Ultimately we have just one moral duty: to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace, and to reflect it toward others.
And the more peace there is in us, the more peace there is in the world.
Etty Hillesum
12 Comments CherryPie on Nov 4th 2018
Despite our best intentions we didn’t manage to cross the road from the Collingwood arms to visit the Church of St Helen.
We had also intended to get a closer look of the War Memorial, also just across the road from the Collingwood arms…
St Helens’ church is on my list for my next visit to the area 
4 Comments CherryPie on Nov 3rd 2018
The Collingwood Arms is a grade II listed Coaching Inn built during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. On first appearance there are tell-tale signs of the hotels Georgian roots with its archetypal centred entrance and the somewhat symmetrical frontage including the grand single paned sash windows that flood the hotel with natural light.
It is plain to see upon entering that the Hotel draws upon its nautical ancestry, illustrations and paintings of Vice Admiral Collingwood and even the porthole clock hanging in the main entrance steer you toward the conclusion that we have a close tie with Horatio Nelsons second in command. Currently with all 15 bedrooms being named after the Galleons that sailed under the Vice Admiral many believe that we must have been a favoured spot for Lord Collingwood or even owned by him at one point or another, unfortunately this is all too good to be true.
What many don’t know is that the hotels name and rich heritage comes more from the merchant family that owned the property up until 1955. Although there is some correlation between the Vice Admiral Collingwood and the Hotel through a very long and confusing lineage, little is still know about the Collingwood family that once resided here, however we do know that many of the passed family members ar memorialised just across the road in St Helens Cemetery.*
*Information from hotel room information booklet
12 Comments CherryPie on Nov 2nd 2018
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14 Comments CherryPie on Oct 31st 2018
18 Comments CherryPie on Oct 30th 2018
Dating from the late 1600s this gun was affectionately named the Armada Gun as it was believed to have come from the Spanish Armada vessel after the fleet was driven up the North Sea Coast. It was later confirmed as a Dutch trading vessel that was transporting cannons amongst a payload of other weapons. It was dated from 1660 and 1715 after the cannons and other artefacts were dated by experts.
The wreck was discovered to the east of Gun Rocks, part of the Farne Island group. It was so named because a ‘pile’ of cannons first found there in the 1700s. Archaeological work was carried out in the 1960s when sword hilts and a small brass cannon were recovered. It is believed that this cannon had been given to the castle by 1737.*
*From a signboard next to the cannon
15 Comments CherryPie on Oct 29th 2018
