Denholme & Thornton

Denholme countryside

Deserted Denholme Church (John Mercer christened)

St. James Church (Ann Bailey christened)

Bronte Pictures

 Bronte church Haworth

Bronte cemetery

Another view

 Bronte home

Street near Bronte church

House across from Bronte church (esp. for Jill)

Pictures of Missionaries

 Elders Hynds, Griffiths, Kyme, Balderee, Juran

 Sister Harrop and Sister Stout

 Elder Pearse

Elders Juran, Gee, Pearse, Taylor

July 30, 2012

30 July 2012

Well….I’m not too happy right now – I just spent an hour updating our blog and when finished realized the Internet was not connected and lost everything…so…I’ll try to start again and not sound frustrated…

We celebrated the 4^th of July like everyone in England—hardly remembered it!!  Our nice district leader had us sing America and the Star Spangled Banner for our opening and closing songs at our district meeting since it was on July 4 – That was the extent of our celebration …

We had a young boy from Church laughing at our American accent.  He asked us to say “water” and laughed every time we said it.  He doesn’t realize how he sounds saying “water” with a British and Slovakian accent!!  Anyway, we still have problems understanding what the British have to say.  I think they pronounce only a few syllables of a word, leave off the “h” at the beginning of words, and talk quite fast.  If we get a few words of what they are saying in a sentence we usually catch the drift of what is being said.  Of course, they sometimes have to have us repeat what we are saying so it works both ways!! 

We were in a ward council meeting and I was listening to our Bishop speaking…not what he was saying but the words he was using.  He used the phrase “switch off” which I now realize we say in America but he was using it in a different way.  Also, he was reading from the scriptures and got somewhat emotional and said:  “I can’t hold a good cry”  I love listening to him – he doesn’t have quite the Yorkshire accent we normally hear but it is still very British.  Alas, I remembered the phrase he used and not the scripture he was reading…oh, well!!

I read a lady’s blog the other day and I really agreed with it.  She said, “As I looked back on my first few months here in England, I feel like I can hardly be blamed for my weight gain. The English are not renowned for featuring fresh vegetables in their prepared meals.  What they do well at is comfort food.  This is understandable considering the days are usually gray, wet and cool.  This is a perfect environment for bangers and mash, fish and chips (fries), steak and chips and steak and kidney pie…all of it served with beer”  I found after a few months of being here, I needed to be very careful about what I ate…I couldn’t afford to put on one pound…need to take quite a few off…so I hope to come home all skinny…oh well, wishful thinking!!

Speaking of food, we were in the grocery store a few weeks ago in our “missionary attire,” an elderly gentlemen stopped Dad/Dave and said how nice it was to see him dressed “properly.”  He then bemoaned how badly people dress now – this could have happened in America too J

We had the chance once again to visit some of my ancestor’s birthplaces this past month.  We were able to spend some time in the small villages outside of Bradford (which we visited before and where my Wilkinson line attended Church.)  This time we visited a few of the villages outside of Bradford where some of them were born—Allerton, Thornton, Denholme.  I took pictures of the churches in the villages, thinking this was where they would have attended church as children.  However, after doing some homework I think these churches were built after my ancestors were there (they still looked very old) and perhaps looked like the churches that would have been there about 150 years ago.  This area is where the Bronte family lived and wrote.  It is called Bronte country and we toured their homestead, church and village.  I wonder if my ancestors would have known of them or gone to Church with them since they lived in the very same area.  The Bronte father was the pastor of the Church of England at one time in Thornton where my ancestors are buried.  I am reading a biography of Charlotte Bronte written by her friend many years ago which gives me a feel of what living there and then must have been like.  (I am really enjoying having a Kindle to find books I want to read…I miss the pile of books I usually had at my nightstand to read from every night!!

 We have overloaded Karen with our pictures but hopefully you will see some of the things I have mentioned in our blog soon.  I probably need to ask Allan to help her post them (OK Allan?)

We enjoyed a dinner at the mission home again after our sightseeing.  Have I told you how much we appreciate our mission president and his wife and all responsibilities they carry…if not, you have now been told J  We had a couple finishing their mission and another arriving…so Sister Lindley says that calls for a special dinner…which she always provides.  Amazing lady!!  We now have seven senior couples in the mission.  Three work in Leeds where the mission offices are, two in the office and one as Institute leaders…One couple works in Hartlepool – way north toward the Scottish border – He is the branch president there…one couple works in Hull with the young adults…one couple just arrived a few months ago and work far north too in a Center for Young Adults.  I had no idea what that was until I looked it up on the Church website.  While Elder Perry lived in Europe for a year several years ago..he said the growth of the European area would be in keeping the youth strong…so he instituted these Centers throughout Europe…and we are the only couple now in the southern part of the mission working with our wonderful Slovakians.

