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A Wedding, A Poorly Nipper & Newark Castle, Nottinghamshire

We went to Fareham in Hampshire for very special wedding, today 08.08.17, my fathers.  My father who is ninety, married his girlfriend of thirty-four years, his new wife is seventy-two.  The day was beautiful, even though we had some rain, it didn’t matter, the day just shone.  I just wanted to make a note of this special day……so I do not miss their first anniversary, I’m terrible at dates 🙂   Also my oldest dog Nipper is in the vets, we had to rush him there three days ago as he was really very poorly and we found out he has very bad diabetes.  The vets have had to try and level his blood, which we think they have done, although he is still very poorly, he is starting to respond, so fingers cross he will pull though.  Anyway we will continue with the real reason for this post…… Newark Castle in Nottinghamshire.  We visited last year 2016, we had passed Newark several times over the years, but this time we managed to stop.

Newark Castle and Gardens are lovely, formal gardens bordered by the remaining walls of Newark Castle which was partly destroyed in 1646 at the end of the English Civil War. The Castle has stood proudly on the banks of the River Trent for nearly 900 years.

A little history….

The castle’s foundations date back to Saxon times but it was developed as a castle by the Bishop of Lincoln in 1123. Known as the Gateway to the North, the castle endured numerous sieges during the Baronial and English Civil war before it was partially destroyed in 1646.  From the riverside the bulk of Newark Castle looks extremely impressive, looming above the water like a forbidding barrier. It is only when you approach from the town that you realise how ‘one-sided’ the structure is. For on the town side, there are almost no remaining walls, though the towers are still impressive.  

 

 

I also took a mixture of black & white, as the castle grounds are used for weddings and we counted three while we were there.  Although the weather was very cloudy, it was still warm day.

 

 

Happiness Is……

Happiness is…… for my Father-in-law, being on a foot plate of a steam engine.  I’m not joking, he had the biggest grin on his face from the start to the finish, he loved every minute.  It was Christmas 2016 and we always visit the train station at Sheringham, on the North Norfolk coast, to see if there are any steam trains in.  Luck was with us, and I think I had a big grin on my face, while I photographed him, 

 

Snakes Alive

This is not my normal type of photo, but it is, the day that I came to like a snake.  We were at a country fair somewhere in the county of Rutland in June 2016, and there was the normal type of things like tractors and sheep dogs etc, but there was also the snake man, no ….not really…. but thats what I called him.  We walked into a tent and there was the snake coiled around the keepers neck, I have no idea what type of snake it was  but the colours were beautiful…. I was seeing the snake through the lens of a camera in my mind, it was beautiful.  I knew I wanted to catch the snakes forked tongue darting out, but it was so quick, but then I got my photo (the last photo on the post)……look at the pattern on the scales, it looks like a row of pointy teeth, just like the real thing.  I was just really pleased that the photos came out ok, of course if I had come across the snake in the long grass….it was have been a totally different story.  I also thought it was a good one for my Occupation Category, Wildlife Keeper.

Picnic at Pickering Castle, Yorkshire

I found this photo while putting together a post for Pickering Castle, and it was just such a lovely picnic scene of a family enjoying themselves in the castle grounds.  It was really just cake and crisps, but to those children, it would have been a splendid feast in a castle…….ha ha it would still be that for me 🙂

A Snap Shot of Harrogate, Yorkshire

In 2015, I must have had a thing about black & white, as I have found some more photos while sorting through my never ending collection, this time Harrogate in Yorkshire.  I think these were odd ones that I had taken, when taking photos of the ‘The Valley Gardens’ in the town.  They are a random collection of captures, but hopefully give a tiny insight into this lovely Yorkshire Town.  Hopefully the garden will follow shortly, but this time in colour.

Harrogate is a town in North Yorkshire, England, east of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Its heritage as a fashionable spa resort continues in the Montpellier Quarter with the Royal Pump Room Museum, documenting the importance of local mineral springs. Nearby is the restored, Moorish-style Turkish Baths & Health Spa. To the west, leafy Valley Gardens features the art deco Sun Pavilion.

2015