Odds and sods

Now I've caught up with last week's doings I thought perhaps I would share a few photos of my doings this week so far...all rather random, but there we go.

A walk along the old railway line near us took us along a stretch I'd not seen before. Our friend who took us used to work on this line that went to Guildford. He remembered that it literally closed overnight after Beeching's cuts in 1966 and left many people high and dry without a way to get to work. It's now a very popular route with runners, cyclists and dog walkers. The rather fancy zigzag design on the second bridge looks rather snazzy, but doesn't bear closer inspection as it's only the edges of the corrugated metal filled with concrete!

My first encounter with Black Bryony berries...like a string of traffic light coloured jewels suspended on the fence.

A cheery sunflower in our friends' garden. It towers above their fence and they always bring a smile to my face.

My latest volunteering spot sorting clothes for a charity came around again at the weekend. Last month you may remember that the recycling gods gifted me a Steampunk watch for Mr GBT's hat. This time out of 100 or more black bags filled with donations this was in the bottom of one of the ones I had picked out at random from the pile. There shouldn't be any non textiles in there, but then from my Sussex Green Living experience I know that people are very good at sneaking in naughty things. This time it's a beautiful little book all about English architecture focussing mainly on churches. I go with my friend J and we met again along with some old school friends on Monday and she was telling them that she's convinced that I've got some sort of magical power for finding these perfect Aril things. It does feel a bit like I'm being given special gifts, but there really is no hocus pocus going on!!

Finally a stunner of a sunset....if I showed you the whole photo it would rather bring it down to earth as Tesco is below it. After six months we returned to spend our vouchers....on gin. If I tell you Mr GBT went out last night and picked sloes you might guess what's coming up on the making agenda😆

First day of our holi"days" enjoyed yesterday. More to follow shortly.

Arilx

An afternoon of adventuring.

 That's how friend E described our stolen afternoon out last week when we were both unexpectedly off work. I had a nose around to see what was open fairly near to us, but what would also be new to both of us. Albury in Surrey fitted the bill.

Being a church crawler being able to enjoy the tranquility of old churches is something I have really missed this year. Whilst I enjoy looking at graveyards it's the interiors I favour really. Thankfully the CCT has been able to open many of its charges on a daily basis with there being no services there is a much lower risk attached. SS Peter and Paul is the old parish church, but the main centre occupation in Albury developed elsewhere and so it was replaced by a Victorian one in the village centre. Many of the original fittings have been transferred across. This one is a Saxon one [the cupola is 19th century] with later additions, but as you look up to the tower above you it's possible to see where the different levels of the Saxon floors once lay.

Although it's fairly bare inside it has some rather lovely details remaining. The brass commemorating the death of one John Weston [d 23 November 1440] might not be exceptional in itself, but when I looked at it closely you can see that he's depicted standing on a hill with trees on top and lots of little flowers growing.

There is the much vaunted Drummond chapel to admire too. High Victorian is not my taste, but it was impressive. I muttered to E that it looked like something Pugin would have had a hand in...I found out later that that was because it was decorated by him!

Now this was much more to my liking. A 15th century depiction of St Christopher carrying a rather oversized baby Jesus. It faces the North door and apparently [I can't vouch for this] if you caught a glimpse of this saint in the morning you would have a safe day.

Now the plan had been to go on elsewhere after here, but adventures need surprises and unplanned bits, so we made an unscheduled stop in the village itself. Am so glad we did as it is charming...even the bollards echo the design of the brick chimneys.

Inevitably we ran out of time. No worries....Mr GBT and I shall be returning to carry out a full exploration of the other place I had in mind this coming weekend! 

Arilx

Imaginings of the Medieval Mind

Various snippets have come together over the past few days to inspire this post. A TV programme reminded me of the weird and wonderful beasts that can be seen on the Mappa Mundi in Hereford Cathedral. Then a few days later I learnt about Medieval marginalia in a CCT lecture by Prof Paul Binski. These are the totally bonkers doodles you get round the edge of the beautiful illuminated manuscripts that don't relate to the content of the main page. Sometimes it's more of the fantastical beasts or you get surreal scenes of people riding massive snails or earthy domestic scenes. You would favour the theory that this was the monks drawing things in when bored, but this was not the case. The humorous aspect was a very deliberate inclusion and drawn in as part of the whole page design right from the outset. They were undoubtedly designed to amuse and feature on all sorts of texts from religious through to legal books. It's thought that they originated in the universities [some things don't change!]. Finally an article in an old English Heritage magazine about the wall paintings at Longthorpe Tower introduced me to the bonnacon. Something I had never heard of which needed further investigation.

