Happy Times at Hull

 

Wednesday 30 August 2023

The Royal City of Hull

Todays trip would take only two of the lads Colin and Glenn to Hull by train catching the 10:27 from Leeds  

arriving in Hull Paragon @ 11:25. 

On exiting the station we asked for directions at Customer Service and it wasn’t long before we were heading towards the Museum Quarter after being informed that the Maritime Museum our principal attraction was closed for another two years as it was being renovated. 

However, we had a contingency plan which included The Streetlife Museum, The Archeological Museum of the East Riding and Hull Minster. 

Both Museums were excellent with a wealth of information and we spent a couple of hours seeking out information and seeing wonderful exhibits ranging from the early 20th century and much earlier history in the Archeological Museum of the East Riding. 

The wealth of medieval Hull is exemplified by the Church of the Holy Trinity, which is the most magnificent and largest Parish Church in England. Now classed as a Minster and Cathedral. 

What a fine historic place to attend Sunday services and other acts of worship, or indeed a fantastic 'medieval' setting for a music concert. It is partly built of brick - the use of bricks in Hull dates from at least 1303, when several brickyards are known to have existed. For over 700 years the people of Hull have worshipped at Holy Trinity. It is considered by many that Holy Trinity Church, Hull is the largest parish church in England. Holy Trinity Church, Hull was established in 1285 as a chapel of ease to Hessle. 

Holy Trinity Church, Hull was consecrated in 1425 and made a parish church in 1661. It is one of the earliest examples of the widespread use of brick. What you see in the architecture of Holy Trinity Church, Hull is mainly from ~1300 to ~1530, with restoration work in 1841-1845 by H.F. Lockwood, 1859-1872 by Sir George Gilbert Scott and lastly in 1906 by F.S. Brodrick.

We put the Minster to good use whilst inside buying hot drinks for consumption in the peaceful community area of the church. 

On leaving the Minster we wandered around the clean and tidy streets finally making our way back towards Hull Exchange stopping in a Mall for another hot drink. 

We left the coffee shop and wandered back to the Railway Station for our 17:03 train back to Leeds and only had a few minutes to wait before the doors opened allowing us to get ensconced in our carriage with a full window to take in the sights for our short hop back to Leeds stopping only at Brough and Selby arriving in Leeds at 17:57. 

Another lovely day out with the weather being kind all day. 

-- 

Colin Hendrick Ward 

Forging our way to Kirkstall

 Tuesday 22nd. August  2023.       Forging our way to Kirkstall

For today’s adventure some of the Lads have decided to stay relatively local so to speak, it will be a trip to see the ruins of the rather majestic abbey,  it was built hundreds of years ago alongside the river Aire  in the location known as Kirkstall .

It will be John, Colin, Dave and Mark that will participate in this adventure, either getting there by train or bus. They met up at the nearby railway station of Kirkstall Forge a somewhat recently built construction in this region.

It was around 11:00 am as they gathered at the station, from here the walk towards the Abbey took them about 30 minutes or so, it was a rather noisy experience having to contend with the amount of traffic using this particular roadway.

Once into the grounds that surround this extensive building the road noise subsided and we were left with just the sounds of children playing amongst the ruins and the odd birdsong. After a brief moment admiring part of the structure we made our way to a riverside bench and tucked into our picnic lunches etc.

It was quite a while before we decided to move on from this peaceful place and now head for the museum situated on the other side of that main road , after some thoughtful discussion we decided not to enter the museum but instead purchased a delightful ice cream from a nearby vendor and consumed it whilst sat on a suitable park bench. From here we now returned to view more of the vastness of the magnificent abbey has we encircled it trying to imagine what it looked like in previous times, splendid we would all have agreed . Eventually we arrived back at the entrance gate and sat for a while discussing by what means we would make our homeward journeys, ie a bus back into the city, a walk back along the noisy road to the railway station or something else

We made the choice of Mark taking the 33 bus back to his hometown of Ottley ,whilst John, Colin and Dave jumped on the A1 flyer bus whisking them back in the direction of the Kirkstall Forge railway station in order to catch their respective trains.

Upon reflection todays experience was short and sweet but well worth the effort, just a pity Brian got the day wrong.

Cheers Everyone.

Outwood. Outing

 Wednesday 16th. August 2023.          Outwood      Outing 

Today would see a return visit to the Wetherby Whaler fish and chip restaurant located here on the high street at Outwood. The occasion for this gathering was as a celebration lunch marking both the past birthdays of both Colin and Dave , joining them would be John, Malcom , Keith, Derek, Glenn , John Emmonds, Mark Simpson plus Russ Parkinson and his partner. A meeting time of midday was agreed upon outside the restaurant, with the participants each travelling there either by a train or bus journey,  or even a car ride. 

