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St Mary's at Fairford is justly famous, not only as a most beautiful building architecturally but for the survival of its complete set of late medieval stained glass, a unique survival in an English parish church. No other church has resisted the waves of iconoclasm unleashed by the Reformation and the English Civil War like Fairford has, and as a result we can experience a pre-Reformation iconographic scheme in glass in its entirety. At most churches one is lucky to find mere fragments of the original glazing and even one complete window is an exceptional survival, thus a full set of 28 of them here in a more or less intact state makes Fairford church uniquely precious.
The exterior already promises great things, this is a handsome late 15th century building entirely rebuilt in Perpendicular style and dedicated in 1497. The benefactor was lord of the manor John Tame, a wealthy wool merchant whose son Edmund later continued the family's legacy in donating the glass. The central tower is adorned with much carving including strange figures guarding the corners and a rather archaic looking relief of Christ on the western side. The nave is crowned by a fine clerestorey whilst the aisles below form a gallery of large windows that seem to embrace the entire building without structural interruption aside from the south porch and the chancel projecting at the east end. All around are pinnacles, battlements and gargoyles, the effect is very rich and imposing for a village church.
One enters through the fan-vaulted porch and is initially met by subdued lighting within that takes a moment to adjust to but can immediately appreciate the elegant arcades and the rich glowing colours of the windows. The interior is spacious but the view east is interrupted by the tower whose panelled walls and arches frame only a glimpse of the chancel beyond. The glass was inserted between 1500-1517 and shows marked Renaissance influence, being the work of Flemish glaziers (based in Southwark) under the direction of the King's glazier Barnard Flower. The quality is thus of the highest available and suggests the Tame family had connections at court to secure such glaziers.
Entering the nave one is immediately confronted with the largest and most famous window in the church, the west window with its glorious Last Judgement, best known for its lurid depiction of the horrors of Hell with exotic demons dragging the damned to their doom. Sadly the three windows in the west wall suffered serious storm damage in 1703 and the Last Judgement suffered further during an 1860 restoration that copied rather than restored the glass in its upper half. The nave clerestories contain an intriguing scheme further emphasising the battle of Good versus Evil with a gallery of saintly figures on the south side balanced by a 'rogue's gallery' of persecutors of the faith on the darker north side, above which are fabulous demonic figures leering from the traceries.
The aisle windows form further arrays of figures in canopies with the Evangelists and prophets on the north side and the Apostles and Doctors of the Church on the south. The more narrative windows are mainly located in the eastern half of the church, starting in the north chapel with an Old Testament themed window followed by more on the life of Mary and infancy of Christ. The subject matter is usually confined to one light or a pair of them, so multiple scenes can be portrayed within a single window. The scheme continues in the east window of the chancel with its scenes of the Passion of Christ in the lower register culminating in his crucifixion above, while a smaller window to the south shows his entombment and the harrowing of Hell. The cycle continues in the south chapel where the east window shows scenes of Christ's resurrection and transfiguration whilst two further windows relate further incidents culminating in Pentecost. The final window in the sequence however is of course the Last Judgement at the west end.
The glass has been greatly valued and protected over the centuries from the ravages of history, being removed for protection during the Civil War and World War II. The windows underwent a complete conservation between 1988-2010 by the Barley Studio of York which bravely restored legibility to the windows by sensitive releading and recreating missing pieces with new work (previously these had been filled with plain glass which drew the eye and disturbed the balance of light). The most dramatic intervention was the re-ordering of the westernmost windows of the nave aisles which had been partially filled with jumbled fragments following the storm damage of 1703 but have now been returned to something closer to their original state.
It is important here not to neglect the church's other features since the glass dominates its reputation so much. The chancel also retains its original late medieval woodwork with a fine set of delicate screens dividing it from the chapels either side along with a lovely set of stalls with carved misericords. The tomb of the founder John Tame and his wife can be seen on the north side of the sanctuary with their brasses atop a tomb chest. Throughout the church a fine series of carved angel corbels supports the old oak roofs.
Fairford church is a national treasure and shouldn't be missed by anyone with a love of stained glass and medieval art. It is normally kept open for visitors and deserves more of them.
And there you have it! One of the pics from the first roll of 110 film that I shot since at least 1999. I can't even begin to tell you how awful they turned out. Part of it was that the lab had to scan it with a regular scanner, so some of them had "Newton marks" or something on them. I also noticed that the top of some pictures is cut off, so that suggests the lens isn't lined up with the viewfinder as well as it should be.
I'm disappointed because it cost 50 bucks for three rolls of this Lomography-brand 110 film, which wasn't expired. And I figured even though it's shitty film and a basic camera, my years of experience would allow me to take some decent shots. But maybe they'll grow on me.
