No cracks in the wall - # 08/156

Just getting the "Edwardianer" out of my system before moving on.

Don't fret! - # 08/154

Thanks to all who rushed to my rescue over my tendency to make the Thames flow uphill. And yes, I do have "tilt adjusting" software, which I frequently have to use!!!!!!

So what does this picture say and what does it show? (It's worth clicking on it to enlarge and see the quality).

1. It shows (and says) that now and then I can take pictures that are properly levelled.

2. It shows the delightful fretwork, tiling and detailing put into the typical late Victorian/Edwardian villa built at the turn of the 19th century. And it shows that a lot of original features remain. Many iron railings were ripped out during wartime to provide scrap metal for weapons production. Were these replaced, or did the original railings somehow escape ? Very few escaped; much was lost. Look at Post # 08/151 and you will see that the funny curved metal clip thing is the same as the footing of the railing in this picture # 08/154 i.e. evidence of railings cut off to go for scrap.

3. It says something about quality standards and about the difficulty of caring for elegance and graceful material structure as it decays (even our own human form). It comments on the cost of maintenance and the provision of resources to meet it. It asks a lot of questions about passing time and the move into the future, especially in a country like Britain.

Living in style - # 08/151

These days I'm paying close attention to the detail in the local architecture. Richmond (and villages all around London) simply "exploded" in the late 1890's and early 1900s thanks to the railway arriving in the mid 1840s. The "commuter belt" was created. Magnificent small houses and larger mansions were built for a prosperous middle-class basking in the wealth of the most powerful Empire the world had ever seen.

The details of this Edwardian terrace villa are substantially intact. Look at the tiles on the path, the attractive "rope style" ceramic divider with the typical, but today rarely seen, original arched clip thingy (what is it exactly???), the tiles inside the porch, the original front door (there since 1899?), the large, circular, electric door bell button (! - was that installed from the very beginning?), and all the rest. This is quality, this is style.