Leeds Gay Community Outings 2007 Page

Outings 2009

WINTER OUTINGS

After discussion at the AGM, it was decided that, as an experiment, we would arrange a few winter outings, to places that are relatively near to Leeds, having lunch at a pub' and returning roughly when it gets dark. Since the weather is uncertain in the winter, the proposed outings are listed below but no dates are given. Members are asked to let Patrick or Timothy know in which outings they are interested, if on a convenient date; then, about 2 days beforehand, when the weather forecast is known, we will telephone to suggest a date and those who have expressed an interest can either confirm whether it suits them or not.

1. Aberford area: Lotherton Hall (museum with good Chinese collection), Towton (War of the Roses battlefield, 1461), Parlington Park (Triumphal Arch, 1785, to commemorate US independence).

2. York: there is much to see in York, e.g. the Art Gallery (worth a visit especially for the collection of Italian primitives), the Yorkshire Museum (Roman York), Fairfax House and the almost complete circle of the walls.

3. Doncaster: Doncaster Minster, the Mansion House (private group visit?), Museum & Art Gallery; Burghwallis (St Helen, Anglo-Saxon & Norman).

SUMMER OUTINGS

Departures are at 10.30 unless otherwise indicated. We normally take a picnic lunch and dine at a pub. Members requiring transport should contact Patrick or Timothy to find out if any driver has a seat available; it is customary to offer one's driver a contribution to the cost of petrol. Drivers should contact Patrick or Timothy to find out time and place for meeting.

13. April, Easter Monday. Chester. The Rows: 'The city-centre streets with their black-and-white, half-timbered galleries…give Chester the appearance of a medieval city, but it is largely Victorian, more fantastic fake than perfect preservation. To spot the differences, walk up Watergate Street (mostly genuine, C13-C17) towards the centre, carrying straight on at the Cross, into Eastgate Street (C19)'; Cathedral, founded 1092 as Benedictine abbey, much restored in C19, Lady Chapel c.1260-80, N transept and tower Norman; city walls (circuit 2 miles) basically C13 on Roman foundations; Castle (incorporating the Shire Hall) rebuilt by Harrison 1788-1822, medieval remains (C12-13) only visible from river side; Dee bridge (late C14, widened 1826); Zoo (Upton by Chester, CH2 1EU; over 7,000 animals and 400 different species. £13.59/£12.27).

4. May, May Day Bank Holiday Monday. North Yorkshire. A scenic drive with some stopping points. Thirsk: cobbled market square and coaching inns, St. Mary ('Without question, this is the most spectacular Perpendicular church in the North Riding'), museum (Kirkgate, birthplace of Thomas Lord), Borrowby ('A long street of red-pantiled cottages, verged by a steep green, climbs a low ridge… Above the village and along the road to Leake there are splendid views'), Over Silton 'under the great bulk of Black Hambleton' (St Mary, Norman, 'with its curious stepped roof'), Cleveland Forest (narrow lane by church leads to CP & picnic site), Mount Grace Priory (Carthusian, monks' houses round large cloister - an old favourite for LGC outings), Osmotherley (St Peter: Norman S door, EE chancel arch & piscina, part of an Anglo-Danish cross-shaft & a hogback tombstone; triangular green and School of 1836; Lady's Chapel, ¾ m N, early C16 w view over Mt Grace), Scarth Gap (views), Whorlton-in-Cleveland 'An eerie place, with a church in ruins, a castle in ruins (gatehouse c.1400), and hardly anything else' … 'all that remain of one of Yorkshire's forgotten villages. Whorlton, once an important community, vanished long ago, its inhabitants perhaps victims of a medieval plague', Carlton in Cleveland (St Botolph, 1896-7 by Temple Moore; Manor House, c.1740-50, Palladian), Chop Gate (views), Old Byland (views of Rievaulx; All Saints, early Norman fragments round porch entrance, Anglo-Danish sundial in E wall of tower), Hambleton Drove Road., 'one of the most remarkable prehistoric ridgeways in the north of England'.

25. May, Late Spring Bank Holiday Monday. Lincolnshire. Brocklesby (Mausoleum (interior by appointment), Arabella Aufrere Temple); We tried to see Brocklesby last autumn, but were too late: the house itself, Sir William Pelham's 'very fine stately building', c.1710 is not open to the public, but certain paths through the grounds are open in the summer. The Mausoleum, 'undoubtedly Wyatt's masterpiece' was finished in 1792. The Temple could be by Capability Brown, who landscaped the upper park. Brigsley (St Helen, C11 W tower and 'memorable' Geometrical chancel windows); Wrawby Windmill (DN20 8SR, open 2-5; built 1760 - the last postmill to be built in the north of England - restored 1964).

