July 2021 Archives

Canary Wharf has put on its first Summer Lights festival this summer in order to attract people back into the area (and probably to sell off the flats that have been constructed as many signs are dotted around the site advertising flats for sale). For the past few years, Canary Wharf have replaced their week-long ice-sculpting festival with "Winter Lights", a light festival that takes place in January to bring light and colour into our lives. (The last of these light festivals was renamed "Connected By Light", and you can read about it and see links to past years' displays here:  Canary Wharf 'Connected By Light'.

The artwork is designed to shine during the daylight hours and will look their best when the sun is shining. The festival was launched on the first day of summer and will continue until the 21st of August, so you still have time to head over to Canary Wharf to see the artwork. I had the perfect day to visit it with sun. In addition to the temporary exhibit, the map for the event contains a few permanent artwork pieces that fit the bill as a bonus.

Tear by Richard Hudson

This chrome tea-shaped sculpture is a permanent sculpture at Canary Wharf and located near the Jubilee Line. It is highly reflective, so it encourages photographs in front of it.

Be the Best You Can Be by Yinka Ilori

Not part of the Summer Lights festival officially, this is marked on the map as a permanent exhibition. The fencing around the park is painted in bright colours with brightly-coloured picnic benches. This appears to mark out an area for street food and play with ping pong and basketball.

Shine Your Colours by Tine Bech Studio

This sculpture is created with different panes of colour and encourages the viewer to interact with it and to see themselves in the world of the different colours. The sculpture encourages photographs with friends.

Ocean Rise by Aphra Shemza

This sculpture is meant to represent the rising ocean with the wooden frame and colours representing waves. The artwork is meant to be enjoyed with audio and is accompanied by a soundscape that you need to connect to on your mobile phone by sound artist Mowgli.

Whirl by Helena Doyle x Tom Cherry & Temple

The sculpture placed above the benches is projected into a colourful pattern on the ground below, and the wind allows the pattern and colours to change. It is inspired by using the power of the wind.

Proudly Together by Rebecca Strickson

The rainbows represent the London Thames, and the message of "positively, powerfully, passionately" is relayed amongst the "proud" text and rainbows. The stairs contain the colours of the different groups and represent a sense of pride of London. This was not officially on the list of artworks, perhaps as it is so close to the one of the named ones, but I have included it because another one of the pride artworks is on the list.

Summer Cloud We Dream of You by Tine Bech Studio

A cloud-shaped reflective chrome sculpture is placed above ping pong tables. The artwork reflects the world around, including the viewer, and it is a symbol of dream.

Circle of Light Spectrum by toyStudio

This circle of colours is located around the fountain and represents the visual spectrum of colours, which create a rainbow. The colours are mapped out from sunrise to sunset, and the intensity of colour is down to angle of the viewer or of the sun. Nothing is prettier than a rainbow, but this was a difficult one to photograph as some of the colours will always be obscured.

Hymn to the Big Wheel by Liz West

This is an immersive sculpture where the viewer can enter a room of coloured panels and become a part of the sculpture. The colours distort shapes and create additional colours depending on light and shadow. The different shapes and colours encourge the viewer to play around the sculpture to see and to create different colours. The sunlight also creates the colours in the reflections on the ground. 

Skystation by Peter Newman

This circular object appears as if it has come from another world and landed at Canary Wharf. This sculpture doubles as seating. It's a permanent sculpture at Canary Wharf.

Captivated by Colour by Camille Walala

Adams Plaza Bridge is the location of a striking mural that spans the length of the bridge from ceiling to the sides. It is an experiment of colour and pattern, and the light also adds another dimension to the work. It is not part of the Summer Lights officially as it is a permanent artwork.

Hidden Garden by Hugh Turvey

X-ray imaging is used to reveal the texture and "bones" of the structure of plants. The images are placed in the Crossrail Roof Garden to be enjoyed amongst the various plants. The images highlight the fragility of nature.

Sun Pavilion by Morag Myerscloth

This brightly-coloured seating area encourages visitors to have a seat or to pose for photographs. The pavilion is surrounded by colourful benches and nooks for visitors to enjoy chat, food, and drink.

Scribbleform by Julian Wild

This red "scribble" sculpture is located near Montgomery Square, and it is a permanent sculpture.

Kilpi by toyStudio

The traditional Nordic Sami huts are the inspiration for this wooden sculpture that represents shelter in a basic form. The perforations in the archway of the artwork represent the constellations over Canary Wharf. The light enters them and is cast in the shadow on the ground. 

Out of the Cocoon by Amberlights

The sculpture is in the shape of a butterfly and contains seating around it, encouraging visitors to come up close to sit on it to see how the colours change. The sculpture can also be enjoyed from afar to see how the colours change at the different angles. The artwork represents hope and new life that emerges from darkness.

Round and Round by Martin Richman

These circular dials are located at different hights and placed inside the pond at Jubilee Park. The dials' moving parts help to reflect and refract light, and the movement is created based on the wind direction. The dials reflect the colours around them.

Kaleidoscope Prisms by Fiona Grady

Designed as a kaleidoscope, the patterns dance across the atrium glass. This artwork was created for Pride at Canary Wharf and uses the colours of Pride. I did visit it on a sunny afternoon, but the colours were very faint as they were being obscured by the trees, so I probably did not see this one at its best.

Readers of this blog may have seen my previous post about my visit to Alnwick Castle. Due to having to book well in advance and not knowing how long I would need at either place, I decided to book the castle and the garden on different days. The Alnwick Garden consists of 12 acres of garden and is home to the world's largest Tai Haku Cherry Orchard, a grand cascade with 120 water jets, and the Treehouse Restaurant (which I covered in Lunch at The Treehouse in Alnwick). There is also a Poison Garden, crazy golf, a walled garden, and a rose garden. The garden was restored in 1997 and opened to the public in 2001.

