Yorkshire

A day at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park

/ A Month of Sundays / Leave a comment

It’s frequently claimed that the arts and cultural life of the UK revolves around London; that visitors, funding and innovation sit unfairly weighted within the capital. However, there are many incredible attractions outside of the capital, including the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, a hugely rich hub for art and sculpture, but most excitingly the landscape which surrounds it is so integral to its offering, making it uniquely special.

A new visitors’ centre has been built recently, providing a wonderful hub to your visit, with great coffee and a brilliant shop, and therefore somewhere perfect to shelter from any possible inclement weather [not that Yorkshire would ever suffer from that…].

There are a huge variety of sculptures from a number of artists, including Barbara Hepworth, Damien Hirst, and Henry Moore, and we particularly loved some of the more colourful artworks and how they were offset against the slightly grey day. Below is Niki de Saint Phalle’s Buddha:

Continue reading →

A Sunday in York

/ A Month of Sundays / Leave a comment

Last weekend we found ourselves in beautiful York for a wedding of two close friends. They had chosen The Hospitium in the York Museum Gardens, an intimate 14th century, two-storey building which was the perfect setting for their ceremony, dinner and dancing.

The next day, we met up with some family for a stroll around the centre of York, which is one of our favourite cities (and, for once, we weren’t there to sing!). The day started as every Sunday should [apparently], with tea – and this time we went all out at Betty’s. Yes, we probably should have gone to Harrogate, but this Southerner had never experienced Betty’s at all and was too excited to wait any longer. It lived up to the hype: silver teapots, cosy corners and very good tea.

Betty's in York

We walked down the cobbled streets to explore some of the less well-known attractions, with the Minster still always in sight around the corner.

York Minster

Continue reading →

Trip up North – Leeds Art Gallery

/ A Month of Sundays / Leave a comment

We love you, Yorkshire! The time between Christmas and New Year was perfect for a few days exploring the North of England (while trying to stay out of the floods), where one of us comes from. Leeds Art Gallery was one of our stops, home at the time to the British Art Show, which meant it was almost completely full of contemporary installations. We did put in an [early] appearance in the creative children’s section, as you may be able to tell…

Letters at Leeds Art Gallery

And made sure we took a look at the one room which remains constant amid the changing exhibitions; home to Renaissance and Victorian works by a range of artists, The Temptation of Sir Percival was one which caught our eye. Painted by Arthur Hacker in 1894, it depicts Percival, one of the Round Table knights, being tempted in his piety by a beautiful, predatory maiden. Excalibur of course features in the painting, as the counterfoil to her advances, and we particularly liked the use of colour and emotion in a classical scene.

Painting at Leeds Art Gallery

Continue reading →

Trip oop North

/ A Month of Sundays / Leave a comment

My sister and I aim to go on a walking holiday every year. As we had (ashamedly) not spent as much time in the Yorkshire Dales as we should have, having grown up so nearby, we decided to head to Swaledale this year.

On the first day we headed to Aysgarth Falls, along the River Swale (the falls themselves are behind me in this picture!)

Aysgarth Falls

Our cottage in Reeth had a lovely garden looking down into the valley. 

View from cottage in Reeth

Continue reading →