Three Windows - # 09/112

What's this and why?

On Ham Common there is a small church dedicated to the name of St. Thomas Aquinas. I like the way it looks. And as I looked at it this evening I was attracted to the three windows and the way they look, and tried to do them justice.

Now, the next thing. This is the church where the painter Vincent van Gogh (which name Americans like to pronounce as "van Go" - Why on earth do they insist on pronouncing it like that?) preached his last sermon after which the Roman Catholic Church kindly suggested that perhaps the priesthood was not the right place for him. He might be happier doing something else.

I only recently found this out and was rather tickled to think of the remarkable painter van Gogh preaching in a little church in England, right where I live, before he was sacked and became famous.

(Some of you may have noticed that my normal daily "sermons" have been disrupted. Have patience. They will, I sincerely hope, ease themselves back.)

Dark place - # -09/111

...............hermetic; and no escape.

Bright morning! - # 09/110

As I wander through Ham House looking for something unrepairable to repair I come across many delightful vistas and clever conceits designed by the 17th Century architect to please and capture the attention.

One of my favourites is the arrangement of the windows on the Great Staircase that floods the house with natural light and gives a wonderful vista outwards to the mathematical precision of the formal so-called Cherry Garden. I never tire of it. (Camera settings were tricky, and I used a very tiny burst of flash to balance the exterior and interior light, after taking the main reading precisely from the sunlit garden).

Click on the side-bar to go to my link to the Ham House site.

Retreating shadow - # 09/109

Squarish slabs of light and shade. Pleasing tonality. Progress or regression depending on where you stand. An ancient exit towards a bright future, or a step back into the dark ages.

Coming from the South - # 09/108

You've seen this view before in slightly different form. As you walk up from Kingston along the river, the slope of Richmond Hill comes into view. It's a bit of a clutter of late 19th and mid 20th Century houses and apartments, but on the whole it's not such bad urban view. The setting sun and late evening light sparkle in the water and enhance the scene.

(I'm still too busy to spend time getting out to take photos, but in due course things should improve. I suspect that will be a welcome relief to some who have accused me of behaving like a chimney sweep........not doubt scraping the archive for something to show!!!! I've been doing "copyright" stuff which I can't show here. That takes time.)

Richmond roofline 17 - # 09/107

Campanile...........no, we are not in Florentine Italy (although right now I could do with some genuine Tuscan weather: or even some genuine English summer weather would be nice. We've got heavy cloud, rain, hot sun, more cloud, wind, more rain, more sun and high "un-English" temperatures - all within a two hour cycle. All very weird and infuriating).

Last night I went for a little walk and caught this at sundown looking towards Richmond from the river bank along Cholmondeley Walk.

Richmond roofline 16 - # 09/106

Richmond Palace - read all about it: www.richmond.gov.uk/local_history_richmond_palace.pdf

Richmond roofline 15 - # 09/105

Chinese Puzzle.

"What on earth is he doing now, with this monstrosity of a photo?" (Just tweaking the sliders idly because the weather is bad and I'm short of photos).

It is actually meant to commemorate the tragedy of the "Loss of the Richmond Ice Rink". Some years ago Richmond lost its excellent and much loved ice rink where once champions were trained. An estate of luxury (very much luxury indeed) flats were built on the ice rink site and because of a fiasco in the negotiations (how can such a thing happen?) Richmond lost its ice rink forever, instead of having a new replacement built on a convenient site. Shame!!!

Richmond roofline 14 - # 09/104

HELP! I'm all boxed in!! (A funny little modern attic extension on a charming little cottage).

In Twickenham, one of the communities that is part of the Borough of Richmond, Twickenham and Barnes, there are several narrow, sloping lanes that run directly down to the river from the main road which is higher up the gentle slope of what were once the old banks of the Thames.

These lanes are full of small cottages and old store rooms and work shops that were once part of the tiny riverside community that never dreamed it would become an affluent suburb of the mighty capital city that dominated the world for about 100 years. (Watch out America - you have barely 50 years left before you lose your title).

I'm boxed in too. Not much time to get out and take photos at the moment.

Quiet night - # 09/103

Misdummer night at 21.05 hrs was strangely quiet in the Terrace Gardens on Richmond Hill. The empty seats and the shadows of the trees created a substantial stillness of their own.

Richmond frontline - again - # 09/102

Back on Teddington High St. again we admire the elegance of the 19th Century shop front.

Richmond roofline 13 - # 09/101

"Healthy working environment"..............just imagine these, all belching coal smoke on a winter's day. Today, the chimney stacks on these 19th century cottages on the edge of Richmond add interest and colour to the urban roofscape.

Richmond roofline 12 - # 09/100

..........just another light-hearted look at the vistas and shapes that present themselves as we look across the Richmond Roofscape. This can be seen from Cholmondley Walk as we pass the old Richmond Palace site.