The entrance to the gardens is at the atrium, and this is where the shop and cafe are located. As soon as you enter, you are greeted by the enormous fountain that cascades down the hill with "fountain shows" every half-hour. The focus point of the gardens is certainly this fountain.

Visitors can walk through a maze of bamboo. The bamboo grows, creating tunnels to walk through.

The rose garden was my favourite area of the gardens and smelled beautiful. I visited in mid-July, and the roses were having their last hurrah; some of them were brown, but others were in their prime. I think the dead ones should have been removed to enhance their appearance for longer. The centrepiece is a fox sculpture.

I was able to watch one of the fountain displays. There are jets at the top of the fountain, and these turn on before the bottom-most fountain is on. It is quite noisy if you're standing next to it. 

There is also an area of smaller fountains to be seen hidden amongst hedges, each one a little private area to interact with the fountain. They were all unique.

On the wall up the hill to the walled garden, there was a bench that promised "magic" if you sit on it and hold the hand of the other person. It was meant to sing, but it actually did not work when I tried it. There was another sculpture as well, adding some interest to an otherwise empty area.

The grand cascade is flanked with large hedgerows that actually have walkways in the middle of them, leading from the bottom of the hill to the top on other side of the fountain. From the middle entrance of the walled garden, there is an amazing view over the gardens.

The walled garden is a nice area with fountains, sculptures, and different types of plants in different beds. Sometimes you do not know what to expect around the next corner. The dominating plant when I visited in mid-July were the blue Delphiniums, and wizard hats were hung around the ornamental garden to complement them.

I was able to watch the fountain show at the top of the cascade after wandering around the walled garden.

Then, I walked back down via the hedgerows on either side of the fountain. I wanted to go into the Posion Garden, but it closes for an hour or so over lunch, unforuntately. I decided to go to the cafe before it got busier. It was just coming up to mid-day, and I was just starting my way back from the Poison Garden when I spotted a large group of ducks and ducklings. They were making their way to the cafe.

The ducks obviously know that it's lunch time, and they walk up into the cafe area and beg for food or look for dropped crumbs. They are actually very noisy and get right under the chairs and look intentively at you to get food. They totally know what the deal is here, and they know what time they need to visit.

After lunch, I headed to the Poison Garden. The Poison Garden was opened in 2005 and is a gated garden because of the plants inside. The Poison Garden is the idea of the Duchess of Northumberland who wanted something a bit different at the gardens. There was some information on murderers who used plants to murder people, and there were a couple of guides in the gardens around to answer questions, but they were busy with other people. It was popular to visit after lunch.

After the garden, I went to play crazy golf. The Forgotten Garden Adventure Golf is a crazy golf course just outside The Alnwick Garden and next to the shop and an outdoor cafe. The holes all have a garden theme, such as a broken pot, bee hive, worm, and a large spider that moves and shoots water from its mouth.

That concludes my visit to The Alnwick Garden, but I have some tips. I would suggest arriving at the garden in the morning before it gets too busy. There are a lot of crowds later in the day. The cafe was another bit of a problem because I went to order lunch, but there was only one queue, and everyone was there to get a hot drink, and hot drinks take a long time to make per person. They really needed a separate queue for the food only, and it was not clear how to place the order as there are different stations serving different types of food but not enough staff for these stations. I would also visit the Poison Garden in the morning and not just after lunch as I assume that it's busiest then as it shuts for lunch.

The amount of time that you will spend at The Alnwick Garden will depend on how interested you are at gardens and gardening. For me, I do not have a great interest and do not know that much about gardens or plants, so a little over the morning (nearly four hours with lunch included) was sufficient for me to spend in the garden with additional time for the crazy golf and shop.

Craft Gin Club is a monthly subscription box featuring gin. Subscribers to the box will receive a full-sized bottle of gin each month plus mixers for the gin, snacks, and the monthly magainze "Ginned!". The "Ginned!" magazine contains product and feature information for the gin, several cocktail and food recipes that you can use with your gin, and more. July's box is American-themed to celebrate Independence Day and comes with a gin from North Carolina named Chemist American Gin. This gin won Double Gold at the Women's Wine and Spirits Awards in London and bronze at the American Craft Spirit Award in 2020. I was born in the states, and I loved my travels around North and South Carolina many years ago, so this box is a winner for me. I can't wait to get back there; I was meant to go last year, but I could not for the obvious reasons.

Chemist American Gin was distilled in North Carolina's Appalachian Mountains. It is a botanical gin with citrus, rose, spice and juniper.

Mulberry Creek Tonic Water and Bitter Lemon juice were two of the mixers included. They have been created by Craft Gin Club. The mixers have a reduced carbon footprint; they are made from local ingredients.

Bodega Bay Elderflower with Lemon & Mint is one of the other mixers in the July box. It is a hard seltzer (low alcohol) named after California's surfer coast at Bodega Bay. The elderflower with lemon and mint flavour is a herbal, citrus and slight floral flavour that is delicious with gin.

I am already familiar and often purchase Penn State pretzels, but I never go for the sour cream as I dislike the flavour. Unfortunately, I could not eat these as I really despise sour cream flavour. It will continue to be the salted or plain version only for me.

I am also already a fan of Devonshire's Luscombe Organic Drinks and often enjoy the Sicilian Lemonade flavour. They sell these at various National Trust properties, and I've also ordered them with afternoon tea. They are an organic drink that can be consumed on its own or as a mixer. 

A small packet of Copperpot Pecan & Maple fudge was also in the July box, and these were delicious cubes of fudge that did go well with a gin cocktail. I love the maple and pecan flavours, so this one was a winner for me. Copperpot's fudge is made in St. Ives in Cornwall by Orchard Valley Foods Group, and this flavour is a bespoke edition made for Craft Gin Club. I definitely think they should continue to sell this one.

