Monday 31 October 2016

Normanby Hall, North Lincolnshire. (Set 1 of 2)

"Normanby Hall is a classic English mansion, located near the village of Burton-upon-Stather, 5 miles (8 km) north of Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire.
The present hall was built in 1825–30 to the designs of Robert Smirke for Sir Robert Sheffield (1786–1862). The Sheffield family had lived on the site since 1539 and the family's titles include Dukes of Buckingham and Normanby and Sheffield baronets. It replaced a previous 17th century building.


The Sheffield family moved out of Normanby Hall in 1963. The hall is now in the care of the North Lincolnshire Council. The former 350 acre (1.4 km²) estate around the hall is now a country park. Within it, there are a restored working Victorian walled garden, a farming museum, a stableyard, duck ponds, a deer sanctuary, a fishing lake, a miniature railway and broadleaf woodland."


(The above information is courtesy of Wikipedia.)

We recently visited Normanby Hall in early Autumn.

Normanby Hall with "The Sunken Garden" in the foreground.


Inside "The walled Garden"

A late Rose.

Victorian terracotta Rhubarb forcing domes. 

A water carrier for moving around the gardens.

Globe Artichoke.

The Potting Shed.


Possibly filing draws for the garden records?  Maybe for storing saved seeds?
Who knows, I couldn't find anyone to ask.


Equipment store.

The Gardener's office.

A nice selection of vintage lawn mowers.


Thursday 27 October 2016

Louth Victorian Market. (Set 3 of 3).



Steam Punks at the market.

This Steam Punk lad was dressed as a Victorian chimney
sweep's boy. 
(I got permission from his parents to take his
photo and also to put it on this blog.)

Handbag stall.







This lady was pleased to pose for me and then told me that she hadn't dressed purposely for
the Victorian Market.  This is her normal attire, especially on a Sunday.

The swing boats were very popular.


My Suzi, on the left, found a few friends.


This was a really lovely character.

Wednesday 26 October 2016

Louth Victorian Market. (Set 2 of 3).


This steam road roller was built at Leeds by John Fowler's engineering works. 

"John Fowler & Co Engineers of Leathley Road, Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England produced traction engines and ploughing implements and equipment, as well as railway equipment. Fowler also produced the Track Marshall tractor which was a tracked version of the Field Marshall. British Railways Engineering Department locomotives ED1 to ED7 were built by Fowler"

Above information courtesy of Wikipedia.

D.G. Macdonald are a local engineering firm in Louth.


A happy Steam Punk couple.



Annika is a friend of mine so I had to take this.


Victorian cyclist meets a Victorian Steam Punk.

Dogs, I can't resist them.


From the other direction.


This soft toy dog caught my attention but when I saw it breath and twitch I got a shock.
It is a soft toy, obviously with some kind of movement motor, but so life-like.





Tuesday 25 October 2016

Louth Victorian Market. (Set 1 of 3).

A Victorian styled street market has been held at Louth for quite a few years but we've not been to it before.  We decided it was time to have a look.



Most of the stallholders dressed in traditional Victorian dress.  These two however are members
of the Victorian Steam Punk fraternity, but they added to the general interest.





This chap was very entertaining and rode his Penny Farthing
up & down Mercer Row.



A group of strolling players just happened to be in the area.  Not quite true, they were actors
from the Louth Playgoers Theatre who were putting on a production of "Black Adder".


A blatant case of product placement?

The star of the whole day! 

"Mad Hatters"?  I couldn't possibly comment.