"All art can have the power of poetic revelation about the material world - it can reveal the ensoulment of the universe." - Hugh Conway Morris
Image Of The Week
On My Photo Stories Site
People Like Us
It is in our churches, especially, where I’m taken aback at the numerous feats of artistry and skill. When viewed as a collective they hold the authentic story of generations of communities for over a thousand years. This millennium spanning, church adorning, human endeavour has touched every corner of our land. But what of that? [more]>>>
From The Shop
Emily Peach on Twitter: "Wonderful photos! We have this one of yours framed in our hall. Thank you!… "
📸 What a joy it is to know that others are enjoying the places I have photographed.
Beverley Dawn From Westwood Common Digital Print Large – Photo Wellness
Own this digital print and plug into the stillness and peace of dawn over Westwood Common every day. It took me ten years to take this image. [more]>>>
From The Blog
Iphone Shots: A bit of Lancashire Vernacular. | Sideclick
📸 Came across this lively little vernacular accent of access cockled to the wall of the Grade II listed Hark to Bounty public house in Slaidburn, Lancashire. What I love about our vernacular buildings is the jocular, playful nature of the facades: not a level line in sight. [more]>>>
Vanlife
📸 Finished off last week amongst the villages around the Trough of Bowland and then, this week, a trek down to the hidden hills behind Llangollen to photograph a barn conversion. Then a stopover in Builth Wells where I cooked a delicious Ramen. Woody then took me across the Severn Estuary, skirting around Bristol, into Somerset where I photographed a delightful medieval church for the CCT. Next day (after a stop over at Tredegar House) I bumped into Hereford, the Mappa Mundi and Grayson Perry, as you do. The trip back up the A49 via Ludlow and Leominster (and then up to Shrewsbury) is an absolute classic - better than a slog up the M5 and M6.
Or, in geological terms, my journey took me across the carboniferous coal measures of the Upper Palaeozoic, through the Bunter sandstone of the Triassic, then the slate, shale and sandstone of the Cambrian into the Oolitic limestone of the Jurassic. Time travel, eh?
Marshy's delicious Ramen Noodle Soup.
Ramen is one of the most wonderful hugs in a bowl for the winter months. Especially when the dark nights are closing in on the van. It was this pesky film that got me into it. Here's my take on this wonderful dish. Ingredients are for one.
Ingredients
1 individual portion of noodles (don't add any of the sachets that come with them)
500ml of vegetable stock.
2 tablespoons of miso paste
2 tablespoons of mirin
1 tablespoon of sesame oil
1 large clove garlic
1cm freshly chopped ginger
Pak Choi (small)
Carrot x1
Celery x 1
Spring Onions (to taste)
1 medium egg.
Soy Sauce.
When the stock is at boiling point in the pan add the sesame oil, miso, mirin and noodles.
In a flat frying pan gently fry the garlic, ginger, pak choi, carrot, celery and spring onions in sesame oil.
When the noodles are soft, I normally simmer down the stock, or empty a little out of the pan. The texture needs to be soupy. Then add the gently fried vegetables and mix in with two forks.
Break the egg into a cup and give it a short whisk with a fork.
Add the egg to the hot Ramen and mix through until it cooks through.
📸 It isn't all noodles and pak choi - my gas ran out at Tredegar House and I had to revert to culinary delights from Twinz in Newport.
Hotspots
All photographs shot on iPhone.
Slaidburn, Lancashire.
"So refined is our skill at detecting parallels to human beings in forms, textures and colours that we can interpret a character from the humblest shape. A line is eloquent enough. A straight example will signal someone stable and dull, a wavy one will appear foppish and calm, a jagged one angry and confused." - Alain De Botton.
Waddington, Lancashire.
Hereford, Herefordshire.
Arrived in Hereford in need of sustenance and the King Street Kitchen supplied me with the perfect coffee. Lovely people - happy atmosphere.
Hereford Cathedral
📸 Top Tip: To take the above shot - I put the iPhone onto the floor after setting the timer to 10 seconds.
The Mappa Mundi
The Presence of Absence.
📸 Not the Mappa Mundi, but something equally intriguing for me. The original frame that held it. It was found in a cupboard in 1989. The trees that make up the frame were felled between 1289 and 1311. The trees came from Monmouthshire, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire.
Imagine finding it in the cupboard and matching up the clues as to its purpose?
The nail holes that matched the circumference of the Mappa Mundi perfectly.
... and the central hole - which, quite possibly, held the point of the compass that scaled out the original map - the hole that represents Jerusalem.
The Chained Library
Contains the C8th Hereford Gospels. Each book is chain linked onto an iron rod attached to a lock. There is only one key.
The Vanity of Small Differences.
Hereford Museum and Art Gallery.
From the vanity of the Bishop's chantry to the vanity of small differences. Nothing much has changed. Delightfully refreshing. Pulls the status rug from under your feet and makes you question your own lifestyle.
On My Coffee Table
STRATA
📸 I've been walking past this book for months - every single one in cellophane. I bought it from Waterstones this week and lodged it in the van for evening reading. Sumptuously illustrated. A dive into the mind of a man that had a different take on our world and a dig into the terra firma of our island.
Brilliant Maps: An Atlas for Curious Minds – 100 New Ways to See the World – Brilliant Maps
📸 Did you know that Denmark has 65.9 heavy metal bands per 100,000 people? Something quirky to feed my map obsession.
How Do You Pronounce “Scone?” – Map of the UK and Ireland – Brilliant Maps
How do you pronounce the word scone? If you live in Scotland you almost certainly pronounce it in a way that rhymes with "gone", whereas if you live in Ireland you're far more likely to pronounce it so it rhymes with "cone." And in England and Wales, well let's just say it's complicated.
From The Charo's
A Book of Dovecotes by A. O. Cooke - 1920. Oxfam, Ilkley.
Bookmarked
A love letter to Kabul
📷 Just for a brief moment, close your eyes and imagine having to leave your home, perhaps forever. What memories would you take of the places you grew up in? What snapshots would reel back into your mind? I would think of the market at Bury, the hustle and bustle. Our market is a journey of the senses - in 5 minutes - I can travel from Gudjerati to Turkey and then on to Naples. What would your love letter be to your place? What photographs would you take for memories?
Check out the link below to some wonderful images and personal memories of Kabul.
Pavement Picasso: on the trail of London’s chewing gum artist | Street art | The Guardian
Since 2004, Ben Wilson has been turning thousands of blobs of discarded gum into miniature artworks that celebrate community and the lives of local people
Sounds
Alcoholic - song by Starsailor | Spotify
📸 It's that time of year. Driving through a strange twilight that's more of an atmosphere than a gradation of light. You know it's happening when the break lights of the traffic seem to glow beyond their plastic covers. Slowly the landscape disappears into the background and the highways become vast red and white arteries. Then its time for the self-inflicted melancholia of Starsailor.
BBC iPlayer - Into the Wind
Tim Dee walks the flatlands of The Wash on a quest to capture the sound of pure wind.
BBC Radio 3 - Slow Radio, Sounds of the Earth - October
Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds - from Portugal to Denmark.
Observations
Finials from this week.
St. Helen's, Waddington.
St. Andrew, Slaidburn.
And Finally...
The clipping will have to wait. (St. Mary, Hemington)
Thanks for alll your support and emails. See you next Friday.
Andy.
Member discussion