4. June, Thursday. East Yorkshire. Bishop Burton (All Saints: Norman sculpture in SW corner of nave), Skirlaugh (St Augustine: 'a perfect piece of Perpendicular architecture'; E window: 'the tracery ought to be memorized'), Wassand Hall.(HU11 5RJ, open 2-5; by Thomas Cundy, 1812-13).

13. June, Saturday. Lancashire. Knowsley Safari Park (10-16, £12/£9 - provide dinner for one of the lions!), Sefton (St Helen: 'The great glory of the church is the screens, all early to mid C16', also several medieval and Tudor monuments), Aughton (St Michael: Norman S doorway, C14 octagonal tower), Parbold (bridge over Leeds-Liverpool canal, Parbold Hall 'A very fine mid Georgian stone house').

5. July, Sunday. Co. Durham. 10 a.m. departure. Penshaw monument, Greek Doric temple, 1844; Beamish open-air museum: tells story of NE England in 1825 and 1913, with costumed staff (open 10-5, last admission 3, £16/£13).

19. July, Sunday. 'Friend' walk. Probably 2 p.m. departure from Hebden Bridge. Enquiries to Eric nearer the time.

8. August, Saturday. East Yorkshire. Sledmere: House (started 1751, but mostly 1781-8 by Sir Christopher Sykes acting as his own archiect: 'the climax of the house is the library running all along the S front'), Waggoners' Memorial (c.1919, to Sir Mark Sykes's Company of Waggoners: 'The cylinder carries war stories in relief, of curiously homely carving'), St. Mary (1897-8 by Temple Moore: 'It is large, quite perfect, and patently dull. Goodhart-Rendel all the same called it "perhaps one of the loveliest churches of England." To such an extent can reactions differ.'); Garton-on-the-Wolds (St Michael, 1132. Wall-decoration in imitation of fresco and in a C13 style, by Clayton & Bell: 'It is essential that the individual figures as well as scenes be preserved'), Boynton, St Andrew (1768-80: 'As one goes in, one has the happy surprise of a doubled chancel arch.. It is a screen of 2 responds and 2 columns… It makes for a charming vista. And turning back there is under the tower, with a staircase and balustrade, the family pew.' Strickland monuments, C17 & C18), Hall (brickwork with diapers late C16, stonework c.1730. Very interesting inside, but unfortunately not open to the public), Filey ('is known as a seaside resort, and set about becoming one with some drive in the 1850s' - walk along brig, via St Oswald, 'easily the finest church in the NE corner of the East Riding').

21.-25. August. Bank Holiday weekend. Whitehaven. Stay at a gay guest-house (with sauna) on the Cumbrian coast. Good walks and other places of interest. This event is arranged by Geoff W, to whom all enquiries should be addressed.

10.-13. September, Thursday to Sunday. Heritage weekend. Details available nearer the time. Covers the whole country (except London, which has a different date), so we are not restricted to Leeds.

23. September, Wednesday. East Yorkshire. RAF Holmpton. Bunker Tour, 2.30 (lasts about 2 hrs; 3 staircases and some quite long walks; loud effects; warm clothing recommended). Built 1951, rebuilt 1985, refurbished 2000. 'the massive Command Bunker extends almost 100 ft below ground… Firstly operating as an Early Warning Radar Station and later becoming home to RAF Support Command it went on during the 1990s to become a Major Defence Operations Centre'.

4. October, Sunday. Derbyshire. Clumber Park (part of Sherwood Forest until 1707; house 1760-70 with early C19 alterations demolished c.1938, but some of the buildings left in the park, including Church of 1886-9 by Bodley & Garner), Staunton Harold, Holy Trinity ('unique as the complete survival of a church built during the Commonwealth') and Hall (1669 & 1763; pediment crowned by nude male statue - may not be open to the public), Kedleston Hall (1758 by Matthew Brettington, centre block 1761 redesigned by James Paine. 'The most splendid Georgian house of Derbyshire.' Contains collection of Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India), All Saints (late C13 with N aisle by Bodley as memorial to Curzon).

24. October, Saturday. South Yorkshire. Bretton, Yorkshire Sculpture Park. (Modern sculpture: permanent exhibition, some of which is outdoors in the extensive park; also temporary exhibitions, usually partly in the galleries and partly outside). Café, Shop.