Members also received a small packet of two different flavours of peanut butter by ManiLife: Deep Roast Smooth and Original Roast Smooth. The products are made using Argentinian peanuts, and they claim to be vegan and without sugar and palm oil. The magazine contains a recipe to use one in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and the other in a gin cocktail. (I'm not a fan of milky drinks as the cocktail recipe calls for, so I will be trying both in sandwiches.)

The Curators Smokey BBQ Almonds were the next snack in the July Craft Gin Club box. I enjoyed these a lot. I love BBQ flavour, and I love almonds, so this one was always going to be a winner for me. The Curators is a company run by two friends who travel the world to find ways to give snacks a twist, and they aim for healthy alternatives. The almonds are sourced from America, and nothing is more American than a smokey BBQ.

Peach Gin Iced Tea syrup was the special mixer of the month for the monthly cocktail, and the garnish this month was lime and blueberry slices to enjoy with the traditional gin and tonic.

This was a great box for me. I've not been able to try all of the cocktails and items yet, but I will be doing so as soon as I can catch up.

While in Alnwick, Northumberland recently, I was wowed away by a light lunch and cocktails at The Treehouse Restaurant. The restaurant is literally a giant "treehouse" built amongst the trees just outside the grounds of Alnwick Gardens. I literally felt like I was in Ewok Village on Endor from the "Star Wars" Return of the Jedi film. Inside the restaurant, visitors are surrounded by white fairy lights in a cozy wintery woodland feeling. All of the chairs and some of the other furniture are unique and crafted out of wood and and tree branches entwined.

The menus are seasonal and varied, and I arrived at the end of the lunch menu as it was the only time that I could get a booking while I was visiting the area. The menu items are inspired by the food of  Northumberland from farm to sea with vegetarian and vegan options available. The cocktails on the menu are input from the Duchess of Northumberland.

There is normally a viewing platform on the top of the restaurant, but this is currently shut...something about the hand rail falling off and it not being safe. Hopefully it will be repaired next time I visit.

I had two cocktails from the menu that was selected by the Duchess of Northumberland. "Delicious Jane" is a fruity and easy-going cocktail with orange and citrus flavours, and it was my favourite. I also tried the "Dirty Jane", which is a sparkling cocktail with summer fruits (blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries), and it had a stronger and tart taste.

I had the soup to eat, and the bloke had fish and chips. The soup was parsnip and radish.

I had the lemon posset for dessert as this is one of my favourite desserts, and it was delicious.

The service was a bit slow because there were some problems with the card machines, but they were apologetic. I did see a lot of poor reviews of the restaurant on review websites, but I did not experience anything negative other than the slow service to receive the drinks. I will definitely return.

I visited Cambridge at the beginning of July to see the new sculpture trail, "Cows of Cambridge", which aims to raise money for children's charity Break, Thameslink, and Cambridge Business Improvement District. The cows were meant to make their appearance last spring (2020), but this was delayed for the obvious reasons. I had been looking forward to visiting, and I had only been to Cambridge a couple of times on a fleeting visit, so I have never actually explored the city. I found the city friendly with a lot of culture and art; it had not only a student but a bohemian atmosphere about it. As an added bonus, I visited as the universities had their various graduation ceremonies, and the streets were full of graduates in their cap and gowns (as full as they could be with the restrictions at the moment). The only issue I had with the city was the long walk from the station to the centre, which looks not that far on a map, but my feet were dead by the end of the first day. 

"Buttercup" - Sally Adams

The sculpture trail is created by Wild in Art, and they are responsible for creating the majority of these sculpture trails. Why did they choose cows? Cambridge is known for its herds of red cattle that graze on the commons around the city. There are fourty large cow sculptures and 45 smaller ones around the city, but not all of them are centrally-located. That is almost 90 cow sculptures to locate! Each of them is unique and created by an artist or business in the Cambridge area.

"The Bovine Line" - Phil Daniels

The sculptures will be in place in the city until the 4th of September, and they will be available to see in one place from the 18th-19th of September before they are auctioned to raise the money for the charity. I suggest to visit this one, as it's a pleasant walk around the different areas of Cambridge with the chance to spend a couple of extra days visiting museums and other attractions that the city has to offer.

"Top Cow" - Rosalind Harrison and "Mooore Gin Please" - Laura-Kate Chapman

"Doodle Cow" - Anne-Marie Miller

"Honey" - Gina Gelder

"The Environmoontal Cow" - 10 Creative and Lana Hughes

"Around the City" - Sian Ellis

"Buttercup" - Sally Adams

"May-Belle" - Dario Fisher and "Dairy Curie" - Laura-Kate Chapman

"Etheridge" - Lucy Gough

"Hey Diddle Diddle" - Sally Adams

"MooMoo-a-Tron III" - Dinky Doors

"The Moooon" - Hannah Nelson

"Cowbridges" - Glynn Thomas RE

"Monty Rushmoo" - Jina Gelder

"Cowmono" - Jessica Perrin

"Four-Four-Moo" - Megan Heather Evans

"Wandering Lions" - Karis Youngman

"Moodle Yoodle" - Toni Woolley aka The Pink Hare

"STEM Cow" - Kelly Stanford

"Sir Isaac Mooton" - Donna Newman

"Messing About on the Cam" - Kathleen Smith

"Animal Farm" - Emma Graham

"Moss Cow" - Chris Pointon

Did I have a favourite sculpture? There were a couple that I did enjoy seeing. "Monty Rushmoo" was probably my favourite one in terms of the artistic style. My family raise cattle, so seeing a cow sculpture with different breeds of cow on it was interesting. "The Environmoontal Cow" was cool because it had a patch of straw in front of it. I also really enjoyed "Doodle Cow" with its facts about cattle, which I relayed to my parents. "The Bovine Line" one in front of the train station was nicely-painted as well. 

A week ago, I found myself in Cambridge and went to search for the miniature doors located across the city. Dinky Doors is what they are called, and they are spread throughout the city centre and further afield. There are currently ten of them to see, but one is outside of Cambridge, but I did not get to see that one. The miniature doors are found in unexpected places and are meant to bring surprise and delight to those that uncover them.

