Saturday 20 June 2009

Fossil Hunting







Fossils, rocks and minerals can be easily with patience and knowledge of where to look and find.
The word ' fossil ' generally means ' the remains or trace evidence of prehistoric life '. The study of fossils is called palaentology.The most common fossils found at Saltburn are belemnites. Saltburn is also well known for ammonites. Be safe and check the tide is in your favour. Happy Hunting!


Thursday 4 June 2009

The Green Man




In his festive form the 'Green Man' seems to be a harbinger of spring, a celebration of regeneration. Right across the country you may come across him in other forms, from leafy faces carved into cloisters to local plays, or as the Green George, a relative of our patron saint.

Sometimes terrifying, often benign, he can be seen in many old churches, as a leafy mask or with tendrils and leaves emerging from his mouth, on roof bosses, corbels, capitals, tombstones, bench ends, in choir stalls, cloisters and over doorways. More than sixty green men populate Exeter Cathedral.

As a historical presence the Green Man is enigmatic; as a future force he offers a positive face. The leaf stands for the magical transformation of energy from the sun, something that we in our super-sophistication cannot achieve. The tree in its deciduous forms symbolises the cycle of death and re-birth, re-enacted each year as leaves fall and grow again. The Green Man has emerged in our time as a symbol of recognition with nature, of regeneration and hope.

'They found that they were looking at a most extraordinary face. It belonged to a large Man-like, almost Troll-like, figure, at least fourteen feet high, very sturdy, with a tall head, and hardly any neck. Whether it was clad in stuff like green and grey bark, or whether that was its hide, was difficult to say. At any rate the arms, at a short distance from the trunk, were wrinkled, but covered with a brown smooth skin. The large feet had seven toes each. The lower part of the long face was covered with a sweeping grey beard, bushy, almost twiggy at the roots, thin and mossy at the ends. But at the moment the hobbits noted little but the eyes. One felt as if there was an enormous well behind them filled up with ages of memory and long, slow, steady thinking; but their surface was sparkling with the present... like sun shimmering on the outer leaves of a vast tree. I don't know but it felt as if something that grew in the ground - asleep, you might say, or just feeling itself as something between roof-tip and leaf-tip, between deep earth and sky had suddenly woken up.'

Description of Treebeard from 'Lord of the Rings'

Can you find this Green Man in Saltburn?
Where is the Green Man hiding in Guisborough?

Weather Lore

In June, farmers are anxiously looking forward to the harvest, and they could choose from any number of traditonal weather predictions.
In 1869, Richard Inwards recorded in his classic Weather-lore collection:
If on the 8th of June it rain
It foretells a wet harvest, men sain

Wednesday 3 June 2009

WOW!

All credit to Laine, my working partner and brilliant web designer. Saltburnbysea.com had 4,700 hits this May. Our aim is to promote what a great place Saltburn is to live and visit. Shortly we shall be relaunching a much improved website after a year of research whilst at the same time both of us have worked on our own projects.
Our great thanks to those who visit regularly!

1871 Census Saltburn-by-the-Sea

Robert Everatt, Head Gardener of the Pleasure Grounds, age 33, from Washington, County Durham had at least eleven gardeners working with him to create what we now call the Valley Gardens.
1871 Census.

An aromatic herb garden....

Wild Sage
So you've found yourself with a small garden, or a patio or a sunny window to put flower boxes in. Why not discover the beauty of growing herbs?
Herbs adore full sun but will tolerate shady spots too. If you like you can follow the example of the medieval monastery gardens and create a raised bed with planks. Fill the box with top soil then plant away!
Water regularly and there are lots to choose from.
Why not try: rosemary, sage, lemon balm, thyme, lavender, mint, rue, basil, marjoram, parsley, chives, borage. The list is endless.
My favourite - wild sage!

Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme..........



Are you going to Scarbrough Fair
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme
Remember me to the one who lives there
She once was a true love of mine

My favourite song.

Rebecca