Dismantled & Ready to be Shipped to America..

This was the first fireplace to be dismantled and removed from the castle.

Just click on a photograph if you'd like to enlarge it, you'll see much more detail.

Way back in 1911 Tattershall Castle had fallen into disrepair, and was unloved and unwanted.... few people had heard of Lincolnshire, never mind Tattershall.

The owner had no interest in it, the buildings and land were to be sold.

This beautiful room is the Audience Chamber, on the second floor

A meeting of the Council of the National Trust was convened, but decided against purchasing the castle, despite being offered an interest free loan to do so!

Instead it was purchased by anAmerican millionaire, who planned to have the wholecastle dismantledand shipped, brick by brick, to the U.S.

When news of this was made public there was a huge outcry, especially when it became known that the huge and handsome stone fireplaces were being dismantled and taken away from the castle, in pieces. Bricks were smashed, chimneys dismantled, rubble lay all around.

Luckily Lord Curzon (Viceroy of India) was able to purchase the building and he set about trying to track down the missing fireplaces.

He had all the ports watched so that they could not be taken out of the country. Eventually he was contacted by a dealer, acting as the middleman for the people who now owned the fireplaces.

Image borrowed from tattershallwiththorpe, many thanks

Image borrowed from tattershallwiththorpe, many thanks

To cut a long story short, a deal was struck and they were returned at a cost of £5,155.00. This was in May 1912. The two black and white photographs show the triumphant return of the fireplaces.



The dismantled fireplaces would have been taken down this beautiful staircase.

Going up the spiral staircase doesn't seem so bad, coming down is a little trickier - especially given that it is two-way traffic...

There are approximately 150 steps from the basement to the battlements.



This photograph may give you some idea of the scale of the fireplaces and the vastness of the 'chambers'. Each floor has one large chamber with a few very small ante-rooms leading off.





It is a very simple building with lots of beautiful detailing, both inside and out. The walls have never been plastered or painted. The principle rooms were hung with huge tapestries like this one. Everything was on a grand scale.



Even corridors had beautiful ceilings.

Here we are at the top of the building, a beautiful open air space. Climb another few stairs and you are rewarded with amazing views of the countryside - see my previous post.

On a clear day you can see all the way to Boston - in Lincolnshire, of course!

Experimentation

Last Saturday I made a spur-of-the moment decision to string a couple of "normal" rides together in northern NSW, culminating in a reverse ride around the old Tweed Valley Circuit. I was hoping this would give me a 200km day. Before I had finished 5, I had realised my camera was still sitting at home. Oh well, it was too late to go and get it now.
The route I had decided on encompassed the climb over Reserve Creek road, followed by Cudgera Creek into Burringbar, before doubling back to Burringbar and Stokers Siding to link up with the old Tweed Valley circuit in reverse. It's nice to note that March is upon us, meaning that the heat waits a little longer to become unbearable each day, and I was able to mop up the first 80km to Burringbar without sweating to death. It was after climbing over the Burringbar range, and cutting through Stokers Siding toward Uki that the ride would get interesting.
First of all, the climb up that side of the valley was actually more difficult than I had anticipated. Not mind-buggeringly difficult in the Porters Pass vein, but just quite a bit longer than I'd thought. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, however, as it involves passing through the prettiest section of the route at a slightly slower pace. There was also a decent volume of shade around, which is crucial in this climate. I crested the summit somewhere near Mebbin National Park, and commenced the long, gradual descent toward Tyalgum. It was here I realised that I had been doing this ride in the wrong direction all along, the views on the way back were stunning.
Tyalgum seemed to be quite a bit warmer than everywhere else in the Tweed Valley, and one of the locals confirmed that this seems to be the norm out here. Just when I was beginning to like the place! As it was, I was glad to get out of there today, and commence the two climbs before the descent all the way back to Chillingham. All that was left now as a climb over Tomewin and to coast home. Unfortunately, a few wind gusts in the canefields around Murwillumbah wanted to delay things a little, I had to push through at a measly 21km/h, and had no momentum for the climb.
Yet once I started the climb, everything seemed to feel good again. I guess there's nothing like winching up a long climb to recharge one's energy. The final ride home through suburbia was then mopped up without anything remarkable happening. In the end I was extremely satisfied with the day's ride, even if the final tally of 195km fell a little short of the distance goal. There will be plenty more riding where that came from in coming weekends.

Happy Dad's Day Pa!

Huggers and Licks,
xo Sammie

Go to Buggary!

Last weekend's tour was a great one, culminating in the ride over Mt Buggary in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. It all began with a trainride to Caboolture, before heading west through Wamuran and Kilcoy. Even at this early stage, the scenery was starting to pick up, as was the temperature, although whether it's necessarily this hot remains to be seen.


Kilcoy won an award for being the friendliest town in South East Queensland in 2001, and it was certainly living up to it's reputation. A local cancer fund raiser even offered to keep an eye on my bike when I went into the supermarket. We ended up having quite an extensive chat about New Zealand, having both been there previously. She said I was a "real man" for riding a bike across from Caboolture -- then I later found out she was actually a cancer survivor. That puts things into perspective, but I think I might stop short of calling her a "real man" just in case.

