The Real Northanger Abbey

A real ruined Abbey! We visited Rivaulx Abbey in north Yorkshire.

    As I was flipping through my travel journal to make a post about this day to my dismay I could not find it anywhere. So I shall be making one more post from memory. :)

England 2015 Travel Journal
Monday, March 30

     We began our day with another jaunt into York. Instead of using the York Outlets Park'n'Ride we found a city parking lot just outside one of the city's medieval gates. The parking rates were reasonable, somewhere between £2-4 for a couple of hours, and we could walk to the attraction that we came to see.

     In the rooms of this particular city gate was an exhibit about the infamous Richard III and the artifacts found on the Towton battlefield (mostly some fiendish looking weapons). It gives you an interesting look at what it would have been like for a soldier during the 1460s-80s, such as the camps, the armor, the battles, the weapons and such (as well as the rather horrible fighting that went on). There was also an informative short video about the Battle of Towton.

Did Richard wear this dashing suit of armor?

     This isn't Richard's actual armor, but it is a good example of what he might have worn. It was an unusual set of stairs to climb up from the street to the exhibit, and possibly the narrowest, lowest-ceiling-ed staircase I've ever climbed!

     We finished our sojourn in York early enough to zip up to North Yorkshire and to one of the sights we'd decided to see based the wonderful plethora of brochures and magazines provided in our AirBNB cottage. It was the amazing Rievaulx Abbey. We almost went to the more famous Whitby Abbey, and I wish we could have, since it is situated in grandeur on the Yorkshire coast. But it was just too far to visit that day by car.

     Even though we could only make it to one site that afternoon it still felt as if we got to see so much because on any drive through England there will be beautiful scenery and many historic landmarks along the road. For instance, we drove right past Castle Howard – an enormous estate that has been the seat of some powerful people in the past. I think we might have actually driven through the estate because we passed a couple of gates like this:

Entering the grounds of Castle Howard.

     You can actually catch a glimpse of the Castle at one point!

The Village of Helmsley

     The village nearest to the Abbey is a lovely looking place called Helmsley, with some shops and cafes that looked most inviting (unfortunately we got there just as they were all closing at 5:00). We had to hurry on to our destination, and what scenery we had along the way! It was the perfect prelude to the magnificence of the Abbey. The country was filled with bare trees, the wind was chill and cold, and the sky was covered in sliver clouds, but the fields were a lush green, painting a strikingly epic backdrop for those admirable ruins.

Rievaulx Abbey in all of it's ruined glory!

    It's a National Heritage site, so it costs about £8 each to walk around the Abbey, but, boy, is it worth the cost. What an imposing, splendid, spectacular, awe-inspiring sight! I could almost become a Gothic romance fan myself, it was such an amazing atmosphere. It made me more sympathetic to Jane Austen's Catherine Morland in Northanger Abbey. But I can tell you that I would not wish to be there at night... It was lonely enough at a light 5:00 when you are the only two people wandering around. (The site closes at 6:00, by the way.)

One of the crumbling rooms of the Abbey

     There were helpful plaques placed in nearly every room (or what would have been a room when the Abbey was whole). The picture below is of the dining area, I believe. Can you imagine eating dinner in a space like this? All I can think about is how cold I would be during breakfast... The breakfast would be cold, too, I suppose. ;)

The stony dining hall of the Abbey

     Here we are in the main hall. It was haunting to stand in that space and imagine what it must have looked like in all of its glory. It just amazes me how people so long ago could have constructed such intricate and enormous structures, and yet here they still stand, looking more beautiful than any modern building I have ever seen. The motives were often questionable – power, display, intimidation, self-righteousness – but even that can tell us more about the people of the past and bring them closer to us, which also helps us to understand ourselves, since humankind never really changes.

     Okay, now I am done rhapsodizing or philosophizing or monolog-izing.... (and making up words)! ;)

Keeping warm...

    As you can see, maximum coverage was essential to keeping tolerably warm and comfortable in that frigid breeze, but – it was Yorkshire.

Would Henry Tilney call this a picturesque view?

     It was so atmospheric! I began to actually sympathize with Catherine Morland. I tend to think of her as a little juvenile for letting her imagination run away with her, but really, with such a scene it would take a singularly level-headed person to resist letting their imagination at least begin walking away with them.