For the lads arriving in Outwood by train a walking distance of roughly about a mile would be necessary to reach the restaurant , whilst the bus stop was only a few yards away. 

Once inside the venue ,suitable seating arrangements were established for all of us to be sat together and with our orders taken we awaited for our meals to arrive.

It didn’t seem long for us to wait before we were able to enjoy our choices and then strike up various conversations with our colleagues etc. Before not too long the main topic was about the dates and locations of our next adventures, would it be this, that or the other, the confusion lasted for quite awhile , in fact almost all of our lunchtime . I think some decisions were eventually made and noted, Colin rearranging his schedules upon his iPhone, others thinking they might stay in their heads!.

Soon with lunch over and a plan of some sort made, it was time to bid farewell to all and make our homeward journeys.

Cheers Everyone.

A Wet Day at Roundhay

 Wednesday 2nd. August 2023.         A Wet Day at Roundhay 

As the title suggests it was a rather unusual wet summers day as a group of twelve met up at the Mansion House which is situated near to one of the entrances to Roundhay Park Leeds. The reason behind this larger than normal gathering was to meet up with a dear old friend of ours, Tim Kearney. He has been recovering from a nasty fall which seriously injured his back, but thankfully he is making a good recovery and wished to meet up with us all again.

The group making the journey to the Mansion would consist of John, Colin, Glenn, Brian, Keith, Dave, Russ and his partner Sue ,also Mark Simons, Don Alexander and John Emmonds  made an appearance along with Tim obviously . 

A time of midday was suggested for this gathering to commence and was duly fulfilled only John Emmonds arriving some twenty minutes later.

We did manage to all get seated in what was a rather crowded room owing to the nasty weather conditions ,we were not able to sit outside which we normally would have done. Nevertheless with drinks and cake ordered the various conversations began to flow, memories of bygone times and the names of past work colleagues was the main topic for awhile before other individual conversations took over.

Time seemed to pass by quickly and before we knew it, we had to say farewell to Tim  making sure he got his lift back home ,courtesy of his dear wife needless to say , for the rest of us it was goodbye to everyone and see you later all being well.

Cheers Everyone 

Ripon and Ripley Revisited

 Wednesday 26th July 2023.               Ripon and Ripley  Revisited 

 

Today’s outing for the Lads would take them back to 2 locations they previously visited some 6 years ago. On this occasion it would be just Colin, John and Dave making the journey, the rest of our group unfortunately having other commitments to be taken care of. 

Arrangements were made to meet up at Leeds railway station at around 9:30 and then take a train heading for Harrogate, from there they would catch a No 36 bus that would transport them to the town of Ripon passing through Ripley has they journeyed north.

The train to Harrogate was less crowded than expected , disruptive roadworks on the main route between Leeds and Harrogate could have caused more  passengers to abandon their commute between these locations and use the rail network instead, not so it seemed on this particular journey, however things would prove very different later on that day.

We eventually arrived in Ripon around 11:40 and soon found ourselves heading off to purchase a lunchtime snack with items from a renowned pie shop and also from Greggs, we sat in the town square to consume these purchases, yum yum.

 From here it was off in search of the imposing minster here in the town, we soon  came across it just a couple of streets away , stood there with all its magnificence and glory. We spent about thirty minutes looking around before heading back towards the bus station in order to take the 1 o’clock bus returning us in the direction of Ripley, this is where we exited the bus and crossed over the road heading for the scenic grounds of Ripley Castle, once through the kitchen garden allotment area it was out into open space with views overlooking the lake and the green pastures of the surrounding countryside, wonderful. While John and Colin went off in search of the magnificent redwood trees that are scattered around the woodland here

 

Dave rested for a while sat on a strategically placed bench enjoying the vistas while he recuperated. About twenty minutes later John and Colin returned having spotted just one large redwood tree with no sign of the rope swing that had been the source of some merriment upon their last visit. From this vantage point the lads now headed for the village green to enjoy the delights of a delicious ice cream courtesy of the rather busy outlet shop here in the heart of the village. As we sat in the shade we couldn’t help but notice the many dozens of girl guides that had descended upon this location also, they too were enjoying their choices of ice creams and goodies from the store. Soon it was time to head for the bus stop just a few yards from where we had been seated and then catch the bus that would return us to Harrogate.

