Lindisfarne Priory

The priory on Lindisfarne was founded in the 11th century by the monks of Durham on the site of an earlier 7th century monastery. The rainbow arch is all that remains of the crossing tower while the maze is a much later addition :-)

Egg Throwing Championships

The small Lincolnshire village of Swaton hosted this year's World Egg Throwing Championships at yesterday's Swaton Vintage Day. At one point eggs were flying off in all directions, hitting spectators and splattering innocent bystanders :-)

The two man egg throw involved throwing an egg to a partner who had to catch it unbroken. The Guinness World Record of 98.51m was set by Johnny Dell Foley and Keith Thomas in November 1978 and remains unbroken.

Russian egg roulette presented the contestants with half-a-dozen eggs, 5 hard-boiled, 1 raw. The players took turns to select an egg and smash it over their head with inevitably messy results.

The most fascinating event used a variety of counterweight trebuchet. The weapons at today's show were build specifically to throw an egg from the sling. The accuracy needed a little work though - several eggs flew backwards into the crowd and the craft marquee! :-)

Altogether, we had a fantastic day and will definitely be back next year.

Lindisfarne Castle

Lindisfarne Castle stands on Beblowe Crag close to the south-east point of Holy Island. The castle was build in the 16th century to protect the area from the Scottish :-)

Northern Marsh Orchid

Found in an abandoned quarry along the path of Hadrian's Wall. :-)

Forget-Me-Not

One of my favourite flowers grows wild in the garden. The forget-me-nots are approx 7mm in diameter. :-)

Comma Caterpillar

I spotted a few comma caterpillars in the garden this morning. The caterpillar above is 6mm. His bigger brother munching a currant leaf is 11mm :-)

Basically, Carry on Round Here...

I spotted this strange sign on Eastgate in Louth:

“...Basically, carry on round here, it curves to the right (don't deviate), turn right down the side of the town hall (it's a typical Victorian looking town hall), then over the crossroads...”

It's one of thirteen signs created by artist Rupert Clamp for the Lost in Louth art project. Rupert pretended to be lost in Louth, asking for directions. He created the signs from the directions people gave him.

Oakham Buttercross & Stocks

A 17th century buttercross stands to the side of Oakham's market square. Originally locals would've gathered here to buy milk, eggs and butter.

Oakham's stocks are sheltered by the cross. Can you spot anything weird? :-)

Looking up into the roof of the buttercross...

Anne Brontë's Grave

“Here lie the remains of Anne Brontë, daughter of the Revd. P. Brontë, Incumbent of Haworth, Yorkshire. She died, Aged 28, May 28th 1849”

Anne Brontë is buried in Saint Mary's churchyard, Scarborough and whether right or wrong the grave has become something of a tourist attraction.