A Few Curiosities

I like to find things that are a little out of the ordinary (and haven't all that far to look, let's face it...) So a quick collection of a few bits that have been going through the scanner in the last week or two.

Starting close to home, this is a view of Carlin Rock which is about half a mile off the sea wall at Bispham where I live. Only visible at low tide and shrinking because of the wearing effect of two tides a day and probably sinking into the sand as well. Even further out to sea is Pennystone Rock. Only uncovered at extremely low tides, it's said the stone used to sit outside an old inn and that there was an iron ring set in it for tethering horses.

I think I blogged about the God Stone of Formby after a more recent visit in 2007, but this photo was taken in July 1983 when I first went looking for it after reading about it in the excellent King's England series of books by Arthur Mee in the volume about Lancashire. Lancashire was a slightly larger place in the days of those books! It can be found in the churchyard and is said to pre-date the church, being a pagan stone that locals carried their dead around 3 times. The early Christians carved steps and a cross and a circle representing Heaven to show that the way to Heaven was through the cross.

A slightly more modern relic, but a reminder of a way of life now vanished none-the-less. Sheds of the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway at Haworth in Yorkshire. A couple of steam locomotives are in steam, ready for the day's work on this museum line.

And finally, a view across the River Wharf of Bolton Abbey in Yorkshire, taken later on the same day as the Haworth photo in July 1983. The ruins of the abbey are impressive and the scenery of this beautiful spot makes them all the more so. The line of stepping stones had disappeared the last time I was there. I hope that was temporary and not a modern health & safety nonsense.

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The God Stone of Formby

After all the hunting going on in Blackpool for Margot's telescope box remains - which I haven't had chance to look for yet - I had a treasure hunt of my own today.

On the way back from our visit to Liverpool, I called off to search for the Godstone. This small carved stone can be found - ahhh, well I'll give a cryptic clue later! You wouldn't want me to take all the fun out of it would you? Legend has it, that the locals in pre-Christian days, used to carry their dead around the stone three times following the direction of the sun. When missionaries visited Britain to convert the island to Christianity, they carved the stone with some steps, a cross and a circle in an attempt to show that the way to Heaven lies through the Cross.

The stone can still be found, standing close to the edge of a churchyard. In a Lancashire village named not quite like the make of Fran's new grill, find the thatched cottage and then turn towards the sea. It's a long drive to the end of the road then turn right and find the church of a gospel writer.

If that is too cryptic for you, then you can find the answer much more clearly by looking at the title of this article... If you visit, please remember it is a churchyard. Please show respect and do not walk over graves - it is an old churchyard and some are a little overgrown but it is clear how to walk between them.

Whilst there, have a peek into the church porch at the memorial slab of Richard Formby, a 7ft tall armour-bearer to the King who died 22 September 1407. The memorial was cracked in a fire at York Minster and moved here afterwards.

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