So what on earth is one of these strange creatures you might well ask.....apparently it was an animal with a head like a bull and useless horns that curl inwards....its secret weapon was its ability to fire its dung out at high speeds and set everything alight in its path. Best beware then. Funnily enough Pixabay wasn't able to offer me a copyright free image of this particular being, so you'll have to put up with my Janet and John copy of one!! The one in the original drawing was grinning away at its successful handiwork too!

Arilx

 

The Deepdene Trail

With the pair of us having more free weekends this year we have been able to do more local exploring. There's always good stuff to be found right under your nose. This time the Deepdene Trail near Dorking calleth......

In its heyday the 17th century Deepdene House was a socking great pile with an equally impressive 12 mile estate.  Over time it evolved to meet the changing tastes of its owners and by the early 19th century it reflected the influence of Thomas Hope's Grand Tour with its Italianate and Classical architectural features. By the 20th century it was a hotel which was requisitioned during WWII as offices for the headquarters of the Southern Railway. Sadly I can't show you photos as it had fallen into such a state of disrepair by 1969 that it had been demolished. Nowadays the site is occupied by an instantly forgettable and unimaginative modern box of a building. However, all is not lost because the formal garden and some of the grounds are now open for the public to wander around freely.

This is the Embattled Tower which was put up in 1825 by Hope. It covers the now blocked in tunnels that an earlier owner, Charles Howard, used as his own personal lab. Amongst other things he experimented with saffron and tanning leather. 

Actually tunnelling seems to have been a bit of an obsession with this gentleman as he also tried to dig through the hill on which the garden is built. His attempts were thwarted by the sandy soil and he had to abandon his plan. His efforts were converted into a grotto in which pieces of sculpture were displayed in the now empty niches [sadly some dear little soul has decided that it could be further improved with a recent daub of smurf blue paint]. During the war it sported a brick interior and was used as an ammo store.

This is the view looking back along the length of the garden with Coady the lion.....the least scary lion I've ever seen. Think more Parsley the Lion from "The Herbs" and you'll be on the track. He's made from Coade stone hence his name.

Beyond the garden there are a variety of trails you can take. We chose the one that skirted round the edge of the nearby golf club. I liked their original take on outdoor seating and it's always a good day in my book if I find a new weather vane to add to the ever expanding collection.

It led us to the rather poignant site of the Hope's Neo Classical family mausoleum which was built in 1818. Tragically Thomas's seven year old son had died following a trip abroad with his Father in 1815. His remains were interred here and later joined by Thomas in 1831 and seven other family members. It had been the target of vandals over the years and was bricked up in 1957 to prevent any further damage being caused to it. It was restored in 2009.

It makes for a pleasant destination in which to while away an hour or so on a warm Sunday morning.  We were pleased to have finally made there, but in all honesty it's probably not one I would return to on a regular basis. It's a bit tame and muted for my weird taste!!

Arilx

Friday Afternoon Job?

Have been out with a friend this week and we came across this wall in Albury Park....I have absolutely no idea either!!! Perhaps the brickies had had a few pints of neck oil at lunchtime.....Have a fabulous weekend. Shall get on board with some slightly longer posts next week...just suffering from a minor bout of the old lazygititus!!

Arilx

Things that come in threes.

This week, three times, three types of Balsam... the plant is known as in invasive weed, but I suspect it's here to stay now.  Despite it being much maligned, the Himalayan one is a late source of nectar and our native bees love it. I've seen the Himalayan one and the Orange one before, but the third photo is a Small Balsam and is a new one for me. It's been noted down with the date and place as have all other new-to-us finds in our now very scruffy 30 year old wild flower identification book. It's the sole entry for 2020, but better one than none eh!!

I think they're stunning and it's given me some much needed practice in mastering the macro facility on my little press and point camera.

Arilx

Going nuts

 Apples are ripe

And nuts are brown.

Petticoats up

And trousers down.

Spike Milligan

So here we are on the 1st September and the beginning of the Autumn months. I love September with its nip in the early morning, mists, warm spice coloured foliage and the promise of an Indian summer. It was traditionally the time for nutting too when the hazelnuts were ripe and people would go out to pick them as a valuable source of protein that could be added to the winter stores or used to make flour.  Some would have been sold to the dyers. It was acceptable to go out any day bar Sunday for fear that you might meet the devil! However, dare I suggest that you were probably at much more risk of adding to the population for it was well known that a good year for nuts meant that the following summer would be good for babies. I would imagine that the young couples being able to go to the woods unsupervised thoroughly enjoyed the privacy and break from day to day work it provided!!

Arilx