November 2022 Archives

Cotehele Mill and Quay are located in Cornwall in the Tamar Valley and near the edge of Dartmoor. Like Cotehele house, which is situated on the top of the hill, Cotehele Quay and Mill are maintained by the National Trust. Visitors can park at Cotelhele Quay at the bottom of the house, or they can walk from Cotehele. I did not realise this at the time, so I walked from Cotehele down a steep hill. Cotehele Quay is located at the bottom and along the River Tamar. The mill is a short walk (probably ten minutes) away. The closest parking to the mill is at the quay, and this is a flat walk.

The River Tamar and valley comes into view as I walked down the steep hill at Cotehele, and the buildings at the Quay came into view.

The Discovery Centre at the Quay has exhibits for the history of the Tamar valley. Some of the rooms of the buildings have been transformed into a museum dedicated to life and activity in the Tamar Valley. There is information about the trades and wildlife in one of the buildings. Opposite this building is also a dry dock with a boat on the river. One of the other buildings is a tea room.

The large building in front is The Edgecumbe, which is a National Trust tea room. It is named after the owners of Cotehele house on the top of the hill behind it.

From here, there is a sign pointing the way to the trail to access Cotehele Mill. This starts off following a road, and then it crosses the road (don't go over the bridge) to a trail through woodland.

The woodland trail follows a small stream (Morden Stream), which is an offshoot of the river.

After awhile, I came to a bridge over this stream, and this took me to the mill. The mill buildings could be seen from here.

There is a small National Trust gift shop and information area. There were quite a few people around due to it being half-term, so there were families about and participating in various activities. Cotehele Mill dates from the 19th century, and the buildings around it were used as stables, cowsheds, hayloft, and 'cherry house'. These rooms have been transformed into Victorian workhouses. The rooms around the mill complex contained either museums or current workshops. There was a blacksmith, wheelwright's, saddler's, a pottery shop, and a woodworking shop. Further beyond was the mill. 

The first room I looked in was the wheelwright's (pictured above) and the blacksmith forge and bellows. The building was built around 1880 by the Langsfords, who rented the mill for a long time. The room was originally a store. The blacksmith's tools came from a blacksmith in a nearby village. He retired in 1972 and donated his equipment.

Cotehele Mill (and other mills) started to find it difficult to compete making flour for bakeries. The Langsfords family turned to concentrate on a sawmill business and grinding grain into animal feed. The Langsfords lived in the mill from the 1860s until the 1960s. Inside the mill's upper floors are stories from the children of the family who grew up here. During the second World War, two girls from London were moved to the mill and lived here for nearly five years.

On the other side of the blacksmith and wheelwright's room is the sawmill. 

The mill was not operational when I visited it due to some issue with the wheel, but it allegedly produces wholemeal flour. This is used at The Barn Restaurant (at Cotehele house) and The Edgcumbe tea rooms.

I visited the saddler's on the other side of the buildings and the pottery shop, which was open. The woodworking shop is next door.

Inside the mill was an autumn harvest of pumpkins and seeds laid out on the table.

After I had looked around enough, I headed back to Cotehele Quay where I started my journey.

If visiting Cotehele house, do not forget to visit the mill and quay for some historical insights into the Tamar Valley and the people who lived and worked here. 

This past July, I visited the location of the Battle of Hastings and the ruins of Battle Abbey, which is managed by English Heritage. It was one of the scorching days of the year with sunshine, and we arrived early in the morning before it was too humid. Because of the hot weather, we decided to walk the battlefield walk first and then finish off at the top of the hill at the ruins of Battle abbey. I recommend the audio tour guide, which makes the battlefield and abbey tours come alive with the information. 

We looked around a museum underneath the cafe that contained more information about the infamous Battle of Hastings and the characters involved. In short, King Edward the Confessor was the king of England, but he died without an heir. Harold was the King Edward the Confessor's wife's brother. Harold had claimed that Edward promised him the throne on his deathbed, so he was crowned the following day. However, William of Normandy (who would come to be known as William the Conqueror) disputed this and said that the crown of England was promised to him.

