Tag Archives: england

Where Scotland meets England and a curious gift shop

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THE MITFORD SISTERS were daughters of David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale. The A68 road that runs from Edinburgh in Scotland to Darlington in England cosses the border between the two countries at Carter Bar. This pass in the Cheviot Hills is a few feet higher than the source of the River Rede, which flows through Northumberland (England) in a valley named Redesdale. The Mitford sisters’ father and grandfather were the Barons Redesdale.

 

Pipers Gift Shop at Carter Bar

Carter Bar, the place where the A68  crosses the Anglo-Scottish border is named after a toll gate that used to stand on the frontier, but has been removed or demolished.  At 1371 feet above sea level, the views over both Scotland and England are spectacular.

 

On each side of the road, there are large rocks. Each one has “England”  inscribed on one side, and “Scotland “ on the other.  The stones were sculpted by Eddie Laub.

 

When we visited Carter Bar on 28 April 2026, we saw a car parked there. Its boot was open, and filled with souvenirs for passers-by to purchase. The car bore a banner that read “Pipers Gift Shop”. An elderly man sat forlornly in the driver’s seat, and did not appear to hear us when we addressed him.

 

Carter Bar is certainly worth visiting not only to enjoy the views but also because the road leading to and from it runs through wonderful scenery.

Art and architecture in the middle of Middlesbrough

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NEW YORK CITY has its MOMA, and Middlesbrough in northeast England’s has its MIMA, which stands for Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art.  Standing proudly in the heart of the town, these building housing MIMA is a superb piece of modern architecture.

 

MIMA in the background and sculpture by Oldenburg and Van Bruggen

Completed in 2007, this adventurous edifice was designed by a Dutch firm: Erick van Egeraat Associated Architects. The building alone is a fine work of art, most fitting for housing artworks and events connected with them.

 

During our visit on 21 April 2026, we saw several items on display, including many fascinating ceramic objects and some images relating to Middlesbrough past and present. Also, we refreshed ourselves with good coffee served in MIMA’s attractive café/restaurant. Outside the buildings, there is a large sculpture by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen called “Bottle of Notes”. Created in 1993, it the only work by these artists made in the UK. 

 

Even if there is no special exhibition being shown at MIMA, it is worth visiting the place to savour its architecture.

A disappointing place to visit

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WE HAD HEARD that Hartlepool has an art gallery with a good collection of modern British art. So, being in he northeast of England,  we made a detour to visit the town. However, when we arrived at the Victorian church that houses the gallery on 21 April 2026, none of this art was on display. One show had just ended, and another was due to start in early May.

Central Hartlepool

We wandered around the town centre, which was fairly cheerless. Well if we had not gone there, we would not have discovered that. 

A new book about discovering the delights of England will be available soon

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I AM AWAITING the arrival of a proof copy of my NEW BOOK about exploring lesser-known places in England to arrive from the printer.

After I have checked it for quality issues, it will soon be available for you to read.

SO, WATCH THIS SPACE!

A little introduction to the forthcoming book:

TRAVEL THROUGH ENGLAND FROM ABBEY WOOD TO ZENNOR, passing on the way places such as Abingdon Piggotts, Barcelona, Come-to-Good, Freshwater, Indian Queens, Little London, Long Melford, New York, Outgate, Queen Camel, Six Mile Bottom, and Veryan.

In this book, Adam Yamey describes a collection of mostly lesser-known places in England, many of which he visited during and after the period when covid19 pandemic restrictions made travelling abroad difficult. On the tour Adam will reveal aspects of life in England from before the Neolithic era to the reign of King Charles III. Adam’s profusely illustrated book contains historical as well as current information, along with personal observations. It will open your eyes to the delights and curiosities of England that can be discovered when you stray off the ‘beaten track’.

Drafting an introduction to a book about England – your comments, please!

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I am writing a book about visiting places in England. Here is a part of the introduction to the book. As it is only a draft, please feel free to comment on it, and also to let me know whether it would entice you to want to read further. What I have written is below this photograph.

This is what I have written:

There are plenty of remarkable places in England. For as the author Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) wrote in his “A Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britain”:

“In travelling thro’ England, a luxuriance of objects presents itself to our view: Where-ever we come, and which way soever we look, we see something new, something significant, something well worth the travellers stay, and the writer’s care…”

What Defoe wrote so many years ago in the mid-1720s, is still true today. My book is about exploring a selection of places in England, especially many of them that are not on tourists’ usual itineraries. I have written about locations, which have intrigued me.  Although some of them will not be familiar to most readers, I hope they will be found to be interesting. I have visited most of them since the onset of the covid19 pandemic in early 2020.

