The boys had great fun cutting cake and serving the teas.
May I remind you of the delightful film starring Catherine Deneuve "Les Parapluies de Cherbourg"....a classic of the French "nouvelle vague" cinema, made in 1964. See it! It's a fine film.
On Sunday my village held a very successful event in which several houses opened their gardens to visitors. The rain stopped for 3 hours and a large number of visitors came. All the wonderful cakes (you saw some of them yesterday) were sold, because the teas were also in high demand.
Anyway, here are some nice English people doing what they normally do when rain sweeps in from the Atlantic.
This is the birch tree at the bottom of my garden, and this is the sky I'm looking at. The weather is AWFUL. (But the rain is welcome....I must say).
But, scientists say it's normal! A famous Scottish meteorologist named Buchanan proved by statistics that in May it is normal to have weather that is not normal. Now think about that, children.
I may be wrong, but memory tells me that this highly respected gentleman has been here for 17 years - or almost, if not more! The raft has evolved over that period. The Port of London Authority tried to sling him off, but local residents campaigned to keep him, so here he stays. He tends the birds, building nesting areas, and is generally regarded as a very good neighbour - the kind of chap you like to have around.
The equipment is quite sophisticated. Originally he had a wind mill to generate electricity but last year I noticed that he has cut out the wind turbine and moved to nuclear power! Look closely and you will see the photovoltaic panel on the far side of the roof.
In the early days it was fun to watch the raft "morphing" into new shapes, and seeing experiments in protective cladding systems being tried and rejected. Today the form seems to be more or less fixed and final. This is human resourcefulness at it's peak. In my opinion it's a noteworthy sight for genuine tourists .
The area of Richmond and the associated villages of Ham and Petersham abound in specially designated "conservation areas". However, the pressures of modern day traffic, the demands for affordable housing, the pressures from central government to fill in every remaining bit of space that can be built on, the demands for unsightly mobile phone masts, and so on are a serious threat to areas that are beautiful, but old and highly fragile.
On the other side of the lane, opposite the wall of the Old Palace we have a line of tiny old workman's cottages, dazzling white, with nicely kept gardens to enjoy as we walk down from The Green to the river at the bottom end. Behind them is the railway embankment which takes the 1840s technology monster across the Thames towards Windsor and Reading. Queen Victoria is said to have loved railway trains and I imagine her looking out from this line as the royal train took her to Windsor.
The Normans conquered England in 1066, and very quickly built a royal summer palace in Richmond (a nice "out of town" riverside retreat in those days). The palace stood there from the early 1100s until it burnt down more than 500 years later in the early 1600s! The house was greatly enjoyed by Henry V111 and Elizabeth 1 who died there. Here is part of the old wall alongside Old Palace Lane.
The Mugs and the Wm. Curley doorway provoked a lot of very kind comments. I am quite touched, and so feel moved to thank all of you.
Please chose a Wm. Curley masterpiece for yourself. You will not regret it.
For those of you who care, I'll get back to the "Mug Theme" next week end. A great deal of research is underway......so watch out!
Last week a number of readers expressed serious interest in, and great appreciation of my household arrangements. Therefore I felt it only fair to reveal the details of MY OTHER MUG!!!!!
Here's a quick look inside the shop of Mr. William Curley, prize winning and highly acclaimed Master Chocolatier. Hand made masterpieces are on sale here, in Paved Court, near The Green.
Through Union Court to Waterloo Place to reach the Quadrant. This is very convenient for those having a house in the delightful Vineyard area on the hillside above the town. Nip down Vineyard Passage, across Paradise Rd., into Union Court.
Exit Union Court through the tunnel-like alley - (the photographic challenge for me in Union Court was to get an expressive tunnel shot that gave a good focus and exposure of Waterloo Place right at the very end) - and hit Waterloo Place.
These cottages - built sometime between 1710 and 1830; I haven't done the research, so I'm making an educated guess looking at the window style, and brick work - are a fine example of the working men's homes that have somehow survived in the very centre of the town. I love this little dive through. (Oops - I've just noticed my tripod in the corner! ;-) ).
.....those charged with re-newing London's ancient transport infrastructure whilst keeping "the Centre of the Universe" moving 24 hours a day without a hitch might say "Yeah, tell me about it!". Government created a Public+Private Partnership company to bring investors' capital and the world's finest engineering and management expertise into this massive and difficult task. The latest progress report from Transport for London says that poor performance "completely undermines....our confidence in Metronet's management". This is a company made up of the finest names in North American, German, French, and British engineering. The problems are such that these powerful and respected companies now face significant damage to their names and reputation.
For me there's a lesson..........when things go wrong, be circumspect and humble before you jump into eager criticism. Transport and political economy freaks can start their search here: http://www.metronetrail.com/default.asp?sID=1077628467890
Daily streams of regular commuters and Saturday trippers pass through Richmond station. The main railway reached Richmond in the late 1840s/early 1850. The Underground railway(shown here) arrived about 1870. When I look at the great railway stations and bridges I admire the beautiful architecture and decoration. The Victorians were proud of their technological advance and combined it with the best that art could offer for our enjoyment. Where stations have been fully restored, the visual effect is stunning. In Richmond too much old paint hides some of the past glory, and the 1930s rebuild of the main line railway station is no longer a visual delight.
