Snowdrops at Lytham Hall

What happens when you go somewhere to take some photos only to find when you get there that the sky is cloudy and grey and doesn’t show your subject at its best? – well, you just go back again on a much nicer day. Such was the situation just recently when ten days ago I went to Lytham Hall to photograph the carpets of snowdrops in the grounds around the Hall. It was sunny when I left home but by the time I got to Lytham an hour later the blue sky had been obliterated by grey cloud, however just two days ago the weather gods decided to present me with a day full of widespread sunshine and an almost cloudless sky. It was a day not to be missed so off I went, back to Lytham to retake some of my previous photos.

Walking round the lily pond it was nice to see that the fountain was in action and some very slow progress had finally been made on the restoration of the old boathouse. Built around 1885 it was never very sturdy and it eventually fell into disrepair under the last Squire Clifton who owned the Hall until 1963.

The boathouse – February 2022

The boathouse – 2023

Just as in previous years several wooden picture frames on stands were dotted about in strategic places around the grounds and though some of them were well worn or a bit wonky they were very useful in framing photos of various views.

In the days between my two visits a few clumps of miniature daffodils had appeared here and there among the snowdrops and various things were beginning to come to life in the border near the kitchen garden. A look round the plant sales area gave me a couple of photos of some colourful things growing in pots then giving the cafe a miss as there was a long queue I set off back home.

Although the morning had started off quite frosty the day had warmed up nicely with the sunshine and it was even warm enough to drive with the window down. It was a complete contrast to the previous week and the glorious day showed that spring is definitely hovering just around the corner.

Manchester Cathedral – a church rich in history

At the end of one of my wanderings around the city centre a while ago I had some time to spare before the next train home so as the cathedral had long been on my list of places to visit I called in to have a look round. Not far from Victoria Station and tucked away behind a triangle of bars, eateries and a couple of pubs the building isn’t exactly obvious so even on a busy Saturday afternoon there was only a handful of fellow visitors in there.

The origins of Manchester’s first churches are a little obscure but the Domesday survey in 1086 stated that the parish church of St. Mary existed on the site of the present cathedral. The land was owned by the Greslet family, Barons of Manchester, and the church was built beside their manor house which is now Chetham’s School of Music. Around 1215 the Greslets extended the church before the estate passed by marriage to the de la Warre family in 1311, then around 1350 the church was extended again, becoming the same length as the present cathedral though it was much narrower.

At the end of the 14th century Thomas de la Warre became both Rector of the church and 5th Baron of Manchester. A priest for more than 50 years, in 1421 he was granted a licence from King Henry V and Pope Martin V to establish a collegiate church dedicated to St. Mary, St. George and St. Denys, with a warden, eight fellows, four singing clerks and eight choristers. When he died in 1426 he left £3,000 for the benefit of the collegiate buildings and most of this was used to convert the Baron’s Hall into a house-of-residence for the fellows of the College to live in.

During the years which followed various parts of the church were rebuilt and extended, including the reconstruction of the nave and choir stalls, with the choir stalls themselves and their misericord seats being carved at the workshop of William Brownflet of Ripon between 1500 and 1506. The college was dissolved in 1547 under the Dissolution of Colleges Act which came into force that year then ten years later it was re-established as a Roman Catholic foundation by Mary I. In 1578 it was re-founded again by Elizabeth I as the protestant College of Christ with a warden, four fellows, two chaplains, four singing men and four choristers.

Fast forward to 1840 and under the Cathedrals Act of that year the warden and fellows of the collegiate church were promoted to Dean and Canons in preparation for the church becoming the cathedral of the new Manchester Diocese which came into effect in 1847. Initial proposals for a new cathedral to be built on Piccadilly Gardens didn’t proceed and a period of major restoration and building work was started on the church the same year. In 1864 the original tower, which had fallen into disrepair, was demolished and replaced with a new tower – identical to the old one but six feet taller it was formally opened in 1868.

In 1897, to mark Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, the Victoria Porch was built below the tower and adorned with a sculpture of the Queen carved by her daughter, Princess Louise. In the years between 1898 and 1936 more building work was undertaken which included a new West End and porch and extensions to provide a library, refectory and choir school. In 1925 ten bells, to be hung in the cathedral tower for change ringing, were cast by bellfounders Gillett & Johnston of Croydon, with the tenor (largest) bell weighing 1.3 tonnes. In 1936 the Derby Chapel, previously the St. John the Baptist Chapel dating from 1513, was refitted as the Regimental Chapel for the Manchester Regiment.

