A person often meets his destiny
on the road he took to avoid it.
Jean de La Fontaine
14 Comments CherryPie on Dec 20th 2009
One of my ‘must places to visit’ when I was on my hols in Northumberland was Chillingham Castle because it sounded so interesting. It had the reputation of one of the most haunted castles which I was skeptical about, thinking it a marketing ploy. I will now give you the information I wrote in my note book on the day:
The castle was very run down and currently being done up by the owner who is related to the original owners (the Grey family) by marriage. The renovations have been ongoing for 20 years and are far from complete.
Some rooms had a cool and unsettled feel to them. They were the ones that were closest to the guest apartments where one of the rooms is supposed to be haunted.
I will now clarify my feelings. One room I had to leave immediately after being in there for a couple of minutes (the room that led to the guest rooms), there was a particular place in the dungeon that I had to rush past and the minstrels gallery made me feel a little unsettled.
Some of the pics I took:
Fast forward to today I logged onto the Chillingham Castle website to get the historical background for the castle so I could share it with you.
This ancient and remarkable fortress is the home of Sir Humphry Wakefield Bt., his wife The Hon. Lady Wakefield and their family. Since 1246 the Castle has been owned by one continuous blood line with the Earls Grey ruling the Castle for the founding centuries. Those Grey Lords built the Castle’s alarming dungeons and torture chambers, as well as the beautiful parklands and gardens.
In the Castle you will see active restoration of complex masonry, metalwork and ornamental plaster as the restoration continues. A wide diversity of styles in the rooms spells out successive fashions through the early centuries, which gives an educative and vibrant difference to this ancient Castle. Today, it thrives with day to day family life and also events relating to music, drama, mountain rescue, child welfare and other local interests.
Then out of curiosity I clicked on the link ‘Ghosts’ and found the videos ‘Most Haunted Unseen’ and watched them. It seems I wasn’t just being paranoid and jittery…
If you have the time and are interested just click the first video to watch and then click on the right arrow which will show program in full. My immediate response to the video is *phew* it isn’t wasn’t me then…
Most Haunted Unseen – Chillingham Castle
6 Comments CherryPie on Dec 19th 2009
The last ‘Wake Up to Wogan’ was broadcast on Radio 2 this morning. I know I won’t be alone in missing the gentle, crazy fun that the program brought each morning.
With a lump in his throat, Sir Terry Wogan has said an emotional goodbye to his loyal eight-million strong breakfast audience on Radio 2.
Here, with the help of BBC archives, look back at how – over four decades – he has woken up the nation.
Now what am I going to listen to in the morning whilst I get ready for work?
18 Comments CherryPie on Dec 18th 2009
The car was traveling fast, not the cows 
For more of this weeks PhotoHunt pictures check out tnchick.
26 Comments CherryPie on Dec 18th 2009
PCS members have overwhelmingly re-elected Mark Serwotka for a third term as General Secretary of their union.
First elected in 2000, Mark Serwotka was returned for another five year term with 63.4% of the vote. His challenger received 36.6% of the votes cast.
With PCS members facing job cuts, privatisation, pay freezes and cuts to their redundancy terms in the New Year, the re-election of Mark Serwotka is an endorsement of the union’s active campaigning and organising strategy.
Mark’s re-election means that PCS remains united in its response to unilateral changes to the Civil Service Compensation Scheme, which could lead to PCS members having their jobs cut on the cheap.
6 Comments CherryPie on Dec 18th 2009
It seems that the first part of the snow prediction for Shropshire was correct, I wonder if we will get snowed in at the weekend?
Most of the UK including Shropshire was expected to see some snow today as the cold snap continues.
Slight snow showers are expected to fall across the county today but Shropshire Star weatherman John Warner said that the heaviest of the snow would fall in the county over the weekend. He said: “Today and Friday are expected to be sunny, with slight snow showers.
I managed to capture this view from my office window on my mobile phone. I few seconds earlier the sun had been even more striking, but it had faded a little by the time I grabbed my phone and negotiated my way past the window blind which was shut.
Tomorrow is our office Christmas lunch and I am not sure whether to take a Taxi so I can have some wine with the meal. Or whether to use my car so I can have a quick get away if I have had enough of the do… A friend summed up quite nicely how I was likely to feel after a couple of hours (and why). He was right, but I better not post what he said here
16 Comments CherryPie on Dec 17th 2009
I think that is enough doom and gloom for now so I will share some appropriate holiday photos (for this season) with you.
One of the places I visited during my stay on the borders was the Lady Waterford Hall which was formally a school. The building contains Biblical scenes that were painted onto the wall as a teaching aid for the children who attended the school:
Lady Waterford Hall was commissioned in 1860 by Louisa Anne, Marchioness of Waterford, and owner of Ford Estate. The building served as a school until 1957 and in its heyday had as many as 134 local children on the register. Now used as the Village Hall (available to hire for private functions) it is much more besides and really is a ‘must see’ on a visit to North Northumberland.
As well as being a very generous lady who was concerned with the welfare of the estate workers and their children, Lady Waterford was also a keen amateur painter and spent 22 years decorating the interior of the Hall with Biblical scenes as a teaching aid for pupils. Many of the children and other villagers were used as models. Louisa Waterford is now recognised as one of the most interesting and gifted artists of her time, and many of her artworks are also displayed in the Hall together with other artifacts from the Victoria era.
For some reason it didn’t feel right for me to take photographs inside the building, I am not sure why. So I hope you enjoy my pictures of the outside of the building and you can see me enjoying the artwork inside the gallery.
14 Comments CherryPie on Dec 16th 2009
