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Madonna
The original Queen of Pop Madonna brought her Rebel Heart tour to London's O2 Arena for the first of two nights in support of her 13th studio album. Putting her dramatic on-stage tumble at the same venue earlier this year during a Brit Awards performance behind her, she ruled the East London venue with the sheer tour de force for the live show she is so renowned for.
Giving Rebel Heart a good airing, the 57-year-old opened the show with new album track Iconic, appearing in steel cage while dancers paraded around dressed as medieval executioners in gold and black outfits carrying large gold pikes, following a video introduction featuring guest vocalist Mike Tyson. This was quickly followed up with Bitch I’m Madonna before the crowd were treated to her second single, 1983 track Burning Up, with the star playing a black Flying-V guitar.
After an acoustic rendition of Devil Pray, the Michigan-native disappeared for the first of a few times during the show where the crowd were left with backing dancers performing and a video playing as she changed outfits for the next segment of the show.
The scene was then changed as Madonna appeared on the hood of a 1965 Ford Falcon for new album track Body Shop, the stage was set up as a 1950’s automotive workshop, adorned with tires, her dancers looking like they’d stepped out of a production of Grease. The crowd cheered ecstatically as she took up position centre-stage playing a ukulele for an acoustic rendition of 1986 hit True Blue.
The audience towards the rear of the arena were treated next as a spiral staircase descended onto the stage with Madonna duelling with a dancer for HeartBreakCity which featured snippets of Miles Gregory’s Love Don't Live Here Anymore.
A Spanish theme followed as the Vogue hit-maker donned a bullfighter’s outfit for 1987 hit La Isla Bonita. The crowd were then treated to a medley of some of her earlier hits in a matching flamenco style including Dress You Up, Into the Groove and Lucky Star, hopes of extensive cuts from her “Immaculate Collection” dashed.
Taking a seat at her “Heart” stage at the end of a long catwalk running up the centre of the arena floor, she said “It’s nice to sit down for a while. Sometimes I outdo myself, even I admit that.”
“I wish someone would give me a spanking, but I never do anything wrong” she said, enticing a roar from the crowd.
Referring to the unusual shape of the stage, she continued her risqué banter: “Usually when I get down to the head of the penis, things get pretty heated up. That’s what I call this area. It’s funny how a heart and a penis have a similar shape, God’s infinite plan for my happiness.”
She made the London crowd feel extra special, recounting a story of how she would steal money from an early bar job to fund a trip to the British capital, a city she called home for some years in later life when she married English film director Guy Ritchie. “London, I love you. I’ve played so many amazing places from Wembley to Hyde Park, Brixton Academy, The O2 Centre, wherever you’ll have me. And thank you for having me.”
The star then made an emotional speech recognising World Aids Day she mentioned the family of her adopted son David who had all succumbed to the disease before stating "It is not a disease that had gone away. We need to remember that. Let's acknowledge all the people who have passed, and those who have fought to raise awareness. We shall overcome one day." In a break from the standard Rebel Heart tour setlist, she then broke into solo rendition of 1989 hit single Like A Prayer.
A 1920s theme closed out the main set with the best-selling female recording artist of all time treating her longer-standing fans with Music and Material Girl from her extensive back catalogue before taking up position on a raised mini-stage in the centre of her cross-shaped stage for a rendition of Édith Piaf’s La Vie en Rose, the star once again taking up the ukulele.
TV host Graham Norton was pulled on onto the stage from somewhere or other to join her with some rather erratic dancing during Unapologetic Bitch, some slightly tired innuendo surrounding a banana adding more humour to the night before both Norton and Madonna disappeared and the vast arena was thrown into darkness.
Madonna returned in a American flag-inspired star top and draped in a British Union flag for an upbeat close to the show with her third single Holiday.
While the crowd in attendance seemed to react differently to the mixed set played, the boys upfront going nuts to the dancier new material from Rebel Heart while those towards the back of the arena cheering more for Madonna’s older material, what was unquestionable was the star’s staying power, agility and passion. Even though she’s been hitting up arenas and stadiums around the world for three decades, tonight didn’t feel like a chore for her.
Her Blonde Ambition tour in 1990 set a precedent for the modern pop spectacle we have all come to expect of arena pop tours. 25 years on, Madonna proves she can still innovate, gyrate and contend with even the newest of today’s pop superstars, with big screens, huge set pieces, unique stage setups and incredible dancers juxtaposed with filling a capacity arena with just her voice accompanied by a ukulele.
Madonna plays a second show at the O2 Arena on December 2nd and heads out to Amsterdam, Paris and Zurich before returning to British shores for shows in Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow to close out the year.
As soon as we set up camp, hubby dashed off to this spot on the Umpqua River just below our site. I made these two rock cairns hoping the fishing gods would smile upon us. Well, hey you do whatever it takes...LOL.
(having some issues with my network provider, Not providing!! hope to stay connected long enough to get to your streams. Hey maybe I should build some keyboard cairns...lol)
I disturbed this female Black and Yellow Argiope (Argiope aurantia) when I was watering my garden, and she dashed out from behind the milkweed seedpods to the center of the stabilimentum. She let me get some still photos (see comment below), then, when I got just a bit too close, she started "dancing," as if on a trampoline.
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And so to the weekend again. And what might be the last orchid-free weekend until well into June or even August.
So, enjoy the churches while you can.
Saturday, and not much really planned. We get up at half six with it fully light outside. The cloud and drizzle had not arrived, instead it was pretty clear and sunny.
No time for thinking about going out to take shots, as we had hunter-gathering to do.
In fact, we didn't need much, just the usual stuff to keep us going. That and the car was running on fumes. So we will that up first, and then into Tesco and round and round we go, fully the trolley up. It being Mother's Day on Saturday, we were having Jen round on Sunday, we were to have steak, so I get mushrooms.
And once back, we have breakfast then go to Preston for the actual steak, three ribeyes, all cut from the same stip. Jools had gone to look at the garden centre for ideas as we're going to dig up the raspberries, so just wondering what to put in their place.
By then the rain had come, and so we dashed back to the car, and on the way home called in at two churches.
First off was Goodnestone, just the other side of Wingham.
Its a fine estate church, covered in wonderfully knapped bricks, giving it an East Anglian feel. Before we went in, we sheltered under a tree to much on a sausage roll I had bought at the butcher, that done, we go to the church, which is open.
I have been here quite recently, five years back, and in truth no much glass to record, but I do my best, leave a fiver of the weekly collection and we drove over the fields to Eastry.
St Mary is an impressive church, with carved and decorated west face of the Norman tower, at its base an odd lean-to porch has been created, leading into the church, which does have interest other than the 35 painted medallions high in the Chancel Arch, once the backdrop to the Rood.
I snap them with the big lens, and the windows too. A warden points out what looks like a very much older painted window high among the roof timbers in the east wall of the Chancel.
I get a shot, which is good enough, but even with a 400mm lens, is some crop.
I finish up and we go home, taking it carefully along nearly flooded roads.
Being a Saturday, there is football, though nothing much of interest until three when Norwich kick off against Stoke: could they kick it on a wet Saturday afternoon in the Potteries?
No. No, they couldn't.
Ended 0-0, City second best, barely laid a glove on the Stoke goal.
And then spots galore: Ireland v England in the egg-chasing, Citeh v Burnley in the Cup and Chelsea v Everton in the league, all live on various TV channels.
I watch the first half of the rugby, then switch over when England were reduced to 14, so did enjoy the lad Haarland score another hat-trick in a 6-0 demolition.
And that was that, another day over with.....
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Set away from the main street but on one of the earliest sites in the village, flint-built Eastry church has an over restored appearance externally but this gives way to a noteworthy interior. Built in the early thirteenth century by its patrons, Christ Church Canterbury, it was always designed to be a statement of both faith and power. The nave has a clerestory above round piers whilst the east nave wall has a pair of quatrefoils pierced through into the chancel. However this feature pales into insignificance when one sees what stands between them - a square panel containing 35 round paintings in medallions. There are four deigns including the Lily for Our Lady; a dove; Lion; Griffin. They would have formed a backdrop to the Rood which would have been supported on a beam the corbels of which survive below the paintings. On the centre pier of the south aisle is a very rare feature - a beautifully inscribed perpetual calendar or `Dominical Circle` to help find the Dominical letter of the year. Dating from the fourteenth century it divides the calendar into a sequence of 28 years. The reredos is an alabaster structure dating from the Edwardian period - a rather out of place object in a church of this form, but a good piece of work in its own right. On the west wall is a good early 19th century Royal Arms with hatchments on either side and there are many good monuments both ledger slabs and hanging tablets. Of the latter the finest commemorates John Harvey who died in 1794. It shows his ship the Brunswick fighting with all guns blazing with the French ship the Vengeur. John Bacon carved the Elder this detailed piece of work.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Eastry
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Above the Chancel Arch, enclosed within a rectangular frame, are rows of seven "medallion" wall paintings; the lower group was discovered in 1857 and the rest in 1903. They remained in a rather dilapidated state until the Canterbury Cathedral Wall Paintings Department brought them back to life.
The medallions are evidently of the 13th Century, having been painted while the mortar was still wet. Each medallion contains one of four motifs:
The trefoil flower, pictured left, is perhaps a symbol of the Blessed Virgin Mary to whom the church is dedicated; or symbolic of Christ.
The lion; symbolic of the Resurrection
Doves, either singly, or in pairs, represent the Holy Spirit
The Griffin represents evil, over which victory is won by the power of the Resurrection and the courage of the Christian.
www.ewbchurches.org.uk/eastrychurchhistory.htm
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EASTRY,
THE next parish north-eastward from Knolton is Eastry. At the time of taking the survey of Domesday, it was of such considerable account, that it not only gave name, as it does at present, to the hundred, but to the greatest part of the lath in which it stands, now called the lath of St. Augustine. There are two boroughs in this parish, viz. the borough of Hardenden, which is within the upper half hundred of Downhamford, and comprehends the districts of Hardenden, Selson and Skrinkling, and the borough of Eastry, the borsholder of which is chosen at Eastry-court, and comprehends all the rest of the parish, excepting so much of it as lies within that part of the borough of Felderland, which is within this parish.
THE PARISH OF EASTRY, a healthy and not unpleasant situation, is about two miles and an half from north to south, but it is much narrower the other way, at the broadest extent of which it is not more than a mile and an half. The village of Eastry is situated on a pleasing eminence, almost in the centre of the parish, exhiblting a picturesque appearance from many points of view. The principal street in it is called Eastrystreet; from it branch off Mill street, Church-street and Brook-street. In Mill street is a spacious handsome edisice lately erected there, as a house of industry, for the poor of the several united parishes of Eastry, Norborne, Betshanger, Tilmanstone, Waldershare, Coldred, Lydden, Shebbertswell, Swynfield, Wootton, Denton, Chillenden and Knolton. In Churchstreet, on the east side, stands the church, with the court-lodge and parsonage adjoining the church-yard; in this street is likewise the vicarage. In Brook-street, is a neat modern house, the residence of Wm. Boteler, esq. and another belonging to Mr. Thomas Rammell, who resides in it. Mention will be found hereafter, under the description of the borough of Hernden, in this parish, of the descent and arms of the Botelers resident there for many generations. Thomas Boteler, who died possessed of that estate in 1651, left three sons, the youngest of whom, Richard, was of Brook-street, and died in 1682; whose great-grandson, W. Boteler, esq. is now of Brook-street; a gentleman to whom the editor is much indebted for his communications and assistance, towards the description of this hundred, and its adjoining neighbourhood. He has been twice married; first to Sarah, daughter and coheir of Thomas Fuller, esq. of Statenborough, by whom he has one son, William Fuller, now a fellow of St. Peter's college, Cambridge: secondly, to Mary, eldest daughter of John Harvey, esq. of Sandwich and Hernden, late captain of the royal navy, by whom he has five sons and three daughters. He bears for his arms, Argent, on three escutcheons, sable, three covered cups, or; which coat was granted to his ancestor, Richard Boteler, esq. of Hernden, by Cooke, clar. in 1589. Mr. Boteler, of Eastry, is the last surviving male of the family, both of Hernden and Brook-street. Eastry-street, comprizing the neighbourhood of the above mentioned branches, may be said to contain about sixty-four houses.
At the south-east boundary of this parish lies the hamlet of Updown, adjoining to Ham and Betshanger, in the former of which parishes some account of it has been already given. At the southern bounds, adjoining to Tilmanstone, lies the hamlet of Westone, formerly called Wendestone. On the western side lies the borough of Hernden, which although in this parish, is yet within the hundred of Downhamford and manor of Adisham; in the southern part of it is Shrinkling, or Shingleton, as it is now called, and the hamlet of Hernden. At the northern part of this borough lie the hamlets and estates of Selson, Wells, and Gore. Towards the northern boundary of the parish, in the road to Sandwich, is the hamlet of Statenborough, and at a small distance from it is that part of the borough of Felderland, or Fenderland, as it is usually called, within this parish, in which, adjoining the road which branches off to Word, is a small seat, now the property and residence of Mrs. Dare, widow of Wm. Dare, esq. who resides in it. (fn. 1)
Round the village the lands are for a little distance, and on towards Statenborough, inclosed with hedges and trees, but the rest of the parish is in general an open uninclosed country of arable land, like the neighbouring ones before described; the soil of it towards the north is most fertile, in the other parts it is rather thin, being much inclined to chalk, except in the bottoms, where it is much of a stiff clay, for this parish is a continued inequality of hill and dale; notwithstanding the above, there is a great deal of good fertile land in the parish, which meets on an average rent at fifteen shillings an acre. There is no wood in it. The parish contains about two thousand six hundred and fifty acres; the yearly rents of it are assessed to the poor at 2679l.
At the south end of the village is a large pond, called Butsole; and adjoining to it on the east side, a field, belonging to Brook-street estate, called the Butts; from whence it is conjectured that Butts were formerly erected in it, for the practice of archery among the inhabitants.
A fair is held here for cattle, pedlary, and toys, on October the 2d, (formerly on St. Matthew's day, September the 21st) yearly.
IN 1792, MR. BOTELER, of Brook-street, discovered, on digging a cellar in the garden of a cottage, situated eastward of the highway leading from Eastrycross to Butsole, an antient burying ground, used as such in the latter time of the Roman empire in Britain, most probably by the inhabitants of this parish, and the places contiguous to it. He caused several graves to be opened, and found with the skeletons, fibulæ, beads, knives,umbones of shields, &c. and in one a glass vessel. From other skeletons, which have been dug up in the gardens nearer the cross, it is imagined, that they extended on the same side the road up to the cross, the ground of which is now pretty much covered with houses; the heaps of earth, or barrows, which formerly remained over them, have long since been levelled, by the great length of time and the labour of the husbandman; the graves were very thick, in rows parallel to each other, in a direction from east to west.
St. Ivo's well, mentioned by Nierembergius, in Historia de Miraculis Natureæ, lib. ii. cap. 33; which I noticed in my folio edition as not being able to find any tradition of in this parish, I have since found was at a place that formerly went by the name of Estre, and afterwards by that of Plassiz, near St. Ives, in Huntingdonshire. See Gales Scriptores, xv. vol. i. p.p. 271, 512.
