Lady Blantyre's Rock

Triond writer Momofplenty recently asked me about my Picable pictures of Lady Blantyre’s Rock. I can see why she is intrigued. Why is a rock in a Yorkshire country estate named after a member of the Scottish aristocracy? Read on and find out.

In the late 1980s my sister went to live in Thwaites Brow, a village overlooking the Aire Valley and the town of Keighley, West Yorkshire. Later she moved down the hill to another little village, Long Lee. When I drive from Long Lee to my home in Cleethorpes, NE Lincolnshire, I go up and over a steep hill, past the “St. Ives Estate” and down into another village called Harden. No, not St. Ives the Cornwall seaside town. This St. Ives is a country estate full of beautiful woods.

The estate is open to the public. If I choose, near the bottom of the hill I can turn left and drive through these woods. Eventually I come to some very old houses, with courtyards, and a big old mansion house which is now a residential home for people with Special Needs. In amongst all this is a golf course, an agricultural research institution, and a great coppice or pond – almost a lake.

Enticingly the whole estate is ringed by a high wall, with only a handful of gaps. You long to see what is on the other side. One day I walked through such a gap, half way up the hill from Harden. Beyond that wall is a wonderland of trees and ancient history. I saw a sign saying, “To Lady Blantyre’s Rock” but was short of time so resolved to return.

Later I found another gap, nearer to Long Lee, and after going a mile the wrong way I found that rock, and took photos.

So, What it’s All About

I forgot all about this until Momofplenty prodded me into doing some research. There is a handful of useful websites providing information. The best by far is the “Friends of St. Ives” site:

  http://www.friendsofstives.org.uk/index.php

Let’s start at the very beginning. This land has yielded items dating from the Neolithic\Bronze age. There is an earthwork there of roughly the same age. The Monks of Rievaux were here from the 12th Century until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1540. It is rumoured that a famous General Fairfax once camped here and lost 200 men (who are buried here somewhere). From 1540 the first single “owner” of the estate was Walter Paslew of the local East Riddlesden. In the 1600s the Milners and Laycocks of nearby town Bingley took ownership. My understanding is that the land was called “Harden Grange”, as you might expect.

Then in 1635 the Ferrands of Bingley bought the land. They apparently had Norman ancestry going back to the 12^th century. As far as I can tell, the Ferrands had some allotments in Bingley called “St. Ives”, where they grew superior gooseberries! When they moved, “St. Ives” became “Harden Grange” and vice versa. The “new” St. Ives was theirs until they sold it to the local council in the 1920s for £38,000!

Through intermarriage, the Ferrands became linked with some notable families, such as the Busfeilds (yes, correct spelling), and the Richardsons (famous for their gardening prowess). In fact some of my in-laws have ancestors who were married to Ferrands! My sister is currently writing a book about this.

A notable member of the Ferrand family was William Busfeild Ferrand (1809-1889). He was a (twice) MP who advocated for the working classes. William supported the 10 Hours Factory Act and tried to improve the Poor Law. In short a hero. Just above Lady Blantyre Rock there is a great pinnacle dedicated to William. Interesting that he lived only a few miles away from the famous Saltaire Village, built by a humanitarian mill owner (that’s another story).

In 1847 William married Fanny Mary Stuart, daughter of Robert Walter Stuart, 11^th Lord of Blantyre. Aha. And the Lord’s wife, a regular visitor to St Ives, was our Lady Blantyre. In fact she was much more than a visitor: with her daughter she redesigned and reconstructed the estate!

Yes, their ancestors included King James VI of Scotland, and before that, famous warrior king Robert The Bruce. While I’m name dropping, the famous Prime Minister was a guest at St. Ives mansion on many occasions too. In short, some interesting family connections were involved.

For the record, Lady Blantyre died on the Rock of Ages at Lennox Love, in East Lothian, Scotland (aged 84). William passed away in 1889 (aged 80). Fanny died later in France. 

So there we are. Lady Blantyre spend many years sitting under that rock. An inscription was left there about her, and a wood-carved model. Pictures of these are on Picable (Triond) for you.

Paul Butters

Tags:      Lady Blantyre’s Rock, St. Ives Estate Bingley, Ferrand Family, Stuarts, Robert The Bruce, Busfeilds, West Yorkshire, Harden

Am I Becoming a View Junkie? | Webupon

Am I Becoming a View Junkie? Webupon

Territorial Animals.

Yorkshire. Tues. 10\3\09. 11.15. Been writing a few blogs recently. Mainly about religion. Written lots of Confidential Journals over the past few years too. Nothing here in my actual "Journal" for a long while. Am not much of a political person, but let’s have some politics.

If some aliens looked down at us from outer space, they might comment about all the wrongs in our world. Our history is full of these wrongs. To me, once you occupy a land then you have the right to keep it. So it is wrong that we (British) took North America from the Red Indians, Canada from the French (who first grabbed it from the Indians), India from the eastern Indians, Australia from the Aborigines, New Zealand from the Kiwis, and so on. It is equally wrong that the Spanish took most of South America. “Colonisation” of this sort is wrong.
Taking this train of thought to the end of the line... Some would argue Ireland for The Irish, Palestine for the Palestinians, and so on.

A few years ago I saw an interesting programme on archaeology which included a look at Istanbul, in Turkey. Underneath a mosque they found an old Byzantine floor, showing clearly that Istanbul was originally an East Roman city once known as Constantinople. MMM.

Mind you, logically this probably makes my ancestors conquering invaders too. Or immigrants. The Butterses were probably Anglo Saxon and some of the Haresigns were reportedly Huguenots from Holland or France. Then again the Harrises on my dad’s side were maybe of Welsh origin. Who knows? Not me. Time for lunch. Out.

