This glorious sun of York

Today I woke up to a winter of discontent as I knew I only have two weeks of these summer holidays left and I don't like the idea that I'm letting any time go past me.

I decided to go to York for an English Heritage event at Clifford's Tower where my son got to dress up as a medieval king.








Afterwards, I used my brilliant O2 Moments app to find a 50% off deal at Ask Italian restaurant. The restaurant is beautiful as it's in the old Assembly Rooms and we had a very pleasant lunch.




We also visited two free art exhibitions. At York St Marys we saw Cornelia Parker's Thirty Pieces of Silver installation which is on loan from the Tate. It's a beautiful piece of work comprising over a thousand silver objects, squashed and then hung by fine wire to seem as if they hover above the flagstones on the ground.




We also went to York Art Gallery to see the William Etty: Art and Controversy exhibition. I've not been to this gallery for a few years and was really impressed by how the square had been improved to be a really pleasant place to sit.



And then, by serendipity, we went to the Richard III museum on the city walls. Many years ago I attended the University of St Andrews and studied Medieval History. Richard III and the Wars of the Roses were my specialist subject and I realised that today, the 22nd August, is the 526th anniversary of the Battle of Bosworth and therefore the death of Richard III. As a student I always felt that Richard of Gloucester had a tough time of it: particularly because of Thomas More and then Shakespeare's hatchet-job. In fact, most people can misquote the first line of that play ('Now is the winter of our discontent') but far fewer finish the couplet with the second line ('Made glorious summer by this sun of York'). It seemed really appropriate to be in York on a sunny anniversary and to pay our respects to the House of York. Firstly, we voted 'not guilty' in the Richard III museum to the charge that he murdered his nephews, the so-called Princes in the Tower.




Then we walked round the city walls to Micklegate Bar where Richard III father, Richard duke of York's head was displayed after his death at the Battle of Tewkesbury. It is also where Richard III's head ended up after Bosworth to warn the north not to rise against the Tudors.



Finally, back in June I'd promised myself and my son that we'd go to Towton Moor where the bloodiest battle on English soil occurred on Palm Sunday 1461 which saw the start of the reign of the Yorkist kings. The battlefield has a special 1.7 mile path built around it with lots of informative boards. On a bright sunny August day it was hard to feel the horror of that battle: the snowstorm that blew against the Lancastrian lines meaning their longbow shots fell short and the bloodthirsty rout at the Cock Beck where the fleeing armies of the Lancaster faction had to climb over the drowned bodies of their comrades to escape. The waters of the Cock Beck and the nearby River Wharfe ran red with blood.




The Dacre cross commemorates the slaughter. I enjoyed teaching my glorious Yorkshire son about this period of history and discussing with him the great mystery of the Princes in the Tower. It was a summer day of great contentment.


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Location:York and Towton Moor

A seven hour detour (which took 5000 years)

Yesterday my son and I had to leave Dorset as this week I need to get ready for the next term at school. It seemed really sad to go as I love it there and it does feel like 'home' in a way that Leeds simply doesn't. The journey from back home takes about six hours and is an unremittingly dull drive (although my friend, Highwaylass would be more happy on the open road than I). So I decided to go cross-country and use my English Heritage card to the max.

The first detour was to Stonehenge which is a must-see for any person but so madly disappointing. The whole site is a national disgrace: the roads are congested, clogged and pass within a few yards of the stones. The visitor centre is worse than the average blighted urban underpass. The cafe facilities are laughable. It's cramped, untidy and crammed with people. The fencing is ugly, intrusive and looks like the stuff we put round schools in the 1970s. And you only have to go up to the stone circle and see what could be achieved 200 generations ago with desire and common purpose, to realise all the hand-wringing and excuses about cost are pointless. If 5000 years ago our forbears could build it and make it a monument of stark beauty and awe in the landscape and we, with our riches and technology, can't present it properly. Shame on us.














Afterwards, my fury with the whole set up abated and we went to Avebury which is older, larger, less-visited and far better presented by English Heritage and the National Trust than Stonehenge. En route we passed the glowering mystery that is Silbury Hill (and I took a fairly rubbish iPhone photo which makes it look like Silbury hump). I love the fact that we know virtually nothing about this site and that it is of a similar date and size to the pyramid of Saqqara. What was its purpose? Even Daphne from Eggheads doesn't know.







Then on to Avebury properly. This is well worth the visit. The site has been conserved and presented beautifully. The two museums there are the correct mixture of fact and interactivity and beautifully located in medieval barns. The scale of the achievement at Avebury beggars belief, started before Stonehenge, it had more than 170 Sarsen in the main circle alone, quite apart from the processional way and the sanctuary. The ditches are inconceivably huge considering that the technology at the time was reindeer horn. I'd like it if the roads didn't travel through the centre of the circle but the whole site is far more appropriate than Stonehenge.














