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Miniature houses on Orkney

When mum and dad visited Orkney a few weeks ago they spotted two miniature buildings on their travels.

Upon their return they have, even with our help, been unable to find out anything more about them. So can you help?

Building one

Situated around 20m from the A691 from Holm to Kirkwall is what appears to be a wooden stately home built into the fence line.

Dad initally thought it could be a horse jump, due to the nearby fence similar to those you see at equestrian events.

Closer inspection shows however little damage to fragile chimney pots or any real scuffing of the roof.

It would seem as if this building has been in place since at least  2005 as this Flickr posting indicates.

Building two

On the coast close to the B9042 on South Ronaldsay and with great views all around,  is this castle fit for a princess.

Built from what appears to be masonry this building is what appears to be a fantastic play house given it’s scale.

Mum and dad were unsure what building the model was based upon but, given the grand tower and long roof it looks like possibly a cathedral or building similar to Westminster Hall in London.

Do you know of the history of either of these buildings? Let us know via the comments box below.

Other news

New website spirit-of-orkney.com is coming along well and has now started to develop some great content. It is hard to pull the humans away from the computer as they write up loads of notes and discuss where photographs were taken.

Maybe we will get to see this place sometime…

Thats all for now

Buster and Charlie

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Silloth RNLI lifeboat launched

Never believe the weather forecast, for today it  suggested that it was going to rain just after lunch and as yet, not a drop of liquid sunshine.

Overnight it rained very hard, so most walks through the woods or forests were ruled out as mum didn’t want us to get too dirty, so we decided to go to Silloth.

Silloth offers us a longish walk both on concrete, to file our nails down and grass to run around on and is a a place we have visited many times.

Our walk started in the usual way from the Carrs Flour mill along the seafront. We then walked  back on the grass past the lighthouse and tennis courts back to ….. And this is where mum  just had to stop for fish and chips eaten in the open air on a park bench.

Somehow food eaten outside just tastes different. Mum and dad sat on the bench whilst we looked longingly at every mouthful. Fish is good for us we woofed when we wanted just that little bit more.

Just as mum was putting the waste wrappers in to the dustbin a number of cars passed by, a little quicker than is normal on a town street, down the road away from the town centre towards the coast.

We thought nothing more of it  until we approached the lifeboat station where a number of humans had gathered around and a bright orange boat was being trundled out of the lifeboat station towards the top of the slipway.

Mum then put the jigsaw pieces together and realised that the people in the quickly moving cars must have been RNLI crew responding to an alert and that the Silloth lifeboat was about to be launched.

The average time to launch an inshore lifeboat is seven minutes.

Silloth has a B Class (Atlantic) rigid inflatable lifeboat which is kept undercover in the lifeboat station.

When an emergency call is received the crew are summoned by pager to attend the boat.

It is then wheeled out and down the slipway in a few minutes.

With a top speed of 35knots and a crew of 3 or 4 the 1.8 tonnes of lifeboat quickly leaves the launch trolley and enters the Solway Firth.

The RNLI established a lifeboat station and a boathouse was built on the promenade at Seaview in 1860.

The current lifeboat station and improved slipway was built in the mid 1990’s and features a small shop and facilities for the crew to change and train.

It was officially opened by HRH The Duchess of Kent on 11 October 1995.

Once launched, the tractor and trailer are recovered from the slipway and wait nearby for the emergency to be over and the lifeboat to return.

The Silloth Lifeboat headed right as it left the cradle and with a range of 3 hours at full power could be gone for a considerable time so we decided to move on.

Looking at the RNLI website upon our return it looks as if it has been a busy day for some of the volunteers as lifeboats have also been launched in Sunderland, Skegness and New Brighton this afternoon.

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Mum and Dad go to Orkney, we go to Kennels.

We have all been on our holidays in the last few weeks.  Mum and Dad visited a place called Orkney and we went to stay with doggy friends at a place called Kennels.

Nine sleeps we had away from the humans and we were allowed to get up to all sorts of mischief.  Night time woof parties were favourite as we all tried to bark the loudest.  Mum doesn’t like us woofing at night, so this was great fun.

Some new humans looked after us and kept us fed, watered and clean.  They did a great job however, we did go straight in the bath when we came home.

Mum and dad said they had been to a place called Orkney way in the north of Scotland.  Sure enough their clothes and shoes did have new sniffs when we inspected.

Dad has put together a few pictures  below of their visit whilst we have been catching up on a load of missed sleep on comfy things.

The large boat as picture 2 is the Statsraad Lehmkuhl visiting Kirkwall from Bergen

More details about the Italian Chapel.

Slideshow

 

 

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Dalston Scarecrow ‘09

Bright and early this morning we went to Dalston, in North Cumbria,  to see how many scarecrows we could find.

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Caldbeck, John Peel and a bobbin mill called The Howk

Caldbeck in North Cumbria was our destination earlier this week as we once again went on our adventures.

This small village is situated midway between Carlisle and Keswick, around 12miles from each.

One claim to fame for this area is the erection of the new television transmitter mast on a nearby fell.

This mast is the third tallest structure in the UK and beams digital tv signals to the local area and southern Scotland.