     One minute my mind was full of monks walking cold halls trying to live a life of self-denial in this center of the Roman church in this remote corner of the north, and the next I could see soldiers of Henry VIII burning and sacking the Abbey for its riches in this far corner of the kingdom. Then I would summon up some romantic poets coming to the ruins to sit and contemplate the mossy stones and vaulted arches for inspiration, or Victorian Londoners up for a northern sketching holiday making their way as best they can in full skirts over the broken stairs and walls for the perfect picturesque view.

Both of us posing under that great arch would make for a dramatic painting, I think.

Who needs to read Mrs. Radcliffe when you've got the real thing! ;)

      This place has stood since the 11 and 1200s – for 900 years – and seen so much history. Those stones must have thousands of stories to tell, and walking among them, touching them with my hands, and imagining what they may have seen feels like a chance to honor the memories of each person and their real stories.



©2016 Anna Morton

On Wuthering Heights

| The moors of the Brontës. |

England Trip 2015 Travel Journal
Sunday, March 29 – Part Two

We decided to head to Haworth and Brontë country so we wouldn't get to the museum too late, and visit the North & South filming location afterward. I have never seen a country or surroundings whose mood and feel is so reflected in the stories of any writer! I have never read Wuthering Heights, but I have read Jane Eyre and I am familiar with the passion and gothic-like moods of these novels, and the wild hills covered in dark heather, the bare black trees, the clouds blowing dramatically overhead and the blasting wind almost blowing you down – moaning and whistling through the trees and over the hills – make it unmistakable that this landscape was an influence on the Brontë sisters.
They couldn't escape writing the way they did!

The Village of Haworth.

Looking across the moor to the Brontë parsonage.

Walking around the Brontë Parsonage museum made me sad, since so many of the family died young, and died in those very rooms. The struggle and near-darkness in the passions of the stories added to my feeling of sadness. It is quite a contrast from Chawton Cottage.

Looking over the graveyard to the parsonage.

My sneaky picture of the room where the Brontë sisters used to write together.

The drawing room is where Anne, Emily and Charlotte would stay up late and write together. Their writing desks, one of Charlotte's dresses and her wedding bonnet are spread out for us to see in different rooms. It was unreal to see those! She was quite little, too.

We then went for a walk to try to find a nearby moor, but after being pelted with some hail and the moor being nowhere in sight we went back to attempt another path through the cemetery. This was more successful in finding something at least moor-like and a place with a spectacular view.

Facing the hail, with the parsonage behind us.

The path up to the hills.

The moors!

We were very cold and a bit damp, but it was worth it! The sun was breaking through the clouds and the wind – It was blowing so hard that it felt like someone had a sheet wrapped around me and was pulling me backward! Not to mention that my hand would go numb if I took my glove off for a few seconds. Nevertheless we enjoyed ourselves immensely! As well as getting some fabulous pictures.

We walked through the heather, feeling very much like Jane Eyre as she ran away from Thornfield. While we trekked the path up to the heather the wind literally rushing over our heads made me either want to cower in fear or rush on to meet it, defying its worst! So I ran up the last stretch. :)

The famous moor heather.

I said it was windy... :)

We still had daylight left, so we headed to Keighley. You know how you have a sort of idea in your head of what a film location actually looks like? Well, that idea is always wrong – at least in my experience – which usually makes them hard to find.

But not in this case. Those green mill doors were unmistakable!

The gates of Dalton Mill, used as Malborough Mills in BBC's North & South

I literally gasped. And the place was completely deserted, which was perfect for sneaking some pictures.

"Look back. Look back at me."

It's Malborough Mills!! Alas, there was no Mr. Thornton...

It's a business complex now, with different companies in various building, but it is still very much a mill. It was technically once Dalton Mill, but to me it was Malbrough Mills. Mrs. Thornton's window, Mr. Thornton's steps, Margaret's visits – every place was there. I was actually brave enough to climb the steps to pose – but there was no one driving off to whom I could whisper "look back at me..." ;)

Talk about being transported! All we were missing was Richard Armitage. I had to stand in the spot where Mr. Thornton says one of my favorite lines to Margaret: "You're ill?" His concern for Margaret at that moment takes my breath away every time.