This place gave birth to Henry de Eastry, who was first a monk, and then prior of Christ-church, in Canterbury; who, for his learning as well as his worthy acts, became an ornament, not only to the society he presided over, but to his country in general. He continued prior thirty-seven years, and died, far advanced in life, in 1222.
THIS PLACE, in the time of the Saxons, appears to have been part of the royal domains, accordingly Simon of Durham, monk and precentor of that church, in his history, stiles it villa regalis, quæ vulgari dicitur Easterige pronuncione, (the royal ville, or manor, which in the vulgar pronunciation was called Easterige), which shews the antient pre-eminence and rank of this place, for these villæ regales, or regiæ, as Bede calls them, of the Saxons, were usually placed upon or near the spot, where in former ages the Roman stations had been before; and its giving name both to the lath and hundred in which it is situated corroborates the superior consequence it was then held in. Egbert, king of Kent, was in possession of it about the year 670, at which time his two cousins, Ethelred and Ethelbright, sons of his father's elder brother Ermenfrid, who had been entrusted to his care by their uncle, the father of Egbert, were, as writers say, murdered in his palace here by his order, at the persuasion of one Thunnor, a slattering courtier, lest they should disturb him in the possession of the crown. After which Thunnor buried them in the king's hall here, under the cloth of estate, from whence, as antient tradition reports, their bodies were afterwards removed to a small chapel belonging to the palace, and buried there under the altar at the east end of it, and afterwards again with much pomp to the church of Ramsey abbey. To expiate the king's guilt, according to the custom of those times, he gave to Domneva, called also Ermenburga, their sister, a sufficient quantity of land in the isle of Thanet, on which she might found a monastery.
How long it continued among the royal domains, I have not found; but before the termination of the Saxon heptarchy, THE MANOR OF EASTRY was become part of the possessions of the see of Canterbury, and it remained so till the year 811, when archbishop Wilfred exchanged it with his convent of Christchurch for their manor of Bourne, since from the archbishop's possession of it called Bishopsbourne. After which, in the year 979 king Ægelred, usually called Ethelred, increased the church's estates here, by giving to it the lands of his inheritance in Estrea, (fn. 2) free from all secular service and siscal tribute, except the repelling of invasions and the repairing of bridges and castles, usually stiled the trinoda necessitas; (fn. 3) and in the possession of the prior and convent bove-mentioned, this manor continued at the taking of the survey of Domesday, being entered in it under the general title of Terra Monachorum Archiepi; that is, the land of the monks of the archbishop, as follows:
In the lath of Estrei in Estrei hundred, the archbishop himself holds Estrei. It was taxed at Seven sulings. The arable land is . . . . In demesne there are three carucates and seventy two villeins, with twenty-two borderers, having twenty-four carucates. There is one mill and a half of thirty shillings, and three salt pits of four shillings, and eighteen acres of meadow. Wood for the pannage of ten hogs.
After which, this manor continued in the possession of the priory, and in the 10th year of king Edward II. the prior obtained a grant of free-warren in all his demesne lands in it, among others; about which time it was valued at 65l. 3s. after which king Henry VI. in his 28th year, confirmed the above liberty, and granted to it a market, to be held at Eastry weekly on a Tuesday, and a fair yearly, on the day of St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist; in which state it continued till the dissolution of the priory in the 31st year of king Henry VIII. when it came in to the king's hands, where it did not remain long, for he settled it, among other premises, in the 33d year of his reign, on his new created dean and chapter of Canterbury, part of whose possessions it continues at this time. A court leet and court baron is held for this manor.
The manerial rights, profits of courts, royalties, &c. the dean and chapter retain in their own hands; but the demesne lands of the manor, with the courtlodge, which is a large antient mansion, situated adjoining to the church-yard, have been from time to time demised on a benesicial lease. The house is large, partly antient and partly modern, having at different times undergone great alterations. In the south wall are the letters T. A. N. in flint, in large capitals, being the initials of Thomas and Anne Nevinson. Mr. Isaac Bargrave, father of the present lessee, new fronted the house, and the latter in 1786 put the whole in complete repair, in doing which, he pulled down a considerable part of the antient building, consisting of stone walls of great strength and thickness, bringing to view some gothic arched door ways of stone, which proved the house to have been of such construction formerly, and to have been a very antient building. The chapel, mentioned before, is at the east end of the house. The east window, consisting of three compartments, is still visible, though the spaces are filled up, it having for many years been converted into a kitchen, and before the last alteration by Mr. Bargrave the whole of it was entire.
At this mansion, then in the hands of the prior and convent of Christ-church, archbishop Thomas Becket, after his stight from Northampton in the year 1164, concealed himself for eight days, and then, on Nov. 10, embarked at Sandwich for France. (fn. 4)
The present lessee is Isaac Bargrave, esq. who resides at the court-lodge, whose ancestors have been lessees of this estate for many years past.
THE NEVINSONS, as lessees, resided at the courtlodge of Eastry for many years. They were originally of Brigend, in Wetherell, in Cumberland. They bore for their arms, Argent, a chevron, between three eagles displayed, azure. Many of them lie buried in Eastry church. (fn. 5)
THE FAMILY of Bargrave, alias Bargar, was originally of Bridge, and afterwards of the adjoining parish of Patrixbourne; where John Bargrave, eldest son of Robert, built the seat of Bifrons, and resided at it, of whom notice has already been taken in vol. ix. of this history, p. 280. Isaac Bargrave, the sixth son of Robert above-mentioned, and younger brother of John, who built Bifrons, was ancestor of the Bargraves, of Eastry; he was S. T. P. and dean of Canterbury, a man of strict honour and high principles of loyalty, for which he suffered the most cruel treatment. He died in 1642, having married in 1618 Elizabeth, daughter of John Dering, esq. of Egerton, by Elizabeth, sister of Edward lord Wotton, the son of John Dering, esq. of Surrenden, by Margaret Brent. Their descendant, Isaac Bargrave, esq. now living, was an eminent solicitor in London, from which he has retired for some years, and now resides at Eastry-court, of which he is the present lessee. He married Sarah, eldest daughter of George Lynch, M. D. of Canterbury, who died at Herne in 1787, S.P. They bear for their arms, Or, on a pale gules, a sword, the blade argent, pomelled, or, on a chief vert three bezants.
SHRINKLING, alias SHINGLETON, the former of which is its original name, though now quite lost, is a small manor at the south-west boundary of this pa Kent, anno 1619. rish, adjoining to Nonington. It is within the borough of Heronden, or Hardonden, as it is now called, and as such, is within the upper half hundred of Downhamford. This manor had antiently owners of the same name; one of whom, Sir William de Scrinkling, held it in king Edward I.'s reign, and was succeeded by Sir Walter de Scrinkling his son, who held it by knight's service of Hamo de Crevequer, (fn. 6) and in this name it continued in the 20th year of king Edward III.
Soon after which it appears to have been alienated to William Langley, of Knolton, from which name it passed in like manner as Knolton to the Peytons and the Narboroughs, and thence by marriage to Sir Thomas D'Aeth, whose grandson Sir Narborough D'Aeth, bart. now of Knolton, is at present entitled to it.
There was a chapel belonging to this manor, the ruins of which are still visible in the wood near it, which was esteemed as a chapel of ease to the mother church of Eastry, and was appropriated with it by archbishop Richard, Becket's immediate successor, to the almory of the priory of Christ-church; but the chapel itself seems to have become desolate many years before the dissolution of the priory, most probably soon after the family of Shrinkling became extinct; the Langleys, who resided at the adjoining manor of Knolton, having no occasion for the use of it. The chapel stood in Shingleton wood, near the south east corner; the foundations of it have been traced, though level with the surface, and not easily discovered. There is now on this estate only one house, built within memory, before which there was only a solitary barn, and no remains of the antient mansion of it.
HERONDEN, alias HARDENDEN, now usually called HERONDEN, is a district in this parish, situated about a mile northward from Shingleton, within the borough of its own name, the whole of which is within the upper half hundred of Downhamford. It was once esteemed as a manor, though it has not had even the name of one for many years past, the manor of Adisham claiming over it. The mansion of it was antiently the residence of a family of the same name, who bore for their arms, Argent, a heron with one talon erect, gaping for breath, sable. These arms are on a shield, which is far from modern, in Maidstone church, being quarterly, Heronden as above, with sable, three escallop shells, two and one, argent; and in a window of Lincoln's Inn chapel is a coat of arms of a modern date, being that of Anthony Heronden, esq. Argent, a heron, azure, between three escallops, sable. One of this family of Heronden lies buried in this church, and in the time of Robert Glover, Somerset herald, his portrait and coat of arms, in brass, were remaining on his tombstone. The coat of arms is still extant in very old rolls and registers in the Heralds office, where the family is stiled Heronden, of Heronden, in Eastry; nor is the name less antient, as appears by deeds which commence from the reign of Henry III. which relate to this estate and name; but after this family had remained possessed of this estate for so many years it at last descended down in king Richard II.'s reign, to Sir William Heronden, from whom it passed most probably either by gift or sale, to one of the family of Boteler, or Butler, then resident in this neighbourhood, descended from those of this name, formerly seated at Butler's sleet, in Ash, whose ancestor Thomas Pincerna, or le Boteler, held that manor in king John's reign, whence his successors assumed the name of Butler, alias Boteler, or as they were frequently written Botiller, and bore for their arms, One or more covered cups, differently placed and blazoned. In this family the estate descended to John Boteler, who lived in the time of king Henry VI. and resided at Sandwich, of which town he was several times mayor, and one of the burgesses in two parliaments of that reign; he lies buried in St. Peter's church there. His son Richard, who was also of Sandwich, had a grant of arms in 1470, anno 11th Edward IV. by Thomas Holme, norroy, viz. Gyronny of six, argent and sable, a covered cup, or, between three talbots heads, erased and counterchanged of the field, collared, gules, garnished of the third. His great-grandson Henry Boteler rebuilt the mansion of Heronden, to which he removed in 1572, being the last of his family who resided at Sandwich. He had the above grant of arms confirmed to him, and died in 1580, being buried in Eastry church. Richard Boteler, of Heronden, his eldest son by his first wife, resided at this seat, and in 1589 obtained a grant from Robert Cook, clarencieux, of a new coat of arms, viz. Argent, on three escutcheons, sable, three convered cups, or. Ten years after which, intending as it should seem, to shew himself a descendant of the family of this name, seated at Graveney, but then extinct, he obtained in 1599 a grant of their arms from William Dethic, garter, and William Camden, clarencieux, to him and his brother William, viz. Quarterly, first and fourth, sable, three covered cups, or, within a bordure, argent; second and third, Argent, a fess, chequy, argent and gules, in chief three cross-croslets of the last, as appears (continues the grant) on a gravestone in Graveney church. He died in 1600, and was buried in Eastry church, leaving issue among other children Jonathan and Thomas. (fn. 7) Jonathan Boteler, the eldest son, of Hernden, died unmarried possessed of it in 1626, upon which it came to his next surviving brother Thomas Boteler, of Rowling, who upon that removed to Hernden, and soon afterwards alienated that part of it, since called THE MIDDLE FARM, to Mr. Henry Pannell, from whom soon afterwards, but how I know not, it came into the family of Reynolds; from which name it was about fifty years since alienated to John Dekewer, esq. of Hackney, who dying in 1762, devised it to his nephew John Dekewer, esq. of Hackney, the present possessor of it.
THIS PARISH is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Sandwich.
The church, which is exempted from the archdeacon, is dedicated to St. Mary; it is a large handsome building, consisting of a nave and two side isles, a chancel at the east end, remarkably long, and a square tower, which is very large, at the west end, in which are five very unmusical bells. The church is well kept and neatly paved, and exhibits a noble appearance, to which the many handsome monuments in it contribute much. The arch over the west door is circular, but no other parts of the church has any shew of great antiquity. In the chancel are monuments for the Paramors and the Fullers, of Statenborough, arms of the latter, Argent, three bars, and a canton, gules. A monument for several of the Bargrave family. An elegant pyramidial one, on which is a bust and emblematical sculpture for John Broadley, gent. many years surgeon at Dover, obt. 1784. Several gravestones, with brasses, for the Nevinsons. A gravestone for Joshua Paramour, gent. buried 1650. Underneath this chancel are two vaults, for the families of Paramour and Bargrave. In the nave, a monument for Anne, daughter of Solomon Harvey, gent. of this parish, ob. 1751; arms, Argent, on a chevron, between three lions gambs, sable, armed gules, three crescents, or; another for William Dare, esq. late of Fenderland, in this parish, obt. 1770; arms, Gules, a chevron vaire, between three crescents, argent, impaling argent, on a cross, sable, four lions passant, quardant of the field, for Read.—Against the wall an inscription in Latin, for the Drue Astley Cressemer, A. M. forty-eight years vicar of this parish, obt. 1746; he presented the communion plate to this church and Worth, and left a sum of money to be laid out in ornamenting this church, at which time the antient stalls, which were in the chancel, were taken away, and the chancel was ceiled, and the church otherwise beautified; arms, Argent, on a bend engrailed, sable, three cross-croslets, fitchee, or. A monument for several of the Botelers, of this parish; arms, Boteler, argent, on three escutcheons, sable, three covered cups, or, impaling Morrice. Against a pillar, a tablet and inscription, shewing that in a vault lieth Catherine, wife of John Springett, citizen and apothecary of London. He died in 1770; arms, Springett, per fess, argent and gules, a fess wavy, between three crescents, counterchanged, impaling Harvey. On the opposite pillar another, for the Rev. Richard Harvey, fourteen years vicar of this parish, obt. 1772. A monument for Richard Kelly, of Eastry, obt. 1768; arms, Two lions rampant, supporting a castle. Against the wall, an elegant sculptured monument, in alto relievo, for Sarah, wise of William Boteler, a daughter of Thomas Fuller, esq. late of Statenborough, obt. 1777, æt. 29; she died in childbed, leaving one son, William Fuller Boteler; arms at bottom, Boteler, as above, an escutcheon of pretence, Fuller, quartering Paramor. An elegant pyramidal marble and tablet for Robert Bargrave, of this parish, obt. 1779, for Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Sir Francis Leigh, of Hawley; and for Robert Bargrave, their only son, proctor in Doctors Commons, obt. 1774, whose sole surviving daughter Rebecca married James Wyborne, of Sholdon; arms, Bargrave, with a mullet, impaling Leigh. In the cross isle, near the chancel called the Boteler's isle, are several memorials for the Botelers. Adjoining to these, are three other gravestones, all of which have been inlaid, but the brasses are gone; they were for the same family, and on one of them was lately remaining the antient arms of Boteler, Girony of six pieces, &c. impaling ermine of three spots. Under the church are vaults, for the families of Springett, Harvey, Dare, and Bargrave. In the church-yard, on the north side of the church, are several altar tombs for the Paramors; and on the south side are several others for the Harveys, of this parish, and for Fawlkner, Rammell, and Fuller. There are also vaults for the families of Fuller, Rammell, and Petman.
