June 10 - DIG visit with Siriol Hinchliffe

On Friday we met with the Head of the Education Department at DIG, Jorvik's sister site. DIG is an archaeological education center geared many at school-age children. Our guide was a trained archaeologist, and therefore he was pretty good at defining the work of an archaeologist in simple terms that even children can relate to. We participated in a "dig" and had the opportunity to try to sort different kinds of finds (bones, rocks, petrified wood). Identifying the items was much harder than I anticipated. We also looked through their interactive displays, which I found to be engaging, even for an adult.

After our tour, we met with Siriol upstairs, where she produced literature for us to read about their program. Schools often visit both DIG and Jorvik, and although Jorvik's flashy style brings in the majority of their revenue, I found DIG to be more appealing. It had dual educational purposes: to teach visitors about history, and to teach visitors about the work of someone in the field of archaeology. I believe the staff at DIG performed the latter quite admirably.

DIG was our last site visit. Throughout this month we have visited so many unique museums and historical sites. It has been a truly rewarding and enlightening experience.

June 9 – National Railway Museum and Jorvik Viking Center

The museum today was quite unique, in that their object collection is full of HUGE engines. This presents an entirely different set of dilemmas for a curator. The NRM, which opened in 1975, is the premier railway museum in England and is supported by the government. It is free to visit and has about 850,000 visitors annually. They also have a sister site, originally planned as an extra storage site, in Shilton, which receives 150,000 visitors a year.

In terms of large objects, there are about 350, with only a small portion on display. The others are loaned out or stored. As we began to explore, some of the inherent challenges of such a space became apparent. How does a curator design an exhibit around such large objects? The layout of the engines remains basically unchanged since the museum’s opening 1975, and this in itself hinders any new development. Perhaps more importantly, what kinds of exhibits can a curator design around objects that appeal to such a small subset of their visitors? After all, of those 850,000 visitors, only a small percentage are railway enthusiasts, while the rest are tourists in York, families, school groups, etc. After the initial “wow” in response to the sheer size of things, how does the museum keep a visitor’s attention? Unfortunately, this is something they are still struggling with. Colin Duvall showed us a few examples of how they are hoping to combat this; their streamline exhibition centered about The Duchess ___ engine, and another centered around a railway carriage left almost untouched. The former was successful in holding my attention for a few minutes, with various film reels and examples of streamline design appearing in other objects. The second, due to some missing photo albums, was much less successful. Colin, who served as curator for the latter, was extremely upset that the only interpretation for the exhibit was missing.

In terms of the future, they are looking to do another major renovation soon, with the help of the Heritage Lottery Fund and outside donors. They are also actively collecting, adding items to their archives and to their objects.

We also had a chance to tour their stores, and I was able to get a better look at the organization and storage of their archives. They have quite an extensive collection, comprised of books, documents, drawings, posters, fine art, and photographs. (In all, millions of items.)

*****

Jorvik Viking Center was….well….like Disneyland. With smells. It was kind of gross and really hard not to gag. It was all about the shock value….an automated man pooping, awful smells and ridiculous displays. I have no idea what percentage of their objects were reproductions, but it was all flash and no substance. They also used real human skeletons, and it was macabre and kind of sickening. The one full skeleton they had on display was admittedly dug up from a 10^th/11^th century graveyard! Anyway, we are meeting with representatives from Jorvik tomorrow, so I will try to find out exactly what they were thinking when they created this atrocity.

June 8 – National Trust Regional Office

Today we journeyed about a mile outside of York to the National Trust Regional Office. It was a long and rainy walk, so it was quite nice to be able to sit down and have some tea once we arrived. We met with Lisa VandeDecker, a curator with the NT. She gave us a history of the NT supplemented by a slideshow. Here is a little bit of what we learned.

-NT was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter, and Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley, and was titled “The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty”.

-Their properties are not limited to historic houses, but also coastline, nature preserves, gardens, archaeological sites, and even whole villages.

-The National Trust Act was passed in 1907 and allowed them to hold properties inalienably.

-In 1937 the Country Houses Scheme allowed for the income from surrounding estate lands to be used for the upkeep of the estate, and for families to gift their house to the Trust to avoid paying heavy taxes. These families could continue to live in the house even after it was gifted.

-They are funded mostly by membership (now 3.5 million), as well as benefactors, and donations. They also rely heavily on volunteers.

