The Grand Tour Part 9: Hull, The Olde White Harte, Hull Minster, and Haworth

   This post has been in  my drafts for over a month. It's time I get moving on these posts, because I'm starting to forget things.

  The next day after the kids arrived back in Hull, from London, we spent most of it walking around Hull. I had been to Hull before, but this time we saw parts I had never seen. I told Ken, it was one of the best days of the trip so far. 

Ken got to show the kids where he had his first bank account, but it's no longer a bank. And yes, they are hams.

Emma and Ivy with the Queen Victoria statue that's on top of the public restrooms!

This is the same Victoria statue you saw in a previous trip post, telling how Hull had been transformed into 1940's London for a day, for the filming of an episode of "The Crown".

  We saw some of the original wall around the city.

And we had snacks and a drink at a pub called Ye Olde White Harte, built in the 1500's. (Not to be confused with a more modern Hull pub called The Old White Hart.)

Emma is hinting at something. What could it be?

There was a room upstairs that was absolutely beautiful. It appears to be used as a billiard room these days, but this is the room called Ye Plotting Parlour, where the decision was made to deny King Charles I access to the city, and thus to the arsenal of weapons in the city, in 1645, becoming to first act of the English Civil War war. Oliver Cromwell was received in this room.

I couldn't believe they had that rough plywood cover to the billiard table leaning against that beautiful historic fireplace!

We moved it.

The stairs up to the plotting parlour.

Tammy World found a beer wagon just her size on the windowsill.

  We visited Hull Minster. 

  I was amused by the sign outside the entrance: Burgess of Beverly Dairy Ice Cream Sold Here. It just seemed strange.

Ken taking pictures.

Each pew had something different carved on the post.

  The ladies seen below were part of a knitting circle that was using the center of the church to knit.

And yes, we did buy an ice cream in the minster!

  After leaving the Minster we headed back toward the way we had come, as we were trying to go back to a shop where Emma had noticed some things she wanted. She hadn't wanted to carry them all day. It was getting close to closing time, so we had to hurry. I was trying to 'paint with a camera' again. 

That's Ivy in the long coat.

My sister asked me why the streets were so empty. Because I waited for that moment!

The sky was making it easier to 'paint'.

These pictures were taken out the window of the shopping mall!

  

  Around this time we also found out that Ken's friend Paul had fallen, and his wife, Stacey, and their  daughter had Covid. So we ended up not being able to visit them. They did send over a lovely gift, made by Stacey. 

(Emma had to tote it home for us because our cases were too full already. We 'socially distanced' it  in a plastic bag to be safe!) We also heard from our friends in Germany that they had Covid too! It was up in the air as to whether or not they would be completely clear of it in time for us to visit. AND, my friend Jenny, who had fallen and broken two ribs right before I saw her, had gotten sick, and coughed so hard she hurt her ribs on the other side! Plus, she had developed a problem with her hand, and could hardly use it for about two weeks! Our curse continued.  

  The next day we, and the kids, traveled to Huddersfield to Ken's sister Diane again. The girls got to visit with Diane and family, and Diane presented us with a family gift we had been waiting to open until the girls arrived.

It's a music box, and as it plays the little taxi drives around the Houses of Parliament.

  The family, which included Diane, her daughter Jane and her partner, and Diane's son Steven, took us to Haworth, where the Bronte's lived. We drove through the Moors to get there, and I saw a wood pigeon walking by the side of the road. I had never seen one before. They're huge.

   I was corrected for pronouncing Haworth as 'Hay-worth'. Finally Diane said, "How-worth. Say it!" "How-worth?" I never knew Diane could be such a taskmaster! However you pronounce it, it is a beautiful place. 

Ken in front of the sweet shop.

  We got there a bit late in the day, and since we were traveling with Ken's family, as I've said before, we had to stop and eat first. By the time everybody was finished eating, it was getting to the point where everything was getting ready to close. The kids scurried off to the shops, while Ken and I went to see the parsonage, where the Bronte's lived. I won't bore you with the whole house, but I thought some of you might find the clothing interesting.

  This statue of the sisters is in the garden.

Charlotte Bronte's dress.

This cabinet contained some of the clothes the sisters actually wore, including Charlotte's wedding bonnet and veil, top left.

