Here be Dragons

Back in August we stopped by Doddington Hall on our way to Lincoln with Ian, our Ex-Pat friend from Spain. There's a decent coffee shop and farm shop that sells good local produce.  There is also an incredible cycle shop (the biggest in Lincolnshire) which has its own coffee shop as well.   During the summer it also staged a sculpture exhibition.  The dragon stands outside the hall, and visitors are invited to hang strips of brightly coloured cloth on the sculpture.

Ian and the Dragon

Behind the hall is a small lake complete with arched bridge.

There was also a very elegant sculpture on the water.

Of course, if you have a decent sized body of water, then you'll also have ducks and the Doddington ducklings seemed to have learnt very quickly that humans can be a great source of food.

There are also several walks around the local area that you can follow. There are worse ways to spend a couple of hours.

Yorkshire Coast

This post is the second from our trip to Bempton Cliffs near Bridlington.  Cliffhangers focused mainly on the cliffs and the birds that chose to raise their young there.

There are other points of interest in the locale, including the squat abandoned  structure that sits a short distance from the cliff edge.  From what information I can find (hat tip to Wargames and Walking) it used to be an RAF radar station during the war and also had an underground bunker.  The site was decomissioned in the 1980s and became derelict (in fact we saw cows wandering through the ruin).  As to what the monoliths purpose were is anyone's guess.

We were also afforded the site of a small cruise ship making its way along the coast.  It was one of those days when the sunny weather transformed the usually dull looking north sea into something more Mediterranean.

From our vantage point at Bempton, I was able to take a shot of Filey a few miles north.

This Jackdaw caught my eye on the way back from the cliffs and I thought it would make a good subject with the waving grass. The distance and the movement of the bird and the background conspired to ruin a number of shots and alas these two were the best of the bunch.

I'd never been to Bridlington before so we decided to stop off for an hour and have a look around,  It was a glorious day and very busy with tourists and fellow daytrippers which was surprising for a Monday before the schools broke up for summer.

Cliffhangers

Between Bridlington and Filey on the Yorkshire coast lies Bempton Cliffs, a RSPB sanctuary.  We decided to take a two hour drive to pay it a visit and view the spectacular coastline for ourselves. Even though it was July we were prepared for windy weather but as it turned out the sun was shining and the expected cool breeze was none existent.

The RSPB have done an excellent job in preserving the clifftops and the cliffs themselves,  A warden informed us that there were still some puffins nesting on the cliffs but unfortunately we did not get to see any, despite a man trying to impress his friend that a flock of puffins were bobbing around on the sea (not unless they had grown pointed beaks, changed colour and size!)  There are several viewing platforms and you can hire binoculars from the visitor centre to watch the action.

The sheer number of birds was a surprise, mostly Kittiwakes and Guillemots but  there were still Gannet chicks huddled on precarious ledges awaiting the return of a parent where one miss-step would result in almost certain death.

Be warned, when you have that many birds gathered together, you can smell them before you see them!

Kittiwakes high above the North Sea

A Gannet chick about to be fed by it's parent.

Hard Times

I'd never heard of Hardwick Hall before until a friend mentioned it to us.  It's located not far from the M1 in Derbyshire and is stewarded by the National Trust.  After a scenic drive up to the hall itself the hall and the gardens come into their own.

On the day we decided to visit, the weather was changeable to say the least.  We arrived in bright sunshine and after a cup of coffee and we started to walk up to the hall,  thunder boomed and the heavens opened.  I regretted leaving my jacket at home.

The hall dates back to the 1500s when it was built by Bess of Hardwick, a Lady in Waiting to Elizabeth I and a powerful woman in her own right.  As much as I would have enjoyed taking pictures of the impressive interior the delicate nature of some of the exhibits and the diffuse lighting keep the interior in a protective gloom.  The history of Arabella, Bess's granddaughter is told throughout the hall and illustrates the dangers of being of a royal lineage. Hardwick ended up being her prison rather than a palace.

The original hall was left fall into disrepair once the new hall was constructed.

 The walled gardens are maintained beautifully by a dedicated staff and volunteers.

 The grounds below where designed mimic a wine glass and during the war Hardwick Hall was also acted as an airfield for fighter planes.