Sunday Times Where Was I? Holiday Competition

Near as I can figure it, through the possibly flawed perceptual filters of my own reality tunnel, the most likely answers this week, seem to me to be :


Q1. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal


Q2. Burscough


внимание друзья! for question two, the Leeds and Liverpool canal has more than one branch, there is a branch at Burscough, called the Rufford branch, which goes north to the river Douglas, which then joins with the river Ribble and a Branch which appears to start at Leigh and go northwest to Wigan. The Eastender is taking  a punt on Burscough being the correct solution, as it is listed as a village whereas Leigh, is listed as a town. (Burscough is also marked as 'Burscough Bridge' on some maps).

A little bit tricky this week but the initial clues seem to place us in the city of Liverpool, specifically at the Stanley Dock Tobacco Warehouse building, which was according to some of the sources I checked, built by one Anthony George Lister (born c 1852). The edifice is said to be constructed from around twenty seven million bricks and thirty thousand panes of glass. Stanley dock is connected to the Leeds and Liverpool canal.

Travelling two and half miles southeast of the tobacco warehouse, would likely bring us to the site of Williamson's tunnels, at Edge Hill. Williamson, according to some of his bios was a tobacco merchant (born c 1769). No one is too sure why the tunnels were built, they were either an eccentric folly or a philanthropic venture to provide employment in the area. He became known locally as 'The Mole of Edge Hill'.

The Leeds and Liverpool Canal navigates past Aintree racecourse, which seems to have had it's foundation stone laid c Feb 7th 1829, by Mr William Lynn. The musical impressario, Brian Epstein (b 1934), is said to be buried in Long Lane Jewish Cemetery near Aintree, Liverpool (Section A, grave H12). Mr Epstein signed the Beatles c 1961, after seeing them play the Cavern club in Matthew  street (The Eastender favours their Hamburg Exis period ).

This is where things required a little more investigation, the Leeds and Liverpool canal has more than one branch, there is a branch at Burscough, the 'Rufford branch', which appears to go north until it joins with the river Douglas and a branch which goes north west from the town of Leigh to Wigan . Burscough (listed as a village) did have a naval air station called HMS Ringtail, situated around one and a half miles to the southwest of the settlement. The air station, according to some of the references I checked, did close c 1957. A beacon which lies around four miles south east of Burscough, which seems to be five hundred and sixty feet or one hundred and seventy metres high, is Ashurst's Beacon, on Ashurst hill. This was constructed c 16th century, by Sir William Ashurst.

Sunday Times Where Was I? Holiday Competition

Near as I can figure it, through the possibly flawed perceptual filters of my own reality tunnel, the most likely answers this week, seem to me to be :


Q1. Buckingham Palace


Q2. Goldie


The Eastender, who normally does not dip his toes into the murky waters of politics, is still somewhat bemused and disoriented after the surreal and strange events of this week and not totally sure which country he is actually in. Her majesty, god bless her, according to the Scotsman newspaper, said that she "applauded the robust democratic tradition" with which the referendum was conducted. The Eastender concurs with this wonderful example of quiet and considered British diplomatic understatement and has enjoyed hugely watching the 'debaters' robustly exchange views with clubs, fists, bricks and Buckfast bottles, in George square for the last two nights. Mind you, fighting in George square at the weekend is hardly news in this part of the world and how the police can tell the secessionists and unionists, from the happy hour crowd zombies when the pubs and clubs spill out, is anyone's guess.

I digress, the puzzle was difficult this week and required a lot of work to solve (many thanks to the author, for putting in the time and effort to craft this one). The initial clues seem to place us at Monument, in the city of London, a place the Eastender knows well from his days testing derivatives trading software, when he worked in the square mile, back in nineteen canteen. The monument is a column which was raised in memory of the great fire of London and seems to have a gilded urn on top, which represents the aforesaid conflagration.