A few days before the infamous battle, King Harold's army were in the north at Stamford Bridge to defend against attacks from Norway. Norway wanted to place Harold's brother Tostig on the throne. England won the battle, but there was a long march back down south to defend the south coast at the current location of Battle from the Normans and William the Conqueror. The English were tired. 

On 14th October 1066, the battle kicked off. Harold and the English army were on top of the hill and had the better ground. The Normans had to charge up a steep hill. At one point, the Norman soldiers were told that William had fallen (possibly by the English as a tactic), so many started to flee. England had the upper hand and had kept chasing them back. However, William removed his helmet to prove he was still alive. Both sides fought.

Later in the day, the soldiers were getting tired. William's soldiers had seen a weakness in the English previously when their soldiers attempted to flee. This action of the English soldiers chasing the Norman soldiers left their battle lines vulnerable to archers and mounted soldiers. The Normans pretended to flee, and the English chased them and exposed their vulnerable sheild. The Normans then used their archers. At some point, an arrow was rumoured to have flown into the English defenses and struck Harold in the eye, killing him.

The battlefield today is a meadow with wildlife, grazing sheep, and a pond. It's difficult to imagine the battlefield being filled with bodies of soldiers, blood, arrows, swords, and other debris.

The Bayeux Tapestry depicts the great battle.

The ground is a very steep hill, and below is at the bottom of the hill; another slight hill is located behind me and the one in front of me contains the abbey. This is where the English soldiers were located. The hill was steeper during the battle as it was leveled off to create the abbey.

William the Conqueror built the abbey at Battle in 1070 at the spot where King Harold fell. The alter of the abbey (which no longer exists, but visitors can see the location marked out in the ruins) marks the spot where he fell. After Henry VIII dissolved the monastaries, Battle became a wealthy family's country house and later a school.

A walled garden exists outside the abbey ruins, to the right of the ruins when walking up the steep hill. It was created during the time when the abbey became a country home. There is also an ice house and dairy house here, again from the same time. There's wildflowers and fruit trees growing in the walled garden, but that's about it.

The dairy house is below.

The foundations of the old church and its crypt are below.

The large remaining building is now the school, and the cloister arches can be seen on the walls.

Additional footprints of some of the administration buildings (chapel house) and sacristy.

The latrines.

The dorms and refectory where the monks ate and studied are intact. After the monastaries were dissolved, it became stables and a barn. 

This area was known as the novices' room for those who had entered the monastary. Typically, only the wealthy could be granted in to become a monk, and they selected sons of wealthy families as they knew that this would have benefited the monastary.

After having seen enough of the ruins of the abbey and the battlefield, I walked back to the gatehouse.

The gatehouse, which is what visitors enter through to access Battle and the battlefield today, was constructed in the 1300s. A museum is located on the first floor with a few items discovered at Battle, and visitors can also climb the stairs to the top for views over the town. 

There are some interactive areas inside the rooms in the gatehouse. From the top, there are views over the present day college and the town.

After completing the tour of Battle and the battlefield, I walked out of the gatehouse. Some scarecrows had been placed in front, and they had a music theme. David Bowie, Madonna, Elton John, and the Monkees were created in scarecrow form in the shadow of the abbey.

Battle seems to be a creative place. I saw some yarn-bombing here and some painted stones glued onto a wall.

That ends my visit to Battle Abbey and the battlefield. I had a really good visit, and I recommend this. The audio guide is also really good and helps to understand the history.

At the end of August and early September, I spent some time visiting my family and friends in Ohio, USA. It's been awhile since I have seen them. Unfortunately, the weather was not the best half of the time as it was unseasonably cold and rainy. I was able to go out for a few days and explore some new areas. I also went to Kentucky to see one of my brothers and his family. Here are some of my photographs of the visit. 

