TATTERSHALL CASTLE.

Tattershall Castle is in the village of Tattershall, Lincolnshire, England, North East of Sleaford. The castle is in the care of the National Trust. The brick castle was built by Ralph Cromwell, Lord Treasurer of England, between 1434 - 1447 as a display of his wealth, power and ambition in unstable times. The castle has six floors, 149 steps of spiral staircase. About 7 million bricks were used to build the castle, which has been described as the finest piece of Medieval brick - work in England. The castle is roughly square in shape, bounded by an outer moat which encloses an inner moat.

This is the old Guardhouse which is now used as a gift shop.

One of the many bridges that span the outer and inner moats.

The outer moat can just be seen in this photo.

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STREETLIFE MUSEUM HULL---VEHICLES.

BMW ISETTA 300.

The Isetta is Italian-designed built under licence in a number of countries including Spain, Belgium, France, Brazil, Germany and the United Kingdom. Because of it`s egg shape and bubble-like windows, it became known as a Bubble Car, a name later given to other similar vehicles. The BMW Isetta was in 1955 the world`s first mass-production 3 litre 100km car. It was the top selling single cylinder car in the world, with 161,728 units sold.

BMW ISETTA (UNITED KINGDOM).
With space for two and their luggage, the Isetta was perfect for the UK`s urban and rural roads. At one point, the British National Health Service started providing these vehicles for wheelchair users. In 1957, Isetta of Great Britain began producing Isetta 300 models at their factory in the former Brighton Railway Works under licence from BMW. In 1962, Isetta of Great Britain stopped production of the little cars but continued to produce Isetta engines until 1964.

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MORRIS EIGHT, series E, built 1939.

The `E` series of the Eight brought a major restyle to this popular car. During World War two the car was produced in limited numbers for the Military, essential civilian use and export. Full production began again in 1945 and the engine went on to be used in the series M -Morris Minor and as auxiliary power units in Centurion and Chieftain Tanks. 120,434 examples of this car were built between 1938 and 1948. This particular example was bought from new by it`s owner in Goole for £147-15-6d.

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DAIMLER MOTOR CAR, 1899.

In 1895 Harry J.Lawson bought the British Patent rights of the German Daimler Motor Car. A new factory was soon opened in Coventry to build them. This was the first ever British car factory and within eight months they had produced 89 cars. In the same year this car was built, there was the first fatal road accident in Britain. Edwin Sewell and Major Richer were killed when the rear wheel of their Daimler collapsed. They were thrown from their car on Grove Hill, Harrow. 1899 also saw the first person killed by a motor vehicle in the USA, This was Henry Hale Bliss, who had been hit as he got off a streetcar.

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DE DION QUADRICYCLE, 1899.

Made by De Dion-Bouton, France.

Before the Quadricycle, De Dion Tricycles were introduced in 1895. They were among the most popular motor vehicles of their day. The De Dion Tricycle offered reliable and fast motoring, with a top speed of 25 - 30 mph. However the tricycle was limited for carrying passengers. An unsatisfactory trailer was developed but the best solution was found with the Quadricycle in 1899. This could have a passenger`s seat mounted in front of the driver. The passenger seat is missing on this example.

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THREE WHEELED HANSOM CAB, c.1900.

Hansom Cabs were the taxis of their day. The regular two wheeled Hansom Cab is recognisable to many from Sherlock Holmes films. Three wheeled Hansoms were introduced during the 1900`s. They were an attempt to increase the carrying capacity of the Hansom. However, they were quite unstable so few were made. This is a rare surviving example. These were designed to sit four people with a luggage rack on the roof. The driver of the three wheeled Hansom would sit at the front.

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GARDNER - SERPOLLET STEAM CAR, 1901.

Made by Gardner-Serpollet, France.

