Nidd Hall

Despite depressing weather myself and friends M & J had a lovely 4 night break at Warner's Nidd Hall in beautiful Yorkshire. I developed a horrid cold the day after arriving home, but am feeling better now.

A grade II listed building Nidd Hall was built in the 18th century by a wealthy Bradford wool merchant. It is rumoured that Edward VIII met Wallis Simpson at a party there.

Our rooms were very nice. Warm, comfortable and a comfy bed.

My radiator wasn't working for the first night but was fixed first thing

the next day and then the room was lovely and warm.

My room was the two windows at the top, above the horses' neck and back. 

A previous owner kept and bred horses,

Warpath won a few races and sired many winners.

Church in the grounds

I often wish I played chess so I could play on these fun boards! Mind you the weather was NOT conducive to outdoor activities, except for our day in York which was mild with glorious sunshine for most of the day. 

York Minster, courtesy of a postcard. I just couldn't get a good angle.

The magnificent Great East Window is the largest expanse of medieval stained glass in the country, a masterpiece in glass and stone depicting the beginning and end of all things. For the last 12 years, the 600 year old window has been the subject of a major restoration and conservation project – one of the largest of its kind in Europe.

The Shambles courtesy of another postcard.

There were too many people milling around to get a good photo.

Afternoon tea was originally the brainchild of the Duchess of Bedford who was Lady-in-Waiting to Queen Victoria. She thought there was "An intolerable length of time between luncheon and evening dinner" and decided that it would be enjoyable to take some refreshment halfway between the two. She arranged for tea and sweet and savoury snacks. The habit soon caught on and before long this very English interlude was being enjoyed by all. Despite our love of cream teas we desisted because we were going to have an ample dinner later.

I wanted to visit the Yorvik museum but J suddenly told us it was 2 o/clock, and as we had to be back at the coach for 3.30 we wouldn't have enough time. I thought time had gone very quickly but didn't think to check my watch. On the way back we saw a clock and realised J had got the time wrong, her watch is very small, she read 2 o/clock instead of 1 o/clock. We did a ride on the tour bus instead

The next day we went to Skipton where they usually have a very good market on both sides of the high street. The weather was dreadful, non stop rain, only 3 stallholders turned up! It was only a half day trip but because of the conditions everyone agreed to leave earlier. M, J and I went for a swim and I used the sauna.

Our third trip was a tour around the Yorkshire dales. Beautiful scenery 

and lots of sheep!

I like sheep

with stops at Pateley Bridge

 where we bought sweets

from the oldest sweet shop in England

I think this is an old fashioned press for making wine gums.

If you enlarge the image you can see the shapes on the metal cylinder.

and Hawes 

where we bought cheese at the Wensleydale creamery.

Now we're deciding which Warners to go to next.

∼ Be safe and well∼

    Polly x

Murder She Wrote

How sad to hear of the death of Angela Lansbury. She lived to a grand old age, and lived a grand life. I love Murder She Wrote, I think I've seen every episode, but never tire of them. 

∼ Be safe and well∼

    Polly x

A Very Good Read

The Illumination of Ursula Flight

by Anna-Marie Crowhurst

The date is December 15th, 1664. A dark night is lit up by a comet, something that wasn’t particularly seen as a good omen in those days. While this comet travels along, Ursula Flight is born.

The story follows the progress and pitfalls of the delightful Ursula growing up in 17th century England. The narration flows through Ursula’s thoughts, diary entries, lists and letters, while crucial moments of her life are presented as scenes from plays. Ursula dreams of being a playwright, she writes and stars in plays to entertain her friends. She is born at the end of Cromwell's reign and grows up during the restoration of Charles II. Against the custom of the age her father teaches her to read, instructs her in sciences, languages and mathematics.

Ursula is eager to learn but despite her intelligence and education, and her heart being stolen by the handsome Samuel, life in those days was preordained. Ursula will have to marry, willing or not, and at the tender age of 15 she is married off to Lord Tyringham, 20 years her senior. He's rich, with a lot of property and an influential position. He’s also smelly, bog-eyed and oh so boring. He and his puritan mother and sister do everything to clip Ursula's wings, but she is irrepressible. Her dreams do not diminish and she continues to seek the life she desires no matter what it throws at her. Following a surprise meeting with an actress, Ursula yearns for the theatre and thus begins her quest to become a playwright despite scoundrels, bounders, bad luck and heartbreak.

