Friday Jaunt

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Photography, The UK

Yesterday with the Beef Stew in the Slow Cooker, Hubby and I headed off for the bonnie bonnie banks of Loch Lomond, in particular Luss.  Grabbing a picnic lunch we ate near the beach with a large group of ducks hopefully of some crumbs before heading for a walk along the beach.

Where we spotted this unusual fungi on a tree stump:

I have never come across anything like it before, beautiful.

It is hard to believe it is February, okay we both had scarfs on and when you got in the wind boy was it chilly, but still the sun was bright enough for me to get the sunglasses out and the sun and clouds played at making patterns on Ben Lomond.

Luss is a charming wee village that I used to visit often, but hadn’t been for a while, I hadn’t in fact realised that Hubby had never been at all, so I was looking forward to showing him Luss Parish church, unfortunately the church itself was shut so he had to manage on this occasion with a wander round the grave yard.  My ancestors have links with Luss, maybe that is why it always seems such a special place to me.

We wandered the quaint streets before Hubby refused a cup of tea – I know I was shocked too – and we headed back to the car.  We took the long way home arriving to the smell of beef stew awaiting us.  All in all a good day off.

 

Epiphany

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Liturgical Seasons, stained glass

Rug Chapel

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Rug Chapel

The private chapel of Colonel William Salusbury was built in 1637 and dedicated to the Holy Trinity, but it is known by the place were it is set Rug in Northern Wales.  From the outside it looks like a small church nothing unique, something that you could easily just pass by with nothing more maybe than a comment along the lines of ‘what a sweet little church’ …

Rug Chapel

as we went through the gate and approached the west door, the cross didn’t give away any clues either…

Rug Chapel Cross and West End

opening the door which I posted on this blog last week you enter a small dark porch, with wooden doors in front of you and a rickety stairway to the left, we headed up the stairs and onto the small balcony.

My eyes were drawn upwards …

Rug Chapel Roof Beams

then to the lower roof panels all around the walls each one different …

Rug Chapel Roof Panel

the interior is a gem frozen in time, most of it is original all of it is a surprise.

View From Rug Chapel Balcony

In the sanctuary there are two canopied pews covered in decoration, and although the screen was added in 1854 either someone has used paneling from a previous screen or painstakingly copied the style and colouring of the rest of the paintwork.  The pulpit to the far left was added at a later date, with little attempt to match the previous style.

At the base of four of the roof trusses there are these naive wooden angels, all four slightly different (why the gift shop wasn’t selling small ones of these, or indeed small wooden plaques copying some of the panels, I don’t know, another marketing missed.)

Rug Chapel Angel

And long before it became the fashion to paint stars and space ships on Cathedral ceilings, Rug has a sky filled with a host of angels on its sanctury ceiling.  Reminded me a bit of a scrap-book I once had has a child!

Rug Chapel Sanctuary Ceiling

The balcony too is painted and hanging in front of it, from the central roof truss, is a painted wooden candelabrum with four painted angles at the top of it.

Rug Chapel Balcony

It is an incredible place and unless you had the proper lighting photographs just can’t do it justice.

The pews, while not painted are still unique, they remind me of sleighs – in fact the whole church reminded me of some churches we had seen in Norway.  While the backs of the pews had been added in the late 19th century along with widening the front one to turn it into a pew, the carvings are original.  Unlike the Victorian tiles and stained glass, which although lovely is out-of-place and did make me wonder what the original windows and flooring was like, but either nobody knows or those that do aren’t telling.

Rug Chapel Pews

This really is a gem of a place and if you are in North Wales then it is well worth making a trip to see it, there are two other companion chapels which we didn’t manage to get to see, ran out of time – again!  Llangar Church and graveyard with remains of some early 14th century wall paintings, a late medieval roof and almost complete 18th century church fittings.  Also Gwydir Uchaf Chapel (now there’s Welsh for you) the private chapel of the Wynn family, it has a roof which is, similar style if a little less naive and of a different design to Rug Chapel and dates from 1673.  We will be seeing them next time, but if you get to them first let me know how you get on, please.

Tintern Abbey

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Tintern Abbey

It was an all too quick visit down the Wye Valley to Tintern Abbey one of those places I have long wanted to visit but never have.

Tintern Abbey with Wye Valley in background

Founded in 1131, Tintern Abbey was a Cistercian monastery and the first one in Wales and only the second in the whole of the British Isles to be established by the ‘White Monks’.  It’s founder was Walter fitz Richard of Clare, Lord of Chepstow, he was related by marriage to Bishop William of Winchester who founded the first Cistercian monastery on these shores at Waverley in 1128.

West Door

At the West Door we agreed wholeheartedly with William Coxe who wrote in 1801 -”… we stopped to examine the rich architecture of the west front; but the door being suddenly opened, the inside perspective of the church called forth an instantaneous burst of admiration, and filled me with delight, such as I scarcely ever before experienced on a similar occasion.”  It was Hubby who had the good sense to actually photograph the view in question I was just busy admiring as although such experiences are common to me also, such a panorama is unique.

Through the West Door

The west window is a grand affair that apparently was not only matched by the east window but also by the window in the south aisle.

West Window

These windows must have been stunning filled with stained glass, however one of the things I love about visiting places such as Tintern Abbey is seeing sight lines which wouldn’t have been visible in the Abbey’s working life.  Without glass arch upon arch can be seen through this window …

and without walls, many doorways and corridors to separate people and activities suddenly appear.