The fotodinkymat was meant to be a small photo booth, but it appears to have been crushed or melted.

The octospa features a lighthouse with a beach scene and is complete with octopus emerging from the little traffic island. The eight slippers on the pier makes a nice touch.

Emailerator is a miniature postbox located next to a full-sized postbox. The full-sized postbox has spikes on the roof of it and the smaller one mimics it. The door to the miniature is functional and reveals a miniature desk and chair inside when opened, which is a nice touch.

The DFO (Dinky Flying Object) can be found in front of the Technology Museum and features a miniature flying saucer that appears to have crash landed on a brick wall. It contains miniature items inside, such as a miniature "Earth A-Z" book.

The Wonder Emporium is a miniature shop filled with tiny items or "gifts from above", such as keys, lego man, game pieces, buttons, glue caps, thimbles, beads, and other items. The little shop even sells the items you can see online.

The teleport-a-matic is nestled between two full-sied telephone boxes. 

Downing Street in Cambridge is home to "10 and a Quarter Downing Street", and tenacles are appearing from inside the door.

The Reality Checkpoint is located in Parker's Piece on a lamp post, and the spinner item above the door is adjustable.

Love from Above features a gift box on a doorstep, and it is geared to try to help people overcome differences.

Ride and Park apparently glows in the dark, but I did not visit it at dark. There is a miniature sign around the corner of this piece too, pointing toward this door.

Locating all of these dinky doors was fun, and it's a nice way to see Cambridge and visit attractions along the way.

Segedunum is the first (or last) Roman fort located along Hadrian's Wall at Wallsend, Newcastle. The name of the fort is translated as "strong fort", and it is from two British words. The wall marked the northern-most boundary of Rome, and it was built around the year 120. The modern name "Wallsend" dates from 1085 when the wall could still be seen heading down to the river.

Over the centuries, the area here was used by the Roman army and then forgotten; it was then used for coal-mining and shipbuilding. The museum here at the location mentions the area's history in these areas with the most focus spent on the Roman fort. The below model ship of the Carpathia was built here, and it was a ship that recovered some survivors of the sunken Titanic.

A viewing tower at the museum allows viewers to see the area from above and to imagine what the fort was like. The river and location of the old dockyard can also be seen here, and a television screen in the viewing area shows how the area below evolved over the centuries.

The statue in front of the museum is a Roman centurion made of steel, and it marks the start or end of Hadrian's Wall. The statue is named "Sentius Tectonicus", and its name is from an inscription of a centurian who supervised a section of the wall near here; "Tectonicus" references architecture. The statue was added in 2017 to mark 30 years of Hadrian's Wall being a World Heritage Site.

At Segedunum, archeologists discovered walls and drainage for buildings where men and horses would have lived together. The front rooms contained drains for the urine of the horses, and three horses would have lived in one barrack with the three men at the back in heated areas.

During the escavations, they also found that certain areas of the wall needed to be rebuilt and that the wall was at least ten meters high; over time, some of the wall was buried over a meter down from the current ground level.

Before the Romans, there is evidence of the land in the area being used by local farmers and tribes of people. These people lived in roundhouses about a kilometer apart from each other, and there is evidence that the land where the fort was built was ready to be planted but confiscated by the Romans; there is evidence that other farmsteads were abandoned in the area north of the wall. Worked stone tools were discovered in the area, and the stone was reused over many years; some of the stone came from over 130km away. Some of these stone tools were found at the Roman fort and were likely items collected by Roman soldiers that had been discovered and saved as a souvenir.

The museum has a reconstructed area showing some of the rooms that would have existed at the fort and also has displays of items discovered.

The northern side of the wall contained a ditch that was over three meters deep, and on the other side of it, barriers of branches would have been laid out to create extra defenses. The wall would have taken at least six years to build but required re-building failed sections. Evidence of the repair and stone obtained from other locations can be seen. 

The Roman standards pictured were symbols of the fort and were guarded and protected at all costs.

The portable shrine was constructed so that the figure of the god or goddess could slot out and be replaced.

Various personal items, such as rings, were found as well as a paw-print of a cat's paw on a tile. This shows that cats were present in Britain in the early centuries and lived side by side with people. There is also another tile with a human print on it in the museum.

Soldiers would have had board games to play in their free time.

The below pottery was found in the headquarters building.

The below necklace has colourful beads.

A latrine is made of stone with holes for the waste to go into.

After looking around the museum, visitors explore the ruins of the fort outside. A monument is dedicated to some of the names of the men who worked on constructing the wall.

There is a reconstructed bath house located next to the fort, but we could not enter it as the council have closed it as it needs some repair work.

The remains of the stable barracks can be seen below.

Drains are visible underneath the stonework of the officer's building.

Outside the fort and down closer to the river are the remains of the Roman baths. The bathhouse was constructed on top of, and it was escavated a few years ago. 

For additional Hadrian's Wall posts, see: 

Roman Ruins and what to see at Hadrian's Wall

London-based street artist Woskerski has been painting since 1997, but he's really only been painting London's walls for the past three or four years. His work is designed to bring a smile and often shows exaggerated expressions for portraits or comical situations and imagery. Recently, he has been painting around Shoreditch High Street and New Row. I always love to see his artwork, but it does tend to get tagged over fairly quickly.

A splatted fried egg appeared off Shoreditch High Street. It was around the time when we had some nice weather, so maybe the egg was fried to the wall.

A game of "tick tack toe" is located on Rivington Street in a gold frame.

A toilet plunger and yellow glove popping out of a drapery appeared on Rivington Street in a comical moment.

This contorted face with exaggerated features looks a bit like a troll, and it was located on Rivington Street.

Behind Brick Lane, this drinking man has unfortunately been tagged over, and I was unable to get a photograph due to the van parked in front of it.

This octopus with bright colours was located near Shoreditch High Street overground station.