The digital switchover is complete in North Cumbria, so if you are visiting in your caravan or motorhome you will need a set top box,  as no old fashioned analogue tv signals can be received.

Our walk.

We started our walk just a little way outside of the village as this allowed us a bit of a run before we needed short leads on the pavements.

As we entered the village with the TV masts behind us, we crossed the road and entered Caldbeck village car park, grid ref NY 319398.

Making sure we kept out of the way of any cars, we passed straight through and out the other end bearing off to our right. A slight climb, 30m,  and we came out by the village duck pond.

We must have looked lost at this stage until Dad spotted a sign to our left on a tall gate, around 50m away across another quiet village road.

Passing between some lovely cottages made from former farm buildings, we pass through another gate and onto the path away from the village.

The path is firm, well drained and suitable for buggies and wheelchairs. It does have a slight incline so an assistant may be required.

After around 10 minutes we exited into a clearing with some tall buildings in front of us.

A notice board said we had come upon the Howk.

Situated in a limestone gorge, the only one in the Lake District, is the restored former wooden bobbin mill.

You can only imagine the noise in this enclave when the mill was in full production in the 19th Century.

Power for the mill came from a waterwheel said to be the largest in the country and second largest in the world, according to some reports,  at 3 feet wide, and a 42 feet diameter.

Water for the wheel came from the Whelpo Beck which becomes Cald Beck as it approaches the village.

Carved into a stone, on the big building infront of us was the date AD 1857.

Hardwood copiced from the nearby woodland, was stored in the tall open building to our right. After being de-barked the seasoned wood was turned into wooden bobbins in the main building ahead.

Bobbins were used to store wool, threads and other materials vital to the spinning and weaving industries.  Plastic has since replaced the wooden bobbin.

Flax mills, woolen mills, corn mills  and papermills were among the many industries harnessing the local resources.

Rare lime loving plants can be found in the area including the Shield Fern.

Charlie found sniffs of many creatures passing through this area.

From above Mum could see the trails in the flattened tall grass however Charlie put his nose to the ground and had a field day.

The path led away behind the furthest buildings and after a steep climb, not suitable for buggies or wheelchairs,  we came upon these young cows.

They were very interested in us and came over to say hello.

Dad decided that we should not proceed into the field and we returned a little down the path to a small wooden bridge we had spotted earlier over Whelpo Beck.

Water was cascading down between the boulders very quickly.  We ran across the bridge so not to get too scared.

Steps led away from the ‘Fairy Bridge’ upto a field and we could once again have a good run around without mum and dad worrying.

Following the path to our left we passed two wooden gates with brass signs on them which read Private, and came upon a kissing gate where we waited for the ‘olds’ to catch up..

Dad’s in built compass indicated we had come out on to a road above the village of Caldbeck, so we headed down the hill to see what else we could find.

After passing a field with geese and donkeys in, we spotted to our right a red sign hidden a little by a wall.

Joe Strong and Son, Traditional Clogmakers, Boot and Shoe repairs.

Sadly he was not open and according to the assorted notices on the door, well worth a read if you are passing, he could be in bed, fixing a drystone wall or just closed.

In a shop below is a clock maker and repairer, opposite are the public toilets.

Our walk continued towards the village along the B5299, past the Oddfellows Arms and towards the church.

We both put our noses into the air as we could smell food as we passed through here but mum said we had to wait a little bit longer.

Keeping the local store to our left and the pub behind us we came to the edge of  St Kentigern’s churchyard.  A small tarmac path lead alongside the church wall which came out at a bridge.

Here we hoped to get a paddle and a well earned drink but the access to the water was  a bit steep.

To our left and just below the pack horse bridge is St Kentigern’s well. St Kentegern was also  affectionately known as St Mungo. The well is referred to in some texts as St Mungo’s Well.

According to tradition it is here that Kentegern, baptized 6th Century converts in the river waters.

A path leads away from the bridge to our right, between the church wall and the river and comes out finally at a place where we can have a drink.

Behind us is the restored Priest’s Mill with assorted gift shops and The Watermill cafe.

The cafe has an open air area to the rear where we stopped and had shared a bite to eat with Mum and Dad.

Dogs are most welcome, so long as they behave and don’t leave a mess. Previous visitors have included Pepsi and Max

After lunch, a very nice ham and salad sandwich, we returned to the front of the church where we saw this unusual round stone propped up against another boulder.

To the left is a small silver painted sign saying that this is a memorial in tribute to the men and their families who lived and worked in the mines of Roughton Gill for 400 years and who now lay in the churchyard.

The stone itself was used in the 19th century in its original circular form to process minerals from the mines.

It is well documented that Dad always seems to end up in a graveyard and this walk was no exception.

He had read that John Peel, the famous huntsman, not the radio DJ,  was buried nearby and wondered if he was remembered in the church somewhere.

We stayed with mum outside the church grounds whist dad went through the squeaky gates.

Sure enough, a white headstone to the left of the main church path, marked where he was buried.

We returned through the village to the car park where we started not before we investigated the path towards Sebergham.

Shall we say that it was very muddy and slippery and will have to wait for a bit of dry weather before we fully explore this area.

It did however result in us taking another paddle to get cleaned off before we got back in the car.

Until next time

Buster and Charlie