Quackers

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This is my 500th post!  500 - I must be quackers!  But no... it is an unending joy in so many ways.  Going out and taking photos is always fun and sometimes leads me to feeling really blissed out.  (Do you know that feeling?  It's amazement at the beautiful, exciting world we live in; sheer pleasure that I can be out in it and notice its detail - the colours, the shapes, the light and shadow, the history, the humour, the places, the people.)  And then starting to write a post and finding out what I'm going to put - it often takes me by surprise!  And then seeing it all come together (well, at least in my view!) and publishing it.  And then the fun of reading all your wonderful comments - so encouraging, often wise, often witty.  And the equal pleasure of reading all your blogs - the old friends that I know will make me smile, teach me something new,  thrill me with stunning photographs and make me stop and think... and the excitement of discovering new friends too, all with different ways of looking at the world. Quackers?  No, I don't think so.

Red phone box

Kettlewell still has one of the iconic old-fashioned red phone boxes (hooray!). So many of these have disappeared from our streets, replaced by modern glass designs. But I imagine there would be an outcry if BT were to try to change this one. The National Parks Authority has very strict rules about planning and what can be changed. Ironically, when the boxes were first introduced, a lot of rural areas were upset by the bright colour. Nowadays people fight to keep these old red boxes.

The red box (K2) was originally designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott in 1924. He was a famous architect who designed many notable buildings including Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral. He was the grandson of Sir George Gilbert Scott who designed the Albert Memorial (see my post of June 3) and St. Pancras Station in London. The red box design was continued with minor alterations - this one is a K6, originally introduced in 1935.

Stained glass light

This is one of the windows in the chancel (choir area) of St Mary's Church, Kettlewell. Though it was quite a dull day, just for a moment sunshine streamed through, creating soft colours on the stone.

Several of the stained glass windows in the church are memorials to servicemen - to John and Michael Holdsworth (of Scargill House) who were both killed in WW2 (though Michael's twin William survived the war) and to Charles Godfrey Cutcliffe Hyne, who was killed aged 18 in WW1 1916. I didn't get a good photo of that window (didn't have my tripod) but it is a very poignant picture. It shows Christ - with a very boyish face, glowing with light - standing by a pile of soldier's clothes representing the boy who died. There are two uniformed soliders, one on each side, each with the face of one of his real-life friends. It really reminded me that so many of those killed in war (even today) are such young men.

St Mary's Church, Kettlewell

There has been a church in Kettlewell since Norman times (1120). The present building is Victorian, consecrated in 1885. It replaced the previous Georgian building that was found to be unsafe and was demolished, though the Georgian tower still stands. It is a modestly sized church set in attractive grounds - some of the churchyard is tended, with mown grass and garden flowers but some has been allowed to grow wild. At the churchyard entrance there is a lychgate - a wooden arched gateway - erected in 1921 by the Holdsworths (who at that time owned Scargill House) in thanksgiving for their marriage. (If you want to know more about lychgates, look at H's blog, Little Sealed Packages).

Kettlewell Village Store

One of those shops that sells pretty much everything you might need! - general grocery items, newspapers, lottery tickets, beer and wine, fruit and veg, bread and cakes, meat, frozen foods, chilled goods, sweets and chocolate, cigarettes, and local produce including ice cream and Wensleydale dairy cheeses. Oh yes, fishing nets too! It has modern fittings inside (fridges etc) of course, but looks little changed on the outside. It's a long way to the nearest supermarket, so the villagers and visitors will be glad of it.

Kettlewell cottage

The village of Kettlewell is a typical Dales village, with a cluster of stone cottages and a village church. It sits on a bend in the River Wharfe. A small stream - Kettlewell Beck - flows right through the centre (see map), bridged at both the top and bottom end of the village. The village has three pubs, a village shop, a garage (rare in these parts!), a Youth Hostel, some tourist shops, cafés and bed & breakfast accommodation. It also famously holds a 'Scarecrow' Festival every August when hundreds of decorative scarecrows appear throughout the village.