September 2021 Archives

The Farne Islands is an island off of the coast of Northumberland, England, and it is a popular place to see seals and nesting sea birds, such as puffins. The island is maintained by National Trust, and they manage visitors to the island. Boats from Seahouses harbour either sail around the island, or visitors can land on Staple Island to see the birds up close at certain times of the year. Boats only visit the island at certain times of the year due to the nesting birds. I visited the Farne Islands in mid-July and sailed with Billy Shiels boats.

The Farne Islands have 23 different species of birds and around 43,000 pairs of puffin. There are also about 2,000 seal pups born every year. A medieval chapel and Victorian lighthouse (which were not open during my visit) are also located on the island. The islands off the coast of Northumberland were popular medieval religious sites in Celtic Christianity. St. Cuthbert lived on the island in the 7th century.

After leaving Seahouses harbour, we circled some of the Farne Islands to locate seals. I could not hear what the boat speaker was saying, but it was identifying the types of birds and giving fatcs on them and the seals, but it wasn't loud enough to hear over the motor and waves. The whole journey to the Farne Islands and back took approximately four hours with an hour on Staple Island.

One island had several seals, and a couple of them decided to come into the water and swim closer to us.

We landed on Staple Island, and there is a wooden walkway around the island so that you can walk without disturbing the nesting birds or crushing their eggs. Visitors must keep to the paths and follow the rules to avoid stressing out the birds.

During my visit in mid-July, there were many baby chicks. The island was very loud with the sounds of birds, and it was also very smelly of bird.

I took several photographs of the different sea birds and their chicks. I am afraid that I am not good at identifying them, though, even though there were information boards on the island to identify the different types of bird. They all look the same to me, except for the puffins.

I did manage to see a couple of puffin chicks. The puffin parents make holes in the ground for their nests, and their chicks live in them until they are old enough to come out to take care of themselves. 

After the hour on the island, we boarded the boat, and we circled a few more islands before starting the journey back to Seahouses. As we were about to leave, the rain started to come down. For the last thirty minutes, the rain bucketed it down on the open-top boat. I got soaked.

Finally, we arrived back into the harbour. The name of the boat was St Cuthbert II, which I got a photograph of.

The visit to the Farne Islands was really good. I've never done anything like this before, and it was a really good visit. The weather on the island was actually ok, even though it was mostly cloudy. At least it stayed dry while on the island. Mid-July is also a nice time to visit, but early August may be better for seeing the baby puffins, which had not started to emerge from their ground hole nests just yet.

Sculpture in the City is held from May each year in the City of London and allows visitors, commuters, and employees to view various sculptures and artwork in the square mile as they go about their days. Sculpture in the City is in its tenth year this year after being cancelled last year, although many of the previous year's sculptures were extended for another year. The sculpture trail beings about well-known artists as well as new talent, and I always enjoy seeing the sculptures.

This year, there are nineteen new (and a few previous from past years) sculptures to see across the City of London. I visited them toward the end of July. Keep reading to see more about the sculptures.

Burial by Alice Channer

The artist was inspired to create these sculptures in appearance to horizontal bodies of humans in a burial. They are made from reclaimed steel from demolished London buildings and altered to appear like organic materials instead of steel. 

Silent Agitator by Ruth Ewan

This sculpture has historical meaning behind it as it was based on a 1917 illustration for the unions of worker's rights and the organisation of eight hour work days and the 5-day working week. The symbolism of the clock references work days and also references attempts to reclaim personal time, which I believe more people have a taste for after going through the past year or working from home or waiting to return to work.

Keeping Time by Isabella Martin

The banner is located on top of a building and reads "Days and nights crash over me like waves". The artwork is an ode to time-keeping and the measurement of time. The artist thought about a shell in a sea with the water washing over it over centuries.

Unititled by Tatiana Wolska

Recycled plastic bottles have been used to create the sculpture appearing to "climb" or crawl on the building. The light-weight material allows them to be suspended in a multitude of places.

symbols by Guillaume Vandame

The flags shown above Leadenhall Market are the flags of the different communities in the LGBT+ space. These symbols represent the community and rights of people to express who they are after some difficult years with the flag banned and the events of 2020 cancelled.

Unititled by Tatiana Wolska

Recycled plastic bottles have been used to create this sculpture hanging suspended above Leadenhall Market. The light-weight material allows them to be suspended in a multitude of places even though they appear large.

Orphans by Bram Ellens

These sculptures were created from canvases. These canvases were paintings that belonged to those who had died and left the artwork orphaned. The artwork was reused to create the sculptures and to give the canvases a new lease of life.

Bloom Paradise by Jun T. Lai

These sculptures were created to bring more positivity into the world after a difficult time. They depict flowers in bloom, though one of the appears to be a jester's hat to me, and they are meant to transport the viewer to a fantasy land. The flowers represent hope, sky, and life.

ReadHead Sunset Stack by Almuth Tebbenhoff

The sculpture represents a beautiful sunset stack made of coloured blocks. The blue represents the earth and the red the sun, and the orange and pink represent the colours of a sunset and the unknowns of the world. 

In Loving Memory by Oliver Bragg

These benches dotted around replicate the "in memory" benches that are common to cities and parks. However, these encapsulate the little memories that we have every day and our memories. There were a few of these dotted around the City of London to discover.

Reactivity by Regitze Engelsborg Karlsen

The artist wishes that the viewer would create new stories about the landscape for a new understanding of it. These blocks appeared like half-made human forms or sculptures or sculptures of humans that had been worn down and weathered over time.

Harlequin Four by Mark Handforth

This sculpture depicts a large number "4" with varying colours and lights. The artist uses the number a lot in his work, and this piece is constructed from metal in an ad-hoc manner.

Cosmos by Eva Rothschild

This sculpture is painted black on the outside but painted brighter gradient of colours on the inside. The structures support each other. The black appears like a gate with welcoming colours inside.

Murmurs of the Deep by Laura Arminda Kingsley

Microscopic organisms in an oceam setting inspired the artist to install these on the backs of the escalators at the Cheesegrator building.

Stone (Butch) by Rosanne Robertson

This sculpture focuses on the body or form of lesbian or transgender identities. It expresses a shifting and fluid piece and draws on nature.