Some twenty minutes later we were back in the town and off to the railway station for our connection back to the city of Leeds, it was whilst at the station and crossing over the footbridge that a fortuitous rendition of a famous Bob Dylan song brought much delight to some fellow passengers, so much so that a rail company employee who we named “Norman” was ready to sign up Colin on a regular basis to entertain the crowd here on platform 3. A lengthy conversation with this young man gave much enjoyment to us all as we climbed aboard our duly awaited train.

Once on board we got ourselves seated along side a fellow passenger who had also witnessed Colin’s entertainment skills so to speak, she proved to be quite chatty as we traveled back to Leeds, a few glasses of wine my have been the reason, she departed the train a few stops before Leeds and left us reflecting upon what an interesting and joyful outing we have experienced today, the company was great and the weather was favourable also.

Arriving back in Leeds just a few minutes before 4:00 pm, it was farewell to each other and take our own separate journeys home. 

Cheers Lads

Thanks yet again for a most interesting day out.

Navigating Newmiller Dam

 Wednesday 19th July 2023.            Navigating  Newmiller

For today’s adventure the lads would be travelling to Newmiller Dam a picturesque setting on the outskirts of Wakefield. This location is on the doorstep for both Dave and Glenn, whilst the rest of the group ie, John , Colin and Brian will travel from Leeds by train to Wakefield, then take the rest of the journey by bus  arriving at Newmiller Dam a few minutes after 11:30.

There would also be 3 guests taking part in today’s outing, relatives of Glenn to be precise, his wife Alison  her brother John and his wife Heather who happened to be on a short visit here in Yorkshire.

As we all gathered at the entrance gate to the dam and with introductions carried out it was best foot forward and begin our navigation so to speak.

Not before too long a predicted heavy rain shower came falling down on us all ,but luckily we were partly protected by the tree canopy over our heads, it only lasted for 10 minutes so no big problem there.

Walking along the group of eight eventually split into smaller numbers with various individuals having interesting conversations with each other. A totally different slant on things today being provided by our guests.

The pathway around the dam was littered with many rainwater puddles that had to be avoided by both us and the many dog walkers that were out and about , luckily no one slipped or fell has we covered the 2 mile journey around the dam, we eventually arrived back at our starting point a few minutes before 1:00 pm. From here we crossed over the road and on towards the Beuley Cafe for a lunchtime meal, some just enjoying tea and cake whilst others ordered a more substantial sustenance. Our conversations continued over lunch with time seaming to fly by it was now soon time for John , Colin and Brian to make their way to the nearby bus stop and take the No 59 transporting them back to Wakefield, we all gathered at the bus stop and bid farewell to each other , thanking our guests for their own particular spin upon today’s adventure here at Newmiller Dam.

Cheers Everyone 

Chester with the Jester

 Blog

Wednesday 12 July 2023

The Royal City of Chester

Todays trip would take the lads to Chester by train catching the 09:43 from Leeds City. Colin was the only one boarding at Leeds, John getting on at Bradford with Derek & Glenn further down the line boarding at Hebden Bridge. The train going via Manchester Victoria and Warrington Bank Quay. The train journey would end in Chester just after 12:00. 

On exiting the station we asked for directions and it wasn’t long before we were on the fifteen minute walk into the City Centre. 

We also bumped into the Town Cryer who was walkabout in this lovely city and he condescended to having his photograph taken with the Noizy Boyz. 

Our first stop was the Cafe Gate where the big boys (Colin&Glenn) ordered a full breakfast and the cheapskates (John& Derek) ordered a small breakfast that wasn’t even on the menu but missed out on delicious mushrooms and baked beans. 

On leaving the café it was a trip over to the Modern Market to use the WC facilities and to marvel at the market layout which catered for a multitude of choices. 

From the Market we meandered down to the River Dee to catch the 14:30  half hour cruise down the river and to learn about Chester’s historic past and some of the resplendent buildings that were on view on either side of the river. 

After the cruise which john really enjoyed, remarking it was just like one of my cruise holidays especially with the sun shining all day so far and not a hint of rain that had been predicted. 

We all then went over to the ice cream seller to purchase a variety of flavours that suited the individual tastes of the four trippers on todays jaunt. 

We then climbed onto the Wall and immediately espied the first cafe that we used “The Cafe at the Walls” where fond memories were rekindled. 

We then sauntered along the wall where we stopped next to the Eastgate Clock at Huxley’s where we also had a refreshing drink and had our photograph taken under the Clock!

It was now getting on and had turned 16:45 so we made our way back to Chester Station for the 17:25 back to Leeds where the participants would disembark in reverse order as to the way they came. 

Derek and Glenn at Hebden and John at Bradford with Colin going all the way to Leeds arriving at 19:42. 

Another lovely day out with the weather being kind all day.

-- 

Colin Hendrick Ward