till de judgement day.
or musical part]

Don't look up
An' don't look down,
You don' dast make
De white boss frown.
Bend your knees
An'bow your head,
An' pull date rope
Until you' dead.)

Let me go 'way from the Mississippi,
Let me go 'way from de white man boss;
Show me dat stream called de river Jordan,
Dat's de ol' stream dat I long to cross.

O' man river,
Dat ol' man river,
He mus'know sumpin'
But don't say nuthin'
He jes' keeps rollin'
He keeps on rollin' along.

Long ol' river forever keeps rollin' on...

He don' plant tater,
He don' plant cotton,
An' dem dat plants 'em
Is soon forgotten,
but ol' man river,
He jes' keeps rollin' along.

Long ol' river keeps hearing dat song.
You an' me, we sweat an' strain,
Body all achin an' racked wid pain.
Tote dat barge!
Lif' dat bale!
Git a little drunk
An' you land in jail.

Ah, gits weary
An' sick of tryin'
Ah'm tired of livin'
An' skeered of dyin',
But ol' man river,
He jes'keeps rollin' along!

[Mathos]

I think we have a natural tendency to take some of the beauty attributable to the architecture throughout the land.

Churches being somewhat special in that sphere.




Spectacular.


Nice village here as well.




Bolton By Bowland.




The Village Cross and stocks are an amazing central landmark.

Outstanding precious features.





Such attractive countryside.





Done right, and most of them are.

The roads even look to be absolutely natural parts of the
landscape.


That has to mean something.


I do believe it occurs to the originality of
the roads being constructed
over routes made by man and his
horse drawn carriages especially, seeking out
the most natural, even if meandering course.

[Mathos]

Plenty of attractive colours this time of the year.





It all blends perfectly.





The High Buck at Waddington.

Nice place.

There are some outstanding pubs.

Nowadays they mainly operate as caterers.

Especially in these attractive country villages and hamlets.


I've placed some good selections of food we
have purchased over the months on here.

There's also a great number of cafes and such like again,
with good selections and extremely comptetive prices.





Check that out.

Good food too.




Flobo and myself live in these parts, and we still enjoy the sheer beauty
surrounding us.

We feel extremely fortunate.




Spectacular.

And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountain green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen?
And did the countenance divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among those dark satanic mills?

Bring me my bow of burning gold!
Bring me my arrows of desire!
Bring me my spear! O clouds, unfold!
Bring me my chariot of fire!
I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand,
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land.

Kind of understand where the author was coming from.

[Mathos]

Some of the ivy sported on various country properties
especially, can change the whole appearance
two or even three times a year.




I think the house above will improve as the years pass by, but it's good to see it in early days of growth.




Another of those village rivers here as well.

Quite spectacular.


Malham, nice place close to Skipton.



Really gorgeous Pub there.

The Buck Inn.

Looks the part from all aspects.

I found a good link here, well and truly worth clicking onto.



The Buck Inn, Malham, Hotel Accommodation
The Buck Inn, Malham, pub restaurant and hotel accommodation">www.malhamdale.com/buckinnmalham.htm





Quite an interesting Old Smithy in the village.

These buildings look great and truly represent a
great deal about the country and it's past.




It's quite spectacular to bear witness to what the ice carved out in these places millions of years ago.


Oceans too.




This monster is glad the ice and seas have gone.

He likes the grass.


Quite a specimen.

Bully-Beef.

[Mathos]

The weather forecast was for rain all day to-day.

As it was, we had a bit of a shower early afternoon,
followed by a steady downpour from about 5pm up until the present.

More of the same is promised for the next couple of days.


Half term for one of the grandsons who had a few hours with us today,
we had a drive out, but had to have him back at the tennis club for some coaching for 2.30 pm.




We had a drive out to the coast.

Coastal shot of the bay on the above photograph,
taken from the high road by Warton Crag.



They have the top of the 'Old Kiln' well guarded.

Nice views from up there though.




I've mentioned the information packs out and about.

They are interesting.

We drove to the Crag half expecting to see a few climbers.



