However a recent contact gave me some insights into the use of the ‘Old Hall’, around WW1. It is known that after the death of the Colonel, his son [also a Colonel, very confusing as his name is similar, but he was known to his wife and friends as Dick, so this will suffice] Dick took the opportunity to utilize parts of Parlington to embelish Lotherton Hall. Many of the interior fixtures and fittings were dismantled and re-instated at Lotherton. The new contact establishes a credible link to the person who supervised and may have undertaken part of this major re-fit. The whole story may feature in a future article on the history site, but for now suffice to show the picture, that accompanied the email and a short description.

It seems Mr & Mrs Reedman were employed by the Gascoigne family around the end of the First World War, at that time many fixtures were being re-fitted from Parlington into the recently extended house at Lotherton. John was a highly skilled estate carpenter [I think carpenter should be replaced with the words cabinet maker], qualified to make and renovate the ornate woodwork and panelling associated with the grand homes of the period. The photograph is of them standing on the doorstep of the westerly cottage formed from the West Wing of the old hall. The location was identified by the stone threshold!

Therefore with my leaving parlington, I shall stop publishing on this site as I won’t be here to make any comments! I will continue the research on Parlington Hall never-the-less.

When travelling along the old Great North Road (A1) it is always worthwhile checking to see how the light is cast over the former Almshouses. I don’t suppose for one moment that the original inhabitants ever considered how the place looked in the face of the direction of the sunlight; but they must have been very pleased that the old place afforded them shelter in a less hospitable world than the one we live in today! Well the shot above benefits from the opportunity to catch the building almost carless, as well as the light creating sufficient detail across the main elevation without too many long shadows. The yellow car adds to the picture as it is a 1960-70’s Triumph Spitfire, with a bold black stripe over the centre of the car; very sporty!

I printed the original image as an A3+ and it looks really good. The almshouses provided accommodation for eight couples, each gable end either side of the main entrance being a small living unit. The residents ate and worshipped in the end rooms, the south I think was the chapel and the north end was the dining room! Within each residental unit was a very small spiral staircase up to the first floor bedroom. These are still in place but were dismissed behind modern partitians when the building was converted in the 1990’s. Perhaps at night ghostly figures can be seen slipping through the wall and travelling upstairs to the first floor! I bet the office workers have no idea of what lies hidden in the old building!

Yesterday saw the start of summer time and to celebrate the event nature produced a dramatic sunset over the northern sky at Parlington, here is one picture from a collection I captured as the sun set! For those interested the image below is a satellite view of Parlington showing the sun rise and set along with the moon rise and set. Sunset was 21:40 @313.9° which is the orange line, sunrise is the yellow line at 04:33 @46.1°, the moon rose at 16:36 @119.5° and set at 01:07 @246.0° Moon’s disc was 70% illuminated. This info thanks to Steven Trainor of The Photographers Ephemeris [TPE].

Sadly on a more somber note, but with a beautiful shot of a field full of poppies; read on…

Poppies

Today whilst travelling to Barwick in Elmet I noticed that the fields were telling me that the war in Afghanistan, must end, before we spill any more blood of our brave service personnel. Sent by useless politicians with no proper strategy in place, just to placate our American Allies. The poppies gleaming in the afternoon sun, as they did following the slaughter of World War One, or the Great War as it was originally called, until the second conflict [WW2] showed we [Human Beings] could develop even more deadly ways of killing each other.

302 deaths in Afghanistan

302 deaths in Afghanistan, so far, I cannot imagine that the number of civilian deaths caused by extremists related to the Taliban would have been anything like this number, given that the same money or less was spent on reinforcing our own borders, instead of paying for this long distance war to nowhere!

The above picture is something and nothing, but I see the image as a representation of the old Hall disappearing into the ether, which is represented by the clouds in the sky! Which seems to have sucked the Hall from the landscape, of course this view was obscured for centuries, my photograph is taken from the location of the old kitchen, looking across where the central section stood after the 1730’s! The picture is sized A3+ [330mm x 483mm].

