We were in France during the end of July and early August and
didn't get home until the evening of the 4th of August. As a result, we
didn't go to the Ushaw event on Saturday, as we were still unpacking and
recovering from a long trip up country. I have to some maintenance to do
on the Dodge and Ford, so we just took Jessie for the day. Ushaw
Historic House and Chaple was a religious college in its hay-day and
it's a huge complex. The aerial picture below shows the complex,
excluding the playing fields. The picture was displayed just inside the
building, along with a large model of the site. Two years ago, the event
was held on the playing fields, but the large amount of rain over the
last two weeks forces a change to parking in front of the main building.
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We had a wander around the buildings during the morning and these few
pictures show how grand the interior is. Some of the re-enactor displays
were indoors, mainly as a result of the heavy rain on Saturday. In one
of the chaples was a display of 1940s wedding dresses. The last picture
shows one of the other chaples, badly damaged in an arson attack earlier
this year. I don't know whether this will be pulled down or restored.
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There were around ten vehicles on show across the front of the building,
the majority being Jeeps, but also a Dodge Command Car and a couple of
civilian cars. Most of the outdoor dioramas were set up on the grass at
each end of the main building. Opposite the house was the gardens, but
unfortunately for photographs, all the food and ice cream vans were
parked along here, so I tried to avoid taking photos in that direction.
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During the day, a film crew were following "Country File" and
former "Blue Peter" presenter, Matt Baker around, along with
his parents. They were filming an episode for the upcoming series of
"Matt Baker: Travels with Mum & Dad". I took a few
pictures during the filming, some of which are shown below.
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Many of the usual faces and vehicles turned out for the event and there
seemed to be a good number of public around all day. My photographs
don't always show how busy the events get, as I usually try to avoid too
many people getting in shot.
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The "Hand-Me-Down-Brigade" were there with their Home Front
display and a little further along to the left, a nice vintage caravan
and some additional dioramas. At the other end of the house was the
field kitchen. Indoors were more displays of weapons, radios and field
equipment and Julie Pickard doing 1940s hair styles for people.
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The event ran from 10am to 4pm, but we ended up staying until around 5pm
while the film crew got a few additional shots of the cast taking some
1940s dance lessons.
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