December | 2023 | A balanced diet . . .

Let me begin this round-up of my 2023 blogging activity by wishing all my readers A Happy and Prosperous New Year 2024.

When I began thinking about this end-of-year post, it seemed to me that I’d been much less active on my blog during 2023 than in previous years. However, when I checked the stats, I saw that this is post number 45 for the year (compared with 43 in 2021 and 42 last year), and a slightly higher number of words overall.

There was, however, a particular blog milestone back in mid-August: my 700th post since I began in February 2012.

So why did I have this impression about my blog productivity this year?

Throughout 2023, I’ve had this constant feeling that Steph and I just didn’t do so much this past year compared to previous ones. That’s partly due to the fact that from the beginning of March (until quite recently) my mobility has been seriously constrained by lower back and leg pains, caused by spinal stenosis (that was finally diagnosed in August after an MRI scan). In recent weeks, things have improved compared to earlier in the year, but I still need to take daily pain medication and I have a regime of exercises first thing in the morning. It meant that for several months I just wasn’t able to get out and about on my daily walk or, if I did, just a short shuffle close to home.

Then, in July and August in particular, the weather here in the UK was particularly wet, and it hasn’t been much better ever since. So whenever we saw a break in the weather we tried to make an excursion somewhere: to some of the magnificent beaches on the Northumberland coast or inland to explore the awe-inspiring Northumberland landscapes. But those days have been few and far between.

Chew Green, a Roman fort in the Cheviot Hills, close to the border with Scotland.

But we have enjoyed our visits to The Alnwick Garden (where we have Friend of the Garden membership) every few weeks, to enjoy a coffee in the excellent cafe there before making a tour (lasting about an hour) around the garden. It’s always a pleasure to see the Garden in its different moods throughout the seasons.

20230403 026 alnwick garden and amble beach

20230403 027 alnwick garden and amble beach

20230403 035 alnwick garden and amble beach

20230403 017 alnwick garden and amble beach

And then it’s on to the coast or inland for one of our favorite views over the Northumberland landscape. We are so lucky to live close to the North Sea coast and its awesome beaches, such as this one at Cresswell.

Mid-year we spent three weeks in the USA, visiting our elder daughter Hannah and her family in Minnesota.

The St Paul skyline.

This was our first overseas trip since 2019. The Covid pandemic prevented us traveling to the USA in 2020 and 2021. In 2022 we still felt somewhat uncomfortable about air travel, so Hannah and family came over to the UK.

Then in September, we spent a week in North Wales, enjoying the landscapes that neither I nor Steph had explored since we were children. Staying in a farm cottage just south of Caernarfon we visited several National Trust properties such as Bodnant Garden and Penrhyn Castle, as well as Edward I’s 12th century castles owned by Cadw, the Welsh heritage organization (equivalent to English Heritage).

Caernarfon Castle

All in all, a great week away with much better than expected weather, which deteriorated quite rapidly thereafter. At the end of September, Storm Agnes barreled in off the Atlantic, and there have been six since then named jointly by UK Met Office, Met Éireann and the Dutch National Weather Service (KNMI). And just these past days, Storm Gerrit (following on almost immediately after Storm Pia that had been named by the Danish Met Service) caused major disruption across the country (especially in Scotland), including a tornado in the Manchester area.

If you browse through my posts for 2023 you will see they cover a whole range of topics — just as the name, A Balanced Diet, of my blog suggests. Obviously there were several posts about our Minnesota visits, and the holiday in North Wales. But often something in the news catches my eye, and inspires me to write something. Like the time I shared my thoughts about proposed changes to England’s education system and the introduction of a broader curriculum. Or the post I wrote about bridges after reading about someone inspired by these awesome constructions. Then Steph and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary in October and I turned 75 in November. Two more stories there.

For several years now, I haven’t commented on politics or the state of the world as I see it. But 2023 has been an extraordinary year, both nationally and internationally, for all the wrong reasons, that I feel I cannot end the year without making some comments.

In the UK, the Tory government (if you can call it that) lurches from one catastrophe to another. The dismissal and appointment of Cabinet members has seemed like a game of musical chairs. Fortunately, the ever cruel Suella Braverman has gone from the Home Office but her decidedly far right agenda with regard to immigration (legal or illegal) still pervades the Tories.

Rishi Sunak (or Rish! Pipsqueak as I prefer to refer to him) is a weak, arrogant, and inept Prime Minister, who has been found wanting in several areas. His appearance before the Covid Inquiry didn’t help his image. And where did all those WhatsApp messages go?

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s appearance before the same inquiry just confirmed what we already knew about this self-serving, narcissistic liar.

Hopefully, there will be a General Election before long (there must be one by the end of 2024), and Labour will sweep to power with an overwhelming majority. That’s if the polls are to be believed.

I can’t say I have too much faith in Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, but he should be a damn sight better as Prime Minister than the present incumbent (or immediate predecessors). However, I fear that the Tories will engineer the nation’s finances in such a way to leave Labour with a toxic legacy to deal with. For the Tories it’s definitely ‘Party before Country’.