Love, sex, romance, music, sport, television, children, animals and dreams.

Love, sex, romance, music, sport, television, children, animals and dreams.

Well, that’s the title of this blog done. Loaded with “tags” as far as I know. Have posted lots of poems plus the odd story and blog on the internet in recent years. Am very grateful for the glowing comments made by other writers on these. Yet I am disappointed at the very low number of views I’ve “received”. In fact my blogs on “Blogger” have had next to no response.
So, this weekend I wrote a poem called “Love, Sex and Tagliatelle Taglines”. I filled it with as many “tags” as I could. Such as love, sex, romance, music, sport, television, children, animals, football, Beckham, Ronaldo (sorry for swearing!), family, feelings, friends, holidays, heart, hope, life, pain, torture, masochism, sadism, porn, spanking, bl*w j*bs, people, poem, poetry, stories, drama, soaps, thrillers, crime, hospitals, heath, relationships, thoughts, supernatural, religion, church, belief, China, America, Clapton, Hendrix, Winehouse, Brits, the Universe, Earth.
Well that’ll have to do. I’m exhausted. I read that some writers spend most of their time writing articles of buzz-words having no real purpose other than to “draw” punters. Ironic to see that Gerard Manley Hopkins, one of my favourite great poets, was not published until after his death. I suppose that says it all.
On Voicesnet my poem “Champion” has received about 1400 views, way more than any other piece of mine. Odd that because it’s about table tennis, a minority sport. Will be interesting to see how the poem “Love...” does.
Sorry to sound arrogant, but I am very proud of my writing. I Know I am blessed with talent. Whether I have the right work ethic or approach is another matter. I am a very lazy reader, yet clearly I can be very inspired by the work of others. In a way I fit in very well with the quick-fix ways of today. My longest story that I’ve written to press is about 4000 words. I’m very much a sprint merchant. Have posted over 70 short pieces on “Poemhunter”....
Well, lunch approaches, so better sign off, for now. (Lunch, as Mum says, is “Spaghetti Bolognaked”!) Out.

Paul Butters (C) 2\3\2009, 13.10, Yorkshire.

Ball Play.

At the risk of repeating myself, I cannot stop remarking how often footballers slice their shots, especially by kicking on the inside of the ball. Little wonder they often go awry. When I play TT and tennis I strictly Avoid slicing or getting inside the ball when I attack. I usually play Outside the ball and Over it, sometimes with topspin. This gives me some of the Control needed to Consistently hit the target. In TT\tennis any “miss” loses you the point.

When I play football I tend to use the techniques above, which make me better at volleying etc. However, most football passes and shots are straight pushes or chips. A topspin shot is very rare. I suppose that’s simply because the top of your foot faces upwards, just right for the chip. Nonetheless I still think most footballers need to get their feet wrapped around the ball more, in the manner of a Beckham free kick. And of course they must get Over the ball when shooting. Nuff Said.

Politics and Ancestry.

I have always been interested in Life, humanity, philosophy etc. but seldom in politics. However, as I grow older my “involvement” in politics increases. Frankly, however, the first thing I am going to do is stop voting Labour! Brown and his new labour cronies are at best a waste of space. The Libdems are little better but unlikely to govern anyway, and the Tories, well… Someone on Question Time last week wittily said that the defeat at the next election will help Labour because then we will find out once more how dire the Conservatives are! We seem to need a brand new party, called “People” or “Progressive” or something, to represent and work for us all. That’s about as good as I get on politics, but surely “Radical” (original meaning) enough. It’s what’s needed, and might just work. Nuff Said.

Been watching some programmes which postulate what would happen “after man”, i.e. if mankind suddenly came to an untimely end. Basically over a few hundred years or so all metallic things such as cars would rust away completely. All the buildings, bridges etc. would crumble, erode and collapse. Cities would be engulfed by a tangle of jungle and finally vanish.
All this begs the question: could this have happened already, in our distant past? Recently we have discovered that the world is much older than we previously thought. Not just a few thousand years: a few billion. So is it possible that Mankind is much older too? That there have been quite advanced civilisations in our distant past? Even thousands or millions of years ago! All rusted and eroded away. Atlantis springs to mind of course. Yet I suspect much more. Did aliens help us build the pyramids etc.? Probably we didn't need the help! Nuff Said. That's all for now folks. If people do read these blogs.

Yet More Religion.

I cannot stop thinking about religion. About the possible existence and nature of God. I have a strong conviction that We humans are not the highest intelligence or “mentality” in Existence. Note I say “Existence”, of which our “Universe” is probably but a small part. I believe that there are countless higher intelligences. There may be a “premier league” of intelligences that operate at least throughout our galaxy. Also there may be an elite group of “forces” or “powers” around. And it is quite likely that the intelligent ones also wield all the power. The “Star Wars” phrase, “May The Force be with you!” seems most apt.

I Believe in God. However, I’m not convinced the human race has truly or fully found “Him”. Indeed I doubt God is a male. As a Creator, God is much more likely to be a female. Or even more probably a Hermaphrodite. Not necessarily just one being either. Quite possibly a Race (collective Deity?) of Gods.

For me though, all this is mere detail. What matters is that basically I have a good feeling about all this. For God or whatever seems to be fundamentally benevolent and Loving. However, S\he or They is\are keeping His\Her\Their distance and letting Us find our own way through life. The grammar gets difficult here! Such is God. Amen.

PS 13\10\14 - Immortality? Try THIS - http://www.immortal-jellyfish.com/