-Unlike English Heritage, they are a charity independent of the government. However, she could not answer why they bring in English Heritage to manage some of their sites such as Hadrian’s Wall and Rievaulx Terrace, hypothesizing that it might be because EH is better prepared to manage ruin sites.

-The Trust is slowly pushing for their sites to be more autonomous. Also, they are trying to make their sites more relevant and accessible to public through careful exhibit planning.

-In the last ten years there has been a push to allow public to see and participate in the conservation that is taking place at sites.

-As far as the organization, there are 6 regional offices and two country offices (for Wales and Northern Ireland). Curators work for the Conservation Directorate, and manage all sorts of properties. They also advise on acquisitions, organize exhibitions, deal with the paperwork for loans, advise on best practices, and deal with dilemmas relating to conservation/preservation/restoration.

Our time with Lisa was very informative, and it’s a shame we weren’t able to meet with her earlier on in our trip. Also, the Treasurer’s House was the first NT property that I have visited that NT actually runs. It was the same for many of the others as well. All of our previous visits have either been at EH sites, independently run charities like Harewood House, or at NT sites managed by EH. I wish I had a larger body of places for comparison. Unfortunately, there isn’t’ much of anything run by NT in York that is within walking distance (as we have given up the cars now).

There is also really a sense that the properties acquired by the NT really belong to the nation. NT has fundraising drives when a new property that they wish to purchase comes on the market. Without the help of members of the community, NT would not be able to purchase most of these properties.

We are drawing near the end of our trip, and the weather seems to be taking a turn for the worse. We were really lucky with our weather the first three weeks, so I really shouldn’t complain. I am excited to see some sunny weather back in San Diego.

Monday, June 7 – York Glaziers Trust and Treasurer's House

This morning we met with Sarah Brown from the York Glaziers Trust, a stained glass conservation group that grew out of a glazer’s workshop. We sat through a slideshow that explained the goals of the YGT, some of their previous work, and their current project (the East Window of York Minster). Within the last two years she has also helped set up a new Master’s program in Stained Glass Conservation, the first of its kind in Britain. However, the majority of those currently working in this field come from varied backgrounds, including Art History, Medieval Studies, and Conservation. Those coming to work at YGT undertake a kind of apprenticeship that lasts two years; so although the art of stained glass conservation is becoming more rooted in science, it is still very much a craft.

Some of the reasons stained glass conservation is needed are vandalism, the overabundance of mending lead and other lead related issues, and various issues pertaining to moisture. Vandalism includes both malicious and accidental acts, such as a soccer ball accidentally breaking a panel, a rock purposefully thrown, or even an unfortunate bird meeting its end. Mending leads were used in the 19^th century to fix cracks in the stained glass, which led to a few problems. Eventually the glass would become so broken up by thick lead lines that the original paintings were disjointed and at times completely unrecognizable. Also, the sheer weight of this extra lead could lead to structural problems. Even the original lead net eventually suffers from metal fatigue and eventually begins to crack at the seams. Much of the glass suffers from corrosion as well, especially the glass mixed with wood ash from later periods. The moisture from condensation inside a building can also lead to paint loss.

The YGT is currently undertaking a huge project, the East End of the York Minster. As the stained glass had to be removed anyway while structural repairs are made to the East End, it seemed a good opportunity for YGT to handle the conservation work now (with “now” lasting between five and ten years, depending on funding). The Heritage Lottery Fund is funding 60% of the project, with the Dean of York having to raise the other 40%. These panels last underwent conservation after WWII. The current goal is to preserve whatever glass is left from John Thorton’s original panels, removing the more obtrusive stop-gaps (discolored pieces from the last restoration), removing the lead mending wherever possible and using resin to reconnect the glass, and adding new glass when necessary, while scoring the pieces lightly to show observers that the added glass is not original. In some cases, YGT takes conservation a step further into restoration. For example, having an artist add a face to a figure that may or may not have had one in the past. They only made these major changes when they feel they have enough historical evidence to justify the change.

In an effort to further conserve the stained glass once it is back in the Minster (or other buildings), the YGT is also adding a protective glazier to the outside of the window, with a 20-30 mm gap between it and the stained glass. There are also gaps at the top and bottom, which keeps condensation from forming on the glass. They also take care to monitor the stained glass with sensors. If the stained glass if from another church, YGT educates the caretakers on how to conserve the panels to the best of their ability, which is sometimes as simple as making sure no bricks or rocks are left lying nearby.