If you travel three hundred yards or so north west from monument, this brings you to the [B]an[k] of England. The Bank of England museum seems to have a large gold ingot in a perspex case with a hand sized hole in it, which allows the visitors to reach in an pick it up but not remove it (though doubtless a few punters have tried over the years).

Travelling west from the BoE museum brings us to the HQ of the 'Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths' at Golds[m]iths' Hall on the corner of Gresham St and Foster Lane. The WCOG seems to be fifth in precedence on the list of London guilds in some of the references I looked at. West south west from Goldsmiths' Hall brings us to the vicinity of Fleet Street, where lies the church of St D[u]nst[a]n in the West. St Dunstan's feast day appears to be on the nineteenth of May. The church featured in a book called 'The Vi[c][a]r of Wakefield' which was written by Oliver Goldsmit[h] (born c 1728).

A mile or so west south west from St Dunstan's in the West, in the district of SOHO, lies Golde[n] Square and it was here that Dickens claimed in his book 'The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby' (published c 1838) that R[a]l[p]h Ni[c]kleby, the money lender lived. North west from here is the site of Re[g]ent's park zoo and it was at this location, back in 1965, that an eagle called Gold[i]e, is said to have gone over the wall to visit Tottenham Court road and Camden market, with the police, fire brigade and some looney space cadet from the BBC, who tried to lure him back by playing an Eritrean nose flute, in hot pursuit.

North of Regent's park lies number 2 Wi[l]low Road and the house of the architect Erno Goldfing[e]r (born c 1902). Erno's brother got in a bit of trouble with the Americans, when he tried to melt some of their gold with a nuclear weapon (c 1964). Now collating the results gives:

1. [B]an[k] of England Museum     B    K
2. Golds[m]iths' Hall                      M
3. St D[u]nst[a]n in the West         U   A
4. Oliver Goldsmit[h]                     H
5. The Vi[c][a]r of Wakefield         C  A
6.  Golde[n] Square                       N
7.  R[a]l[p]h Ni[c]kleby                 A  C P
8.  Re[g]ent's Park                        G
9.  Gold[i]e                                    I
10. Erno Goldfing[e]r                     E
11. Wi[l]low Road                         L


Rearranging the extracted data, can give a combination which forms BUCKINGHAM PALACE, which does seem to have started out as Buckingham House c 1702 or thereabouts and fits in with the sterling clue, as the queen's picture is on the currency.
          

Sunday Times Where Was I? Holiday Competition

Near as I can figure it, through the possibly flawed perceptual filters of my own reality tunnel, the most likely answers this week, seem to me to be :


Q1. Mainland (In the Orkney archipelago)


Q2. The Barrel of Butter Lighthouse (aka Carlin Skerry Lighthouse)


внимание друзья! For question one, St Magnus seems to have been buried in several places, first on Egilsay where he was slain, then in Birsay on Mainland and then interred in St Magnus's Cathedral in Kirkwall. The body seems to have been washed in Birsay. For question two, there appear to be two lighthouses situated just offshore from the writer's position, on the northern shore of Scapa Flow. These are the Calf of Cava lighthouse, which is listed in some references as being thirty six  feet high and The Barrel of Butter lighthouse/navigation beacon, whose height is variously given as six metres or around twenty feet high. The Eastender is taking a punt on 'The Barrel of Butter' being the correct answer, as the height is nearer to that given in the clues. The Barrel of Butter is also known as 'Carlin Skerry'.

