On sacred ground

 All Saints Church in Alton Priors doesn't shout about its presence. It sits quietly in a backwater now in the care of the CCT with an uncluttered and simple white washed interior which exudes calm. There's no assault on your senses or any sense of overwhelm as you cross its threshold which has been my experience in some other places. I could feel my breathing immediately start to slow as I took a quiet look around. 

You have to seek out Agnes Button's brass memorial under a rug, but she was the wife of William who was an MP and aide to Thomas Cromwell. He outlived both his spouse [d1528] and Henry's chief minister who was beheaded in 1540.

In the churchyard it blew my mind that the yew tree is at least 1400 years old and that it continues to grow despite the fact that the trunk is now in two separate halves. I was left wondering who the enigmatic TF was who has left their initials for us carved within the heart on the gravestone.

This stunning etched window is the work of Frank Grenier and upon it you can see Woodborough Hill and the Alton Barnes white horse which is visible on the path running up to the site. 

This is a landscape of many neolithic wonders and this is truly what brought me to the church door. Set in the floor are two trap doors and beneath them lie sarsen stones. This one has a man made hole in it. There's no definitive proof as to why they are are there and one theory put forward is that they are the floor of an earlier building. The other suggestion is that the church is built upon a henge and that's the one I'm going with. To encourage people to move across to the new Christian religion it's believed that the sites for some churches were deliberately built over the places where folk were already venerating their deities. You can see this very clearly at Knowlton https://gnatbottomedtowers.blogspot.com/search?q=knowlton, but even within Sussex I've been to one church with a Bronze Age burial mound within its grounds and another one has been put within an Iron Age landscape feature. I find the whole business intriguing.

꩜Aril꩜

Floral Friday

 We wandered around Kingston Lacy earlier this week. I love these relaxed meadow borders. I'll write more when it's cooler, but in the meantime I hope you have a good weekend.

Arilx

Holiday Oddities

David likes to send photos through to his sister and friend of some of the oddities we regularly stumble upon. May I present to you his modest selection from our week away.

Exhibit 1

One bog standard red triangle warning sign for a narrow bridge plus ahem a U.F.O. These days though the correct term should be U.A.F standing for unidentified anomalous phenomena ( I knew that all my Fortean Times reading would come in useful one day) At the time we were to be found in a tiny Wiltshire village called Honey Street. If I tell you that it has a crop circle museum then you'll see that this fits perfectly with the hippy vibe of the place.

Exhibit 2

Just a completely random encounter in Bournemouth. We were just on our way out to buy fruit when we saw this. I have no explanation as to why this particular property is festooned with daleks and a tardis but how splendid. Looks like the dream home of your average Whovian.

Exhibit 3

This randomly appeared in the front garden of the house next door to where we were staying and then vanished again a couple of days later. Our pet theory is that the house was being cleared after students leaving. Hope so 😱 It's just a tad disturbing, but would be perfect for Halloween themed decor.

Enough of my nonsense....I think the heat must be getting to me🤣

Arilx

Midsummer's Day 2026

 

This stunner is by Albert Moore and is appropriately titled 'Midsummer'. I know that the mercury will be rising today, but I hope you enjoy a few personal glimmers. I saw this painting in the Russell-Cotes gallery last week down in Bournemouth. Have had a smashing holiday in Dorset.

Arilx

A Floral Bouquet

I know that I signed off on Friday, but the packing has gone smoothly so why not share some of the floral delights we saw yesterday as we enjoyed the open gardens in a local village with our friends. Was most tickled by the small plastic fish in the birdbath which the owner says frequently go missing. Her little grandson likes to add them to the borders!

Arilx

Toodle-loo

Many thanks for all your kind comments about David. This little corner of the blogging world is full of kind folk. This past year has taught us to live more and make sure that we get on with doing the things we have always spoken about trying. No week is the same and I have done the reverse to what most people do when they retire by stepping away from all the volunteering for which I needed to give a regular commitment. This week alone I've found some Roman sherds of pottery on another archaeological dig, got soaked to the skin whilst counting orchids in a local meadow and somehow found myself having a pint and watching my first ever cricket match which turned out to be a hilarious combination of the Horsham Lions versus the Lardy Army which is the name the supporters of our town's football team give themselves raising money for our nearest hospice. We were supposed to just be walking straight home after completing a dormouse and reptile survey. How do these things happen eh. Anyway it was a rather splendid diversion and not a bad way to spend an hour in some most welcome sunshine.

Every June I ponder whether I'll still be blogging in a year's time, but here we are thirteen years on and I'm still enjoying it so if you'll have me I've no plans to give up. We had rather a surprise this week to discover that we are due to go on holiday next week and not the week after as I had thought. Thankfully the cattery have been very accommodating about changing the dates for Humphrey. I will be back in a few days hopefully with fully recharged batteries and a tale or two to tell. 

If you're wondering the photos are from Winchester's small toilet museum which appropriately enough is displayed in the window of the public conveniences in the city centre. I was particularly drawn to the medieval water pitcher with the face. Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Arilx

 

Potty

Now either David has shrunk or that is one massive pot! If I reveal that the brush in the back of the  photo below is as big as your arm that should give you the answer. This is the work of the artist Felicity Aylieff. These huge masterpieces were created by the potters in Jindeszhen, China and then decorated by her. The non blue and white ones use the Chinese tradition of Fencai which means pastel colours, but in a striking and modern reinterpretation. Normally I don't give Chinese porcelain a second glance and it really doesn't do it for me, but on this trip to Petworth Park I paid attention and surprisingly enjoyed what I saw. The old next to the new particularly pleased me. This is the 'Blue Expressions' exhibition currently on and the perfect thing to do on a wet June morning.

Let's just say that the last few weeks or so have been somewhat of an emotional rollercoaster. Having been told that David was very likely to have cancer again, but elsewhere [looking at a probability of 90%] it's been a worrying time. Yesterday we had the results of the biopsy. As we went in the oncology nurse left and the professor opened with 'it's always good when the nurse doesn't need to be here'...incredibly and against all odds it would appear that the 'cancer' is probably caused by other factors relating to his ongoing treatment and he is clear! I'm a bit all at sea to be honest, but immensely relieved at this unexpected turn of events. Lady Luck was definitely looking down on us.

Arilx