Lime Street, Liverpool

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Lime Street, Liverpool
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The street was named for lime kilns owned by William Harvey, a local businessman. When the street was laid out in 1790 it was outside the city limits, but by 1804 the lime kilns were causing problems at a nearby infirmary. The doctors complained about the smell, and so the kilns were moved away, but the street name remained unchanged. With the arrival of the railway line in 1836, the street moved from a marginal to a central location in the city, a position that confirmed by the creation of St George’s Hall, on the side of the street opposite the railway station, in 1854. Wellington’s Column, a monument to the Duke of Wellington was built to mark one end of the street, at the corner with William Brown Street.
Wikipedia

It must have had a very frontier atmosphere in the 19th century. It was beyond the edge of the old town boundary. All that changed with two arrivals.
The railway first in 1851, then in 1856 and St George’s Hall, which opened in 1854. St George’s Hall turned Liverpool from a provincial north of England town, to the second city of Empire. Its nearness to the station is of great significance. It was Liverpool’s message to the world. . . . Lime Street was full of atmosphere, pubs and people. Some guide books will tell you of the ladies of the night. Its famous pubs were of the early 20th century. The Crown, The Vines, otherwise known around here as the Big House. The American Bar, which is older than both of those. At the beginning of the 20th century it also became a Mecca for the new entertainment – the cinema. Several cinemas including very famous ones like the Forum, have occupied this ground since before the first world war.
BBC: Local History Liverpool

The Radisson RED Liverpool Hotel is a historic building in Liverpool, England. It is located on the east side of Lime Street, fronting Lime Street railway station. Opened in 1871 as the North Western Hotel, it more recently served as office space and student accommodation. It was restored as a hotel from 2018 to 2022. The building is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. Opened as a railway hotel in 1871 by the London and North Western Railway the hotel served Lime Street railway station. The design was by Alfred Waterhouse, containing 330 rooms. The hotel closed in 1933, subsequently becoming Lime Street Chambers for a while before closing once again. . . . The building is constructed in stone with a slate roof in the Renaissance Revival style resembling a French château. The baroque details are in the Second Empire style, common for this time period. It has five storeys, a basement and an attic, and is in 21 bays. The end bays and the bays flanking the three-bay centre are carried up into towers. The central entrance is round-arched, and is flanked by Doric columns.
Wikipedia

Mumbles Pier, Swansea

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Mumbles Pier, Swansea
Postmarked 1932

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The Grade II listed structure of Mumbles Pier is an 835 feet (255 m) long Victorian pleasure pier built in 1898. It is located at the south-western corner of Swansea Bay near the village of Mumbles, within the city and county of Swansea, Wales. Designed by W. Sutcliffe Marsh and promoted by John Jones Jenkins of the Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway, the pier opened on 10 May 1898 at a cost of £10,000. It was the western terminus for the world’s first passenger carrying horsecar railway, the Swansea and Mumbles Railway; and a major terminal for the White Funnel paddle steamers of P & A Campbell, unloading tourists from routes along the River Severn and Bristol Channel.
Wikipedia

The Pier is one of Swansea’s most iconic and recognisable landmarks. Steeped in a rich history the Pier conveys a triumph in Victorian Architecture. The Mumbles Pier is one of only six surviving iron piers in Wales and is currently Grade II listed. The Mumbles Pier was opened to the public on the 10th May 1898, the project was carried out by seasoned pier specialists Mayoh and Haley and was overseen and designed by celebrated Victorian engineer W.Sutcliffe Marsh. The 835ft structure cost £10,000 to complete, and its completion which was relitively late in the history of Piers, takes on many of the architectural successes learnt from other piers all over the country. Along with the opening of the Pier came the extension of the Mumbles Railway line from Oystermouth to the newly built Pier Terminus.
Mumbles Pier

A large crowd from the surrounding area gathered to watch the official opening, with the 3rd Glamorgan Volunteer band playing a selection of tunes on the band-stand. Local schoolchildren were given a half-day holiday in celebration of these major events. The Lady Margaret, the first steam boat to land passengers on the pier, arrived at 2pm and brought with it around 700 visitors from Bristol, Clevedon, Cardiff and Penarth. The steam boat, which was to run regular trips to Mumbles Pier throughout that season, departed at 4:30pm. Following this, the festivities continued at the new Mermaid Hotel, in which 80 gentlemen were entertained by Sir John Jones Jenkins MP, the Chairman of the Mumbles Railway & Pier Company.

