Full photo stream coming tomorrow, but here’s a random shot taken on our walk on the Seven Sisters cliffs earlier today. [walk profile]
Pigeons sheltering from the wind on the cliffs between Seaford and Cuckmere Haven.
Fortress of the Black Swans, June 3rd
Date 16 Jun 2007
WALK REPORT Here at last is the photo stream from our Leeds Castle walk on the 3rd of June, in Kent. We were five: myself, my brother Ben, my friend Dorry, and her friends Valerie and Allister. [walk profile]
Dorry spotted this old painted wall advertisment on the side of house in Harrietsham village. Kind Hearts and Coronets, a classic Ealing comedy, was filmed in this village and down the road at Leeds Castle. Now I want to watch the movie closely and see if this sign (which dates to the right period) features in any of the Harrietsham scenes.
Just past Harrietsham the path follows a road bridge across the busy M20 motorway and a railway line. That’s a Eurostar train whizzing by on the right, doing about 180mph on its way into London from Paris.
Here we are passing a converted oast house at Polhill. Oast houses, a common sight in the Kent countryside, are often resurrected as family homes. From left to right, that’s Allister, Valerie, and Dorry. Photo by Ben Wenk.
Cricket at Leeds Castle
Category Fortress of the Black Swans, Walks
Date 15 Jun 2007
In the spirit of keeping up the daily posts, and until I get around to uploading all the photos from our Leeds Castle walk of earlier this month, here is a random shot my brother Ben took of a cricket match that we happened upon in the grounds of Leeds Castle. [walk profile]
The elegant figure in the big hat is my friend Dorry, who brought her friends Allister and Valerie (from Guadeloupe!) with her for this walk.
Credit for this photo goes to Ben Wenk.
A little mystery to solve …
Category Fortress of the Black Swans, Walks
Date 14 Jun 2007
Haven’t had time today to upload the next batch of pics from our Fortress of the Black Swans / Leeds Castle walk earlier this month, but in the meantime I am posting two photos of something curious we found – quite by chance – on this walk. [walk profile]
Halfway along the route of my Leeds Castle walk, the path cuts through an overgrown patch of forest called Kings Wood. As we were strolling down one of the many rough tracks that criss-cross these woods, we came upon the deserted, smoldering remains of a fire. In this fire were a number of pieces of antique furniture, all badly burnt. Here is a picture of the fire:
But here is the mystery! Next to the fire we found this old document. It is several pages long, and appears to be a deed of some description. I don’t know what it signifies, but I intend to research it properly when I have the time. Thank you to my brother Ben for finding it.
River Towns of Essex, June 2nd
Date 13 Jun 2007
WALK REPORT This is a photo set (18 pics) from a walk I did back at the beginning of the month with my flatmate Caroline and her friend Ryan. It was one of those clear, perfect spring weekends with barely a cloud in the sky. Along the way we visited four different country pubs: the Donkey & Buskins in Layer-de-la-Haye, the Lion in Abberton, the Whalebone in Fingringhoe, and the Anchor in Rowhedge, on the banks of the River Colne.
As on the previous two occasions I’ve done this walk, we begin in the heart of historic Colchester …
[walk profile]
These are the remains of St Botolph’s Priory, about 3 minutes’ walk from Colchester Town railway station. It dates to the 12th Century and is the first Augustinian church in England.
St Botolph’s Priory was a victim of Henry VIII’s campaign to wrest power from the Church. During the 1530s, hundreds of monasteries throughout Britain were systematically destroyed, St Botolph’s included. Some of the red bricks you see in this ruined arch likely date to the Roman era.
Ryan and Caroline on the grassy track that leads down to the Roman River from Olivers farm, on the outskirts of Colchester.
First pub of the day. This is the sign out front at the Donkey & Buskins in Layer-de-la-Haye village. Why a donkey would need buskins (the brown leather booties in the picture), I have no idea!
Brighten up your day! Wallpaper for your desktop.
Date 29 May 2007
OK, let’s see if this will work …
I have tried saving one of the pictures from the Essex walk in different sizes so you can download the image and put it on your desktop if you so desire.