Shoreditch High Street also hosted the black cat cut out of brown paper, which has an excellent dimensional aspect.

More street art by Woskerski in this blog can be seen below:

Woskerski Paints Toynbee Street for London Mural Festival
Most Recent Street Art by Woskerski
Street Art: Woskerski
Recent Spring 2018 Woskerski Street Art

A turret or milecastle was built every Roman mile (1.48km) along Hadrian's Wall, and the one at Denton Hall is named "7B". The turrets would have been two storeys high and looked over the wall at the land beyond for defense purposes to protect the northern-most border of the Roman empire. The wall would have been over 4 meters tall, and the northern side would have contained a ditch and earthworks (vallum) and then stacked with twisted branches to form an additional defense. The Denton area of Newcastle contains a stretch of wall foundations next to the road and bordering homes and the ruins of one of the turrets or milecastles. 

Below is the section of wall with the turret at the Denton Hall location.

The below section of wall borders the road, and it is located at Denton West.

For additional Hadrian's Wall posts, see: 

Roman Ruins and what to see at Hadrian's Wall

The Temple of Antenociticus is located in Newcastle along the ruins of the Hadrian's Wall that passed nearby. At present day Benwell, there was a civilian settlement, and this temple was located near it and outside the fort Condercum, which was located a few meters away. The temple worshipped the god Antenociticus. 

Nothing is known about this god and the religion today, and this is the only shrine dedicated to the god. It is most likely that Antenociticus could be a local god that was adopted by the Romans, and some of the soldiers in the fort or in the area around the fort would be local people under influence by the Romans.

The temple contained a life-sized statue of the god next to alters where offerings could be placed. The head of the statue has been discovered, and the style of the head is a blend of local and Roman artwork.

For additional Hadrian's Wall posts, see: 

Roman Ruins and what to see at Hadrian's Wall

Stoneacre is a timber-framed house set in the Kent countryside near Maidstone; it dates from the 1400s and is a great example of a Wealden Hall-House, similar to one I saw in the Weald and Downland Museum a couple years ago (The Weald and Downland Museum (Living Museum)). The house is a yeoman's house with a Great Hall and furnishings. The house was restored in 1920 by a follower of the Arts & Crafts movement who wanted it to be enjoyed for future generations.

Stoneacre was owned by the Ellys family whose relatives, and the oldest part of the house was built by them. The hall dates from the 1480s. It is likely the land was built on here to watch over nearby quarries, which is perhaps how the estate got its name. The house was in the family until the 1700s when they were forced to sell after supporting the wrong side in the Civil War. The house was owned by a series of farmer tenants and suffered in later years until 1920.

I visited during the pandemic, so not all of the rooms were open to visit and the gardens needed a little bit of care. The hall, parlour, and room upstairs (solar) were the only rooms open to visit. 

The curtains in the Parlour were discovered and in good shape to be re-hung in their original place; they date from the 1880s.

The stained glass was created by Vallance, the owner of Stoneacre who restored it. He was also a collector of medieval sculpture and woodwork and designed most of the stained glass in the house. After the renovation of the house was completed in 1928, the property was given to the National Trust for future generations to enjoy.

This is really a beautiful property and garden with lovely views. There is a short walk between the house and parking, and there are lovely hillside views with sheep and a fishing pond. 

Prudhoe Castle (named for "Proud Hill" above the river Tyne) was built in the 1200s to replace a timer castle structure that occupied the site from the early 1100s. It was owned by the Percy family and saw a lot of action on the Scottish-English border, but it is the only castle in the north to have prevented siege by the Scottish. Scottish King William failed to take the castle and had a fit of rage destroying trees and plants around the site. My visit to Prudhoe Castle was in August of 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic, and as a result, I was not able to tour the castle keep due to a one-way system and social distancing in place. However, I was able to walk through a couple of rooms with information about the history of the castle and found objects (mostly weaponry) in the cases.

The castle is surrounded by a moat. A Georgian house has been built on the site of earlier medieval structures. The chapel, which is located in a room up a staircase to the left of the gatehouse upon entering contains the earliest example of an oriel window in England.

The chapel with the window is pictured below.

I explored the exterior of the castle.

There were some structures dating from medieval times that have been toen down.

On one of the bricks in the castle, a prehistoric design was discovered.

After exploring what I could inside the inner and outer wards of the castle, I had a quick walk around the moat to look up at the castle.

Since the keep and possible other areas of the castle were shut due to coronavirus, I plan to return to explore the castle at a later date.

In early 2013, I first discovered Italian-born street artist ALO's first London murals near Brick Lane. The artist had become a firm favourite of mine since I saw these murals. Last year, a few new ALO murals appeared in east London, and this was followed up by some additional murals more recently. I never got around to uploading the photographs of these, so here they are. As far as I am aware, all of the murals are still available to see, though they probably do not look as fresh. I am not sure where I saw them all, but I will try to add the locations.

Kingsland Road became a prime spot for a couple of different murals by the artist last year, and the next two murals are located at the top of the road (not far from the canal).

I also discovered a couple of older murals that I don't think I had seen before.

A doorway on Brick Lane became a location for one of the murals.

This one below has been here on Brick Lane before.

Near Code Street, this colourful mural is hidden in a dirty corner of a doorway.

Another new mural, this one near the top of Shoreditch High Street at the corner of Hackney Road and Columbia Road, appeared last summer.

On the back of the wall of the same building, this is the largest mural that I have seen by ALO to date. Unfortunately, it backs onto some parking area, so I was unable to photograph it properly as there was a car parked right in front of it.

The below mural is near a pub on Shipton Street, a block away from Columbia Road.

And off Barnet Grove near Columbia Road is this very floral mural of a girl with flowery hair.

A similar style to others photographed, this mural features red with white polka dots and a blue background.

This one is off Brick Lane and features bright yellow, red, blue, and black colours.

I cannot remember where I captured the image below.

