We had a pleasant and uneventful crossing with DFDS Seaways. Around 9 a.m. we sailed up the River Tyne.
The docks were still partly hidden in a quiet morning fog, but that did not last long.
I think I recognised these docks from an epsiode of Vera (ITV tv-series, starring Brenda Blethyn as the principal
charcater, Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope). A good start, I thought.

Egglestone Abbey

Our first stop was Egglestone Abbey, a quiet ruin in the country side.
It is an abandoned Premonstratensian Abbey on the southern (Yorkshire) bank of the River Tees, 2.4 km south-east
of Barnard Castle in County Durham.

The Abbey was dissolved in 1540 by King Henry VIII; the lands were granted to Robert Strelly in 1548, who
converted some of the buildings into a great private house that was abandoned in the mid-19th century.

The main visit this first day was Harewood House; it had been on the wishlist before, but this time the pieces
fell in place. I wasn't so much interested in the interior (an expensive ticket), but after a nice lunch we
each went our seperate ways and I explored the sculptured garden and grounds.

This photo shows a tiny speck approaching and the bird of prey was soon upon us. A fine greeting.

I included the Zebra Finch here for my father kept a selection of these when I was very young.
While not remembering them from sight, I do remember him talking about them. When we moved to a more
urban environment my father had to let go of his bird collection and other pets, except for the cats (3) and dogs (2).

The Laughing Kookaburra, the largest Kingfisher in the world, is a strange looking bird.
https://harewood.org/explore/bird-garden/wildlife/

Owls are attractive subjects for photography and this one seemed to pose for me!
Amazing to note that I saw a Burrowing Owl in the wild last april, in California, and I wasn't even looking for birds then!

Chilean Flamingos (Phoenicopterus chilensis) is definitely not what I had expected to find here in England! https://harewood.org/explore/bird-garden/bird/flamingos/

Humboldt Penguins. Scientific name: Spheniscus Humboldti - Other common name: Peruvian Penguin.
'The Bird Garden' here has a colony of 13 Humboldt penguins. The first penguins of the present group arrived in
August 1989; two are still here and doing well at just over 25 years of age.
https://harewood.org/explore/bird-garden/bird/penguins/

We stayed in Wetherby. We parked our car in the Wilderness Car Park, near the river, and walked along the banks of
the River Wharfe to the Red Lion pub for dinner. We noticed kids playing in the river, the heat was on this summer.

The driving in England is part of the charm, for me. I like to drive along the winding roads, over the rolling hills.
I am always amazed by the endless views one has on top of the hills. During this trip I did get the impression that
more roads have been upgraded to, what once was called, 'dual-carriage roads'. Smaller villages get by-passed
more often with thoroughfare roads. While travelling faster, there is less to enjoy of the countryside.

We enjoyed our visit to the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Center at East Kirkby; it is a fine museum with WW2 memorabilia and some aeroplanes. I particularly liked the information on those that made their way (or not) back
home from behind enemy lines. I have made a report of my visit on my ENGLAND 2018 aviation page.

Maud Foster Windmill in Boston, Lincolnshire.
We drove past it and I decided to pull over for a quick picture. Alas, there was no time planned for a visit.
It is a fine example of an English tower mill and was built in 1819 for the brothers Thomas and Isaac Reckitt by the Hull millwrights Norman and Smithson, for the sum of £1,826 – 10s – 6d. The Reckitt brothers carried on their business as
millers, corn factors and bakers. In the 1820s a bakehouse was added, and a steam engine was installed to supply
power to a bone mill (where bones were ground for fertiliser). www.maudfoster.co.uk/History.html
Maybe a stay and extended visit to Boston may be in order on some future visit.

The fortifications are humongous!

St. Lawrence Church, Castle Rising

Within the grounds of the Norman fortress of Castle Rising are the remains of a late Saxon church, built on the
foundations of an even earlier timber structure. Ca.1140 William d'Albini II, the lord of Castle Rising manor and Earl
of Sussex, began to build a new church, away from the castle, on the route used by visitors to the castle arriving by sea.

The ornately carved font features intricate carvings of foliage and grotesque heads.
It predates the church and is thought to have been brought here from the earlier church inside the castle walls. www.britainexpress.com/counties/norfolk/churches/castle-rising.htm

To the memory of Henry Greville Howard, 2nd Leutenant, King's Royal Rifles.
Died at Calcutta, July 21st 1899.

We had booked at Elme Hall, Wisbech for two nights.
It was a bit above my intended budget, but it looked very good as one can see. Unfortunately, the door of our room refused to fully close and we were put in The Lodge: a run-of-the-mill modern motel room annex, with hardly a wifi signal.
So, alas, we only stayed one night in this nice room after repairs were completed, did not get a refund or apologies.
Also, Elme Hall is on a crossroad of busy thoroughfares and the town of Wisbech seems best to be avoided for it has
been gnawed at by poverty, like rats on a cheese. No, I don't think I'll be staying at Elme Hall again.
The breakfast buffet was good, though!

According Google Maps, we thought, there was supposed to be a pub in the High Street of Wisbech, but the
entire street was a shambles and no pub was found here.

On Market Street we found The Globe, which offered a very simple fare but it was also the cheapest dinner
we had during this entire trip. It was obvious a soccer match of the World Championship Football 2018 (Russia)
was on here, but the punters insisted on watching cricket. So we had cricket on 2 tv screens, with the sound on, while
we watched football (Serbia 0-2 Brazil) soundless with faint background music still from the pub's soundsystem.
Weird. The second half we watched in our hotel.

WW1 War Memorial, center of town (Bridge St. and B198 along River Nene), Wisbech

Last year, while in England, I made it a point to plan my routes through AONB's: Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
This time I took things a little further, planning visits for a new interest of mine: 'birding'. I carried with me a long
telezoom lens of 600mm for this purpose. But I am a novice at this and a chronic lack of patience may prevent me
from becoming any better at this. Identifying the birds is a major obstacle for me, but the scenery of these areas,
such as here Titchwell Marsh, are most enjoyable.

The strong winds kept the birds mostly on the ground, an aspect I had not considered..

Avocets

After our windy visit to Titchwell Marsh we entered the summer heat again in the centre of town at King's Lynn.
I came across a statue here of King John, one does not come across many commemorations of King John...
King's Lynn was one of the last places he visited shortly before his death in 1216 and the fateful loss of his treasure,
as his baggage train attempted to cross the marshlands around the Wash... He probably was led astray on purpose.

The area deserves further exploration, at some future date, for now I was merely out to visit the bookshop
of Waterstones here; it brought a moderate success, a Donna Leon paperback and a photobook.

The heat made us skip a visit to the nearby St.Margeret Church and instead we retired to 'The Eagle', to watch
Senegal 0-1 Colombia. It would more and more become a routine, watching (part of) a game in a nice pub with a
cold refreshment in front of us.

The priory was dissolved in 1537, and its ruins are in the care of English Heritage, along with the nearby
Castle Acre Bailey Gate and Castle Acre Castle. We did not visit those, less impressive ruins.

The Prior's chambers; one sizable room with next door his personal chapel.

Intricate decorations in the Prior's quarters

King Henry VIII gave the dissolved priory to the Duke of Norfolk complete with its estates and
the remaining monks were turned out...

It does not get much more rural than this!

EXTERNAL LINKS:
en.wikipedia.org:_Castles_in_Great_Britain_and_Ireland
www.english-heritage.org.uk