Jenkins said that as well as being a tourist attraction to bring more footfall to the area, he saw a large commercial opportunity. Its geographical location, with a bay on the one side laid out for commercial purposes, with a large industry capacity, complimented by its natural beauty, stood out to him. He referenced the fact that as development continued in Cardiff, thanks in part due to the growing coal trade, they were making very large docks to accommodate the largest ships of the era. Newport, as well as Liverpool, were doing similar, with ships of up to 1000ft long docking there. Swansea, meanwhile, had nowhere near this capacity, and he wanted to accommodate larger ships in the area – up to 720 feet. Following a long speech, he raised a toast to the “success of the Mumbles Railway & Pier Company”.

Despite these ambitions, the pier’s history is mostly recreational, as Swansea Docks did not appreciate the competition, and the industrial boom of the area did not come to fruition. The 1904 Centenary souvenir book of the Mumbles Railway, recorded that ‘The Pier has become, without doubt, the most popular resort in the locality’ and The White Funnel paddle steamers of P and A Campbell, such as the ‘Brighton’ would call to take trippers across to Ilfracombe and other ports along the River Severn and Bristol Channel.
Swansea Herald: Mumbles pier – Its history, the present, and future hopes

Watersmeet, Lynmouth, Devon

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The Rickety Bridge, Watersmeet, Lynmouth
c.1910

Watersmeet’s setting is a haven for many visitors. Built originally as a fishing lodge and romantic retreat, with connections to the romantic poets, it has been a tea-room since 1901. From a factory bottling mineral water to a devastating flood, Watersmeet has had a varied history. . . . The Lynrock mineral water factory opened on the East Lyn river in 1911, owned and run by the Attree brothers, who lived at Myrtleberry, a short distance up the river. It was a popular watering hole for the Edwardians who could sample what was reputed to be the most palatable water in the world with radioactive qualities that could cure gout. The factory bottled mineral water and made ginger beer until 1939 when it closed due to lack of demand.
National Trust

Watersmeet House is a National Trust property located some 1.8 miles (2.9 km) east of Lynmouth, in the English county of Devon. A former fishing lodge, it is today used as an information centre, tea room and shop by the National Trust. Adjoining the house is the Watersmeet SSSI, a Site of Special Scientific Interest.The house, which dates from approximately 1832, was built for Walter Stevenson Halliday. It stands at the bottom of a deep gorge at the confluence of the East Lyn River and Hoar Oak Water. The house itself lies on the east bank of the river in the civil parish of Brendon and Countisbury, although the other bank is in Lynton and Lynmouth parish. Approximately 200 metres (660 ft) from the house on the bank of the river are a pair of lime kilns dating from the late 18th or early 19th century. Watersmeet House is the starting-off point for some 40 miles (64 km) of woodland, streamside and seaside walks. The site has been a tea garden since 1901, and has been owned by the National Trust since 1936.
Wikipedia

Devil’s Bridge, Ceredigion, Wales

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Falls and Hotel, Devils Bridge
1930s
Publisher: Valentine

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The village is best known for the bridge that spans the Afon Mynach, a tributary of the Rheidol. The bridge is unique in that three separate bridges are coexistent, each one built upon the previous bridge. The previous structures were not demolished. The most recently built, in 1901, is an iron bridge which was erected above the older arches. The original bridge is medieval and the second one, a stone structure, built in 1753 and upgraded in 1777 and in 1814, was erected when the original bridge was thought to be unstable. The builders of the 1753 structure used the original bridge (c. 1075–1200) to support scaffolding during construction and added a second arch. The 1901 structure eliminated the slope in the roadway.
. . .
Devil’s Bridge has been a tourist attraction for centuries. Records indicate that tourists were coming to this area by the mid 1700s and that an inn or hotel has existed nearby since before 1796. The area was once part of the Hafod Estate, owned by Thomas Johnes who built a small hunting lodge on the estate which was eventually expanded into an inn. The building burned down and was rebuilt. Significant renovations were completed in 1837–1839 and in the 1860s. After several expansions and upgrades, it has been operated as the Hafod Hotel, using this name since the 1860s.
Wikipedia