There were formerly painted in the windows of this church, these arms, Girony of six, sable and argent, a covered cup, or, between three talbots heads, erased and counter changed of the field, collared, gules; for Boteler, of Heronden, impaling Boteler, of Graveny, Sable, three covered cups, or, within a bordure, argent; Boteler, of Heronden, as above, quartering three spots, ermine; the coat of Theobald, with quarterings. Several of the Frynnes, or as they were afterwards called, Friends, who lived at Waltham in this parish in king Henry VII.'s reign, lie buried in this church.
In the will of William Andrewe, of this parish, anno 1507, mention is made of our Ladie chapel, in the church-yard of the church of Estrie.
The eighteen stalls which were till lately in the chancel of the church, were for the use of the monks of the priory of Christ church, owners both of the manor and appropriation, when they came to pass any time at this place, as they frequently did, as well for a country retirement as to manage their concerns here; and for any other ecclesiastics, who might be present at divine service here, all such, in those times, sitting in the chancels of churches distinct from the laity.
The church of Eastry, with the chapels of Skrinkling and Worth annexed, was antiently appendant to the manor of Eastry, and was appropriated by archbishop Richard (successor to archbishop Becket) in the reign of king Henry II. to the almonry of the priory of Christ-church, but it did not continue long so, for archbishop Baldwin, (archbishop Richard's immediate successor), having quarrelled with the monks, on account of his intended college at Hackington, took this appropriation from them, and thus it remained as a rectory, at the archbishop's disposal, till the 39th year of king Edward III.'s reign, (fn. 10) when archbishop Simon Islip, with the king's licence, restored, united and annexed it again to the priory; but it appears, that in return for this grant, the archbishop had made over to him, by way of exchange, the advowsons of the churches of St. Dunstan, St. Pancrase, and All Saints in Bread-street, in London, all three belonging to the priory. After which, that is anno 8 Richard II. 1384, this church was valued among the revenues of the almonry of Christ-church, at the yearly value of 53l. 6s. 8d. and it continued afterwards in the same state in the possession of the monks, who managed it for the use of the almonry, during which time prior William Sellyng, who came to that office in Edward IV.'s reign, among other improvements on several estates belonging to his church, built a new dormitory at this parsonage for the monks resorting hither.
On the dissolution of the priory of Christ-church, in the 31st year of king Henry VIII.'s reign, this appropriation, with the advowson of the vicarage of the church of Eastry, was surrendered into the king's hands, where it staid but a small time, for he granted it in his 33d year, by his dotation charter, to his new founded dean and chapter of Canterbury, who are the present owners of this appropriation; but the advowson of the vicarage, notwithstanding it was granted with the appropriation, to the dean and chapter as above-mentioned, appears not long afterwards to have become parcel of the possessions of the see of Canterbury, where it continues at this time, his grace the archbishop being the present patron of it.
This parsonage is entitled to the great tithes of this parish and of Worth; there belong to it of glebe land in Eastry, Tilmanstone, and Worth, in all sixtynine acres.
THERE IS A SMALL MANOR belonging to it, called THE MANOR OF THE AMBRY, OR ALMONRY OF CHRIST-CHURCH, the quit-rents of which are very inconsiderable.
The parsonage-house is large and antient; in the old parlour window is a shield of arms, being those of Partheriche, impaling quarterly Line and Hamerton. The parsonage is of the annual rent of about 700l. The countess dowager of Guildford became entitled to the lease of this parsonage, by the will of her husband the earl of Guildford, and since her death the interest of it is become vested in her younger children.
As to the origin of a vicarage in this church, though there was one endowed in it by archbishop Peckham, in the 20th year of king Edward I. anno 1291, whilst this church continued in the archbishop's hands, yet I do not find that there was a vicar instituted in it, but that it remained as a rectory, till near three years after it had been restored to the priory of Christchurch, when, in the 42d year of king Edward III. a vicar was instituted in it, between whom and the prior and chapter of Canterbury, there was a composition concerning his portion, which he should have as an endowment of this vicarage; which composition was confirmed by archbishop Simon Langham that year; and next year there was an agreement entered into between the eleemosinary of Christ-church and the vicar, concerning the manse of this vicarage.
The vicarage of Eastry, with the chapel of Worth annexed, is valued in the king's books at 19l. 12s. 1d. and the yearly tenths at 1l. 19s. 2½d. In 1588 it was valued at sixty pounds. Communicants three hundred and thirty-five. In 1640 here were the like number of communicants, and it was valued at one hundred pounds.
The antient pension of 5l. 6s. 8d. formerly paid by the priory, is still paid to the vicar by the dean and chapter, and also an augmentation of 14l. 13s. 4d. yearly, by the lessee of the parsonage, by a convenant in his lease.
The vicarage-house is built close to the farm-yard of the parsonage; the land allotted to it is very trifling, not even sufficient for a tolerable garden; the foundations of the house are antient, and probably part of the original building when the vicarage was endowed in 1367.
¶There were two awards made in 1549 and 1550, on a controversy between the vicar of Eastry and the mayor, &c. of Sandwich, whether the scite of St. Bartholomew's hospital, near Sandwich, within that port and liberty, was subject to the payment of tithes to the vicar, as being within his parish. Both awards adjudged the legality of a payment, as due to the vicar; but the former award adjudged that the scite of the hospital was not, and the latter, that it was within the bounds of this parish. (fn. 12)
St Mary, Hinderclay, Suffolk
This lovely little church is a regular port of call of mine. It is difficult to resist it when I'm passing near by.
It is about twenty years since I first visited Hinderclay church. My saintly and long-suffering family had dropped me off near Centreparcs in the Thetford forest early that morning, in order that they might spend their day toiling and weeping beside the vast swimming pool there, with its bars, restaurants and modern leisure facilities. I'd have been quite interested to see the inter-denominational Emmanuel Chapel on the site, but I'm not a great one for lying around. Instead, I headed off on my bike, cutting a swathe across the north of the county, along the hideous A11 through Elveden, and then the Grafton estate, through Barnham, Euston and Fakenham.
Let us be frank: the Elveden area is not great cycling country. The roads are busy, flat and dull, the villages undistinguished. At Euston, there is a brief vision of horsey poshness. But then, beyond Barningham, the countryside opens up, rolling gently, and bubbling with woods and meadows. This is the Suffolk I know best, and love to cycle through; villages hidden as surprises, church towers peeping over distant hedgerows. It was good to be back. I passed through tiny villages, miles off the main drag; Coney Weston and Market Weston, Knettishall and Thelnetham. Who outside of Suffolk has visited these places, or even heard of them? Indeed, who inside? I tried their names out on friends in Ipswich, none of whom could place any of them. One person knew that Knettishall had been a World War II airfield, that's all.
A glorious sight near Thelnetham is the grand sail-mill, working this day, her great sails at a crazy angle, turning impossibly across the field. An 18th century Suffolker dropped back into the modern landscape would probably find this the biggest change, that nearly all these graceful giants have disappeared. And here, the road rolls down into Hinderclay. It was early afternoon by the time I got to this village, which holds a special interest for me. It is one of a handful of Suffolk parishes I know of that has a recorded Knott family, living here in the 17th and 18th centuries. They are not my Knotts - mine all came from east Kent, but it feels like a connection. There are Knott graves in the churchyard, a quiet little place almost entirely surrounded by mature trees, making the church difficult to photograph.
The tower is pretty and perpendicular, with little chequerboard patterns set into the bell windows. The letters SSRM in the battlements probably stand for Salve Sancta Regina Maria, which the Catholics amongst us will instantly recognise as the opening words of the Hail Holy Queen. This suggests that the medieval dedication of this church was to The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin. This was the most common medieval Suffolk church dedication, and has been restored correctly in several places, Ufford for instance. The tower appears off-centre, because the south aisle hides the unclerestoried nave.
Stepping into this building is a delightful surprise. As it opens beyond the south aisle, the interior, with its uncarved font, pammented floors and simple furnishings is almost entirely rustic, except that it is flooded with coloured light. This comes from the glass in the south aisle. The windows, mainly from the 1980s, are by Rosemary Rutherford. She was the sister of the John Rutherford, rector here from 1975, and after she died in 1972 he adapted her designs to be installed in this church. These are therefore her last works, and they are perfectly poised in their simplicity and abstraction. There is a Baptism of Christ, a nativity scene and the Annunciation, while a Crucifixion is flanked by Mary at the empty tomb and the Resurrection. Perhaps the best depicts Mary Magdalene, tiny at the bottom, anointing Christ's feet. The last window to be installed, at the west end, came in 1994 thanks to the participation of Rowland and Surinder Warboys, two well-known Suffolk stained glass artists.
These windows are the best of Rutherford's work, I think. You can see more of it in a number of churches in north Essex, as well as at Boxford and Walsham in Suffolk, and at Gaywood in Norfolk.
In a bigger, noisier church, the 1711 memorial to George Thompson would not stand out, but here the rather alarming cherubs are about as discreet as a stag party in a public library. Thompson was from Trumpington in Cambridgeshire, and the inscription tells us in elegant Latin that he died at the age of 28.
The benches towards the west date from the early 17th century, when Anglican divines were trying to fill their churches with beauty again. Their hopes, of course, would be dashed by the rise to power of the Puritans. These bear the date 1617, sets of initials, probably those of churchwardens. I was interested to see that one set was SK, my own initials. It wasn't until after my visit that a researcher, seeing my name in the visitors' book, wrote to me and told me that they were probably the initials of a member of the Knott family.
There is a comprehensive record of the Guild here, dedicated to St Peter. The alcove in the north aisle probably marks the site of their chantry altar, although there is a large opening from the south aisle chapel, like the ones at Gedding only oriented north-south, which suggests that there was an altar here, too.
Hinderclay is perhaps most famous for its gotch, a large, leather beer pitcher used by the bellringers. It has a dedicatory inscription, and the date 25 March 1724, which was New Year's Day that year (and the the feast of the Annunciation, although this wouldn't have been celebrated in those protestant times). It also says From London I was sent, As plainly does appear, It was with this intent, To be fild with strong beer, Pray remember the pitcher when empty. It used to be on display at the Moyse Hall museum in Bury St Edmunds. In fact, I knew it well, having been a regular visitor there, and it was good to place it in its proper context at last. I wondered if any of the Knotts had drunk from it.
One of my babies has dashed into the hole while the other was watching me. Apparently causing more than a little discomfort.
May. Spring is one of my four favourite seasons, the time of flowers, foraging and hayfever. Spring offers the promise of much, often to be dashed on the sharp rocks of reality, but there ya go. Part of a larger project, as ever. Eventually to be released through the website below:
SEX, PHYSICS
and
the EVOLUTION of MAN
by Michael Toke
@ MILK GLASS Co.
1247 Dundas Street West
June 21 - July 15
opening June 21, 7pm
SEX, PHYSICS and the EVOLUTION of MAN
I remember when I was a kid I went around "the townhouses" asking all the housewives if I could have the cardboard their new pantyhose were wrapped around; hot pressed and glossy on one side, dead flat on the other, rounded corners and perfect for drawing in this skipping dashed way with the new black marker I had discovered. These new EVOLUTION of MAN drawings remind me of the joy I had drawing when I was young and the hopeful wide eyed vision I had for the world and Canada. Canada a beacon of light and progress guiding the world into the future was written on my face. I don't see that look anymore or better to say I see people trying to keep an idea of that face, but glimpsed underneath I see contortions and ticks at the way the world is; an exasperated wince quickly covered up as if to reel in an escaping beast of disillusionment and disbelief.
These new drawings are on a painted fresco like surface, dead flat, skipped and dashed with archival ink they are meant to be studies for an envisioned visage of what we hide underneath our beautiful ones.
The EVOLUTION OF MAN series is accompanied by works from the 2001 "Visions of Photonic Love" exhibition and other related works about the emergence of light at the beginning of the universe and its connection with the orgasm. These works arose from interviewed discussions with physicist Dr. Howard K. C. Yee at the University of Toronto and the subsequent video "notes on a nameless film".
"an attempt to describe the indescribable boundary between the known and unknown universe through interview and visual obliteration; at certain levels of complexity all visualization degrades into mathematics" was written on the DVD sleeve.
This video was awarded "One of the Best Filmmakers Under 25 in Canada Award" which came with a $2500 prize and a trip to Ottawa to meet with the Governor General and Minister of Arts and Culture with 10 other so awarded filmmakers. It was to theirs and my great disappointment to inform them that I was 37 at the time. The exhibition that was derived from this video was originally showed at Edward Day Gallery and then expanded for the Scope Art Fair in New York. Only 4 of these black works remain from the original exhibitions with some studies, other related works and the instigating videos they form a lovely stage backdrop of lust wandering for meaning, reason and purpose in the universe. They were originally accompanied with the phrase:
"Out of the blackness emerged joyous information to wet our lips; but in cruelty its beauty only left us wanting for more as its image slowly faded away."
I believe to approach hard strange and elusive ideas you must use peripheral vision and Newtonian half measures; random cultivation is the path to expression and enlightenment.
www.facebook.com/events/442034675821289
And so to the weekend again. And what might be the last orchid-free weekend until well into June or even August.
So, enjoy the churches while you can.
Saturday, and not much really planned. We get up at half six with it fully light outside. The cloud and drizzle had not arrived, instead it was pretty clear and sunny.
No time for thinking about going out to take shots, as we had hunter-gathering to do.
In fact, we didn't need much, just the usual stuff to keep us going. That and the car was running on fumes. So we will that up first, and then into Tesco and round and round we go, fully the trolley up. It being Mother's Day on Saturday, we were having Jen round on Sunday, we were to have steak, so I get mushrooms.
And once back, we have breakfast then go to Preston for the actual steak, three ribeyes, all cut from the same stip. Jools had gone to look at the garden centre for ideas as we're going to dig up the raspberries, so just wondering what to put in their place.
By then the rain had come, and so we dashed back to the car, and on the way home called in at two churches.
First off was Goodnestone, just the other side of Wingham.
Its a fine estate church, covered in wonderfully knapped bricks, giving it an East Anglian feel. Before we went in, we sheltered under a tree to much on a sausage roll I had bought at the butcher, that done, we go to the church, which is open.
I have been here quite recently, five years back, and in truth no much glass to record, but I do my best, leave a fiver of the weekly collection and we drove over the fields to Eastry.
St Mary is an impressive church, with carved and decorated west face of the Norman tower, at its base an odd lean-to porch has been created, leading into the church, which does have interest other than the 35 painted medallions high in the Chancel Arch, once the backdrop to the Rood.
I snap them with the big lens, and the windows too. A warden points out what looks like a very much older painted window high among the roof timbers in the east wall of the Chancel.
I get a shot, which is good enough, but even with a 400mm lens, is some crop.
I finish up and we go home, taking it carefully along nearly flooded roads.
Being a Saturday, there is football, though nothing much of interest until three when Norwich kick off against Stoke: could they kick it on a wet Saturday afternoon in the Potteries?
No. No, they couldn't.
Ended 0-0, City second best, barely laid a glove on the Stoke goal.
And then spots galore: Ireland v England in the egg-chasing, Citeh v Burnley in the Cup and Chelsea v Everton in the league, all live on various TV channels.
