St Mary's Church, Whitby

Reached by climbing 199 steps and overlooking the harbour and town of Whitby, North Yorkshire, the Church of St Mary is a Grade I listed Anglican Parish Church. Founded on it's current site in 1110 in the shadow of Whitby Abbey, the current oldest parts of the church which include the tower and transepts date from the 12th and 13th centuries. There have been many additions and changes to the church and the interior dates mainly from the 18th Century.

The church forms part of the setting in the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker, he had visited Whitby in 1890 and was partly inspired by the town and graveyard at St Mary's, and whilst on a visit to the public library he came across the story of Vlad Tepes, the real life Dracula. In 1897 Stoker published his novel Dracula and the rest is history. People used to regularly search the graveyard for what they called Dracula's grave, in reality the novel is a work of fiction so no grave exists. Some graves used to have a skull and cross bones sculptured, which was thought to indicate it was the grave of a pirate although more likely a mason, 1 of these was the grave people searched for.  A former rector fed up at being asked the whereabouts of the grave at St Mary's used to direct people searching to a cracked tomb in the grounds its inscriptions weathered away long ago.

The pictures were taken in the grounds of St Mary's using a Nikon d3300 SLR on August 25 2018. There are 9 which can be seen here or on Clickasnap where they are full size, resolution and un-watermarked. Copies can also be downloaded from there.

The church stands besides the former Abbey overlooking the town.

Taken across the harbour from West Cliff.

Looking up from the harbour.

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All the pictures remain the copyright of Colin Green.

Hotel Club Sirocco.

 This is not a review, just a small selection of pictures I took around the Hotel Club Sirocco, Costa Teguise in July-August 2013. These have sat on my hard drive for 9 years and I wasn't sure what to do with them as the hotel was fantastic during my stay there but I have no idea what it's like now and from looking online believe it to be an adults only hotel now. When I stayed my wife and then 14 year old daughter were with me and the hotel made a fuss of her on her birthday when we were staying.

They were taken on various dates during July-August 2013, out of 31 pictures taken around the hotel with a Samsung Galaxy Tablet, the 6 below are probably the best to share on here and Clickasnap where they can be seen full size, resolution and un-watermarked.

One of the hotels garden pathways. The black ash providing a base
for the plants that need little water to survive. Lanzarote being just off the
coast of Saharan Africa averages 16 days of rainfall per year.

The restaurant.

Looking over the hotel skywards from
the room balcony.

The swimming pool.

The hotel's poolside bar.

Another of the swimming pool.

Thanks for looking and please take a moment to share. All the pictures remain the copyright of Colin Green.

Christ Church, Barkisland - 29 December 2014

This set of pictures were taken in the grounds of Christ Church, Barkisland, Nr Halifax, West Yorkshire. The church is Anglican and was opened in 1852 on land donated by William Baxter who lived at the nearby Barkisland Lower Hall, there is a memorial dedicated to him within the church.

The Church was built by Mallinson and Healey who were responsible for the construction of around another dozen churches within the modern Calderdale area, Calderdale only coming in to existence as a borough on the 1st April 1974.  Christ Church was granted Grade II listed status on the 16th July 1984.

I took the pictures on the 29th December 2014 using a Polaroid is2132 bridge camera. They can be seen below or on Clickasnap where they are full size, resolution and un-watermarked.

Thanks for looking and please take a moment to share, all the pictures remain the copyright of Colin Green.

Saltburn-by-the-sea Art

 Saltburn-by-the-sea art is a set of 7 art works by me of various scenes in the area around Saltburn Pier. They are based on original photo's by me or public domain postcards. The full 7 can be seen below with 3 also available  to view to view on Clickasnap full size, resolution and un-watermarked.

Hunts Cliff and Bridge

Saltburn from the Pier

Saltburn from Hunt's Cliff

The Pier at Saltburn-by-the-sea

Saltburn Promenade Southwards

Saltburn Tramway

The Ship Inn and Hunts Cliff

Thanks for looking and please take a moment to share, all the pictures remain the copyright of Colin Green

Luddenden Village in Art Images

 Luddenden Village art is a collection of 18 images created by me based on photographs I took around the village in November 2013. They can be seen in the YouTube slideshow or below and feature many scenes that will be familiar to people who know the village well.

Luddenden village grew up around the Luddenden Brook that flows through the centre, it was first mentioned in 1274 with reference to a corn mill that was powered by the brook. Over the next few centuries a number of mills were built alongside the brook and the area became more known for textiles than corn. Old lane was once the main route through the valley as people journeyed to and from Halifax, but this was replaced by the main turnpike road 1/2 a mile to the south which was constructed in the mid 18th century and the similarly named Luddenden Foot grew up around.

