Friday 25 April 2014

Exploring New Places :: Part 1

Hello Lovelies,
 right back in January, in my first post of 2014 in fact, I mentioned a calendar of local scenes I had bought after being being inspired by Louise at Ramblings of a Roachling
Louise bought a 2013 Calendar of her local area and each month did a walk around the area depicted. It seemed like a great way of getting to know places that are not far away , but that I had not visited before.

 I bought this calendar ..............


It had 12 ( well 13 actually) fairly local scenes and I wanted to use it to inspire me to get out of the usual routine of visiting the same old places.

I decided not to worry about doing the visits on the month they were depicted, but simply to aim to have visited all the places by the end of the year...........


In February the photo was of a street scene in the market town of Melton Mowbray..........

All that month I looked at this photo and felt less than inclined to make the effort to visit.

But now the days are warmer and the countryside is so pretty, a little day trip seemed much more appealing.
On Wednesday Mum and I headed off to explore. 

It's a good omen when you easily find a parking spot right outside a florist with bargain flowers, don't you think?


We ambled along and soon came to the Market square. Wednesday isn't the main market day but there were some stalls set up for business......... 


You lovelies know how much I like buildings with character and this row of shops had oodles of it, especially this one with a statue of a  Swan on a plinth ..........

I was intrigued and  searched the internet which threw up THIS interesting link to the origin of a well known phrase, one that we still use in Britain today.

This small market place looked happy and colourful in the sunshine.........
    
I do love to see an ice-cream van......always adds a cheery feel.

And here is my version of that scene from the calendar. It's almost identical............

In fact I think I prefer my version. The sky is not quite as nice, but I like the fact it has people in it. I do like to see a street scene with some life in it.

Melton Mowbray is famous for it's Pork Pies So it's not surprising that my calendar chose to include "Ye Olde Worldy Porkie Pieee Shoppeeeee"

O.K. that's not quite it's name :0).........


Here's the view a little further down the street. The impressive building in the foreground was once the corn exchange. It's now a shopping centre and sadly none of the original features remain, just this lovely facade..........


And here is the view in the opposite direction, looking back towards the market place.........


Mum and I explored the shops, it was nice to see some independent outlets as well as the chain stores. Of course we also had a look in the charity shops, but they did seem expensive compared to our usual market town.
 After a bite to eat mum headed back to the car, but I dashed off to find another view from my calendar.
This is November's image, taken in the park here..............


Not being familiar with the town I wasn't sure exactly where the park was, then I spotted this street sign.........


"Park Lane" turned out to be an interesting little place........especially when I saw fabric.........


Oh, I loved this cluster of buildings with an interesting courtyard.......and look at the sign-writing!.......


I thought it was lovely.......especially this bit.........

It's a tape measure....how perfect.

At the end of Park Lane I arrived at these impressive gates and wandered across the grass towards the trees........


Here's my version of the calendar photo........ quite different this time due to the season........


I wandered down this avenue and came to a strange sight.....lock gates in the ground............

Once again the internet cleared up this mystery ......it's to mark the course of a canal that once ran between these two rows of trees ( info found HERE

I do love a canal, so was a little disappointed that it had been filled in.

Happily there were rivers running through the park..........


And a large pond..........


The pavilion cafe was doing a good trade........


And there were pretty bridges to get from one side of the river to the other.............


I left the park and headed back to the car, passing more interesting old buildings........



Like this gorgeous old pub, which I've since learned dates back to the fourteenth century, and it gets it name "Anne of Cleaves" due to it being part of her divorce settlement from Henry VIII............


It was time to go and I just snapped this cute looking tea room as somewhere I would like visit another time.......



What did I come home with?........well, some Sausages from the Pork Pie Shoppe (they were really good ) and a fabric remnant from that shop on the way to the park.

But my favourite purchase was this sweet Viola hanging basket from the florists shop........... 


who could resist  these sweet and hardy , happy faced flowers...........


Melton Mowbray impressed me with it's wealth of history and cheerful, traffic free shopping.
 It was a great start to this little project and I'm really looking forward to exploring more new places this year.
Jacquie x

33 comments:

  1. What a good idea and a great way to see the highlights of the area! I wonder what highlights Birmingham would have..... good job I live in Liverpool! I'm guessing ours would have a lot of buildings and Beatles!
    Melton Mowbray looks much prettier than I expected and I'm so pleased to learn about the expression!

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  2. What a lovely post....I feel as though I was with you on your adventure...really enjoyed the links to history.

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  3. What a great post. Looking at Melton Mowbray through your eyes, i could almost feel I was there.
    Jacqui x

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  4. Melton is a lovely little town, but can be quite a nightmare to park on market days!! Although the market is fun, I think you did the right thing by going on a day when it was a little quieter so that you could have a really good look around.

    Helenxx

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  5. What a wonderful idea and a lovely way to visit new places. It was a beautiful account of a lovely walk.

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  6. Gosh, I've not been to Melton for quite a few years. D is a Melton boy. We used to live in a nearby village called Twyford and Melton was my main shopping town. I wandered through that park when I was pregnant with my daughter and, of course, fought my way through the market on numerous occasions. So lovely to see it again. Didn't you buy a pork pie from Dickinson and Morris? They are the best in the world!!!

