Our Greek Odyssey - around Athens

We've just returned from a short break in Greece. This was our first time ever in Greece. We stayed in Nea Makri on the Attica coast some 20 miles from Athens. We went to Athens on three days and visited a lot of the key tourist spots. Here is a summary of where we went and what we saw

Needless to say, we visited the Parthenon on the Acropolis. Many will already know that "Acro" means "high" and "polis" means "city" - so Acropolis is literally the "high city". Many other places in Greece have "an" acropolis, such as Corinth in the Peloponnese, but "The Acropolis" usually refers to the site of the Parthenon in Athens.

The Parthenon is a temple on the Acropolis and its coordinates are 37°58 17.45 N / 23°43 34.29 E. The name Parthenon refers to the worship of Athena, the goddess and patroness of the city of Athens. It is considered to be the finest example of Doric-style construction

In 480 BC the Persians destroyed these temples and in 447 BC the Athenian leader Pericles initiated construction of the presently standing temple of Athena. Work on the building continued until 438 BC; some of the decorations were completed later. It was built over the site of an earlier temple which is sometimes called the Pre-Parthenon

The Theatre of Dionysus

The Theatre was built in the 4th Century BC. It was set up to celebrate the annual City Dionysia festival. It also staged plays and other festivities. When first constructed, the Theatre had an audience capacity of 25,000 such that each person present could clearly see whatever performance that was being presented on the stage. 

Later, seating arrangements were made and after that time, the Theatre could accommodate 17,000 seated.

The Ancient Agora is on the north west of the Acropolis, between the neighbourhoods of Thission and Monastiraki.  A large area with ancient ruins and much greenery, the Ancient Agora was the marketplace and civic centre. In addition to being a place where people gathered to buy and sell all kinds of commodities, it was also a place where people assembled to discuss all kinds of topics: business, politics, current events, or the nature of the universe and the divine.

The Athens University Museum is sited in the heart of Athens city, in Plaka area on the northern side of Acropolis. The Museum is located in the historical building of "Cleanthis Residence", also known as "The Old University" where the first University of the Greek Independent State operated during the period of 1837 to 1841

The Industrial Gas Museum in Athens opened its doors to the public in January 2013. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the museum was Athens’ Gasworks Plant, the first power plant in Greece. This gasometer is on the site of the museum.

Trolleybus garage - with highly decorated graffiti on the wall

One of the most important necropolises, or ancient cemeteries, in Athens is the Kerameikos. The cemetery is named after Keramos, a hero of potters, who was the mortal son of Ariadne and Dionysios.

Many potters lived in the area and the location became an organised cemetery in about twelve hundred BC. Two main gates to the ancient city, the Sacred Gate and Dipylon were once located here.

Kerameikos was discovered in the early part of the twentieth century by archaeologists from Germany.

The Arch of Hadrian was erected in honour of the Roman emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century A.D. The arch was built over the line of an ancient road that led from the area of the Acropolis and the Athenian Agora to the Olympieion (Temple of Olympian Zeus) and southeast Athens. It was never an actual gate in a wall. An inscription on the western side of the arch (facing the Acropolis) states: “This is Athens, the ancient city of Theseus." An inscription on the eastern side of the arch (facing the Olympieion) states: "This is the city of Hadrian and not of Theseus"

The Temple of Olympian Zeus (Olympeion) was an enormous structure, the largest temple in Greece, exceeding even the Parthenon in size. Work began on this vast edifice in 515 BC during the reign of the tyrant Peisistratos, who initiated the building work to gain public favour

Although there were several attempts over many years to finish the temple, it was not completed until the reign of the Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD. In the Hellenistic and Roman periods it was the largest temple in Greece

The 104 columns, each 17 meters (56 feet) high, of the temple were made of Pentelic marble. Only 15 of the Corinthian columns remain standing to give a sense of the enormous size of the temple which would have been approximately 96 x 40 meters (315 x 130 feet) in size

The National Library of Greece is the country’s main centre for academic study, and is one of a group of three buildings in central Athens designed in the neo-classical style. Founded by Ioannis Kapodistrias, it is the largest and most important library in the country

Syntagma Square is home to the Greek Parliament building which incorporates within its breast the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. 

