#llanerch

[grandmaster-anne]

A royally good start

Horse & Hound | Published 20 June 2021

WHEN The Queen’s childhood governess Marion Crawford first met a young Princess Elizabeth, she found “a small figure with a mop of curls sat up in bed”, who had tied the cords of her dressing gown to the knobs of the bed and was busy driving her team.

‘‘Do you usually drive in bed?” Marion remembered asking, in her 1950 book The Little Princesses, to which the princess replied: “I mostly go once or twice round the park before I go to sleep. It exercises my horses.”

The 30-odd toy horses that she had, each standing a foot high on wheels, had a strict stable routine; their grooming basket stood at the end of a long line of them, first at No. 145 Piccadilly, and later in the corridors of Buckingham Palace. Each night they had their saddles removed, and were attentively fed and watered. And after her and Princess Margaret’s annual trip to Olympia Horse Show with their parents, the toy horses would be put through several weeks of intensive training. On other occasions Princess Elizabeth would harness her nanny with a pair of red reins to set off on a fictional delivery round.

“I would be patted, given my nosebag, and jerked to a standstill, while Lilibet delivered imaginary groceries, and held long and intimate conversations with her make-believe customers,” wrote Marion. “Sometimes she would whisper to me, ‘Crawfie, you must pretend to be impatient. Paw the ground a bit.’ So, I would paw.”

And at Royal Lodge, in Windsor Great Park, where weekends were spent, two lifesized rocking horses were put outside the then Duke of York’s study, so he could hear his daughters riding while he worked.

WHEN Princess Elizabeth’s grandfather King George V gave her the diminutive Shetland Peggy when she was four years old, it was her first real taste of life in the saddle - and a place for her to channel the attentiveness she’d shown her toys. A photo from the 2014 exhibition Royal Childhood at the Summer Opening of Buckingham Palace shows her proudly leading her younger sister aboard Peggy, with the bowler-hat clad groom Mr Henry Owen, who taught her to ride, in attendance.

“[Princess Elizabeth] liked me to come and watch her [riding lessons with Mr Owen],” wrote Marion. “Her first canter was a great day. I used to walk with the dogs, and it was pretty to hear her bell-like voice through the trees talking to Owen about burs, galls and girths.”

For all the stereotyping of Shetlands being comically naughty, they have continued to be the royal family’s choice of breed for a child’s debut in the saddle. It was Queen Victoria’s fondness for the breed that helped raise their profile in the 19th century, according to Anne, Countess De La Warr, president of the Shetland Pony Stud Book Society.

“It made them popular with other Victorian mothers,” she says. “They’re particularly good as a first pony, but also as what I call a family pony; if you have a trap or a cart, you can all go on family picnics with them. I have one friend whose pony is said to know his way to the pub.”

Flora and Alma, two Shetlands who were presented to Queen Victoria by King Victor Emmanuel of Italy, proved particularly popular with her grandchildren, and it’s a trend that Anne continues to see today.

“Grandmothers can have them in the field and when a child comes to visit, you can hoik them out and put a saddle on. They’re amazingly easy,” she says.

If it weren’t for the grand surroundings, BBC footage from 1992 of The Queen with Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie riding Smokey at Balmoral could be any idyllic scene of a grandmother with her grandchildren.

As Anne explains, the best Shetlands tend to come via word of mouth and the royal family is no exception in following that ethos on the hunt for the perfect pony. Prince William learnt to ride on the pint-sized Smokey aged four; Llanerch Topaz, another that the future king was pictured on as a child taught the Princess Royal’s children to ride and it was reported that Zara Tindall provided a Shetland for Prince George to kick-start his riding.

WHILE these early rides are the grand sum of some royal family members’ foray into equestrianism, for others it is just the start. Aged two, Princess Anne was bundled aboard Fum, and although her memories of the Shetland are vague, the experience paved the way for a series of more memorable ponies that would lay the foundations for her Olympic eventing career.

Holidays as a child were spent at Sandringham, Windsor and Balmoral. Each offered a different terrain for Princess Anne to tackle on horseback, usually accompanied by her mother and older brother, and assisted by the groom, Frank Hatcher, who helped the children catch the ponies and brush them, and reminded them to pick out their feet.