I watch the first half of the rugby, then switch over when England were reduced to 14, so did enjoy the lad Haarland score another hat-trick in a 6-0 demolition.
And that was that, another day over with.....
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Set away from the main street but on one of the earliest sites in the village, flint-built Eastry church has an over restored appearance externally but this gives way to a noteworthy interior. Built in the early thirteenth century by its patrons, Christ Church Canterbury, it was always designed to be a statement of both faith and power. The nave has a clerestory above round piers whilst the east nave wall has a pair of quatrefoils pierced through into the chancel. However this feature pales into insignificance when one sees what stands between them - a square panel containing 35 round paintings in medallions. There are four deigns including the Lily for Our Lady; a dove; Lion; Griffin. They would have formed a backdrop to the Rood which would have been supported on a beam the corbels of which survive below the paintings. On the centre pier of the south aisle is a very rare feature - a beautifully inscribed perpetual calendar or `Dominical Circle` to help find the Dominical letter of the year. Dating from the fourteenth century it divides the calendar into a sequence of 28 years. The reredos is an alabaster structure dating from the Edwardian period - a rather out of place object in a church of this form, but a good piece of work in its own right. On the west wall is a good early 19th century Royal Arms with hatchments on either side and there are many good monuments both ledger slabs and hanging tablets. Of the latter the finest commemorates John Harvey who died in 1794. It shows his ship the Brunswick fighting with all guns blazing with the French ship the Vengeur. John Bacon carved the Elder this detailed piece of work.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Eastry
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Above the Chancel Arch, enclosed within a rectangular frame, are rows of seven "medallion" wall paintings; the lower group was discovered in 1857 and the rest in 1903. They remained in a rather dilapidated state until the Canterbury Cathedral Wall Paintings Department brought them back to life.
The medallions are evidently of the 13th Century, having been painted while the mortar was still wet. Each medallion contains one of four motifs:
The trefoil flower, pictured left, is perhaps a symbol of the Blessed Virgin Mary to whom the church is dedicated; or symbolic of Christ.
The lion; symbolic of the Resurrection
Doves, either singly, or in pairs, represent the Holy Spirit
The Griffin represents evil, over which victory is won by the power of the Resurrection and the courage of the Christian.
www.ewbchurches.org.uk/eastrychurchhistory.htm
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EASTRY,
THE next parish north-eastward from Knolton is Eastry. At the time of taking the survey of Domesday, it was of such considerable account, that it not only gave name, as it does at present, to the hundred, but to the greatest part of the lath in which it stands, now called the lath of St. Augustine. There are two boroughs in this parish, viz. the borough of Hardenden, which is within the upper half hundred of Downhamford, and comprehends the districts of Hardenden, Selson and Skrinkling, and the borough of Eastry, the borsholder of which is chosen at Eastry-court, and comprehends all the rest of the parish, excepting so much of it as lies within that part of the borough of Felderland, which is within this parish.
THE PARISH OF EASTRY, a healthy and not unpleasant situation, is about two miles and an half from north to south, but it is much narrower the other way, at the broadest extent of which it is not more than a mile and an half. The village of Eastry is situated on a pleasing eminence, almost in the centre of the parish, exhiblting a picturesque appearance from many points of view. The principal street in it is called Eastrystreet; from it branch off Mill street, Church-street and Brook-street. In Mill street is a spacious handsome edisice lately erected there, as a house of industry, for the poor of the several united parishes of Eastry, Norborne, Betshanger, Tilmanstone, Waldershare, Coldred, Lydden, Shebbertswell, Swynfield, Wootton, Denton, Chillenden and Knolton. In Churchstreet, on the east side, stands the church, with the court-lodge and parsonage adjoining the church-yard; in this street is likewise the vicarage. In Brook-street, is a neat modern house, the residence of Wm. Boteler, esq. and another belonging to Mr. Thomas Rammell, who resides in it. Mention will be found hereafter, under the description of the borough of Hernden, in this parish, of the descent and arms of the Botelers resident there for many generations. Thomas Boteler, who died possessed of that estate in 1651, left three sons, the youngest of whom, Richard, was of Brook-street, and died in 1682; whose great-grandson, W. Boteler, esq. is now of Brook-street; a gentleman to whom the editor is much indebted for his communications and assistance, towards the description of this hundred, and its adjoining neighbourhood. He has been twice married; first to Sarah, daughter and coheir of Thomas Fuller, esq. of Statenborough, by whom he has one son, William Fuller, now a fellow of St. Peter's college, Cambridge: secondly, to Mary, eldest daughter of John Harvey, esq. of Sandwich and Hernden, late captain of the royal navy, by whom he has five sons and three daughters. He bears for his arms, Argent, on three escutcheons, sable, three covered cups, or; which coat was granted to his ancestor, Richard Boteler, esq. of Hernden, by Cooke, clar. in 1589. Mr. Boteler, of Eastry, is the last surviving male of the family, both of Hernden and Brook-street. Eastry-street, comprizing the neighbourhood of the above mentioned branches, may be said to contain about sixty-four houses.
At the south-east boundary of this parish lies the hamlet of Updown, adjoining to Ham and Betshanger, in the former of which parishes some account of it has been already given. At the southern bounds, adjoining to Tilmanstone, lies the hamlet of Westone, formerly called Wendestone. On the western side lies the borough of Hernden, which although in this parish, is yet within the hundred of Downhamford and manor of Adisham; in the southern part of it is Shrinkling, or Shingleton, as it is now called, and the hamlet of Hernden. At the northern part of this borough lie the hamlets and estates of Selson, Wells, and Gore. Towards the northern boundary of the parish, in the road to Sandwich, is the hamlet of Statenborough, and at a small distance from it is that part of the borough of Felderland, or Fenderland, as it is usually called, within this parish, in which, adjoining the road which branches off to Word, is a small seat, now the property and residence of Mrs. Dare, widow of Wm. Dare, esq. who resides in it. (fn. 1)
Round the village the lands are for a little distance, and on towards Statenborough, inclosed with hedges and trees, but the rest of the parish is in general an open uninclosed country of arable land, like the neighbouring ones before described; the soil of it towards the north is most fertile, in the other parts it is rather thin, being much inclined to chalk, except in the bottoms, where it is much of a stiff clay, for this parish is a continued inequality of hill and dale; notwithstanding the above, there is a great deal of good fertile land in the parish, which meets on an average rent at fifteen shillings an acre. There is no wood in it. The parish contains about two thousand six hundred and fifty acres; the yearly rents of it are assessed to the poor at 2679l.
At the south end of the village is a large pond, called Butsole; and adjoining to it on the east side, a field, belonging to Brook-street estate, called the Butts; from whence it is conjectured that Butts were formerly erected in it, for the practice of archery among the inhabitants.
A fair is held here for cattle, pedlary, and toys, on October the 2d, (formerly on St. Matthew's day, September the 21st) yearly.
IN 1792, MR. BOTELER, of Brook-street, discovered, on digging a cellar in the garden of a cottage, situated eastward of the highway leading from Eastrycross to Butsole, an antient burying ground, used as such in the latter time of the Roman empire in Britain, most probably by the inhabitants of this parish, and the places contiguous to it. He caused several graves to be opened, and found with the skeletons, fibulæ, beads, knives,umbones of shields, &c. and in one a glass vessel. From other skeletons, which have been dug up in the gardens nearer the cross, it is imagined, that they extended on the same side the road up to the cross, the ground of which is now pretty much covered with houses; the heaps of earth, or barrows, which formerly remained over them, have long since been levelled, by the great length of time and the labour of the husbandman; the graves were very thick, in rows parallel to each other, in a direction from east to west.
St. Ivo's well, mentioned by Nierembergius, in Historia de Miraculis Natureæ, lib. ii. cap. 33; which I noticed in my folio edition as not being able to find any tradition of in this parish, I have since found was at a place that formerly went by the name of Estre, and afterwards by that of Plassiz, near St. Ives, in Huntingdonshire. See Gales Scriptores, xv. vol. i. p.p. 271, 512.
This place gave birth to Henry de Eastry, who was first a monk, and then prior of Christ-church, in Canterbury; who, for his learning as well as his worthy acts, became an ornament, not only to the society he presided over, but to his country in general. He continued prior thirty-seven years, and died, far advanced in life, in 1222.
THIS PLACE, in the time of the Saxons, appears to have been part of the royal domains, accordingly Simon of Durham, monk and precentor of that church, in his history, stiles it villa regalis, quæ vulgari dicitur Easterige pronuncione, (the royal ville, or manor, which in the vulgar pronunciation was called Easterige), which shews the antient pre-eminence and rank of this place, for these villæ regales, or regiæ, as Bede calls them, of the Saxons, were usually placed upon or near the spot, where in former ages the Roman stations had been before; and its giving name both to the lath and hundred in which it is situated corroborates the superior consequence it was then held in. Egbert, king of Kent, was in possession of it about the year 670, at which time his two cousins, Ethelred and Ethelbright, sons of his father's elder brother Ermenfrid, who had been entrusted to his care by their uncle, the father of Egbert, were, as writers say, murdered in his palace here by his order, at the persuasion of one Thunnor, a slattering courtier, lest they should disturb him in the possession of the crown. After which Thunnor buried them in the king's hall here, under the cloth of estate, from whence, as antient tradition reports, their bodies were afterwards removed to a small chapel belonging to the palace, and buried there under the altar at the east end of it, and afterwards again with much pomp to the church of Ramsey abbey. To expiate the king's guilt, according to the custom of those times, he gave to Domneva, called also Ermenburga, their sister, a sufficient quantity of land in the isle of Thanet, on which she might found a monastery.
How long it continued among the royal domains, I have not found; but before the termination of the Saxon heptarchy, THE MANOR OF EASTRY was become part of the possessions of the see of Canterbury, and it remained so till the year 811, when archbishop Wilfred exchanged it with his convent of Christchurch for their manor of Bourne, since from the archbishop's possession of it called Bishopsbourne. After which, in the year 979 king Ægelred, usually called Ethelred, increased the church's estates here, by giving to it the lands of his inheritance in Estrea, (fn. 2) free from all secular service and siscal tribute, except the repelling of invasions and the repairing of bridges and castles, usually stiled the trinoda necessitas; (fn. 3) and in the possession of the prior and convent bove-mentioned, this manor continued at the taking of the survey of Domesday, being entered in it under the general title of Terra Monachorum Archiepi; that is, the land of the monks of the archbishop, as follows:
In the lath of Estrei in Estrei hundred, the archbishop himself holds Estrei. It was taxed at Seven sulings. The arable land is . . . . In demesne there are three carucates and seventy two villeins, with twenty-two borderers, having twenty-four carucates. There is one mill and a half of thirty shillings, and three salt pits of four shillings, and eighteen acres of meadow. Wood for the pannage of ten hogs.
After which, this manor continued in the possession of the priory, and in the 10th year of king Edward II. the prior obtained a grant of free-warren in all his demesne lands in it, among others; about which time it was valued at 65l. 3s. after which king Henry VI. in his 28th year, confirmed the above liberty, and granted to it a market, to be held at Eastry weekly on a Tuesday, and a fair yearly, on the day of St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist; in which state it continued till the dissolution of the priory in the 31st year of king Henry VIII. when it came in to the king's hands, where it did not remain long, for he settled it, among other premises, in the 33d year of his reign, on his new created dean and chapter of Canterbury, part of whose possessions it continues at this time. A court leet and court baron is held for this manor.
The manerial rights, profits of courts, royalties, &c. the dean and chapter retain in their own hands; but the demesne lands of the manor, with the courtlodge, which is a large antient mansion, situated adjoining to the church-yard, have been from time to time demised on a benesicial lease. The house is large, partly antient and partly modern, having at different times undergone great alterations. In the south wall are the letters T. A. N. in flint, in large capitals, being the initials of Thomas and Anne Nevinson. Mr. Isaac Bargrave, father of the present lessee, new fronted the house, and the latter in 1786 put the whole in complete repair, in doing which, he pulled down a considerable part of the antient building, consisting of stone walls of great strength and thickness, bringing to view some gothic arched door ways of stone, which proved the house to have been of such construction formerly, and to have been a very antient building. The chapel, mentioned before, is at the east end of the house. The east window, consisting of three compartments, is still visible, though the spaces are filled up, it having for many years been converted into a kitchen, and before the last alteration by Mr. Bargrave the whole of it was entire.
At this mansion, then in the hands of the prior and convent of Christ-church, archbishop Thomas Becket, after his stight from Northampton in the year 1164, concealed himself for eight days, and then, on Nov. 10, embarked at Sandwich for France. (fn. 4)
The present lessee is Isaac Bargrave, esq. who resides at the court-lodge, whose ancestors have been lessees of this estate for many years past.
THE NEVINSONS, as lessees, resided at the courtlodge of Eastry for many years. They were originally of Brigend, in Wetherell, in Cumberland. They bore for their arms, Argent, a chevron, between three eagles displayed, azure. Many of them lie buried in Eastry church. (fn. 5)
THE FAMILY of Bargrave, alias Bargar, was originally of Bridge, and afterwards of the adjoining parish of Patrixbourne; where John Bargrave, eldest son of Robert, built the seat of Bifrons, and resided at it, of whom notice has already been taken in vol. ix. of this history, p. 280. Isaac Bargrave, the sixth son of Robert above-mentioned, and younger brother of John, who built Bifrons, was ancestor of the Bargraves, of Eastry; he was S. T. P. and dean of Canterbury, a man of strict honour and high principles of loyalty, for which he suffered the most cruel treatment. He died in 1642, having married in 1618 Elizabeth, daughter of John Dering, esq. of Egerton, by Elizabeth, sister of Edward lord Wotton, the son of John Dering, esq. of Surrenden, by Margaret Brent. Their descendant, Isaac Bargrave, esq. now living, was an eminent solicitor in London, from which he has retired for some years, and now resides at Eastry-court, of which he is the present lessee. He married Sarah, eldest daughter of George Lynch, M. D. of Canterbury, who died at Herne in 1787, S.P. They bear for their arms, Or, on a pale gules, a sword, the blade argent, pomelled, or, on a chief vert three bezants.
SHRINKLING, alias SHINGLETON, the former of which is its original name, though now quite lost, is a small manor at the south-west boundary of this pa Kent, anno 1619. rish, adjoining to Nonington. It is within the borough of Heronden, or Hardonden, as it is now called, and as such, is within the upper half hundred of Downhamford. This manor had antiently owners of the same name; one of whom, Sir William de Scrinkling, held it in king Edward I.'s reign, and was succeeded by Sir Walter de Scrinkling his son, who held it by knight's service of Hamo de Crevequer, (fn. 6) and in this name it continued in the 20th year of king Edward III.
Soon after which it appears to have been alienated to William Langley, of Knolton, from which name it passed in like manner as Knolton to the Peytons and the Narboroughs, and thence by marriage to Sir Thomas D'Aeth, whose grandson Sir Narborough D'Aeth, bart. now of Knolton, is at present entitled to it.