After speaking with Sarah, we visited the Bedern Glaziers Studio, one of two studios the YGT uses. We met with Donja, who spoke about her work as a conservator with YGT, which perhaps unfortunately at this point is no longer just conservation. Whoever is working in this smaller studio (there are only two workspaces) must also speak with the visiting public. Until recently this studio was not used full time, but rather as a demonstration studio, where little real work can be done as most of the tools are in the larger studio. So although the public gets a glimpse of some of the tasks undertaken by the YGT, much of the real work appears to go on at the larger studio, which we unfortunately weren’t able to see.

I learned a lot about the conservation of stained glass today, and while it was interesting to see their efforts to engage the community in their work, I am not sure what else to take away from the experience.

*****

As we had the afternoon free, I spent a couple of hours touring Treasure’s House, which according to the National Trust (who owns the property) has, “thirteen period rooms,” and “one man’s remarkable collection of antique furniture, ceramics, textiles and paintings” (National Trust Handbook 2010). Hah. What a letdown. First of all, I’m not sure what to make of the period rooms, as they are not really distinctly of any period. For example, one of the house guides could only point out one item from the 15^th century in one room, the hand painted walls, which of course were only recently painted using a design that would have been popular in the 15^th century. Of course the furniture in the room varies from within the last three centuries. And as for the furniture, there was nothing spectacular that we haven’t seen other, better examples of, and even the house guides said that the former owner wasn’t much of an art collector. Their vehicles of interpretation left much to be desired as well, despite having new room sheets printed in the last two years. Overall, it was a disappointing experience compared with some of the other homes we have visited, probably doubly so because the handbook speaks so highly of it.

Sunday, June 6 – Exploring York and Shopping!!

We continued to explore York today, with more specialized shopping in mind. I drew up a plan of attack, hitting up a couple of antique shops and a contemporary jewelry store. This time we walked along a portion of the city wall, which took us (Haley and I) around the outskirts of the inner city and deposited us right where we wanted to be. We spent the next few hours shopping, but once it began raining we headed back to the flat. Around four I headed for the pub, which is about thirty seconds down the road and quite quiet and nice. I was able to put up a few blog posts, and I plan to visit every day in order to get this blog squared away.

Saturday, June 5 – Exploring York

We arrived at our flat late last night, so today was our first chance to look around. We spent most of the day wandering through the city, browsing in various shops, and making a trip to the grocery store for snacks and food for the weekend. It is so wonderful being able to walk everywhere. And York is small, with nothing more than a ten-minute walk away. Our flat is amazing!!!! A few of us are up in Flat 3, which is a two story flat, the upper floor being more of a converted attic space. I have my own cute room (actually almost everyone has their own room here). The living room is huge, with large picture windows taking up one whole wall.

Friday, June 4 - Final Day of Projects

Today was our final official day to work on our projects. Because we had so much to do, Rebecca and I spent much of Wednesday and Thursday evening finishing up the staple pulling and organizing, and I spent the entire ride to and from Hadrian’s Wall yesterday retyping the finding aid from 2006 – all 25 pages of it. Due to all of this extra work, we were able to have all of the documents finished and proofread by around 2:30 this afternoon.

With Allison and Lynn ferrying our luggage to York this afternoon (we packed this morning), we spent the rest of the afternoon walking around Kiplin Hall and chatting with Elaine and her mom. Here are some pictures I took of the various animals that call Kiplin Hall home.

Resident ferrets

Florence, a super old cat, and Venus, the last of a litter of kittens left at Kiplin

Petting Big Ginge

Big Ginge and Florence sunning themselves

Bess the sheepdog

Male rooster. His mate was killed by Lily the spaniel, who I don't have a picture of. Haley says, "Murderous dogs don't deserve pictures on blogs."

It feels as though we have been here for much longer than three weeks. I wish we had had more time to work on our projects, and I just hope that Dawn is happy with the work we have done. But I am looking forward to moving to York, where we will have more freedom to walk and explore the city.

Thursday, June 3 - Vindolanda, Hadrian's Wall, and Housesteads Fort

We began the day with an independent visit to Vindolanda, an archaeological dig site located near Hadrian’s Wall. It’s interesting in that they are doing work out there everyday under the supervision of trained archaeologist. Pretty much everyone else working are volunteers, which kind of showed. Some were looking less than enthusiastic at the hard work. Another interesting feature was their interpretation panels, which included Latin (probably because the site is Roman). There wasn’t much interpretation though, and what was original and what was reproduction/replica wasn’t always clear. The little museum with some of their finds was fantastic, and extremely well preserved due to the anaerobic nature of their soil. We couldn’t take pictures inside, but here are some of the dig.