Rough Neck Business by Mike Ballard

This cubesque sculpture is created from wooden hoardings that can be seen across London while construction work is taking place. The hoardings are from Dalston, Hackney Wick, and the Olympic Park, areas of London that have become more developed on in recent years.

The Garden of Floating Words by Elisa Artessero

These series of words form a poem coming out from the garden with words suspended on towers; at night, the words alone glow. The poem reads "you've gone touching leaves in the moonlight". This sculpture made its debut in 2019.

Metal Man - Deeper Together, Deep Travel Inc. NYC by Laure Prouvost

Sculptural and video elements come together to create this artwork and involve the viewer in a series of images and text on screens. The metal stick figures appear to bow to each other and instruct the user to take part.

Latent Space by Jake Elwes

This projected in Fen Court was meant to be on display throughout July, but it was not on when I visited it during the day. It is meant to encapulate a series of created photographs projected onto the ceiling of the building to show relationships using AI technology.

That wraps it up for this year's Sculpture in the City. Overall, I was disappointed with this year's Sculpture in the City as the pieces were not as good as in past years.

Previous years of London's Sculpture in the City (with exception to 2020 as it was cancelled) are included below:

• Sculpture in the City, 2020 (cancelled)
• Sculpture in the City, 2019
• Sculpture in the City, 2018
• Sculpture in the City, 2017
• Sculpture in the City 2016
• Sculpture in the City 2015
• Sculpture in the City 2014
• Sculpture in the City 2013

Dating from the 14th century, the timber-framed manor house in Herefordshire is surrounded by a moat and a unique-looking timber-framed gatehouse at the entrance. There are 1,000 acres to explore at Brockhampton, which has been owned by the National Trust since 1946. The site was also the location of the medieval village of Studmarsh, and a 2012 dig found a couple of foundations of buildings that may have made up part of the village.

A small orchard is located on the way to the manor house, and I found some ripe plums.

First, I went to the cafe to have a scone and tea before making my way to explore the house.

The gatehouse was built in the mid-1500s, roughly a century after the house. It was built to display wealth of the owners. Since then, it has been used to store animal traps, dog food, and was even a henhouse.

There isn't a clear indication of when the house itself was built, but it was documented in 1166. The current house seems to date from the early 1400s. There is a church outside the moat, which is now a ruin, and it dates from the 13th century. The area is thought to have been occupied much earlier.

The first room on the right side of the entrance hall is the Gentleman's study. It was designed to look lived in during the 1930s by the last owner, who worked in the military in Boer War and World War I. He gave the house to the National Trust since he was a bachelor and did not have a family to pass it on to.

In mid-1500s, the house was lived in by John Habington, who worked for Elizabeth I. After travels to europe, he converted to Catholicism and organised a plot to rescue Mary Queen of Scots and overthrow Elizabeth I. He was imprisoned for treason and his brother Edward was executed for their part. John was later involved in hiding priests and was part of the Gunpowder Plot, but survived execution again.

The Great Hall is a massive building to the left of the entrance hall. in the 1600s a floor was put above the Great Hall to create more bedrooms. The floor was removed in the later 1800s to bring back the original history of the house.

In 2020, the Habington hatchment (above the fireplace in photograph) fell mysteriously. It was discovered that bat urine was eroding some items, so the volunteers at Brockhampton need to wipe the surfaces down daily. The bats roost in the house during the day and fly around at night.

The bedroom below is known as the Isabella Barneby bedroom. In the 1680s, she married the man who inherited the Brockhampton estate. The four-poster bed was made in the mid-1600s from English oak. 

The house was occupied by farm workers from the mid-1700s.

Back downstairs is Alice's kitchen, the wife of one of the farm workers. She catered for shooting parties, which were held in the Great Hall.

The final room off the kitchen on the ground floor is a lounge set up as it would have been in 1952 for use by tenant farmers. Children toys, books, a type writer and desk are displayed as being a part of family life of a tenant farmer family.

Some of the house was locked down, so we could not see all of the rooms. There appeared to be some information about cider and mead in a room off of the kitchen.

The chapel is documented from 1283, but it is thought to be built around 1166. A timber building probably existed before the stone structure, and there is evidence that the exterior walls were white-washed. Unfortunately, it is ruins today.

The farm buildings contain some information about farming and a fire engine.

Brockhampton is a picturesque place. The moat, gatehouse, and the timber-framed buildings make a nice setting to enjoy, and it is easy to feel as though you have gone "back in time" in this setting.

WildInArt and charity Break have come together to create their newest sculpture trail in Norwich to coincide with the arrival of Dippy the Dinosaur in Norwich cathedral. The trail features T-Rex dinosaur sculptures and was launched at the end of June and were on the streets until mid-September. I visited the dinosaurs in early September. Although the dinosaurs are gone this year, they will return in 2022 with mammoths to create an even larger trail across Norfolk. The trail aims to raise money for charity Break. Below are several of the thirty large dinosaur sculptures that appeared across Norwich.

"T-Pot" - Deven Bhurke

"The Junkasaurus Rex" - Junkyard Market Crew

"Eyela the T.Spex" - Beverley Gene Coraldean

"Tyra-Norvy-Saurus" - Norwich School and "Do you think they saurus?" - Fiona Gowen and "Tigrasaurus" - Tory Allen and "Hawker" - Lisa Kirkham

"Lost Holmes" - Sally Adams

"Automotosaurus" - Joanne Botterill

"Afternoon Tea-Rex" - Mik Richardson and "Doctorsaurus" - Hilary Sanderson

"T-Pot" - Deven Bhurke

"Hulkasaurus" - Hilary Sanderson

"60 Million Years" - Mik Richardson

"Dino Hunter" - Sophie Li-Rocchi

"Lava Land" - Hannah Nelson

"Rex" - Sally Adams

I am looking forward to seeing the sculptures and their new friends next year.

Previous sculpture trails in Norwich are included below:

Go Go Gorillas! take over Norwich
GoGoHares! Hop Around Norwich and Norfolk
GoGoDragons! came to Norwich

Colourful gardens, walks through pasture and woods along the edges of ponds and rivers providing beautiful views, and an elegant mansion filled with items of historical importance await visitors to Coughton Court. Particularly, many of the items in the house are related to Catholicism. The National Trust has owned the house since 1946, but the family still live here today under a 300-year lease, so the house feels "lived in" as a family home and as a treasure of wonderful items and artwork.