The 300ft Mynach Waterfalls are set deep within the ancient wooded gorge and have attracted many thousands of visitors since the 18th century, including William Wordsworth who wrote about the “Torrent at the Devil’s Bridge”. Today, Devil’s Bridge Falls Nature Trail provides a unique opportunity to see this great natural feature. The Mynych (translates as the ‘Monks River’), is a tributary of the larger Rheidol River, which runs in a deep, wooded valley towards Aberystwyth and the Cardigan Bay coast. Technically, Devil’s Bridge waterfalls can be classified as segmented or tiered falls with five major drops and intervening cascades which add up to a 91 m total drop, and therefore is among the highest in Wales.
Visit Wales

A mile beyond Yspytty we came to the Devil’s Bridge, which is thrown from rock to rock over a deep chasm and foaming torrent. The story of its erection is as follows :—

A woman had lost her cow, and at length saw it grazing on the opposite side of the chasm. In this situation, whether she applied to the devil for assistance, or whether he appeared and voluntarily offered his services I am not certain, but he offered to build the bridge on condition of his taking the first living thing that passed over it. The condition was accepted ; the bridge arose, but the woman found that she had dealt with the devil without being a gainer by the bargain. She found, what she might probably have found before if she had sought for it, that if the cow came to her the cow was the sacrifice ; and if she went to the cow it was worse. From this dilemma she happily extricated herself by throwing a crust of bread across the river, and sending her dog for it over the bridge, thus proving that a woman, at least a Welsh woman, can cheat the devil.
https://archive.org/details/reminiscencesag00huttgoog/page/n59/mode/2up

Great Malvern Priory, Malvern, Worcestershire

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Interior, Priory Church, Malvern
1930s
Publisher: Valentine

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Great Malvern Priory in Malvern, Worcestershire, England, was a Benedictine monastery (c. 1075 – 1540) and is now an Anglican parish church. . . . The priory was built for thirty monks on land belonging to Westminster Abbey. A charter from Henry I in 1128 AD refers to Great Malvern Priory as ‘the Priory of St. Mary’. In 1154–1156, Westminster Abbey obtained a Papal bull from Pope Adrian IV which confirms a strong dependency of the priory of St Mary, Malvern, on the Abbey of Westminster. An 18th-century document in the Worcester County Record Office states that in the 18th year of King William’s reign (1083?), the priory was dedicated to St Mary the Virgin. Within the Victorian History of the Counties of England: A History of Worcester, edited by W. Page, there is an account of the foundation of the monastery in Bishop Guilford’s Register of 1283. It describes how hermit Aldwyn petitioned Urse d’Abetot, the Earl of Gloucester, for the original site (of the Priory) in the wood, and land “as far as Baldeyate”; that he collected monks, and adopted the Rule of St. Benedict; dedicating the monastery to the Virgin Mary – but occasionally under patronage of both St. Mary & St. Michael.

On the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1541, local people raised £20 to buy the building to replace their decaying parish church. By 1788 the Priory had fallen into disrepair. It was partly restored in 1812 and again in 1816, 1834 and 1841. A careful restoration was carried out in 1860 under the direction of Sir George Gilbert Scott, the famous architect, who also designed the roof of the nave in imitation of the medieval original.
Wikipedia

The Priory was built for 30 monks and was much smaller than it is now. . . . In the 15th century, the Priory church was extended and rebuilt in the perpendicular style with large windows. The tower was reconstructed (styled on Gloucester cathedral), the presbytery, choir and choir aisles were rebuilt and the north aisle was widened. Locally made tiles were put on the floors and some of the walls, and the windows were filled with stained glass. More monks’ stalls (misericords), depicting the labours of the months of the year, were installed. Richard, Duke of Gloucester, (later Richard III) and Henry VII both donated glass for two large stained glass windows at the west end and in the north transept. . . . During the 1530s King Henry VIII needed money and since the monasteries belonged to someone else – the Pope – he decided to plunder them. All opposition was brushed aside by Thomas Cromwell, and in 1539 the Malvern monks surrendered their lands and buildings. The Prior’s house, Priory gatehouse (now Malvern’s museum) and the Guesten Hall were allowed to stand and were sold. The Chapter House, Refectory and Dormitory were sold and demolished. The Lady Chapel (which extended out from the east end) and the south transept were torn down and the lead was stripped from the roof of the main building. The rest of the church was only to remain standing until the Crown could find a buyer looking for a cheap source of building material.