I also cannot remember where this wall is located, but I think it may be Broadway Market.

Newer murals that were painted this year by ALO contain women with printed shirts - Louisevi

A new area that was created in early 2021 is at the corner of Shoreditch High Street and Commercial Street and features several portraits of females with different styles. There are five in total, located at the ground of the building where it is boarded up, and I have included a close-up of each one. These are the newest murals to date that I have seen by ALO.

I'll try not to get too far behind in my street art photos next time.

Additional work by ALO featured on this blog:

New Street Art in London by ALO
ALO paints new street art near Brick Lane
ALO returns to London and paints abstract portraits (2015)
ALO: 2013
'ALO Part 2'
'ALO part 3'
'ALO Part 4'

Binchester Roman Fort is located along the River Wear near Bishop Auckland in County Durham, England. The fort was large for its size and covered ten acres and probably housed more than one calvary unit. One of the calvary units was from Spain, who were regarded for their equestrian skills, and the other was thought to have been from the Netherlands. The earlier fort (dating from about 80 AD) on site was actually about 17 acres with multiple units of soldiers, and it was decreased around 160 AD. The site was occupied after the end of the Roman Empire for 200-400 hundred years after that. The fort was on the road to Hadrian's Wall via York on the famous road Dere Street. Corbridge (Hadrian's Wall: A Visit to Corbridge Roman Town (Coria)) was the first town in the Hadrian's Wall area on this famous Roman street through Britain.

The commandant's house was the largest and most luxurious house on the site. These had private rooms and private baths, and it has been escavated along a section of the main road through the fort.

The site was discovered accidentally in the 1800s when a farmer's wagon's wheel fell into the hypocaust (build-up-flooring for the hot air to circulate) of the bathhouse. Unfortunately, a lot of the artefacts discovered were sold and passed into local circulation. Many Roman coins could be found in the fields around the area at the time and were a local legend. Unfortunately, all of the items were stolen and lost.

The bathhouse is the most interesting item at Binchester as it is well-preserved and covered to the elements. The different rooms can be seen, and there is information about each of these - the cold plunge rooms, the heated rooms, the lobby, etc.

In the concrete underneath the baths and at the bottom of the hypocaust are footprints, bringing the human touch into Binchester. The footprints took place when the baths were being built, and one is the print of a running child, and the other an adult who appears to reach out to grab the child to prevent him/her from messing up the wet concrete further.

A building near the bathhouse is a learning centre for children and has some interactive exhibitions. There are a few examples of  Roman tiles and building materials to see.

Artist RUN, whose real name is Giacomo Bufarini, is an Italian-born artist who started with grafitti and street art. When I passed by Parkside Pools and Gym in Cambridge the other week, I spotted one of RUN's murals and instantly recognised the work as his. His work is characterised by the illustrations of colourfully-drawn hands and figures. The artist is currently advertising the Fitzwilliam Museum's exhibition "Human Touch" and created a couple of murals for this exhibition. It has been several years since I have seen the artist's work created in London.

The pool and gym mural shows a series of hands in green, pink, and blue colours with miniature people in these colours sitting on top of or around the hands.

The second mural is at Jesus Green Lido at the top of Cambridge and bordering the river. This mural shows a row of human figures that are connected to each other by placement of their hand on the one in front of them. In the middle, two figures face each other palm-to-palm. Like the first mural, they are painted and illustated in bright colours but are placed against a dark background.

The exhibition explores "touch" in the human experience along with creativity and society. This is particularly important at the moment in the middle of the global pandemic. The artist has always been inspired to create hands as a form of communication.

For more murals from RUN on this blog, see:

New Street Art by RUN and the Rolling People
Street Art: RUN

I visited Great Chalfield Manor at the end of April on a pleasant and sunny day soon after museums were allowed to reopen again. (Since the full property was not completely reopen to the public during my visit, I have named this to be a lockdown edition since the experiences during this time will not be the same as a normal one and we are adhering to several ongoing impacts.) Great Chalfield Manor is a property that I enjoyed, and with the stunning views highlighted in my photographs below, I think that it is easy for others to appreciate its beauty.

Great Chalfield Manor and Gardens belongs to the National Trust. The manor house dates from the mid-1400s where it was built from clothier's fortunes. Unfortunately, photography inside the house was not permitted, and the only area open to visitors currently was the great hall. The house tours are guided tours only without ability to explore alone. The Great Chalfield Manor location also contains a parish church next door, and this was rebuilt at the same time as the manor house. The house was originally completely surrounded by a moat, but only parts of the moat exist today at the front and at the back of the property.

The period in which the house was built was the English Civil War, and the builder designed three secret windows overlooking various aspects of the Great Hall. These are disguised with masks; I believe that one was a donkey and one was a jester wearing a crown as a bit of satire of the times. The owner of the house could have easily overheard conversations of a sensitive nature at challenging social and political times.

Also in the Great Hall is the land owner's Cartuary, which is a medieval record for a landowner regarding the ownership and use of their land. It is a rare type of document to own and important to the history of the property.

The house was passed down through families and was altered in the 1830s. It was eventually used as a farmhouse, but it was purchased in the early 1900s by George Fuller MP and restored with a new garden design. The descendants live on site and manage the property for the National Trust, who they gifted Great Chalfield to in 1943.

All Saints Church is the name of the church next to the house. It dates from the 14th century and was rebuilt at the same time as the manor house. The church was first mentioned in the early 1300s. I went inside to take a look.

The gardens contain a group of four yew trees that have grown together and hollowed out to make a small area to walk through.

Great Chalfield Manor has been used as a filming location for several films, including The Other Boleyn Girl, Wolf Hall, and Poldark.

Great Chalfield Manor and Gardens are only open on certain days of the week, which is possibly due to the current restrictions. I found it to be a pleasant visit with nice views and a colourful garden.