The Sunday Times seem to be giving the answers from the puzzle set on the 24rd Aug 14, as the solutions to last week's puzzle but I digress. The treasure hunt is a little bit tricky this week but the initial clues seem to place us on the island of Mainland, in the Orkney archipelago. One hundred and twenty four thousand acres is around fifty thousand one hundred and eighty one hectares and this is roughly the size of mainland, which is listed as being around fifty two thousand hectares. The patron saint of the Orkney islands is St Magnus, who was born circa 1075 and murdered on the 16th April c 1115. Magnus tried to get out of the army by pretending to be mad and singing psalms during the battle of Anglesey sound, which upset the Vikings he was supposed to be raiding with. He returned to Orkney and took control of the islands, which he ruled jointly and peacefully with his cousin Hakon for a time, until their supporters fell out at the Thing parliament. A battle was narrowly averted and the two sides agreed to a further meeting on Egilsay, where they were to bring two ships apiece with an equal number of men. Hakon turned up with eight ships and a larger force and captured Magnus. Hakon's cook Lilolf struck Magnus with a hatchet and killed him. He was denied a christian burial and buried where he fell (on Egilsay). The body was later retrieved and buried in the church at Birsay (on Mainland) and subsequently transferred to Kirkwall.

There appears to be a ruined sixteenth century palace in the Birsay area and this seems to have been built for the first earl of Orkney, Robert Stewart (b c 1533). He is believed to be the illegitimate son of James V and Eupheme Elphinstone. A lighthouse situated around thirty seven miles to the west of the writer's position in Birsay, is most likely Sule Skerry, which the northern lighthouse board claim was constructed between 1892 and 1894 by David and Charles Stevenson.

Travelling south from Birsay, brings us to the village of Skara Brae, which was uncovered during a storm c 1850. Journeying twelve miles or so south east from Skara Brae, takes us to the northern shore of Scapa flow and it is here that two offshore lighthouses can possibly be seen, one on the Calf of Cava, which is said to be around thirty six feet high and one on the Barrel of Butter, which is said to be around six metres or twenty feet in height.

The puzzle compiler then most likely travels to the Covenanter's memorial, a ten metre brick obelisk which was raised c 1888, to commemorate the deaths of the Covenanter prisoners captured at the battle of Bothwell Bridge c 1679. Some two hundred and fifty of them were locked in the hold of 'The Crown of London' in Leith, for transportation to the colonies to work as slaves. During the long trip, the skipper put in to Deer sound on Orkney, to shelter from a  fierce torbellino that blew in but the ship broke anchor and was wrecked. The crew escaped and around forty eight prisoners managed to get out of the hold after a crew member freed them but the rest went down with the ship. Their bodies were turning up on the beaches there for days afterwards and they were buried at Scarva Taing. The scuttlebutt says that the ship was never meant to make it to America and may have been deliberately wrecked, in order to get rid of the political dissidents.

Sunday Times Where Was I? Holiday Competition

Near as I can figure it, through the possibly flawed perceptual filters of my own reality tunnel, the most likely answers this week, seem to me to be :


Q1. Wrynose Pass


Q2. Dalegarth Station

внимание друзья! For Q1, some maps show that the road also goes through Hardknott Pass but the three shire stone has Wrynose Pass marked beside it, so the Eastender is taking a punt on Wrynose Pass being the most likely answer.

The initial clues seem to place us on a Ting mound or Moot, near Fell Foot and the village of Little Langdale, in one of the most beautiful areas of England, the Lake District. Ting mounds or Moots, were in the days when the area was inhabited by nomadic entrepreneurial Scandinavians, parliaments, where the locals would gather to discuss the hot topics (and probably percussively), thrash out the issues of the day. A historian who once lived at Fox How, to the north west of the town of Ambleside (which is at the north end of lake Windermere) was most likely Thomas Arnold (b c 1795). Arnold was famous for several historical works, among them 'The History of Rome', 'Lectures on Modern History' and religious tracts of five sermons. A painter born c 1759 whose works include 'George Biggins' and who lived in Ambleside, is most probably Julius Caesar Ibbetson. He seems to have acquired his middle name due to being delivered by Caesarian section at birth. The OS map shows a waterfall called Stockghyll Force, on the eastern edge of Ambleside and some sources claim that it is seventy feet high and is V shaped.