However, there was only one young chap there who had just finished and was putting his equipment away.

Strange, because you don't often see solo climbers.

However, he told us the Crag had been closed for most of the summer following the nesting and consequential hatching of some Peregrine Falcons.


Then he pointed me in the right direction for the sign.




It was good to read.

We kept an eye out for them, but didn't catch sight of any.



Nice informative link here though.

The RSPB: Peregrine
The peregrine is a large and powerful falcon. It has long, broad, pointed wings and a relatively short tail. It is blue-grey above, with a blackish top of ...
The RSPB: Peregrine - Cached - Similar



Autumn is well in to it's stride now though.




Looks beautiful.

[Mathos]

The tide was starting to come in,
I wanted to point some of the dangers out to my grandson,
who has never previously been to this very dangerous,
but extremely interesting part of our coast line.




It's beautiful, especially this stretch from Silverdale out towards 'Jenny Brown's Point'


It's only a few weeks back that we were last here.





Well worth any number of visits though.


That's one hell of a beautiful spot on the cliff top above.





Enjoyed every moment there.


I was pointing out the tidal movements to my grandson,
showing him how it could fill up so rapidly from behind.


You can see on the above photograph how it is creeping in behind the sand bank.

Deceptive and dangerous.




This section further down towards Jenny Brown's Point shows the river feeding an additional supply to the flats.





The Point.


The young fellow was quite impressed.


A large dark and heavy cloud passed over, it made a big difference.




No heavy rain on us though, just a bit of a light drizzle for a minute or two.

.

[Mathos]

This was a superb house, overlooking the bay, very cosy looking.





I liked it.

My kind of property, probably takes a bit of stick on
that coastal facing wall in high tides coupled
with bad weather though.


We drove up to Arnside for some lunch.



I'm pleased with the above photograph, I thought it was quite a good one.


Flobo has added another scene to her painting ideas,
for the winter months ahead.


It had turned quite cold by now.




They had a lovely real log fire blazing away in

'The Olde Fighting Cock'

though.

Nice link here too.

Check the rooms out under the accomodation heading.

Nice place.
Ye Olde Fighting Cocks - bed & breakfast accommodation for Arnside ...
We offer bed &; breakfast accommodation, ideal for the English Lake District and the surrounding Arnside and Silverdale areas of outstanding natural beauty.
Ye Olde Fighting Cocks - bed & breakfast accommodation for Arnside, Silverdale - Cached - Similar



Quite a few more good photographs to put up over the next few days.




It was looking quite dark as we left around 1.30 pm though.

[Mathos]

This is Warton in Lancashire, not so far from home either.



It's a very attractive village,
there's a bit of a link here with a few photographs,
nothing special,
but obviously adds to the general interest and appearance.


Pictures of Warton ... England > Lancashire > Warton > Pictures ... A picture of: Warton, Lancashire...

St. Oswald's Church, Warton (near Carnforth, Lancs.) : 1011387 -
· Pictures of Lancashire... St. Oswald's Church, Warton (near Carnforth, Lancs.) : 1011387 - PicturesOfEngland.com

Up in the hills, you do have to be careful by these
cliff type edges and other danger points.




The Grandson loved it though, the higher the better.



The house above sported a couple of 'Peacocks' in the garden,
they don't half kick a racket up if you make a move onto their territory.

Attractive looking birds as well, especially when they 'Fan'


A Tower type Turret was attached to this house at Silverdale. Different, bet they have a fair number of stairs to climb though for getting to bed.




What if you forget to put the cat out as well!




It's not my 'bloody cat'



Last one up turn the lights out!


The Bay really is an outstanding place of beauty.





This is a spectacular link, lots of interesting information.

The Bay Crossing Walk as well.

Arnside & Silverdale Lancashire | Lancaster District The historic villages of Arnside and Silverdale sit snugly on the coastline of Morecambe Bay in a spot that's been designated an Area of Outstanding Natural ...
Lancashire Tourist Info - Hotels, Attractions, Events, Breaks - Holiday in England - Cached - Similar


It's quite amazing how you come across so much natural beauty on your own doorstep at times.