  

This is absolutely charming, funny and beautifully crafted. With intriguing characters, and a wonderful sense of setting, from the idyllic countryside of Ursula’s childhood, her isolation during her marriage, to London’s alleys, the court and the playhouses, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

∼ Happy Reading ∼ 

Polly x

This And That

My friends and I have just returned from a 4 night mini holiday at Warner's Nidd Hall and I have a cold! not a bad one, just a bit meh. I will post about Nidd Hall when I have sorted through the (far too many) photos.

The grounds of Hylands House were still looking good when I was there the week before last. Chelmsford Bee Keepers was formed in 1918 and have been maintaining a Honey Bee Observation Hive in the museum for over 50 years.
The sculptures were funded by the beekeepers and crafted by local willow artist Deb Hart. When I was a volunteer gardener at Hylands we enjoyed many interesting talks about the history of the house and grounds. One of them was a visit to the bee hives tucked away behind high brick walls in a far corner of the grounds well away from any interference from visitors. The keeper removed one of the combs and we got to taste it back at the house. It was the most delicious honey I have ever tasted. We agreed it was mainly lavender and mint. They don't harvest it for sale, they leave it for the darling little workers who produced it.

A few weeks ago Tesco were handing out free flowers which had passed their best.

I got these lovely sunflowers. They looked fine to me and lasted a long time.

Beautiful birthday flowers also lasted a long time.

Kudos to Marks & Spencer for displaying mannequinns of buxum women, and to advertisers who now use women of all shapes and sizes to model clothes.

Look at these beauties I spotted in Oliver Bonas. I would have loved a pair like these. When I was a teenager I was mad about roller skating. I had a pair with metal adjustable frames and red leather straps that fitted over shoes and round the ankles. We skated up and down the streets, to the chippy for a bag of chips and scraps, sometimes sit on the wall and eat them, or eat them skating back. I lived in Peterborough and I think it was the Corn Exchange that held roller skating sessions on a Friday (wearing proper hired boots), and dances on a Saturday, both of which my friends and I attended regularly. Happy days.

The lounge cushions have been put away.

The brown patches on the lawn are slowly greening up.

You can just about see a small group of deer. I think there were two adults and three youngsters. I heard them calling, I think they had become seperated from the main group. They ran off to the woods on the right and hopefully found the rest of their herd. 

Beautiful Autumn is here, and with it chillier weather. 

The central heating will be going on soon, and the winter duvet.

∼ Be safe and well∼

    Polly x

A Good Read

Some Day I’ll Find You by Richard Madeley

When Diana Arnold’s brother introduces her to James Blackwell she is smitten, he is sexy, handsome and a fighter pilot - every girl's dream man. Before long they are in love and decide to marry, just as war is declared. On their wedding day fate delivers a cruel blow. After tying the knot James is called into action on a mission in northern France, flying back he is shot down and killed. Diana is left not only a widow but pregnant with their child.

Ten years later, contentedly remarried, Diana is sitting in a sunny village square in the south of France when a taxi draws up nearby and she hears a familiar voice. Diana is soon to be plunged into torment and blackmail with only one way out.

  
I have an issue with the title, to me it means that a person is hoping to find someone. Most of my book club ladies thought the plot was implausible, but (not wanting to give too much away) I think it could have been that way with a certain type of character. It’s billed as a psychological thriller, it is, but I’ve read better. It’s not a bad plot. The pace was good, it's an easy read.

∼ Happy Reading ∼ 

Polly x

October is the tenth month in the Gregorian calendar. It is a month of preparation for the winter in the northern hemisphere, and preparation for spring in the southern hemisphere. It comes from the Latin word "octo" meaning eight as it was originally the eighth month of the Roman calendar, but when the senate decided to change the calendar it was moved to tenth position.

In Old England, the month was called Winmonath, which means “wine month,” for this was the time of year when wine was made.

On the 1st October 1982, the world's first CD (Compact Disc) player went on sale. It was developed jointly by Sony, Philips and Polygram and cost the equivalent of $2,200 (over a thousand pounds) in today's currency. I remember them well!

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on the 2nd October 1869, in Porbander in western India. He is famous for working to achieve freedom and equality for all, in India and in Africa. He is remembered for his non-violent creed, and for his belief that black and white people should have equal rights, and be looked upon the same as every other person. He influenced Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela and millions of other people. He was assassinated in the garden of his home in New Delhi on 20 January 1948.

On the 3rd October 1906 the 'SOS' signal was established as an International Distress Signal by an agreement made between the British Marconi Society and the German Telefunk organisation at the Berlin Radio Conference. The signal was formally introduced on the 1st July 1908.