Our young missionaries continue to be our support and example.  They work so very hard and we love associating with them.  Each transfer we usually lose one of the ones we work with but are glad to meet new ones.  This last transfer something interesting happened.  An elder from the Manchester mission was sent to our area for 3 months.  He is a native Slovakian and has come to help our little group become a branch (something they are very anxious to have happen).  He helps Elder Juran in teaching and translating and all of the other things the Slovakians need of them.  Our district leader was sent to the Manchester mission for the trade.  He will be there three months.  We hope he is reassigned back in our area upon his return.  So now in our Sheffield Area we have two sisters and four elders from America (Arizona, Alaska, Oregon, Utah),  one elder from Australia, one elder from the Czech Republic, one Elder from Slovakia, one elder from England and us.  A diverse group for sure.

The ward/stake are quite anxious to have our little group become a branch.  Needless to say, there are many issues to resolve.  We have only a two-hour block Church program…no RS or Priesthood meetings yet. .By going to a three-hour block they want to add those two meetings…only problem is who teaches them.  They have asked two sisters to take turns teaching RS – one said she would but is not ready to start yet…the other said she would not do it…For Priesthood, one member probably will teach a class a month, although he hasn’t done so yet…the other member they want to teach has not been to Chuch in over a month..he has some problems going on of which we are not sure…and he does get a work conflict on occasion…and it is very important they go to work since it is only temporary and they need all the income they can get.  These temporary jobs have diminished somewhat the attendance at Church.  Our youth have a class every other week and then are to go into Sunday School with the adults…which they do not like to do.  Primary runs pretty well except one of our teachers has a husband with health issues…so hasn’t been able to be there for several weeks…Our missionaries try to fill in where they can…but can’t be divided in two!!  Now doesn’t that sound like what happens all over the world as the Gospel is trying to be established. We certainly are not the exception!!

I must tell you about our Sacrament meeting last Sunday.  Slovakians love to sing and dance.  In fact, a Slovakian church in the area who can hardly stand us because of those of their members who have started coming to our Church…anyway, at their church, they do a lot of singing, dancing, whatever…we believe it is more like a nightclub than a church.  The singing the Slovakians really want to do.  We just won’t do it the way they do it in the other church…but we have added another song or two during Sacrament meeting services.  Last Sunday being close to the 24^th of July, Dave/Dad gave a short talk on the song Come Come Ye Saints.  The missionaries then sung it as one of the intermediate hymns both in English/Slovakian.  The members loved it…they even like to clap when you finish…we’re trying to get that to stop…After finishing the service, the missionaries said anyone who wanted to stay and sing the song again could (the hymn is in their little Slovakian hymnbook which has some of our translated songs).  They usually like to leave immediately but the younger ones especially wanted to stay…so they did and sang the song through several times and loved it!!  It was great to see them leaving singing and smiling…and also nice to have them learn one more song since they end up singing the same four songs nearly every week.

We attended a wedding of a Slovakian couple in our ward who have six little boys (ages 5-13) As you can imagine, marriage is not a real common occurrence among the Slovakians.  But in order for the wife to be baptized they had to marry (the husband had previously been baptized but that’s a story for another dayJ  Their Slovakian family/friends were going to bring food, music, dancing to celebrate.  The Bishop performed the marriage and told them they could have a reception at Church as long as it finished at 11:00 pm and there was absolutely no drinking/smoking on Church grounds.  With that injunction no one would come.  So the couple married with the Bishop, the missionaries and a few other Church members in attendance.  The “bride” looked very pretty in her Slovakian wedding dress, borrowed jewelry and long dark hair she had a friend style. (We usually just see her in sweats and a t-shirt) The Bishop took pictures of them and their 6 little boys had bought white shirts and dark trousers for the occasion (however, they said they would not wear them to churchJ)  The government has some law that says people have to be married before 6:00pm – have no idea why – but by 5:30 everything was in place and they were married.  So that was our experience with a Slovakian wedding…hopefully there will be others so people can get baptized. 

