After a much needed coffee boost, we meet one of the Larkin Toads inside the library
And here we are at last, actually inside what was once Philip Larkin's office, as Chief Librarian of the Brynmor Jones Library at the University of Hull
A highlight was leafing through book after book of copies of his poems and revisions
Finally we reach the exhibition which is really well curated and quite fascinating. There's a great Guardian review here and one of the many highlights was a series of Super-8 films taken by the library staff themselves larking about (with Larkin)! in short vignettes.
Another interesting article here questioning Larkin's relationship with Hull over the years. But it was now time to move on and into Hull proper. A stunning coffee at Caffeinated - in the lovely renovated Trinity Market - right opposite Holy Trinity Church, recently rebranded as Hull Minster
and more incredible literary associations as we learn that Andrew Marvell was born in Hull and his statue is right outside the old Grammar School he attended. And here he is with one of his biggest fans!
and soon we are off for a walk down the lane for supper at the White Horse Farm Inn which has changed hugely since Mike and I camped nearby in the 70s, but was still friendly and served good beer. Thursday morning dawns brightly and after a stunning breakfast . . .
. . . we are given a great hiking route from Ian, the owner at Sevenford. Starting at the phone box in Rosedale East we venture up onto the old iron ore workings railway line
meeting noisy friends en route
and discovering the magnificent old lime kilns dotted around these hillsides
and again a song springs into my head, the wonderful bleak but beautifully haunting Dalesman's Litany sung by Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. I've always loved the bit about Sheffield's furnaces ..
and here are two ex-steelworkers enjoying the fresh air
High up on the hillside away from it all, with the most fabulous homemade sandwiches, soups and lemon drizzle cake!
but all too soon we were off back to find the car
and hurtle to York (what a magnificent station!) for fond farewells onto the London train
But the quest didn't end here. The two final muskateers continued on the Andrew Marvell trail to look for Nun Appleton Hall and Bickling Hall, where Marvell was a tutor Fairfax's daughter Mary from 1650-52 and where, during this period, he lived and wrote poems such as Upon Appleton House. An extract from the poem is shown on this Poetry Foundation webpage if you care to read. However, this old gate was as far as we could get as there were many private property signs and the present Hall lies close to the River Wharfe. There's a very thorough article on the estate with a great map which might have helped us more on the day had I found it then - you can read more at Historic England, Nun Appleton Hall. We also used this useful piece from the Andrew Marvell Society to locate Bilbrough, where Marvell wrote "Upon the Hill and Grove at Bilbrough", and found the present Hall and the church, with the Fairfax family graves.
So all in all a wonderful whistlestop two days - here's to the next adventure!
Such a lovely whirlwind roadtrip across our Northern hills last weekend - starting right at the very tip of the East Riding of Yorkshire - Spurn Point
We hired bikes from the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, then after a great reviving coffee at the Bluebell cafe, we brave three set forth along the sands of the great North Sea
with a bit of hard slog over the sandhills where the path collapsed in the great tidal surge of December 2013.
and we needed to keep a close eye on our watches . . .
but, bikes parked, we had plenty of time to picnic on the beach
Falafel King's best all the way from Sheffield
and we even had a beautiful Kestrel pose just for us
Thrilled that Spurn Lighthouse has now been renovated and opened to visitors just this Easter for the first time.
Loved the curvy doors
and the great staircases
Fab views, just like looking down on a map
but beyond to the Point we must go
Never realised lobster shells started off this beautiful shade of blue! However, after a few hours in the back window of the car, the shell quickly turned reddish!!
So - bikes returned, it was off up the East Riding coast, with stops along the way . . .
and the odd Milton Keynes cow
first a dip into Easington
Then the coastal erosion at Mappleton - getting very like a geography lesson for one of our party! But intriguing to read of all the coastal villages already lost to erosion on this Holderness Coastline.
and the most amazing fish and chips from Bridlington's amazing chip shop 149 - only the UK's best - which we ate on the prom, of course!!
as well as seeing no ships
until, that was, we reached the lovely little harbour
as the sun slowly set
and we made our way through Hockney's Wolds to our amazing Bed and Breakfast for the night at Greenwick Farm just outside the village of Huggate. Saturday 6 August 2016 And what an amazing last minute find that was - luxurious and such a fabulous breakfast the next day and this view to die for
but onwards and upwards and our driver awaits. . .
We meander a while in the glorious gentle landscape of the Wolds, rich in colours, lush crops and curious stone gate portals!!
and don't you just love these old white wooden signposts - and this one to the lovely Thixendale, another of Hockney's favoured sites for painting.
miles of cornfields
and it if wasn't for my faithful diarist (eat your heart out Boswell) I'd have forgotten all the lovely details - like the amazing fun haystack sculptures we saw at various farms along the coastal route
so as you will have spied, we were now en route to Haworth, via tortuous traffic jams around York. But finally we make our destination - the Bronte Parsonage
with a peek into the church
and a tour of the parsonage
Since we last visited a few years ago they have acquired the actual Bronte family table where Charlotte and Emily wrote Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. There is an 'E' etched into it which they believe was Emily's handiwork!
an actual dress of Charlotte's
and a meander down Haworth's lovely hilly street in search of food
followed by a quest to find Top Withens, only to be scuppered by a plague of horrid pesky flying ants in that lovely purple heather
So now it was a quick evening back in Sheffield with a midnight Olympics catch-up to see the British Women's Hockey team beat Australia, then to bed and a zip over the Pennines, west this time, to the Wirral - as my scribe will confirm .... Sunday 7 August 2016
taking Grandma for a yummy Sunday Lunch at the good old Fox and Hounds
then a wonderful leg stretch from Red Rocks to West Kirby, gazing over the Irish Sea, past Hilbre Island and as far as the Great Orme in Gwynedd. Magical as always.
before driving back to Sheffield in the sunset.
Monday 8 August 2016 Awoke, arose and off to the ever lovely Tamper for lunch before the London train
and a final #HerdofSheffield photo opportunity on the way to the station
with the added revelation that these piano keys must have always been here in the pavement, when the Hubs were first built as the National Centre for Popular Music - how amazing! Can't believe none of us had ever noticed that before!!
So that's the end - and what a lovely happy time it was.
And what's more, it felt like the perfect extension to our USA roadtrip in July from Minneapolis to Seattle and Vancouver - which I must write up next ........ watch this space.