On December 22nd 1940, during the Manchester Blitz, a German bomb exploded a few yards from the north-east corner of the cathedral, severely damaging the roof and demolishing the medieval Lady Chapel and the chantry chapel. All the Victorian stained glass windows were blown out, the medieval choir stalls toppled inwards so as to meet one another and the organ case over the pulpitum was destroyed. It took almost 20 years to complete all the repairs to the building during which stop-gap measures were taken to repair the organ re-using the old pipework, and the Lady Chapel was rebuilt to the designs of architect Hubert Worthington.

In 1966, Margaret Traherne’s  ‘Fire Window’ was installed to commemorate Manchester’s part in the two world wars and also as a symbol of renewal and reconciliation. This was followed over a period of almost 30 years by five new windows on the western side of the Nave : St George in 1972, St Denys in 1976, St Mary in 1980, The Creation in 1991 and The Revelation in 1995.

Fire window – 1966

St. George – 1972

St. Denys – 1976

St. Mary – 1980

The Creation – 1991

The Revelation – 1995

In 1996 the cathedral again suffered damage when the IRA bomb exploded on nearby Corporation Street. Restoration work followed and the Healing Window by Linda Walton was installed above the east door in 2004 to mark the completion of this work. In 2016 the Hope Window, designed by Alan Davis, was installed on the other side of the east wall, representing the journey towards new life. The donors also intended it to be a symbol of the strong bond which exists between City and Cathedral.

Healing – 2004

Hope – 2016

Further work in recent years has included new heating, lighting and flooring together with a splendid new organ sponsored by the Stoller Charitable Trust and built at Tickell’s workshop in Northampton for a total cost of around £2.6m. Installation began in July 2016 with the medieval screen between the Nave and the Quire being strengthened to support the four main divisions of the organ. The 4,800-plus pipes range from 6 inches to 32 feet high with the pipe shades designed by text artist Stephen Raw – those facing the Quire were gilded by hand using wafer-thin 23.5 carat gold leaf and the cut out lettering was taken from the words of the liturgy in Latin. After a long period of tuning the organ was officially handed over to the Dean of Manchester on April 3rd 2017 and was played for the first time on Easter Sunday that year.

In May 2021 the cathedral reached its 600th anniversary of becoming a Collegiate Church and in July that year was visited by Elizabeth ll, then a special Anniversary Service, delayed by a year due to the Covid pandemic, was finally held on May 5th 2022 in the presence of the Lord Archbishop of York.

Discovered in 1871 during excavation work in the South Porch area the Angel Stone is the oldest artefact in the cathedral and is believed to date from the 9th century. Now protected behind a glass panel it was difficult to photograph without reflections so I’ve taken the picture from the cathedral’s own website. The Holy Night statue was sculpted by Josephina de Vasconcellos in 1992 and represents the Holy Family in the stable.

Angel Stone – photo from Manchester Cathedral

The Holy Night statue

Medieval screen separating the Nave from the Quire

Colourful and ornate detail on the screen

Looking through the Quire to the High Altar

Ornate carving round the choir stall canopies

The choir stalls themselves contain thirty 16th century misericords similar in style to those at Ripon Cathedral and Beverley Minster and considered to be among the finest in Europe. Unusual, comical and sometimes a touch bloodthirsty, one of the most notable is the earliest known depiction of backgammon in the UK. Although I photographed most of them it would be impossible to put them all on here so I’ve included just a few of my favourites.

A game of backgammon

The stand-alone Bishop’s Throne, although in keeping with the medieval choir stall canopies, is actually late Victorian, made in 1906 by Sir Charles Nicholson. Two kangaroos were included in the carving as a tribute to James Moorhouse, third Bishop of Manchester for seventeen years from May 1886 to his retirement in 1903 – previous to his position in Manchester he had been Bishop of Melbourne, Australia, for ten years from 1876.

Lectern c1850 made by architect George Shaw

Built around 1421 by Warden John Huntington, the original rectangular Chapter House was used as a daily meeting place for the Warden and Fellows of the Collegiate Church. Its present octagonal shape was introduced when it was rebuilt in 1506 by Warden James Stanley and the walls contain the coats-of-arms of various families, both royal and local, who have historical connections with the Cathedral, including Henry V, Elizabeth l and George Vl.