Coughton Court is in the history books for its roles in the Thockmorton Plot in 1583 to murder Queen Elizabeth I and the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 to bring down Parliament. It was only discovered as being in the Gunpowder Plot after some of the conspirators decided to go there after the plot unfolded.

During the time of Henry VIII, Thockmorton sided with first wife Catherine of Aragon, and the house did contain at least one priest hole to hide priests away during the time when they were persecuted. Also, Parliament soldiers did burn one of the wings of the house during the Civil War, so the courtyard is no longer enclosed. With the family being on the wrong side of the monarchy for their Catholic views, I am surprised it has not had more damage.

The house is built in Tudor style, and the entrance today is the gatehouse, which is also the oldest part of the house. The Throckmorton family have lived at the house since the early 1400s. John de Thockmorton was a treasurer to Henry VI, and the house was inherited through his wife. The family were staunch Catholics; they kept a few items belonging to James II and the Jacobites to show their loyalty to the Catholic king. These include a glove and garter ribbon from James II and hair locks from the king, his wife, and their sons.

There is also a death mask to Queen Mary and a chemise that she is thought to have worn during her execution; Mary was the cousin of Queen Elizabeth I, but she was a Catholic and considered a threat to be destroyed.

This piece of fabric to be worn by a clery member is said to have been embroidered by Catherine of Aragon and her ladies-in-waiting. Catherine was the first wife of Henry VIII, and the ponegranate was an emblem of hers. The fine collection of silver belongs to the family and is also on display here.

I visited the house first, and the only rooms open to visitors due to the lockdown are the dining room, a parlour, and a small room off of the dining room that held a couple of illustrated manuscripts, the silver, and the embroidered fabric. Visitors walk through the main gatehouse where their details are taken, and the next room to enter is the dining room. These contained a few items of Catholic interest.

The next large room entered is a parlour area, and it is a large room that exits outside the courtyard.

The courtyard has a small fountain and flower beds. It would have been completely enclosed.

I had a short walk around, and it was a one-way system enforced that led through the fields along a river. A longer circular walk could be enjoyed here across a bridge. The main route followed one side of the river and went into woodland.

After a short wooded walk, an expansive pond lay between me and Coughton Court buildings. The views are fantastic.

The route then directed us into the walled gardens, and these were in bloom with so many different colours. As my visit was in mid-July, I managed to capture a glimpse of some of the later variety of rose along with the other summer flowers.

The walk led us out the other side of the walled garden with the pond and through a row of hedges and then eventually to another garden.

Glimpses of the garden can be seen through another gap in the wall, but this was an exit.

The other walled garden contains beds on both sides with a warm red, orange, and yellow theme on one side and a cool theme of blues, purples, and whites on the other side. There are views of the church.

The gardens were lovely, but I would have preferred more of the house to be open as I found it interesting, so I will return at some point once it has fully reopened.

A temporary giant mound made of steel scaffolding and covered in turf, trees, and plants was created at Marble Arch this year by Westminster in a bid to bring people back into central London after the worst of the pandemic of 2020. Dubbed the "Marble Arch Mound", the project required the public to purchase a ticket to climb the mound for "views over Hyde Park". The project was largely a disaster with the public as the reality did not meet expectations, and ticket-buyers were refunded. As a result of the lacklustre attraction, people can enter it for free until it is dismantled in January. An additional immersive light show is located inside the mound, and this only opened recently as it was delayed. In total, the cost of the attraction was about six million pounds.

Visitors can book a ticket, or they can walk up for free. I visited on a Friday mid-afternoon, and I was able to get right in. Security guards take your details, and another one checks your bags. The security guard did not like my little velvet "sack" of metal straws that I have carried around to use from the days of plastic straws. However, he eventually let me take them. No, they are not weapons, and they are not used for anything else recreational. My life is way too boring for that!

The mound itself is 25-meters high, and visitors reach the top by climbing a series of metal stairs, which you can see behind or underneath the structure while climbing.

From the top, there is information about some of the landmarks that can be seen from the top of the mound, but the mound itself is not really high enough to be able to see into Hyde Park. The trees on the border of Speaker's Corner are higher than the 25-meters. It's also not the correct angle to look down Oxford Street. However, visitors can see some of the buildings in the City, Park Avenue Hilton, and down upon Marble Arch.

After climbing down the structure, visitors enter the "immersive light show" inside the mound, which opened seven weeks later than planned. The Lightfield exhibit is by British artist Anthony James. The sculptures were meant to be displayed in a cafe, but this did not materialise. A Marks and Spencer food truck with "Percy Pig" photograph machine was also meant to be a part of the attraction from July, but this never materialised either. (The Marks and Spencer food truck is meant to arrive at the end of September.)

There are three rooms with different light installations. The first contained two spherical objects with mirrored infinity lights. On the back wall is a projection of infinity lights that change colour.

The second room contained several cubes laid out in a grid pattern. The cubes have pulsing lights that change between red, purple, blue, and white colours.

The last room contained an infinity portal that changed colour on the wall, and an additional infinity sculpture was included in the room. This one was shaped more like a monolith.

The Marble Arch Mound is free to visit, and visitors can now expect to see the light show at the end of their visit. Hopefully, a Marks and Spencers food truck will arrive to provide an additional part of the attraction. Overall, this mound has been dubbed London's worst attraction, so many have gone to see it for that reason alone.

After being replaced from the entrance to the National History Museum in London, Dippy the Dinosaur has gone on tour in the UK. Dippy is a Diplodocus dinosaur, and its last stop on tour is Norwich Cathedral where Dippy will be on display until the end of October. Thousands have seen the dinosaur skeleton in Norwich so far, and there are various art displays on the way, including drawings by school children of the dinosaur and work by local artists.

Dippy is located in the cathedral's central nave, and part of the cathedral is open for visitors to have a look around after seeing the dinosaur. I had a wander around and found the resident cathedral cat, Budge. Budge started coming into the cathedral from 2018 as his owners live in the close. He is said to have wandered in to the Good Friday service at the cathedral. He must really enjoy it as he spends a lot of time hanging out.