One thing our trip to Wales taught us was that we will return one day, and when that day comes about Tintern Abbey will get a longer visit next time around, we hardly scratched the surface of this Welsh gem.

Across Cloister to Chapter House and Dormitory

Church Door

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Rug Chapel

Church Door

What Would You Have Done?

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Landmark Trust

Before that question can be answered I firstly need to set the scene.

When deciding where to stay for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone last week Canons Ashby quickly became top of the list.

It is a National Trust Property which also happens to contain a flat owned by Landmark Trust, for regular readers of this blog, that is the same organisation that owned Luttrell’s Tower which I blogged about our visit to here.  The main part of the flat itself is contained in the top two floors of the tower, with the kitchen and bathroom off to the left of the picture in the roof.  Getting to the flat involves entering through the door going up the main staircase, then a wonderful worn wooden spiral staircase.  Due to past neglect of the building the floors and doors and in fact everything in that part of the building is wonderfully squiffy, and just like Luttrell’s Tower we also had access to the roof of the tower and the stunning views that surrounded us on every side.

Not far from the house is all that remains of the Augustine Priory that once dominated the area, and is where the Canon part of Canons Ashby comes from.  The Church of St Mary is now only used once a month for Evensong and is also owned by the National Trust.

Like most National Trust Properties the house was set in wonderful gardens, with an orchard which is at the forefront of the first picture and neatly manicured lawns and topiary, regimented beds of summer annuals, with glorious borders of shrubs and herbs, and to the right of this picture the newly reinstated fern border.

So the scene is set so time to return to the question which titles this blog – What would you have done?

On our second evening these three facts stared us in the face.

The evening was warm and sunny.

We had sole private access to the gardens.

And we had only managed to have 4 of our 5 a day.

Now what would you have done?

Well what we did was make up a big jug of Pimms and Lemonade, filled it with fruit and headed for the garden to drink it in the evening sunshine.  Bliss!

Beaulieu

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Beaulieu Abbey

This image is my current desktop, and at a recent Property Committee Meeting it caused some discussion over what it actually was.

The answer is the stone floor in Beaulieu Abbey worn by years of monks feet, I think it is beautiful.

There was also this little bridge which while the hand rail is new you can see the wear that hundreds of feet have made into the stone.

And while we are on Beaulieu, how about this for a pulpit?  St Mary’s Beaulieu is now the parish church in what used to be part of the Abbey.

Chocolate Font-dant

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Norwich Cathedral

After Kelvin posted the glorious font at Salisbury – which was actually covered up for some reason when we visited – I decided that I should post the font at Norwich Cathedral instead, somewhere we also visited when we were away after Easter.

This font was originally used for the manufacture of chocolate in Norwich and was re-fashioned and presented to the cathedral when the factory closed.

The question it raises in my mind is whether baptising with chocolate would be valid?  (I should point out that the font had water not melted chocolate in it.)

Winchester Cathedral

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Winchester Cathedral

Winchester was one of the Cathedrals we visited while on holiday a couple of weeks back.  Inside it contained something of an unexpected bonus, although the basic information must have been somewhere in my memory in a file labeled long forgotten.

The unassuming tomb of Jane Austen, a plaque of a latter date has been added on the wall, but without the helpful leaflet handed to you when you arrive, you could easily miss this gem.

Actually Winchester Cathedral is full of gems.

From the Medieval paintings, like this one of Christ being taken down from the cross :-

to the stunning modern sculpture, standing all along in the crypt by Antony Gormley, Sound II.

From the hidden glories of the candlesticks and altar in the St Andrew’s chapel, made from wood and embellished with copper :-

to the more obvious use of damaged stained glass from every era and all over the diocese in some of their windows.

And angels in stone,

brass,

mosaic,

and stained glass.

Not to mention the ones in wood and fabric which we somehow managed not to get photographs of.

Like Norwich Cathedral which we later visited, Winchester Cathedral was in mid preparation for an event, increasingly in fact this seems to be the case when visiting Cathedrals.  While I understand the need for the extra revenue and the sense in shutting off areas to make sure that visitors don’t fall over cables or decapitate themselves on the strung wires, and also that unsightly extra seating has to be laid out before the forthcoming event; I also feel that Cathedrals, such as Winchester which have an admission charge, should also remember that those who are visiting are also helping with the upkeep of the Cathedral and I for one don’t like an hour plus of sound system testing accompanying me as I wander round a house of God.

Here

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Beaulieu Abbey

Another brief snippet from our holidays, this time from a plaque in Beaulieu Abbey, words which I feel would make a pretty good dictionary explanation for the word contentment.  The words are attributed to Saint Bernard – and no not a dog with a barrel of rum around it’s neck – but the French Abbot who was, in part, responsible for reforming the Cistercian order of which Beaulieu Abbey was a part.

It is good for us to be in this place for here a man lives more worthily falls from grace more rarely, rises more swiftly, walks more carefully, rests more peacefully, dies more happily, is absolved more speedily, is rewarded more bountifully.

He is Risen, Alleluia!

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Keble College

Mosaic From Kebel College, Oxford

Holy Saturday

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Linlithgow Palace Chapel

Linlithgow Palace Chapel