STYLISED HEAD - HENRY MOORE.

STYLISED HEAD

This stylised head is part of a sculpture called  'Reclining Figure:Angles' by Henry Moore. The face seems to have a fascinating calmness about it which appears more obvious the longer you observe it.

SCULPTURE IS AN ART OF THE OPEN AIR - Henry Moore.

JENNY BRADLEY.

JENNY BRADLEY AND TALLER COMPANION

Standing beside the ancient drovers road of Thurkilsti and Rutland Rigg ( on the Cleveland Way) can be found the stone known as Jenny Bradley. She stands at the side of the track with a taller companion.

Jenny is set into a medieval stone base and has a broken shaft. Her taller companion is a boundary stone which marks the beginning of the Ingleby Estate.

A ROMANTIC RELIC.

DOORWAY AND STEPS -WARDOUR CASTLE

 Old Wardour castle is situated near Tisbury not far from Salisbury in the county of Wiltshire.
These  magnificent remains of a doorway and steps at the castle stand as a romantic relic of a time long past.
The castle was built in the 14th century and was partially destroyed during the civil war suffering a major bombardment by the Parliamentarians.
Lady Blanche Arundell who's husband was in Oxford at the time the enemy forces arrived had to defend the castle with a small garrison of only 25 men. The force against her numbered 1300 but Lady Blanche refused to surrender holding out for a number of days before being overrun and finally being forced to give in.

It is said that the ghost of Lady Blanche can sometimes be seen walking down the steps and across the castle grounds towards the lake.

THE CROWN OF THORNS.

BRYN CADER FANER

There are lots of standing stones in the UK. There are various types and they appear as circles, lines or singly.
My favourite circle is the one shown here. It is Bryn Cader Faner and is situated in the county of Gwynedd in Wales. The nearest town is Portmadog.
This is a Bronze Age site and of the original 30 stones 15 remain standing. The stones are about 6ft in height and lean outwards.
It is best to approach the stones from the south and then you wll get this superb view which seems to resemble a Crown of Thorns.

THE NEW RELIGION.

THE NEW RELIGION

I have often heard it said that commercialism is the new religion. Tesco the supermarket chain has just opened  a new store at Westbourne Bournemouth in this old Methodist church. It is a beautiful building and no changes have been made to the exterior.The interior has been completely ripped out apart from the pillars and now it contains aisles of food instead of aisles between pews. It all seems a little bizarre.  

WOOD AND METAL.

WOOD AND METAL

      Colour or Black & White ?

IN MEMORY.

LEST WE FORGET

MERRIVALE STONE ROWS.

MERRIVALE-THE LARGEST STONE ROW

On Dartmoor there are over 60 known stone rows. They remain an enigma - no one knows for sure why they were built. At Merrivale  there are three rows, two double and one single. Both the double rows run from east to west but they are not parallel.
This photograph shows the largest of the three stone rows and is 264 metres (864ft) long and contains over 200 stones.
The closest town to Merrivale is Tavistock and the nearest village is Princetown.

CHURCH OF ST BARTHOLOMEW - BOW

BOW VILLAGE CHURCH

The church of St Bartholomew at the village of Bow is in the Diocese of Exeter in the county of Devon. The church is oddly distant from the main part of the village and is not easy to find.
It is thought to have been built in the year 1170 by Sir William de Tracey as a penance for his role in the martydom of St Thomas a Beckett.
The church has been expanded from the original building. It was first dedicated to St Martin and was changed
to St Bartholomew in the 19th century although the reasons were not recorded.

One point of interest is regarding the altar rails. Apparently these cost £5 in 1680 plus an additional fee of 3/- for the horse transport that brought them from Crediton.

Well that makes you reflect on inflation.......