There are some nice views of the cathedral, and my favourite view has to be from path by the river. There are playing fields here, so a game was in full swing.

Visitors have time to see Dippy until the end of October, and the cathedral is open and free to visit during this time.

Sunday was open day at Eastcote House Gardens, a place that I came to enjoy and visited often during the third lockdown winter months. Sunday marked their open day and features a classic car show, various stalls with items for sale, a bake sale, information about the history of the now-demolished Eastcote House, a plant sale, a book sale, and ice cream truck. The cafe was also open, as it normally is. The dovecote door was open so visitors could look inside, but no one was allowed to enter, and the stables were open with some crafty items for sale and information about Eastcote House Gardens.

The car show is located at the grounds, close to where the demolished house used to stand. The footprint of the house has been laid out in the grass. The event started at 11:00, and by the time I arrived at 11:30, it was already very busy. Unfortunately, the weather was not the best. The day before had been beautiful with warmth and sunshine, but it sadly did not make an appearance today. In fact, the weather was dull and cloudy with rain.

The little kiosks set up in the grounds included plant bulbs for sale, flower clubs, knitting items for sale, and a bake sale with hot drinks and cakes on offer.

One of the little kiosks was selling the book that featured the postbox toppers in the area that I blogged about (Postboxes in Ruislip and Eastcote Have Been Yarnbombed: Postbox Toppers), and there are a few of them on display.

Jazzology provided some live jazz-vocal type music.

The stables or old barn is laid out like a great hall and is a large open plan. This is the first time that I have been inside, and it contained a few tables set up with cards and knitted items for sale, local history information for sale, and history of Eastcote House and Gardens. Objects discovered during various escavations from 2012 to 2017 were also on display, including several pieces of broken pipes, fragments of pottery from different periods, a piece of marble from a fireplace, roof tiles, and pieces of children's toys.

The dovecote door was open to look inside, but it was locked so visitors could only have a look in through a little window. There were a lot of items on display inside, but they could not be read or seen from the distance and angle.

I had a walk around the gardens as I've not been around them too often in the past couple of months. The gardens are still looking lovely with a display of early autumn or late summer flowers. Some winter or spring flowers and roses were starting to re-bloom, or perhaps the weather just hasn't been great this year that they never stopped blooming.

I've often seen the Pinner Flower Lovers' Society miniature boquets on the benches in the garden during my visits, and they had a kiosk on the grounds. A few of the benches included a little boquet.

As the car show was very busy earlier, I decided to walk through again and check out what I did not get to see before due to the crowds. It was still busy, and a few of the cars had left. A couple of new cars appeared. I took some more photographs, and then the clouds opened up.

I would have stayed around longer had the weather been dry, but I decided to call it a day at that time (and when checking to see that the rain was scheduled to continue for the next couple of hours). Perhaps next year will be nicer weather.

Here are more posts about Eastcote House:

Spring Photos at Eastcote House
Eastcote House to Pinner
Eastcote House to Ruislip
Eastcote House at Christmas
Snowdrops, Crocuses and Daffodils in Eastcote

Last November, artist Chila Burman decorated the fascade of Tate Modern in glowing neon for the annual winter commission. (To read more about that exhibit, please read my post on this blog here: Remembering a Brave New World). Her transformation of the gallery became so popular that Covent Garden provided her the opportunity to transform their market to bring more people to the area. Burman uses her Punjabi and Liverpool heritage as inspiration. Placed at the end of August, the installation will remain until October, and there are three main areas to see it at Covent Garden with the main area being the hall. Over the Covent Garden market hall is the text "do you see words in rainbows?"

The neon installation will remain in place until October, and the best time to visit it is from sunset when the market gets darker, although the lights are switched on from 7am and switch off at 11pm or midnight. 

There are three areas of lights in Covent Garden. The first is the main hall, and it contains the largest number of neon and features dragons, flamingos, hearts, monkeys, ice cream, peacocks, and more. The imagery is a mixture of Punjabi or Hindu and the artist's upbringing in Liverpool where her family owned and ice cream business.

The second place to see the neon artwork is in front of Ivy Market Grill just outside Covent Garden market. A giant peacock with colourful flowers decorates the doorway.

The third and final place to see neon is outside the St. James Street entrance to the market. It features a white tiger, and the words above the archway read "look at you through their eyes and wonder what you see". The tiger is placed on a mirror.

As the neon lights will be illuminating Covent Garden market until October, you still have some time to visit.

Broughton House is an 18th century home on the High Stret in Kirkcudbright in Scotland. The house is special because it was the home of Scottish impressionist artist E.A. Hornel (considered to be one of the "Glasgow Boys") from 1901 to 1933. created the Japanese-inspired gardens at the house. Currently, the house is maintained by the National Trust for Scotland to showcase the work of the artwork and some of his collection.

Hornel travelled to Japan in the 1890s and produced thirty paintings that were exhibited in Glasgow in 1895. He used the earnings from the exhibit to buy the house, and he lived there with his sister for over thirty years; his sister continued to live there until her death in 1950. Hornel often travelled to the far east and brought back items to use in his paintings. He also collected rare books, and his collection of Robert Burns books is the largest collection in any one place.

Hornel wished for his home to be turned into a gallery, so his home is set up as how it would have been in the 1920s/1930s with a gallery and exhibition space for a modern artist. The house was not fully open due to the pandemic when I visited. The first room to enter was the dining room. This room was turned into a library after Hornel lived in it. Some works by Hornel and other possessions of the artist are on display in the room.

The library is the room that was the least touched and looks more as Hornel left it. It contains many rare books, such as ones by Robert Burns. Hornel started to collect books in 1919, and around 15,000 are in the collection.

Another room on the ground floor contained a little exhibition of items from the 1920s that were staples in the house. There was a sewing room with information about how people would create and mend their own clothing. 

The shelf above contains a set of scales. It would have been bolted to the floor, so the mirror is used to read what it says without having to bend down. The circular object is a stoneware bed warmer that would leak if not tightened up properly. Other items in this cabinet are medicines and soaps.

The above shelf contains marmalade jars, chocolate tins, and tins of tea or cooking stock cubes.