Vindolanda

Volunteers digging

Example of interpretation panel with English, Latin, and French languages

*****

After Vindolanda we drove to a public footpath leading up to Hadrian’s Wall. We then proceeded to hike about two miles of Hadrian’s Wall with Eric of National Trust (which owns this stretch of the Wall), and Mike Collins of English Heritage. NT has placed some of the management of the Wall and the forts along this particular stretch into EH’s hands. The Wall is, of course, a scheduled monument. It was interesting walking and talking with them, as we were able to see the differences in their goals and priorities, and the kind of balancing act needed between conservation and allowing the public to enjoy the site. Eric was the first representative from the National Trust that we have spoken with, but next Tuesday we will be speaking with someone at their Regional Headquarters in York. Here are some photos of the Wall.

Cows eyeing us on the public footpath

Walking part of the new Hadrian's Wall footpath

That ridge is part of the Wall

Sarah and Eric of NT with the Wall behind them

*****

We finished the day at Housesteads Fort, owned by NT and managed by EH. Here are some of us eating ice cream after a long hike.

Haley, Anjuli, Eric, Mike, Allison, Virginia and Lynn at Housesteads

Wednesday, June 2 - The Bowes Museum

John and Josephine Bowes built the Bowes Museum to allow the pubic to view their wide-ranging collection. Although at first glance it appears to be a French Chateau with a Mansard roof, it was never built to house anything other than the collection it currently holds. The couple collected over 40,000 objects, many with the public in mind. Therefore, many different periods and types of objects are represented, and each example is not always the best of its type. We met with several of the different curators, or “keepers” as they are called. Here is a brief description of what they talked about.

Picture Stores

We started high up in the museum, on the first floor located inside the dome (there are four, added during the major renovation that took place last year). This is where the main Picture Store is, a marvel in design that currently holds 1,200 paintings and 10,000 works on paper. One floor up from the main Picture Store is a secondary storage option, meant for the works on paper and paintings small enough to be placed on the lift. Here we met with Emma, the Keeper of Fine Art. We talked about their current projects, which include reuniting paintings with their original frames, making new tags that allow paintings to be identified with more ease, and imputing information about a painting into a searchable database. In the future they hope to include the stores in their public tours, but for now they are open to researchers and the curatorial staff.

Archeological Objects

We headed to the gatehouse to speak with Community Curator Samantha Belcher, who is currently funded through a grant from the MLA (Museums Libraries and Archives Council). There is no place to display the archaeology in the museum at the moment, so it is all housed in the gatehouse. Samantha and her intern, along with the help of volunteers, are currently trying to inventory the collection. The provenance of many of the objects is unknown, as Josephine may have bought many of these items in lots in France, with their original location lost along the way. Her other main purpose is to work with the community, even bringing objects out to various events for the public to view (and occasionally handle).

Library and Archives

The library is located up at the very top of the dome (the highest point in the museum and one of the spaces renovated last year). The views are spectacular. Most of the books are from John and Josephine’s original collection, although they continue to add new books through donation and purchase. The Archives were one floor down, in a strong room, along with books printed before 1900, books purchased originally as objects, and the Bowes’s French library collection. Their Archives is divided into two main categories: Records from the Bowes, mostly during their time in France and including many of the bills of sale for the objects in the museum, and the records for the Bowes Museum itself. Unfortunately we were unable to see them, although quite a few of the finding aids were out on the shelves for review. (Access to the archives isn’t exactly restricted, we just didn’t have time.) Their goals for the future include taking their archives and catalog of books online.

Textiles

We also met with Joann, the Keeper of Textiles, who was recently in charge of designing and executing one of their newest exhibits involving their textile collection. The design of the exhibit was very forward thinking, as were their storage choices. One area of the exhibit room is a glass cube, with hundreds of shelves and a workspace inside. Eventually they will keep most of their textiles stored in this room, with easy access for both museum staff and for guided tours.

We ended the day by taking tea with Jane, the Principal Keeper, which means that she is in charge of the rest of the curatorial team.

The Bowes Museum, simply put, has a lot of stuff. With the exception of a few objects, including famous works by El Greco and Goya, and the Silver Swan, there is little here that you cannot see in other historic homes and museums. The majority of the items predate 1900 and concentrate on fine and decorate arts from Europe, and the current collection policy continues to reflect this date as a stopping point. There was quite a bit of interpretation panels and sheets, and at times this was completely overwhelming. The downstairs exhibition room, meant as an introduction to the museum, is quite disjointed; for example, a whole room is donated to children’s toys, although how this relates to the museums original or current mission is unclear. I am unsure what sets this museum above or apart from other historic homes turned museums, or other museums focusing only on art or furniture. I guess it is a question of quantity over quality, and while all of the objects are beautiful, very few truly stand out.