I guess this is what I need to expect when I went from buying increasingly-high-quality cameras as the years went on, only to go backwards since 2020 toward the basic cameras I used as a kid.
I have two rolls of new Lomography-brand 110 film left, and I'm not sure whether to sell them, or shoot them again but take them to a different lab.
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As the NDC has become increasingly more engaged in peace enforcing missions abroad in recent years, a new task force has been formed especially with this purpose in mind. Adopting the old name of the task force deployed to Bosnia during the mid-late 90s, the "new" SFOR (Stabilisation Forces) is deployed on request to troubled regions outside the borders of NDC's member states.
I really like my new Sony NEX - 6 mirrorless. It is small yet solid, and with very careful application I am getting the IQ I had hoped for. Now I have discovered my Canon lenses, and my 25 year old "Legacy" Olympus Zuiko lenses will fit with adapters. The possibilities seem endless. Here I have one of my all-time favorites, the Zuiko 24 mm. Its an equivalent 36 mm on this format so is ideal for a lot of situations. It doesn't allow auto focus but that isn't a problem for the subjects I shoot, and if set on aperture priority the camera automatically sets the shutter speed.
No doubt, the mini-trucking scene had its prime time back in the 80s and early 90s. Some guys still have mini trucks today and it's been noticed that there has been a steady increase in its popularity again. This photo was taken by me in Orange County, California. It is a heavily customized '87 Nissan Hardbody known as the Crown Royale (owned by Ernie Gonzalez). Shot on a Canon T3i, 18-55mm lens.
Early 16th century figure from the east window of the north aisle.
Shelton church is one I've known from photos for some time, so I was particularly pleased to be visiting it at last. You always have certain expectations in such cases so it's always intriguing to see how they'll measure up to reality. It looks quite a grand building so imagined a more dignified approach, instead we simply pulled up by a gate on a leafy country lane and there it was!
This is clearly an above average building that has had a lot of money put into it, and sure enough its rebuilding was funded by Sir Ralph Shelton (High Sheriff of Norfolk) from the 1490s to at least the 1520s (work may well have continued up to the eve of the Reformation). This work was never finished, as witnessed by the humble west tower that clearly belonged to the previous church, and the curiously hollow south porch, where a fan-vault was obviously planned but never materialised (leaving the upper chamber without a floor).
The church is unusual in the area for showing so little flintwork, the usual building material in these parts. Aside from the tower the walls are mostly of brick and the clerestorey of stone (quite a luxury). Its proportions make the building appear larger than it is, fairly short in length owing to the lack of a structurally defined chancel, but given more height by the handsome row of clerestorey windows above.
Within the church the sense of height is maintained, the proportions again accentuating this with a fairly narrow central aisle that rises to a flat plaster ceiling (replacing the original timber one in the 18th century). The nave columns are slender and elegant, all very much in the last phase of Gothic where the ratios of stonework to glass changed dramatically. This seems a very light building in every sense.
The best original surviving features here are in the windows at the east end, with much early 16th century glass remaining, collected into the three windows of the east wall (and therefore not in situ) with more remains in the traceries of the aisle windows. Most of the larger figures are kneeling donors of the Tudor period, but a few more saintly individuals also remain. There is another font following the usual local design at the west end, but this one has sadly suffered some mutilation. There are tombs of the Shelton family at the east end, but most are plain aside from the early 17th century one on the south side with a group of kneeling figures.
Shelton church is a bit of a gem and well worth a visit, and was open and welcoming when we called in happier (pre Covid) times.
For more see its entry on Simon's Norfolk Churches site below:-
USA Opening. #keanu #keanureeves #neo #matrix #resurrections #matrixresurrections #premiere #castro #sf #sanfrancisco #movie
The east window of the south aisle by Arts & Crafts artist Edward Woore, 1921. Remarkably it survived the serious fire at the church in 1963.
I had long been keen to visit St Andrew's church at Scole, having first read about it on Simon's Norfolk Churches site some years ago, where I learned of the dramatic impact of its recent history and saw photos of a stunning modern window by Patrick Reyntiens. The church suffered serious damage in an arson attack in 1963, and the subsequent rebuilding gave us the intriguing fusion of ancient and modern that we see today (along with the aforementioned rather fetching glass!). I thus got rather excited when Phil announced at the start of our morning's excursion through south Norfolk that we could aim to finish our itinerary of churches with Scole, time permitting. I do hope my desperate repetitions as the morning wore on of 'Will we still have enough time for Scole?' wasn't too testing for him!