“The miles of stubble fields around Sandringham were pure luxury by today’s standards of relatively restricted hacking,” she remembered in her 1991 equestrian autobiography Riding Through My Life, reminiscing about the “rides” which had been cleared for Queen Alexandra to be able to ride through the woods and all over the estate without getting her hat knocked off.

“The best ‘fun’ riding was at Balmoral: riverside paths, woodland paths, hill paths and the golf course. It was all right if you rode on the rough, but you were definitely not popular if you got ‘carted’ away with across the fairways.” As for a young Princess Elizabeth, who won a driving class at the 1944 Royal Windsor Horse Show with her Norwegian pony Hans, Princess Anne’s initially modest competitive career started from Windsor, where most of her riding happened at weekends (although not on Sundays, which was the grooms’ day off).

She was a member of the Garth Hunt branch of the Pony Club - although she can count the number of rallies she went to on one hand.

“They were memorable for persuading me that gymkhana games were not my forte. The pony I had at the time was a 13.2hh called Bandit, who was charming and reliable in every way except that he refused to repeat himself. By that I mean that he would take part in one bending race, but tried very hard not to take part in the next,” Princess Anne wrote in her autobiography.

It was this same pony that knocked a young Prince Charles’s confidence when it came to jumping. On clearing one round the grey was known to “indulge in his well-known imitation of a horse rampant if asked to face up to round two,” remembered Princess Anne. Discovering hunting helped renew the Prince’s interest in jumping, and being introduced to polo by his father at the age of 13 was a world away from the tedious early lessons inflicted on him and his sister with Miss Sybil Smith at Holyport.

Princess Anne remembered: “Being put on a small, fat, white cob, on the end of a leading rein, one each side of a large, fat, white cob, ridden by Miss Smith, and being led, very sedately, around a cinder circle was not our idea of riding!”

Even with the abundant privilege, being royal couldn’t negate the calamities that accompany getting to grips with ponies. On holiday at Glamis Castle, the childhood home of the Queen Mother, a favourite expedition for Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret was to take the pony down to Glamis Station to watch the Aberdeen Fish Express go through.

“The pony was temperamental about trains, and the station master very kindly let us shut him up in the waiting room,” remembered governess Marion Crawford. “Unfortunately, one day when, as usual, we did this, the stationmaster had forgotten to warn us that he had put all his best chrysanthemums ready for the flower show in there. The pony ate the lot.”

A tumble came for Princess Anne when riding her bay 14.2hh Watersmeet High Jinks in from the field while leading another, and making an unplanned dismount on some hard cobbles. “Not for the first time he looked genuinely surprised at the antics of his erstwhile rider,” she wrote.

An earlier mount, Kirby Cane Greensleeves, left a lasting imprint on the Princess after the Welsh pony trod on her toe. “In that endearing way that ponies have, the more I shouted, the more I pushed and the more desperate I became, the harder she leaned,” she wrote.

And while the royal ponies might have nestled alongside horses reserved for pulling golden state carriages when they were stabled at Windsor Castle, it was often a refreshingly low-key existence. At Windsor, the ponies lived a distance from the Mews, so the children would take the tack down in the car, tack them up in the field and take them out from there.

“These were pretty rough, scruffy little objects,” remembered Princess Anne.

What was drummed into the children however by The Queen was that whatever went wrong, it was never the ponies’ fault. Along with Zara’s Pony Club grounding, this was a mantra that Princess Anne instilled in her own children, and one that seems likely to exist for the next generation.

“There is no doubt that the level of involvement required in equestrian sport teaches young people a great deal about life, especially that ‘life’ is not fair,” wrote Princess Anne. “Horses are no respecters of reputation or ego and certainly not of wealth, making them a challenge to everybody, whether looking after or riding them.”

Pictures by AFP via Getty Images, Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images

[thedimpause]

Very enjoyable visit to Llanerch Vineyard, Vale of Glamorgan yesterday for wine tasting and lunch 🍷

Wine was sampled!

