A visit to West Yorkshire (2023)
After our short stay in Northumberland we headed for our friends’ Valerie and Kenn in the pretty village of Bramham, West Yorkshire.
While there we made three visits which would normally merit a post each but in this retrospective catch-up I’m restricting myself to severely edited highlights.
Stillingfleet Lodge Gardens
Valerie volunteers at this garden in the summer so it was nice to see the place I had heard about. We admired the gardens:
Where you might have noticed that there were birds as well as flowers, some more feathery than others:
And I sat on benches with friends old and new! (Waves to Jude).
Temple Newsam
Temple Newsam is one of the great houses of England, perhaps most famous as the birthplace of Lord Darnley, ill-fated second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots. For the last 100 years it has been owned by the City of Leeds and is now part of their museum service so it has aspects of both a stately home and an exhibition space.
Yorkshire Sculpture Park
I have wanted to visit YSP for years. It didn’t disappoint and we came away with far too many photographs, just a few of which feature here. We started at the quirky temporary exhibition, Erwin Wurm: Trap of the Truth, which we enjoyed – both of us became part of the art. That’s my hand and foot sticking out of the caravan, and John followed the instructions on one of the stools.
As well as the art, the park also provides a very pleasant walk as you can see. Unfortunately, I can no longer remember what most of the sculptures are so have chosen mostly general views.
After our visit to Bramham we continued on to another friend’s in Derby. Our stop on the way was in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire – not part of any regular tourist trail but a place of significance to us. It will definitely get a post of its own.
The Glasgow Gallivanter 
Hi Anabel – thank you for sharing with us … one day I’ll get up to that neck of the woods – and will include these three places to visit … I hadn’t realised the sculpture park had modern pieces too (stupid of me I suppose!), then Temple Newsam – what an interesting building and museum. Great – cheers Hilary
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Thanks Hilary, yes the Sculpture Park has very varied pieces and changing exhibitions too.
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Great photos Anabel. I am trying to plan a trip to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park it looks amazing.
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Highly recommended! And lots of space for the wee one to run about in even if he isn’t impressed by the sculptures.
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Nice visit to a beautiful place.
We are back online after being away for a month…we are just getting started in processing the thousands of pictures we have taken so posts have started to trickle in slowly…(Suzanne)
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Beginning to wonder if you two are ever at home!
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wow – cool sculpture garden – and I liked the bench photos a lot
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Thanks! It was a great place to visit.
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❤
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Can’t beat a UK spring and summer. It is one of the wonders of the world. From bleak ground zero, plant life wise, in winter, to overflowing lush landscapes everywhere you look. Bob. BSS.
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Well, it can be … but I never rely on it!
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In spite of the very interestingly looking sculptures in the park, the milestone was my favourite picture in this post. I love a milestone.
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It’s a good one, that. Lots of detail. Near us, there is a house with a French one in the garden. Not sure how they got it there!
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Very peculiar.
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2023! You have a serious backlog. You will have to sit at home and read books for a few months I fear.
On a more serious note, I can’t believe that we have not visited the YSP despite numerous family holidays in Yorkshire. I will have to address this. It looks fantastic and right up my street. 🙂
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It’s not quite as bad as it seems! I have kept up with some things, I just have this black hole from about July 2023-May 2024. I’ll fill it eventually! The YSP is definitely worth a visit or several.
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Yorkshire looks as good as ever! Lots of interesting visits with lots to enjoy…your photographs inspire!
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God’s own country as they say!
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Yay for West Yorkshire! Bramham looks such a pretty village. One we’ve driven past the turn off for numerous times, but never been to. Stillingfleet looks lovely. A friend does similar volunteer stuff down in Devon. We were at Temple Newsam for the Christmas lights, and are also overdue a return visit to the YSP. Successful trip, Anabel xx
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It was! Always lots to do in Yorkshire.
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North Yorkshire is a beautiful area and I would’ve loved visiting the sculpture park. Lovely photos from your other half. Especially the photo of the three of you sitting on the bench.
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Yes, I like the bench photo. For once everyone in a picture has been caught looking sensible and not with their eyes closed or something!
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There’s always one 😉 Then there are no smiles after about the fifth attempt from the photographer.
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And the one is usually me!
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🙂
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The sculpture park looks very interesting and well worth a visit. We went to a similar one in Japan last month and it was good too.
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Yes, I like these sorts of parks especially when the sculpture blends in well with nature.
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Beautiful scenes and art. What is s sticking out of the giant head in the last shot? Loved the photos of you with your bench buddies. What is the story behind the name Temple Newsam?
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There are metal bars – I might have known the significance at the time, but almost 2 years later it escapes me! Unless an actual temple is present, Temple in a name usually means the land was once owned by the Knights Templar. -am is possibly a contraction of -ham as in Birmingham etc, a settlement.
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That sculpture park is amazing! I love so many of them, but I think my favorite is the woman with the rabbit head (or, the rabbit with the woman’s body).
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There are so many imaginative sculptures! These are just a few that we saw.
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More great places to visit! I feel like I am getting a wonderful tour of parts of the UK I have never been.
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Fairly sure you won’t have been to the next few either!
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Oh good!
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I used to zoom past the Bramham turnoff on my way up and down the A1, That was many years ago, before it got ‘M’d! To me it always meant the Horse Trails (three day event, not lawyers!). I didn’t realise there were lots of other interesting things to do there as well.
Sigh.. the things I’ve missed!
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It’s a nice area, we’ve been going for years to visit our friends and always find good things to do.
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Stunnning photos once again, Anabel. I especiallly love the Sculpture Park!
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It was really excellent.
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A good time had by all! Forever Spring is beautiful.
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Yes, it was definitely a good time.
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The YSP is well worth a visit. And I think I would like Stillingfleet – waving right back at you! 👋🏻
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I think you would like Stillingfleet – and its benches!
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What a great Gallivan! Yorkshire sculpture Park as a place I would’ve loved to have seen
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I’m glad we finally got to visit having read about it on various blogs.
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Brilliant!
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We’re so overdue a return visit to YSP. It’s just slightly too far away for an impromptu outing. And Temple Newsam was quite a go-to place when the children were small. But more for its parkland and farm. Don’t you dare go to Yorkshire again without consulting us!
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No I won’t! But bear in mind how long ago this is, I think we had just started following each other and I wasn’t sure exactly where you were (and probably too diffident to suggest meeting such a new acquaintance).
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I always forget that your blog posts tend to be historical documents! You have such an excellent memory.
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I love the YSP. Glad you enjoyed it.
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We certainly did – well worth a return when we’re back that way.
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I haven’t been for a while, well overdue another visit.
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Wait a few months as the current main exhibition is fishing very soon. The next exhibition features works by William Kentridge. If you haven’t seen his ‘Self-Portrait As A Coffee-Pot’ films I strongly recommend them.
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Noted
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That sculpture park is right up my alley.
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It was right up ours too!
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I’ma glad you finally got to visit the YSP. Marvellous place
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Yes, we thought so! I started to look for J’s name on the path but it was just too long so I gave up.
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The gardens at Stillingfleet Lodge look lovely. If those stool hadn’t been quite so visible it would have looked like John was levitating – or was that the idea of them? Love the hand and foot in the caravan, that’s the sort of daft thing which would make me laugh, and the van up the wall is just ace😀
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The art was certainly quirky! He probably was meant to look as though he was levitating. There was a little diagram on the base of one of the stools demonstrating how to lie.
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Yes, you have to know where to look. Her name is on the path at the Weston, not the one near the main galleries.
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So I wasn’t even looking in the right place!
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