Beech Tree Roots

The former Deer Park, up the hill from Parlington towards Park House on the road to Garforth, is a massive tree root which has succumbed to a high wind, it has lain progressively bleaching the torn tree roots in the sun and the attached earth is a deep ocre colour. On the day the sky was white, a common English whether trait, so the edges of the roots contrast against the sky. This image is an A3 print.

Hawes, Wensleydale

This image is treated using the so called “Orton” effect, which uses a soft focus merged with a hard image to give a dreamlike quality, it works with some images better than others! Yet another whiteout English sky, and the river was only a trickle, but you can wait forever to catch the right moment.

Triumphal Arch in Monochrome

This photo was taken with my new Gorillapod, a small flexible tripod which allows you to take pictures from unusual or awkward locations. Here we were right down with the leaf mould. Again produced at A3 this looks stunning, well so I’m told.

I had a number of other images on sale but, I don’t want to take up too much bandwidth so have restricted this post to what you find here and the earlier article.

During a walk through the woods here in Parlington, I came across this extraordinary scene, there on the floor of the forest was a lock and clasp in the tangle of dead leaves. It is as if there is a doorway to the lower extremities of the planet, a kind of door to Hell itself, do not pass Purgatory, continue straight down to Hell! Well I wasn’t going to lift it now was I, Instead I took a photograph of the hidden entrance.

I took some of my pictures to Wetherby Craft Fair yesterday, these range in size from postcard to A3+ [330mm x 483mm] and are views of local scenes and some other prominent features that have caught my eye whilst out and about. There was good deal of interest but the throughput of visitors was not as I had hoped, it was a lovely day, for a change, and most people were interested in outdoor activities, and no doubt awaiting the evening England v USA match.

Various pubs in the town centre were bristling with flags and other regalia, to tempt viewers to an evening beer fest, whilst watching England triumph far away on savannah bushveld at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg. The game didn’t play according to form, but troubled starts are not uncommon for England, who are regularly so highly rated by the press that they almost never live up to expectations.

Information on the Header Picture

Taken in the early morning on the road from Aberford to Lotherton [Lotherton Lane], just after you go over the crest of the hill the road dips down into a hollow on a right curve and then bends left as it heads to the junction with Collier Lane. To the left this lonely clump of mature beech trees standing proud against the morning sky, I had to quickly park the car and get the camera out! The full A3+ picture is a real stunner, there is something about sunrise and sunset which is so evocative.

Scarthingwell Lake

Scarthingwell, which in my view is a great name, is to the east of Saxton, it is on the limits of Barkston Ash and at one time had an old mansion on the site which is now long gone, although the associated stone Catholic Church is extant and is in weekly use. Another good feature is the local golf course, which I am told is a pay and play course, don’t quote me on that, as I have not enquired for a round of golf. But this picture, with different sky colours from the header picture, was taken on a cold February morning a few years back. The purple-red hue was very dramatic and reflected nicely on the lake.

Coldhill Pond

Coldhill, another great name, can be found on the road from Lotherton to Sherburn in Elmet, on a tricky bend, there at the foot of a small incline is this pond nestling in the valley bottom. It always has some birds taking advantage of the serenity of the place and first thing in the morning it catches the rays from the rising sun very well!

This is not a picture featuring trees!

The above picture is of the working mechanism of the clock which is in the tower of Aberford [former] Almshouses, I have modified it in Photoshop to make it “Grunge” style, i.e. making it look more gritty and harsh, which it seems to me to portray. I can only imagine how long it took to manufacture by the skilled artisans of the mid nineteenth century. The Almshouses were built to commemorate the deaths of the two elder brothers and father of Isabella and Elizabeth Gascoigne of Parlington Hall. Following the worst year they could have experienced, first their eldest brother Thomas died in London, 24th April 1842 then the second brother, Richard, died on Christmas Day 1842 and finally their father Richard Oliver Gascoigne passed away, albeit 80, on 14th April 1843. How tough life was in those times.