French street artist Nerone is inspired by graphic design and bold colours, and I have seen the artist's work across London on several walls and do not always photograph them. The theme of the artist's work is typical floral designs and patterns along with geometric shapes in bright colours. I photographed the previous two pieces over the past several months, though they may have been there for awhile. The Kingsland Road piece is one of the largest that I have seen from the artist.

More artwork by Nerone on this blog can be seen here:

Nerone Paints Great Eastern Street
Street Artist: Nerone

London-based street artist Dan Kitchener is known for painting city night street scenes with neon lights and portraits of futuristic females or geishas from Asia. Last summer, the street artist painted the portrait titled "East London Geisha" featuring a female with flowers above her hair. The street artist returned this spring to update the artwork with vintage Japanese film posters. 

These "film posters" illustrations are located underneath the portrait.

For more work by Dan Kitchener (DANK) featured in this blog, please read the following links:

Dan Kitchener Paints "Midnight Drive" on Hanbury Street
Street art by Dan Kitchener in Summer 2020
Dan Kitchen Returns to Clifton Street with "Tokyo Graffiti" Mural
Latest Street Art by Dan Kitchener
Dan Kitchener Paints 'Ghost Cities' on Pedley Street
Dank Paints 'Ghost Cities - Bristol' for Upfest 2018
Dan Kitchener Paints "Meeting of Styles"
'Future Tokyo and Tokyo Ghosts'
Dank "London Rush"
Dan Kitchener's Street Art on Sclater Street and More
Street Art: Dan Kitchener
"Downtown" Mural by Dan Kitchener
Goswell Road

Elmer the Patchwork Elephant leads a sculpture trail in Maidstone, Kent this summer following a few similar trails around the country in the past couple of years. The sculpture trail aims to raise money for Heart of Kent Hospice. The trail is a collaboration between the hospice, Wild in Art, and other local businesses. The sculptures were put in place at the end of June and will remain in place to be enjoyed until the end of August. Each of the Elmer sculptures is sponsored by a local business, and there are fifty-one in total around the city centre and further afield. They are placed to enable visitors to discover new areas of Maidstone. Thirty smaller Elmer sculptures have been painted by local schools and youth organisations.

"Eleploral" - Jess Perrin

I found almost all of the elephants in one day except for the one located at Leeds Castle, and one of them had been damaged within the first week of the trail and needed to be repaired. It is difficult to pick a favourite, but one of my favourites was "Heart of the Garden", and "Flora" was also a favourite, but there were so many nice ones.

"Pink Fizz" - Esme Wells

"Elmer's Maidstone" - Elaine Gill

"Memory Balloons" - Jill Busby and "Magical Mystery Tour" - Emma Graham

"Eleplant" - Sally Adams

"Patchwork Elmer" - created by David McKee, painted by Michelle Turton

"Sunset Plains" - Adam Worton

"The Gentleman Explorer" - Reilly Creative

"The Amazing Elmerphant" - Everlyn Sinclair

"Steam Elmer" - Richard 'Squarecube' Jeferies

"Beside the Seaside" - Jane Mota

"HMS Dazzelmere" - Oliver Jordan

"Mymmyphant" - MrASingh and "Not Everything is Black and White" - Mik Richardson

"Never Forget" - Nathan Reed

"Flora" - Emma Graham

"Spotty Dotty" - Susan Webber

"Plot" - Jessican Goddard and "Just Bee Elmer" - Helen Alexander-Bristow

"Raining Cats & Dogs" - Traci Moss and "True to Type" - Emma Dove

"Love the Skin You're In" - Mik Richardson

"Heart of the Garden" - Lois Cordelia

"Gallagher" - Michelle Carpenter

"Lucy" - Emma Graham

"Strawberry Fields Forever" - Emma Graham

"Zebrelmer" by Hil Sanderson and "Nelly" - Denise McCoid

"Ele-vate, Encourage, Embrace" - Karen Hiscock-King

"Elemon" - Deven Bhurke

"Elmerfish" - Hil Sanderson 

"Elm" - Sally Adams

"Seasons of Life" - Lois Cordelia

"Zoo Park Shennanigans" - The Brown Studio and "Bruno Bisophant" - Bison Print

"Strawberry Deuce" - Megan Evans

"Olympiphant" - Anne-Marie Byrne and "Solace" - Emma Dove

The sculptures will be in place until just before the end of August, and there is also a chance to sign up in advance in order to see them all together in one place before they are auctioned off.

I have a treat today for you as I am sharing a review of two lunch visits to the restaurant Chick'n'Sours. Chick'n'Sours was an idea from the founders, who met at Latitude Festival in 2010, to sell chicken and sour cocktails. Chick'n'Sours is a chain, but the first one opened in Haggerston; there are additional ones in Shoreditch and Seven Dials. I visited the Seven Dials Chick'n'Sours restaurant for lunch first, and my second visit was a few weeks later at the Haggerston flagship location. First up is my Seven Dials visit. The seating area for this branch is located downstairs where there is also a bar set in an industrial setting. Vintage advertisement stamps line along some of the walls with neon and quirky prints.

I was seated in front of the bar and placed my order a few minutes later. First up, the cocktails. There are four cocktails and a couple of different mocktails on the menu. Each is a sour drink made to complement the taste of chicken. I had the "Chick'N'Club", which is made with gin, crème de mure, and raspberry.  

I ordered the Crispy Tenders with Seaweed Crack. These are made with boneless white meat and covered with a crispy and delicious batter. They are also served with a dip of choice. They are delicious, but I felt that they were slightly too dry or cooked a bit too long; they were not as juicy as I would have hoped.

The disco wings can be served with a choice of sauce or sauce-less. The sauce can be hot sauce or Kung Pao. The chicken wings are covered with crispy batter with a Kung Pao sauce and a beautiful flavour that works perfectly. These were delicious. The wings can be ordered in 6, 9, or 12 pieces. I ordered six pieces, and they threw in a couple of extras.