The village has a war memorial dedicated to Luddenden and Midgley, St Mary's Church and the Lord Nelson Inn, which was a frequent haunt of Bramwell Bronte, brother of the famous sisters when he worked on the nearby railway. Sadly since the 1980's a number of small shops and businesses that served the local community have closed, leaving a village of houses to remain.

The pictures below feature in the video above.

Old Lane was once part of the main packhorse route towards
Halifax, the M62 motorway of it's day until replaced by the turnpike
in the mid 18th century.

St Mary's Church.

The Luddenden Brook, this once helped to power of a dozen mills
for the textiles and corn (Flour) industries.

In the basement of the former St Mary's School, there were 3 holding cells,
although one has long since been removed. The 2 remaining have the townships
of Midgley and Warley inscribed in the lintel. The nearby Luddenden Brook
was the boundary between the 2, the removed cell is said to have had
Luddenden inscribed above it, no evidence remains. The cells were built
along with the school in 1825 and are not thought to have held occupants
since the 19th century.

The steps disused since the late 80's early 90's once provided
access to the offices of a mill that once occupied the site. Much
of the mill was demolished and replaced by housing.

Luddenden Brook and High Street Bridge.

Luddenden & Midgley War Memorial, unviled 1923.

Lord Nelson Inn from the churchyard of St Mary's.

High Street, Luddenden, the building towards the bottom was
the offices for the steps pictured earlier.

Inside St Mary's Church.

Luddenden Brook.

A closed off stone doorway alongside Luddenden Brook.

A memorial wheel to represent the ones that the corn mill that
once occupied the valley would have used.

Former Water Horse Trough at the bottom of Stocks Lane.

This cobbled yard is actually a bridge over Luddenden Brook, providing
access from High Street to High Street Court.

Lord Nelson Inn.

St Mary's Church clock tower.

Luddenden brook flows over the weir viewed from the churchyard
of St Mary's.

Thanks for looking and please take a moment to share, all the pictures can also be seen on my Clickasnap account full size, resolution and un-watermarked.

All the images remain the copyright of Colin Green.

Stanley Bridge, Kirkby Lonsdale 4 April 2015

 Stanley Bridge was built in the early 1930's to carry the A65 road across the River Lune. It replaced Devil's Bridge which is now a pedestrian crossing a few hundred metres to the north.

The bridge was built by Westmorland County Council as part of a much larger bypass scheme and has a span of 109ft 11in (33.5m) at it's maximum across the River Lune, over 60 men worked on the construction and it cost over £20000, approx £1.5 million at 2022 rates. The bridge was opened on the 3 December 1932 by the Rt. Hon. Oliver Stanley, Minister for Home Affairs.

There are a total of 4 pictures of Stanley Bridge taken using a Polaroid is2132 bridge camera. They can be seen below or on Clickasnap where they are full size, resolution and un-watermarked.

Devil's Bridge can be seen beyond the archway.

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All images are the copyright of Colin Green.

The Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company Sign

 A picture I took in January 2014 that I found mildly interesting and wanted to know a little more, the plaques were on the side of a building at 125 Northwood Street, Birmingham and the company occupying the building that I was there to deal with were AE Harris & Company (Birmingham) an engineering company that as of 10 June 2022 no longer seem to occupy the site but are still trading. Looking on google maps it appears most of the site has been cleared for development.

The Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company was established in 1854 for the purpose of building locomotives and carriages for use on the railway. Despite the name the company also built aeroplanes, gliders, buses, trolleybuses, and tanks, which during World War II included A10 Cruiser Tank, Challenger Tank, Churchill Tank, Challenger Tank and Valentine Tank.

The company saw a decline in locomotive and carriage stock being built up to 1963, which was the year they restructured, dividing the works up in to smaller units and becoming a real estate and finance company. In June 2014 the company reformed as a not for profit organisation to rebuild locomotives from the 1960 and earlier no longer in use.

The picture can also be seen on Clickasnap full size, resolution and un-watermarked.

Thanks for looking and please take a moment to share, all pictures remain the copyright of Colin Green.

Artworks of Calderdale

 Artworks of Calderdale if a YouTube slideshow of over 50 drawings, sketchers and art images based on photographs by me and some historical images of photo's and postcards by others. Many areas of Calderdale feature and much architecture and scenes are also shown within the video. The images are all set to music by Strauss and Liszt. 

Images 1,2,5,6,8,12,15,18,19,23,26,28,31,32,34,36,37,38,40,41,43,45,46,47,48,49,51 and 53 are based on photographs by me and the full copyright belongs to me.

All the other images featured are based on postcards and photographs taken by others, the original copyright remains theres, the artwork copyright is mine. I am happy to credit them if required.

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