Saturday 30th June

This afternoon we visited Thwaite Mills for the Leeds Waterfront Festival. We enjoyed looking around the Amy Houson Humber sloop and talking to the volunteers who are restoring her.





We listened to the traditional songs of two folk singers which kept everyone's feet tapping.

This is the view from further along by the waterside.

The mill itself was much larger than we had expected and the two mill wheels were working, powering an extensive system of drive shafts and gears which drove a wide range of machinery in the mill and the toolshop.

In the toolshop there was a working blacksmith making items to sell.

Monday 25th June

On our way back from Rachael & Mike's house, we called in at the RHS gardens at Wisley.



Saturday 23rd June

We enjoyed afternoon tea with Rachael and Mike at the Landmark Hotel to celebrate Rachael's birthday.



Rachael and Mike posed at the front door of their new flat with the neighbour's cat.

Tuesday 19th June

This morning we walked down into Wetherby to see the Olympic torch parade pass through the town centre. The torch bearer that we saw is a local boy who has just recovered from a serious illness.



Sunday 17th June

This afternoon we drove to Sutton Bank with Russell and Christine. The views over the Vale of York were very clear.



There were lots of gliders landing and taking off and we got a good view of the tow plane.

Saturday 16th June

We visited the Yorkshire Sculpture Park with Malcolm. We caught the bus to Longside Gallery where we enjoyed a retrospective display of work by Anish Kapoor.



We followed the sculpture trail around the grounds. www.ysp.co.uk 

In the Underground Gallery and Gardens we viewed the first major UK exhibition of sculpture by Joan Miro.

Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th June

This is the first weekend of the North Yorkshire Open Studios when artists invite members of the public to visit them where they work.

Today we decided to head for the coast and enjoyed the views over the beach at Sandsend as we ate lunch.

During the day we saw pottery, painting, printing, felting and willow structures

We particularly enjoyed the big clear acrylics of Lynne Wixon which showed man-made coastal structures such as Paddy's Hole at Redcar.

One artist in Ravenscar enjoys this amazing view over the coast but concentrates on painting portraits.

On Sunday we headed to the Dales where the views were stunning as we drove to Malham.
We saw examples of painting, ragging, pastels and metal sculpture.

In the centre of Langcliffe we discovered this crown, created for the Jubilee celebrations

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At Austwick Hall we talked at length to Andrew Kay who created these striking animals that sit well in this extensive garden.