The next dish ordered was ond of the sides, and I did not know if I would like it. However, I decided to give them a try - the Bang Bang Cucumbers. These are cucumbers sliced and served with a sauce, peanuts, and chilli oil. These tasted delicious.

Besides the chicken tenders being slightly too dry and not really juicy, everything else was delicious, and I could not fault it. This will be a restaurant that I will visit again, and I did so a few weeks later when I visited their flagship location at Haggerston. The Haggerston branch is located alongside a large parade of shops and other eateries. Located on the ground floor with a couple of benches right outside, it is a brighter venue with an east London feeling. I ordered chicken tenders, and as I did not want the other sauces that came with the tenders, they offered me the hot spicy sauce and the Kung Pao sauce, which was my favourite. I also ordered the fries and a sour, The Tart. 

The Tart is made with bourbon, amaretto, and a tart cherry flavour. It is sprinkled with cacao on top of foam.

I enjoyed great service and delicious meals and drinks, so I am convinced that others will not be disappointed with this fried chicken and drinks venue.

Winchester Cathedral was built around the year 650 by the King of Wessex after converting to Christianity. It was known as Old Minster then. It was extended a couple of hundred years later to become part of a larger monastery complex, and it was once the most powerful religious centre in northern Europe. Wessex was the richest of the areas of Britain after the year 450 until 1066, and the area was founded by Anglo-Saxons. The bones of important individuals resided in the cathedral as well as a shrine. After the Romans left Winchester (Venta Belgarum), Winchester found its fortune.

The museum in Winchester Cathedral contains several items of interest, such as boxes where the bones of the ruling family were kept, including bones of one female thought to be queen Emma. She paved the way for Danish rule in 1066 and also established Winchester Cathedral. Other items included coins and parts of architecture, including St. Swithun's shrine. A remodelled face from a skull, thought to be the son of king William the Conqueror, is also present in the collection. The teenage son (Richard) died in a hunting accident in the New Forest, and his remains are thought to be the last royal remains held at the cathedral. Downstairs on the ground floor in the cathedral, there are three illustrated and decorative Bibles depicting colouful illustrations and hand-copied text.

One of the other items in the museum is the Alfred Jewel. Alfred sent translations of text throughout the kingdom, and various pointers to help you follow what you are reading were included. This piece may be one of these pointers, which was attached to a rod.

Mary and child formed part of a curtain that would have been painted in bright colours and in gold.

St. Swithun is Winchester's saint and the bishop of Winchester in the mid-800s, and he was attributed with several miracles during his life. A shrine of his bones was located at the alter in the cathedral and then entombed inside a marble shrine. St. Swithun's shrine was destroyed by Henry VIII in 1538, and the bones were removed. Fragments of the shrine are included in the museum. The location of the shrine is below.

Jane Austen was buried in Winchester Cathedral in 1817, and the cathedral is used as a filming location.

The crypt can be toured in the summer months when it is dry. It floods a lot, and on the day that I visited, it was starting to flood. The crypt contains a famous statue by Anthony Gormley called Sound II. When the cathedral floods, the reflection with this statue looks picturesque.

I have previously visited Winchester Castle before, so this was not my first visit. However, I think I missed the museum before as I do not remember visiting it. This time, I received a ticket that will allow me to return for the next year, so I should be able to tour the crypt and complete a guided tour of the cathedral at some point.

Winchester City Mill is located in the city of Winchester along the River Itchen. The mill was mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086, but it was referenced prior to that. The site of the mill was occupied by a Roman mill, and they had diverted the course of the river, so there has been a mill on this site for around two-thousand years (or at least a thousand years if you discount the Roman activity or the time between). 

Some of the timber used in the mill has been dated from the 11th century. The mill was originally called Eastgate Mill until 1554 when it was given to Winchester by Queen Mary to compensate for expenses due to her wedding to Philip I of Spain. The mill was rebuilt in the mid-1700s, and the mill was used until the early 1900s. It was sold in 1928 to the National Trust for fear that it would be demolished, and it was used as a youth hostel until 2005. In 2004, the mill was restored and can mill flour by water once again; this is demonstrated during the weekends.

Visitors to the mill will appreciate a ten-minute video about the history and restoration of the mill. There is also a second-hand bookshop and a small shop and cafe. The interior of the mill contains information about it as well as a demonstration model and a doorway to the island outside the mill and another doorway to the basement where the mill is located.

Outside the mill is a small island surrounded by both branches of the river with water diverted underneath the mill. On my visit, it was very rainy. The river was very high, and the water was fast-flowing.

There are a couple of benches and tables out here for people to enjoy, though today was not a good day for this as it was very rainy. The island has wildflowers growing on it, and apparently otters currently live nearby and have been seen passing underneath the mill. There are also other wildlife that live here, which is surprising considering it is in the middle of a city. However, it does not feel like it is.

Down the stairs inside the mill, visitors can see the water wheel and flor production. A bridge across the running water shows how fast the water flows. 

The water wheel pictured below is amongst the oldest known timber in the mill, and it has been preserved as an exhibit.

I only had a fleeting moment at the city mill because of the bad weather, but it is a nice place to visit. I think it would be more appreciative during a dry day. The water flowing through it at such a speed and having to walk across the bridge was a little frightening.

The city of Winchester's businesses have put together a trail of thirty otter sculptures decorated as key workers. The otter sculptures were available to see in shop windows throughout the city from the end of May until the end of June. The otters are dressed up as key workers, such as police, nurses, doctors, teachers, grocery store staff, military, waste workers, construction workers, and more. I saw a few of the sculptures, but they are often difficult to spot in the shop windows.

The otters will be auctioned off online after the event, and the hope is to raise funds for Winchester Hospice.

The sculptures were located throughout Winchester, and you just had to keep your eyes open and look in the shop windows for a chance to spot them.

I am looking forward to next June when Winchester will host the "Hares of Hampshire" sculpture trail from "Wild in Art".