Externally at least this appears to be quite an ordinary Norfolk church of 14th / 15th century date, a fairly plain west tower followed by a nave with an aisle on the south side only and a rather restored looking chancel; this chancel gives the only clue outside to the changes within, with new brickwork suggesting structural intervention in more recent years.
Within the modern restoration is rather more apparent, the 1963 fire had destroyed all the roof and most of the previous furnishings and the restored interior has a much more contemporary feel; all is light and pleasingly simple with white-washed walls and plain wooden ceilings (flat over the nave, pitched over the aisle). The nave is saved from starkness by the rich splash of colour of Patrick Reyntiens's bold semi-abstract window serving as a focal point at the east end, a warm inviting glow that draws the viewer forward. The south aisle clearly suffered less serious damage in the fire given that not only has the richly carved medieval font survived unscathed but also a handsome 1920s window by Edward Woore behind it, two very fortunate survivors of the disaster.
Scole church is refreshingly different, I really liked its synthesis of old and new and the striking glass in particular. It used to have a reputation for being very difficult to visit but happily the mood has changed and the church made open and welcoming on a regular basis in time for our pre-Covid visit.
For more on this and detail of the church in general see Simon's description on his Norfolk Churches site below:-
I have never been able to keep an orchid alive.
At first you buy one and think, ‘This is great, why does anyone buy cut flowers when this orchid stays in bloom for weeks and weeks?’ The reason is once your cut flowers are past it you chuck them away and forget about them and have the space that the vase occupied back. Once the orchid has finished blooming you are left with a green twig, clipped with a hair clip to a green stick for the rest of eternity, but you can’t throw it out, it’s apparently still alive, and it cost fifteen quid, so you keep the potted twig with a few tonguey leaves at the bottom and bits of bark and have to keep moving it around the house to where you will notice it least. And then you get another orchid, needing to fill the gap the old one left, and that too ends up bare twig.
After six months you have no flowers in the house but five pots of twigs totalling £75 reminding you of your failure. At no point, ever, has one of my potted twigs returned to bloom.
Having supposedly learnt my lesson I haven’t bought an orchid for years. After finally purging myself of the last of the pots of bark I was resolute about not wanting to go through the feeling of inadequacy again. I could walk past all of the cerise orchids in the entrance foyer of Tesco and every other supermarket and feel nothing. But one day I saw a yellow orchid, I’m a sucker for yellow; ‘Maybe yellow orchids are different to the bog standard pinky-mauvey ones.’ I thought, ‘Maybe they are hardy, and ever-yellow.’
It looked splendid in the bathroom. Every time (for the first two days) I walked in I thought, ‘Ooh yellow, a living thing, not dead, in my bathroom, how wonderful life is.’ After three days the first flower went all flaccid and dropped off. Then, in quick succession each brilliant yellow bloom turned brown and plopped off. I hadn’t even enjoyed my normal grace period before death descended. I moved it to the kitchen; perhaps conditions would suit it better. No. But it was nearer the bin, which was useful as each flower fell off.
So for the last few months I have been managing this pot of twigs, I say managing, I mean avoiding looking at. After discovering the artist and genius Nina Katchadourian, thanks to a lecture at the School of Life, my brain, for ten minutes after the lecture, started to fire on more than half a cylinder and I came up with the solution to my orchid issue (perhaps I could have used that glimmer of light for more useful endeavours). This has changed everything for me; screw waiting for flowers to come out, I can simply faux my own.
The ultimate endorsement ensued; the new installation was presented in the main viewing spot of the household, five centimetres to the left of the TV, and the man of the house came home and simply thought that I had bought a new orchid. This means that I can now save half an hour a day on attempting and failing at meticulous makeup as I realise that people give other things and other people only the most cursory of glances.
This old Rock Island car in the bankrupt blue couldn't have been positioned any better, with the Iowa Northern sign now displaying its ownership and resurrection of this former Rock Island route through Waterloo, IA. Even the reporting marks now show IANR.
Male rendition of Mercy the healer, Overwatch, a video game from Blizzard Entertainment.
Supanova Expo, Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney, Australia (Saturday 17 June 2017)
Parchemin et par vaux...le ciel, de son astre éclairé, nous guide sur les routes du devenir et illumine nos plumes sur les pages du savoir...
Le clocher de Château-Landon
La chapelle Saint-Gonéry se situe dans la commune de Plougrescant dans les Côtes-d'Armor en Bretagne
The retable behind the altar in St Saviour's chapel (on the site of the former Lady Chapel) contains five fine 15th century panel paintings (rare survivals in English medieval art) that were originally in the nearby church of St Michael at Plea. They were brought together in the present framework and placed here in the mid 20th century.