Outside the Parliament building, Greek soldiers - called "Evzons" - in their traditional pleated skirt uniform and shoes with toes tipped by a red or black ball called a 'foonda' guard the tomb

These are the hand picked troops of the presidential guard. Requirements for the Athens Presidential Guard include: being under the age of 25, being taller than 1.80 metres and having an outstanding and unimpeachable character

The Evzone perform their ceremonial duties every hour on the hour. Each soldier is on guard for one hour at a stretch 3 times every 48 hours

They work in pairs in order to perfect the coordination of their movements. 

Originally founded as a royal guard in 1914, this elite corps has about 200 members

The Monastiraki is a flea market area in Athens. It gets its name from the monastery in the city’s Plateia Monastirakiou. 

The roads around the Monastiraki are filled with shops that sell all kinds of merchandise every day of the week. 

The shopper can find treasures among the antiques, leather, books, coins, artwork, rugs, tools, furniture and silver

There is also a fish and meat market in the Varvarkios building. It was completed in 1886 and refurbished just before the Athens Olympics in 2004.

Mount Lycabettus gets its name from the native word “Lykavittos” which means “path of the wolves.” An ancient legend tells of wolves that roamed this mountain as their last sanctuary created by the goddess Athena. The wolves may be long gone, but the mountain still stands proud

It is a Cretaceous limestone hill. At 277 metres (908 feet) above sea level, the hill is the highest point in the city. Pine trees cover its base ... 

... and at the top you can see the 19th century Chapel of St. George

We reached the top by using the funicular railway in Kolonaki

The views across the city were spectacular

All this sight-seeing was pretty tiring work ...

 ... so we decided to relax and refresh ourselves!

Around Wharfedale - and a few Trigpoints

I have just returned from another walking break in Wharfedale. Once again I was based at The Causeway Campsite in Kettlewell.

The weather was kind to me all week and I made the most of the good weather to explore parts that I had not visited much before

Conistone Moor Trigpoint

Hubberholme

The church is famous for its mouse carvings on the pews

Limestone pavement

Wharfedale

Stepping stones over River Skirfare - a dry river bed at this stage ...

... but a mile or so downstream it was a rushing torrent

Horse Head Trigpoint

Hebden Ghyll

New Pasture Edge Trigpoint

River Wharfe just south of Grassington

This is a spectacularly beautiful part of the country - well worth visiting. As someone once said "I'll be back"

Grassington Moor Heritage Trail

Whilst in search of a Trigpoint on nearby New Pasture Edge, I saw a chimney in the near distance on Grassington Moor and decided to find out more about it.

Grassington Moor has a long history of lead mining with records dating back to the 15th Century at a time when the monks of Fountains Abbey worked a smelt mill. The medieval monastic estates secured their share, but the industry really took off in the 18th and 19th centuries when large numbers of people were employed in the mines, smelt mills and dressing floors at Yarnbury and on Grassington Moor. 

The mineral rights here were held by the Duke of Devonshire, and he provided the capital investment that allowed the mines to flourish. He built a large smelt mill and provided vital drainage systems for the deep mines.

The mines were very poor during the first 20 years of the 19th century, but in 1818 John Taylor was made the Duke's Mineral Agent. He built dams and brought water to a 15 metre diameter waterwheel, which he used to drive pumps in the Coalgrovebeck Mine, allowing production to resume 10 years before the drainage adit driven from Hebden Gill reached it.

Taylor also sank new, deep shafts which were accessed by ropes wound by horse powered winding machines. These shafts were linked by roads to mechanised dressing mills where the ore was crushed and separated before going on to be smelted.

The mines entered their most prosperous phase between 1821 and 1861, when they produced 20 273 tons of lead, averaging 965 tons a year and employed about 170 people. During this prosperous period, deeper trials were made to find new reserves of ore, but, apart from a rich strike at Sarah's Shaft, they were disappointing. After 1861, output fell steadily as the mines became exhausted

By 1881, the population of Grassington had fallen by 400 according to the census. These problems were made worse by the impact of rising imports, mainly of Spanish lead, which kept prices low by underselling English lead. Work around the Engine Shaft, at Yarnbury and Old Moss Shaft stopped in May 1880. The smelt mill kept going a little longer using up stocks of ore mined previously

There has been no serious attempt to reopen the mines since 1880 but barytes, fluorspar and some lead ore has been recovered from the waste dumps The largest of these operations were the Grassington Lead Mines Ltd between 1916 and 1920 and the Dales Chemical Company between 1956 and 1963.

