General Chat

Here is a little thing I picked up that I wasn't looking for.

The Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066 was really fought over a bridge which was being held steadfastly by a huge Norse warrior who would not yield to anything that was thrown at him, arrows, battle-axes or anything else.

Those wily Saxons had not walked all up there to be held back by one dirty great Norseman so the crafty little sods got themselves a boat and floated up underneath him where they had a good poke up at him with sharp things underneath where his chain mail covered.

That soon shifted him.

They do say that all is fair in love and war but I can't imagine he was much use for either after that.

They don't like up 'em Mr Mainwaring :-D :-D :-D

:-D :-D :-D :-D

And they said that they wouldn't touch him with a ten foot barge pole :-0

:-D :-D :-D

I never knew that Sharron and I visited Stamford several times after friends moved there - once, even staying overnight with them.

It’s a pretty little place (not far from Pocklington) with the ubiquitous duck pond and pub next to it which, of course, we visited on more than one occasion.

I have to qualify that somewhat - I hope it is still pretty but I have not been back for forty years as our friends moved on after a few years while we were living overseas.

You are never too old to learn, are you? :-D

I love the fact that they resorted to 'schoolboy' tactics :-D
I wonder if they were sniggering while they did it. :-D :-D :-D

And here we are still 'sniggering' at it :-D :-D

Ah, Pocklington, that is interesting. We are hoping to visit there at some point because the village adopted HMS Volage, the destroyer Fred was on.

I am hoping I might eventually pass his medals and his blue nose over to them as there is no family to give them to.

While we ar there I can go and have a bit of a snigger as well!

Having lived for about twenty years on the far side of the bridge from York I don't think many improvements have been made over the centuries. The brigde is very narrow and access is controlled by traffic lights so very long queues form. Over the last few years some improvements have been made to the flood defences so the middle of the village does not "go under" so often. If you vist Pocklington have a look at Burnby Hall Gardens. The countryside of East Yorkshire is very pleasant, less dramatic than the Dales and Moors and also much less crowded.

Do you still have boats and sharp things?

Is Pocklington in the Vale of York? I have been there and it is very much like the land around Winchester.Bit like home really!

If nothing else, there will be a Bettys within striking distance and that is worth travelling for!

It's in the East Riding, Sharron, and there's a well-known private school there.

There is a Bettys in Harrogate and in York both of which I've been in to a few times. (Not saying that there's not a Bettys anywhere else - just that I don't know!)

RHS garden Harlow Carr near Harrogate has a Betty’s tea room.

Sorry,I could have taken the trouble to look on a road map couldn't I?

Not everyone bothers, Sharron. Personally, I like looking at maps and it could be catching because when my granddaughter (now a grown woman) stayed with us for a night or two I used to drive her home with her sitting in the child seat in the back of my car. Believe it or not, I had to get out the AA roadmap book, open it at the right page and point to where we were so she could follow the route home on the map.

She got to know all the landmarks on the approximate 45-minute journey and it kept her quiet all the way!

It must have been something about lines that she liked as she also loved checked dresses when she was a small girl !

Weird sometimes, innit? :-D

Have you see the Gough Map? That is worth a look, it's a real connoisseurs map.

You do need to get your eye in because it is pre- Mercator and centred around Jerusalem.

No, I haven’t, Sharron, but I see it’s in the Bodleian - unless it’s out on loan somewhere.

It is free to consult on-line.

Here's a link to one version:

http://www.goughmap.org/map/

Thanks Maggie. You know I don't know how to post that bit.