Passing Our Lady of the Lakes

After a couple of mid-Saturday pints with Dave at Keswick Wetherspoons, I went looking for other things of interest, first passing the St. Herbert Social Centre:

Then chancing upon Our Lady of the Lakes:

How great seeing the English Lakes dedicated to Our Lady:

As Our Lady is often associated with guiding sailors and travellers over the Sea (Hail Queen of Heaven, the Ocean Star ...), of course.

Keswick: Greta Hall Revisited

 The following day, in Keswick, I found myself revisiting Greta Hall.

My friend, Dave, was full of excitement as he'd never visited the place before.

Of course, while visiting Greta Hall, we were paying homage to Wordsworth's co-creator of the Lyrical Ballads (1798), Samuel Taylor Coleridge:

Whose Rime of the Ancient Mariner tells a great allegorical/symbolic tale of the Christian purgation (painful purging of sin) process, and whose Kubla Khan is so masterfully put to music by my all-time, favourite band, Rush.

However, it is the lesser known Robert Southey who lived much longer at Greta Hall:

Have only encountered Southey's The Cataract of Lodore (1820) poem and The Book of the Church (1824), a history of the Church in England, which was written parallel to Wordsworth's similar themed Ecclesiastical Sonnets (1822/1850) collection.

Unlike the last time I visited Greta Hall, the place now seemed to be occupied so we didn't hang around long.

What a majestic place Greta Hall is, it should be much better known and cherished by English natives as a great piece of English culture.

Derwent Water: Seeking St. Herbert's Island

 In the picturesque Keswick:

We went seeking St. Herbert's Island on Derwent Water:

Having read two versions of Wordsworth's St. Herbert's Island and his Guide to the Lakes (a kind of tourist guidebook), I was aware that St. Herbert had lived on his Derwent Water island in the late 7th century.

Near Friars Crag:

We learnt that St. Herbert's Island is also related to the famed children's writer, Beatrix Potter:

And managed to get some great shots of the lake:

Sensing how Wordsworth's great friend, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, had viewed the lake:

To our reckoning, St. Herbert's Island was the one furthest away on the lake:

Not the one nearest by:

This was a pity, we didn't have time to get close to St. Herbert's Island where the ascetic had presumably grown his own vegetables and caught fish. And in later medieval history, the Crosthwaite parishioners had received indulgences for attending Mass there.

According to Wordsworth, the ruins of St. Herbert's hermitage can still be encountered on the Island (a local told us that the only access to the Island now is by swimming).

As sundown approached:

We raised a toast to St. Herbert (and Wordsworth too):

With a local Real Ale.

Castlerigg Campsite to Keswick Town Centre

After meeting my friend, Dave, at Manchester Airport, we made our way up to Castlerigg Campsite (overlooking Derwent Water) via Windermere on the train and the bus to Keswick.

Had camped at Castlerigg before so I knew to get off the bus high above Keswick:

In an area that still contains red squirrels:

Castlerigg Campsite shop sells some highly tasty food, including cheese, potato, and onion pie:

How delicious would this have been with baked beans covered over it!

After setting up camp, we made our way down to Keswick town centre via a scenic route:

Passing through some woods:

Which contained a gushing stream (sometimes far below):

And an ancient-looking, dry stone wall:

Upon exiting the woods, we knew we were on the right track to the centre when we spotted St. John's Anglican church in the distance:

GIFT - Manchester YES Basement (23-09-2026)

The second of the brilliant gigs that I went to in Manchester recently was GIFT at the YES Basement Room:

Discovered GIFT not that long ago through coming across their performance on KEXP on YouTube.

I find their kind of psychedelic sound incredibly soothing.

At the YES Basement, they did a stellar set which included Milestones; Later; and It's All Too Fast.

Always like to pop over to Manchester for a couple of gigs while visiting my hometown, Bury (only nine miles away).

 

The Dear Hunter - Manchester Gorilla (18-09-2026)

While passing through Bury, I got to see two brilliant gigs in Manchester, the first being The Dear Hunter at Manchester Gorilla.

Thoroughly enjoyed The Dear Hunter:

Taking in familiar tunes like Wait and The Revival.

And marvelling at songs from the most recent album, Sunya (Bazaareteria, Sunya etc.).

After the gig, my friend, Wobbler (not a big Prog fan), quite rightly commented on the incredible musicianship we had just witnessed.

Before The Dear Hunter, we also got to see Overhead, the Albatross (what a great name for a band):

Who we also really enjoyed:

What a great evening!

Chesham Woods Remain, Bury Is Lost

20-30 minutes walk from Bury town centre, Chesham Woods is much-loved by people walking their dogs.

When in Bury, I find myself gravitating to Chesham Woods:

To escape the population replacement programme that afflicts many parts of Bury. 

The Woods offer relief from hideous urban change:

Bury is no longer my hometown, but Chesham Woods remain.

As a child at St. Joseph's school, I went on nature walks here.

As a teenager, used to go on rope swings and meet my mates here.

While Chesham Woods still stand, sad Bury is lost.

Cossall: D.H. Lawrence (The Rainbow) Country

After a few days in my hometown, Bury (Lancashire), I took a train ride to Ilkeston (Nottinghamshire) to camp in Cossall village:

Visiting Cossall was imperative for me as it contains significant sites that influenced D.H. Lawrence's masterpiece, The Rainbow, where the village is referred to as Cossethay, of course.

Directly before I reached St. Catherine's church, I came across Church Cottage, the home of Lawrence's fiancee, Louie Burrows, which features in The Rainbow (as Anna and Will Brangwen's Yew Tree Cottage, given to them by Tom after their marriage):

Having glimpsed Church Cottage, I went to St. Catherine's Church to have a look at the model for where Anna and Will Brangwen get married in The Rainbow:

Outside the church, I met a man who was in the process of fixing an old radio transistor who told me an intriguing story about a homeless man who was regularly putting a showerhead on the church drinking water tap to wash himself:

Despite St. Catherine's being locked:

The radio transistor man led me to a kind man with the key who, alongside a friendly local woman, showed me around the inside of the church:

What wonderful arches:

Of particular interest for me was the stained glass window containing the lamb:

As, in The Rainbow, the lamb prompts Anna Brangwen into a stream of consciousness where she feels nauseated by the concept of transubstantiation and becomes determined to fight against her husband Will's High Church religiosity:

Besides this, the two wonderful people who showed me round the church were keen to inform that much of the carving for the stained glass windows was carried out by Louie Burrows' father.

Before leaving the church, I had a pleasant conversation about how, in The Rainbow, the drowning of Tom Brangwen during the flood at Marsh Farm symbolises the dawn/advance of a new modern age, with my two guides informing that to this day, the area still gets flooded.

Yes, it was great to be chatting about The Rainbow in the heart of Lawrence country:

Before leaving St. Catherine's, I noticed a Battle of Waterloo memorial in the church grounds:

And the Willoughby Almshouses which lay on the other side of Church Cottage:

Have just read that these Almshouses were founded by George Willoughby in 1685 for four poor single men over 60 and four poor single women over 55 years old.