Doddy Loc: Barnard Castle-England

Ripon is a small city in northern England, it has a population of 17000 people. It would normally be classed as a small town, but because it has a Cathedral it is classed as a city. It is a charming place with many old winding streets and alleys. Its main claim to fame is its Cathedral, a beautiful mediaeval building..but underneath it has a 7th-century crypt (dedicated to St Wilfrid) it is the oldest used crypt in Britain, it is still used as a place of worship to this day. Ripon also has one of the oldest running traditions in the world..the Ripon Hornblower, where a horn is blown in the Market square every night and has been for over a thousand years, it was first used to warn the residents of Viking raiders approaching.

looking along a winding street toward the Cathedral.


Ripon Cathedral, with decorations on the roadside ready to celebrate the Queens Jubilee celebrations.


Inside view of the Pulpit.


Beautiful Medieval statues.


Another view of the inside.


The sign above the ancient crypt.


This is looking into the tiny crypt where daily prayers have been said for over 1300 years.


Cramped passageway in the crypt (they must have been quite small in those days!)


another view of the beautiful interior


Ripon Market place, where the Hornblowing takes place every night.

Vector

Nice pics!

KindaSpikey Loc: English living in San Diego

HI Doddy, really nice images! I've visited Ripon several times, and you're absolutely right, it's a charming little town /city. And I never knew about the traditions that continue there! Thanks for the info. I've seen that passageway, and it is very small, but perhaps the people weren't smaller, I think the guys digging it just got tired and thought, "that's good enough" lol. I like the statues, a lot of people don't give it a second thought, because we only see them as they are today, (bare stone), but a lot were painted when originally carved, and not just medieval, but also Egyptian, Roman, Greek, in fact all around the world, it's only time has worn it away. So it's nice to see those in the cathedral painted as they were intended. So anyway, love the shots you got, thanks for sharing,
Ray.

rmm0605 Loc: Atlanta GA

A nice portrait of a nice, old lady. We can scarcely imagine the true differences between the time this was built and now. Can you imagine a 7th century monk with a cell phone?

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Hard to walk in England without tripping over history. Doddy, my favorites are the street scene and the medieval statues but all are great photos.

But yikes, your camera has a sinkhole in the middle that all objects are falling into ... easy to use straightening and prospective tools to remedy this with a click.

angler Loc: StHelens England

Good set Doddy.

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

Nice set of photos, Doddy--enjoyed!

NMGal Loc: NE NM

Really enjoyed these.

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

Very nice tour!

Doddy Loc: Barnard Castle-England

Thanks for nice comment Ray. I found that Crypt and passageway quite spooky. I wonder what the Vikings made of it, as that part of the world was under their control for quite a while. Then of course when the Normans invaded they tended to pull down the English churches of worship and replace them with their own style.

Doddy Loc: Barnard Castle-England

Cheers Vector.

Doddy Loc: Barnard Castle-England

Cheers rmmm, I would imagine they lived simple lives with a lot of hardships...not my cup of Tea!

Doddy Loc: Barnard Castle-England

Cheers Don, I had never noticed this 'sinkhole' effect till you mentioned itl I'm just a simple soul with simple tastes...lol. I might just put my hand in my pocket and invest in a program to rectify that.

Doddy Loc: Barnard Castle-England

Cheers Jim, I love finding these old buildings and looking up their history...as well as photographing them of course!

Doddy Loc: Barnard Castle-England

Cheers John, appreciate the nice comment.