The next stretch toward Jimna was dotted with war memorials and bushfires over the surrounding hills. I notice the locals in these parts actually warn people about smoke hazards (they don't in the areas around the Gold Coast). It was now 30 degrees C for the climb of Jinker Hill. The warning signs proclaimed a "very steep climb", but it was more of a long grind than anything else.


Reaching the summit of the climb was a triumph in itself due to the heat. It's going to be a long summer, six months starting this weekend, but if I can reproduce the form I showed on the climb I should slaughter it. I was now in the forest riding through the bellbirds. This was just beautiful riding, I really should do a podcast of somewhere like this when I get the sound working on my computer.
I visited the township of Jimna, where not much was happening, so I continued on my way. I really should have stocked up on water here, because I was later told that the "treated" water at the campsite was undrinkable (this was after I'd consumed a litre of it already). Still, I didn't suffer any ill effects, and there was enough fruit left over to ensure that I didn't dry out too much. I fixed a flat tyre that I'd picked up at the end of the ride, then settled in for a relaxed evening in my tent.

* * * * *
Sunday opened with another flat tyre. Evidently the glass I'd removed from the tyre the night before wasn't the cause. I fixed that one too, found another potential cause, then went on my way. The plan was to take Old Yabba road to the coast, then a train home. Easy I thought, wrong I found! The first stretch on the dirt through the forest, and later the open country was easy enough.

The rest of the ride toward Imbil was, however, dominated by mountains. A sign warned of a rough road over Mt Buggary, however, the condition of the road itself wasn't too bad. The gradients were another matter! At one stage I walked down a particular pinch because it would have been impossible to stop the bike for a corner on the dirt had it had any speed (it was hard enough to walk down).
I also had to contend with a dwindling water supply -- I had another bottle of campsite water in reserve, but I didn't particularly want to use it. The plan had been to moderate my pace to reduce the amount of water I lost through sweat, but the gradients on the road put paid to that idea. The scenery, however, was just spectacular.


As I headed east, the moisture in the air started to increase, and after one almighty downhill the steep gradients dissipated. I was basically back on the coast, except for another 40km or so to contend with. I found my way into the town of Imbil just as the last of the water from Kilcoy was consumed -- perfect timing. A town like this wouldn't get a second thought from most people, but from a bike tourist who has been out in the heat, it's a really good place to stock up on whatever I need.
An old steam train passed through the town while I ate lunch. Everyone in the town was rushing over for a look, but as an old Werris Creek boy, and having seen thousands of these things myself, it didn't quite hold the same fascination. It might be an interesting ride to take one day, however. I lined up the final stretch to Eumundi for the ride home. Initially I went through a relatively flat area that is intended to be flooded to build a massive dam. The locals were just about ready to lynch Peter Beattie over this one, although I can only assume that somebody must have voted for him, because he actually gained seats at the State election. More on that later.

There were even a few hills to contend with at the end. I had actually forgotten how hilly the final stretch between Kenilworth and Eumundi was. Perhaps it's because the only time I've ridden through that stretch previously was in a downpour that made long range visibility just about impossible. This time, however, I was able to enjoy the scenery.

It took a while for the train to arrive at Eumundi. If I hadn't lost time fixing the flat tyre earlier in the day, I may have ridden to Noosa and back. As it was I just waited until it arrived. This bike touring caper seems to impress a lot of people. The guards on the train wanted to hear all about my adventure. One of them even suggested the possibility of keeping a log of all my tours and writing a book about them one day. It might be a project to think about if I ever get the time.

Half moon half tree

Half moon Half tree

CDX at Santa Cruz Kennel Club Show - 3/24!

It was a dark and stormy day... Picture Snoopy uptop his doggehouse, typing. It was like that. As we pulled into the parking lot and readied our rollermobile complete with doggehcrate, chair for Momma and lotsa other stuffs, the downpour soaked us. Course... I didn't mind, cause I love the wet stuffs, but the hoomans were having a fuss over it!

This was the event where I was 'sposed to do some sorta magic that had sumpin' to do with the letters, C, D and X. There were a ton of doggehs here. (Even though there was a torrent.)

Here I am in my doggeh house. Waiting...
This is a furry cool day, for it seems to be just Mamma and me. I don't see Avalon anywhere and that's okay, cause I gots to concentrate. Next door is my pal, Shanti, who got her third UDX today. WOW! And next to Shanti is Quinn, a gorgeously handsome Sibe. I'll tell you how I feel about him a bit later heheh!
After a brief trip outside, I posed by the window. You can't see, but it is simply pouring out there!
You can see my performance in the movies below, but here we are lined up for the placements. Only four of us "qualified" out of a lot of doggehs.
I ended up with a second, but the best part was.... I earned my CDX! Whatever that means! Momma was furry happy!
Here I am posing with da Judge, who was most pawesome! If you'd like to see three short vids of my performancing, you can look at these, below!
Part I herePart II herePart III here Momma still can't get the youtube movies to embed anymore... anybody got any suggestions? Thanks heaps! xo PS: Wanna know who got first? Quinn!!! I gave him some kissies - Congrats Quinn!

Las Trampas Leaves

Las Trampas Leaves, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

Although it's not as pronounced as on the East Coast, there is some fall color in California. This tree in Las Trampas was particularly bright.
Anybody else have fall colors nearby?