June 1 - Fifth Day of Projects

We found out today that this is our last chance to have access to Kiplin Hall’s curatorial room. Ack! We have so much work to do! %#$%!!!!! We stayed late to try and tie up loose ends, and we ended up bringing a lot of supplies back to Crewe Cottage. We will work a couple of hours each night until Friday, and try to wrap everything up. The workroom was also a mess today because there was a mice invasion over the weekend, and everything had to be pulled out to try and kill them all.

*Commence Rant*

Unfortunately we have to retype the whole finding aid, as no one can locate an electronic copy of it.

%$#&%$#&!!!

So tired of pulling rusty staples!!!!

Don’t staple potential archival material!!!!

Especially 5 times on one piece of paper!!!!

Metal and paper do not mix well!!!!!

Allison took pictures of us and I wasn’t wearing any makeup!!!!

*Done*

Monday, May 31 - Lake District

We are spending a lot of time in the car. But it is worth it. The Lake District, made famous by the likes of Woodsworth and Beatrix Potter, was stunning, and the car ferry we took across Windermere (Lake) was awesome! It was only about ten minutes, but still awesome!

Eating brownies, waiting for the ferry. The wait was longer than the ride!

Photo courtesy of Sarah Swinney

Haley, Anjuli, Rebecca, and our Audi on the ferry.

Photo courtesy of Sarah Sweeney

Our first visit was John Ruskin’s house Brantwood, a famous naturalist, writer, and one of the predecessors to William Morris, who made the Arts and Crafts movement famous.

Predictably, no interior shots. These places never give us good reasons for not taking photos (Security and Conservation? What does that mean??). The rooms had lots of great room sheets and a lot of signage, so there was a lot to look at. I think besides the views, my favorite part was the rotating exhibition, about the painter Edward Wilson, who was the painter on Scott’s two Antarctic expeditions (they died together on the second one). His watercolors were absolutely beautiful, very poignant. A little bit about the exhibition can be found here.

I took a solo hike up behind the house to get a few of some of the gardens designed by Ruskin. Unfortunately, I hit a solid wall of bugs, and ended up sprinting much higher than intended. I mean, I ended up really high behind the house, kind of wondering what I was doing up there, and also wishing everyone back home could see me trekking around in my boots and skirt. I wound my way across the back slope and ended up in a couple of different gardens.

These are the stairs I headed up...and up...and up...

Beautiful views of the lake

The purgatory garden was especially interesting. A kind of concept garden.

This is the sin Pride...

And these are "carpets of molten fleece", meant to represent Lust...??

Close up. I think this is actual fleece.

*****

We next visited the town of Ksswick, home to the Keswick Museum and Art Gallery, which is home to…..

Photo courtesy of Sarah Swinney

THIS!

Dead cat. Approximately 668 years old, found in the roof of a local church...

This place was out of control. They had tons of taxidermy…

Some which you could even pet…

Petting the fox...

*****

Our last stop was Castlerigg Stone Circle, a more or less unpoliced English Heritage site consisting of a prehistoric stone circle. People were climbing all over them, it was in the middle of a sheep field, and at one point some Japanese tourists grew tired of photographing the stones and eventually CORNERED one of the lambs, and it was kind of horrific. The poor thing kept trying to run past them to its herd, baaing the whole time.

Castlerigg stone circle with sheep in the background

People everywhere

So we saw quite a range of museums today. It is interesting how some English Heritage sites are administered. There was a man standing by the gate, but he did nothing to stop the tourists from climbing on the stones. I wonder what their policy on interaction with the monuments is. I will have to ask the man we are meeting at Hadrian’s Wall on Thursday.

Sunday, May 30 - Playing Catch-up

I stayed at home today to try and catch up on schoolwork. I spent the majority of my day curled up on the couch, pulling staples, and watching a 5 billion hour music video countdown. I also did some house chores, uploaded my first post for our school’s blog, and updated my own as well. The internet is working better, although it is nowhere close to what we are used to.

It was strange being home all alone today, especially every time I saw random strangers’ heads go walking by the downstairs window (Kiplin Hall was open today). But I had the washer and dryer all to myself!!!!! So all in all, a very productive day.