Yes more Trees

This particular photo I printed on glass and backed up with a special coating to prevent it being affected by damp, it is A3 and can be used in tiled positions like kitchens or bathrooms, literally used like a ceramic tile. The picture is of the driveway looking towards Aberford, all the trees, beech, are now at the extreme end of the lifespan, around 200 years old, these were most likely planted by Sir Thomas Gascoigne around the time of the Triumphal Arch, [circa 1783] Some have already been cut down as they are considered a potential danger to passers by, new ones have been planted to eventually re-create the line, but it may never look the same, so this picture captures a moment in time, which I like to savour.

Micklegate, York

Moving away from Aberford, here is a great view of Micklegate, the sky was ideal for an emotive shot, sorry about the red refuse bin, but you can’t arrange everything! I love York, it is a terrific blend of many eras, and is the better for it. Only the advent of modern town planning has reduced its appeal. Damn Beaurocrats!

Wharf Valley

Here is a panorama of Wharf Valley, taken using my panoramic head from the Otley Chevin, the full size image show the scene far better, but this does give an impression.

Craft Fair Exhibitors

The craft fair featured some good crafters, an expression I hate, but these are all people who make things, and that is a very good thing!

Candice Craft Emporium offers a range of Jewellery, Aromatherapy Spa, Iris Folding Crafts, and Greetings Cards.

Caroline Lee Ceramics unusual ceramic designs worthy of a serious look!

Myroo Skincare by Rachael Dunseath offers a great range of carefully selected home made skin care products, all fully tested to every stringent requirement of the EU!

The Clarke Foley Centre Ilkley, offers loads of stands all under one roof, and the lady who organises the event does great costume jewellery!

Wonderous Wood, A perfect gift for everyone. Hand cut wooden puzzles and jigsaws, perfect as toys or just sitting on a shelf looking pretty. email wondrouswood-puzzles@yahoo.co.uk

Janet Orme is a botanical artist, she does some great work, I was reminded of the meticulous detail that Darwin went to on his voyages on the Beagle! visit www.janetorme.co.uk for more details.

Last but not least Quernus Crafts, polymer clay creations lots of fun animals all suitable for that small gift you need to find for someone special, so much so I had to get one for my wife!

Part two with the rest of my current pictures for sale will follow shortly!

The debate over man induced climate change continues with the new [ConDem] government making PC noises about costs associated with combatting AGW [Anthropogenic Global Warming]. To me the idea that they can do anything or that it is expedient given the evidence is a huge fabrication, but it keeps on rearing its “Hydra”, using a different head for each imagined fear: Sea Level Rises; Increased precipitation; glacier melt; artic ice sheet reduction; etc., etc.,

I was impressed to read this article by a legal expert from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He manages to put the whole debacle in a legal framework, from which you can draw your own conclusions. Here is an abstract from the paper and the whole article can be downloaded here.

Abstract

Legal scholarship has come to accept as true the various pronouncements of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and other scientists who have been active in the movement for greenhouse gas (ghg) emission reductions to combat global warming. The only criticism that legal scholars have had of the story told by this group of activist scientists – what may be called the climate establishment – is that it is too conservative in not paying enough attention to possible catastrophic harm from potentially very high temperature increases.
This paper departs from such faith in the climate establishment by comparing the picture of climate science presented by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and other global warming scientist advocates with the peer-edited scientific literature on climate change. A review of the peer-edited literature reveals a systematic tendency of the climate establishment to engage in a variety of stylized rhetorical techniques that seem to oversell what is actually known about climate change while concealing fundamental uncertainties and open questions regarding many of the key processes involved in climate change. Fundamental open questions include not only the size but the direction of feedback effects that are responsible for the bulk of the temperature increase predicted to result from atmospheric greenhouse gas increases: while climate models all presume that such feedback effects are on balance strongly positive, more and more peer-edited scientific papers seem to suggest that feedback effects may be small or even negative. The cross-examination conducted in this paper reveals many additional areas where the peer-edited literature seems to conflict with the picture painted by establishment climate science, ranging from the magnitude of 20th century surface temperature increases and their relation to past temperatures; the possibility that inherent variability in the earth’s non-linear climate system, and not increases in CO2, may explain observed late 20th century warming; the ability of climate models to actually explain past temperatures; and, finally, substantial doubt about the methodological validity of models used to make highly publicized predictions of global warming impacts such as species loss.