We are as you know experiencing the Olympics as I write here in England.  Since everything is taking place in London I only see pictures/news on the Internet.  Our Mitt Romney got blasted by the London tabloids as you are aware, but he is now off to Israel and Poland which is a good thing. The Church has renovated the London Visitor’s Center which is right down town where all the athletes, media, visitors, etc. are staying.  The Visitor’s Center is near Hyde Park – I hope many take advantage of that…we hope to see it before we leave England.

Well, I know I have missed some things I wrote to you on the 1^st attempt of this blog..but what can I say?  There’s enough here already…that’s what I can say!!

Hope all is well with are family/friends – We love to hear from you – e-mail us any time!!

June 25, 2012

Monday, 25 June 1012

 

Well, it is preparation day and it is Dad's (Dave's) birthday--75 today - that seems like a milestone we should celebrate, but instead we are just hanging out at the house.Sometimes it is good just not to have to get "missionary dressed" and go out.  Dad mowed the lawn, I walked around the lake, we went grocery shopping, and now I am blogging and Dad is reading a Western.  When I heard the missionaries watch Disney movies sometimes on their P-day, I knew it was OK for Westerns and children's books on our Kindle :)

 

As I have mentioned before, we have pretty much established a routine that doesn't change too much...making a few visits to Slovakian homes during the week, preparing lessons, etc. for Sundays and preparing a weekly missionary meal and breakfast (that doesn't sound too hard until you find you have to go to about three stores to find what you need--our main stores are local groceries called Morrisons and Sainsbury's - ASDA (equivalent to WalMart) and Costco - After having shopped in the stores today I still didn't find dry mustard - I guess I'll use regular mustard instead; and, of course, quite a few missionary/church meetings and occasionally going with the missionaries on teaching appointments.

 

We begin the month of June at a dinner at the mission home in Leeds to recognize a departing couple and welcoming a new one.  I must say our admiration for the Mission President and his wife is way up there...they have so many responsibilities and they still take time for dinners, etc.  President Lindley just called Dave for his birthday, so he must do that for every missionary too.  Our missionary couple from Scotland left - they were in our zone so we would see them fairly often.  We now are the only couple in the southern part of the mission.  The new couple are assigned to a Youth Center in the way north of England...about as far away from us as you can get.  There are seven couples now in our mission--all from the United States - two from Utah...Logan and Fillmore; one from Idaho around Rexburg I think; one from North Carolina (maybe South) I can't remember; one from California - Sacramento area; new couple are from Star Valley Wyoming; and us.  Another couple leaves in two weeks (the one from Logan) and a new office couple will replace them - I don't know where they are from.  It is strange to think we are in the middle now of the couples who have come since we have and those who were here before.  I don't think there are any leaving now until December.

 

We also have had another transfer of young missionaries--our fairly good Czech speaking sister was transferred as well as our district leader.  Our new missionaries are brand new from the mission home--a sister missionary from Alaska and Kansas (where her parents now live) and an Elder from Adelaide Australia.  It's quite interesting watching their progress.  It changes from week to week.

 

Before we arrived for the mission home dinner on June 1, we left early for Bradford England which is about 10 miles from the mission office in Leeds.  I've mentioned that is where some on my family tree lived before coming to America.  We found the Bradford Cathedral which we went into; a nice guide talked to us and had the curator come out when I told her my ancestors had been married and baptized there.  He brought out one of the old record books and with his white gloves turned pages until he found one of my ancestors listed.  I know the records have been microfilmed and I had the information that was there, but it was cool to actually see the book and an ancestor's name written in there.  After visiting there, we drove through the city trying to locate the addresses I have of where my ancestors lived.  There was actually three streets by the same name of one of the addresses.  Not being able to figure out which Albion Street it was we spent quite a bit of time locating all three--I'm pretty sure the last place we visited was the street they must have lived - it was the closest to the Cathedral and over 150 years ago I don't think the city would have been as spread out as it is now.  It was a highrise type of apartment building...very old...with a narrow street in front.  My ancestors lived in #101 and #102 (not sure why there are two apartments listed) except for the fact they had 10 children so

they may have rented two places.  The family all worked in the woolen factories which was the big industry at that time.  I want to go back sometime and tour one of the woolen museums they have showing what it was like to work there.