There was a chapel belonging to this manor, the ruins of which are still visible in the wood near it, which was esteemed as a chapel of ease to the mother church of Eastry, and was appropriated with it by archbishop Richard, Becket's immediate successor, to the almory of the priory of Christ-church; but the chapel itself seems to have become desolate many years before the dissolution of the priory, most probably soon after the family of Shrinkling became extinct; the Langleys, who resided at the adjoining manor of Knolton, having no occasion for the use of it. The chapel stood in Shingleton wood, near the south east corner; the foundations of it have been traced, though level with the surface, and not easily discovered. There is now on this estate only one house, built within memory, before which there was only a solitary barn, and no remains of the antient mansion of it.
HERONDEN, alias HARDENDEN, now usually called HERONDEN, is a district in this parish, situated about a mile northward from Shingleton, within the borough of its own name, the whole of which is within the upper half hundred of Downhamford. It was once esteemed as a manor, though it has not had even the name of one for many years past, the manor of Adisham claiming over it. The mansion of it was antiently the residence of a family of the same name, who bore for their arms, Argent, a heron with one talon erect, gaping for breath, sable. These arms are on a shield, which is far from modern, in Maidstone church, being quarterly, Heronden as above, with sable, three escallop shells, two and one, argent; and in a window of Lincoln's Inn chapel is a coat of arms of a modern date, being that of Anthony Heronden, esq. Argent, a heron, azure, between three escallops, sable. One of this family of Heronden lies buried in this church, and in the time of Robert Glover, Somerset herald, his portrait and coat of arms, in brass, were remaining on his tombstone. The coat of arms is still extant in very old rolls and registers in the Heralds office, where the family is stiled Heronden, of Heronden, in Eastry; nor is the name less antient, as appears by deeds which commence from the reign of Henry III. which relate to this estate and name; but after this family had remained possessed of this estate for so many years it at last descended down in king Richard II.'s reign, to Sir William Heronden, from whom it passed most probably either by gift or sale, to one of the family of Boteler, or Butler, then resident in this neighbourhood, descended from those of this name, formerly seated at Butler's sleet, in Ash, whose ancestor Thomas Pincerna, or le Boteler, held that manor in king John's reign, whence his successors assumed the name of Butler, alias Boteler, or as they were frequently written Botiller, and bore for their arms, One or more covered cups, differently placed and blazoned. In this family the estate descended to John Boteler, who lived in the time of king Henry VI. and resided at Sandwich, of which town he was several times mayor, and one of the burgesses in two parliaments of that reign; he lies buried in St. Peter's church there. His son Richard, who was also of Sandwich, had a grant of arms in 1470, anno 11th Edward IV. by Thomas Holme, norroy, viz. Gyronny of six, argent and sable, a covered cup, or, between three talbots heads, erased and counterchanged of the field, collared, gules, garnished of the third. His great-grandson Henry Boteler rebuilt the mansion of Heronden, to which he removed in 1572, being the last of his family who resided at Sandwich. He had the above grant of arms confirmed to him, and died in 1580, being buried in Eastry church. Richard Boteler, of Heronden, his eldest son by his first wife, resided at this seat, and in 1589 obtained a grant from Robert Cook, clarencieux, of a new coat of arms, viz. Argent, on three escutcheons, sable, three convered cups, or. Ten years after which, intending as it should seem, to shew himself a descendant of the family of this name, seated at Graveney, but then extinct, he obtained in 1599 a grant of their arms from William Dethic, garter, and William Camden, clarencieux, to him and his brother William, viz. Quarterly, first and fourth, sable, three covered cups, or, within a bordure, argent; second and third, Argent, a fess, chequy, argent and gules, in chief three cross-croslets of the last, as appears (continues the grant) on a gravestone in Graveney church. He died in 1600, and was buried in Eastry church, leaving issue among other children Jonathan and Thomas. (fn. 7) Jonathan Boteler, the eldest son, of Hernden, died unmarried possessed of it in 1626, upon which it came to his next surviving brother Thomas Boteler, of Rowling, who upon that removed to Hernden, and soon afterwards alienated that part of it, since called THE MIDDLE FARM, to Mr. Henry Pannell, from whom soon afterwards, but how I know not, it came into the family of Reynolds; from which name it was about fifty years since alienated to John Dekewer, esq. of Hackney, who dying in 1762, devised it to his nephew John Dekewer, esq. of Hackney, the present possessor of it.
THIS PARISH is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Sandwich.
The church, which is exempted from the archdeacon, is dedicated to St. Mary; it is a large handsome building, consisting of a nave and two side isles, a chancel at the east end, remarkably long, and a square tower, which is very large, at the west end, in which are five very unmusical bells. The church is well kept and neatly paved, and exhibits a noble appearance, to which the many handsome monuments in it contribute much. The arch over the west door is circular, but no other parts of the church has any shew of great antiquity. In the chancel are monuments for the Paramors and the Fullers, of Statenborough, arms of the latter, Argent, three bars, and a canton, gules. A monument for several of the Bargrave family. An elegant pyramidial one, on which is a bust and emblematical sculpture for John Broadley, gent. many years surgeon at Dover, obt. 1784. Several gravestones, with brasses, for the Nevinsons. A gravestone for Joshua Paramour, gent. buried 1650. Underneath this chancel are two vaults, for the families of Paramour and Bargrave. In the nave, a monument for Anne, daughter of Solomon Harvey, gent. of this parish, ob. 1751; arms, Argent, on a chevron, between three lions gambs, sable, armed gules, three crescents, or; another for William Dare, esq. late of Fenderland, in this parish, obt. 1770; arms, Gules, a chevron vaire, between three crescents, argent, impaling argent, on a cross, sable, four lions passant, quardant of the field, for Read.—Against the wall an inscription in Latin, for the Drue Astley Cressemer, A. M. forty-eight years vicar of this parish, obt. 1746; he presented the communion plate to this church and Worth, and left a sum of money to be laid out in ornamenting this church, at which time the antient stalls, which were in the chancel, were taken away, and the chancel was ceiled, and the church otherwise beautified; arms, Argent, on a bend engrailed, sable, three cross-croslets, fitchee, or. A monument for several of the Botelers, of this parish; arms, Boteler, argent, on three escutcheons, sable, three covered cups, or, impaling Morrice. Against a pillar, a tablet and inscription, shewing that in a vault lieth Catherine, wife of John Springett, citizen and apothecary of London. He died in 1770; arms, Springett, per fess, argent and gules, a fess wavy, between three crescents, counterchanged, impaling Harvey. On the opposite pillar another, for the Rev. Richard Harvey, fourteen years vicar of this parish, obt. 1772. A monument for Richard Kelly, of Eastry, obt. 1768; arms, Two lions rampant, supporting a castle. Against the wall, an elegant sculptured monument, in alto relievo, for Sarah, wise of William Boteler, a daughter of Thomas Fuller, esq. late of Statenborough, obt. 1777, æt. 29; she died in childbed, leaving one son, William Fuller Boteler; arms at bottom, Boteler, as above, an escutcheon of pretence, Fuller, quartering Paramor. An elegant pyramidal marble and tablet for Robert Bargrave, of this parish, obt. 1779, for Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Sir Francis Leigh, of Hawley; and for Robert Bargrave, their only son, proctor in Doctors Commons, obt. 1774, whose sole surviving daughter Rebecca married James Wyborne, of Sholdon; arms, Bargrave, with a mullet, impaling Leigh. In the cross isle, near the chancel called the Boteler's isle, are several memorials for the Botelers. Adjoining to these, are three other gravestones, all of which have been inlaid, but the brasses are gone; they were for the same family, and on one of them was lately remaining the antient arms of Boteler, Girony of six pieces, &c. impaling ermine of three spots. Under the church are vaults, for the families of Springett, Harvey, Dare, and Bargrave. In the church-yard, on the north side of the church, are several altar tombs for the Paramors; and on the south side are several others for the Harveys, of this parish, and for Fawlkner, Rammell, and Fuller. There are also vaults for the families of Fuller, Rammell, and Petman.
There were formerly painted in the windows of this church, these arms, Girony of six, sable and argent, a covered cup, or, between three talbots heads, erased and counter changed of the field, collared, gules; for Boteler, of Heronden, impaling Boteler, of Graveny, Sable, three covered cups, or, within a bordure, argent; Boteler, of Heronden, as above, quartering three spots, ermine; the coat of Theobald, with quarterings. Several of the Frynnes, or as they were afterwards called, Friends, who lived at Waltham in this parish in king Henry VII.'s reign, lie buried in this church.
In the will of William Andrewe, of this parish, anno 1507, mention is made of our Ladie chapel, in the church-yard of the church of Estrie.
The eighteen stalls which were till lately in the chancel of the church, were for the use of the monks of the priory of Christ church, owners both of the manor and appropriation, when they came to pass any time at this place, as they frequently did, as well for a country retirement as to manage their concerns here; and for any other ecclesiastics, who might be present at divine service here, all such, in those times, sitting in the chancels of churches distinct from the laity.
The church of Eastry, with the chapels of Skrinkling and Worth annexed, was antiently appendant to the manor of Eastry, and was appropriated by archbishop Richard (successor to archbishop Becket) in the reign of king Henry II. to the almonry of the priory of Christ-church, but it did not continue long so, for archbishop Baldwin, (archbishop Richard's immediate successor), having quarrelled with the monks, on account of his intended college at Hackington, took this appropriation from them, and thus it remained as a rectory, at the archbishop's disposal, till the 39th year of king Edward III.'s reign, (fn. 10) when archbishop Simon Islip, with the king's licence, restored, united and annexed it again to the priory; but it appears, that in return for this grant, the archbishop had made over to him, by way of exchange, the advowsons of the churches of St. Dunstan, St. Pancrase, and All Saints in Bread-street, in London, all three belonging to the priory. After which, that is anno 8 Richard II. 1384, this church was valued among the revenues of the almonry of Christ-church, at the yearly value of 53l. 6s. 8d. and it continued afterwards in the same state in the possession of the monks, who managed it for the use of the almonry, during which time prior William Sellyng, who came to that office in Edward IV.'s reign, among other improvements on several estates belonging to his church, built a new dormitory at this parsonage for the monks resorting hither.
On the dissolution of the priory of Christ-church, in the 31st year of king Henry VIII.'s reign, this appropriation, with the advowson of the vicarage of the church of Eastry, was surrendered into the king's hands, where it staid but a small time, for he granted it in his 33d year, by his dotation charter, to his new founded dean and chapter of Canterbury, who are the present owners of this appropriation; but the advowson of the vicarage, notwithstanding it was granted with the appropriation, to the dean and chapter as above-mentioned, appears not long afterwards to have become parcel of the possessions of the see of Canterbury, where it continues at this time, his grace the archbishop being the present patron of it.
This parsonage is entitled to the great tithes of this parish and of Worth; there belong to it of glebe land in Eastry, Tilmanstone, and Worth, in all sixtynine acres.
THERE IS A SMALL MANOR belonging to it, called THE MANOR OF THE AMBRY, OR ALMONRY OF CHRIST-CHURCH, the quit-rents of which are very inconsiderable.
The parsonage-house is large and antient; in the old parlour window is a shield of arms, being those of Partheriche, impaling quarterly Line and Hamerton. The parsonage is of the annual rent of about 700l. The countess dowager of Guildford became entitled to the lease of this parsonage, by the will of her husband the earl of Guildford, and since her death the interest of it is become vested in her younger children.
As to the origin of a vicarage in this church, though there was one endowed in it by archbishop Peckham, in the 20th year of king Edward I. anno 1291, whilst this church continued in the archbishop's hands, yet I do not find that there was a vicar instituted in it, but that it remained as a rectory, till near three years after it had been restored to the priory of Christchurch, when, in the 42d year of king Edward III. a vicar was instituted in it, between whom and the prior and chapter of Canterbury, there was a composition concerning his portion, which he should have as an endowment of this vicarage; which composition was confirmed by archbishop Simon Langham that year; and next year there was an agreement entered into between the eleemosinary of Christ-church and the vicar, concerning the manse of this vicarage.
The vicarage of Eastry, with the chapel of Worth annexed, is valued in the king's books at 19l. 12s. 1d. and the yearly tenths at 1l. 19s. 2½d. In 1588 it was valued at sixty pounds. Communicants three hundred and thirty-five. In 1640 here were the like number of communicants, and it was valued at one hundred pounds.
The antient pension of 5l. 6s. 8d. formerly paid by the priory, is still paid to the vicar by the dean and chapter, and also an augmentation of 14l. 13s. 4d. yearly, by the lessee of the parsonage, by a convenant in his lease.
The vicarage-house is built close to the farm-yard of the parsonage; the land allotted to it is very trifling, not even sufficient for a tolerable garden; the foundations of the house are antient, and probably part of the original building when the vicarage was endowed in 1367.
¶There were two awards made in 1549 and 1550, on a controversy between the vicar of Eastry and the mayor, &c. of Sandwich, whether the scite of St. Bartholomew's hospital, near Sandwich, within that port and liberty, was subject to the payment of tithes to the vicar, as being within his parish. Both awards adjudged the legality of a payment, as due to the vicar; but the former award adjudged that the scite of the hospital was not, and the latter, that it was within the bounds of this parish. (fn. 12)
Dashed outside into the garden to get a shot of sunset on Wednesday. would have been better down on the beach
Bald Eagle Pair - Assateague Island National Seashore, Chincoteague, Virginia
I was contentedly watching a flock of 20 or 30 American Coot when a shadow came over and the flock dashed (literally ran across the water) as a Bald Eagle swooped down amongst them as they scrambled into the nearby reeds. Coot would normally dive under such circumstances, but they were too close to the shore, and diving was not a serviceable strategy in this case. Lucky for them the Eagle came up empty in spite of its seeming advantage.
The eagle then abandoned its attack and flew out a hundred yards where it landed to admire the coot from afar. The coot then warily came out from their cover and began feeding again while keeping a close eye on the eagle. Suddenly the coot scattered a second time as another eagle swooped down on them, but it too came up empty, flew over toward the first eagle, and landed a few feet from it. At that point, both eagles began screeching at each other and I began capturing images of them since I thought there was going to be a fight or possibly even an airborne battle, but to my surprise they simply stood their ground and screeched at each other. After about 5 or 10 minutes of this I eventually came to the conclusion that these two were no rivals, and this was most likely a domestic dispute with each eagle delivering a critique on the other's coot catching inadequacies. After a few more minutes of squawking they quieted down and stood on their little island watching the coot watch them. It was then that I realized they had derived a strategy during the course of their little discussion, and that strategy was to wait and attack the coot at dusk under cover of the approaching darkness. And sure enough, at dusk one of the eagles took flight in a direction leading away from the coot, flew a half mile out and then circled around the coot and landed in a Loblolly pine about 200 yards on the other side of them. Then after the eagle in the pine had been there about 10 minutes, the other eagle launched itself from its island resting place and made a direct attack on the coot causing them to scramble away from it, at which time the second eagle came directly at the fleeing coot making a kill dive at one of the last coot yet to reach cover. Luckily for the coot both eagles came up empty and the game was played out. Then after their "Hale Mary" plan proved to be a failure both eagles flew off to their roost, where I’m sure there was another “discussion” about whose fault is was that there was no diner that night!