Insofar as establishment climate science has glossed over and minimized such fundamental questions and uncertainties in climate science, it has created widespread misimpressions that have serious consequences for optimal policy design. Such misimpressions uniformly tend to support the case for rapid and costly decarbonization of the American economy, yet they characterize the work of even the most rigorous legal scholars. A more balanced and nuanced view of the existing state of climate science supports much more gradual and easily reversible policies regarding greenhouse gas emission reduction, and also urges a redirection in public funding of climate science away from the continued subsidization of refinements of computer models and toward increased spending on the development of standardized observational datasets against which existing climate models can be tested.

The paper runs to 82 pages and is best taken in small bites, or if you are reading it on a computer, perhaps small bytes! Anyway it is a refreshing read, looking at the data and how it is presented by the establishment. Remember the UK is committed to an 80% reduction in conventional fuels [fossil based etc.] by, I think, 2050. Yes, they must be crazy, that’s like using the equivalent energy per person as sometime before the industrial revolution, or perhaps as far back as the eighteenth century, when the UK supported a largely agricultural population of less than a third of today.

Naturally in order to comply I am writing this observation whilst peddling furiously to keep the dynamo on my fixed bicycle supplying electricity to allow my latop computer keep going! The broadband supply is being serviced by my pet cat who I harnessed to a framework with a tempting spratt suitably poised in front of her to cause the athletic feline to trudge forward on the treadmill.

You see we are doomed, I’m too tired now, to watch gyro TV, brought to you by, “Wheels go Round on my Bike” by Sturmey Archer cyclo electrics! [Yes they are still going!] and the hydro drainpipe discharged its vast dam of water to facilitate the toilet flush, that’s it for the family ablutions today. Looking forward to meat free BBQ tomorrow!

The old MG has to go, I have spent a fortune on the thing since 1986 when I bought it, I had a complete body rebuild done in 1989, at a cost of over £5,000, and after using it for years as a play car, I started to use it daily after returning from the Far East in 1993.

MGB at Parlington

Thereafter in about 1995, it started to show signs of rust again, and eventually, after new rear axle, suspension, etc. etc. I got tired of the endless maintenance and put it in the garage in 1998. So its not been on the road for over 12 years now. Having investigated the underbody I decided there was no point in throwing any more money at it unless it had a complete new heritage roadster shell.

From time to time my youngest daughter used it for practice around here before taking her test, but otherwise it is a “dead parrot”, so to speak, no more time to waste on mechanical things that deteriorate faster than you can keep up to them. Someone else may enjoy that hobby, and this is a good car to start on!

Therefore I have put it on eBay for spares or as a donor car for a new roadster project! Funny to think how the car has long outlived its makers, Morris Garages, British Motor Corporation [BMC], the very horrible British Leyland [BL], then Rover et al! Now the Chinese are going to badge a sports car with the brand, sacrilege, I say!

For those interested in all things historical, I’ve added a short article about the Brewster Stereo Photo Viewer to the new BBC “A History of the World” web site which acompanies the rather good Radio Four series, “A History of the World in a 100 Objects”.

The site and in particular my article about the viewer is here: Brewster 3D Viewer

The article on my on the main Parlington History site is here:
Artefacts Section

The idea is a naked attempt to push more visitors to the History site, as people keep telling me that the profile of the site is too low!

The Society Aims and Objectives

The Society was formed in 1997 and exists to research and promote knowledge of the past through lectures, displays and a twice-yearly publication (The Leeds History Journal). In addition, the Society also runs the East Leeds Heritage Centre at Cross Gates Library, where regular displays and exhibitions take place.

If you are in the area and missed the exhibits I had on display at Lotherton Hall you may find this a useful substitute.