The installation of the Grassington Moor Leadmlning Trail was carried out in partnership with the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust using funds from the Millennium Commission

High Grinding Mill

Wheel House

The chimney is well preserved

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A Victorian Story - "Lead Mining Days" gives an insight into what life was like in those days - see link for more details Out of Oblivion

A fascinating area and well worth exploring

Tour of Ilkley

During my recent stay in Kettlewell, I visited Ilkley - a town I had passed through many times without stopping to explore. I would put that right today!

The Domesday Book records Ilkley as being in the possession of William de Percy. The land was acquired by the Middelton family about a century later. The agents of William Middelton (1815–1885) were responsible for the design of the new town of Ilkley to replace the village which had stood there before.

In the 17th and 18th centuries the town gained a reputation for the efficacy of its water. In the 19th century it became established as a fashionable spa town, with the construction of Ben Rhydding Hydro, a hydropathic establishment at Wheatley, a mile to the east, between 1843 and 1844. Tourists flocked to 'take the waters' and bathe in the cold-water spring. Wheatley was renamed Ben Rhydding after the Hydro, which has since been demolished

lkley station was opened in August 1865 as the western terminus of the Otley and Ilkley Joint Railway (Midland and North Eastern railways). This railway offered two alternative routes to Leeds - either via Otley and the Leeds Northern/NER line through Headingley or via Guiseley and the former Leeds and Bradford Railway along the Aire Valley. The Midland subsequently built a branch from the latter route to Shipley in 1876 to provide a direct line from the town to Bradford Forster Square.

A further extension of the line opened in 1888 to Skipton via Addingham, Bolton Abbey and Embsay saw the station assume the status of a junction. It became a terminus again following the Beeching cuts in 1960s. In the late 1980s, the roofed area covering the western end of the station platforms was closed in and converted into a small supermarket

The Town Hall

Charles Darwin stayed in the town during the publication of "The Origin of Species", a visit which is commemorated by the town's Darwin Gardens and the Millennium Maze

The Manor House, which originates from 14th century, was formerly known as The Castle. It was built on the remains of the Roman Fort. It is now houses Ilkley's Art Gallery and Museum.

Ilkley's spa town heritage and surrounding countryside make tourism an important local industry. The town centre is characterised by Victorian architecture, wide streets and floral displays

Canker Well - one of several chalybeate springs (ie natural mineral springs containing iron salts) which were regarded as being beneficial to health. The waters were either drunk in copious quantities or freely applied externally. Following residential development the spring has dried up. The stone bath near the well is from the Shrine which was formerly part of Ben Rhydding Hydro. It bears a dedication to Vincent Priessnitz who established the principles  of hydropathy and who inspired Leeds merchant Hamer Stansfield to establish Ben Rhydding Hydro on land about a mile east of Ilkley.

Spa Well was another chalybeate spring which has also dried up after building works. The well is on the site of the former Spa hydropathic hotel. Opened in 1870 this establishment was favoured by the feebler patients with easy access to shops and other facilities of the town

The OS map of 1847 shows the lower corn mill situated on the east side of the ghyll. The area of Mill Ghyll was landscaped after William Middleton gave the land to the town in the 1870’s on the condition that it was preserved as “an arboretory with a clear and rippling stream” 

The Convalescent Hospital is an imposing building in the Scottish Baronial style. It was opened in 1862 and was built to accommodate the less affluent patients coming to Ilkley. Originally 50 beds were provided and the patients were allowed to stay three weeks with lodgings, board, treatment and baths free of charge.

I was intrigued by these steps - known locally as "Donkey Jackson's Steps". They are opposite Glovers’ garage entrance and now lead up to allotments. These are the last remnants of premises run by “Donkey” Jackson, who for many years ran a donkey hiring business for the benefit of visitors who were unable or unwilling to walk up to the White Wells – a house and baths at the site of the springs built in the early 18^th century on the hills overlooking Ilkley.

Another of Ilkley's claims to fame is that it is where the Dales Way starts ...

... it finishes at Bowness on Windermere some 82 miles away.

On previous occasions - including visits to the Wharfedale area - I have walked significant parts of the Dales Way (including the final 10 miles from Kendal to Bowness) but have yet to complete it. Today I walked the first few hundred yards at the start.