Go West!

And so on Saturday, I boarded a train and headed west to Liverpool to meet my very good bloggy friend Lyn from Everyday Life.  I've lost track of how many times we have met up now, but whenever we do, we always have a really great time.

Here we are, 2 Liver birds!

 We chose Liverpool because Lyn knows it well and wanted to show me her favourite places.  I had only ever visited once - during the Derek Hatton years when the city was basically on its backside.  I'm pleased to report that as a tourist destination these days, it has a heck of a lot going for it.  It has some stunning architecture both old and new and lots to see and do.

 The docks in Liverpool brought great prosperity to the city in the olden days when a lot of our trade was with America.  The docks stretch for miles along the banks of the river Mersey.  Some of the old docks have been restored and house restaurants, shops and apartments as well as fabulous boats.

 A brand new museum has opened on the banks of the Mersey which is all about the history of Liverpool (and more).  We took a very brief look inside.

 It is a lovely museum and would make a great rainy day option.  It is free to look around too.

 The story of the docks takes up a small part of the museum but its fascinating.  The stories of every day lives of ordinary people are often the most interesting of all.

 We sat in one of the carriages of the overhead train that used to run the full length of the docks.  I loved some of the docks names.

 Liverpool has some stunning architecture with buildings that would not look out of place in Paris.  The Liver building is very famous - to the left of the picture.

 The new architecture sits very well amongst the older buildings.  Lyn noticed how the old was reflected in the new - so we snapped away!

 These were the offices of The White Star Line and had a connection with the Titanic as a lot of the staff boarded in Liverpool before collecting passengers in Southampton.  The building is empty at the moment and in need of restoration - we thought it would be interesting (but spooky) to have a look around inside.

 This amazing and huge building is actually just an air shaft for the road tunnel that runs under the river Mersey!  Liverpool to me illustrates better than any other city in the UK how a city's fortunes can rise and fall.  Liverpool has seen real wealth and also real decline.  It is great to see it back on the way up again.

 And of course everywhere you look you see images of the Liver Bird.

I took some photographs especially for one of my blog readers - Jaggerfan - who lives across the pond in America.  As you know, Liverpool is the birthplace of the Beatles and they don't let you forget it.

 We loved the blanket in the museum which was the actual one that John and Yoko used in their "Love In".

 And of course the lonely figure of Eleanor Rigby - a gorgeous and poignant bronze statue.

Many thanks for my fabulous tour Lyn.  You put right what Derek Hatton did wrong and showed me a fabulous city that I cannot wait to visit again.  xx

We had a lovely morning at this year's Sheffield Food Festival held in the streets in the city centre.  The sights and smells were just wonderful.  When will they invent scratch and sniff blogging!

 We have a lot of excellent local food producers in and around the city.

 We came away armed with leaflets for eateries dotted around the city that we have never tried before - this should give us something to do over the winter months!

 We met the producers of local Sheffield Honey and bought a large jar to have on our porridge in the mornings.

 We have made Bassetts Liquorice Allsorts in the city for as long as I can remember - and I think we still do (although Cadbury's took over the factory recently).  Which was your favourite?  I love the brown and white square ones!

 We bought some wonderful bread from these lovely ladies.

 We resisted the cakes - weren't we good!

 And bought a Sheffield Egg (like a Scotch Egg but better!) for teatime.

It was a very tasty way to spend a lovely morning with hubby.

A favourite place

I had a birthday at the start of the week - so hubby and I took the day off and went cycling to one of my favourite places in the entire world - Monsal Dale.  I won't overload you with photos as I have brought you here many times before.  We started off here with a full English - big mistake as it took some getting going after that!  I think if search my previous posts from here, you will discover I made the same mistake last time - so some people never learn!

 We follow the old railway track and cycled all 8.5 miles (and back again!).

 The track has very high bridges, and very many long tunnels along the way (and you know I am not keen on either, so I peddle faster!

 Apart from the stunning scenery, the thing that makes this a special place (and bamboozles my mind too) is the Geology of the surroundings.  The Railway track is approx 1000 feet ABOVE sea level.  The red rocks below are lava from a volcano that erupted when these surroundings were at the bottom of the sea!!

 After the eruption, limestone continued to be deposited on top of it for another 350 million years (the skeletons of dead marine life), and then somehow, it ended up where it is today.  A very scary thought.

 After our ride, we popped to visit Tideswell, a small village not far away.  I remember coming here with school when I was 10years old to do Brass Rubbings (I'll have to dig the photos out).

 It is a gorgeous little village.

 Then it was home to get dolled up for a romantic meal for five of us - when really I could just have done with a nice cup of tea and a lie down!

Portland Works

I have had such a fascinating day.  We had a look at what was open locally for the English Heritage Open Days and discovered that Portland Works in Sheffield was opening up briefly for tours.

This amazing building was built in 1877 to house forgers and cutlery makers - the Little Mesters of Sheffield.  The building was recently up for sale and was going to be converted into tiny studio apartments, when locals stepped in an decided to save the works, and keep them true to their original purpose.

 At present they are occupied by several craftsmen, some still making knives, but artists, musicians and other crafts people make a living from these lovely old workshops.

 The inside of the complex is like stepping back in time.  I love that they are working to preserve these works and that they are bringing them back to life.

 Relics from the past litter the site.

 We were able to watch the craftsmen who make their living here, crafting items the same way as they would have been made when the buildings were new.  This gent was forging wood chisels.

 He starts with these blanks.

 And Stuart Mitchell who works in this studio had a wonderful story to tell.  His father had worked here before, and Stuart had started working for his dad when he was just15 years old.  He now made custom knives for customers all over the world.  He is a young man who has a very unique skill that he is keeping alive and hoping to pass on to the next generation.

 Can you guess what material this is?  He is making the handle of a specialist knife from it.  It is Siberian Mammoth Tusk - very very rare and very very expensive.

 One of our favourite spaces was the roof where an eclectic collection of chairs for the present workers to gather and chat.

 Its a brilliant building and such a worthwhile project.  The people involved mainly all have personal  reasons for working on the project.  One lady was collecting cutlery (mainly from ebay)  by Robert Moseley that had been made here.  Her God mother had been Robert Mosley's daughter.

I am intrigued to see how the building gets restored and developed, and how they breathe life back into this stunning old place.

Summer nights

So Summer finally arrived in the UK this week! I really do wish it was always this warm and that I could sit out in the garden until really late like I did last night.  

We had to cancel our romantic few days away this week with my father in law being ill.  Hopefully we should be able to fit it in a little later on.  He is making a miraculous recovery against all odds.  He is someone who loves life - and he's putting up a tremendous fight for it.

 We decided to give ourselves a night off the hospital visiting - it is the most exhausting of all pastimes, especially when you have to fit work in too.  An evening stroll around a local lake did the trick.

PS That wasn't me in the previous photograph - it was the author Milly Johnson - although we are both vertically challenged with dyed dark hair and struggle with the slimming!