Red

White

Guardian of the grapes

Poplars

[greziamonzter]

I could get used to this..💕 Now let me show you the actual room where we stayed in our stop to @llanerchhotel last week! Our room is nearly six months old 👼🏻 freshly new and all for us! 🥰 We could enjoy of the lovliest terrace with view to the vineyards and the most peaceful and beautiful Welsh landscape🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿❣️ Later on we got a full vegan diner with vegan desserts! courtesy of their fabulous Bristo Restaurant, so there’s no excuse, there are choices for everyone’s paladar, trust me 😉💚 I’m so grateful with all the Llanerch team & @socialightapp for their incredible generosity and everything they did for us and made our stay truly amazing. Until next time ! ❣️🍷 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 📸 @jevgeni.pasechnikov 😚 . . . . #Llanerch #Llanerchhotel #Llanerchvineyard #socialightapp #cardiffbloggers #ukbloggers #londonbloggers #londonlifestyleblogger #londonfashionblogger #londonblogger #latina #hotellife #luxuryhotel #smallluxuryhotels #luxuryhotels #uniquehotels #beautifuldestinations #wonderfulplaces #tasteinhotels #hotelblogger #hotelblog #iwokeuplikethis #travelgirl #travelcouple #visitwales #visitsouthwales #visituk #hotelsandresorts #vineyardhotel (at Llanerch Vineyard) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0jhI7bl0An/?igshid=1u8rzxrszo8bp

[lkranefeld]

[nimbora-nava]

Unknown artist, Llanerch Hall, England

[smartagepl]

Po zakończeniu służby wiele statków zamiast smutnego końca w stoczni złomowej może liczyć na drugie życie. Taki los miał spotkać TSS Duke of Lancaster, jeden z ostatnich statków British Railways napędzanych turbiną parową. Niestety świetlana przyszłość zamieniła się niekończącą się agonię.

Historia TSS Duke of Lancaster sięga połowy lat 50. Zbudowany w stoczni Harland & Woldd w Belfaście i zwodowany w 1955 roku statek wszedł do służby w 1956 roku. Początkowo miał obsługiwać trasę Heysham-Belfast, ale z czasem zaczęto go wysyłać na dłuższe rejsy wycieczkowe, nawet do Hiszpanii.

TSS Duke of Lancaster (fot. dukeoflancaster.net)

Statek miał 114 m długości i tonaż 4450 ton. Napęd stanowiły dwie turbiny parowe Parametrada zapewniające prędkość około 21 węzłów. Wnętrze urządzono ładnie, ale bez zbędnych luksusów, ponieważ w latach 50. statki pasażerskie traciły już popularność. Na pokładzie mieściło się około 1800 pasażerów.

W latach 60. popularność tego typu jednostek zaczęła gwałtownie spadać, głównie na rzecz bardziej przydatnych promów samochodowych. Koszty wymiany floty były jednak na tyle wysokie, że podjęto decyzję o przebudowaniu parowca. W trakcie prac dodano na rufie wrota dla samochodów, a jeden z pokładów przebudowano tak, aby pomieścił 105 samochodów. W wyniku zmian liczba pasażerów spadła do 1200 osób. W nowej odsłonie statek wrócił do służby 25 kwietnia 1970 roku.

TSS Duke of Lancaster (fot. mapio.net)

Niestety mimo poniesionych nakładów TSS Duke of Lancaster pozostał wraz z siostrzanymi statkami – TSS Duke of Rothesay i TSS Duke of Argyll w służbie tylko przez kilka kolejnych lat (za wyjątkiem TSS Duke of Argyll, który zmienił właściciela) ponieważ 5 kwietnia 1975 roku zlikwidowano połączenie Heysham-Belfast. Do listopada 1978 roku TSS Duke of Lancaster wykorzystywany był na trasach Fishguard-Rosslare, a później Holyhead–Dún Laoghaire. Z racji braku opłacalności dalszej eksploatacji parowca, podjęto decyzję o jego wycofaniu z służby i przeniesieniu do Barrow in Furness w Cumbri.

Wycofany z eksploatacji statek trafił w ręce firmy Empirewise, która w 1979 roku postanowiła przerobić go na atrakcję turystyczną – The Fun Ship. Całe wnętrze przebudowano aby pomieścić w nim pomieszczenia z automatami, bary i kasyno. Następnie dawny statek pasażerski został 10 sierpnia 1979 roku na stałe zacumowany w Llanerch-y-Mor, w utworzonym specjalnie doku.

  Początkowo jednostka cieszyła się sporą popularnością, ale lokalne władze szybko zaczęły wyrażać niezadowolenie z działalności prowadzonej przez właściciela statku. Początkowo odmawiano wydania odpowiednich pozwoleń na prowadzenie barów i kasyna, głównie tłumacząc to problemami z bezpieczeństwem i brakiem odpowiedniej liczby wyjść ewakuacyjnych. W latach 1985-1990 lokalne władze wytoczyły właścicielowi The Fun Ship liczne procesy sądowe, które zakończyły się jednak przegraną władz.

