Fishy

 I stumbled across this purely by a chance off a side road near the town. The simple fishy detail pleases me greatly. Hope you have a fabulous weekend.

Arilx

Art to make you stop and think.

The artist who created this very moving piece of sculpture in Bristol wished to remain anonymous. I feel it's important to share along with the link from Mind https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/guides-to-support-and-services/crisis-services/helplines-listening-services/

Arilx

PS The piece is called "Bear with me" and is by Getting Up To Stuff

When the Chipps are down

 This is classic me. Mr GBT and I were tossing ideas back and forth as to where we might stop for a cuppa on our outward journey for our recent trip away. I suggested Chippenham as we'd been before and liked it when we'd popped in years ago. "What's there?" himself asked [not too unreasonably] to which I listed several 'things of interest'. Turns out there were a couple of holes in my plan....for starters it was Chipping Campden we'd been before and some of my things to see were in Chippenham, but not the one in Wiltshire, but in Cambs😆 Ah well I was never one to let a couple of minor glitches get in the way of exploring and it did mean we ended up going somewhere completely new even if it wasn't quite what we had intended!!

As ever just a random series of shots from our wander around. It was a bit showery, but we managed to turn up some stuff.

Barber related topiary.... note I have resisted the temptation to use that combination of the words "bush" and "trim" in the same sentence 😈

The Buttercross dates from 1570 and gets its name from the time when dairy products would have been sold from beneath it.

The Yelde Hall [Guildhall] is another survivor from around that period. Those selling goods in the town's market would have set their stalls out in front of it in times gone by. It's open on Saturdays.

One of the local characters Chippenham is famous for is Maud Heath. Legend has it that she was one of the market traders who walked down from Wick Hill across the very boggy ground into the town to sell her eggs. In reality little is known of her save she was a wealthy widow who left a couple of properties which funded the building of a permanent causeway in 1474 which is still in use today. It's now maintained by the council. This plaque is in the free museum along with many other fascinating exhibits.

I am simply unable to resist the temptation of photograph anything which was probably Morris related in origin as below.

The beautifully embroidered gloves belonged the Royalist Sharington Talbot. He inherited Lacock Abbey, but because he backed the wrong side he ended up being imprisoned and his home was confiscated. Unlike many others he survived the Civil War and was able to buy it back again!

This tiny little sandal is a Roman oil lamp. It's survived in remarkable condition and if you look closely at the brass lock below it you'll notice that it's got a bird and a boot on it. Amazing as these details would never have been seen by anyone bar the locksmith who made them [it's possibly the work of Samuel Gale.]

We both agreed that this poster about raising fuel for the poor is very timely. It's sad that here we are all these years later still having the same conversations😢

This antique shop is right next to the parish church. It's not often you come across one called "The Hand of Glory." For anyone not familiar with what one of these is there's some information about the most infamous one in Whitby https://www.thewhitbyguide.co.uk/hand-of-glory/. It seemed a slightly more unusual placement.

Whilst we were there naturally we ventured into the church for a quick spin around. It was a bit of a shock to the system as it was midway through a baby and toddler session. I'm very out of practise with being around small kinderlings so we didn't stay long, but it's great to see the church being used by the community as they were meant to be. The grave stone below is to Clerk and his wife Alis founders of a chantry. It's most likely that this was John Clerk who was active during the reign of Edward III who reigned from 1327-77. It was removed from the church floor during renovations in 1847. I thought that the stained glass angels were rather stunning too. They were given to the church by the Wilson family after they had lost three sons in the Great War. It was designed by Christopher Whall.

If we've got enough time we do like to get ourselves away from the main thoroughfare and see if there's anything tucked away. This is how we came upon this rather thought provoking piece of art. One of my favourite things is to see old buildings having a new purpose. The former Methodist chapel housed the Spinkes Printworks until 1978. It is now a private house and if you think you recognise the red brick one, but can't think for the life of you why it's the one on the opening sequence of the "Antiques Roadshow"!

Not bad for a place we went to by accident!

Arilx

My happy place

Here I am seated inside one of my happy places. I am always at my most content when near places which were of great importance to our ancestors. I don't profess to always understand what I'm looking at, but I can still experience the special atmosphere and sacredness as others have who have gone before. This is the first time in several years [probably Orkney in 2015] that I've been inside an ancient burial mound.

 This one is the Neolithic long barrow called Belas Knap. When it was excavated the bones of 38 individuals were found interred within it[some have been found to have been later Bronze age ones]. It's about 5000 years old and was sealed up in antiquity. This one was unusual because the "entrance" you can see below is actually a false one. The reason for its inclusion is unknown, but one theory is that it may have been some of portal for the spirits of those contained within. The real points of entry were on the side and at the south end and they would have been turfed over to be hidden from view.

On the day we went it was threatening rain and we had it to ourselves. It's a bit of a steep uphill walk from the carpark, but well worth the effort.

Arilx

 

The silent T

It was said, that upon meeting the British socialite Margot Asquith, Jean Harlow [aka the Platinum Blonde] repeatedly mispronounced Margot by sounding the 't' at the end. This apparently did not go down with the Countess who acidly corrected the actress with the classic put down "It's Margo. The 't' is silent. As in Harlow." Miaow...as my Mum would say "would you like a saucer of cream to go with that!".

Once in a while I heartily enjoy an acerbic quip. I am sorry to say that this example is most probably apocryphal. 

Hope everyone enjoys the Easter break.

Arilx

Favourite Find

 Before I go exploring I like to do a quick online search to see if there's anything in particular I might like to see and then when I'm away I have a few ideas jotted down otherwise it's all trotted out of my head before I get there. Beyond that I don't like to over plan as part of the fun is never knowing what I might stumble across. I saw some absolute treasures when I was away, but we came across this one purely by chance when we were making our way towards the city centre after getting off the bus.

If ever there was a bench with my name all over it this must surely be it and I've never heard a whisper about it. A circular stone bench sitting at the far end of St Mary de Crypt's churchyard [the oldest church in Gloucester]. Even having seen it for myself I can find very little about this circular stone seat save it's from 1999 and was made by a variety of stonemasons. 

If we could have fitted it in the car I'd have brought it home in a heartbeat!!

Arilx

Natural beauty.

Please forgive me for I am easing my way in gently. We had an amazing couple of days away and in the main managed to dodge the heaviest rainfall. Of course I have taken way too many photos [when will I ever learn] which will take me a while to sift through and decide which ones will make the best blog stories. In the meantime this cormorant was casually drying out its wings on the dockside in Bristol. They do this because they don't have as much preen oil as other types of diving birds. Having only ever seen them at a distance I thought that they were all black. I had absolutely no idea of how stunning their plumage is or how green their eyes are. Looking at one at such close quarters it does have a bit of a pterodactyl look about it doesn't it.

Arilx