Friday, December 29, 2006

this gentleman kindly obliged the photographer by standing for his picture in the wind and rain at edenbridge


reculver ... looking west

From Pevsner's North east and East Kent, written by John Newman ...

The Saxon church, the latest of the group built in the C7 by Saint Augustine and his converts, remained until as recently as 1809 almost intact.

Then, most scandalously, in the bitter words of the parish clerk,

"Mr C.C. Nailor been vicar of the parish, his mother fancied that the church was kept for a poppet show, and she persuaded her son to take it down"; ...

... so we are left with little more than the foundations, and the austere two-towered west facade added late in the C12 and spared to be a sea mark on the cliff tops for ships in the Thames estuary.


















later ... a map i spotted in an exhibition at the V&A in november 2007


eastwell park

i passed this as it was getting dark and starting to rain again, so could only stop for two minutes ... i need to go back and photograph it from ground level

it is worth quoting from the pevsner guide to north east and east kent, written by john newman in 1969

"The neo-Jacobean gatehouse on the A251 announces Eastwell Park with a trumpet blast, a flint and stone be-turreted tower springing upwards in the centre of a low semi-circle of wall, with big rampant lions, and a tremendous coat-of-arms over the arch. It was built c.1843. Alas, there is nothing now to announce. Or nearly nothing ..."




















Thursday, December 28, 2006

hastings net sheds


old hastings boats and net sheds


hastings net sheds ... a sympathetic tower


hastings net sheds ... any colour you like, as long as its black

this old image is from the united states library of congress archives


















hastings' little funicular railway


the old hastings boats had strongly fortified hulls




the modern hastings fishing boats are like sledges


i hadn't looked at a lobster pot for forty years ... the design has evolved a long way from the old baskets


maybe seagulls can read ...


winchelsea church


interior of winchelsea church

despite the destruction of parts of winchelsea church in past centuries, the interior still feels spacious, and today i was lucky to find the christmas decorations still looking very good

stained glass by douglas strachan in winchelsea church

terrifically well organised designs with a very clever use of appropriate perspective to emphasise the height of the figures

memorial window by douglas strachan in winchelsea church

all the windows in winchelsea church are by douglas strachan

they aren't pretty, to my eye, but quite big and spectacular and "fit for purpose"

who commissioned them ? who paid ?

i should have bought a guide book !

one of several knights resting in winchelsea church


lion or lapdog ... how long have they been together ?


... and lastly, the bike ride home through wandsworth park


Wednesday, December 27, 2006

re-visiting battersea park peace pagoda

i've missed nearly three months of cycling since twisting my knee

it has cost a fortune in bus fares

today we were lucky to finish work early ( before dark ! ) and so i cycled very slowly home through battersea park, across albert bridge, and on past the old chelsea power station

there was no sunshine, but enough light to see some detail and texture