"I've not become so fine as to forget the source of my son's power and wealth. The Mill is everything." - Mrs. Thornton

Oddly, one of the most exciting parts of it all was after we had driven our car past the mill to leave and I saw a metal gate coming down, closing the complex! We had just made it. (That was at 7:00. We parked just around the corner in the neighborhood, by the way.)

Dinner and a fabulous Hob Nob ice cream sundae at the Carvery wound up the day in Keighley. (Hob Nobs are a sort of oat cookie with chocolate coating one side.) Carveries are wondrous places where you can get in line and ask for delicious meats (turkey, roast beef, ham), vegetables (potatoes, root veggies, Brussels sprouts), Yorkshire pudding and gravy to be piled onto your plate. It is one of the finest aspects of British cuisine.

Hob Nobs and ice cream!

It was just an unforgettable day! And one accompanied by the soundtracks of North & South and Jane Eyre. :)


© 2016 Anna Morton

Our Northern Ways: The Mills of Yorkshire

| Salt Mill in Yorkshire – the inspiration for Malbrough Mills, perhaps? |

England Trip 2015 Travel Journal
Sunday, March 29 – Part One

What a country! Today was quite a literary and historic adventure. We visited the Brontë Parsonage and an old woolen mill in a countryside dotted all over with mills – some abandoned, some repurposed – on wild, windy hills. I felt like I'd been dropped into North & South, Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre! Truly.

There is nothing like Yorkshire scenery!

These surroundings obviously contributed so much to the stories and literary styles of Mrs. Gaskell and the Brontë sisters. The wild and rugged scenery, with heaps of clouds swirling furiously across the grey sky and the constant wind seem to have bred the independent spirit of their fierce characters, and woven itself into the stories themselves. It begins to weave itself into you if you stand out in it long enough!

We were on our way to Keighly (pronounced "keeth-lee") where some 'North & South' scenes were filmed, when we saw a sign for Salt Mill, a preserved historical site (indicated by the sign's brown color). So I made the decision to take a quick detour to explore it and to see the inside of a textile mill. It was basically on our way, after all, and it turned out to be an exciting, memorable experience!

Salt Mill with its smokestack.

On the third floor is an exhibit on the history of the mill, opened in 1853 by Titus Salt, and it was considered to be a model mill in its time, innovative with its technology and clean working conditions. (He sounds a bit like Mr. Thornton to me.) There were two original machines on display, and imagining one of these enormous rooms packed with rows and rows of them helped me to understand better than I ever had before Margaret Hale's initial repugnance at the idea of a mill, and especially of mill owners, as well as her pity of the working people. My understanding was quite vivid, in fact. The monotony of the nose and confinement oppressed my very imagination. And that was looking at an exceptionally comfortable mill!

Original machines from Salt Mill, used in making wool cloth.

One of the upper floors of the mill, now a little museum.

The back of Salt Mill

The ground floor of the mill. It's rather beautiful now, making it a bit hard to imagine it filled with the whir of machines.

A model of Salt Mill – it's like a small city!

 The third floor had an impressive view of the town outside – a town that looks exactly like I imagine Milton would look, with its grey stone and the spires of other mills dotting the skyline.

The town of Shipley, looking out from Salt Mill.
Doesn't it look like Milton??

North & South was set in a real time and based on real places and people so seeing these real cities and mills brought that history so much closer. It almost felt real enough to touch. This is why I love to travel! Well, one big reason.

A project to remember the people who worked in Salt Mill.
Here is Sarah Ann Morton – who knows, maybe we're related! That made history seem really close...

© 2016 Anna Morton

York the Magnificent

| The mighty York Minster |

England Trip 2015
Saturday, March 28

(10:56 PM) I am greatly enjoying my chocolate malted bar recommended by our poet barista Josh at the Costa Coffee in York. :) He was pleasantly friendly, chatting with me while Mom was off, and we had the longest conversation that I've ever had with anyone besides Mom since we got here. There is something special about making human contact while you're traveling because you find you have things in common with people and you learn some insightful things that you didn't expect.

