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

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

battersea park buddha vandalised

battersea park buddha not yet vandalised

albert bridge south side

cheese smugglers hiding away over on the battersea side

couldn't someone nip round to oxfam for a cardy and a bobble hat ?

posh skyline by the river

medieval genetic engineering

looking back downstream towards battersea power station

battersea bridge close-up

view from battersea bridge - one

view from battersea bridge - two

chelsea ... old power station, old pub

lots road ... don't look back

loads of gas in chelsea and fulham

by the bus stop at chelsea wharf

anna karenina searching for a gingerbread cottage

she's off to the sales ...

dawn ... still waiting for that trail of stardust across the sky and a merry ho-ho-ho echoing around the tenements

by rights ... a man's porridge should come in a golden bowl ...

... how else is he to find the energy to get the baubles up on time ?

decorating is done to strict regime in upper putney

you drink palacio de bornos verdejo 2005 from valladolid

you listen to la mystere des voix bulgares

you can't go wrong !

we pause near punnets town whilst the farmer does his work at biblical speed

john's fresh fish supply

as i was driving from ashdown park to cuckfield, i spotted john's stall in the car park of the danehill social club ... the fish really is good, and the clients really are sociable ... i'll be looking out for him in future

the eight bells in bolney high street, sussex

these steps opposite the eight bells in bolney lead up to a splendid lychgate

bolney lychgate ... i wonder why they thought latin was preferable to english ?

et in caram parentum suorum memoriam tam desideratorum

henrici huth et augustae ludovicae sophiae huth

hanc porticum amoris et pietatis causa st(r?)uxit filius

anno salutis mcmv

bolney church

coat of arms photographed in near darkness in bolney church

you often find an old coat of arms in a church, usually in some dark recess

i'm not really sure what their purpose was but sometimes the painting is rarther well done

i wonder if someone somewhere is an expert on their history ?

bolney churchyard has some unique gravestones, long and thin with a ball or disc at each end, no one knows why

more mossy graves at bolney

another 4am visit to the nymph in sloane square

the parish church at old heathfield in sussex

in memory of robert hunt

window in memory of robert hunt at the church in old heathfield, sussex

he sailed to america with captain john smith

he celebrated the first anglican communion in the new world at jamestown

he perished there not long afterwards