    Heather x

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  7. A lovely day out. And those flowers were a bargain! Have a great weekend. X

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  8. You gave us a really good look around this fascinating place Jacquie, and I really did enjoy every bit of it, thank you! I do remember MM being famous for their pork pies (a weakness of my hubby's) but apart from that knew nothing about it until now - and what a nice trip it was! That is a beautiful colour of viola you came home with - a sweet reminder of a happy day out with your Mum! Joy xo

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  9. What a brilliant trip and well done for finding all the landmarks to match up with the calendar. Sounds like a fun day was had and now stuck with your 'e' heavy version of pie shoppe....!

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  10. I have always enjoyed Louise's visits form her calender. It's wonderful how that one picture gave you and your Mum such a lovely day out. It was fascinating reading the story of painting the town red. Park lane looked a great place to discover. I prefer your picture of the park in it's spring time glory! Sarah x

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  11. What great day out you had & a lovely idea too. It was interesting to read the link on 'Painting the town red'.

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  12. What a great idea I may copy it too. Your so lucky to have your mum along for your jaunts.

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  13. What a great piece of detective work with finding your way to the park! I feel like I've had a lovely day out there Jacquie - off to sit down now and have a well earned cup of tea! Jane x

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  14. What a fantastic idea!! When we emigrate I think I will use this idea to help get to know the area - thanks for the inspiration! :)

    Debbie x

    http://inpursuitoftheworthwhile.blogspot.co.uk/

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  15. I love the idea! Not sure there are calenders from this area but i will certainly have a lookout later this year to copy your idea in 2015!

    Take care,
    Anne
    http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.de

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  16. Your photos are lovely and it's always nice to visit new places. I could just eat a pork pie!

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  17. I've heard of Melton Mowbray, but have never been there. I think that many of the photographs that you took on your visit are much more charming than the two in your calendar's pages. Your being able to wander around on a spring day allowed you to find all sorts of interesting spots.

    Yes...the tape measure sign over the alterations shop is fabulous!

    xo

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  18. Oh my gosh I absolutely LOVE this idea, I am so going to do this, brilliant brilliant brilliant!

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  19. Thank you for the lovely tour. I live in the USA and am very happy when I get such a chance.Always been an Anglophile. Love my country, of course( not necessarily my government, but Britain runs a close second. Again thanks

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  20. That was a lovely tour! I, too, prefer your picture of the town center with the people in it and I loved the shop sign with the ruler painted on. How fantastically wonderful!
    Blessings,
    Betsy

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  21. I think all your photos make for a better calendar - what a wonderful place, and what fun you had! Love the little side street you investigated, thanks for sharing! Chrissie x

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  22. What a lovely day out, Jacquie - and a great use of your calendar, to visit all those places. It sounds like a smashing town to visit. Chris xx

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  23. Thank you so much for taking us along on your visit! I love the idea of visiting places from your calendar too. :) It's always fun to walk along without my cranky knees & feet! LOL

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  24. What a great idea, and lovely trip to share. Feel tempted to look for something similar - so easy to get in a rut with local days out and always got to the same places. I have a friend who says you should try to have days looking at your own area 'like a tourist' - we miss so much in the day to day rush x

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  25. Hi Jacquie what a really great idea I hadn't thought of doing that but will now. You really brought up some interesting facts and places and I would love to visit there myself in the summer. As always Jacquie a really interesting post which is why I enjoy visiting you. Have a wonderful weekend, lots of love,
    Dorothyxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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  26. What a brilliant idea to trigger places to visit. I may have to try it. Beautiful town and thanks for sharing, x

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  27. What a lovely town to visit. I'm glad my calendar walks last year inspired you this year.
    I think you'd really enjoy a visit to my town - it's also Steph's (curlew country) local town I know she often mentions it in her post but I'm sure you'd love it - old buildings, history and a great range of independent shops too. It was recently the runner up for the Britain's Best High Street award. And of course you could pop up to my lovely rocks, The Roaches and/or Ramshaw Rocks too. Just a thought for you for a day out or weekend away sometime :)

    http://www.peakdistrictinformation.com/towns/leek.php
    http://www.visitpeakdistrict.com/Leek-Leek/details/?dms=3&venue=6100039

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  28. What a fab idea (and hurrah for Louise) - a beautiful post. Treasure those special times with loved ones too.

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  29. Thanks for allowing us to come along on your adventure. You are a wonderful visual storyteller. It is nice to know that from my Canadian dining room I can visit such wonderful far away places. Only wish I could have tasted the sausage.....:)

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  30. I loved this post with an area I have yet to see. It was lovely to see your version of the two calendar months and how lovely that the trees were green! I've often wondered where the term 'paint the town red' came from and this was really interesting to read - I bet it was a sight in its day. Have a wonderful weekend enjoying your purchases xx

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  31. Hi Jacquie, what a fab idea. Thank you, I really enjoyed the trip to Melton Mowbray today :-)
    Tracey xx

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  32. What a wonderful idea! Thanks for "taking" us along. I really enjoyed it, so many interesting sites and places. Of course the flowers and cloth was a sweet bonus. :) I recently came across some annuals on clearance sale I couldn't pass up (50 cents a six pack) needless to say I've been digging in the dirt ever since.lol

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  33. What a small world it is .... I live in Leicester ! Funny though I have never been to Melton Mowbray .... My soon to be hubby has lived "Oop North" the last 25 years and we moved to my home town 6 months ago ... Now we are planning on visiting Leicestershire too so we can both get to know it ... Thank you for showing your visit to Melton , it looks so lovely and I will have to find a way to coax him down Park Lane too :-) x

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