National Railway Museum

I recently went to the National Railway Museum and have some photos of the trip to share with you all. First a few photos from the Great Hall showing a number of engines lined up around the turntable.



Here's Mallard, the world's fastest steam locomotive. Mallard set the record at 126 miles per hour. (However, some American locomotives are believed to have gone faster but because these sorts of speeds were illegal, there are no confirmed accounts.) Still, an impressive engine.


Also, quite famous is the Flying Scotsman. While it is presently being rebuilt, here's an archival photo of the engine, known for traveling from London to Edinburgh in 7 hours and 28 minutes. It also has been featured in a number of films such as "Chariots of Fire."


Next we have the 0 Series Shinkansen were the first bullet trains to run on high speed lines in Japan beginning in 1964. They have the first car and so I have a photo on me on it.



And to finish, the first modern locomotive, Rocket. This is actually a replica (the original is in the Science Museum in London) but it is still provides a valuable look into understanding early locomotives.

York Minster

Well I figured it's time to include a set of photos from York Minster. First we have a view of the west entrance of the Minster.

York Minster is the Gothic cathedral of York and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe alongside Cologne Cathedral. The Minster is the seat of the Archbishop of York, the second-highest office of the Church of England, and is cathedral for the Diocese of York; it is run by a Dean and Chapter under the Dean of York. Here's a view to crossing from the nave, the Minster's sanctuary. Second is a view of the western end of the nave. Third, we have a look up the central tower from the floor of the crossing. The ceiling is height of about 180 feet and the square has sides measuring 52 feet.


Here's some pictures of the choir where Evensong services are held. The first picture is from about where I normally sit for Evensong looking towards the high altar (with the red cloth). The second is a view from near the high altar towards the entrance of the choir from the crossing. I tend to sit in that second row on the right side of the aisle.


Here's an archive picture of the choir practicing in the choir for Evensong.


Here's a view of the organ. The case is above the choir screen and features beautifully painted pipes on the facade. There are also pipes within the screen and in the first bay of the south aisle and in the treforium on the south transept.


A view of the Minster from the city walls on the south side of the River Ouse. Viewed from this distance, it becomes apparent how large the Minster is compared with the rest of the buildings in York.


Here's some pictures of the Chapter House, the fellowship hall of the Minster. The Chapter House from outside and looking up at the ceiling.


Here's the Minster from the park alongside its north side.

Helmsley Castle and Riveaulx Abbey

Today we went to Helmsley Castle and Rievaulx Abbey.

Castle Helmsley is a medieval castle that dates back to around 1186. First is a picture of the interior of what was the Keep of the castle. Next to it is a picture from the exterior of the Keep.


Next is a picture of the Lord's residence within the Castle complex.


Here I am in the east gate of the castle.


Here's a picture of the castle seen from a nearby hill as we hiked to the abbey.


Rievaulx Abbey was a Cistercian abbey here in York that existed from 1132 to 1538.


The monks diverted the river which ran through the valley so they had enough room to build the abbey. Here's a little garden on the River Rye.


Here's a pair of pictures from the presbytery and nave of the church at the abbey.


And a picture of the refectory where the monks ate their meals.


Rievaulx became famous for its Aelred, who wrote on the topic of Christian friendship. This became one of the most famous abbeys in north England, second only to Fountains Abbey.

Rievaulx reached its height during the 1200s. However, due to huge losses from a disease affecting their sheep and the Bubonic Plague in the late 14th century, the abbey declined from 140 monks and 500 lay brothers to fourteen monks and three lay brothers.

Like so many others, the abbey was dissolved by King Henry VIII in 1538. At that time, there were said to be 72 buildings occupied by only an abbot and 21 monks, attended by 102 servants, with an income of 351 pounds a year. It also had a prototype blast furnace at Laskill, producing cast iron as efficiently as a modern blast furnace; the closure of Rievaulx is believed to have delayed the Industrial Revolution for two and a half centuries.

Goole Waterways Museum

Today we went to the Goole Waterways Museum. Located about 45 miles inland on the River Ouse (which flows into the Humber), we took a tour of the museum and went on the canals in a tugboat. Goole was famous for transfering coal from barges which came from upstream to larger ocean going vessels.


Coal was transported by use of tugboats which carried barges known as pans down the river to the harbor. There the pans went into a lift which raised the pan up and then tilted it, tipping the contents down a chute and into the holds of larger ocean going vessels. This method was so efficient it was used for 150 years. Here's a model of how the system worked and a remaining lift.




Goole remains one of the most important ports on the eastern coast of England.

Jorvik Viking Festival

This weekend was the Jorvik Viking Festival here in York.

A little history: A large army of Danish Vikings captured York in 866, and, in 876, the Vikings settled permanently in parts of the Yorkshire countryside. Viking kings ruled this area, known to historians as "The Viking Kingdom of Jorvik", for almost a century. In 954 the last Viking king, Erik Bloodaxe, was expelled and his kingdom was incorporated in the newly consolidated Anglo-Saxon state.

The Viking Festival is an opportunity to celebrate the Vikings and a lost way of life. Here's some Vikings massing in the Museum Garden.


There was also a falconry group with their birds at the museum. Here's one of their eagles.


A replica Viking boat

Lindisfarne and Bede's World

This last weekend we went to Lindisfarne and Bede's world.


The monastery of Lindisfarne was founded by Irish born Aidan, who had been sent from Iona off the west coast of Scotland to Northumbria at the request of King Oswald around AD 635. It became the base for Christian evangelism in the North of England and also sent a successful mission to Mercia.

At some point in the early 700's, the famous illuminated manuscript known as the Lindisfarne Gospels, an illustrated Latin copy of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, was made probably at Lindisfarne. Sometime in the second half of the tenth century a monk named Aldred added an Anglo-Saxon (Old English) gloss to the Latin text, producing the earliest surviving Old English copies of the Gospels.

Lindisfarne is also famous for its castle high atop the rock.



We also went to Bede's World, the site of the former monastery where Bede wrote the Ecclesiastical History of the English people.

I don't know quite why but they also have a petting zoo there. (Its part of the village representing monastic life then.)

Liverpool

Today we went to Liverpool, home of the Beatles and other famous bands of the United Kingdom.

We began the day at Albert Dock, site of a number of museum including the Merseyside Maritime Museum, the Tate Liverpool, the International Slavery Museum, and the Beatles Story.


We began the day walking to the Liverpool Cathedral, the largest Anglican church in the United Kingdom. Built in the 20th century, the cathedral is made of a local sandstone.


After viewing the cathedral, we walked to the city center for a while and walked around. We then returned to Albert Dock to go to the Merseyside Maritime Museum and finished the day at the Tate Liverpool.