I think that this photo would be better if the line of passengers was in clear focus - but at least the art is clear, which is what I wanted to show.
The week end's coming up, so there's an opportunity to invite my readers to enjoy a virtual pint of Young's bitter with me in the White Cross. Young's is a very old, family owned, London brewery with a fine reputation. The woolly ram is company's ancient sign.
But first, look closely at the enlarged photo, and notice how high the door is. The river often floods over the bank at high tide. Instead of deciding that this would ruin business, the builders decided to raise the doorway. The pub is well worth a visit. (I'm sorry about the building work on the paving.....you'll find much better photos elsewhere).
These two alleys lead off George St towards The Green. These two are highly convenient "dive throughs" and apart from each offering a cosy pub they host enjoyable little speciality shops.
The photographic challenge for me was to give the attractive Green a good exposure and reasonable focus, and at the same time show off the much darker alley scene in good exposure and focus. The shots please me because they show the variety of shop signs and a good mix of people looking interested and busily moving. This was taken on a bright late March day, so the trees are still bare. Although George St is very much late 1890s, these alleys and much of The Green are early 1700s.
First - my warmest thanks to all who were kind enough to leave a comment on my 100th Post.
Now...........The Scottish National Party recently gained 47 seats in the Scottish Assembly and are now negotiating with the minority parties to form a Scottish Executive. Labour has 46 seats so the SNP needs help from other minorities.
The Scot Nats are lead by a highly intelligent, adroit, charismatic politician, Alex Salmond, who seems to think that being ruled from Brussels by the EU (dominated by a big France and a big Germany – not to mention the other big countries) is better than being ruled from London, albeit enjoying extensive devolved power to Scotland.
It appears that he wants to break up the United Kingdom and make Scotland into a tiny kind of independent Switzerland.
The logic behind this, and the implications baffle me. It’s amazing that in this “globalised” world tribalism still has a powerful command of the emotions. Or perhaps we should be learning a lesson.
Perhaps none of this matters. Who cares? But I’m uncomfortable with the motives and concepts that lurk beneath all this. It’s one thing to press for devolved regional decision-making, but using the “tribal instinct” to promote it is not appropriate. “Nationalism” in 21st century democratic modern Britain has nasty connotations for me. I admire Scotland far too much to suffer the sight of it dragged erroneously down the wrong road. For those interested there’s plenty of detail in the various BBC analysis web pages.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/evandavis/
100 days of posting a comment and a photo is something to celebrate. I've discovered how hard it is and how enjoyable. I hope my "lookers and lurkers" have also enjoyed it.
Without doubt, Eric in Paris must be thanked for launching his concept. I discovered it via a strange blue mutant humanoid who inhabits the cellars of Dubai International airport (DXB). Bluey's excellent work lead me to see Eric's fine Paris shots, and Curly's fine seascapes around Tyneside - I was hooked.
Thereafter I needed technical help from Ham in London, and Denton in Ohio, and Gerald in Hyde. Isabella in Naples, Florida goaded me and supported my efforts (as she so generously does with new-comers), and dear Jing in Shanghai brought her special brand of encouragement, and also Mandi in Tel Aviv who lurks and demands to see deer.
Thereafter, came Edwin, KL (a master of his craft), and the fine team of Dsole in Madrid, and ......here I have to stop, saying THANK YOU to all my visitors and inspirers. Please have a cup of tea and a cake with me.
I have in mind those "nostalgia images" that show an old split-windscreen-1940s-style
Dodge pick-up, rusty but serviceable, beside a decaying barn out in the flatlands of Kansas. Why do those 1940s American pick-ups say so much to our imaginations? (Or is it just my imagination? I don't think so.)
So, I'm asking: What does a 1970 Jaguar standing in tatty elegance beside a private horse trailer in a yard with a cute little buttercup meadow behind do to the American imagination?
I suspect it says that we all harbour dreams about an idealised Past that probably never existed. But whatever you think, you cannot deny that the styling of the Jaguar has a timeless elegance.
Leaving Church Court (yesterday's Post) we can go straight down to George St., the main shopping area.
This cut-through gives a nice view of the church as you look up from George St. I chose this shot because I liked the way the girls gave a kind of forward surge to the scene. In this alley there is a good independent book shop, surviving in spite of modern commercial pressures, a good little cafe - the Alambra (yes, they spell it like that!) - and the Angel and Crown pub, which looks quite splendid in its late 1890s decor. Noon day sun floods the alley, so it's good for sitting outside for a short time. It's worth clicking on the picture to enlarge it.
Richmond is the perfect small town. There are numerous quick short cuts from one sector to the next, allowing the pedestrian to move rapidly without getting caught in the noise and chaos of the heavy motor traffic, and often allowing quick and convenient transfers between bus routes. I wanted to feature these because they provide delightful little vistas, they are rich in small shop signs and architectural features, and they set a challenge to the photographer because of the slabs of light and shade that make good exposures tricky, but interesting. Moving off Hill Rise we can dive through to the church via Ormond Rd and discover Church Court. We'll continue tomorrow.
Caught in the act! A male Muscovy duck, in the Isabella Plantation, Richmond Park, tries to approach a lady. But her boyfriend arrives and sees him off. The ripples indicate some high powered paddling beneath the surface!
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