This image is (or was at one time) one of my most popular images
click on the following link to see a slideshow of Dah Professor's Top 100 Images
FYI - Be sure to click on the following link to view two more pics in this series!
I received an unexpected gift last week. Not from anyone. Nor was it anything I can hold in my hand. I'm still on a high because of it.
Last Wednesday I played field hockey. For background I haven't played in 10+ years, having mostly only played as a junior. I haven't been able to run pain free for 5 years. Basically stopped running all together, sports or otherwise. My left knee aches to go up stairs everyday. My right has recently joined it. I ignore it for hiking, but it has negatively influenced how much I get out. Despite that, with an impulse email to the club I used to play for, Wednesday's scrimmage was set up.
Dug up an old stick. Purchased a new pair of cross-trainers for the turf field. I dragged Sam along and showed up on time. He and I played pass beforehand and I could move. Side to side movement and run. Well this is weird. Even sprinted a couple of times to test my legs out. Interesting.
The game started. I touched the ball and passed it. And I moved. And ran. There was no pain or restriction. I dashed up to be with the forwards. I sprinted back to help the defenders. I used and supported the wingers. I couldn't believe it. A kid in the candy store wouldn't be more excited. Anticipating the opposition's ball movement I was now able to sometimes dart in front and create a turnover. Turn upfield and start our own attack. My grin might of scared them!
The fullback asked my name and suggested I play centre-half. I thought he didn't appreciate my running around willy nilly. Turns out however that centre-half gets to play with forwards, help out on defence and support the wingers. Perfect! (note - I'd always played forward in every sport)
Not once did my knee twinge, pop and hurt. I don't understand it. I didn't dwell on it. I just reacted and played. The gift was a time capsule of my life 20 years ago. Pure joy.
Of course, I'm not 20 years younger. Similar to downing 3 quick helpings at Thanksgiving Dinner and suddenly realizing you've way past full, my hamstrings said, 'hold on crazy man, we haven't done this in a long long time'. Halftime came. I thanked them for the opportunity and left the game. It's been so long and I didn't want to come off with an injury.
They encouraged me to come back again next week and soon join a team. Perhaps I will. Certainly I am curious to try once more. To see if the gift returns.
This photo is taken from the western end of Panorama Ridge. Looking down over Garibaldi Lake. I'm heading there later today. All of these flowers will be covered in snow.
St Mary, Shotley, Suffolk
The Shotley Peninsula runs like a flame, or a tongue, between the Rivers Stour and Orwell as they sprawl lazily towards the sea. At Shotley Point, the two rivers meet before emptying into the grey North Sea, the great industrial expanse of Felixstowe Docks on the north bank dominating the scene, while prettier Harwich to the south busies itself looking purposeful. In summer, you can stand all day at Shotley Point watching. There is always something to see: the vast container ships bringing Chinese televisions and Vietnamese shoes, the ferries with their cargoes of sleepy Dutch and German motorists, small Arthur Ransomesque yachts speeding out of the Orwell with its marinas, a wherry of London bankers sipping Pimms in the sunshine, wondering where their next bonus is coming from...
In winter this is a wild place, the gales from the great German Ocean flattening the hedgerows, the windows of the Bristol Arms rattling in the gusts along the empty streets, the ghosts of HMS Ganges, the Royal Navy Training College, silent now above the mudflats when the tide is out. But this was once a busy place, full of the chatter of young sailors, and during the First World War it was a famous place. Today it has lost its way: it is still one of Suffolk's biggest villages, but its remoteness ill-serves the housing estates which sprawl back towards Erwarton and Chelmondiston. Shotley is a strange place.
The setting of this church is also most curious. It is further from the village it serves than any other Suffolk church. Erwarton parish church is closer to Shotley village than Shotley church is. St Mary stands in a tiny, tightly-packed hamlet in the low hills towards Chelmondiston. In fact, this was the original village. The place we now call Shotley was once an outlying fishing hamlet, Shotley Gate. You reach St Mary along one of two narrow lanes.
The stubby tower of the church hugs a later raised clerestory, quite out of keeping with each other. If I come here on a hot Summer's day, and climb the steep hill leading up to it, I am always reminded more of the Dordogne than of East Anglia. The graveyard is set on a steep hillside, the huge cranes of Trimley Dock towering precipitously beyond the river below. This graveyard is one of the most haunting in East Anglia, filled with the graves of mostly teenage lads sent out by HMS Ganges to die in accidents and wars. Some of their bodies were brought back for burial, but most often these are mere memorials to young boys lost deep beneath fathoms of filthy, icy water. You think of their happy laughter: climbing onto the bus to go to the pictures in Ipswich, or courting a local girl along one of the narrow, poppy-lined lanes. It is heartbreaking, particularly if you are a parent.
Unusually for Suffolk, the south door opens almost onto the street. You step into the light of a wide-aisled nave. The pleasantly cool whitewashed interior seems much larger than is possible from the outside. But the eye is irresistably drawn to one of the most extraordinary chancel arches in Suffolk, a great dark wood casement surmounted by a set of arms, offset slightly in the east wall. Beyond, the effect is startling, and rather wonderful. In 1745, the year of the Jacobite Rising, the chancel here was rebuilt in the style of a Classical City of London church, a striking counterpoint to the ancient Gothic space to the west. The black and white marbled floor leads to curved, three-sided rails surrounding a sweet little holy table, the decalogue boards flanked by Moses and Aaron behind. White light pours through high windows. Such rational elegance! There could be no greater statement of the power of Protestant triumphalism at that troubled time.
Stepping back westwards, the nave suddenly lifts high above the space you have just left, and is crowned above the clerestories by a gorgeous late 15th Century hammerbeam roof. The arcades stride away westwards, a simple classical casement in the tower arch reflecting back the mood of the chancel. High above are the arms of George II, contemporary with the rebuilding, and so they probably once hung above the chancel arch. And what a statement they would have made. Charles Stuart's attempted coup d'état of 1745 was a romantic fancy, and had no real chance of succeeding, any more than his grandfather James II was ever likely to have held onto his throne more than half a century earlier.
And perhaps things would not have turned out well if it had succeeded. The power of the protestant London merchant classes, which had formerly backed Cromwell, had also guaranteed the success of the Dutch William of Orange's takeover of the English throne in 1688. That power was now deeply invested in the Hanovers. The Church of England, the regular Army and the Royal Navy, those three constant and essential arms of government, reacted to the uprising by forging a consensus which would be the key to the imagination of the people, a notion of identity which would at last reinvent and create the British as a Nation. Nothing would bend it from its path now, and it would reach its apotheosis on the fields of Flanders and the Somme. But that was all in the future.
Meanwhile, in the rural backwaters, the Catholic aristocracy was little shaken by the events of '45. Perhaps they stirred, and perhaps they read their newspapers with a frisson. But after all, they were only just awakening from the long years of penal silence. Although the Old Religion was still technically outlawed, they were no longer persecuted, and many had begun to retake their place in the national hierarchy. It was a compromise, but an ordered and easy one.
But what of ordinary Catholics in England, Scotland and, most of all, Ireland? What of their hopes? They had been dashed along with the throne of James II at the Battle of the Boyne, and were now trampled with the troops of Charles Stuart into the blood-soaked fields of Culloden. No one had expected the Jacobites to succeed, but the fury with which the rebellion was put down had been startling. Those hopes would turn to a hurt, and it would echo uncomfortably for the emerging British State down the next two and a half centuries.
It's time to introduce a new series of vector assets: the crystal diagrams, volume one.
These two hundred assets (200) have been carefully drawn with the pen tool in Illustrator, sourced from old mineralogy/gemology books. They come in three versions:
- Stroked version (outline/dashed hidden lines if applicable)
- A compound shape version (outline/dashed hidden lines if applicable)
- A compound shape version (outline only)
These are perfect for many uses. Do you need a mystical piece of key art? We got you. Do you need a smaller ornament to complete a piece? We got you. Do you need to adjust the thickness of the line work to fit your current project's aesthetic? We got you. Do you need to add color to all/part of the crystal? We got you. Do you need sharp corners, bigger or smaller dashes? WE. GOT. YOU.
The line quality is clean and crisp. Each asset is available in various vector formats to fully take advantage of scalability. Applying your own library of aging/texturing/brush techniques to the assets is easy, and straight forward, thanks to their vector nature.
Have fun with them, and don't hesitate to share your work.
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- Two hundred (200) assets
- Available in a variety of vector formats for greater flexibility (Illustrator CC, CS6, CS3, EPS, PDF)
- 185 MB archive
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If you like the grit you see in the preview images, I'm happy to tell you that you can have it for your own projects! It comes from my vector noise textures, volume four, also available on Creative Market: crmrkt.com/dDmErV
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You should add your name to the Shop's mailing list at mailchi.mp/de8bed089b59/theshop. On the menu: new release sneak peeks, deals information, and other general updates from the factory floor. No spam, guaranteed.
I've just been in a funk ever since that spider bite dashed my hopes of being America's top 'hand model.'
I've had a lot of time to think and a whole bunch of freetime to try and get my agent to give me a call back or even answer my emails.
He told me that when I save up enough for that cheek reduction surgery that I might have a really good shot at getting a job with that Croatian Men's Fishing Wear line of clothes.
He said the company's on fire...
all the stylin' europeans apparently wanna look like Croatian fishermen.
It's a fashion thing.
'It's gonna be really big in 2013' Armando promised.
Of course I didn't tell him how much I needed the work since my debut line of casual and business clothing called 'The Chicago Man' flopped last month.
This could be the big break I've been waiting for.
I might even get to keep cable!
'You just gotta do something about those chubby cheeks of yours' Armando said.
'They're just too chubby.'
He reminded me that 'they're trying to sell fisherman's style clothing to men who wanna look rough and rugged... not to old ladies who'll go crazy tryin' to pinch your cheeks.'
'But these cheeks are my trademark man' I pointed out to Armando 'they got me that job with the denture adhesive people!'
'This isn't last years Fixodent campaign' he screamed 'think croatian fisherman gahdammit!'
'Isn't that the guy who sells fish sticks on tv' I asked... desperately trying to say anything that would impress him.
I've always tried to prove to people that I'm about more than just good looks.
'No... that's the fucking Gorton's Fisherman you idiot' he snarled.
I guess I didn't really impress him.
The fashion world can be so brutal and Armando wasn't done with me yet.
'And for gahd's sake trim those eyebrows' he yelled 'they're almost big enough to have their own freakin' zipcode!'
I looked at the phone in stunned silence... my feelings kinda hurt.
'Get rid of the cheeks and I can get you some work with the Croatians and don't call me anymore or I'll block you I swear to gahd' he joked as he slammed the phone down.
Now all I gotta do is find a plastic surgeon that can give me the cheeks of Sean Connery and I'll be set.
I've been practicing my 'air casting' all day and I'm gettin' pretty good.
Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada
There are rabbits everywhere and so many little cute ones... this one right in front of me and stayed until I was about 4 feet away before it dashed into the thicket.
The only Grade I listed parkland and gardens in South Yorkshire, Wentworth Castle Gardens is home to no fewer than 26 listed buildings and monuments, each of them with a different tale to tell. Stories of power, wealth and politics, family infighting, misery and hope can be found in the history of Wentworth Castle Gardens, and its monuments, statues and buildings help us truly understand its past.
The Wentworths were one of the most important families in Yorkshire. Long before the time of the English Civil War (1642–51), members of the Wentworth family held seats of power and influence in the area, building the imposing estate at Wentworth Woodhouse in South Yorkshire as their home.
When William Wentworth, the 2nd Earl of Strafford (1626–95) died childless, his nephew Thomas Wentworth (1672–1739) expected to inherit the family fortune and their grand home at Wentworth Woodhouse. His hopes were dashed when the fortune and Wentworth Woodhouse instead passed to his cousin, Thomas Watson.
Infuriated, Thomas Wentworth used his skills as a soldier and diplomat to plot revenge. Within a few years he had bought, extended and renamed his own house and estate, just six miles away from Wentworth Woodhouse, at the estate we now know as Wentworth Castle. In 1711 he even acquired the old family title, the Earldom of Strafford – all to outshine his ‘obnoxious relative.’
In 1714, the crown of England controversially passed from the Stuart royal line to the Hanoverians. This 1734 monument is dedicated to Anne, the last Stuart monarch, and is unique in an English garden. It’s an almost treasonous statement by Thomas Wentworth, and hints at what he thought of the regime change.
The geometric design of this maze-like garden was very fashionable when it was first created for Thomas Wentworth in 1713. But there’s a patriotic message here too: Thomas created the design to combine the crosses of St George and St Andrew, celebrating the union of Scotland and England in 1707. This union was a proud moment in Queen Anne’s reign, and so even after her death this garden stands as proof of his loyalty to her.
Although recognised as one of the UK's greatest 18th century landscaped estates, the house and gardens Thomas Wentworth had built are closely tied to the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
In 1713, he was instrumental in securing for Britain the lucrative monopoly to transport and sell enslaved people from African countries to the Spanish empire. The design of his grand house and garden was in part a celebration of his pride in this ‘achievement'.
Thomas also made direct profit from the trade, partly from shares he owned and partly through his marriage to Anne Johnson (c.1684–1754) whose family were deeply involved in the slave trade by building ships for the East India Company and working for the Royal African Company.
In 1711, Wentworth was appointed joint negotiator of the Treaty of Utrecht, which ended the long War of the Spanish Succession. As part of these negotiations, Britain gained the monopoly to supply enslaved people from African countries to the Spanish colonies in the Americas – known as the ‘Asiento.’
Wentworth considered the treaty a crowning achievement in his diplomatic career and something to be proudly represented in his house and gardens. This included a sundial, now in the conservatory, in the form of a kneeling African man – a legacy of the enslavement of Africans and the objectification of Black bodies in British and European art.
‘To the memory / of the Rt. Hon. / Lady Mary Wortley Montagu / who in the Year 1720 / Introduced Inoculation / of the Small Pox into / England from Turkey’.
An example of an extremely early memorial dedication to a non-royal woman was probably added to an older monument by Thomas’ son, William (1722–91). It's also known as the Sun Memorial.
Lady Mary Wortley-Montagu (1689-1762) was a poet and letter-writer, well known for her travel writing, including descriptions of Muslim women and their lives in the 18th century Ottoman Empire. Her life and work continues to fascinate and she is seen by many today as a proto-feminist and historic LGBT+ figure.
After seeing inoculation against smallpox practised in Constantinople (now Istanbul), she made British medical history by helping to make it fashionable in British high society during the 1720s. William Wentworth and his three sisters were all treated to protect them from the terrible disease.
It is not certain when the monument, which is a copy of an ancient obelisk in Rome, was first erected. It originally had a bronze disc on top which was rumoured to be angled to reflect the sunlight across to the Wentworth Woodhouse estate. Could this be another example of family rivalry on show? It has also been suggested that the name is also an 18th century pun on ‘sun’ and ‘son.’
In 1744, William Wentworth dedicated this grand column to his late father in law, the 2nd Duke of Argyll. Shortly before his death, the Duke had been punished for opposing the government's harsh anti-Jacobite policies in Scotland. This column dedicated to his memory is topped with a statue of Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom and war, who faces south to London. Was William making a subtle political comment with this monument?