Finally, we started our long route home and Pippa, my satnav, ignored the sensible M4 - A34 route and took us up a lovely road via Cirencester where we stopped for dinner. My son was really excited that we were going to a Roman & Medieval Market town as 'that's my sort of place'. It makes me furious that Cameron was blaming the riots on absent fathers AGAIN yesterday: we are a lone parent family and my son is more emotionally and culturally aware than many adults. It's not the number of parents, Mr Cameron, but the quality of the parenting that matters. But I rant and digress. We found a gorgeous Thai restaurant and had an amazing meal together. A fitting end to a wonderful day.








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Location:Stonehenge, Avebury and Cirencester

Extremely crabby

My son claims today was the highlight of his holiday. We went to a Dorset Wildlife Trust event at Kimmeridge Bay: eco-friendly crabbing.

When we arrived there were loads of families and it was a tiny cost of £3 each to get a crab line. These crab lines have a small bag that bait is put into rather than hooks so the crabs aren't harmed. The volunteers were wonderful: really friendly, helpful and knowledgeable.



My son loved clambering over the rocks to find the best pools. It's a great past-time for kids as you have to learn patience whilst waiting for the crabs to scuttle from below the rocks in search of tasty morsels.



And we were successful! We managed to catch or observe five shore crabs, one blenny and two shrimp. Every time we caught, or nearly caught, something the volunteers from Dorset Wildlife trust came up to help land the creature and give a lot of fascinating detail about the animal.









I thoroughly recommend these events and, as they all survive to see another day, I guess the crabs do too.

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Location:Kimmeridge Bay

Boats, bikes and beating Hitler

So, we've been very busy for the past few days in Dorset. Sadly the fabulous Swanage Regatta finished on Sunday but we enjoyed going to watch a display by a mountain bike display team. They were, frankly, bonkers and did mad tricks that had me wincing and my son in raptures.



They were really lovely and let all the kids have a go on their presumably extremely expensive bikes.



Yesterday we went on a boat trip from Swanage to Poole along the World Heritage site Jurassic Coast . The cliffs at Swanage are chalk and the youngest on the coast with the gorgeous stack and arch of Old Harry Rocks (sorry about the fingers at the top...)




Today we went to Portland Castle which was holding a special WW2 day for kids. My son got to learn rifle drill, made a gasmark, learnt about the Dunkirk evacuation and watched the least politically correct Punch and Judy show ever - Mr Punch versus Mr Hitler. It was hilarious, mind. I also found out information that I hadn't known: that Churchill had expected the Dunkirk evacuation to rescue at best 45,000 troops and in fact 338,000 were brought back. Worth the trip for that context alone.















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Location:All over Dorset

An irrepressible urge to hum the Dambusters' March

Swanage Regatta might just be the best free fun it's possible to have in this day and age. Today we sat on the beach at Swanage Bay whilst my son played in the sea and then got to watch the Red Arrows. I've not seen them since childhood and I'd forgotten just how amazing their tricks are. It was brilliant. And, if you know Swanage, the perfect amphitheatre with the bay sweeping around and the Isle of Wight in the distance.








Afterwards we watched the start of the adult wheelbarrow race (fancy dress, via a load of pubs with a pint/shot at each) and then had a gorgeous Italian meal. Finally we watched some music on the Promenade.

I am promising myself right now that I'm going to try to get to Swanage Regatta every year from now on and also attempt to get to Camp Bestival for the first weekend. Plan.


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It was this big...

My son has turned into Bear Grylls over the past week. Firstly he was trying to catch fish in the sea by catching them between two pebbles and then, when that failed (who would have guessed?) he came up to me and asked "Mummy, can I kill a bird?". The answer to that was no in both senses.

However, we went to Wareham river with his little fishing net and he did catch some minnows. Which survived the ordeal and got put back into the utterly beautiful river.











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Location:Wareham

A 1970s childhood

I am at Swanage Regatta today having a brilliant time and remembering something about my childhood that, until I'd come here, I'd completely forgotten about: summer fetes and competing in mad races. The races are brilliant, an obstacle race; a rescue race where the kids have to carry a stretcher over an obstacle course to save a teddy; a sedan chair race; a slow bike race - the slowest without putting their foot down and the wheelbarrow race. And look who won the wheelbarrow race....




The final race was madness: one child dressed in a bin bag and the other one threw a raw egg to them. The winner was the pair of kids that threw the egg the furthest without it breaking. My son loved it.

And it was one of those afternoons that was simple, cheap and wonderful fun. Whilst I love my foreign adventures sometimes a truly British afternoon of kids' races is a real joy.

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