Because the camera I’m using only has around a 4-megapixel resolution, the clarity may not be that fantastic. Your comments welcome, as always.
Ed, thank you for being the unwitting model in this shot!
To try out the desktop wallpaper, you’ll need to download one of these files. First, pick the one that matches your screen resolution, and click on it to open it in your browser. Then, if you have a PC, you should be able to simply right-click on the image and choose “Set as Background” or “Set as Desktop Background”. Mac users, I’m sure it’s even easier than that.
1600×1200, 1280×1024, 1280×854 (Mac widescreen), 1024×768, 800×600
Next walk is to Benington Lordship gardens on Thursday. If you want to come, RSVP and be at London Moorgate station ticket counter at 8:30am Thursday morning!
— DW
PS: I’ve removed the logo from the image so it’s ad-free now.
White Cliffs, May 21st
Date 26 May 2007
WALK REPORT Here are a few photos from the walk I did last Monday near the Seven Sisters – a line of white chalk cliffs on the south coast of England, where the hills of the South Downs meet the English Channel. It was a dreary day, not a great one for photography – hope to have some better shots next time around!
Route: Exceat – Westdean – Friston Forest – East Dean (Tiger Inn) – Crowlink – Seven Sisters – Cuckmere Haven – Exceat [walk profile]
The flintstone facing on this cottage in Westdean village is characteristic of this region of Southeast England.
All Saints chapel in Westdean, completely deserted on a wet Monday afternoon.
Inside All Saints chapel. What is the proper name of the cloth hanging behind the carved wooden eagle lectern?
Leeds Castle, May 20th
Date 25 May 2007
WALK REPORT Here at last are some pictures from our Leeds Castle walk. Along with me this time were my friends Guy and Guy (which made for some confusion). Guy brought his specially modified 16mm film camera. Unfortunately, it jammed irreparably just before we made it to the castle.
Route: Harrietsham – Fairbourne Heath – The Pepperbox – Kings Wood – Broomfield – Leeds Castle – Eyhorne Street – Hollingbourne station [walk profile]
Old petrol pumps in Harrietsham village.
Playful dogs in a back garden near Fairbourne Manor Farm.
Stopped for lunch at The Pepperbox. This is Guy’s special camera.
River Towns of Essex, May 19th
Date 24 May 2007
WALK REPORT I was joined on this test walk by my friends Matt and Richard, who are to be congratulated for getting up at the ungodly hour of 7:30 on a Saturday morning. After a smooth ride on the fast train to Colchester North, a slow branch-line connecting train took us into Colchester Town where we caught a somewhat skanky bus out to start of the walk near Colchester Zoo. For future walks, I’m considering ditching the bus portion in favor of a cab to the starting point.
Our route on Saturday followed the Roman River: Colchester Zoo – Cheshunt Field Iron Age & Roman Settlement – Chest Wood – Layer de la Haye (pub) – Abberton Manor – Abberton church – Abberton village (pub) – Haye Farm – Fingringhoe (pub) – Rowhedge (pub). This walk is much improved from the previous week, given the addition of one extra pub at Abberton which breaks up the journey nicely. [walk profile]
Here are some photos from our day out. I know, too much camera-tilt. Will make an effort to avoid excessive use of this effect in future photos, but be forewarned, the next couple of batches suffer from it.
These ruins in the center of Colchester are all that remain of the first Augustinian priory church in England, St Botolph’s. Botolph was an influential Christian missionary of the 7th Century AD whose name was given to many churches and towns throughout the East Anglia region of England. It is theorized that one such town is “Botolph’s Stone” in Lincolnshire. This name was later shortened to Boston, and replicated across the Atlantic as the capital city of the state of Massachusetts.
Red corn poppies (Papaver rhoeas) and other wildflowers on a patch of scrub land near Butcher’s Wood, just outside Colchester.
A vintage 1960s Daimler Sovereign we found parked in a driveway in Layer de la Haye village. This car is an early relative of the Jaguar XJ6.