St Mary, Shotley, Suffolk
The Shotley Peninsula runs like a flame, or a tongue, between the Rivers Stour and Orwell as they sprawl lazily towards the sea. At Shotley Point, the two rivers meet before emptying into the grey North Sea, the great industrial expanse of Felixstowe Docks on the north bank dominating the scene, while prettier Harwich to the south busies itself looking purposeful. In summer, you can stand all day at Shotley Point watching. There is always something to see: the vast container ships bringing Chinese televisions and Vietnamese shoes, the ferries with their cargoes of sleepy Dutch and German motorists, small Arthur Ransomesque yachts speeding out of the Orwell with its marinas, a wherry of London bankers sipping Pimms in the sunshine, wondering where their next bonus is coming from...
In winter this is a wild place, the gales from the great German Ocean flattening the hedgerows, the windows of the Bristol Arms rattling in the gusts along the empty streets, the ghosts of HMS Ganges, the Royal Navy Training College, silent now above the mudflats when the tide is out. But this was once a busy place, full of the chatter of young sailors, and during the First World War it was a famous place. Today it has lost its way: it is still one of Suffolk's biggest villages, but its remoteness ill-serves the housing estates which sprawl back towards Erwarton and Chelmondiston. Shotley is a strange place.
The setting of this church is also most curious. It is further from the village it serves than any other Suffolk church. Erwarton parish church is closer to Shotley village than Shotley church is. St Mary stands in a tiny, tightly-packed hamlet in the low hills towards Chelmondiston. In fact, this was the original village. The place we now call Shotley was once an outlying fishing hamlet, Shotley Gate. You reach St Mary along one of two narrow lanes.
The stubby tower of the church hugs a later raised clerestory, quite out of keeping with each other. If I come here on a hot Summer's day, and climb the steep hill leading up to it, I am always reminded more of the Dordogne than of East Anglia. The graveyard is set on a steep hillside, the huge cranes of Trimley Dock towering precipitously beyond the river below. This graveyard is one of the most haunting in East Anglia, filled with the graves of mostly teenage lads sent out by HMS Ganges to die in accidents and wars. Some of their bodies were brought back for burial, but most often these are mere memorials to young boys lost deep beneath fathoms of filthy, icy water. You think of their happy laughter: climbing onto the bus to go to the pictures in Ipswich, or courting a local girl along one of the narrow, poppy-lined lanes. It is heartbreaking, particularly if you are a parent.
Unusually for Suffolk, the south door opens almost onto the street. You step into the light of a wide-aisled nave. The pleasantly cool whitewashed interior seems much larger than is possible from the outside. But the eye is irresistably drawn to one of the most extraordinary chancel arches in Suffolk, a great dark wood casement surmounted by a set of arms, offset slightly in the east wall. Beyond, the effect is startling, and rather wonderful. In 1745, the year of the Jacobite Rising, the chancel here was rebuilt in the style of a Classical City of London church, a striking counterpoint to the ancient Gothic space to the west. The black and white marbled floor leads to curved, three-sided rails surrounding a sweet little holy table, the decalogue boards flanked by Moses and Aaron behind. White light pours through high windows. Such rational elegance! There could be no greater statement of the power of Protestant triumphalism at that troubled time.
Stepping back westwards, the nave suddenly lifts high above the space you have just left, and is crowned above the clerestories by a gorgeous late 15th Century hammerbeam roof. The arcades stride away westwards, a simple classical casement in the tower arch reflecting back the mood of the chancel. High above are the arms of George II, contemporary with the rebuilding, and so they probably once hung above the chancel arch. And what a statement they would have made. Charles Stuart's attempted coup d'état of 1745 was a romantic fancy, and had no real chance of succeeding, any more than his grandfather James II was ever likely to have held onto his throne more than half a century earlier.
And perhaps things would not have turned out well if it had succeeded. The power of the protestant London merchant classes, which had formerly backed Cromwell, had also guaranteed the success of the Dutch William of Orange's takeover of the English throne in 1688. That power was now deeply invested in the Hanovers. The Church of England, the regular Army and the Royal Navy, those three constant and essential arms of government, reacted to the uprising by forging a consensus which would be the key to the imagination of the people, a notion of identity which would at last reinvent and create the British as a Nation. Nothing would bend it from its path now, and it would reach its apotheosis on the fields of Flanders and the Somme. But that was all in the future.
Meanwhile, in the rural backwaters, the Catholic aristocracy was little shaken by the events of '45. Perhaps they stirred, and perhaps they read their newspapers with a frisson. But after all, they were only just awakening from the long years of penal silence. Although the Old Religion was still technically outlawed, they were no longer persecuted, and many had begun to retake their place in the national hierarchy. It was a compromise, but an ordered and easy one.
But what of ordinary Catholics in England, Scotland and, most of all, Ireland? What of their hopes? They had been dashed along with the throne of James II at the Battle of the Boyne, and were now trampled with the troops of Charles Stuart into the blood-soaked fields of Culloden. No one had expected the Jacobites to succeed, but the fury with which the rebellion was put down had been startling. Those hopes would turn to a hurt, and it would echo uncomfortably for the emerging British State down the next two and a half centuries.
There are lots of little red squirrels around, but this is the first time I've had a grey squirrel in my yard. I thought he was lovely and fun as he dashed around, checked everything out, and then tried to squish himself against a tree so I wouldn't find him. I haven't seen him since, but maybe he'll come to show off that gorgeous tail, again. It's a short series, even though Flickr doesn't seem to like those.
The Knot wading birds performed differently this morning. First, they roosted on the big west bank instead of the Islands & I have not seen that for a couple of years. Then, they must be hungry & left the roost 15-20 minutes earlier than usual after the high tide. I dashed out of the hide & they had realised no mud was exposed so flew around quite close to the shore. Right in front of the watchers on the sea bank, they must have had terrific views of the spectacle, but also meant I had some people in shot - not something I usually do!
Today was a classic example of setting out with certain hopes for what I wanted to achieve and having them dashed in multiple ways!
I wanted to drop by the Hoover buildings in Perivale and do a little revisit - I went there back in 2014 but wanted to grab something new with the tilt shift lens.
When I got there I found a builder working on the paving slabs directly in front of my intended viewpoint. Not only that, but there were a couple of women having an extended cigarette break on chairs also in the same area in front of the Canteen Building.
Not knowing how long they'd be I thought I'd walk round the block and see what else I could get. I tried a three-shot panorama of the main Hoover Building in all its super-wide glory, and a couple of close up shots, then went round to the Tesco side of the building but that was full of cars and shoppers. By the time I came back to the canteen building there was now a couple getting engagement photos taken in a session right in that same spot I had been trying to use for my image!
At that point I gave up the plan and started the journey back home. The photo I'm posting here is the one shot I managed to get when I first arrived, from a side-angle, vaguely using the hedge and shrubbery to hide the cigarette women and builders. Sometimes you have to know when to admit defeat!
100s of House Martin (Delichon urbicum) were around Cresswell village a few weeks back.
Youngsters hanging onto the pebble dashed walls hoping for a few final feeds before the long flight south begins
I keep thinking that I will some day get up early, go to some super-scenic location out in the country and take pictures of the glorious sunrise there.
Well, that's not going to happen. So this morning when I looked out here at home and saw a pretty good one, I just dashed outside, not fully clothed with no shoes, and took these 2 pictures, buildings and all. There you have it!
I dashed down to the park yesterday afternoon to try and get a few snowflake photos. Got an awful lot of blurry photos, but also maybe two or three that were just about sharp enough. This was the most complete snowflake that came out, but I wasn't sure about it on a black background. Not very Christmasy, so I'll keep a brighter shot of a slightly melted snowflake for a bit closer to Christmas. If you happen to think of it (you know, in between baking, cooking, shopping, wrapping, etc., etc., - yeah, right!), let me know which one you prefer. I just couldn't make up my mind which was my favourite of the two. It was slightly windy and, oh boy, does that make it harder to get anything that is so light and delicate in focus, LOL. I guess I should have taken my tiny, table-top tripod that I tend not to bother with any more. I loved it when I was trying to focus on a certain snowflake and another one with a completely different pattern, gently landed on it or nearby. What a magical world it was : )
I had such a lovely morning today - a Christmas get-together with a whole bunch of friends whom I hadn't seen for about a year and nine months!! My out-of-town botanizing trips are always on Fridays, so I've been unable to go these usual weekly get-togethers with friends. What a wonderfully warm, welcoming bunch of people they are - I'm very lucky to know these folks!
I have to set my two alarm clocks and my kitchen timer for around 3:50 tomorrow morning - i.e. not all that much later than I normally get to bed! - as I have to be halfway across the city for 6:30 a.m., ready for travelling westwards with a few friends to do the Christmas Bird Count in Canmore (near Banff). Just hope I don't sleep through my alarms! I think it was three years ago that it was -30C on this Canmore Count and five hours of walking in it was not exactly fun : ) No bird photos, but I got some beautiful icicle shots, ha. The 2010 count is the National Audubon Society's 111th annual Christmas Bird Count! Sunday is the Calgary Christmas Bird Count, so it will be another early start.
The Mt. Wilson observatory, located on the outskirts of Los Angeles, California, is one of the very special places in the history of Science. Here, in the 1920s, Edwin Hubble made astronomical observations that led him to discover the concept of the Galaxy. He also discovered that the Universe is expanding. Today, these ideas seem like something that would be found on Page 1 in an introductory textbook on Astronomy, but in Hubble's time they were both revolutionary and controversial.
The photo is dominated by light pollution originating in eastern Los Angles County, San Bernardino County, Riverside County, and Orange County. The dashed lines are lights from aircraft circling the nearby Ontario Airport. The observatory dome is bathed in the light of a quarter Moon.
Presently, the observatory has limited use for nighttime viewing due to light generated by nearly 15 million human inhabitants. There is, however, a separate observatory with a helioscope that is still used for solar research.
EJE 671, which was always one of the best looking 38's near the end, was of course, repainted not too long after this photo. Had all "The J" features, dashed yellow and white sill, silver trucks, and a good Leslie horn. Guess it was cool while it lasted.
Gary, IN.
04-23-15
Truro Cornwall. Night flying was cancelled so I dashed over to Truro to try out the, then, new Kodacolour ASA1000 film I had just managed to get.
The calm after the storm. Hardly a storm but a weird two minutes of light snowfall in a period of three weeks without any daytime rain in Cornwall. My early morning hopes were rapidly dashed as within minutes the icing sugar sprinkling on the roads and rooftops was gone.
St Mary, Shotley, Suffolk
The Shotley Peninsula runs like a flame, or a tongue, between the Rivers Stour and Orwell as they sprawl lazily towards the sea. At Shotley Point, the two rivers meet before emptying into the grey North Sea, the great industrial expanse of Felixstowe Docks on the north bank dominating the scene, while prettier Harwich to the south busies itself looking purposeful. In summer, you can stand all day at Shotley Point watching. There is always something to see: the vast container ships bringing Chinese televisions and Vietnamese shoes, the ferries with their cargoes of sleepy Dutch and German motorists, small Arthur Ransomesque yachts speeding out of the Orwell with its marinas, a wherry of London bankers sipping Pimms in the sunshine, wondering where their next bonus is coming from...
In winter this is a wild place, the gales from the great German Ocean flattening the hedgerows, the windows of the Bristol Arms rattling in the gusts along the empty streets, the ghosts of HMS Ganges, the Royal Navy Training College, silent now above the mudflats when the tide is out. But this was once a busy place, full of the chatter of young sailors, and during the First World War it was a famous place. Today it has lost its way: it is still one of Suffolk's biggest villages, but its remoteness ill-serves the housing estates which sprawl back towards Erwarton and Chelmondiston. Shotley is a strange place.
The setting of this church is also most curious. It is further from the village it serves than any other Suffolk church. Erwarton parish church is closer to Shotley village than Shotley church is. St Mary stands in a tiny, tightly-packed hamlet in the low hills towards Chelmondiston. In fact, this was the original village. The place we now call Shotley was once an outlying fishing hamlet, Shotley Gate. You reach St Mary along one of two narrow lanes.
The stubby tower of the church hugs a later raised clerestory, quite out of keeping with each other. If I come here on a hot Summer's day, and climb the steep hill leading up to it, I am always reminded more of the Dordogne than of East Anglia. The graveyard is set on a steep hillside, the huge cranes of Trimley Dock towering precipitously beyond the river below. This graveyard is one of the most haunting in East Anglia, filled with the graves of mostly teenage lads sent out by HMS Ganges to die in accidents and wars. Some of their bodies were brought back for burial, but most often these are mere memorials to young boys lost deep beneath fathoms of filthy, icy water. You think of their happy laughter: climbing onto the bus to go to the pictures in Ipswich, or courting a local girl along one of the narrow, poppy-lined lanes. It is heartbreaking, particularly if you are a parent.
Unusually for Suffolk, the south door opens almost onto the street. You step into the light of a wide-aisled nave. The pleasantly cool whitewashed interior seems much larger than is possible from the outside. But the eye is irresistably drawn to one of the most extraordinary chancel arches in Suffolk, a great dark wood casement surmounted by a set of arms, offset slightly in the east wall. Beyond, the effect is startling, and rather wonderful. In 1745, the year of the Jacobite Rising, the chancel here was rebuilt in the style of a Classical City of London church, a striking counterpoint to the ancient Gothic space to the west. The black and white marbled floor leads to curved, three-sided rails surrounding a sweet little holy table, the decalogue boards flanked by Moses and Aaron behind. White light pours through high windows. Such rational elegance! There could be no greater statement of the power of Protestant triumphalism at that troubled time.
Stepping back westwards, the nave suddenly lifts high above the space you have just left, and is crowned above the clerestories by a gorgeous late 15th Century hammerbeam roof. The arcades stride away westwards, a simple classical casement in the tower arch reflecting back the mood of the chancel. High above are the arms of George II, contemporary with the rebuilding, and so they probably once hung above the chancel arch. And what a statement they would have made. Charles Stuart's attempted coup d'état of 1745 was a romantic fancy, and had no real chance of succeeding, any more than his grandfather James II was ever likely to have held onto his throne more than half a century earlier.
And perhaps things would not have turned out well if it had succeeded. The power of the protestant London merchant classes, which had formerly backed Cromwell, had also guaranteed the success of the Dutch William of Orange's takeover of the English throne in 1688. That power was now deeply invested in the Hanovers. The Church of England, the regular Army and the Royal Navy, those three constant and essential arms of government, reacted to the uprising by forging a consensus which would be the key to the imagination of the people, a notion of identity which would at last reinvent and create the British as a Nation. Nothing would bend it from its path now, and it would reach its apotheosis on the fields of Flanders and the Somme. But that was all in the future.
Meanwhile, in the rural backwaters, the Catholic aristocracy was little shaken by the events of '45. Perhaps they stirred, and perhaps they read their newspapers with a frisson. But after all, they were only just awakening from the long years of penal silence. Although the Old Religion was still technically outlawed, they were no longer persecuted, and many had begun to retake their place in the national hierarchy. It was a compromise, but an ordered and easy one.