  This sleeve came from a dress worn by Charlotte Bronte.

A fragment of Charlotte's actual dress, and a piece of the recreation of one of Emily Bronte's dress, done for the film "Emily".

And actual large piece of fabric from Charlotte's 'Thackery dress'.

  We also had a quick look at the church where the Bronte's father was the vicar. You can see the outside of the church in the picture above with the red phone box in front of it.

  It got dark before we could do much else, so we missed seeing the graveyard. It's supposed to be interesting. Emma and AJ checked out the graveyard instead of the house.

  Check out the Doll-A-Day 2023 #175 post to see what I bought in Haworth.

   We left Haworth and went back to Huddersfield for the night. In the morning we headed back to Hull, and spent the day with Ken's sister Marjorie and her husband. You might remember that our 'curse' had put her husband, Cliff, in the hospital with two hernias to be repaired. He was home and feeling better by then though.

  The next day there was a family get together. 

Ivy got to spend some time being abused by her younger cousins.

During it an announcement was made. Remember Emma was hinting at something in the picture in The Olde White Harte? She hadn't told us yet at that point, because she hoped we'd see the ring and ask, but she and AJ had become engaged in London. I told her I had noticed the ring, but thought it was up to her to mention it. So we knew, but she kept it to herself otherwise until we had the family get together where Ken was allowed to announce it to the family.

The couple toasted.

  And the next morning we all left. The kids left before we did, in the middle of the night, really. We left later in the morning, and caught the train to Clacton  to visit my friend Cheryl. We saw Cheryl on our last trip too. This time we got to spend a couple of days with her, and meet her cat Ted, who looms large in her life. Ted rules the roost! 

  And there I will leave things until the next time.         

Doll-A-Day 2023 #174: Ivy Cottage Mystery Doll

   A couple of posts ago we looked at the small Violet Pickles figure from Ivy Cottage, the series of books and dolls by E.J. Taylor. I mentioned that my post on the Ruby and Violet soft dolls from the series is one of my all time most viewed posts, and that people often message me, wanting to know if I have any spare Ruby and Violet dolls to sell. The books seem to have captivated a lot of people, who remember them fondly from their childhoods, or from reading them to their children. Those people now want the dolls and books for their children or grandchildren.

  Well, a while back a lady messaged me on the blog's Facebook page about an unusual doll she had recently bought online. The doll was obviously an Ivy Cottage doll, but neither of us had ever seen her before. The lady asked me if I knew, or could find out, anything about her doll. I was intrigued, and said I'd try. 

  I intended to write to the author of the books and creator of the dolls, E.J. Taylor. I even found an address that I thought might work. But, I procrastinated, and things arose that made me forget. I remembered every now and then, but I really wanted to be able to print my letter, because my handwriting is atrocious. Some of you who have received things from me, addressed in my psychotic scrawl, can testify to this. (I had a teacher once who told me that I 'write like a boy', whatever that means.) But our printer was constantly not working. While working on that recent post, I found that E.J. Taylor passed away last December.

  So now I have only the internet to rely on to solve this mystery. So, my fellow detectives, here are the facts, accompanied by pictures kindly provided by the doll's owner:

  The doll in question is 12 inches tall. 

She looks like the Horsman Rag Bag Annie doll I posted HERE. However, that doll was only 6 inches tall. That cuts out the idea that this doll may have been someone's one of a kind based on the book, using the other Rag Bag Annie doll. Also, her owner says her outfit and box seem factory made.

She's wearing a hairnet, which makes me think of more high end dolls than the other Ivy Cottage dolls.

She was packaged attached to a box with no writing, and had a faked up miniature copy of "Christmas at Ivy Cottage" as her accessory.

The book is just a paper picture glued to cardboard.

 Since she is wearing an angel costume and comes with a fake copy of "Christmas at Ivy Cottage",  I am assuming she is Rag Bag Annie, who, if I recall correctly, was cast, over rich girl Cecily Thistle, as the angel in the school play, in that book.  

She has a vinyl head, arms, and legs, described by her owner as 'almost squishy', and a soft, stuffed body.

  She is attached to her insert with twist ties. 

Here's the back of her pretend book.

  Okay. The question is, was this doll ever released, or is this a prototype? Where did it come from? If you have any information about this doll, please let me know.

