The White Horse of Kilburn

Our local landmark, The Whire Horse of Kilburn. our very local area's landmark . When you think of Disneyworld and the Princesses Castle, here you think of the White Horse. .When Jack sees this he sighs relief as he knows he is nearly home. Carved into the hillside above KIlburn it is only 3 miles from us and you can park your car at the bottom and walk up the steps at the rear end and then walk along the top of the glider field and back down through the forestry .If you are feeling energetic you can walk from here or take a longer path and walk on to Sutton Bank and down to Lake Gormire White horse The White Horse was designed and financed by Thomas Taylor, a Victorian businessman, and was cut in 1857. A native of Kilburn, he worked for a London merchant. He had seen the famous chalk hill figures of southern England and wanted to create something similar for his home village. The village schoolmaster, John Hodgson, and helpers did the work. He marked out the figure of a horse on a hillside high above the village. A team of thirty-one volunteers did the actual cutting. When the shape of the Horse was complete, they deposited 6 tons of lime on the naturally greyish rock beneath to whiten it. The White Horse is 314ft long and 228ft high and about 20 people could stand on the grass island, which forms the eye, though walking on the horse is now strongly discouraged. Unlike the horses in the South of England which are cut into chalk and are therefore naturally white and virtually self-preserving, the Kilburn white horse is cut into limestone, which is the wrong colour and needs artificial whitening. This was first done using gallons of whitewash, but now chalk chippings from the Yorkshire Wolds are used. Its conspicuousness hasn't always been considered a benefit; during World War II the Horse had to be covered over to stop it becoming a target for German bombers!

Felt like Dick Whittington ...part 1

A week ago as I walked down our drive to catch a lift with a friend to the station, I couldnt help but feel like Dick Whittington. Duchess the cat set off to follow me until I shooed her back. It was just a quick 36 hours in London but very much action packed. I had out in an entry in the Boutique Hoteliers awards to which Kuba who works at the Feathers in Helmsley had got through to the finals. I try to travel light,carrying only a shoulder bag. As I marched down the road enjoying the morning sunshine made me think of Whittington. I love going to London. We travellled intercity like the men do and duly arrived just before noon. I was in a party of 8 so we split up. Mary,Kuba and myself jumped in a taxi and set off to a dear friend who has an Italian deli/bistro in Fitzrovia. Experiencing Italian hospitality first hand is something to be tresured. The French "La vie est belle,"is nothing compared to the Italian "Goditi la vita" We have know Giovanni or Italian John as we affectionately call him for around quarter of a century and over the years enjoyed his generous hospitality. He equally enjoys coming up to North Yorkshire. We may not see him from one year to the next 5 but he is a true friend as we pick up as if it was yesterday. The last time I had seen Simone was when he was 4 at this baby brother's christening. Simone is now 24 and works along side his Papa in the business..We had the most amazing 4 hours with him, eating the best food,some drinking the fine Italian wine and meeting "new" friends who all seemed to have been to Helmsley. What a wonderful atmosphere H T Harris generates.It is a busy,busy place as the area has a lot of offices and so the people who frequent H T Harris, work in the area calling in most days for their breakfast or lunch. There is a coffee club were the most interesting people congregate and visiting celebraties to the nearby BBC just "drop" in. A place to see and be seen. Seemed rude to ask to have a selfie taken with them when they were just enjoy the time out. A bit like when I once met Tracey Emin at a funeral tea - it just didnt seem right. It is hard to describe the experience I can say is if you are going to London to make a detour. Enjoy hot dishes of truffled pastas or if you prefer a pannini with enough stuffing to fill a giant.Or just sit enjoy a coffee on the street and watch the world go by. As the afternoon wore on I felt I needed to have a look around the streets close by. I passed this truly amazing dress shop. Saw the Langham Hotel, the Tree House with this huge "bird" outside. Took a selfie outside the BBC and the church nearby has a striking steeple. The streets were relatively quiet, but very near to Regents Street. So if you ever in the area of Great Titchfield Street stock up with Italian goodies. Just remember to take a large shopping bag as you will be spolit for choice and they have some ideal Christmas presents for your foodie friends too.

The grand man of 99 - Father

He is George to most, Granddad to others and Mr Lupton when he gets his "Sunday best" name. To me, he is my Dad who I have been known to call him Georgie Porgie. On September 25th 2021 was his 99th birthday entering his 100th year.. We had a few days of getting out and about. He had just been over into the Dales to buy 100 plus sheep and then on the Wednesday we were off to Filey for a 99 icecream - well you just have to do it. Often he has been too busy in the garden to go to the seaside but with glorious weather and chnace of a spin out in Jacks vehicle we sent off in style. Those disability badges are good things as we parked up on the sea front to enjoy the icecream and look out to sea.then I popped in to the seafood cabin on the Cobble landing to get a sandwich to take home- 2 prawns and 2 crab for his tea. We called in to see his old friend,Frank Turner, who is a butcher in Rillington as he wanted some pickled tongues to cook. Frank was out and there were no tongues in the shop so slight disppointment. All in all he had a good day. Friday brought two friends from the village who brought him some biscuits. One day in the week he had been with Robin to pick some field peas and then shelled them for his dinner. I had gone to the house and he wasnt in and thought he must be down the garden. next thing he zooms into the yard on th emule. Another day someone arrived with homemade pickle. He got 20 cards and was busy be ringing everyone up to say his thank yous. He couldnt believe it when a surprise package arrived from Betty's and all he kept saying was what have I done to deserve this. His request for his Sunday dinner was to have some beef from one of the heifers that Nicholas had taken to have cut up to be then sold in the Wass Farm Shop. It was very good and like any true Yorkshire man on his plate was Yorkshire puddings too.