Sunday 29th May

Today we went for a walk with Russell from Spofforth Castle towards Kirkby Overblow.

Friday 20th May

We gathered in front of the entrance to Leeds Grand Theatre for a 'behind-the-scenes' tour.

The first thing we were told was that when this theatre was refurbished in 2006 the walls were covered in thick pink plaster which hid these original ornate Victorian tiles.

The stained glass in the dress-circle bar is also original.

We were taken onto the stage which is one of the largest in the country. There are 1500 seats but many artists have commented on the feeling of connection with an audience here.

We were shown the new lorry lift by which scenery, lighting and props can be delivered to stage level which is two floors above the street outside. During performances the scenery and backdrops used to be hauled up and down by hand but this is now controlled by state of the art computer technology.

Wednesday 18th May

This afternoon we visited The Yorkshire Sculpture Park at Bretton Hall. We took the free minibus from the car park to Longside Gallery where we saw some modern works and some small Henry Moore pieces which were striking and very touchable but we weren't even allowed to take photographs.

http://www.ysp.co.uk/

We walked the 2.5km back to the centre passing this mesh tower where we climbed to the top and had good views across the valley and were buffeted by the wind.

We next passed some pieces of work by Anthony Gormley.

We stopped for a picnic at one end of the lake near this work, 'Promenade' by Sir Anthony Caro.

The Spring show features the sculptor Jaume Plensa. He had exhibition pieces inside and out. They were superb.

Thursday 12th May

The Mercer Art Gallery in Harrogate has been recently refurbished and is currently holding an exhibition of work by the Yorkshire artist, Atkinson Grimshaw. We spent an enjoyable hour there this afternoon. The pictures below show two of our favourite pieces of his work.

http://www.harrogate.gov.uk/Pages/harrogate-4905.aspx

Tuesday 10th May

We travelled to York City Art gallery to see David Hockney's huge painting; Bigger Trees Near Warter.

http://www.yorkartgallery.org.uk/Page/Index.aspx

It consists of fifty separate canvasses and there was a display showing how the work had been created. The size was impressive and the colours worked well together.

Thursday 5th May

We had a trip to Scarborough today. It was fairly quiet, especially at the South Bay.

As the tide was right out we walked along the beach by the waters edge and got some good views of the town.

We noticed lots of seagulls gathering seaweed, presumably for nesting.

Later in the afternoon the sun came out as we were walking towards Peasholm Park.

http://www.peasholmpark.com/

Monday 2nd May

This afternoon we visited Hetchell Woods to enjoy the bluebells, which were lovely, but we also enjoyed the orchids & wild garlic.

http://pompocaliandhetchell.co.uk/

As we left we took a detour to Pompocali where we sat back and enjoyed the sunshine.