Little Gems

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Ravenscar - the town that never was -

- one of my favourite places on the East Yorkshire Coast (and it has a lot of competition).

[P. G. Tipps]

The Hidden Gem, Manchester ... I'd imagine a pretty obvious choice for devout Mancunian Recusants.

http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LAN/Manchester/HiddenGem.jpg

http://intelligenttravel.nationalgeographic.com/files/2012/01/Hidden-Gem-950x647.jpg

[Lat-Literal]

The Hidden Gem, Manchester ... I'd imagine a pretty obvious choice for devout Mancunian Recusants.

http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LAN/Manchester/HiddenGem.jpg

http://intelligenttravel.nationalgeo...em-950x647.jpg

That is very nice.

I have only been to Manchester once and wasn't aware of it.

A gem of a museum - The Geevor tin mine:

http://www.geevor.com/

[Zucchini]

I have only been to Manchester once and wasn't aware of it.

I'm surprised. It's quite a big place. Like it has traffic lights, trams, shops & offices and Wayne Rooney and they give out free umbrellas at the tourist offices

[Stanfordian]

The Hidden Gem, Manchester ... I'd imagine a pretty obvious choice for devout Mancunian Recusants.

http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LAN/Manchester/HiddenGem.jpg

http://intelligenttravel.nationalgeo...em-950x647.jpg

Hiya PG,

I often visit the 'Hidden Gem' (St. Mary's) for a Vigil Mass early on a Saturday evening before concerts at the Bridgewater Hall. The remarakable modern art 'Stations of the Cross' give me a right headache/anxious so I tend to avoid looking at them. Quite a contrast from the old 'Tommy Ducks' Pub which was quite close.

[Lat-Literal]

I'm surprised. It's quite a big place. Like it has traffic lights, trams, shops & offices and Wayne Rooney and they give out free umbrellas at the tourist offices

Salmon Spots:

The Pitlochry Salmon Ladder, Perthshire:

http://www.pitlochry-scotland.co.uk/what-to-do/walks/pitlochry-dam-and-fish-ladder/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXbuQiRa4zk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3td_bEfqdo

...and Rogie Falls with bridge, near Ullapool:

http://scotland.forestry.gov.uk/visit/rogie-falls

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8yt-Bnvv8c

I'm sure that bridge was just a rope ladder in the 1970s?

[Jonathan]

Here's one I went to some years ago - The Shell Museum in Glandford, north Norfolk. It's lovely!

There is also a nice spot if you stand in the middle of the former railway bridge and look up the river in Stamford Bridge near York.

[P. G. Tipps]

Hiya PG,

I often visit the 'Hidden Gem' (St. Mary's) for a Vigil Mass early on a Saturday evening before concerts at the Bridgewater Hall. The remarakable modern art 'Stations of the Cross' give me a right headache/made me feel anxiety so I tend to avoid looking at them. Quite a contrast from the old 'Tommy Ducks' Pub which was quite close.

Indeed, Stan ... 'Tommy Ducks' was certainly a 'gem' of a quite different nature and it disappeared overnight (quite literally), if I remember correctly.

[Lat-Literal]

Here's one I went to some years ago - The Shell Museum in Glandford, north Norfolk. It's lovely!

There is also a nice spot if you stand in the middle of the former railway bridge and look up the river in Stamford Bridge near York.

Many thanks for the Shell Museum which is new to me.

I haven't visited the northern part of Norfolk although have been to Norwich several times.

http://www.shellmuseum.org.uk/

Can agree on the lovely river views in and near York.

[Lat-Literal]

I haven't visited this one and wasn't aware of it until this evening when it was featured on an antiques programme.

Sistine Chapel Ceiling Reproduction, Goring-on-Sea:

http://www.sistinechapeluk.co.uk/index.html

[Serial_Apologist]

I see they're to rebuild Chobham Hall.

[Lat-Literal]

I see they're to rebuild Chobham Hall.

Thanks Serial_Apologist.

I would be interested to know the background.

What I am aware of is the recent announcement about re-building Clandon.

That, though, is not a "little" gem.

[Flosshilde]

Quite a large gem, in fact. And a walled garden for vegetables - that's class :-)

Even classier is the fact that they offer "savory lunches (sandwiches etc)". But not on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Even classier is the fact that they offer "savory lunches (sandwiches etc)". But not on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

... when they offer "unsavory lunches"?

[Lat-Literal]

I have just returned from my annual "pilgrimage" to Caroline Wedgwood's Rhododendron Wood at Leith Hill in the Surrey Hills. Actually I missed it last year so I was determined to go today, even with considerable difficulties. The wood was as lovely as it always is at this time of year but there were also some changes. A car park twice as large as previously and full. Improved signposting. These, I think, are linked to the NT's recent attention to the adjoining Leith Hill Place. And at last I managed to get into the building which has spectacular views of the countryside and is best approached across fields from the wood. Inside, it is still a work in progress. Sparsely furnished and somewhat dilapidated, it nevertheless has some charm. There is quite a lot of history about RVW who lived there as a boy and there is the gentle accompaniment of the Fantasia and The Lark Ascending.

Other attractions include pianos which visitors may play but only if they can meet a standard, a fairly basic looking tea room and an area where a variety of music sheets and books can be purchased. I hovered over a couple of Coleridge-Taylor scores, not knowing the extent of their value, before handing over a pound for Simon and Bernier's "Poinciana - Song of the Tree (The Bing Crosby Popular Edition)", originally sold by J Albert and Son for two shillings. Advised by those at the entrance not to miss the cellar, I descended steps to find that it contained rather exotic looking wall paintings from the time when the Wedgwoods were there. Shockingly, though, they had been extensively vandalised with the ugliest looking graffiti. This it transpired had occurred between 1972 and 2008 when it was a boarding school "for the select". Quite what can or will be done about it I don't know.