Over in the United States, it’s hard to believe that Donald Trump has a good chance of winning back the White House in 2024. I was amazed (and equally appalled) when Trump won in 2016, but to think that he can make a comeback after all he has been accused of (and indicted for) beggars belief. The MAGA Republicans are no better than a Trump cult.

But the Democrats have their own problems. While the country has prospered under Joe Biden (who has kept quite a low profile compared to Trump when in office), does it really make sense for an octogenarian (he’ll be almost 82) to contest this general election? But who to take his place?

The outrageous invasion of Ukraine by Russia has slipped somewhat from the headlines in recent months, but every day still brings news of Russian aggression against civilians, with a flare-up just over the past couple of days. Day 676! Can it really be almost two years since the war began, and remaining stalemated to some extent? The prognosis for 2024 is not optimistic.

I have hesitated to make any public comments about the current situation in the Middle East, concerned that anything I might add would be construed as being anti-semitic. But read this from political commentator here in the UK, Robert Peston.

What Hamas perpetrated against innocent Israeli civilians on 7 October was beyond abhorrent, and bound to trigger a military response. But has Israel’s response been proportionate?

What the Israeli government and the Israel Defence Force have subsequently have inflicted upon millions of innocent Palestinian civilians in Gaza, and thousands of deaths (many of whom were women and children) is equally abhorrent, if not more so. And Israeli aggression continues in the occupied West Bank, where illegal settlements continue to spread, and settlers continue their attacks on Palestinians, supported by the Israeli government. What a depressing circle of violence.

And don’t get me started on climate change . . .

Sir John Vanbrugh (1664-1726)

Among the pantheon of English architects of the late 17th and early 18th centuries, Sir John Vanbrugh (dramatist, herald, and fervent Whig) is surely one of the most extraordinary since he never—apparently—received any formal training. His commissions included Castle Howard (for the Earl of Carlisle, in 1699) in North Yorkshire, and Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire for John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough in 1705.

Perhaps his most elegant—and final—commission was Seaton Delaval Hall (on a much smaller scale than either Castle Howard or Blenheim), designed for Vice-Admiral George Delaval and begun in 1718. Both Delaval and Vanbrugh died before the house was completed.

The Hall stands between the small communities of Seaton Delaval and Seaton Sluice in Northumberland, and just under 10 miles (as the crow flies) northeast from the center of Newcastle upon Tyne. It’s only six miles by road from our home in North Tyneside, and is our nearest National Trust property.

Admiral Delaval purchased the estate from an impoverished cousin, but the family had owned land in this area since the Norman Conquest in the 11th century. Seaton Delaval Hall has had an interesting history and was occupied by various branches of the extravagant Delaval family. In 1822 there was a catastrophic fire which gutted the central main block, which has remained derelict ever since. Now a Grade 1 listed house, it is owned by the National Trust.

Like Blenheim and Castle Howard, Seaton Delaval Hall reflects Vanbrugh’s baroque design penchant for buildings with symmetrical wings on either side of a central block.

Here are three aerial images of the Hall taken recently (courtesy of local photographer John Fatkin [1]) that brilliantly show this symmetry.

The north entrance of Seaton Delaval Hall, with the grand stables block on the left (east) side, and accommodation on the right (west). Courtesy of John Fatkin – Coastal Portraits.

The Hall from the east.

The grand South Portico, with the gardens to the left.

The Hall stands within an area of just under 8 hectares, and is surrounded by a 2m high Ha-Ha wall, 360 x 220m, with rounded bastions at each of the four corners. These bastions each had a statue on a pedestal, but these have been removed to other parts of the garden. The Church of Our Lady (originally Saxon) lies within the Ha-Ha wall, and was the private chapel of the Delaval family (in the trees in the bottom left corner of the photo below).

Just to the west of the South Portico there is a small formal garden, and beyond that a magnificent parterre that must be at least 50m, if not longer. The grounds have undergone extensive renovation in recent years.

The main entrance to Seaton Delaval Hall is through the gates off the Seaton Delaval-Seaton Sluice road, the A190, round to the car park on the east side. It’s then a short walk to the South Portico, with its magnificent ionic columns.

The entrance from the north courtyard.

The east wing stable block.

The west wing from the north entrance.

The south portico.

Heading towards the south portico.

The south portico.

Ionic columns of the south portico.

The broken pediment.

Inside, one is greeted with a scene of devastation: blank walls, evidence of fire, walls devoid of panelling or plaster. The roof is a modern addition. Even so, strangely enough, one can still appreciate how magnificent it must have looked in its heyday. Some features survived the 1822 fire and still on display in the main hall, which leads to another door opening on the north side, and into the main courtyard.

Either side of the entrance hall are quite spectacular spiral staircases which provide access to a first floor balcony from which to observe the destruction of the fire two centuries ago.

The basement rooms, which were servant quarters and the like, have been recently refurbished somewhat and can be explored.

The East Wing has a set of magnificent stables. I do not recall what the rooms above were once used for.

In our last visit to Seaton Delaval we were surprised—and pleased—to see that the West Wing had been opened, with a series of furnished rooms to view, and Delaval paintings and other possessions on display. On our previous visits going back to 2013 this wing had always been closed.

The gardens are not extensive, but paths have been opened up over the past couple of years or so to allow more access to explore the area within the Ha-Ha wall.