But what of ordinary Catholics in England, Scotland and, most of all, Ireland? What of their hopes? They had been dashed along with the throne of James II at the Battle of the Boyne, and were now trampled with the troops of Charles Stuart into the blood-soaked fields of Culloden. No one had expected the Jacobites to succeed, but the fury with which the rebellion was put down had been startling. Those hopes would turn to a hurt, and it would echo uncomfortably for the emerging British State down the next two and a half centuries.
...They’ll never get over this for their lifetime
All their wishes will be dashed upon those cliffs
so let’s be strong for you and me the night is opening
Our angels are falling and they will warm us
She asked right now right here
I’m feeling so (mad dear)
~Tori Amos
I was clearly spotted (no hiding as I dashed out in bare feet and pajamas, camera in hand) - but the deer were not particularly bothered by my presence.
And then the purple girl dashed off to the side, clapping her hands as the pink girl rushed in, striking a different pose.
"Beware of us that make no sound, that hide and seek and dash and leap!", Riddle shouted, also to the clapping beat.
Here is another Wisconsin winter memory. This was one of the last mornings in November of 2015. I was riding with my Mom to work when I was visiting. She's always so good about letting me make photos at inconvenient times! I jumped out of the car with my camera in hand and dashed to the railroad tracks to capture this moment quickly, so that I did not make my Mom late to work! This is to the memory of a beautiful cold wintry morning with my most wonderful Mom!
Protected by Full Copyright: Please do not use this image without my written permission in any way, doing so is a violation of federal law.
If you steal this photo, rest assured, you won't be pleased with the price you WILL pay for it, where copyright infringement can result in penalties of up to $150,000 per infringement (17 U.S.C. 504) and where criminal penalties include up to 10 years in prison. Maximum penalties will be sought for any copyright infringement of my work
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This photo was recently STOLEN and used for commercial and for profit purposes this person is SO Busted!!
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Thank you Don for your help with this photo!
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When I photographed this house, now a few years ago, I stood in the middle of the road to get this angle. As I was photographing an uneasy feeling came over me that someone was watching me. I dashed to my car where my husband was waiting for me. When I jumped in the car I told him that I felt like someone was watching me from inside the house and I wanted to leave in case the owners called the police. I had no idea that it might be the original owner that was watching me. lol Could it be that Joel T. Case, the architect that built this house and lived in it for some time decided to stay? ;-)
Note:
No shadow at all was added to the tower window. The shadow is present exactly as it is here in the original photo. I have added an enlarged crop of the tower window below for your review.
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Following is a history of Castle Largo, other grand homes on Federal Hill, as well as the owners of many of these homes that were entrepreneurs, inventors, philanthropists and indeed the builders of city of Bristol!!!
~~~Note: Scroll down to the comments to view photos of some of the homes that are located on Federal Hill and discussed in the following history~~~~
As stated, the architect of this home was Joel T. Case. He was likely the most prolific architect of the Federal Hill region of Bristol Connecticut of the time and certainly built many of the architectural (sp) jewels that adorn Federal Hill. Castle Largo is the most unique and interesting home that was built by Joel T. Case where he lived for a brief time. Bristol was known nationwide and likely worldwide as one of the largest clock manufacturing towns of this time. Many of the most prestigious of industrialists and entrepreneurs lived in genius architectural homes on Federal Hill. To name a few, the Walter Ingraham house, which can be found on my stream, was the home of the founder of the largest clock manufacturing company previously mentioned. The Dewitt Page mansion is also on Federal Hill. Moreover, employees of these entrepreneurs of the time were compensated so well for their work, that one of the grand homes on Federal Hill was owned by a bookkeeper of one of the manufacturing businesses. (To think, during this era, one could be a mere office worker that kept books, with no need for an accounting degree to handle the finances of these large businesses, and quite successfully indeed in order to afford a grand Victorian home in Bristol's exclusive neighborhood of the wealthy!!!!)
Dewitt Page was the second President of New Departure, that was mostly known for manufacturing G.M. Motors parts. However, another Bristol genius and entrepreneur, Rockwell was the founder of New Departure when he patented the ball bearing. Dewitt Page and Rockwell were rivals that always attempted to outdo each other. Rockwell donated many acres of land to what became Rockwell park in Bristol, along with a substantial amount of money to maintain it. Page in turn, donated a substantial portion of Federal Hill which in turn became Page Park. The two parks are beautiful treasures of Bristol that remain today. However, as it goes corrupt politicians have not only allowed the parks to fall into disrepair, far worse the former Mayor of Bristol used the Rockwell Park lagoon to use as fill for rubbish that was the result of a so called beautification project in Bristol. Ironically, Dewitt Page during his time saved the city of Bristol from bankruptcy by loaning the city of Bristol a substantial amount of money with the condition that the city appoint professional financial managers to secure the city's financial stability. As I recall, the entrepreneurs of this time also paid for Bristol Hospital, Bristol High School (also located on Federal Hill) many bridges and roads in the town, to name many community functions and necessities that these men fulfilled for the town of Bristol. An interesting fact is that Rockwell was removed from New Departure, as the President and Founder of his company by his brother-in-law Dewitt when Rockwell wanted to use capital from the company to finance his invention of the Yellow cab in NYC. Dewitt staunchly opposed this business venture and was successful in having Rockwell removed from the company.
Thus, it is my firm belief that it is a complete fallacy and we are flat out brainwashed to believe that we need government to fill these needs. It is sad that as a rule people in general, have little knowledge of history, even of their own towns, and in turn a very short memory of the fact that not so long ago, most of all that government steals taxpayers money for with a claim that it is essential for public needs like schools and roads were functions that entrepreneurs fulfilled in their communities... before government imposed huge government regulations and taxation on businesses????? ha ha But of course, it is self-serving for politicians to have control of this money that they did not earn to squander and waste, as well as give them great power where I feel most of them have ego issues to such a degree that many likely could be classified as Psychologically disturbed. Though, somehow American's don't question any of this, and they keep voting for the same failures time and time again.
I diverted of course... A few other entrepreneurs and mansions that remain on Federal Hill are Chimney Crest, and a neighboring grand mansion, one formerly owned by Wallace Barnes and the other by one of one of his brothers. Likewise, Wallace Barnes started with a very small manufacturing business and went on to become one of the largest spring manufacturers in the country. I actually worked for a time at Wallace Barnes as a teen. The seat belt was invented at Wallace Barnes in Bristol. I made gun parts for the Mossberg gun which was responsible for discharging the bullet and the contract was for the military; (as I was always told my quality of the part had to be PERFECT since if the bullet did not discharge a man's life would be lost in the military.) I made a part that was a release for a parachute, Ford cams that were an essential part for car brakes. parts for Phillips light bulbs and the list goes on and on. For much of the time I worked there I worked in a department called Aircraft that made parts for the military that were top secret.
Thus, the few great men that were inventors and manufacturers that I have mentioned who acquired great wealth during this era in history lived in the communities they prospered from and in turn donated essential needs to the community and the public at large in such a grand way. However, politicians have worked very aggressively to change America's great culture of opportunity with endless benefits to our lives, whey they have even gone so far as to almost obsessively publicly spew their propaganda that American's don't even want to do manufacturing jobs in this country~where men like Rockwell, Page, Dewitt, Ingraham, and of course Joel T. Case that built many of their homes many others who accomplished far more than any politician would even care too, must be rolling in their graves.
Of course, Joel T. Case that built many of their homes must be included in this list where by the way, I have found no record that Case was an educated architect, and surely did not hold any government licenses to build homes. On the contrary, through my research, some sources have stated that Case did not begin his career as an architect. He simply had a talent and genius for building homes. Today, government would completely shut down Case from doing business and likely throw him in jail if he continued to build the homes that he did without following extensive government mandates, no need to list of course the requirement for licenses, permits, inspections etc where today it would simply never be possible for the homes that Case built to come into existence.
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Henry David Thoreau, Walden: Or, Life in the Woods: We need the tonic of wildness...At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be indefinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us because unfathomable. We can never have enough of nature.
I shot this a couple of days ago from Wiseman's View in Linville Gorge. I had to wait for the fog to clear and the air was still heavy and not nearly as clear as I would have liked. I managed to clean it up pretty well in post.
On the way home I still had some time left so I decided to check out the Babel Tower trail. About 100 yards down the trail I heard a tremendous growl from what was obviously a bear. In a microsecond I decided I had seen enough of Linville Gorge for one day and dashed back to the car.
"Dreams of saving money by producing milk at home were dashed when the cows got together and each demanded their own room."
[ Caption Credit to NJBearCub1]
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Mootiplicity 3 is a response to my other photos, Many Kows and Mootiplicity 2.
I looked outside from the window at 8.15 this morning (how precise again!).
"Wow!!!! The tree branches are white!!!!!" ...and it took a few second to realise that they are covered with hoarfrost/ice. What happened next? Of course I dashed out into the garden with my camera (I should name it :-))) and took lots of shots.
I couldn't stand the cold so long, as I noticed I didn't wear gloves. So I went inside, checked the shots (oh, dear! lots of out of focus shots!!!!!), changed the lens (from 90mm macro to 60mm macro), wore my gloves, and dashed out again with BIG HOPE to catch at least few very nice shots :-)))
......Inside again......OMG......no, absolutely NO SHOTS good enough for the Flickr. Maybe this one is the best focused one. Perhaps I should start using a tripod more often......
BTW I managed to retrieve the saucepan from my icy pond :-) Inside the pan there was half an inch thick ice there though :-)))) Just let you know :-)
Explore No.182 : #14
Front Page No.12
SEX, PHYSICS
and
the EVOLUTION of MAN
by Michael Toke
@ MILK GLASS Co.
1247 Dundas Street West
June 21 - July 15
opening June 21, 7pm
SEX, PHYSICS and the EVOLUTION of MAN
I remember when I was a kid I went around "the townhouses" asking all the housewives if I could have the cardboard their new pantyhose were wrapped around; hot pressed and glossy on one side, dead flat on the other, rounded corners and perfect for drawing in this skipping dashed way with the new black marker I had discovered. These new EVOLUTION of MAN drawings remind me of the joy I had drawing when I was young and the hopeful wide eyed vision I had for the world and Canada. Canada a beacon of light and progress guiding the world into the future was written on my face. I don't see that look anymore or better to say I see people trying to keep an idea of that face, but glimpsed underneath I see contortions and ticks at the way the world is; an exasperated wince quickly covered up as if to reel in an escaping beast of disillusionment and disbelief.
These new drawings are on a painted fresco like surface, dead flat, skipped and dashed with archival ink they are meant to be studies for an envisioned visage of what we hide underneath our beautiful ones.
The EVOLUTION OF MAN series is accompanied by works from the 2001 "Visions of Photonic Love" exhibition and other related works about the emergence of light at the beginning of the universe and its connection with the orgasm. These works arose from interviewed discussions with physicist Dr. Howard K. C. Yee at the University of Toronto and the subsequent video "notes on a nameless film".
"an attempt to describe the indescribable boundary between the known and unknown universe through interview and visual obliteration; at certain levels of complexity all visualization degrades into mathematics" was written on the DVD sleeve.
This video was awarded "One of the Best Filmmakers Under 25 in Canada Award" which came with a $2500 prize and a trip to Ottawa to meet with the Governor General and Minister of Arts and Culture with 10 other so awarded filmmakers. It was to theirs and my great disappointment to inform them that I was 37 at the time. The exhibition that was derived from this video was originally showed at Edward Day Gallery and then expanded for the Scope Art Fair in New York. Only 4 of these black works remain from the original exhibitions with some studies, other related works and the instigating videos they form a lovely stage backdrop of lust wandering for meaning, reason and purpose in the universe. They were originally accompanied with the phrase:
"Out of the blackness emerged joyous information to wet our lips; but in cruelty its beauty only left us wanting for more as its image slowly faded away."
I believe to approach hard strange and elusive ideas you must use peripheral vision and Newtonian half measures; random cultivation is the path to expression and enlightenment.
www.facebook.com/events/442034675821289
This will be the location of a roundabout and new new road that will link Mountsorrel Lane with Loughborough Road - hence providing easy access to the A6 from Mountsorrel. The new road is financed by the house builder William Davis as part of their obligation for planning application for many, many new houses.
As a cycle user of this road I dread the future. The extra motorised traffic and navigating a roundabout on a hill that most cyclists crawl up. Still, nothing stays the same.
"When I was a girl this was all fields..."
What with some nice weather hitting us here in the uk last weekend I whipped off the BBQ cover ready to clean the grills down and noticed this little fella, stuck in a hole in the side table, he'd (I am assuming he) had some some reason decided to try and get through one of the holes, but had got stuck. I quickly dashed indoors and grabbed my Pro2, with newly acquired 60mm Macro and did the only thing I could, took photos.
After I had had my fill I did manage to release him, I gently pushed him back through and he flew away, much to the annoyance of my wife and daughter who declared it would now find someone to sting as it was clearly annoyed. I thought it was the least I could do as he'd been so patient as I messed about with camera settings. Ha ha.
Xpr0 2, 1/750 @ f/4, ISO 200, 60mm Macro
I was up very early this morning and had already uploaded some nice photos I took at my last visit to VINS. Then came the scratching at my window! I kid you NOT!! This little girl stands on her hind legs and scratches at my kitchen window like a Puppy dog!!
We have developed quite a competitive relationship over the last few days ---- me being the loser so far, but I am a Dark Horse, and determined not to give up! I WILL catch this little Cutie INSIDE my home --- but in the mean-time I am pretty much acting like a lunatic -- leaving the window open for periods of time that make me uncomfortably freezing. OK, not THAT long -- I am an avid environmentalist after all and don't believe in wasting energy -- plus I don't like being cold.
AND now she will sometimes actually sit still at the new feeder trays I set up right outside the window --- even when I come over and open the window right in front of her, like this morning's pic just below. But I swear she does enjoy teasing me --- and anytime she has dashed in & out, I have lost the game of "Catch Me If You Can" (with your camera)
Silly, fun, and totally entertaining throughout these dismal, ICY, hopefully almost over, Winter days!
I planted illusive dreams
Wielding castles in the air,
Harvesting dashed hopes
My world, a relic,
My hopes, unnavigated,
The deity of my dreams
A fantastic, float-some image
Nothing actualized
From my deluge of desire,
Couldn't cast a soul
With my far aspirations.
In my solitude
I have been playing with flames,
Left with cinders, in the end
- Songs of Tagore
The shot that nearly did not happen.
Broke the tool by dropping it on the ground, dashed home to fix it.
Very windy, but in the end did the shot.........
The beach looked like a Santa Claus convention when I first arrived but at 11 am hundreds dashed into the sea and it became a sea of red bobble hats.
With the changing of seasons comes the flocks of Juncos. This Slate-colored Junco dashed to a safe perch among the red-brown hues of this oak tree when I came along the path. Because northern Wisconsin falls on the border of their summer and winter ranges, we see a lot more of this common bird during migration as they gather into larger flocks for winter. The Juncos are ground feeders and fly to and from the ground to close cover in large groups. Taken in Tomahawk, Wisconsin. (Best viewed large.)