Parker Covered Bridge near Upper Sandusky, Ohio

Donald's Donuts / Doughnuts from Zanesville, Ohio

Pumpkins, gourds, squash from a farm shop in the Amish Country

Pumpkins from the farm

Pumpkins from the farm

Gourds from a farm shop in the Amish country

Apples from the farm

Bell-pepper picking on the farm

Apples on the farm

More bell pepper-picking

Cleaning bell peppers 

Church around Upper Sandusky, Ohio

Picked pumpkins on the farm

Farm

Kennedy's Bakery in Cambridge, Ohio

Bear's Den Steakhouse in Cambridge, Ohio

Peaches from the farm

Parker Covered bridge near Upper Sandusky, Ohio

Dahlia from the farm

Waffle House in Wapakoneta, Ohio

Old Kentucky Chocolates, Louisville, Kentucky

Horse sculptures located around Louisville, Kentucky

Some of the things I got up to in Ohio and Kentucky:
Loveland Castle, Ohio
Ohio Wineries
Armstrong Air and Space Museum in Wapakoneta, Ohio
Ohio Amish Country
Tom's Ice Cream Bowl, Zanesville Ohio
Stewart's Drive-in (Marion, Ohio)
Franklin Park Conservatory (Columbus, Ohio)
Giacomo's in Zanesville, Ohio
Warren G. Harding House in Marion, Ohio
The Cardinal Project in Marion, Ohio
Four Roses Bourbon Distillery in Kentucky
Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, Kentucky

Late last month, I visited Newquay in Cornwall. This was just a long weekend break at a hotel and spa for a special Halloween-themed treat. I stayed at Headland Hotel in Cornwall on the coast at Newquay at Fistral Bay. On the Sunday, the bloke and I decided to walk down to Newquay for Sunday lunch, and I had a leisurely walk around Newquay and walked back along the coast.

The pub that we wanted to visit for Sunday lunch had a problem with their kitchen, so we ended up in another pub with a carvery and amazing views over Newquay beach.

Afterwards, I had a walk around Newquay and popped into a couple of shops and bought a tiny coconut ice cream from Freddo's Homemade Ice Cream along the main street through the town. From here, I walked down to the beach down a long flight of stairs to visit The Coconut Chy kiosk at the bottom of the hill and literally on the beach. 

Although the town above was fairly busy with visitors, the beach was quiet with a few surfers out in the sea. As soon as I got near The Coconut Chy, the skies opened up and poured. There was very little cover here.

The Coconut Chy had some Halloween specials of hot chocolate. I selected one, which was a delicious pumpkin-spice flavour with a pumpkin-shaped marshmallow. Unfortunately, the pouring weather meant that I could not take a better photograph of the beautiful treat.

I wanted to walk along the beach, but I did not get too far. The rain eased up slightly, but it was still raining. I did walk onto the beach but not too far out. 

I had to walk back up the hill and along the coast, following the southwest trail. There were some nice views over the harbour. Pity about the rain.

I came across Huer's Hut. It is a listed building, and it dates from the 14th century. It was used as a lookout for shoals of pilchard fish, and upon seeing these fish, the horn would be blown to alert the fishermen in the town. Before its use as a lookout for the fish, it may have been used as a hermitage for a hermit who was in charge of lighting a beacon for the ships to see.

The building has a Cornish-style medieval chimney and narrow stairway to the roof. There is a fireplace inside, which was altered probably in the 1800s.

After the visit to the hut, I continued to walk along the coast in the wet weather with mud and damp, being careful not to slip. I did want to go to the headland beyond the hotel, but the rainy and wet weather put me off.

The weather was not the best for my long weekend, but I did make the most of it despite the rain. Maybe I will have better luck next time with my time off.

Toward the end of October, I visited Cotehele. Cotehele is largely a Tudor house (despite parts of the home dating from the 1300s) located in Cornwall next to the River Tamar and managed by National Trust. The house belonged to the Edgecumbe family for centuries and was visited by royalty for the past three-hundred years. The interior of the house has not changed much over the centuries, and there are gardens to explore with something interesting to be seen in every season: orchard fruit for the autumn and snowdrops in the winter.

At the bottom of the hill that the house sits on is the river, and visitors can explore Cotehele Quay along the river and walk to Cotehele Mill.

Cotehele is known for its tapestries.

The first room entered is the Great Hall with high ceilings and antique items to see. The other rooms to explore lead off of this room.