Leon Serpollet built his first steam powered vehicle at the age of 18. It was a wooden tricycle. For the next three years he improved this until it was reliable enough to travel on public roads. In 1889 Serpollet joined in partnership with Frank Gardner, a wealthy American and they experimented and manufactured vehicles under the name Gardner-Serpollet. Gardner had many influential friends, including the Shah of Persia. This meant they had a ready market for their cars. These early steam cars had coke-fired flash boilers. The man who fed the boiler was called the Chauffeur, which is french for stoker. It was Serpollet who introduced the name of Chauffeur for the man who looked after the car.

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LAND  EXCAVATOR  1921.

Designed and built by Priestmans for use in land drainage it is believed to be the first land excavator of it`s kind in the world. In operation it was driven and towed by a crawler tractor. The power from the tractor was transmitted through a horizontal shaft and centre post. Features include the orginal chain operated whole - tine grab, cone clutches for slewing and differential drum and counter weight for taking up holding rope.

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STREETLIFE MUSEUM IN HULL.

The streetlife museum is located in Kingston Upon Hull, England. The roots of the collection date back to the early 20th century. Core areas of the collection include veteran cars which we shall look at in part two, Horse - drawn carriages and objects relating to local public transport. The recreation of an old cobbled street with replica shops along it, a chemist, grocers and bike shop is a favourite of mine. Some of the shops you can go so far into them and the shop windows display`s old toys etc, trouble though is the reflection you get if you want to photograph them. There is old forms of transport to see such as buses, trams, horse and carriages and cars.

Carriage repair workshop.

Cycle repair workshop.

To be continued.

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RANDOM PHOTOGRAPHS #6.

Bluebells.

Tomatoes.

Sheep.

Looking down into the valley.

Water in slow motion.

Lonesome tree.

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BEMPTON CLIFFS.

Bempton Cliffs is a nature reserve run by the RSPB (royal society for the protection of birds ) at Bempton in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The cliffs run for about six miles between Flamborough and Filey. It is well known for it`s breeding seabirds including the Northern Gannet, Atlantic Puffin, Razorbills, Common Guillemot's, Black-legged Kittiwakes and Fulmers. These hard chalk cliffs rise out of the sea 330 feet high, also these cliffs are relatively resistant to erosion and offer sheltered headlands and crevices for the nesting birds. On the top of the cliffs are good walkways and observation points, where I took my photo`s. There is plenty of parking spaces, Tea Room, Shop and Toilets on this site ( see site map ). If you are a bird watcher or just like taking photo`s this is a place not to be missed.

Site Map.

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THORNTON ABBEY GATEHOUSE.

This is the largest monastic gatehouse in England; an architectural symbol of wealth and power of Thornton Abbey in the late middle ages. The gatehouse is situated close to the small north Lincolnshire village of Thornton Curtis. The gatehouse was built in a combination of brick and stone probably completed between 1377 and 1389. It was the main entrance to the abbey precinct, which was fortified on this side by walls, towers and a broad ditch. In front of the gatehouse is a walled approach that formed an outer defence to the building. The battlements of the gatehouse were once filled with stone sculptures of men hurling stones and firing weapons. It seems unlikely that the gatehouse served as a residence as it contains no kitchens or service rooms. The building may have housed the abbey courtroom and administration. After the suppression of the monastery in 1539, the gatehouse was preserved as the entrance to a house on the abbey site. The gate - passage is still hung with it`s original 14th century doors. Above the gatehouse are several figures of saints, the remains of a much larger display of sculptures. Some have been crudely repaired at an unknown date.

View looking straight to the entrance gate.

The left hand side of the walled approach showing the ditch.

This time the right hand side.

The impressive frontage showing the towers.

A - St John the Baptist.

B- The Virgin.             

        C- St Augustine.                   

D - statue of Christ.

E - Angel with the crown of thorns and a spear.

The left hand side of the walled approach.

The Entrance Arch.

One of the towers.

This is the most beautiful gatehouse I have ever seen and photographed. Sadly most of the Abbey itself is in ruins. It is an English Heritage site.

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