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.