The Bowes Museum

The Bowes Museum is in Barnard Castle. It is a very impressive building from the outside. The interior staircase is a wonderful piece of design as well.

The museum holds a vast number of items ; paintings, china, furniture and so on. Perhaps the most amazing part of their collection is a mechanical "toy" The Swan.

It was the brainchild of John Bowes and his wife Josephine. The foundation stone of the museum was laid in 1869. In 1874, Josephine died and John was devasted. He stopped collecting, but the work of building the Museum went on. sdaly John died in 1885, before the building was completed. Josephine was a Catholic, and John had included a Church in the museum.

After their deaths, there were problems and eventually the Church was dismantled and rebuilt just outside the Museum, where it still stands today. John and Josephine are now buried outside the Church, behind the altar wall.

Visit the web site, and if you are ever around Barnard Castle, call in. You will not be disappointed.

Visit the site for full information.

Also visit the site of St Mary's Catholic Church, Barnard Castle for more information about the Church.

http://www.stmarys-rc-barnardcastle.org/

www.thebowesmuseum.org/uk

photos of Bowes Museum

Hury Lodge, Barnard castle

Earlier this evening, we returned from a week long break in the Penines, in Northern England.

We stayed in a comfortable roomy cottage beside the Hury reservoir. The morning sunrise over the water was a great way to start the morning.

We had a relaxing time, and didn't do too much travelling, much less than we would normally do.

The weather was bittery cold, but sunny. There was a lot of snow still around with us being so high. In fact, last Saturday, a mile from the cottage, we slid off the single track snow covered road, and were stuck. We had to start walking till we found a phone signal. Ali, the owner of the cottage came to our rescue in her 4X4 mercedes.

I was careful to avoid any further single track roads for the rest of the week.

We found a delightful Catholic Church in Barnard Castle, with a holy and unassuming Parish Priest, who offers Mass in the New Rite and in the Old Rite without any fuss.

The Church, St Mary's, is very unusual in that it is owned and run by a group of Trustees. It is even more unusual in that it was orginally to be built in the Bowes Museum next door.

More of this in a later blog.

The photos show the reservoir, an old bus, and some Penine scenery.

Working..

I'm still out teaching, and back tomorrow too. It seems the Authority are unable to fill the temporary vacancies. Suits me. It means I will enjoy my week away next week even more!

Nice class today. Well behaved, keen to learn and work, and keen to do well. We had a busy, full, entertaining day.

It turned a bit colder today, back down to 0c, but it's not exprected to come to much.

My wife's birthday today.

The boys sent flowers, I got some too for her. She got a lot od cards and stuff from her friends on the craft web site.

We went out for a meal when I came home from school.

Altogether a satisfactory day.

Photo are from Toronto. We went for a 6 hour walk through Humber Park. I think the wander lust is on me agin, for the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Back to School

To my complete surprise, I got a call out to do some supply teaching. I started yesterday afternoon, did all today, and am back on Monday. It came out of the blue, after being told that I could no longer cover as I am retired.

But getting supply is difficult, and the school were 4 teachers down. So. I'm back.

The snow is fast disappearing. Tonight the temperature is a balmy 6C. We re booked for a week away next week in the middle of nowhere, and I have just seen a forecast of falling temperatures and snow for the end of next week!!! Lordy, lordy.

We are both looking forward to the break. Taking lots of reading material and crosswords...and wine...and champagne...well.....why not?

Let it snow...

We are just about to come out of a prolonged period of extremely cold weather and heavy snow.

It has been an interesting time indeed. We ate fortunate that we live ina well heated and comfortable little house. We experienced very little actual inconvenience. The heaviest snowfall affected mostly the east coast, and England and Wales.

We did have snow, the remains of which are still all around, but the worst seems to be over.

John in San Francisco is a but miffed that by the time her comes home....next week...it will probably have all gone.

It was cold enough for the water in Scotland's only lake....The Lake of Mentieth, near Stirling, to freeze over, the cie being at least 7 inched thick. There were plans to have a curling competition on the frozen lake...A Bonspiel...but it has to be abandoned as the thaw set in.

I got some nice photo opportunities, and I am pleased about that.

Martin seems to be the only one who had a problem. There has been a frozen water pipe, and that might end up in a burst.

We easily got to Edinburgh on Sunday for our meeting.

Life is settling back down to normal. Schools are back, the towns are quieter now.

We are heading off for a short break a week on Monday. I've booked a cottage...Hury Cottage, 10 miles from Barnard Castle. We are looking forward to a few quiet days away for it all.