 

England has just celebrated the queen's diamond jubilee.  All over England they celebrate mostly with street parties and family gatherings--except in London where it was a big deal.  It was all televised so you may have seen some of it at home.  We do not have TV so just saw some from Internet coverage.  The ward here had their own picnic by the lake where we live.  They enjoy just getting together, playing soccer (football excuse me :)) and going canoeing.  The Primary children dressed up like royalty with robes and crowns and marched in their own little parade.  The weather was chilly but that's the way they do things here...outdoors even if it is chilly.

 

The Euro Cup has been the main emphasis here for a few weeks - boy, do they get excited about their football.  Mostly they just take life as it comes, but someone recently wrote, when it comes to their sports that is another story.  Sad to say, I think I read that England just lost to Italy; they won't be happy for sure.  All the English flags that have been flying on cars, houses, etc. will be coming down I assume...maybe they will leave them up for the Olympics which is the next big thing here.  The Olympic trials are going on now and so we will have to move Church a few Sundays since the stadium will be used for the trials.

 

Someone asked if they sing God Save the Queen instead of God Save the King...yes, they do I found out.  There is also another song (maybe their national anthem).  I think it is called Rule Britannia - this might be the song that infers that the Baby Jesus lived in England for a time - I've got to look up on Wikipedia the real story behind that song.  We sang it at a mission home dinner when a couple from England were leaving.  Kind of an interesting song--lyrics, music--I'll find out more about it.

We visited a major mall here a week or so ago - It is called Meadowhall.  We have a small mall by our house, but it doesn't qualify as a mall to me.  When we visited Meadowhall (actually not far from the Don Valley Stadium) I was surprised how huge it is...I would say about three times the size of Montgomery Mall in Maryland.  There are a few American stores I recognize but mostly stores I have never heard.    Truthfully, it seemed strange to be there not just because I don't particularly like shopping but I guess our missionary mode doesn't fit in with that now...I'm sure that will change once we get home.

 

I've come up with a few adjectives to describe England particularly when I get frustrated with trying to find things...antiquated, old fashioned, inconvenient..annoying sometimes, but that is what makes England England I guess.  Pencil sharpeners, plastic sheet sleeves, paper clips are just a few examples.  The little pencil sharpeners you find in kid's pencil cases for instance are the only pencil sharpeners I have found.  I cannot sharpen a pencil very well; when I finally think I have done it the point breaks and I have to start over again.  OK, just a funny example.  We'll live with it - I have American consumerism in my brain!!

 

Another funny thing I saw recently.  A milk truck delivers milk on our street early in the morning.  I happened to be awake when it came by.  The truck (called a lorry in England)

has a cab on the front; then the back part along the sides is opened up and there sits lots and lots of crates.  The driver gets out quickly takes a crate to a door and drives away. I don't know why that seemed so funny - I think it was the open sides where you could see all the deliveries to be made.

 

We were delighted to have Catherine and Russell visit us a week ago - Russell had a business trip here and a conference in Greece which they later went to - The company he visited happened to be only 15 minutes from our house which made it convenient.  They were to have stayed three days, but a missed flight in Houston because of weather problems which necessitated their going to Chicago to catch a flight to London delayed them by one day; once they got to London their luggage could not be located somewhere in the Heathrow airport.  Three hours after landing it was finally found; they got the fastest train they could get to come to Sheffield (about a two hour train ride).  They arrived Thursday afternoon instead of Wednesday morning...but we still got to take them to York, Castle Howard near York, and our favorite little village of Castleton.  They were so tired with jet lag and delays, but they were good troopers and wanted to see all they could see.  They tasted their fish and chips and mushy peas and we ate in Dad's favorite pub that has a carvery...buffet like food of roast, gammon and turkey with potatoes and gravy, yorkshire pudding, and vegetables.  Only Dad had the carvery, the rest of us opted for something on the menu that took forever to arrive.  Dad was finished so he watched us eat jacket potatoes, etc.  Anyway, they got a taste of English food.  They left the next day for sightseeing in London and flying on to Greece.  They have now arrived home safely which is always good news!!

 

We look forward to more family and friends visiting...Karen says they will come next summer.  They hope to be celebrating Clint's tenure and want to tour Europe especially back to Austria which Karen loves since her Study Abroad days.  She is now looking into cheap ways to do all of that - My brother and his wife and hopefully my mom want to come also

before we finish...we look forward to visiting with anyone who comes through Sheffield.

 

Well, another long blog...hit and miss it as you wish!!  I think Karen will get pictures posted fairly soon which visualizes more of what we have seen.  Until next month - keep well and safe!!