The Dining Room, also known as the Punch Room, was remodelled between the early 1500s and the mid-1600s. It was part of the Great Hall originally and is hung with tapestries. These were not original to the house and were cut to size. The tapestries are a bit faded, and with dark rooms, the staff can shine a light on the subjects in the tapestries. Some children were locating animals in each room for a quiz.

Off this room is the chapel, which dates from 1500. The chapel contains a rare Tudor clock. The clock had to be wound every day, and it still works and chimes. Someone was playing the organ when I went to visit it. 

Back through the Dining Room is the next room. The Punch Room was once combined with the Dining Room to create a bigger room, the Parlour. In the 1650s, it was separated and could be known as the "Little Parlour". When King George III and Queen Charlotte visited in 1789, they called it a dressing room. The back corner has been changed to create a wine cellar. This development probably dates from the 1800s.

The White Bedroom was added onto the house around the 1550s. It includes two walk-in closests on one wall, which could be hidden by the tapestries. One of them includes a china closet. The other is just an empty room. The china closet would have been something to show off to visitors.

The Red Room and the adjoining South Room were once part of the Great Chamber or Solar in Tudor homes. It would have been a larger room for the family to retire to, but it was then split into two separate rooms.

The Old Drawing Room contains a lot of natural light and would have probably been where King George III and Queen Charlotte had their breakfast when they visited the house in 1789. The Edgecumbes entertained them, and the room contains two pillows with the names of the king and queen as they were thought to have sat on them.

Cotehele was visited by several members of the royal family up to the present time. In addition to King George III, Queen Victoria visited in 1846 and again in 1856, and the houses at Cotehele Quay may have been built for her. She was not keen on the house. Prince Edward (King Edward VIII) visited the house in 1920, and Prince Philip visited in 1985 to tour the house and to see the restored boat, 'Shamrock'. Prince Charles and Princess Anne visited in more recent times with Princess Anne visiting it last in 2008 and planted an apple tree. A small exhibition in one of the rooms contains a book signed by Prince Philip.

After exploring most of the house, the final room to explore was the kitchen, which is located off the Great Hall. The kitchen was constructed in 1539. There was a set of rules to read for the servants, and they sounded pretty strict.

After exploring the house, I went to explore the gardens, which contained some lovely views.

On the other side of the house were additional gardens, including a pond, the kitchen gardens, and orchard.

The autumn colour was showing through in the garden. 

On the way home, I got a candy apple. I was a bit dubious as I've had them be too soft, but I was delighted that the apple was crisp and delicious. It has been many years since I have had one of these.

I enjoyed my visit to Cotehele. Afterwards, I explored the mill and quay.

Happy Thanksgiving! It's not quite the day that I wanted. I would have liked to have gone to the states and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. That did not happen; the bloke wanted to visit in the summer due to November work committments, which didn't materialise. I had planned to take the day off of work, but I cancelled that due to the new project I am on at work being extremely busy. The bloke did not want to do Thanksgiving this year, so a couple of friends and I decided to go to Toby Carvery for the festive menu. I also forgot to get photographs of my meal. I had such a long day week at work that I just felt drained and completely forgot.

Happy Thanksgiving! I will have to raise a glass or two tomorrow to make up for it today.

This past weekend, Trafalgar Square became a large outdoor art gallery with ninety-six of its globe sculptures on display across the square for visitors to see. The sculpture trails were placed in a few cities (including London) in the United Kingdom over the summer, but they were all spread out across the cities. They have finally been brought to one place for visitors to see in a grand finale. The globes are each unique and represent the history and more current and community events relating to the United Kingdom and people from Africa. Themes include imaginging a different world with black narrators as important historical figures, the slave trade, community, culture, and more. The globes raise awareness of racial concerns and issues. Eighteeen of these globes will be auctioned later this month to raise charity for racial justice programmes. 

I went to visit the globe sculptures on Saturday morning, and the square was getting busier throughout the morning. The sculptures are located inside the square with some located at the top of the steps.