The next room is the current gift shop and entrance hall. This was the traditional reception hall, and it contains some items that Hornel purchased from China (ceramics) and Sri Lanka (brass lighting). The antlers are from Hornel's hunting trips.

The gallery was constructed in 1910 as the primary exhibition space for Hornel's paintings. The paintings were painted from photographs. Hornel photographed many local children to get different poses, and he used these poses in his paintings. 

The room also contains plaster casts of the Parthenon friezes, and these are arranged around the room.

Down a set of stairs is an exhibition area by an artist inspired by Hornel's work, and behind this small exhibition is an exhibition of some of Hornel's unfinished work.

Further along are display cabinets with information about the artist's travels, including some of the items that he picked up along the way to use in his artwork.

Another room contains some dishes from China with a legend. The legend may have been created to sell the dishes. It was mass-produced to sell to the western market and is called "The Family Friend" about two lovers who elope.

The barrel-vaulted cellars at Broughton House were actually from another house that stood on the site of the present day Broughton House, so they are actually older than the house iteself.

The gardens at Broughton House include stone items that were collected at various places that Hornel visited. It was laid out as a Japanese garden and has views over the harbour at Kirkcudbright.

The resident cat, Tizzy, was very friendly and came over for cuddles and attention. She loved the attention and went around to everyone in the garden to seek attention.

I enjoyed my visit to Broughton House and Gardens, and it is a place to return to so that I can see the rest of the house once it is fully reopened.

Earlier this summer, I made a visit to Down House on the outskirts of London. Down House is the home of Charles Darwin and his family, and this was his home when he worked on his evolution and natural selection theories. The house is Grade I listed, and the English Heritage have been maintaining it since 1996 as a tourist attraction. Visitors to Down House can explore the gardens and house, which contains a small museum to the scientist/explorer/writer and some rooms fitted from Darwin's times, including the famous study room where Darwin had some experiments and did a lot of his work.

Down House started its life as a farmhouse in the mid-1600s where it passed down through different families until it was purchased by Charles Darwin and his family in the 1840s. The Darwins had moved from London due to their growing family, and they generally preferred the countryside. 

Photography unfortunately is not permitted in Down House except in one of the rooms upstairs. The upstairs of the home is primarily a museum now with a lot of information about the life and studies of Charles Darwin and some of his personal items. Much of the information included the study of human facial expressions, journals taken on trips abroad by boat, his upbringing, his marriage, and a few other studies including some of the controversial topics of the time relating to his writing on evolution.

The only room that could be photographed was the bedroom, and this is where Darwin passed away.

Downstairs included a couple of the rooms presented as they would have been lived in, and the most interesting of these is Darwin's study. It has been restored with original furniture, the wheeled armchair, and writing board. The room is east-facing, and a mirror was installed outside of the window at an angle so he could see who was approaching the house.

A walkway from the house runs with flowers on each side to the greenhouse, where Darwin also spent a lot of time with experiments. Beyond this is "the sandwalk"; the sandwalk is a path that Darwin spent his time walking along and thinking. He would lose hours walking here.

Along the flower beds were several different types of butterfly or moth.

Darwin conducted observations and tests on different plants. One test included the colouration of hollyhocks. A glasshouse was built to aid in the experiments.

The sandwalk borders a field, and Darwin would walk along the path many times a day to think. The meadow bordering is called Great Meadow House, and it was purchased by Darwin.

After visiting the house and gardens, I had a slice of cake and a cup of tea.

I recommend a visit to Darwin's Down House because it contains a lot of information about Charles Darwin, a person that we attribute a lot of modern learning and understanding of the world to, and the gardens are pleasant to wander around too.

A well-maintained road near Kirkcudbright in southern Scotland leads to an expansive parking area on grass. Glimpses of sea can be seen between trees further ahead. A notice at the beach entrance warns of sinking sand and to avoid the wreckage, which can be seen directly in front in the middle of the muddy sea. Laughter, children's voices, and chatter all abound typical seaside activities. People are having a chat and a picnic. People are calling after their dogs or children. Others toss balls or frisbees. An excitable young boy has caught a crab in his net and is showing it off to his sister and parents. These are the glimpses of life of those enjoying the cloudy-but-clear Sunday afternoon at The Dhoon. 

The Dhoon is also known as Goat Well Bay, and it is located a few miles from Kirkcudbright in Dumfries and Galloway, southern Scotland. It is a secluded wooded area at the mouth of River Dee, tidal and shallow with rock pools to explore. The tide was out during my visit, but it was coming in. The sea level can range up to ten meters during low and hide tide, and the wreckage is a clear focal point.

The "Monreith" was a wooden schooner that wrecked in 1900, and the crew managed to reach shore without known casualties. 

I explored the little pools between the rocks, but the mud was very slippery. I did not have a change of shoes or beach wear and did not want to get muddy as I would not be allowed back in the car, so I did not venture out too far. After I nearly slipped and fell, I kept to the drier sections of the beach and searched for shells or sea glass. There was not much of either, unfortunately, as it is more of a river mouth at The Dhoon unlike the previous day's visit to Achenmalg Bay, directly on the Irish Sea. In fact, I did not find any sea glass, but I did find very few small shells. There were a lot of the cockle shells, which are a little boring because they can be found everywhere.

Looking out to the wreckage, the beach is mostly mud with very little sand. Some of the mud started to turn up little curly mud droplets. One emerged right in front of me, but I only saw the coils emerge and did not see the actual worm. They are from lugworms, which look a little like earthworms, and they are popular at low tide. 

Most of the shells and stones along the beach were very fine and had been broken up well over the rocky beach.

This is a popular little spot for families to enjoy some beach time, and it was not too busy. Don't forget to take your beach wear and explore the little rock pools.

On a lovely sunny day in mid-July, I visited Packwood House in Warwickshire. Packwood is a Tudor house that contains items collected from other country houses that were demolished and installed. The house itself dates from the 16th century, but the interiors were restored between the world wars by Graham Baron Ash, and he located Tudor items and architecture for the restoration. He was able to salvage many items of textiles and furniture and fittings for the house at a time when many country houses were being demolished. Packwood is also highly noted for its yew tree collection.