 

Pictures

Parish near us

Flowers over back fence at Southall

Castleton from Peveril Castle

Peveril Castle keep

Peveril Castle ruins

British phone booth

May 27, 2012

It has been nearly a month since I have updated our blog - I didn't think it had been that long.

 

Shortly after the last entry we had mission transfers.  These occur nearly every six weeks...I've never seen senior couples transferred yet.  I'm not sure that happens. We have several new missionaries in our district.  Our Zone Leader, Elder McKay, was transferred to the way north of England.  He had been working with the Slovakian group for a year.

He and Dad really enjoyed each other so that was hard for Dad to see him go.  Our new zone leader is from Logandale, Nevada--Elder Taylor.  Elder Pearse, the other zone leader is still here.  He is from West Virginia and returns home the end of July.  He plans to visit the DC temple upon his return.  I've told him to watch for President and Sister Bryan and President and Sister Pratt.  Elder Gee is another transfer to our district.  He is from Ogden, Utah and works with us in Don Valley.  His companion is Elder Juran and works very well with him.  We enjoy having those missionaries in our district for dinner once a week.  Our zone leaders transferred from Don Valley to Sheffield 3 ward, but we still have our district leaders Elder Balderee from Portland Oregon and Elder Cumming from Scotland.

 

Our little Slovakian group continues to move forward with baby steps.  It was somewhat discouraging to have one or two families who have been baptized (one quite recently and one about two years ago) leave the group (one to return to the Hallejujah Church and the other I'm not sure)  It became apparent they joined the Church in order to receive welfare money and when it wasn't as much or as forthcoming as they thought it should be they left.  It's sad to think that perhaps was the reason they joined the Church in the first place...but their motives do finally come to the surface. 

 

Some of our youth (teenagers) struggle with peer pressure from friends and family.  Our young missionaries do a good job keeping them under their wings.  It would help to have more help from the ward/stake (but they have a lot on their plates too)  More teaching materials in their language would also be helpful - Some of the teenagers speak English fairly well; others not so much.  We find the young children doing the best learning English.  We have the For Strength of Youth Pamphlets in English here and one copy of the Personal Progress program and one of the Duty to God program.  I am slowly beginning to translate them into Slovakian--thanks to Google Translate!!

 

Transportation is another issue - Not a whole lot of ward members have cars; those that do struggle with petrol prices in this down economy--Slovakian members have neither cars nor money for public transportation.  Anyway, the members do their best to get the members to activities that are at the stake center and other ward buildings.  Missionaries are not allowed to drive members in mission-owned cars because of insurance purposes as you can understand.  It's hard for us when it would be so easy to pick people up...but we understand why we cannot.

 

Those are some of our challenges...but all in all things are good and as I said, we move forward in baby steps!!  One new family joined the church about a month ago--mom, dad and four children.  I teach two of the children in Primary...they do pretty well with English since they are in school.  They love to learn and chastize others who are disturbing the class.  Their family lives in a hostel for the time being...they are hoping for a place to live in the Darnall (Don Valley) area to be closer to Church.  They walk about 30 minutes to get to Church.  It is interesting to see the government at work here...finding them homes, basic living supplies, hostel facilities, etc.  Of course, immigrants are grateful for all the help they get...

 

Several teenagers from other families have joined.  Their parents have not, as yet, but the missionaries are teaching them.  Two of the boys are now passing the Sacrament. It is so good to see them grow step by step.  One of the boys is just turning 13 - just a little older than Ben, Ethan and Morgan.  He loves all the Church activities and wants to participate in all of them.

 

Many of the members are related to each other which I believe I have told you.  The young missionaries find a big teaching pool just finding out about other members of the group's family--mostly all from a city in Slovakia--Spisska Nova Nes--Trying to figure out their family tree is a complete nightmare :)  The ward mission leader would love for them to find some name on their family tree to take to the temple.  Many are nearing their one-year membership (some nearly two) and he thinks they are ready to receive their endowments.

 

We still teach English to several families and plan to add more as their time and ours permit.  They have to go to English classes to receive their government benefits.  I believe many understand what is being said pretty much, but they are very hesitant to speak.  That's what we are trying to get them to do and not be afraid if they make mistakes.

 

We are taking some children to the local library to get their library cards.  They are very excited to go, but get very shy when they are there.  They really don't venture far from their homes and their neighborhood.  It is a real experience for them.