The 4th to 10th is World Space Week, an annual international celebration of key milestones in space. The 4th October 1957 was the launch date of Sputnik I, the first human-made Earth satellite. And the first international space treaty, the Outer Space Treaty, went into effect on the 10th October 1967.

The Jarrow March. On the 5th October 1936, a group of 200 British unemployed workers staged a hunger marched as a way of bringing public attention to the plight of the unemployed in depressed areas of the country. The march began in the ship-building town of Jarrow in north east England, where two thirds of the working population were jobless, and ended in London, a distance of almost 300 miles (480 km).

A Lost Traveller Story. In Hampshire, UK in the eighteenth century, a Mr William Davis was riding home when a heavy fog surrounded him, and in no time at all he found that he had lost his way. Suddenly, he heard the bells from his local church at Twyford start to ring and realised he was heading in the wrong direction. He turned his horse around to follow the sound and arrived home safely.  Later on he worked out that he must have been only a few yards away from deep chalk pits. Had he continued in the wrong direction he would have plunged to certain death. When William died in 1754, he left some money to pay the bellringers to ring the church bells at 6:30 a.m. and 7 p.m on 7th October every year, to help travellers find their way home should they get lost on the same night he had been lost. The funds ran out long ago but the tradition remains. I like this story.

On the 8th October 1965 the Post Office Tower, now known as the BT Tower, was officially opened by the then Prime Minister, Harold Wilson. Costing £2 million to construct, it's made from 13,000 tonnes of concrete, steel and glass, and at the time of opening was the tallest building in London. Its primary purpose was to support the microwave aerials then used to carry telecommunications traffic from London to the rest of the country. Today the tower is a telecommunications centre designed to relay broadcast, Internet and telephone information around the world.

On the 10th October 1881.The Savoy Theatre opened in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London. It was the first theatre, and the first public building in the world, to be lit entirely by electricity.

Concorde flew its last flight on 24th October 2003 ending three decades of supersonic travel. The last transatlantic flight carried 100 celebrities from New York and touched down at 1605 BST at London Heathrow airport.

The 28th is Frankenstein Friday and my darling grandson's birthday (no connection 😄)

On the 30th October 2004 a pod of seven dolphins saved four people swimming in the ocean off Whangarei, New Zealand from being attacked by a 3 metre great white shark. A lifeguard was swimming with his daughter and two of her friends off Ocean beach near Whangarei, when seven bottle nosed dolpins began aggressively herding the swimmers into a small group by doing tight circles around them. The dolphins kept their vigil for 40 minutes until the shark lost interest, and the group could swim 100m back to the shore.

Probably the most famous date in October is the 31st,  Halloween, thought to be the one night of the year when ghosts, witches, and fairies are especially active. 👻

∼ Be safe and well∼

         Polly x

Sandwiches

The humble sandwich. Almost any foodstuff can be put into a sandwich. I have a few favourites - chicken, brie & cranberry sauce; ham and coleslaw; egg mayonaisse; pink salmon; and the good old staple bread and cheese. There is a huge variety of cheese available - I love a brie and cranberry sauce toastie, rustic bread dipped into baked camembert, boursin spread liberally onto a piece of crusty French stick, and the good old default, cheese and pickle, for me, it's Red Leicester with mango chutney, mmm delicious.

Some time ago I watched a programme called "Take A Hike" in which  contestants were leading various country walks, providing interesting commentry along the way and lunch. One of the lunches was jam sandwiches, which left the recipients visibly underwhelmed.

When I was a little girl bread and jam was a popular sandwich. I can remember my mum serving supper, just a slice of cake or a toasted teacake or jam sandwiches. It was an affordable food and formed a major part of the diet of the poor working classes. 

The reason why the contestants in the show were not pleased was because the bread was dry and the filling was sparse. 

For a really satisfying jam sandwich you have to have good white bread, real butter and lots of jam. I think strawberry is the most popular but I like cherry (above), apricot and raspberry. Sometimes I put peanut butter with raspberry.

The sandwich as we know it was popularised in England in 1762 by John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich. Legend has it, and most food historians agree, that Montagu had a gambling problem that led to him spending hours on end at the card table. During a particularly long session he asked the house cook to bring him something that he could eat without getting up from his seat. The cook put some meat between two slices of bread and, voila the sandwich was born. Montagu enjoyed his meat and bread so much that he ate it constantly, and as the concoction grew popular in London society circles it also took on the Earl’s name. 