The house was built in the mid-1500s by the Fetherston family. The last of the family died in 1876, and the house was purchased by the Ash family. It was inherited in 1925 by Graham Baron Ash, and he is responsible for restoring it to its Tudor character. The barn was also converted into a Tudor hall. In 1941, the house was donated to the National Trust.

I had a quick look around the gardens first. There are lovely gardens leading up a path that leads to the famous yew garden. On the terrace are lovely views that overlook the colourful garden and the house on one side and the yew garden on the other.

The yew garden is famous and contains over 100 trees. It is one of the best topiary gardens in Britain. It was laid out in the middle of the 17th century by the Fetherston family. The yew trees have a meaning or story behind them. The clipped yews are meant to represent the "sermon on the mount", and the twelve large yews represent the apostles. The four largest represent the evangelists. An orchard and fruit trees were planted amongst the yews, but these were removed when the landscaping was completed in the 1920s.

Today, some of the yews are taller than 50 feet. The ground of the estate isn't ideal for the yews, however, as there is a lot of clay in the ground, and this harms the trees. Often, work is required to rectify these issues and leads to closures of the garden. However, the drainage work has been completed, and the yews are looking good. The yews take three months to trim.

After walking through the yew trees, visitors were led through a small orchard before continuing a short trail that continued around a small lake. There was a small wooded section which gave way to a meadow with views of the house across from the lake.

There was a large queue for the entry to the house when I arrived, so I had to wait several minutes.

The first room is the entrance hallway, and the room immediately to the right is the drawing room. We were told that the house was visited by Queen Mary as the royals were sad about many of the older country houses being destroyed at the time.

One of the other rooms is the dining room, and it contains the Bargello Tapestry, which dates from the end of the 1600s or beginning of the 1700s. The same pattern is used on some of the other furniture, and the room is rumoured to be haunted by a servant.

The entrance hall was remodelled to contain a larger window in 1930, and the flooring comes from a house in Wales that was being demolished.

The long gallery was an addition onto the house to connect the new great hall, which was formerly a barn. The long gallery contains a tapestry collection. The tapestries are Flemish and date from the 16th and 17th centuries. One of the tapestries is known as "The Resting Traveller", and it has recently been restored. The long gallery is a beautiful part of the house.

Off of the long gallery is a parlour where the last resident of the house would relax. The room contains a clock, and the instructions were that all clocks must be wound to give the impression that the house is lived in.

The new edition is the great hall, and it's at the end of the long gallery and down a few steps. Although it was built in the 1920s, it appears to have been here for longer thanks to the original items in the collection.

Not all of the house was accessible due to the lockdown. There were some additional rooms that we could not see due to social distancing. So, I hope to return at some point.

Overall, Packwood House is a lovely property with a lovely collection of items.

Biddulph Grange Garden is a National Trust-managed property in Staffordshire, England. It is a Victorian garden created by James Bateman who collected plants from around the world, and the gardens are inspired by different areas of the world, such as Italy, Egypt, and China. There is a mansion here, but it is not open to the public. The gardens here are unique; I've not visited a place quite like this.

Fushias and other flowers in bright red colours lead down into the gardens from the mansion. These lead to the lake and then around to the Dahlia Walk at the lower part of the gardens. A team of gardeners was working on the dahlias during my visit at the end of July, but it was at the start of the dahlia season. I am sure that they look beautiful in mid-August.

The Geological Gallery was opened in 1862, and it uses the seven days of creation in the Bible with a display of fossils set into the walls.

Wellingtonia Avenue was recently restored to its former glory in Victorian times. The avenue of conifers has views over the hillsides.

The Egypt Garden is created with yew to create the pyramid and frame the building, which contains a couple of rooms with statues and leads out to another side.

The Cheshire cottage dates from 1856, and it is at an unexpected part of the garden.

Various "ruins" are located around the gardens, and there are also various tunnels to walk through, trails with narrow walkways along streams and walk gardens, and other interesting corners of the garden. It is almost like a maze with something unique around every corner.

The China Garden is one of the other unique gardens, and it has a pagoda, ornamental doorways, bridge (closed during my visit), temples, and sculptured gardens. This is one of the unique areas of the gardens at Biddulph. The pond contains colourful fish.

Biddulph Grange Garden contains a range of different species of plant and trees that will make the gardens appeal throughout the year. 

Prittlewell Priory in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, is the site of a priory that has existed here for over 900 years. After the monasteries were dissolved by Henry VIII, the Scratton family lived here. They lived here for 200 years with thirteen bedrooms and several servants. Since then, the priory has been a museum open to the public with a nice section of gardens and grounds to explore.

If approaching Priory Gardens from the train station (the south), visitors will walk through or beside Churchill Gardens. It is a pleasant little garden down a steep hill. It is a little oasis off the main road with a couple of ponds and a small waterfall.

Opposite Churchill Gardens is St. Mary's Parish Church Prittlewell, which I found to be an attractive-looking church.

The cellars in the priory have changed very little since the monks lived here in 1536. The cellars probably date from 1200, and they were used as storerooms. In Victorian times, the cellars were rumoured to be haunted.

In 1918-1922, the priory building was escavated to remove the house and revealed the priory underneath.

The park and priory was bought by local jeweller RA Jones, and he donated it to Southend-on-Sea in 1917.

The great hall room was the refectory. It is where the cluniac monks communicated in sign language and dined. They were not allowed to speak to each other.

The fish ponds used at the priory are still in use today in Victoria Park.

Visitors can see the footprint of the gatwhouse, which was where the monks spent a lot of time. It was demolished.

The gardens are beautiful and should not be missed.

The upstairs and cellars of the old priory are usually open, but they were off-limits due to not having enough volunteers. Hopefully, they will be fully open the next time that I return.

Rocket Around Leicester is a charity sculpture trail organised in part by Wild In Art that features fourty large rocket sculptures and several smaller rockets around the streets of Leicester. The sculptures will be helping to raise money for LOROS Hospice and will remain in place until the 26th of September. The sculptures are all unique and designed differently by local artists and businesses. Like many of these trails, they aim to include the sculptures in community places and in places to allow visitors and locals to explore new areas. I had never been a tourist in Leicester before, but I had been wanting to visit the museums, so this was a perfect opportunity for me to see the museums and sculptures.

