Thornton Abbey

I've already shown you the gatehouse (from both the inside and outside) at Thornton Abbey but here is a photo of the remains of the abbey.

In comparison to the gatehouse there is very little of the abbey still remaining other then the foundation walls. In fact all that is left is a couple of sides of the chapter house.

Thornton Abbey: The Gatehouse seen from Inside

Continuing on from yesterday's post here is a view of the gatehouse at Thornton Abbey as seen from inside the monastic enclosure.

Definitely not as ornate as the outside. There are quite a few archways in the wall, apparently these were not meant to be functionally but are included simply to reduce the amount of brick needed to build the curtain wall.

Thornton Abbey: The Gatehouse

On Monday we drove the short distance from the Reeds Hotel to the nearby Thornton Abbey. I'll probably do a few posts on the abbey and it's grounds but I'll start with the gatehouse.

According to English Heritage:

The enormous and ornate fortified gatehouse of Thornton Abbey is the largest and among the finest of all English monastic gatehouses. An early example of brick building in England, it proclaimed the wool trade based prosperity of one of the wealthiest English Augustinian monasteries, for centuries a focus of spiritual and economic influence. Begun in the 1360s, the gatehouse was enlarged and fortified with battlements after the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, presumably as insurance against further trouble. Standing some 21 metres (69 feet) high and resembling a castle keep gatehouse, it may have protected the abbey's treasures, as well as providing spacious lodgings for the abbot and his guests.

The photo is a large panorama so you can get a feel of just how ornate sections of the gatehouse really are by clicking on it and then zooming in and having a really close look.

Don't Get Too Close!

Don't get too close! is good advice when taking photos like this one. I don't know if it was inhabited or not but given that it could contain quite a few wasps I wasn't going to get too close to it.

To be on the safe side we even sat at the other end of the hide to the nest. When it comes to flying insects that can sting I don't think you can be too careful!

Freshwater Fish

I'm not really a fish person, unless it comes battered with a generous portion of chips but I saw some interesting fish yesterday.

We are currently on holiday at the Reeds Hotel (some of you may remember that we also stayed here last year) on the south bank of the Humber right near the Humber Bridge. Yesterday morning we went for a walk around the Far Ings nature reserve that the hotel sits in the middle of. We were walking along the edge of the Hotel Pit and had almost reached the end furthest from the hotel (if that sounds confusing then there is a reserve map you can look at) when I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. At first I thought it was the tail of a bird that had just dived, then on closer inspection I realised it was a fin! Once we realised there were fish in the water you could actually see quite a few -- nine was the most we could see at one time. Now usually when I've seen fish they have been quite small but these were all well over a foot in length, most of them were probably around 15 inches or so with some even bigger.

Now as I said at the beginning unless the fish is battered and served with chips then I know nothing about fish. So here are the best photos I managed to take given the light.

Anyone fancy at guess at the species of fish?

Sunset By The Humber

As you may have guessed by now, we had a really good time at the Reeds Hotel and wouldn't hesitate to go back in the future. I'll finish this set of posts though with Saturday night's sunset.

The Humber Bridge

I previously mentioned that the Reeds Hotel was just spitting distance from the Humber Bridge. In case you've never seen the Humber Bridge this is what it looks like from Waters' Edge Visitor Centre, just a few minutes drive from the hotel.

Footprints In The Sand

Windy Walks

Having finally come to a decision on the identity of the diver we went for a walk around the Far Ings Nature Reserve which borders the hotel. The reserve consists of a number of flooded pits with lots of reed beds which make an ideal habitat for a number of birds. Here is the view from the first hide.

The building you can see on the very left is the hotel, so you can see why we were watching the diver from the restaurant window. You can also see just how close the hotel is to the Humber Bridge. What you can't tell is just how windy and cold it was -- one of the perils of bird watching in February.

Red Throated Diver

There is one major problem with bird watching in winter -- many of the birds look the same without their bright summer colours. This explains why we spent all of breakfast on Saturday morning arguing about the identity of the diver that was swimming around just a few yards from the restaurant window.

After much debate we eventually concluded, based solely on the angle at which it was holding its head and a few white feathers between bill and eyes, that it was in fact a Red Throated Diver and not a Black Throated Diver. It would have been so much easier in summer as (funnily enough) one has a red throat and one has a black throat!

Food Glorious Food

We've just spent a great weekend at the Reeds Hotel just spitting distance from the Humber Bridge. I was intending to blog while we were there given that there was free Wi-Fi access. Unfortunately no matter what I tried I could not get my laptop to connect.

Now as you might have guessed from previous posts I quite like my food. I'm not vegetarian and I have no problem trying unusual dishes. In particular I like having the opportunity to try new things, so when I saw the menu on Friday I knew exactly what I was going to have for starter: Pan Seared Wood Pigeon Breast, Carved onto a medallion of black pudding and smoked bacon. The wood pigeon was fantastic and the black pudding (something I've always avoided) was not as bad as I expected it to be!

All the food over the weekend was superb and while there was nothing else that I'd never had before I did manage to eat: Roast Vegetable Tart with a blue cheese dressing, Pan Fried 6oz Venison Steak served with a red onion & apple tart tartin & a rich port jus, Oven Roasted Leg of Lamb with a redcurrant and red wine jus, Red Wine Poached Pear fanned on a bed of rice pudding with white chocolate wafers, Marmalade Glazed Bread and Butter Pudding, Frozen Raspberry Parfait with a white chocolate crisp, two large cooked breakfasts, and a bowl of Chicken and Vegetable Soup.