Women, War, and Bread and Jam.

In 1917 The Women's Army Auxiliary Corps was created, and young women were allowed to join the army. A lovely book called 'Women and War Work' gives details of a typical week’s meals, “to show how well they are fed". Their daily meals were breakfast, dinner, tea and supper. Supper was always bread and jam.

With austerity looming maybe more of us will be turning to jam sandwiches to subsidise our meals!

Do you have a favourite sandwich?

∼ Be safe and well∼

Polly x

A New Arrival - At Last

Nearly 8 weeks after my old laptop stopped working I have a new chromebook!! I'm such a procrastinator, not in a lazy way, in a way that worries I might make a wrong decision. I've had computers and laptops in the past, a chromebook was going into unchartered territory!
I knew I wanted either a Lenovo, Asus or Acer, a minimum 14" screen and a powerful processor. After visits to Currys and John Lewis asking questions, and comparing models online I narrowed my search down to two Lenovos and two Acers, then finally chose this one, the Lenovo
IdeaPad 5i. The touchscreen version was £70 dearer, which was comfortably within my budget but I didn't really think it would enhance my experience, also, and this was a BIG consideration, if I didn't like it and wanted to get another laptop it would be money wasted. HOWEVER someone in packaging at the warehouse sent the wrong one -  this is a touchscreen. So for only £238.99 I have a lovely Chromebook touchscreen (which is nice) and 1 years Mcafee security.

It's taking a little while to get used to, a few things are different - there isn't a caps lock button, it's press shift. There's no delete button, it's alt+backspace. Screenshots aren't as easy, but I don't do that very often. I had a mild panic when I could't insert images, but soon realised I had selected upload from computer instead of photos! I have a lot of photos on a memory stick but they were created on a Windows platform, so they aren't compatible with the Chromebook. I can access them using the home desk top though. I will get used to using Google photos as my main storage.

What I liked about a laptop is having the File Explorer to store documents, particularly pictures. I'm old school, I liked naming them according to the blog post they would be going in, then putting them in folders. I can still do that, just not name them.

I'm sure there will be more to learn along the way, but for now I'm happy, I can continue wiith my blog, shop online, stream videos etc., and store images. And the speakers are very good.

STOP PRESS - I've just worked out how to transfer my memory stick images. I emailed some to myself, they went into documents, then I uploaded them into photos!!

∼ Be safe and well∼

Polly x

Farewell

On Monday my friend M and her daughter joined me to watch the Queen's funeral. I think my daughter would have joined us but she and her husband are enjoying a fly drive holiday in New England. I made some sandwiches, M bought some scones and I bought these lovely little cakes. I forgot to take a photo before we devoured them!

Marks and Spencer Royally good victoria mini sandwich cakes, absolutely delicious.

M bought me the pretty cyclamens.

I also bought some Bucks Fizz for a toast to our much loved Queen,

celebrating a remarkable life. 

It was a long day starting with leaving Wesminster Hall for a service at Westminster Abbey, then the journey to Windsor Castle for another smaller service. At the Abbey the sound of the lone bagpiper was heartbreakingly beautiful. I'm not a believer but I recognised most of the hymns from my childhood, when my mother took me to church, and found myself singing along, surprised at how I remembered the lyrics.

I felt very proud watching all the pagentry and dignity, the pride and respect from the crowds lining the streets, whether it was a nod of the head, a curtsy, or a round of applause.  

I wanted to pay my respects at the lying in state, head said yes but my old body said "No, you can't stand for that length of time!" I'm still a pretty good walker but I can't stand for very long. It's something I hear from a lot of people my age. I've signed a book of condolences that we have in the village, and an online one.

The end of an era.

∼ Be safe and well∼

Polly x

Rufus' Diary

Hello dear reader, I hope you are well. Phew, life sure does move at a galloping pace. September already, autumn has arrived, the nights are drawing in and the weather is cooling down, but we are still enjoying some lovely warm days.

One thing we like about autumn is blackberries. Polly has made some absolutely delicious blackberry and apple crumbles (yes I was given a small amount 😋). In the past she has used packet crumble mixes but this time she made her own and added breadcrumbs, they add a little extra flavour and texture.

Polly took these photos a few weeks ago

she calls it asphalt art. 

It's just shadows of roadside weeds! But if Andy Warhol can have soup cans,

and Tracey Emin can produce her bed then Polly can have road art! 

She took some of me but they are SO unflattering I haven't included them.