The Priory church was saved by the people of Malvern. Standing where the main Malvern Post Office stands now, their own 13th century parish church was in a state of disrepair. The parishioners, led by John Pope, petitioned the Crown and succeeded in buying the Priory for £20, to be paid in two annual instalments of £10. The parish consisted of only 105 families. After they had bought the church they had no money left to spend on the building. A chalice from the old parish church was sold to raise some funds for essential repairs; there were large holes in walls where structures had been torn down. Subsequently they struggled with its upkeep. . . . By the latter half of the 18th century the whole building had fallen into a terrible state of disrepair. It was damp and parts of it flooded, windows were deteriorating because of weakening of the leadwork and many were smashed as a consequence of storms and vandalism. A huge ivy had grown up against the great east window, through it, and into the church. Plaster was falling off the walls and there was even a pigeon loft in the north transept.

The growing popularity of the water cure in Malvern brought both people and money to the town. At the beginning of the 19th century attempts to renovate the Priory began. The walls were cleaned and whitewashed and windows repaired. Unfortunately the local glaziers pieced together fragments of glass from various windows in wild confusion. . . . The main restoration of the Priory in the 19th century was in 1860 under the direction of Sir George Gilbert Scott, at a cost of £11,000. The internal masonry was scraped and cleaned, transept gallery pews were removed, the wooden ceiling of the nave was repaired and restored, wooden ceilings were provided for the nave aisles and north transept, the canopied triple decker pulpit was replaced, the old box pews were changed for rush seats and the mediaeval floor tiles were lifted, relocated on walls and replaced with Victorian Minton copies.
Great Malvern Priory

Carn Brea Castle, Cornwall

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Camborne | Carn Brea Castle
Postmarked 1909
Publisher: Woolstone Bros, London

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The castle is a small stone folly decorated in the romantic ideal style of a medieval/gothic castle. It has an irregular layout with four rectangular turrets round a core of the same height and an embattled parapet. The building is built into a large stone outcrop with a steep drop on the rear. The building was designed as a hunting lodge rather than a dwelling and measures 60 by 10 feet (18.3 by 3.0 m).The castle was originally built as a chapel, in 1379, thought to be dedicated to St Michael. Antiquarian William Worcester recorded that there were 32 castles on the Cornish peninsula, including Carn Brea which was described as a tower. The castle was extensively rebuilt in later periods, primarily in the 18th century by the Basset family as a hunting lodge. It is considered a folly, due to the huge uncut boulders that make up part of its foundations, giving the impression of the building melting into the land. Its use as a beacon for ships was recorded in 1898 when stipulated in the lease, the tenant agreeing to show a light in the north facing window. The castle had periods of disuse and disrepair in the 1950s to 1970s, until private renovation in 1975-1980.
Wikipedia

The castle actually sits on the so-called ‘Giant’s Seat’, which, according to legend, was used by John of Gaunt, a giant that is said to have once lived on Carn Brea. Legend says that he met his demise in battle with Bolster, the giant of St Agnes, who was said to be so big that he could stand with one foot on St Agnes Beacon and the other on Carn Brea. Poor ol’ John never stood a chance but his legend lives on up on Carn Brea, as there are several rock formations that are named after him, including his ‘cradle’ and his ‘coffin’. . . . It’s believed that the first stones were laid in the early 14th century and that the original structure was a chapel that was dedicated to St Michael and was built in 1379. A hundred years later, it was described as a ‘tower’ and in the 18th century it was given a much more castle-like look as it was being used as a hunting lodge by the Bassets, a local mine-owning dynasty that lorded over the region for some 700 years.
Proper Cornwall

Of Castles in Cornwall, intended for residence as well as defence, is Karn-bre, or Carn-brea Castle, near the Land’s End. This is very small, scarcely 60 feet long by 10 wide, built upon a ledge of rock, whose uneven surface has caused great difficulty in the level of the rooms upon the ground-floor. The building had three stories in some parts, in others but one. Part of the Castle is very ancient and of rude architecture ; and the less ancient portion is thought to have been built on older foundations. Carn-brea Hill abounds with antiquities: there are an ancient camp of irregular form, some cairns, and other antiquities of rough stone.
“Abbeys, castles, and ancient halls of England and Wales”, John Tibbs, 1872

Ingestre Hall, Ingestre, Staffordshire

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Ingestre Hall
Postmarked 1907
Publisher: Valentine

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Ingestre Arts: Virtual Tour

Ingestre Hall is a Grade II* 17th-century Jacobean mansion situated at Ingestre, near Stafford, Staffordshire, England. Formerly the seat of the Earls Talbot and then the Earls of Shrewsbury, the hall is now owned by Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council and is in use as a residential arts and conference centre. History
Ingestre is mentioned in the Domesday Book. During the reign of Henry II the manor was owned by the de Mutton family. During the reign of Edward III the house passed to the Chetwynd family, through the marriage of heiress Isabel de Mutton and Sir John Chetwynd. Their descendants were raised to the peerage in 1733 as Baron Talbot and later in the century as Earl Talbot.