I seem to become more engrossed with the surroundings on a weekly basis.

Brilliant to simply be here.

[Mathos]

The Young Grandson was enjoying the beauty of the area.





"I like it here Grandad," he said quite a few times.



We talked about the seasonal changes
plus the general effects on the landscape.



He can eat too.




He enjoyed the Haddock served in a light beer batter,
with some nice thickly cut chips and traditional mushy peas.


He finished off with a dish of ice cream,
enjoyed everything.


It was a pleasure to have him with us.


Next week as well I think. Great.

[Mathos]

The area is magnetic in a general manner of speaking.





Not just to us folk either.


Geography




Morecambe Bay is a large sandy bay in the north west of England, reaching from Walney Island in the north to Fleetwood in the south.

• The Bay is the largest continuous intertidal area in the whole of Britain.covers an area of 310km2 and consists mainly of intertidal sandflats and mudflats.
• Morecambe Bay has more than 5% of the UK's total area of saltmarsh.
• The Bay is broad and shallow with a large tidal range of up to 10.5 metres at spring tides and an ebbing tide that can fall back to 12km.
• The flood tide rushes into the Bay with the speed of 'a good horse'.
• Tidal bores can reach speeds of up to 9 knots and can cover an area the size of a football pitch in minutes.
• Several rivers flow into Morecambe Bay including the rivers Kent, Keer, Leven, Lune and Wyre.
• The Kent is one of the fastest flowing rivers in England.
• Up to 200,000 people live and work around the Bay.

The link here, covers the above and much more besides.

Well worth reading up on.

It's quite surprising how large an area it actually covers.

Birds
Morecambe Bay is the most important estuary in Britain for its seabird and waterfowl populations and has the third largest number of wintering wildfowl in Britain.



On average Morecambe Bay supports:

• 224,000 wintering waterfowl
• 20,000 breeding seabirds.

The following table lists the birds that are regularly found over winter in Morecambe Bay.

Species
Number of individual birds (mean 1989-1994)

Pink-footed goose (Anser brachyrhynchus)

7,718 birds

Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna)

5,847 birds

Pintail (Anas actua)
2,655 birds
Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)
54,439 birds
Grey Plover (Pluvalis squatarola)
1,600 birds
Knot (Calidris canutus)
29,036 birds
Dunlin (Calidris alpina)
59,629 birds
Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica)
1,794 birds
Curlew (Numenius arquata)
12,465 birds
Redshank (Tringa totanus)
6,501 birds
Turnstone (Arenaria interpres)

1,739 birds

Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula)
934 birds

Adapted from Morecambe Bay European marine site management scheme - click here to download.

Morecambe Bay Partnership - Reference
Morecambe Bay has received many conservation designations, nationally and internationally, reflecting the importance of the wildlife and landscape of the ...
Geography - Industry & resources - Tourism & recreation
www.morecambebay.org.uk/the_bay.html - Cached - Similar


Basically it comes down to something extremely special.

It's home.




You can't touch that!

[natalie8]

Fantasic pics and info as always, Mathos.

[Mathos]

Originally Posted by natalie8

Fantasic pics and info as always, Mathos.

Thanks for that Natalie.

Appreciated and it's good to know you are enjoying the thread.


Nice.

[Mathos]

From past comments on the thread, and even an odd PM here and there over the months, I'm aware that many of the lads and lasses in The Orient enjoy looking at the 'Menu's from the UK'




This was the daily specials menu from 'Ye Olde Fighting Cocks'


Brilliant value, any two courses. £6..95.

Now that has to be value for money.



Excellent pub as well.





Spotless clean.

Really well set out and beautifully decorated.



That's the Grandson down at the bottom of the room,
finishing off his ice cream course.

Nice bar.




Excellent selection and the lounge bar has an additional traditional bar, pool table and nice outlook.


I bet it's a job and a half keeping that floor as 'ship-shape' as it looked.



Spotless.

Splendid place all round.