  See you tomorrow for another doll.doll-   

The Doll Book of the Month Club: Raggedy Ann's Mystery

   Sorry we seem to be heavy on Raggedy Ann recently. Right now I have to post whatever I have access to, and a few weeks ago I bought this book, Raggedy Ann's Mystery.

 It was, in fact, the same weekend I bought the boxed Raggedy Ann,  but not at the same sale.

  This book was published in 1962, so it's the same age as I am. I believe this edition is a reprint of a 1947 one. It's a story by Johnny Gruelle, the Raggedys originator, and not a later story by someone else. Gruelle didn't do the illustrations though. They are by Ethel Hays.

Now, before I get to the story of this...story, I have to say something. This story concerns a missing character, and the efforts to find him. What kills me is, the character, who has what looks sort of like dreadlocks, is called...wait for it! Snoopwiggie!

Is it just me, or is that funny?! Ken barely gave me a smirk, but Emma got a good laugh out of it. I just keep thinking of the name and the coincidence and giggling to myself. I mean, I suppose Snoopwiggie just has what Emma, (or was that Ivy?), used to call 'boingy curls', but come on! It's especially funny when you hear that Snoop Dogg is going bald, and is considering just being bald and wearing wigs all the time. Then he really will be Snoopwiggie! I kill me!

  Anyway, on to the book. The 'mystery' is that Snoopwiggie, (HA!) is missing, after inviting everyone to his birthday party. A guy called The Nice Fat Policeman, (must be the doughnuts...), wakes Raggedy Andy up in the middle of the night because of the missing...guy. 

Did this guy invite everybody to a middle of the night birthday party? Why is TNFP so worried and checking on him at night? Oh right: cake. So the Raggedy's get on the case, mainly because trying to think clogs up TNFP's brain. 

They come across Betsy Bonnet String. 

Apparently she's magic. She can twitch her apron and make things appear, like a birthday lunch for everyone, so they don't miss it. (The heck with Snoopwiggie. We don't need him and his birthday! We can have a birthday party without him! That's basically what Betsy says!) It's a lunch, in the middle of the night too. What's with that?

  Raggedy Ann notices that there are no footprints around Snoopwiggie's door, so 'someone must have carried him off'. Okay then. Where are their foot prints? She then guesses that the culprit who snatched Snoopwiggie, (Who said anyone snatched him? Maybe he went all 'wiggy' because he was having another birthday, and flew off on an age induced vacation.), MUST be the No Fun Elf, because of course it was. Sounds a bit...'elfist' to me.  She figures he used his magic cart. Maybe it doesn't leave tracks. Who knows?

  Raggedy Ann says that if they had red bicycles, because 'red ones go faster than any other kind', (Raggedy Ann seems to use the same logic as the Highway Patrol.), they could go to the No Fun Elf's house and find Snoopwiggie. 

  So Betty Bonnet String twitches her apron again, and two bikes with red wheels appear. They ride them to the No Fun Elf's house and find the door is locked.  Raggedy Ann says she knows Snoopwiggie is in there because she feels it in her candy heart But how do they get him out?

Wow. Raggedy Andy action hero. But isn't that a felony?

They decide to laugh, to aggravate the No Fun Elf so he will come out to try to drag them into his depressing house. Then Raggedy Andy can run in and get Snoopwiggie. It works, but the No Fun Elf notices and winks his eye, closing and locking the door, with Andy and Snoopwiggie inside!

  They struggle with how to get them out. Why can't Betsy wiggle her apron again? That's my question.  Then Raggedy Ann suddenly remembers that anyone with a candy heart that says 'I love you' can make one wish for someone on their birthday. So she wishes them out and the door springs open. (Why couldn't she have just wished for Snoopwiggie in the first place? 

  Raggedy Andy is carrying a black heart. It belongs to the No Fun Elf, and Andy found it in the house. So they wash it in the Laughing Brook, and the No Fun Elf gets nice.  

They all ride off to Snoopwiggie's, (HAHAHAHA!!!), for the party, including the now Fun Elf, and everybody has a happy ending.

Cake for everyone! Where's TNFP?

  Sorry for the lack of seriousness in this review. It was late and...Snoopwiggie! Ha!