The imposing mansion was built in red brick, on the site of an earlier manor house, in 1613 for Sir Walter Chetwynd, (High Sheriff of Staffordshire in 1607). A later Walter Chetwynd, his grandson, was created Viscount Chetwynd in 1717. The daughter and heiress of the 2nd Viscount married Hon. John Talbot in 1748 and their son John Chetwynd-Talbot (who was later 3rd Baron Talbot, and from 1784 Viscount Ingestre and Earl Talbot) inherited the Ingestre estate. The house was renovated in the early 19th century by architect John Nash for the 2nd Earl, Charles Chetwynd-Talbot. In 1856 the 3rd Earl and 3rd Viscount Ingestre, Henry John Chetwynd-Talbot, succeeded a distant cousin to become the 18th Earl of Shrewsbury. The hall was badly damaged by fire and largely rebuilt in 1882. The rebuilding was to the designs of the Adelphi, London based architect, John Birch.
Wikipedia

Early C17 altered by Nash circa 1810 and largely rebuilt after fire in 1882. The restoration was on the original lines. Brickwith stone dressing and ornamental brick stacks. Stone mullioned windows. Large 2 storeyed bays on front and an imposing Jacobean porch. The interior is mostly modern.
Historic England

Ingestre, Staffordshire “The baronial halls, picturesque edifices, and ancient churches of England”, Samuel Carter Hall, 1845

Ingestre Hall is pleasantly situated on a gentle declivity, sloping towards the river Trent, in a large and richly wooded park, which contains some remarkably fine beech and other trees. The house has a stately and venerable appearance. It is in the style which prevailed during the reigns of Elizabeth and James the First — having various projections, bay windows, and others with stone mullions. The north front was built by the present Earl, corresponding in character with the south front ; and like that also of brick and stone ; by which means several elegant rooms and a grand staircase have been added. The north side has a terraced flower-garden ornamented by fountains, a stone balustrade, &c, which add much to the elegance of this part of the building. The interior well agrees with the exterior — consisting of large and well-proportioned apartments, the principal of which is the Library, an elegant room occupying the western portion of the Mansion, containing a valuable collection of Books, placed in handsome oak cases, with pilasters, &c, of the Corinthian order ; also a beautiful marble fire-place. The Billiard-room is wainscotted with oak, one-third of its height, containing a variety of grotesque heads in small panels. The grand Staircase has a massive oak railing of arabesque character. The interior, however, has been greatly modernised ; and its chief attraction to the antiquary will arise from the Family Portraits, which possess considerable interest.
“The baronial halls, picturesque edifices, and ancient churches of England”, Samuel Carter Hall, 1845

Winter Gardens, Sunderland, Tyne & Wear

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The Winter Gardens and Kake, Mowbray Park, Sunderland

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The first museum in Sunderland opened in 1810. It was a small, private museum housed in one room, the collection was mainly natural history specimens ; 72 birds, 12 fish, and 427 minerals and fossils. Other items listed include Colonel Lilburne’s boots (which are still on display today in the Time machine gallery). . . . A number of years later a competition was held to design a building to house the ever growing collections. Local architects J & T Tilman won the contract and the purpose built museum, art gallery, library and Winter Gardens opened in 1879. The foundation stone was laid by the Mayor on 24 September 1877 in the presence of ex- president of the USA General Grant.
Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens

The museum opened in November 1879. The library and natural history collections were on the ground floor, and the antiquities and art gallery on the first floor. The Winter Garden is the glass structure at the back of the building, which when opened featured exotic plants and birds, with goldfish in the pond. The original Winter Garden was based on Caxton’s design for Crystal Palace in London. . . . Extensive bomb damage during the Second World War destroyed the original winter garden and much of the back of the museum. It was gradually rebuilt.
Seagull City

Temple Newsam, Leeds, West Yorkshire

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Temple Newsam, Leeds 
The Dining Room
Postmarked 1936
Publisher: Pickard Photo, Leeds

