29th October, 2014...Furness Abbey and York Minster!

After a very busy half-term, then weekend of weddings and wedding fairs, we actually managed a couple of days away, and where better than York, to view the Minster!

 

 

What a stunning building....standing there, you can't take in the engineering it has taken, across about 800 years of it's life.

 

 

 

 

Inside, there are now different exhibition stands, charting the history of the actual building of the Minster, from the first stone being laid, up to now, where the constant repairs are taking place to glass and slabs. Fascinating!

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you are interested in ancient buildings, it's an exceptional display in an exceptional place!

 

 

And the other family members were intrigued too!

 

 

Candles have been lit...ghosts have been hunted!

 

 

 

It does get you thinking about how stone masons and builders crafted Furness Abbey...wooden scaffolding and lots of rope I guess, but actual stone carving doesn't seem possible in cold, damp Furness, with crude tools and mud everywhere, and relatively soft stone....unbelievable. There was the opportunity to purchase a piece of old limestone that had been removed and replaced from the Minster, and it was tempting.....but it felt wrong to remove pieces of the original building and cart them off to Cumbria...they seem to be crying out to stay together!! Mr Hillman thinks I'm a bit batty, but it was weird!

 

 

Lovely hotel though, ten yards from the Minster, so spooky at night...it was originally built to house the visiting Minster clergy...hence the name!

 

 

Lot's of other fascinating Tudor buildings too...look at Mulberry Hall, which is now a shop!

 

 

And if you like all things Tudor, the latest 'Shardlake' is just as good as all the others!!

 

 

 

So, after a few days of Yorkshire's history, we headed down to Furness Abbey for something more local!

 

 

And what a beautiful morning it was.....unlike the 'biblical' rain that was falling when we got back into Cumbria yesterday tea  time....what was that all about?!

 

 

Abbey Mill had a cosy look about it....another building with an uncanny sense of history when you go inside!

 

 

Spectacular views from the top this morning too!!! That has definitely been my kind of holiday week, and the 'old dears' have been married for thirty years come Monday!!

 

 

And here are our 'diva' children!! Where did they come from!!