Chapter House entrance

The Fraser Chapel was built in 1887 in memory of Bishop Fraser, second Bishop of Manchester from 1870 to 1885. Known as ‘the peoples’ Bishop’ he was renowned for his concern for the ordinary people of the Diocese and for organising collections for the families of workers on strike. Following damage from the 1996 IRA bomb the chapel was refurbished as a Chapel for Private Prayer and includes a modern painted reredos and a stained glass window designed by Mark Cazalet.

The statue of Sir Humphrey Chetham (1580-1653) was erected in 1853 and serves as a reminder of the link between the Cathedral and Chetham’s Hospital School. The school was founded in the original manor house buildings in 1658 with money left by Humphrey Chetham on his death three years earlier; in 1952 it became a boys’ grammar school then in 1969 became Chetham’s School of Music where the Cathedral choristers are educated. The world famous mid-17th century Chetham’s Library is also located in the school buildings.

The Lady Chapel

A delicately carved screen, one of the oldest in the Cathedral

The Jesus Chapel built in 1506

The Regimental Chapel and Fire Window

The High Altar

Ornate altar screen

Compared to cathedrals such as Canterbury, Lincoln and York Minster Manchester Cathedral isn’t a big place but in spite of parts of it being heavily restored after two lots of bomb damage there are still so many historical and interesting features that it would be impossible to photograph and write about everything. It was certainly well worth the time I spent looking round and I may very well make a second visit soon to see what I missed this time.

Hornby Castle Gardens and a quick trip to Morecambe

Just a few days ago the dogs and I paid a visit to Hornby Castle Gardens during the snowdrop open weekend. I’d originally been undecided about going as (according to the website) with it being early in the season some of the snowdrops were only just getting going but this was the only weekend the gardens could open, however we hadn’t had a decent day out so far this year and the weather was promising so off we went.

If I thought that getting there soon after the 11am opening time would avoid what would later be a lot of visitors I was wrong, there was quite a queue to pay at the table set up just inside the main gates. With a history talk scheduled for 12 noon at the main house most people seemed to be heading up that way so I went in the opposite direction to where it might be a bit quieter, starting with the woodland walk.

Past the pond the path led me to the walled garden but with bare flower beds and nothing much growing anywhere there was very little to see so I went down to the riverside, walking along by the water then following a steep path up to the corner of the castle lawns. Across the front of the castle steep steps took me back down onto the main driveway and with nothing else to see I headed back to the main road and the car park.

The Lodge

River Wenning from the road bridge, Hornby village

Still only lunch time and with the rest of the afternoon ahead it was too early to think about going back home once I left Hornby Castle so I headed for Morecambe and an excellent filling lunch of home made steak pie, mash, veg and gravy in Rita’s Cafe on the promenade, followed by a mooch round the indoor Festival Market then a walk down to West End and back along the promenade as far as the Eric Morecambe statue before returning to the van and finally heading for home.

The daylight hours increasing slowly each day meant that I was back home before it started to go dark, with the dogs having slept all the way back. As far as days out go there had been nothing special about this one but it had been good to have a few hours away from my local area, and if dogs could talk I’m sure Snowy and Poppie would agree.

Out of sight – but not out of danger

Just as many people of a certain age can remember where they were when they heard about the assassination of America’s President Kennedy back in 1963, the IRA bombing of Manchester city centre will be forever etched in the minds and memories of the many people and their families who were affected by it. In one of the darkest and most defining moments in Manchester’s history the huge explosion on Saturday June 15th 1996 ripped through the heart of the city centre, tearing buildings apart and hurling glass and rubble a mile into the air before it rained down on hundreds of terrified shoppers and workers.

The explosion seen from the Cross Street/King Street junction – Photo from Manchester Evening News

Photo from Manchester Evening News, taken from Withy Grove

Later referred to as ‘the bomb that went round corners’ the blast hit people well out of its sight-line with a brute force that sent them flying. Windows were momentarily sucked inwards before being blown outwards a split second later, glass rained down from the high-rise Arndale tower and the bottom fell out of the escalators on Market Street, while outside Kendals people sheltering under the store’s canopy were showered with shards of broken glass when the windows blew out. Alarms shrieked from every street and hundreds of people on the edge of the inner cordon were terrified into a stampede down Deansgate, while others wandered round dazed and confused or lay on the ground in pools of blood, injured by flying glass and debris.

