Friday 1st November
This evening we returned to York to see more of the events in the festival.
These lights told a story and were projected onto the façade of St Helen's Church.

In the garden of the Treasurer's House students from the university created a strange scene with light, fire, smoke and dance.

Inside the house ghostly tales were told in each candlelight room.



Wednesday 30th October
This evening we visited 'Illuminating York' with Rachael and Mike.
www.illuminatingyork.org
Our first stop was in the Museum gardens to watch a projection experience telling the story of the Viking king Eric Bloodaxe.

From there we walked to York Minster where, for the first time this decade, the pews had been removed from the nave leaving an impressive space.

Some of the country's top urban graffiti artists were working at one end of the space.

The most atmospheric event was the spiral of light created by candles lit in memory of a loved one.

In the Memorial Gardens we walked a trail around a series of fiery sculptural instillations.

Our last stop was at the National Railway Museum where all six of the remaining Class A4 locomotives were displayed with effective light and sound.



Thursday 17th October
As the forecast was very good, we visited Beningbrough Hall near York.
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/beningbrough-hall/  

We walked into the garden after lunch and we were just in time to join a tour of the fruit trees led by the very knowledgeable head gardener.

Outside the main garden the south facing borders were full of colour.



Sunday 13th October
We enjoyed the Autumn Festival at Harlow Carr. After sampling the freshly pressed apple juice, we came across this cookery demonstration. Bread, risotto and fruit pudding were passed around the audience and were very tasty.

Nearby this display was set up in a corner of the greenhouse  and local growers were selling their produce at small stalls.



Sunday 6th October
After parking on the side of the road because the car park was full, we walked along one side of Fewston Reservoir for an hour. We were surprised by how low the water was.





Saturday 21st September
Today we visited the Great North Art Show in Ripon Cathedral. The walls of the beautiful Cathedral were covered with a huge variety of impressive works of art. We particularly liked the pastels by Steve Elliott.
http://www.steveelliott.net/



Sunday 8th September
As it was such a pleasant day today all four of us went to Sale Water Park. Part way round the lake we stopped at a bird hide to see what was going on in the nature reserve.

There were three herons out on the island and a kingfisher was spotted close by.

A bit further along there was a side track which leads to walks by the side of the River Mersey.