The Wrong Film

The weather vane on John's roof set against a glorious blue sky. The wind direction just confirms its still chilly despite the sun

Life can be both interesting and weird at the same time but not without its humour. 

I went to the pictures last night, the first time for a while and I have missed going. I also missed a film I really wanted to see on the big screen, Hitchcock with Sir Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren. I booked tickets for Broken City at Cineworld, Hull which was in screen 2. For a reason I will never know, I walked into screen 3 with the person I went with. The advertising rolled and the auditorium was about half full and the British Film Board certificate came up with a title I had never heard of 'Safe Haven'. Was this another trailer for a film? Whoops, I thought the projectionist must have made a mistake but we decided between us not to make fools of ourselves and sat still.

We had gone to the wrong screen of course but ironically, the film, which started at exactly the same time was an excellent romantic thriller, not too much to test the brain, but entertaining nevertheless.

I went to see my son John in North Yorkshire today. He's been there a while but I've never had the chance to go, but I bit the bullet and went. It was a glorious day , wall to wall sunshine until early afternoon and no breeze making it very pleasant. He lives in Thornton Le Clay, a little bit in the wilderness north of York, small but very nice. It's a lot closer to his work than where he lived with me, but it is a little isolated down single track country roads.

John's door knocker (could do with a dust son!)

I saw a hawk on the way there and a mad March hare in the fields which wouldn't stay still for me to take a photograph of. Although the fields south east of York were still under water, the land around where John lives is dry and a farmer ploughing a field near his home was working on very dry soil. On this clear day you could see York Minster on the very distant horizon in silhouette against the sun to the south and the Wolds rising a long way to the east. The number of cyclists was phenomenal although by and large the land is relatively flat with just gentle rises in the land here and there.

Snowdrops were in abundance on the verges and in John's tiny garden and the beautiful yellow flower of the lesser celandine was making its appearance and I saw a honey bee on it too although I was surprised as it's still very cold despite the sun.

I took John for lunch to Sheriff Hutton, just a few miles away to the Highwayman pub. However of major interest to me was the castle there, high on a hill, dominating the village and surrounding land. Only the four corners remain and the site, (which is privately owned) is closed to visitors unless you want to pre arrange it with the owners.

Sheriff Hutton Castle

Originally a motte and bailey castle dating around 1140, the stone castle was built in the late 1300s and is a grade ll listed building, with the motte and bailey having an Ancient Monument status.  Richard lll, Duke of Gloucester has been in the news recently due to his body having been discovered beneath a Leicestershire car park under what was a long forgotten church. Richard stayed there at the Sheriff Hutton Castle many times. Importantly, the castle became the site of the Council of the North. Its purpose was to improve government control and economic prosperity, to benefit the entire area of Northern England. Today, crows and pigeons are the only regular visitors.

A lovely day today, one to remember.

Chat soon

Ta-ra.