Well, I'm back!
LJ and email services shortly to be resumed. By which I mean tomorrow. Hermes is telling me I have used 90% of my memory quota, so I'd better clear out a few...
Being away was lovely - I got to see family types and stuff, and see proper scenery (they only have poncey southern scenery down here - I miss the north so much!). Mountains, and babbling brooks, and rolling hills, and cliffs and caves and wonderful things.
The way back was possibly the most exciting thing - it took a whole day coming back from the north west, and we came via some very cool places. One was Knaresborough, which is lovely - the best bit was visiting the cave of St Robert of Knaresborough (which King John once visited), and it was so beautiful and... well, cavey. I love caves. But it was peaceful too. Like when you visit Margaret Clitherow's house in York. Or the shrine in Walsingham. Or the odd Roman shrine (when you can find one). Or that place in Spain with the olive trees.
Anyway, another lovely place was Marston Moor (battle thereof, 1644) - that was peaceful and atmospheric too. 6,000 men died there, which gets you thinking. For a minute I had this perfect picture of all those people fighting and dying. It's weird though - in spite of the number of Sealed Knot (et al) reenactments I've been too (inc. the whole battle of Worcester!), I find it more difficult to envisage Civil War fighting than e.g. Napoleonic or Roman or whatever. *shrug* There was also the battlefield of Winceby, 1643 (which isn't very well marked out - MM has an obelisk!). And Bolingbroke Castle, where Henry IV was born, and where the royalists had a garrison in the Civil War.
Anyway, yes, lovely. I love my history.
But now I'm back, and there's work to get on with...
Being away was lovely - I got to see family types and stuff, and see proper scenery (they only have poncey southern scenery down here - I miss the north so much!). Mountains, and babbling brooks, and rolling hills, and cliffs and caves and wonderful things.
The way back was possibly the most exciting thing - it took a whole day coming back from the north west, and we came via some very cool places. One was Knaresborough, which is lovely - the best bit was visiting the cave of St Robert of Knaresborough (which King John once visited), and it was so beautiful and... well, cavey. I love caves. But it was peaceful too. Like when you visit Margaret Clitherow's house in York. Or the shrine in Walsingham. Or the odd Roman shrine (when you can find one). Or that place in Spain with the olive trees.
Anyway, another lovely place was Marston Moor (battle thereof, 1644) - that was peaceful and atmospheric too. 6,000 men died there, which gets you thinking. For a minute I had this perfect picture of all those people fighting and dying. It's weird though - in spite of the number of Sealed Knot (et al) reenactments I've been too (inc. the whole battle of Worcester!), I find it more difficult to envisage Civil War fighting than e.g. Napoleonic or Roman or whatever. *shrug* There was also the battlefield of Winceby, 1643 (which isn't very well marked out - MM has an obelisk!). And Bolingbroke Castle, where Henry IV was born, and where the royalists had a garrison in the Civil War.
Anyway, yes, lovely. I love my history.
But now I'm back, and there's work to get on with...