Category: Postcards

Images from my travels

Bench series #40

For the month of October I’m looking for a bench with someone or something sitting on it

(any kind of bench will do, but there must be at least one person, animal or object on the bench)

the 'Diana' bench
The “Diana” Bench at the Taj Mahal in India – yes there really is a bench under these ladies!

If you would like to join in with the Bench photo challenge then please take a look at my Bench Series page. No complicated rules, just a bench and a camera required 🙂

  • Create your own post and title it Bench Series: October
  • Include a link to this page in your post so others can find it too
  • Add the tag ‘bench series’ so everyone can find the benches easily in the WP Reader
  • Get your post in by the end of the month, as the new bench theme comes out on the first Sunday in November.

My Picks of the Week:

Isobel has some lovely benches from Camden’s Stable market and Lisa has benches with a view.  Debbie is back in London and there are more curves from Ruth in Hobart. Meanwhile Elaine has some controversial ‘benches’ – what’s your opinion? And my last pick from the metal series is a sweet bench from Dawn with unusual basket-weave.

As always there are so many delightful benches to view, I hope you will check out the other links within the comment section.

Bench series #39

For the month of September I’m looking for a Metal bench

Quatrefoils
Quatrefoil bench in Autumn

If you would like to join in with the Bench photo challenge then please take a look at my Bench Series page. No complicated rules, just a bench and a camera required 🙂

  • Create your own post and title it Bench Series: September
  • Include a link to this page in your post so others can find it too
  • Add the tag ‘bench series’ so everyone can find the benches easily in the WP Reader
  • Get your post in by the end of the month, as the new bench theme comes out on the first Sunday in October.

This is the last week for your metal benches, next Sunday we start looking for ones with someone or something on it.

My Picks of the Week:

Kaz, another lady who lives in Sydney, took a photo of this bench some time ago, but it is metal and it is a beautiful shot so I am including it in my pick this week. Tish invites you to join her in a circular argument. Debbie is feeling chilly in Margate. Klara is back with a contemporary bench and Lori has another sculptural bench whilst Violetsky brings us something a little more normal from Scotland this time and Elaine heads back to New Orleans.

As always there are so many delightful benches to view, I hope you will check out the other links within the comment section.

This post is my 500th on this blog which is really weird because I have reached the 500th post on my flower blog too. I obviously take too many photographs! I would like to thank all my followers and readers for their likes and comments and all the wonderful conversations that occur on here. Who knew that blogging could be so much fun. Thank you all 🙂

Autumn Arrives

The Autumnal Equinox on September 23 heralded the beginning of autumn in the northern hemisphere which usually brings a change in the temperatures and the beginning of the chemical processes that take place in the trees as the seasons change from summer to winter. One of the best places to see the beautiful colours in autumn is Sheffield Park in West Sussex, a wooded landscape park of about 74 hectares, laid out in the mid and late 18th century by Lancelot Brown. Features include four lakes, waterfalls and cascades, and an arboretum with a mix of native and exotic species including conifers, azaleas, rhododendrons and acers. The arrival time of the vibrant displays varies every year, but they are generally at their best in October, when the acers turn burnished red.

DSCN5513

Enjoy the colour, it only occurs for a brief period each autumn.

Misericords of St Laurence – Part VI

The Parish Church in Ludlow is famous for its 15th century misericords in the chancel stalls. These ignored carvings are found underneath choir stall seats and are mostly found in areas of the country whose wealth came from the medieval wool trade. The largest collection is housed at Salisbury Cathedral (106) compared to Hereford Cathedral (40) and the 28 intricately carved designs here in Ludlow.

Finally I have managed to get some decent photos of them all, so let me introduce you to them:

South Side 11 – 15

S11: This is another famous misericord showing a drunken tapster drawing wine from a cask while holding the bung in his left hand. It shows the trusted servant who abuses his trust and was a well-known moral tale about a monk who grew addicted to the wine and ale under his charge.

S11
S11

S12: This one appears to be a celebration of the wine barrel, but is likely to be a homily on the perils of drink. The detail is exquisite – the diamond-shaped purses, the brass pots and jugs and the barrels with the wooden hoops.

S12
S12

S13: The figure here is either a pupil or schoolmaster at the school run by the Palmers Guild, which later became the Grammar School in Ludlow. The hooded masks at either side are puzzling. One male the other female which may indicate parents.

S13
S13

S14: Plain

S15: This appears to have been reconstructed from fragments and attached to a new seat, perhaps around the church’s restoration in 1860. The centre corbel is almost intact with a finely carved rose and fetterlock – an obvious Yorkist badge – by the same carver as N15. The single twisted ring may have been part of a garland of flowers representing York’s Garland which was too damaged to salvage.

S15
S15

Source of text: Historic Ludlow ” The Misericords and Choir Stalls” by Peter Klein (1986)