Postcards – Page 91 – TRAVEL WORDS

Bench series #36

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

little italy SD — Little Italy San Diego, USA

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.

My Picks of the Week:

Elaine has a colourful bench for you from last week as does Ruth in Tasmania though Tgeriatrix stretches the definition of what IS a bench. Violetsky comes up with yet another sculptural bench, but the question seems to be “Is it comfortable?” and Debbie finds a stack of rainbow benches. A final cheerful ‘in your face‘ red delight from Pauline downunder ends the month of colour. Thanks to all who participated, I really enjoyed your finds.

Bench series #35

For the month of August I’m looking for a colourful bench

(This month I want to see photos of a bench that is painted or stained or otherwise coloured in some way. Not the plain wooden variety unless there is some colour detail)

A Wade Blue bench and Astronomical Clock at Snowshill Manor in the Cotswolds, Worcestershire

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: August
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 September.

This is the last week for your colourful benches, next Sunday we start looking for metal ones.

My Picks of the Week:

Meg has an odd one for us this week, she thinks it is a bench. See what you think. Meanwhile Tgeriatrix has the most unusual and colourful benches I have ever seen! These benches just get better and better. VioletSky has a couple for us this week, some very bright ones and a floating one. And Pauline has a bit of a rude one for us this week.

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

An Arts and Crafts Masterpiece

I can’t begin to imagine how many times I have driven past the sign to Watts Chapel along the A3 near Guildford in Surrey. Not knowing that this little gem lay hidden close by in Down Lane, Compton. Jenny of CharactersFromTheKitchen introduced me to this architectural delight a few months ago and I knew I would have to make the journey next time I was down in Surrey.

(Please click images to enlarge – there is an awful lot of detail in these images)

This morning, before the rain arrived again, I made my way to Watts Cemetery Chapel to the bright red brick of this Arts and Crafts masterpiece. Designed and decorated by Mary Seton Watts this example of Art Nouveau was completed in 1904. She dedicated it:

“to the loving memory of all who find rest near its walls, and for the comfort and help of those to whom the sorrow of separation remains”

A steep, slippery cobbled pathway meanders through ancient yew trees

The Exterior: The Sign of Eternity

Continue reading An Arts and Crafts Masterpiece

Bench series #34

For the month of August I’m looking for a colourful bench

(This month I want to see photos of a bench that is painted or stained or otherwise coloured in some way. Not the plain wooden variety unless there is some colour detail)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Colourful benches in the courtyard of the Rose and Crown, Ludlow

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: August
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 September.

My Picks of the Week:

Kaz joins in with a Sydney bench in need of TLC and another Sydneysider has red and green benches. If you haven’t viewed LD’s blog before then you are in for a treat. And yet ANOTHER Aussie, PP, has a red bench. Isobel has made me very happy by sharing the Book Benches that were in London last year. And more red and green benches from Tgeriatrix.

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

Discovering St Leonards

One of my favourite places to take a local walk is in the burial ground of St Leonard’s in Ludlow. The grounds are now a naturalised area for people to enjoy nature and wildlife, an attractive environment that residents and visitors alike can enjoy. There are many trees including Yew trees which were grown to make bows, but as the berries are poisonous to animals (and humans), the trees had to be grown in places like churchyards where animals were excluded.

There are also some ageing Lawson’s Cypresses and self-sown Sycamores and Horse-Chestnuts. A large number of birds, butterflies and a colony of rabbits live in the grounds and there are many benches on which to sit and rest and enjoy the birdsong and the countryside views, as well as a few picnic tables and benches situated in a grass clearing.

I love to wander around the monuments and select interesting carvings, words, shapes to photograph. Often hidden by clumps of stinging nettles and moss or lichens each time I visit I see something different. Continue reading Discovering St Leonards