Bookmark - Thirsk Cathedral Ceiling Beams

Publishing a few more from the Thirsk cathedral, this one looks straight up at the ceiling beams in the main sanctuary.  Goodness knows how old these are, as the church dates from the 15th century.

England - Signage at Sutton Bank

From Thirsk we made our way up to Sutton Bank, one of Alf Wight's favorite places to spend time and very close to Thirlby, his last hometown.  Thirsk, Sutton Bank and Thirlby are all a stone's throw from one another.  As we made our way up the steep roadway I couldn't help but think of how, during his early practice years, the vet had to ascend the incline in reverse gear.

Alf often claimed that Sutton Bank offered the best view in England, no doubt the origin of what it says on this sign and the reason the phrase is in quotation marks:

England - Thirsk, Matchstick St. Mary's

So I end the Thirsk series with this post, a model of the church using 11,927 matches.  With some of my lineage going back to the British Isles, now I know where my proclivity to start and carry through large and complex projects comes from...

Next stop is Sutton Bank, one of Alf Wight's favorite places to spend his down time and walk with his dogs.

Bookmark - Herriott Statue in Thirsk

Statue of my hero storyteller in Thirsk - that of the famed Jim Wight, a.k.a. James Herriott.  The man really made a difference in the lives of millions.  With as great a facility as he had with language its easy to imagine that he just sat down to write down his stories and there they were.  Not the case at all!  He worked hard at his craft all his adult life, and as fate would have it was given an opportunity to share them with a grateful world.

Bookmark - Thirsk Cathedral Candle Stand / Our Yorkshire Stay

Ideal for a bookmark.  The candle was not lit, so borrowed the flame from another candle there in the cathedral.

And this the same cathedral where Alf Wight (aka James Herriott) was married.  Amazing that only a handful of folks attended...just a few friends and family members.

I was taken aback, and impressed with where we really were, when a conversation took place during breakfast at an Air B&B in Yorkshire.  Andrew and I managed to find and stay a night in a farmhouse built in the 1700's very close to Thirsk.  This was the bucket-list portion of our journey to England where I wanted to see the surgery and travel the same roads made famous by James Herriot's books.  Since this was an Air B&B there were several other guests, all from other parts of England.  One older couple, who lived elsewhere but whose parents were from Yorkshire, learned of my interest in the books and the reasons we were there.  Very nice couple.  The gentleman then began to tell of how his parents would run into "Alf" once in a while.  I was blown away that these people were speaking of the fabled James Herriot - not as a world-famous author, but as a neighbor calling him by his real name!

The house in which we were staying hit the jackpot in another way upon listening to the lady - who was in her 60's - that owned the place.  Her speech was thick with the famous rural Yorkshire accent that James Herriot had written about, and in fact that he tried to protect his children from by sending them to elocution lessons so they wouldn't end up talking like that (didn't work, according to his son Jim).

Bookmark - Thirsk Cathedral Candles

Another candle shot in the Thirsk cathedral...off to the side, in one of the smaller sanctuaries.  This is the one most likely used by the Wight family for their wedding.

And by all accounts it was a good marriage, lasting more than 50 years until Alf Wight died in 1995.  She was very good for him in that, after multiple rejections of his book submissions, she goaded him into digging them out of a drawer and sending them in "just one more time" until finally - to the benefit of us all - it was accepted for publication.  Love the storybook tales where the wife will not let her husband give up on himself.

From North Heathrow - English Pub

Once we made the decision to stay in hotels instead of hostels, we found some good ones. Our room in Paris was excellent, one I hope to share with my wife and daughter some day.

Heading back to the States we overnightted in North London. Our objective was to keep it quiet for our last night in Europe and get some rest before the long flight home. We didn't expect to be so successful, but this little neighborhood close to the airport was exactly what I'd been wanting to see...a typical English suburb sans tourists.

About a block from the hotel we ran into this pub. I'd had some fixed ideas about what a typical English pub was like, based on James Herriot's books, and found them to be totally accurate. The inside was warm and cozy, the English patrons settling in for a pint on their way home from a day's work. This photograph shows the exquisite care taken to keep the outside immaculate; here you can see to the right a separate place for darts and sports television. The proprietor in the blue shirt is standing watch over the comfort of his guests...all of them English (except us), sitting and smoking and drinking and complaining about the struggles of the day. I finally saw what I came to see in England.

Except Thirsk. I'd like to visit Thirsk, where Jim Wight did his work that became famous in the James Herriot books.
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The other day I discovered something strange about our cat. I suppose that in the cat world "strange" is a relative term, but this was the first time I'd heard of a cat that likes to eat tortillas. Yes, tortillas. And I wouldn't've believed it if I hadn't'a seen it...