A lot more stuff has been collected in the bonfire area. We thought it was no longer burning because we hadn't seen flames or smoke for a long while, but then we saw it burning yesterday. 

Hylands Park had a dinosuar event during the school holidays, there were lots of figures and the sound effects were brilliant, it really did feel like Jurassic Park. 

Look what Polly found stuck to the back of the freezer whilst cleaning it out

yes it's a fish finger!

She still hasn't replaced her old laptop but she is getting close - it's definitely

going to be a chromebook, she's checking out processors at the moment!! 

Here's another Haiku

Some favourite things

Sunshine brightly in the sky

Birds singing on high

∼ Be safe and well ∼  

Rufus 🐾

A Good Read

The Art Of Racing In The Rain by Garth Stein

 

Named after Enzo Anselmo Giuseppe Maria Ferrari, the founder of the legendary racing team, Enzo, a terrier/lab cross knows he is different from other dogs - he is wise and loyal, a philosopher with a nearly human soul. Believing he will be a human in his next life Enzo has educated himself by watching television extensively, and by listening very closely to the words of his master, Denny, an up-and-coming race car driver. Enzo loves Denny.

 
Denny, a down on his luck dad is a kind owner who loves Enzo, and uses racing philosophies in his life. Through Denny, Enzo has gained much insight into the human condition, and he sees that life, like racing, isn't simply about going fast.

Enzo is the narrator of the story which begins with him taking stock of his life, recalling all that he and his family have been through. 

 
It’s a heart-wrenching, funny and uplifting look at the tragedies, wonders and absurdities of human life as seen by a dog. At times I was crying, and at other times I wanted to reach into the book and punch Denny's horrible in-laws.

 
I’m not the least bit interested in motor racing but I was interested in the motor racing facts throughout the book.

I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it.

∼ Happy Reading ∼ 

Polly x

A Very Sad Loss

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Her Majesty's reign of 70 years and 214 days was the longest of any British monarch. During that time the world changed dramatically but she remained a constant presence of stability, resilience and continuity in the lives of the people of the UK and Commonwealth.

Throughout those years her sense of duty and tireless work ethic never faltered. She carried out her duties with grace, elegance, humour and kindness.

An unprecedented and remarkable achievement.

Many have never known a world without her. For many of my generation she was like a mother.
The world will long remember her devotion and leadership.

September is the ninth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the first month of autumn in the northern half of the world and the first month of spring in the southern half. September comes from the Latin word septem, meaning “seven,” because at the time it was the seventh month of the early Roman calendar.

🍇On the 1st September 1985, almost 75 years after the Titanic sank in the North Atlantic, a joint American-French expedition led by Dr. Robert Ballard found the wreckage. The ship was lying upright in two pieces on the ocean floor at a depth of 12,500 feet - about 350 miles southeast from Newfoundland, Canada.

🍇The ancient Horn Dance is an annual event held traditionally on the first Monday after the first Sunday after 4th September in Abbots Bromley in Staffordshire, England. This famous tradition is performed by twelve dancers, six carrying reindeer antlers, accompanied by the hobby horse, a jester, maid Marian, a boy carrying a bow and arrow, a musician playing an accordion and a boy playing the triangle keeping the beat of the music for the dancers. The dancers follow a 10 mile course and perform the ritual in 12 different locations in and around the village.

🍇On the 7th September 1838, Grace Darling, daughter of the keeper of Longstone lighthouse on the Farne Islands off the coast of Northumberland, risked her life to rescue shipwrecked mariners. With her father, she rowed a tiny boat for over a mile through treacherous seas at the height of the storm to rescue nine people marooned on a rock. They were the only survivors of the steamship Forfarshire, which had run aground and broken up. The courage that Grace and her family showed on that day is now legendary.

The newspapers of the time reported on Grace's bravery and a media frenzy ensued. She received several awards, including a Gold Medal of Bravery from the Royal Humane Society and a Silver Medal for Gallantry from the RNLI. Admirers sent letters, money and fine gifts to Grace, and even Queen Victoria sent £50. Artists travelled to Longstone to paint her portraits, which were sold to the curious public and Grace became immortalised in plays, songs, poems and memorabilia.

Grace was besiged with letters, visitors and request for public appearances. However, she did not enjoy being the focus of so much attention, preferring to live quietly at home with her parents.

Sadly four years after her brave act, aged only 26, Grace died of tuberculosis. Her funeral was a grand occasion, with hundreds of people crowding the little village of Bamburgh to say goodbye. 