Saturday, May 29 - Castle Howard

The only thing I know about the Howard family I learned from Phillipa Gregory (The Other Boleyn Girl) and The Tudors on Showtime. And although I knew little about the family or Castle Howard itself at the beginning of the day, I was sure I would learn as I moved around the museum.

Castle Howard is beautiful, of course. And we could actually take pictures inside! (Of course, how many pictures did I take? not many. I'm horrible at taking pictures, especially when I'm busy talking.)

Castle Howard. Jeez, I can't seem to take straight pictures of facades either.

Famous Atlas Fountain. I realize you can barely see it. I think this was my attempt at "artistry" in the rain.

One of my favorite things in the house, this handmade quilt. Beautiful.

Another shot of the quilt. Sorry it is sideways. The table this quilt is on also has a bunch of family pictures of the current Howards. I am pretty sure the House Guide thought I was taking photographs of the photographs.

And here are some of the Rose Garden. Because it was raining pretty steadily, I didn’t make it to all of the gardens around the estate.

Rose Garden entrance

Some kind of folly at the end of the rose garden. Coy pond in the foreground.

Castle Howard relies on House guides, normally between 12 and 14 guides working simultaneously. They were the main source of interpretation; there were very few displays, with the exception of the rooms destroyed by fire and the exhibition room about the 7^th Earl. Incidentally, that exhibition room really makes you like him. He was very against slavery and often hosted American abolitionists like Harriet Beecher Stowe when they journeyed to England on fundraising trips. He actually wrote the introduction for Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

It was hard having to rely solely on guides for interpretation, even if they are very knowledgeable. As I knew little about the history of the house, I had to wait my turn to speak to the guide in whatever room I was in, and then ply him with as many questions as I could think of. Over time I began to have a better sense of who the family was and when the house was built (a few generations after the Howards of Henry VIII’s court).

Actually, one of the best things about Castle Howard was their Farm Shop, full of fresh cheese of all kinds, awesome chocolate everything, and great breads. I had chocolate caramel shortbread. Very tasty.

One other thing: you may recognize Castle Howard from the movie Brideshead Revisited. So that was pretty neat. But don’t watch the movie if you haven’t seen it. It’s awful.

Friday, May 28 - Whitby Abbey and Town, Littlest Church in England, and the White Horse

View of the coast near Whitby

We had to drive across the Moors today, which while absolutely beautiful, made me completely carsick. We ended up on the coast, at Whitby, a seaside town on the east coast, and home to Whitby Abbey, the jet trade, the setting from Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and one time home to Captain Cook.

So, lots to see.

We started the morning at Whitby Abbey, which is set high above the town. Using the audio guide, which featured the voice of St. Aelfred, a (woman) saint. She chronicled the Abbey’s history, through her time to St. Hilda’s, all the way to the bombing of WWI. It was very theatrical, and pretty entertaining. The family who bought the estate after the monastery’s dissolution during Henry VIII’s reign built a large house, of which only the exterior survives. The inside has been converted into a museum for the Abbey, and has many fabulous archaeological finds. I wish I could have gotten some pictures through the glass.

Whitby Abbey

Whitby Abbey with view of the coast

Former estate home, built with stone from the Abbey. The inside is now completely converted into a museum.

Rebecca playing "archaeologist"

View of the coast

Church graveyard behind Abbey, on the way to the town.

Heading down the steps to the town was like passing through a wormhole, or something. The Abbey and its environs seem anachronastic and majestic….the town touristy and very 21^st century. Everywhere you look, it’s BUY THIS, BUY THAT, OR IF NOT THAT THAN THIS!!!!!! Dangerous place. After fish and chips for lunch, we visited the Captain Cook Museum, which was quite interesting but probably rather like all of the other Captain Cook Museums around the world. Many of the things were there on loan, or else reproductions. Still, I learned quite a bit and some of the maps were pretty amazing.

After Whitby we wound our way up the coast, eventually stopping in Skelton (nothing there, bought some candy, saw both a Cooperative grocery store and a Cooperative Funeral Home), and at the “Littlest Church in England”. What do you think?

Littlest Church in England

Oh, and then we drove BACK through the Moors to visit the White Horse Rock, which evidently was featured in the recent Robin Hood movie. What do you think?

The White Horse

Supposedly prehistoric, but actually mid-19^th century. Ugh.

We got home after nine, I think we spent a total of five hours in the car. I definitely spent the last two hours playing the “Thankful” game with myself.