The Winged Wheel & The Comet
This marvellously surreal headstone marks the grave of Beatrice Blore Browne. She was born in Middlesborough, Yorkshire in 1887 and sadly died young from cancer aged 34 in 1921 at Penmaenmawr, North Wales. She was a bit of a maverick and became the first woman to drive a car up the Old Road on the Great Orme c1911. Considering this is a very steep 1 in 3 and she was driving a Singer 10hp car I think this was quite impressive! Beatrice had a daughter (also called Beatrice) with local businessman and racing driver George Wilkins Browne.
As soon as I saw a photo of this tremendous gravestone I knew I wanted to take a photo of it at night. The house where we were spending the 2nd week of our family summer holiday was right at the foot of the Great Orme in Llandudno where her grave is found at St Tudno's church.
On the last night of our holiday I fought common sense and headed out late to seek out Beatrice Blore. It was the only night of our week that had clear skies and promised a chance of another look at Comet Neowise. The churchyard sits in perfect darkness in open hillside on the NE side of the Orme. My modern car laboured up the 1 in 3 climbs following the tramlines. Rabbits lined the road and scampered recklessly in front of the car as I approached. When I arrived at St Tudno's the church was lit up by moonlight but the cemetery running southwestward up the hillside was in shadow. Beatrice's grave was easy to find. Comet Neowise was less visible than on the previous nights when I'd seen it and was not visible naked eye this time- due to a combination of its magnitude fading as it now passes further away from Earth and the Sun and gets colder as it goes. Also the moonlight was probably a factor. With great luck my test shots of the gravestone picked it out. You can just see the comet faintly very close to the edge of the wheel at the 10 o'clock position.
Beatrice Blore Browne
26/9/1887-23/11/1921
"She feared naught but God"
The Winged Wheel & The Comet
This marvellously surreal headstone marks the grave of Beatrice Blore Browne. She was born in Middlesborough, Yorkshire in 1887 and sadly died young from cancer aged 34 in 1921 at Penmaenmawr, North Wales. She was a bit of a maverick and became the first woman to drive a car up the Old Road on the Great Orme c1911. Considering this is a very steep 1 in 3 and she was driving a Singer 10hp car I think this was quite impressive! Beatrice had a daughter (also called Beatrice) with local businessman and racing driver George Wilkins Browne.
As soon as I saw a photo of this tremendous gravestone I knew I wanted to take a photo of it at night. The house where we were spending the 2nd week of our family summer holiday was right at the foot of the Great Orme in Llandudno where her grave is found at St Tudno's church.
On the last night of our holiday I fought common sense and headed out late to seek out Beatrice Blore. It was the only night of our week that had clear skies and promised a chance of another look at Comet Neowise. The churchyard sits in perfect darkness in open hillside on the NE side of the Orme. My modern car laboured up the 1 in 3 climbs following the tramlines. Rabbits lined the road and scampered recklessly in front of the car as I approached. When I arrived at St Tudno's the church was lit up by moonlight but the cemetery running southwestward up the hillside was in shadow. Beatrice's grave was easy to find. Comet Neowise was less visible than on the previous nights when I'd seen it and was not visible naked eye this time- due to a combination of its magnitude fading as it now passes further away from Earth and the Sun and gets colder as it goes. Also the moonlight was probably a factor. With great luck my test shots of the gravestone picked it out. You can just see the comet faintly very close to the edge of the wheel at the 10 o'clock position.
Beatrice Blore Browne
26/9/1887-23/11/1921
"She feared naught but God"