Driving west from the Ting mound parliament, would bring us through Wrynose pass and thence to the 'Three Shire Stone' and it was here in days of yore, that the three counties of Cumberland, Lancashire and Westmorland once met. The monolith was destroyed by a car crash a one point but seems to have since been restored to its former glory, by a stonemason called Gordon Greaves.

Continuing the journey west through Wrynose pass, would likely have brought the puzzle author to the roman fort of Mediobogdum (aka Hardknott Castle), which astonishingly still seems to be standing in places, though some Victorian tinkerers have added a few stones to it, probably for the benefit of the tourist trade. The fort lies next to the river Esk and this is where some sources claim that the name Mediobogdum, meaning 'The fort next to the river bend', comes from.

Five miles or so west of the Roman fort lies Dalegarth station, which is the Eastern terminus of the 'Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway' (aka 'The Ratty') and this appears to be a fifteen inch gauge railway built c1876 as a three foot gauge, before being regauged to fifteen inch, c 1915. The railway's western terminus is in the seaside hamlet of Ravenglass,where the map shows there is also a mainline railway.

Sunday Times Where Was I? Holiday Competition

Near as I can figure it, through the possibly flawed perceptual filters of my own reality tunnel, the most likely answers this week, seem to me to be :

Q1. Eric Coates (aka Frank Harrison Coates)

Q2. The Major Oak

внимание друзья! Eric Coates also used the name Frank Harrison Coates, according to some of his biographies.

The initial clues seem to place us in a suburb of the city of Nottingham, called Sneinton and it was here that a horticulturalist called Harry Whe[a]tcroft was born c 24th of August 1898, at 23 Handel street. Some of the biographies claim that he was responsible for contacting Francois Meilland of Lyons, for permission to introduce his rose 'Peace', to the UK c 1948. He is also credited with introducing a variety called 'Fragrant Cloud', at the autumn show of the National Rose Society, c 1963 to the public. Wheatcroft was a bit eccentric and was court martialled and subsequently thrown out of the army, for telling them that he didn't want to fight.

The second clue takes us to Huc[k]nall airfield, where the first free (untethered) flight of the flying bedstead or TMA (Thrust Measuring Rig) as it was known in the trade, took place c 3rd August 1954. A composer called Eric Co[a]tes (aka Frank Harrison Coates) was born in the nearby town of Hucknall, c 1886 at Watnall Road. Among his many works, was a march called 'Knightsbridge' from his London suite, which was apparently used as the theme for a radio show called, 'In Town Tonight' c 1933. 

Travelling east south east from Hucknall would bring us to the village of Asl[o]ckton, where c 1489, a child who was later to become the archbishop of Canterbury, one Thomas Cran[m]er, was born. Some of Cranmer's biographies state that he was famous for writing between thirty nine and forty two religious articles of belief, depending on which one you read.

Six miles or so north of Aslockton, lies the village of East Stoke and it was here, c 16th June 1487 that the battle of St[o]ke Field, was fought. This seems to have been one of the final battles in the wars of the Roses, between the Lancastrians and Yorkists. Henry VII's army seem to have won this encounter for the house of Lancaster.

A one thousand and forty seven acre or four hundred and twenty three hectare national nature reserve, in the vicinity of Nottingham, is She[r]wood Forest . Listing out the letters acquired so far and adding the letter J, gives:

[A]  (fourth letter of 'Wheatcroft)

[K]  (fourth letter of 'Hucknall)

[A]  (third letter of Coates)

[O] (fourth letter of Aslockton)

[M] (fifth letter of Cranmer)

[O] (third letter of Stoke Field)

[R] (fourth letter of Sherwood Forest)

MAJOR OAK, which appears to be an eight hundred to one thousand year old oak tree in Sherwood forest, where Robin Hood himself used to hide out. There is a railway line marked on the OS map, just to the south of the ancient arboreal landmark.