Bookmark - Thirsk Cathedral Pulpit

One of two pulpit shots captured in England that will be posted here as bookmarks.  This one is on Kirkgate in Thirsk; tomorrow's will be from York minster.

Note that there is a lighter spot at the base.  Explanation here.

England - Thirsk, First Exterior of 23 Kirkgate

A lengthy description of this building, serving at the time as both a business and a house, is given in chapter two of All Creatures Great and Small, and is "spot on" with what you see here, though the names were changed - the town Thirsk became Darrowby, the street Kirkgate became Trentgate, etc.  (After reading the book for the first time I remember trying to find Darrowby on a map, to no avail.)  

"Trentgate was a quiet street leading off the square and I had my first sight of Skeldale House. ... There was no front garden and only the railings separated the house from the street a few feet away." (Chapter 2)

England - Thirsk, Acacia Tree Spot (?)

"My head began to ache as I shuffled through the french window into the garden.  I flopped down among the knee deep grass on the lawn and rested my back against a towering acacia tree." (Chapter 2)

As the story goes, he fell asleep under that tree and woke up with Siegfried looking down at him in their first encounter.  Looking back toward the house it's obvious that the acacia tree is no longer there, but it's easy to imagine that it might have been close to this statue, or even to the left where the brick building, which is a veterinary science museum, now stands.

England - Thirsk, St Mary's Sanctuary Shot #1

I really do like the insides of old churches, for several reasons.  For one thing they're usually empty (except for tourists in some places)...not a lot of people to be getting in the way of your shots.  For another there's usually lots of color with all the stained glass, especially on sunny days.  And thirdly but certainly not lastly the lighting is almost always a beautiful challenge - beautiful in that the light streaming in from high-up windows plays well with what's inside, and challenging in that the light is usually low, so a steady hand is a must.

This particular scene is not the main sanctuary but one that's off to the right as you step in.

England - Thirsk, Town Clock

As stated in earlier posts at the beginning of this series, it has been a bucket list item for decades to visit "Herriot Country" and trod the same territory as did Alf Wight during his legendary career.  I say "legendary" career, whereas actually his storytelling was what was legendary in an otherwise ordinary successful practice.  Anyone desiring to be a writer would do well to study his approach to writing and his extraordinary dedication to the craft.  And not to be forgotten is his wife, who challenged him to dig his finished manuscripts out of a drawer after innumerable rejections.  Though his life began just over a hundred years ago, in 1916, and his stories emerged from this very town almost eighty years ago, in 1940, the totality of his life still remains an inspiration to me and millions of others.

At times, from that chapter and others, I will include here a few very short snippets that point to what you see in the pictures posted, more/less in the order described, starting here with Dr. Wight's impressions of what he saw in the town square for the first time:

"The only visible sign of life was a group of old men sitting round the clock tower in the centre of the square, but they might have been carved from stone." (Chapter 2)

England - Thirsk, Ancient Graffiti

One thing that Saint Mary's is famous for is this graffiti, etched into the stone some 500 years ago.  Every parishioner through the centuries has passed by these on their way into the church for service...

England - Thirsk, Baptismal Font at St. Mary's

This is looking straight back from the front of the sanctuary.  Found the baptismal font interesting, and though I'd seen them before in European churches had never seen a wooden structure like that on top of one.  At first I didn't even know it was a baptismal font until the thing lifted straight up, as eagerly demonstrated by the friendly rector:

England - Thirsk, Ancient Door

Every parishioner has also passed through this door, which is also some 500 years old.  The rector was very proud to show us how it's hung so well that it's easy to open, even with your pinky finger.  And something that we didn't notice at first, but was proudly pointed out to us by said rector, was a smaller door built within the door, a pic of which shall be posted tomorrow.  Couldn't help but wonder at the reason for doing this, but didn't ask.

I didn't look to get many keepers from this visit, as the insides of churches are notoriously dark and all my shots would be hand-held, but did manage to snap a few that were blogworthy.

England - Thirsk, St Mary's Sanctuary Shot #2

Stepping in closer to the altar yielded this view, featuring a warmer tone with basically just one source of light coming in through the window from the right.