 

A few interesting comments some have made:  Ivan Pecha, 9 years, old told us his favorite DVD was The Lamb of God.  Having been in his living room, I find that a positive when there are many comic-type DVD's in his house to compete with.  Ricky Pecha, our 17-year old member, who is very musically oriented told the elders he wants to be like them and go on a mission and not just waste time in his life--so many people in their neighborhoods I'm not sure what they do except watch TV and walk the streets.  I think he realizes there is much more to life.  He also told the Bishop he won't date until he goes on his mission.  I hope his dream is fulfilled.

 

We attended a full mission conference in York last week.  We traveled by hired bus with the missionaries from the southern part of the mission--about 30+.  They are so full of energy, but very well mannered.  Their mission has made a big difference in their lives!!  Elder Jay E Jensen of the Presidency of the Seventy was our visiting authority.  It was very good to listen to him for nearly 3 hours - Time went quite fast - He told how the missionaries need to saturate their teaching in the Book of Mormon and he gave other specific advice to do missionary work.  He also gave a good health tip for traveling.  Elder Russell Nelson told them on long flights to stand up periodically and flex your calve muscles by rocking back and forth from toes to heels.  Elder Nelson told them it is in the calve muscles where blood clots form that go directly to the heart chamber--so every so often we had to stand up and rock back and forth--kind of funny to see us all do it while he was teaching--but good advice from a heart specialist for those of you traveling, plane, car, bus, whatever.

Our next excursion is to a senior missionary dinner June 1 at the mission home in Leeds - one couple leaves right after that and a new couple is arriving.  I'm not sure where they will be assigned.  It's kind of nice not to be on the bottom rung of the ladder any more!!  Bradford, England is about 10 miles west of Leeds.  That is where our Wilkinson line orginated before some of the member joined the Church.  I know some were married in the Bradford Cathedral and also the children were baptized there.  I hope we can visit there and find the cemetery where family members were buried.  I also have street addresses of where they lived and want to take a picture of the streets (although I know it will be different and their homes will most likely not be there)  That's our next adventure!!

 

We've seen a few interesting things the last few weeks.  One was a funeral entourage which if we hadn't been driving I would have loved to have a picture of.  A very elegant hearse filled with flowers followed by a horse drawn carriage where you could see the casket inside its glass windows.  Quite a sight with many cars following.

 

Dad saw the other day a neighbor woman out mowing her lawn and a neighbor man hanging out the laundry on their outside clothesline - not sure what to make of that :)

 

Two words I've heard a lot:  Blimey and Brilliant!!  We still have to laugh at what they call things and still have a hard time understanding what they are saying - I guess it will always be that way.

 

I keep this blog as a journal, so I know there is a lot here to even want to read...just pick and choose what you want :)

 

We have a baptism in a few hours so I need to fix dinner and get ready - until next time...

Forgot to tell you about the weather.  The last week has been in the high 60's and 70's - brilliant :)

I took some pictures around the lake by our house today where people are out on boats, picnicking, walking dogs, etc.  It's a nice place to get some exercise.

 

One lady said to enjoy it because it will only last a week or two - I already see the temperatures will be in the 50's next week.  A few others say it's too hot for them - really?

One girl told us it's way too humid - she surely hasn't visited Maryland, Kansas or Alabama :)

 

I forgot to mention our P-day a few weeks ago - We visited a little village called Castleton in the Pennine Mountains - it is about a 15 mile drive west of Sheffield.  Once out of the city the landscape becomes very pastoral.  I will always love to see the sheep (so many of them) grazing in the fields and the old stone fences that surround the sheep.

 

Castleton is an old village (they keep everything looking old - but it still can be a little "touristy" - There is an old castle (very small) on the top of the hill in the village - it looks over all the countryside around and was used for guarding the forest from intruders - the castle is pretty much neglected but the walls, windows and stone stairwells are still in place - sometimes royalty would come with their entourage to go hunting in the forest, there are places outside the castle walls where the servants lived but it's hard to imagine how they brought their horses and carriages up as high as they did.

 

There are resturants, gift shops, walking trails, caves, hotels in the village and about so a nice place to spend several hours.  Again the sheep are all around.  One little lamb behind the castle was lost from his herd and you could hear the sheep "baaing" very loudly probably to get him to run home :)

 

It's nice to get out of the city for a change of scenery.