Photo from Manchester Evening News

However, where there was great terror there was also great heroism. An incredible operation by emergency services staff who put their own lives at risk to clear 80,000 people away from the immediate bomb area, treated many of the wounded afterwards and went in search of others who may be trapped in damaged buildings made sure that in spite of the devastation caused by the explosion no-one died.

Immediately after the blast the fire crews kicked into action; reinforcements raced into the city from across the Greater Manchester region and the initial 5 fire engines and 30 firefighters turned into 20 fire engines, 11 special appliances, 115 firefighters and 26 supervisory officers. With 60 calls in the first five minutes to the ambulance control centre just over three miles away 81 ambulances and their crews from across Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Lancashire, Merseyside and Yorkshire were drafted in to tend to injuries and take casualties to hospital, while an off-duty doctor on the outskirts of the city rushed to assist staff at Manchester Royal Infirmary. He was later issued with a speeding ticket but was let off because of the circumstances.

Firefighters wearing heavy breathing apparatus sprinted up shattered stairways and down into cellars, searching for anyone trapped or injured inside abandoned shops and offices; the bomb had set off the sprinkler systems in many buildings and water was trickling down through the floors. A man suffering from severe cuts was led to safety from the Corn Exchange while an aerial platform was used to rescue an injured security guard from the third floor of the Arndale Centre. In the Royal Insurance building 100 yards from the blast cries for help were heard coming from the second floor where firefighters found 15 people suffering from shock, cuts and blast injuries, while on the third floor they found a woman lying among the debris with horrific facial injuries.

That woman was Barbara Welch, the most seriously injured of all the bomb’s victims. In the split second following the blast she took the full force of a blown out window – her face was shredded by thousands of shards of glass, most of her teeth were lost and she also suffered a damaged retina and ligament damage to her hand. Unconscious for three days, she woke in hospital with more than 250 stitches in her face and her head swollen to three times its normal size. She was allowed home after two weeks but needed more than 50 further hospital appointments, extensive surgery to repair damage to her jaw and to reconstruct her face, and months of physiotherapy.

The Royal Insurance building – Barbara’s car, third from bottom right, was written off in the explosion along with many others – Photo from Manchester Evening News

A Kendal’s security guard and his colleague, on duty in the store, were knocked off their feet by the force of the blast. Despite having been hit by flying glass he went to the aid of a shopper crying hysterically and covered in blood from injuries to her neck and hand; he got her to the safety of one of the ambulances then went back to help as many more people as he could. A while afterwards that lady wrote to thank him.

On the edge of the inner cordon fifty staff working in the Co-op building had been told to stay inside and away from the windows but that didn’t stop them from feeling the force of the bomb. Part of the explosive-laden van landed on the second floor roof garden, its impact sending ceiling tiles showering down onto the workers, however following a couple of previous bomb attacks in the city all but two of the windows had been covered with protective film so they stayed intact. Thankfully none of the workers were injured and they were allowed out of the building an hour and a half after the bomb exploded.

By 3pm the heart of the city centre was desolate. Buses had stopped at the beginning of the evacuation and the streets were littered with stranded and destroyed cars, while dazed shoppers and workers made their way to the edge of the city to try to find phone boxes or transport home. The streets closest to the bomb site were just a sea of rubble and broken glass while added to the continual wailing of alarms music still played in some of the abandoned shops. Mannequins hung eerily out of shop windows where glass had once been and for hours afterwards pieces of masonry continued to fall from damaged buildings.

Photo from Manchester Evening News

Devastation on Corporation Street – photo from Manchester Evening News

Photo from Manchester Evening News

Inside the Arndale Centre – photo from Manchester Evening News

Arndale Centre – photo from Manchester Evening News

Photo from Manchester Evening News

A damaged window in Manchester Cathedral – photo from Manchester Evening News

It took three years to rebuild and redevelop the damaged parts of the city centre and looking at the modern buildings today it’s hard to believe what happened there in 1996. Sadly though, for many people the sight of those new buildings will never erase the memories, evidenced by words from a couple of Manchester Evening News readers in a feature published twenty years later –

”As one of the 212 people injured that day, the physical injuries healed a long time ago. The mental torment I’ve had ever since will never leave me”

”The following day I went into Manchester and stood at the top of Market Street looking down towards the devastation. Tears were rolling down my face and I heard the woman next to me draw a ragged breath so I held her hand – complete strangers silently holding hands and weeping for our city. I will never forget that moment or that woman.”