Wydawało się, że będzie to koniec problemów statku, ale niestety w 1994 roku temat powrócił. Tym razem władze wytoczyły proces twierdząc, że mają monopol na prowadzenie działalności rozrywkowej w tym rejonie. Przedłużająca się batalia sądowa sprawiła, że w 2004 roku przedstawiciele firmy Empirewise postanowili zamknąć interes, ale nie złożyli broni i kontynuowali walkę w sądzie.

TSS Duke of Lancaster (fot. Berit/Wikimedia Commons)

Zamknięty statek pozostawiono własnemu losowi, przez co jego stan szybko się pogorszył. Brak konserwacji sprawił, że zewnętrzne poszycie zaczęła pokrywać rdza. Na szczęście teren był na tyle dobrze chroniony, że nikt nie włamał się do wnętrza jednostki. W 2012 roku grupa kolekcjonerów automatów do gier odkupiła od właściciela wyposażenia jednostki większość znajdujących się na Duke of Lancaster maszyn.

W tym samym roku łotewski artysta o pseudonimie Kiwie otrzymał zgodę na przemalowanie statku i pokrycie go w całości graffiti.  Prace nad rysunkami prowadzono w dwóch fazach – od sierpnia do listopada 2012 roku i od marca 2013 roku. Niestety pomimo chwilowego poprawienia wyglądu, narażony na zmienne warunki atmosferyczne statek szybko wrócił do swojej dawnej, zardzewiałej aparycji. W 2017 roku podjęto więc decyzję o przemalowaniu burt jednostki na kolor czarny, aby zapobiec dalszej korozji. W takim stanie jednostka cały czas czeka na nową przyszłość, ale prawdopodobnie nigdy już nie będzie wykorzystywana w roli atrakcji turystycznej.

Bardzo dużo zdjęć, również z wnętrza (starych i nowych zdjęć) jednostki można znaleźć na stronie dukeoflancaster.net

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TSS Duke of Lancaster (fot. Bev Goodwin)

TSS Duke of Lancaster (fot. Chimpville/reddit.com)

TSS Duke of Lancaster (fot. ReverendJT)

TSS Duke of Lancaster (fot. ell_is_here/reddit.com)

Zapomniany TSS Duke of Lancaster Po zakończeniu służby wiele statków zamiast smutnego końca w stoczni złomowej może liczyć na drugie życie. Taki los miał spotkać TSS Duke of Lancaster, jeden z ostatnich statków British Railways napędzanych turbiną parową.

[foodmyheart]

"Ultimate French Toast" - Llanerch Diner, Upper Darby, PA. 5/5 stars. Source: https://reddit.com/r/foodporn

http://foodmyheart.tumblr.com | https://campsite.bio/foodmyheart

[jerseydeanne]

The Duchess of Cornwall is marking the 10th anniversary of Llanerch Vineyard, who produce the award-winning Cariad Wines.

[thedailyroyal]

July 7, 2021

Today was day 3 of “Wales Week” and this morning the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall visited the Llantrisant Guildhall heritage and visitors center that was restored around 2010 and now serves as an activity center. Charles and Camilla also visited the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Then the prince of Wales visited his patronage the Macmillan Cancer Support Palliative unit while The Duchess of Cornwall then visited the Llanerch Vineyard.

[jeff-rees-jones]

Capel Llanerch ( llanerch means a clearing or a glade in a forest )                     in Swansea, Wales. It was used by the BBC for broadcasting during the war after the city centre was bombed in the three-night blitz of 1941 in WW2.

Welsh author and poet Dylan Thomas broadcast his poems from here too, it was less than a five-minute walk from his home.

[thedimpause]

Location check in 🗺 — Llanerch Vineyard 🍷

[landscapeinfilmlif]

Silver Linings Playbook | 2012 | Llanerch Diner, West Chester Pike, Upper Darby, PA (my high school 2am spot)

[afrotumble]

Huge Abandoned Ship Transformed into a Graffiti Gallery

[lkranefeld]

Llanerch Diner

[welshbiz]

How one of Wales’ oldest vineyards was saved Llanerch Vineyard is now a thriving business thanks to a young entrepreneur