Sunday Times Where Was I? Holiday Competition

 Near as I can figure it, through the possibly flawed perceptual filters of my own reality tunnel, the most likely answers this week, seem to me to be :


Q1. Thomas Hardy


Q2. Bossiney


The initial clues seem to place us in Cornwall, specifically at the church of St Juliot, just to the north of the river Valency, about one click south of the B3263 and about one point three clicks, south west of Tresparret. The church featured as 'St Agnes', in a story by Thomas Hardy (born circa 1840), called 'A pair of Blue Eyes', which appears to have been published c 1873. As well as being a novelist and poet, Hardy's day job was that of architect and he was sent to recce the church, with a view to reconstructing it. Some of his bios claim that he married the rector's sister in law, Emma Lavinia Gifford, circa 1874.

Driving west from the church would bring us to the village of Boscastle and this featured in a novel by H.G.Wells called "When The Sleeper Wakes", "One afternoon, at low water, Mr Isbister, a young artist lodging at Boscastle, walked from that place, to the picturesque cove of Pentargen".

Travelling three and a half miles or so from Boscastle, would likely take us to Tintagel and through a hamlet called Bossiney, on its eastern edge. Bossiney returned an mp called Francis Bacon (b 1561) c 1581 (Bacon became attorney general c 1613) and an mp called Sir Francis Drake c 1584.

Tintagel's most famous building, according to the National Trust website, is the post office, which they acquired c 1903. The building is a c 14th century yeoman's farmhouse and was the letter receiving station for the district, when it was given a licence during the Victorian period.

The island castle at Tintagel, was declared by Geoffrey of Monmouth, to be the site where king Arthur was conceived and because of the association with the Arthurian legend, Richard Earl of Cornwall (b 1209) and brother of Henry III, is believed to have built his fortress there, c 1230s

Sunday Times Where Was I? Holiday Competition

Near as I can figure it, through the possibly flawed perceptual filters of my own reality tunnel, the most likely answers this week, seem to me to be:


Q1. Settle


Q2. Wallace and Gromit


The initial clues seem to place us in the town of Settle, in a very beautiful part of the world, the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The celebration of twenty five years of 'something not happening', is most probably the government's decision, on the 11th April 1989, to save the Carlisle to Settle railway, (which the puzzle author claims to be driving alongside, likely on the B6479) and from which around one point two million passengers annually, enjoy the scenery in the dales.

According to some of his biographies, a polymath called George Birkbeck (born in Settle c 1776), founded the London Mechanics Institution (c 1823), which was later renamed 'Birkbeck College' (c 1907). A social reformer also born in Settle (c 1839), was Benjamin Waugh. His biographies state that he founded a society for prevention of cruelty to children, which was incorporated by royal charter (c 1895) as the NSPCC.

Travelling north (though it doesn't look as much as eight miles on some of the maps), the puzzle writer most probably crosses the Pennine Way (opened c 1965),  at Horton in Ribblesdale ( a very nice place indeed to have pie and chips, followed by several pints of Theakston's Old Peculiar, after completing the grueling Yorkshire three peaks challenge). The two thousand and seventy seven or six hundred and ninety four metre eminence, that is described in the clues, is most likely Pen-y-Gent (one of the three peaks), which lies around two miles east north east of Horton-in-Ribblesdale. The second peak seems to be Ingleborough, at around two thousand three hundred and seventy five feet or seven hundred and twenty four metres.

Following the B6479 north west past Ingleborough, would lead you to a junction with the B6255, where lies the Ribblehead viaduct. Some of the references for this structure, claim that it is around four hundred and forty yards long or four hundred metres and one hundred and four feet or thirty two metres high.

Turning right at the junction and heading north east on the B6255, would lead you eventually to Wensleydale, which is famous for among other things, its cheeses. A fictional inventor who is known to love this type of cheese, is Wallace, his canine side kick, is known as Gromit. They starred in an animated film called 'The Wrong Trousers' (c 1993).