Images from a brief revisit to one of my favourite places, Norwich Cathedral, scene of some of my earliest memories and what inspired my interest in church architecture at an early age. There had been some changes since my last visit, with the new hostry building (an empty ruin previously) to the west of the cloister now serving as the main entry for visitors. The weather/lighting could have been better, alas!
Norwich Cathedral is one of England's finest buildings and greatest cathedrals; It is one of the most complete examples of Romanesque architecture in the country (arguably the least altered Norman cathedral), has the second tallest spire in Britain and it's vaulted ceilings contain the largest collection of carved medieval roof bosses anywhere.
Surprisingly for so grand a building it is relatively inconspicuous from the city itself, standing on low ground and concealed within the old Cathedral Close, an enclave of tradition and relative peace apart from the noise of the city beyond it's gates. It's monastic past is much in evidence, particularly the magnificent cloisters, the largest and some of the finest in the country.
As stated most of the building dates from the 12th century and therefore exudes that solid Norman aesthetic, massively built but still graceful and beautiful. The central tower is unusually designed with arcading and windows beneath a double row of oculi, the tapering spire above it is a 15th century addition, aside from this the only major alterations to the ancient fabric externally are the tall 14th century clerestorey and flying buttresses of the choir and the gothic enlargement of various nave and aisle windows, principally the great perpendicular west window that takes up most of the west facade.
The interior is predominantly Norman too, except for the elaborate gothic vaulted ceilings that cover nave, choir and both transepts with a uniform design (originally these higher celings would have been of wood, stone vaults were added in the late medieval period to protect against fire, a job they performed well when the transept roofs were hit by incendiary bombs in World War II). These vaults display an unrivalled collection of narrative roof bosses, carved and coloured with Old & New Testament scenes (mainly in the nave and transepts, the choir bosses are mostly decorated with the emblem of their donor, Bishop Goldwell).
The cathedral has surprisingly few major monuments and sculptures compared to most of it's peers, but does have more exceptional medieval art in it's 14th & 15th century painted altarpieces, the most important being the Despenser Retable in the south east chapel, a unique survivial, hidden from danger during the Reformation & Civil War by being converted to the underside of a table. Further altarpieces here are formed of salvaged panels from redundant city churches. The medieval choir stalls also survive with a full set of carved misericords.
The stained glass by contrast is mostly Victorian and quite mixed (very little medieval glass survives). Striking modern glass by Keith New and John Hayward was installed in the north transept to commemorate the Millennium.
The cloisters to the south of the nave are one of my favourite places, all four walks are covered by yet more vaulted ceilings with over 400 more carved and repainted bosses (lower down and much easier to study than those inside the main body of the cathedral) spanning the long period of the cloister's construction throughout the 14th & !5th centuries.
Norwich Cathedral is special to me as being the subject of my earliest memories, recalling having been taken around the cathedral and cloisters as a 3 year old, which left a vivid impression on me and lead me to pursue an interest in church art and architecture years later, ultimately towards my present career in stained glass. Norwich Cathedral will always therefore have a touch of that nostalgic magic to me.
For more details see the Cathedral website below:-
www.cathedral.org.uk/historyheritage/Default.aspx
For more images and details see below:-
www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/norwichcathedral/norwichcathedr...
Taking Pup down to view the pond, I found this poor beastie in the water(Top Left). Fishing it out as quickly as possible - it was out of reach so had to use a stick - and placing it on the ground it looked as though I was too late (Top Right).
So, getting the camera out to record it I spotted it suddenly on its back and kicking like mad! Swiftly setting it upright it blew out quite a lot of water (Bottom Left) and then started exploring its surroundings (Bottom Right).
As it was a blazing hot day (unlike today, pouring with rain!) I then picked it up and settled it in the shade, leaving it to recover. Later it was long gone!
It is a large (22 to 26mm), greenish bronze ground beetle with reddish or coppery pronotal edges. Lives under stones, loose bark and among litter.
Adults are active from early spring, breed in the summer, and persist into the autumn.
This species forages at night when prey includes slugs and snails, woodlice, millipedes and centipedes. A Gardener's friend, then!
Widespread and fairly frequent in most of Britain, but much less common in western areas and rare in Wales.
Thank you rockwolf for the ID! Carabus nemoralis, Ground Beetle
The central nave of the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ (Собор Святого Воскресіння), at Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine, December 2019. The original church built between 1720 and 1729 was demolished due to technical errors, and the present, Baroque church was built between 1752 and 1761 by the ruler of the city, the governor of Poznan and Kiev Stanisław Potocki.