"Discovering the Undiscovered" - Emily Hett

"Scorpius" - Tim Fowler

"Celebrating Community" - Katy Dynes  (Kitty Dinners), "Take Off" - Hannah Nelson, "Diversity and Inclusion" - Adam Khalifa

"Patch" - Lucy Loves Design

"Celestial Lotus" - Mr A Singh

"Major Tom" - Sally Adams

"David's Flora and Fauna" - Caroline Coates, "Happy Space" - Sasha Dewitt, "Hopes, Dreams and Wishes" - Lynne Hollingsworth

"Rocky Road Rocket" - Megan Heather Evans

"Leicestersaurus" - David Graham, "Space Jungle" - Lottillo, "Birds of the City" - Helen Sibson

"Laika" - Jina Gelder Illustration

"Rocket Squid" - Andrew Birks

"Relaxing Rocket" - Betti Moretti

"A Spaceman Helter Skelter" - Susan Webber

"Ground Control" - Sally Adams

"Evening Tide" - Jenny Leonard

"Woven Into Space" - Christina Wigmore

"Rocket King - Richard III" - Donna Newman, "We Don't Need Roads Where We're Going" - Mik Richardson, "Rocket Trip!" - Nick Murley

"Galaxy in Mind" - Kristina Butigan

"Retro Rocket" - Mik Richardson, "Stardust" - Julie Vernon, "Moondance" - Jenny Leonard

"Sent With Love" - Emma Everitt

"Diverse-city" - Anita Argent

"Bogswamp" - Sam Grubb, "Star Stuff" - Loz Atkinson, "The Giant Ca-rocket" - Billy Hutchison

As the sculptures are in place until tne 26th of September, you still have a few more days to visit them. They will also all be gathered together at the National Space Centre museum in early October, and they will be auctioned afterwards.

Threave Garden and Estate is located in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland and is managed by National Trust for Scotland. It is the only garden in Scotland that is dedicated to training horticulturalists and is home to School of Heritage Gardening since 1960. The gardens are broken down into different smaller areas with different types of plant and different garden designs and styles. In addition to these unique gardens, there are excellent views from the top of the hill. Threave Garden and Estate is also noted for its variety of wildlife: red kites, peregrine falcons, red squirrels, and bats. Threave House is in the middle of the gardens, and it was built in the 1870s; the house can normally be visited, but it was shut due to lockdown. There is also a nature reserve and a castle nearby, but the castle was also shut due to the lockdown.

Before walking around the gardens, I went to the cafe for a drink. There are nice views of flower beds and hillside from the cafe at the visitor centre.

From the cafe and visitor centre, a walk down the hill leads to the main gardens with colourful flower beds and another cafe at the bottom of the hill. A large "90" is created here with views back up to the top of the visitor centre with the colourful bedding plants. The "90" is because the garden estate dates from 1931.

Visitors to Threave also wish to see the wildlife. Guided walks around Scotland's only bat reserve can be arranged at Threave with eight species of bat in residence here. There is a small "bat house" in the garden itself.

The Victorian walled garden at Threave is popular and produces fruit, vegetables, and cut flowers. The cafe uses some of the items farmed in the walled garden on its menu. The glasshouse has three rooms - cool house, temperate house, and a hot house. There is a pond inside one of them with koi carp.

The garden changes with the seasons, so there is always something new to see during a visit.

I spotted a small rock garden with a pond on the main trail.

The formal gardens were behind a hedgerow and had rows of trees and led to a small building at the end which overlooked pastures and hillside views.

There are views of the house with several colourful flower beds in front.

A small pond with a bridge over it was one of the entry points to the secret garden. I saw a couple of bright pink water lillies in bloom.

The secret garden is comprised of several pathways with different varieties of plants growing, creating a wandering and secluded space.

At the end of the secret garden is the garden of reflection. It has been created as a joint project between Scotland and America and contains natural plants that appear in both countries to create the focal point with a globe-shaped sculpture.

Colourful beds are to be found in front of Threave House with a rose garden immediately outside the house (up the stairs).

From here, the bath ascends the hillside where visitors can enjoy different species of tree in the arboretum. I saw a sculpture of a deer here, which fit right in.

At the top of the hill is the entrance to the woodland, and red squirrels can be found here.

At the end of my visit, the sun decided to make an appearance, brightening the flower beds even more. The gardens do look the best in the sun.

I would like to return to Threave Garden as soon as the remainder of the attractions are open, and seeing the garden at a different time in the year (except for winter) would be nice.

Druridge Bay, near Morpeth in Northumberland, is a quiet place with a sandy beach and sand dunes. It borders a country park nature reserve and has the feeling of being a secluded beach. On the last day of my Northumberland holiday in late-July, the sun was actually out. We have not had a lot of sunshine this year, and the previous few days were cloudy or wet, so seeing the sun come out in the late afternoon on the last day of the holiday, we had a quick walk down to the beach.

There is parking down a narrow dirt road, and I imagine it does get busy earlier in the day. However, it was virtually empty when I visited. The access to the beach was over a few sand dunes only about a hundred yards.

This is the little inlet of water called Dunbar Burn, which travels inland and forms pools at the nature reserve on the opposite side of the road. I did not visit the nature reserve. The pools are tidal with the tide appearing to come in or already be in during my visit.

There are literally miles of beautiful secluded beach here. As it had been a wash-out summer so far and I'd booked a full itenerary of attractions (since we had to book everything well in advance), I did not have any outfits for sitting in the sand or visiting the water, so it was only a short trip. Next time, I should be more prepared!

If blessed with a nice day and in the area, this is a must-visit beach.

A new sculpture trail has come to Southend-on-Sea in Essex this year. Across the city, there are over 30 large hare sculptures and 50 smaller hares, all painted differently by local artists for the community. The sculptures are in place for ten weeks from the beginning of July until the 12th of September, so you still have a little bit of time left to see them. My visit to Southend-on-Sea to visit the hare sculptures took place at the beginning of this month. 

"Patch" - Lisa Sheldon

The hares will be auctioned after the trail ends for local charity Havens Hospices, but before they are auctioned, they will also all be on display in one place for a final visit. 

