Sometimes what we initially view as random graffiti really isn’t when we stop and look more carefully.
Out of the chaos comes love and friendship and humour
At least until the council decide to paint over it.
We were in Colchester at the beginning of September for a wedding so didn’t really do much in the way of exploring. Given my love for architectural styles I did have a brief wander around the Cultural area where we were staying to see what I could find. It is of course a very old Roman town (Camulodunum ) and once the capital of Roman Britain, but was attacked and destroyed during Boudica’s rebellion in AD 61.
At only 50 or so miles north of London it is growing fast as a commuter town.
We stayed at the recently opened Greyfriars Hotel on the eastern edge of the High Street. It is not only a beautiful C18th neo-classical building, but was for a hundred years a much-loved icon of educational excellence and, even centuries before 1755 when the current house was built, its site had religious, social and educational significance. Occupants have included friars, nuns, householders, clergy, physicians, horticulturists, an industrialist and students (young and adult). Empty from 2007 when sold by Essex County Council who decided it was no longer fit for purpose for education the building has been transformed.
The wedding we were attending was held across the road in the Minories – another lovely Georgian building and now an art gallery and centre for post-graduate study in art. This house in a very similar style to Grey Friars was bought in 1731 by Isaac Boggis a merchant in the wool trade.
Continuing along the High Street you reach Castle Park and another neo-classical designed Georgian house – Hollytrees – which was built in 1718 by Thomas Blagden for Elizabeth Cornelisen. It was completed by March 1719 but unfortunately Elizabeth passed away before she had the chance to live in it. It is now a museum (free entry) and forms the eastern part of Castle Park. Continue reading A brief look at Colchester
Some of you following this blog may remember my dip into Post Boxes? Well last week in Barcelona I was very chuffed to find a yellow one! Yay!
There are over 800 different types of post boxes in the UK alone. Perhaps you have an unusual one to share? If you do then please post it and link to this one in the comments or via a pingback. I’d love to see it.
The Ditherington Flax Mill is one of Shrewsbury’s most important buildings. Constructed in 1796 as the spinning works of Marshall, Benyon and Bage it later became the Maltings and as the first wholly iron-framed building in the world, is the great-grand-daddy of New York’s mighty skyscrapers.
Throughout the 1990s it was left empty and decaying, and various ideas for regeneration have been and gone, most failing due to a lack of private sector investment. Now it is in the hands of Historic England in partnership with Shropshire Council and Friends of the Flaxmill Maltings. Let’s hope its future is secure.
Paula’s (Lost in Translation) challenge this week is Traces of the Past
It was going to be New York for my daughter’s 40th birthday getaway, until we saw the prices, and since we were only going for three days it made more sense to make it closer to home so we didn’t spend two of those days in the air. Yes we were going on another mother and daughter city break! Been a long time since the last one which was also to Spain just before my eldest grandson was born. He is now 14 years old. BA came to the rescue with some very decent European city breaks – hotels and flights for £350 each. We opted for Barcelona, a city neither of us had been to before and which has been well recommended by fellow bloggers. Thank you Restless Jo and Lucid Gypsy for all your help, advice and links.
A very early start meant we were arrived at Barcelona airport by 9 am – we stopped for a coffee before boarding the Aerobus into the city, tickets were prepaid for so no problems whatsoever and the buses are every 5 minutes so no waiting like you have to at Heathrow. A smooth drive with a drop-off close to the hotel where we were able to stash our luggage and head out to explore. First thing though was breakfast. We quickly found a lovely bar where we had coffee, orange juice (the Spanish make the BEST orange juice) and buttery croissants. Then we simply wandered for a few hours until it was time to join a free walking tour of the Gothic Quarter. The architecture in Barcelona is so interesting – I spent most of my time gazing upwards at the windows, carved entrances, wrought-iron balconies – Gothic mansions, Catalan Art Nouveau, and the magnificent imaginative Gaudí and taking far too many photographs.
TRAVEL WORDS 