England - Byland Abbey, First View

Andrew and I did a lot of driving around in the rural north of England, me behind the wheel on the right and he on the left-hand side as the passenger.  This was the most unusual aspect of this trip - and the one I was most worried about - this new configuration and driving on the left side of the road instead of the way the Lord intended everyone to drive.  Thank goodness Andrew was with me, giving patient and most-times gentle guidance whenever I wondered too close to the left curb, subconsciously closing the distance I was used to between me and the left side of the road.  At first it was terrifying, but after about three days I got the hang of it because, after all, there was no choice!  Did damage the front bumper once, however, as I ended up on the sidewalk and overrode some decorative rocks correcting myself back onto the road (thank goodness for the insurance we chose to add to the rental car).  And there was also the time I missed a house by one inch while trying to cut through a neighborhood.  I'm convinced that it wasn't only Andrew that was looking after us.

It was on the second leg of our trip, near Thirsk, when we were carefully weaving our way down country lanes to make a reservation at the Black Swan restaurant in Oldstead, in the middle of nowhere, when suddenly THIS loomed into the windshield after we rounded a bend.  My gosh, what in the world is this and what is it doing here?  I pulled over in a heartbeat and dug out the Bigger Cahoona from the back seat.  Not a soul was on the road, or on the property either where this magnificent thing stood, so we had the place to ourselves.

There was a sign there, and a small museum nearby, and it turns out we had stumbled upon the Byland Abbey.  We knew nothing about abbeys or the abbey system, but learned from the sign that it was built in the year 1170 and was designed to house up to 200 monks and 100 laymen.  I did research upon returning from vacation and learned further that King Henry VIII outlawed the abbey system when he perched himself as head of the Church of England, so this among dozens of other abbeys dotted all over the countryside were abandoned by 1535.  The place was then gutted by looters, and later, when there was nothing else to pillage, the residents of the area took to tearing the very walls down to use the stones for their houses.  A fascinating history can be found here, along with some good pictures and a depiction of what it probably looked like when functioning as a monastery.  In the article it is said to be "one of the shining lights of northern monasticism" of its day, and it's easy to see why.

But for the present, Andrew and I had the place to ourselves and had a field day.  For beginners, the setting sun on its face with the dark, angry clouds behind could not have been more ideal.  And from there we just ran all over the place, exploring, climbing (as much as my old knees would allow), and snapping away with a very happy camera.  The combo of the old crumbling structure, about which we knew nothing and didn't expect to see, along with a total lack of people, plus the setting sun that shone through to illuminate the many facades, kept the Bigger Cahoona very busy indeed.

The picture below takes in most of the property, which might give perspective in the shots that will be posted in the coming days:

England - Thirsk, An Examination Room at 23 Kirkgate

Glowing Edges below:

England - Thirsk, Second Exterior of 23 Kirkgate

"Now that I was here, right on the doorstep, I felt breathless, as though I had been running.  If I got the job, this was where I would find out about myself." (Chapter 2)

England - Thirsk, View of St. Mary's Pulpit #1 / My First Church Talk

The pulpit at St. Mary's also has a mouse carved into it, barely discernible along the bottom near the top step in this pic.

As a kid growing up in the Lutheran faith, I always saw a church pulpit as the domain of the high and mighty, and that you had to go to school to become holy then wear robes and sashes to earn a spot there.  How utterly wrong that idea was!  One of the first lessons and strongest impressions I got after being baptized into the church of Christ was that any Christian has a place in the pulpit or Sunday School classroom so long as what is taught is true to the Bible, and so long as the speaker is not disqualified due to a willfully sinful lifestyle, etc.  How simple yet how powerful! ...the power originating of course from the Word of God in a sermon properly prepared.

My first experience in speaking behind a podium (not a pulpit, mind you) in a church setting was when I was confirmed at the Trinity Lutheran Church on 16th Street in Orange, Texas.  I was twelve.  A group of us had taken classes for some weeks, and as a graduation exercise we all took turns to give a little talk to the congregation during a Sunday morning service.  After two or three had gone up and did their thing it was my turn.

As though it were yesterday I remember approaching the podium and seeing the audience from behind it for the first time.  I had developed a defense mechanism which staved off nervousness, but all of that tumbled down the moment I opened my mouth.  The reason?  I had not prepared for a moment what I was going to say.  Yes, for my first public church talk I stood at the podium and realized that I was going to have to wing it the whole way through.  Words did come out, but of course I flubbed it big time, embarrassing my teacher, my classmates and my clan all at the same time.  After that experience I realized that any innate talent or intelligence that I might have was not going to carry me through in all circumstances, so never again approached a public speaking engagement without being over-prepared.  I have since preached some (in English here and Spanish in Mexico) and taught many Bible classes and, some say, very effectively.  Through the years, however, I came to realize that I am not a teacher but an entertainer at heart, as anyone who has attended very many of my classes at church or my public meetings at work in the past will probably agree.