For about 10 years prior to 2020, we did not own a car. When the covid19 lockdown regulations began to ease a little in the UK, and greater freedom of movement was permitted despite the high prevalence of the infectious disease, we felt the need to roam around – to ‘escape’ from our neighbourhood. However, we had become uneasy about using public transport. So, in May 2020, when car showrooms reopened, we acquired a car, and began making day trips into the countryside. At that time, staying in hotels etc was not allowed. After a few months, it became possible to stay in hotels, guest houses, and so on.

Before the onset of the pandemic, we had, like so many others, chosen to holiday out of England, believing places abroad to be more interesting than our own country. During the pandemic, we were compelled to travel within its confines. And having travelled extensively in England during the last 5 years, we have discovered that the country is as least as interesting as many lands across the sea on the mainland of Europe. This book gives an account of some of the places we have been to in England since May 2020, and a few that we had already seen before the pandemic.


A drop in the ocean

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Just as many associate Spain with sunshine, plenty of folk think of rain when they consider England. Yet, ironically, there is currently a shortage of water in the country. This is partly because there has been insufficient rainfall and also because for years, governments have neglected maintaining reservoirs and other water sources and water companies have been prioritising profit over provision of water to their customers.

So when it rained today after many weeks of dry weather, we breathed a sigh of relief. But this will be short-lived, because what fell today was literally a drop in the ocean.

More than sixty years ago in Devon

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IT WAS UNUSUAL for my parents to take us on holidays at the seaside during my childhood. Mostly we went to cities, such as Bruges, Florence, and Delft, where there were plenty of artistic treasures to be viewed. Yet, one year when I was less than 10 years old, we spent a holiday at a hotel in a small place, Maidencombe, which is a few miles east of Torquay in Devon. All I can recall of this trip was staying in a country house hotel that had a beautiful flower-filled garden.

Yesterday (4 June 2025), my wife and I stopped at Maidencombe. I could not recognise anything, and I believe that the hotel where we stayed over 60 years ago has disappeared.

We followed signs to the Café Rio, which is reached down a winding staircase that clings to the slopes of a hillside overlooking a secluded cove surrounded by striated red rocks. The hillside is covered with luxuriant vegetation. The café is on a terrace above a small beach, where intrepid swimmers were enjoying the sea. We ate a light lunch on this terrace, and enjoyed the view.

I am pleased we visited Maidencombe but I can not stop wondering why my parents chose to go there instead of one of our usual culturally rich destinations. What or who influenced them to select Maidencombe? I will most probably never know.

Some sculptures at an auction house in London’s Mayfair

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THE FAMOUS SCULPTOR Elisabeth Frink (1930-1993) was a regular visitor to our family home in Hampstead Garden Suburb during the 1960s. During that period, I met her whenever she was invited home for dinner, but then I was too young to realise how famous an artist she had become. She was a good friend of my mother, Helen Yamey (1920-1980), who was also a sculptor. Elisabeth and my mother got to know each other when they were both creating art in the Sculpture Department of the St Martins School of Art, when it was in Charing Cross Road.

By Elisabeth Frink

Today (15th of November 2024), I was reminded of my mother’s friendship with Frink when we entered Christie’s auction house in Mayfair. We always enter this place when we are passing near it to see some of the works of art that are on display prior to being auctioned. You never know what gems you are likely to see. Today, there was a small collection of British art created during the past 100 years. Amongst the works on display were two by Elisabeth Frink. There were also some pieces by Henry Moore (1898-1986) and by Barbara Hepworth (1903-1975). One of the works by Hepworth was a painting, the other two were sculptures. Each of these artists has become some of the greatest of 20th century British artists.

During the first half of the 1960s, my mother’s sculptures were chosen to be exhibited in prestigious exhibitions, mainly in London. In these various exhibitions, her work was selected to be exhibited alongside the creations of the three artists mentioned above, as well as other artists, who have now achieved fame (e.g., David Hockney, Paula Rego, Michael Ayrton, and Bridget Riley). Despite this, my mother’s artistic work is now largely forgotten. In my recent book about her, “Remembering Helen: My Mother the Artist”, I describe her life, her character, and consider why her art, which was judged worthy of display with the best artists of the time, has faded into obscurity.

[The book is available from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/REMEMBERING-HELEN-MY-MOTHER-ARTIST/dp/B0DKCZ7J7X/]