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Temple Newsam House is a magnificent stately home, surrounded by acres of land. It is a Tudor Jacobean Mansion House with over 42 rooms. The whole estate is almost 1,000 acres including parkland, lakes and a farm. The grounds of Newsam was first recorded in the Doomsday book in 1086. The word Newsam means ‘new houses’ and ‘temple’ refers to the Knights Templar who used to own the land where the house is built. The house was built by Thomas Lord Darcy between 1500 – 1520. It was the largest house of its day in Yorkshire. During its long history there have been many important owners. It was seized by the King of England, Henry VIII, after he beheaded Darcy in 1537. King Henry gave the house to his niece, Margaret, as a wedding present when she married Matthew Lennox. Margaret and Matthew had a son, Henry Lord Darnley, who was born at Temple Newsam House in 1545. The house was seized for the second time by Queen Elizabeth I when Henry Lord Darnley married Mary Queen of Scots.

In 1922 the estate was sold to Leeds City Council for £35,000, with the house included as a gift. The objects and furniture were auctioned off. The house was then empty for a period of time, before being used as a sculpture gallery in the 1940s. After this, the process of restoring the house began, returning many of the impressive interiors to their historic appearance from different centuries.
The Story of Temple Newsam

In 1841 the estate was inherited by Hugo Charles Meynell Ingram (d. 1869), son of Elizabeth Ingram, sister of Frances Ingram (Lady Gordon), who made no alterations to the estate. In 1868, the Prince of Wales stayed at Temple Newsam during his visit to Leeds to open the Fine Art Exhibition in the New Infirmary; temporary triumphal arches were erected on the estate. Following Hugo Charles’s death, his son Hugo Meynell-Ingram (d.1871) inherited Temple Newsam; two years later, at his death, his wife Emily Meynell Ingram (d.1904) inherited the estate. Emily spent a large part of her widowhood at Temple Newsam; she developed it considerably by replacing the sash windows and remodelling the dining room, great staircase and Lord Darnley’s room. . . .At the end of the 19th century, Emily Meynell Ingram replaced the sash windows with stone mullions and leaded lights and rebuilt the north porch adding the Meynell Ingram coat of arms over the doorway. She redecorated several rooms and had the great oak staircase installed. The dining room, great staircase and Lord Darnley’s room were remodelled in Elizabethan style. In 1877, Emily converted the library at the east end of the gallery into a chapel.
Wikipedia

Rigg Mill, Whitby, North Yorkshire

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Rigg Mill, Whitby
Postmarked 1905
Publisher: H. Graham Glen, Wortley, Leeds

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Modern (2009) photo

The River Esk, the northern boundary which separates the [Sneaton] parish from Whitby, is joined by Buskey Beck, the western boundary, and by Shawm Rigg’s Beck, which is part of the eastern boundary. Rigg Mill Beck forms the eastern boundary as far as its source at Soulsgrave Slack on Sneaton Low Moor. Rigg Mill, a picturesque ruin beside a waterfall in a wood, is possibly the ‘Agge Milne’ of the 11th century
“A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 2”, 1923 (British History Online)

Here the tourist used to the spaciousness and comparative monotony of New World scenery will once more wonder at the quick transitions, the sudden leaps from scene to scene, that nature, in the picturesque shires of England, makes within limits so circumscribed. Breadth of horizon plays no part in the attractions of Rigg Mill. Wildness of heather and bracken and rock there is not, nor even noisy rush of water. The streamlet flows along cheerfully, but with low voice. The big mill-wheel ceased its turning and splashing a long while ago, long enough for the great wooden circumference to have reached just the ideal of ornamental decrepitude. The dell itself is a soft, serene spot that may win the fancy, but can never take by storm an eye on the lookout for large and florid effects of size and color. Turf and flowers and vines have the graceful trimness, the restrained abundance, that are attained only where climate fosters luxuriance but never rankness of growth. Rugged, gnarled, and wind-bent trees shut in this tiny vale on all sides. They stand on the hilltops like ancient sentinels guarding mill and granary, which, tempered in their turn with the infinite mellowness of age, show no trace of the spick-and-span newness that often clashes, in man’s work, with the venerable work of nature.
“A Poet’s Yorkshire Haunts”, Eugenia Skelding, The Atlantic August 1895

Whitby, Rigg Mill, near Whitby, Yorkshire, England, 1890s, from the Library of Congress