Stella the Disco Hare" - Natalie Guy and "Sunrise" - Jane High and "Hare's Magic" - Peter Poole and "Some Hare Over the Rainbow" - David Maguire

"Jet the Hareplane" - Dinky Doors

Dinky Doors is an artist collective in Cambridge that have places miniature sculptures around Cambridge, and they have participated in the Cows About Cambridge sculpture trail that launched this spring. Read more about Dinky Doors. Read more about Cows About Cambridge.

"Wonderland" - Lois Cordelia

"Hoptimus Prime" - Mik Richardson

"View of Lepus" - Karen Cairns

"Hare of the Dog" - Allan Williams

"Jimmy Hare-drix" - Anne Marie Byre and "Hare Cule" - Mik Richardson

"Patch" - Lisa Sheldon

"Rocky" - Sally Chinea

"Queen Bee" - Beverley Fisher and "Rainforest" - Ruth Green and "Hop, Skip, Splash" - Lissie Art and "Harley" - Mik Richardson

"Funhare" - Graham Collins

"Rusty" - John Bulley

"RollaHare Coaster" - Jenny Leonard

"Harold Finehare" - Esme Taylor

"English Country Garden" - Lynne Campen and "The Rossi Hare" - Caron Brandajs

"Larry" - Andy Downes and Bronwyn Oldham

"Hare-y Biker" - Neil Fendell

"Mr. Meadow" - Luke Bryant

"Familihare" - Judith Berrill

Dan Kitchener's tallest mural to date is located on Southampton Row at NYX Hotel Holborn. The mural is over 125 feet tall, and it was painted in the spring of 2021 with a range of cold and wet weather that battered London. The work is titled "London Colours", and the different parts of the painting represent this area of London with its importance in the arts and sciences. This is around the corner from the British Museum and near independent art shops, the univeristy, hospital, and Charles Dickens museum.

The street scene represents the London street scene with the iconic buses and taxi along with people carrying umbrellas.

The top of the mural reveals illustrations in brightly-coloured bands - pink, blue, yellow, and turquoise.

This mural can be found on Southampton Row, and you really cannot miss it if you're walking by.

Craft Distillery is located in Newton Stewart in the Galloway Hills in Scotland. The distillery is a relatively new investment (founded in 2017) for the area and celebrates local inredients and aims to involve customers in the development of the brands before sending to market. Despite being new, the customers and experience at developing great flavours and the marketing behind it has let to the gin winning awards. The distillery was built by local builder using wood from a local sawmill. The ingredients in the products are also local - Scottish grain, Noble Fir needles and Bladderwrack Seaweed. 

The tour describes the founding of the company as very much a local one and invested in the area, the process of gin-making and seeking the best flavours through experienced staff and the right equipment.

On my visit, the gin factory was not in operation due to staff holidays, so I could not see the gin being made. It is made in small batches, however, and we were explained the process and flavours used. 

After the tour and talk, we were shown to our seats to have the tastings of three different products and a mixer for each. The Hills & Harbour Gin was paired with Franklin & Sons Indian Tonic Water. This is the double gold winner gin and is a refreshing and balanced taste of fir, juniper, and citrus. It was served with a slice of mango.

The second gin tried was the Smokey & Citurs Distilled Cocktail (not a gin but a blend, which cannot be legally called a "gin"). It was paired with Franklin & Sons Pineapple and Almond soda. Fruit is used to give the gin flavour, and it was served with a slice of orange.

The last alcohol tasting was the Galloway Vodka, which was served with a lime to take the edge off. It was paired with Franklin & Sons Brewed Ginger Beer, which tasted lovely. I am not normally a fan of ginger beer, but this went down a treat. Cream soda, biscuit, and toffee are described as the flavours of the vodka. It is a 7-day fermentation process and a 24-hour filteration process through coconut shells.

After the tastings, visitors could spend some time in the shop and purchase the products to take home or join the distillery club to try the new whiskey that they are seeking to produce.

This was an excellent tour, and I was blown away by the knowledge and the product quality. If you're in the area, stop by and do the tour and tasting.

God's Own Junkyard are a company based in Walthamstow that have produced neon artwork and signs that are installed around London (primarily in Soho) for nearly seventy years. Their signs have appeared in several films, such as 'Captain America', 'Batman Begins', 'Tomb Raider', 'Who Killed Roger Rabbit', 'Mission Impossible', 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory', and 'Judge Dredd'. I visited God's Own Junkyard in Walthamstow a few years ago, and I fully recommend it. (You can read about that visit here: God's Own Junkyard). A new exhibition titled 'Electric City' came to Leadenhall Market from the end of May until the end of July this year to showcase the signs.

One of the films highlighted is Stanley Kubrick's 'Eyes Wide Shut'. Pinewood Studios was transformed into New York's Greenwich Village, and actual Manhattan neon signs were recreated for the set. No additional lighting was used in one of these scenes with the glow of the neon lights and Christmas lights offering the only illumination. The sign producers also were on set and got to hang out with Kubrick during the filming at Pinewood Studios. The below window shows signs used in the film.

'Judge Dredd' was another film that signs were made for, and the signs were set up in an unused space. In addition to the signs, the company's founders also appeared in the film as extras.

The final unit of the exhibition showcases the main signs used in other films or some designs offered on sale for the "Electric City" exhibition. I photographed most of them, which can be seen below.

I am a little bit behind on my posting for the past three or four months. I visited this exhibition in early July, and it has since finished.

Bowness-on-Solway is the end of Hadrian's wall, and those walking the Hadrian's Wall path will either start their journey here or end their journey here. For me, this marks the end of the wall because the Romans approached from the east (Newcastle).

Along the Solway is a little Roman-styled hut that looks over the beach. Inside the hut is a wealth of information about the wildlife and history of this area. There is a bench and several small dedications to others. The floor of the hut contains a mosaic design of birds.

For those completing the walk, one of the few Hadrian's Wall passport stamps can be found inside the hut. At the time of writing, the Sand's Centre in Carlisle is under renovations (I went to use it the day before, and there's nothing online about the renovations or the stamp not being accessible), so the stamp for it is located here.

I found this to be a peaceful place with expansive views over the Solway.