Our barista Josh made clear that he doesn't like the busy-ness of London, preferring the slower and friendlier way of life in the north – another northerner who loves his part of the country. :)

Then I discovered that he loves poetry – he actually loves sitting by the river and writing it himself! We do differ on what sort of poetry, as his favorites are '50s beat poets, but he also enjoys 18th century novels. :) It was discovering that I studied English literature that brought on the subject. Much of this conversation surprised me, I admit, because I guess I didn't expect to meet a young working man in York who loves literature – even though I should have known better than to have any such preconceptions! After all, I've seen 'North & South' about fifty times! Oh well, I'm glad to say that I was pleasantly surprised out of my prejudices, not unlike Miss Margaret Hale. ;)

That was at the end of our day in York, so I will now say something about the rest of it, starting with the beginning.

We took advantage of the Park and Ride from the outlets on the south side of York, which dropped us nearby to the city's center and most of it's famous sights.

The Shambles in York

We had splendid weather! More glorious sunshine passing in and out of the clouds, lighting up the Minster and the ruins of St. Mary's Abbey beautifully. The latter would have put Marianne Dashwood into raptures, it was so picturesque.

We walked through the famous Shambles first, which is also picturesque, but a tad touristy with its shops and tea rooms. (FYI: "The Shambles" is where a large chunk of Tudor buildings have been preserved.) Still, its Tudor architecture is worth seeing because it takes you back in time in an amazing way! The slightly off-kilter buildings lean into each other over the street just like on a postcard.

We found these fellows over a shop window.

As we left The Shambles from this street in the photo above we entered a sort of square where a weekly market was going on. There were lots of fun local vendors selling crafts, toys, a dangerous number of delicious desserts....

A market at York.

....and some deerstalker hats.

How could I resist?
(Technically it was Mom's idea... Well, the collar bit was mine.)

We almost missed Molly's Tea Room because it is tucked away above an antique store. So when you follow the map to the spot you can't see it from the street. They had the most delicious looking cakes, so we had to have some after our pea soup and our cheese and chutney sandwiches. Another lovely touch was the lady charge calling everyone 'love' or 'darlin''. :) That never gets old!

Me with my lemon poppy seed cake and tea
at Molly's Tea Rooms

Mom with her coffee and walnut cake
in Molly's Tea Room

Split pea soup with a sandwich.

We glimpsed York Minster (the famous and enormous church) and found a used bookshop with seven rooms of books around the corner... How we got out of there in fifteen minutes is mystery.

The Museum Gardens with the Abbey ruins is just down the street. (Everything in York is nicely close together. It was constantly surprising me.) It is a lovely park! There are Roman, Medieval and Tudor ruins, and it was lush and green with daffodils and tulips everywhere.

The Roman wall in the Museum Gardens.

St. Mary's Abbey ruins in the Museum Gardens, built in the 14th century and destroyed by Henry VIII in the 16th century.

It's the epitome of a picturesque scene! (Picturesque in the 18th century romantic sense, that is.)
St. Mary's Abbey ruins.

Proof that we were there. :)

We found the Minster again, and Mom thought we should try going in even though it was closed by then. But this time being a rebel paid off. We went in the open door and realized that it was 5:14, which meant that we got to stay inside and listen to the evensong service that was to begin at 5:15! We stood in the corner listening to the choir and we got to take pictures. A total win. (Unlike in Westminster Abbey where one is never allowed to take pictures.) It was filled with that glorious golden light, making the warm stone glow and the stained glass windows jump out from the walls in vivid color.

There it is: York Minster!

We'd heard of its reputation for being enormous, and boy did it live up to that. It's massive!

The nave (or whatever it's called... it's the main part of the building, anyway).

One of the stained glass windows above us.

Later we found the city wall, which gives a great view of York. That is another Roman remnant – they're everywhere! York almost feels like a history book with its variety of architecture from the Romans to the Normans to the medieval period to the Tudors to the present day. Mom and I just loved it!

The Roman wall around York. One of the most complete of its kind at over two miles long.

Climbing up on the wall gives you a fabulous view of the Minster.

It was nearly dark, so after stopping by Clifford's Tower (built by William the Conqueror in the 1080s), we caught the park and ride bus back to the Outlets, stopped by Sainsbury's, and made it home safely.

Another bastion of William the Conqueror: Clifford's Tower, right in the middle of York.

© 2016 Anna Morton