Don't bring your wet boots into my hallway!- # 220
Strand on the Green is clearly an old riverside wharf area with merchant's houses and warehouses often incorporated into one, coming close up to the river mooring point for the loaded sailing barges.
The things to note in this photo are: the massive base wall to protect from the high water, the unusual steps up to the raised door, and the typical elegant 18th Century fan light over the door. Every fanlight is unique. I will go so far as to wager that you will not find two alike throughout the length and breadth of England. The houses along the this waterside date mostly from the early 1700s, but some sites have a written historic record from as far back as the 1400s.
Notice also the debris from the recent high water right up against the wall. The water had gone back less than 20 minutes before my arrival, as you saw in yesterday's picture of the wet tow path.
How high are those steps? I'm afraid I've lost my perspective from the angle of the shot and they look like they're more than a foot high. Also, in addition to the things you pointed out, I'm also curious about a couple of other things. The two vertical strips that run halfway up the door frame. The vertical slot in the middle, is that for the mail? What's the knob-like thing below it?
ReplyDeleteBy the way, what was the error you got with my blogger.tset(at)yahoo.com address? If that doesn't work, the other won't work either.
The steps are of course not really the most good looking, but obviously needed like this.
ReplyDeleteThe door and the fanlight look really nice!
Incredible, the age of all these houses along the river!
I guess that, despite some disadvantage with the tides, these houses are not cheap?
An interesting contrast between those stone steps and the elegant door. But what must be, must. They have to protect against the water.
ReplyDeleteHere in Cologne there are always dicussions whether it should be allowed to let people build near the river. They all want to have the wonderful view but when 'Father Rhine' has drunekn too much the great wailing starts.
But - as in your example - history shows that people always used to settle down near rivers.
@Z....the steps are about 12inches high...so roughly 3 feet up to the door. The vertical stripes up the side of the door frame are modern aluminium slides for additional flood protection; you can slot in a metal plate with rubber seals. The vertical slot is a normal English letter box slot and the knob thing is indeed a knob thing, otherwise known as a door knob ;-)
ReplyDeleteThe actual door is somewhat shorter than a normal door, so mind your head.