🍇Cleopatra's Needle, an Egyptian obelisk, was erected on the Thames Embankment in London on the 12th September 1878. It was presented to the United Kingdom in 1819 by the ruler of Egypt and Sudan Muhammad Ali, in commemoration of the victories of Lord Nelson at the Battle of the Nile and Sir Ralph Abercromby at the Battle of Alexandria in 1801.

🍇The 13th September is Roald Dahl day

🍇International Talk Like a Pirate Day (yes really) is an annual event taking place on the 19th September. It was started by two Americans who thought it would be fun to talk like a pirate for one day!!

🍇On September the 21st 1915 Cecil Chubb bought Stonehenge in Wiltshire, UK, in a property auction for £6,600. Chubb remained Stonehenge's owner for three years and then, on the 26th October 1918, he formally gave it to the nation. Stonehenge is still owned by the Crown and managed by English Heritage.

🍇Harvest festivals are celebrations of the food grown on the land and are traditionally held on or near the Sunday of the Harvest Moon, the full Moon that occurs closest to the autumn equinox (about Sept. 23). In two years out of three, the Harvest Moon ocurs in September, at other times it occurs in August.

Thanksgiving ceremonies and celebrations for a successful harvest are worldwide and very ancient. In Britain, we have given thanks for successful harvests since pagan times. We celebrate this day by singing, praying and decorating our churches with baskets of fruit and food in a festival known as 'Harvest Festival'.

🍇"Calling the Mare" comes from an old farming tradition.
In Medieval England the 24th September was known as the Harvest month when farmers would gather in the last of their crops. Trying to prove that they had reaped the best crops they would try and beat their neighbouring farmers to complete the work first.

After gathering the last sheaf of the harvest and shaping it into a mare shape, the farmer would deliver it to the neighbouring farmers land, shouting “Mare, Mare”. This was supposed to signify that wild horses would come and eat their harvest if they didn’t gather it in quickly.

Once the receiving farmer had finished gathering his crop, he would pass it onto the next farmer who had not finished until it reached the last farmer. This last farmer would then have to keep the “Mare” on display for a year to show that he was the slowest farmer.
Similarly, corn dolls were also weaved into shapes and placed in the corn fields as farmers believed that these corn dolls were the spirit of the corn goddess. It was believed that if you did not place a corn doll in your fields the corn goddess would die and so would your crops.

🍇Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is one of Judaism's holiest days. It will begin in the evening of Sunday the 25th September and end in the evening of Tuesday the 27th September.

🍇The George Cross was instituted by a Royal Warrant dated the 24th September 1940. It is the highest civil decoration of the United Kingdom and is only awarded "for acts of the greatest heroism or of the most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme danger".

🍇Greenwich Mean (or Meridian) Time is the average time that the earth takes to rotate from noon-to-noon. The use of Greenwich Meantime (GMT) began at 3pm on the 25th September 1676, when two very accurate clocks were set in motion at the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, England. Greenwich Mean Time became standard for England, and in 1884 it became standard for the world.

🎂September the 26th is my birthday 🎉 

🍇On the 28th September 1894 an immigrant pedlar from Poland and a Yorkshireman with a head for figures teamed up to create the first Penny Bazaar in Britain - and one of the most famous business partnerships in the world. Today fourteen million people shop at Marks & Spencer every week. Isaac Dewhirst from Leeds met Michael Marks from Poland and lent him a fiver to set up as a market trader - and introduced him to his cashier, Tom Spencer. When Marks decided to acquire his first permanent stall in Leeds's covered market, he invited Spencer to join him. They signed the agreement on 28 September 1894. Mark's slogan was "Don't ask the Price - it's a Penny". The first Penny Bazaar store in Manchester multiplied to twelve in the first six years. Today Marks & Spencer (M&S) is a major British retailer, with over 895 stores in more than 40 territories around the world.

🍇Michaelmas Day is the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel, celebrated on the 29th September. St. Michael is the patron saint of the sea and maritime lands, of ships and boatmen, of horses and horsemen. He was the Angel who hurled Lucifer (the devil) down from Heaven for his treachery.

🍇The building of Nelson’s Column in London’s Trafalgar Square, began on the 30th September 1840 and completed in 1843. The 56 m (171 feet) high column is made from granite and features acanthus leaves, cast from British cannons at the top. At the very top stands a 5.5m (18 feet) statue of Nelson.

I hope you have enjoyed these fun/historical facts.

∼ Be safe and well∼

Polly x