MFIKELA JEAN SAMUEL

KWAKU ANOKYE, POOR COLLECTIVE, GEOFFREY CHAMBERS, SUMUYYA KHADER, RODELL WARNER, GREGORY DAINES

AMY BOURBON

GLEN BROOKS AND JANE MOTA, RICHARD RAWLINS, KIMATHI DONKOR, LAURA BOLTON, MUSSARAT RAHMAN, Catherine Chinatree, LOU BOYCE, MARCIA BROWN, BS51, TAMIKA GALANIS

KASSESSA GANDARA

ROY MEATS, OSHII ROWAN, LAURA-KATE PONTEFRACT, NADIA AKINGBULE, CAROLINE DALY, ZITA HOLBOURNE

HAZEL BLUE

OLIVIA TWIST

MARCUS DOVE

Jay Percy

Ras Akyem

LAKWENA MACIVER

SOHAILA BALUCH

GHERDAI HASSELL

ÀSÌKÒ OKELARIN

FIONA COMPTON, SUSAN THOMPSON, VASHTI HARRISON, GABRIEL CHOTO, YINKA SHONIBARE CBE, SARAH OWUSU, NATASHA MULUSWELA, NICOLA CONSTANTINA

GODFRIED DONKOR

NICOLA GREEN

LARRY AMPONSAH

PHOEBE BOSWELL

?

JULIANKNXX

ADAM GROSE

?

KIM THOMPSON

PARYS GARDENER

CURTIS HOLDER

NEEQUAYE DREPH DSANE

DEANNA TYSON

HAMED MAIYE, JIONI WARNER, CAROL SORHAINDO, JOANNA COHN, x, FODAY DUMBUYA, JESS PERRIN, KAZVARE

ABBI BAYLISS

BRYONY BENGE-ABBOTT

LUCY EDKINS

BANDELE IYAPO

SUCHI CHIDAMBARAM

SHANNON BONO

RICHARD MENSAH

Jasmine Thomas-Girvan

ALI ELLY

?

DONNA NEWMAN

?

ABBI BAYLISS

GE

JOSHUA DONKOR

GAYANI ARIYARATNE

JASMINE THOMPSON

SHIVANEE RAMLOCHAN

PAULINE BAILEY

KOBY MARTIN

ANDREA CUMMING

HANNAA HAMDACHE, SARAH MENSAH & GABRIELLE UBAKANMA

ALVIN KOFI

SERENA SUSSEX

ALISON TURNER

ALISON TURNER

GLORY SAMJOLLY

WINSTON BRANCH

FIONA COMPTON & HAILEY GONZALES

GIL MUALEM-DORON

JARVIS BROOKFIELD

KIONE GRANDISON

EMMANUEL UNAJI

EMMA BLAKE MORSI

KIALY TIHNGANG

The World Reimagined sculptures were on display in Trafalgar Square for the weekend in the middle of November.

Back in 2017, street artists Boe and Irony collaborated on a mural in Penge, south London. The artwork was painted on the side of a house on Ashleigh Road. The artwork shows four large badgers. Boe and Irony often collaborate on murals that depict animals, and their style is realistic. Sometimes the style evokes an element of humour. The artwork is unimposing and fits well into the wall. Unfortunately, it's a bit faded and damaged due to the weather over the past few years, but it's still a wonderful and playful work of art.   

I captured this artwork in November of 2021 when I went on a street art walk arranged by London Calling Blog around Penge.

More street art by Boe and Irony (collaborations or otherwise) on this blog:

Portrait Street Art by Irony in Camden
Boe and Irony at Upfest 2018
Camden Street Art Self-Guided Trail
Meeting of the Styles 2018
David Bowie and Brixton Street Art
Street Art by JimmyC, Boe & Irony, Trust Icon, and Others on Paradise Row
Street Art: Artista, DecoLife, Binty Bint, Ino, Irony, Pixie, SeaPuppy

The Tower of London has become host to a light display with 13.8 billion years of history of "us" starting with the Big Bang and projected onto the landmark. The show lasted for 25 minutes and was held across four evenings in mid-November until this past Saturday, so if you want to visit it, I am afraid you are too late to see it on the Tower of London. The show was repeated from 5:30 until 9:30, projected every thirty minutes. 

The sound and light projection included the work of poets based in the UK, live choirs, and an original score by Nitin Sawhney. The work is part of UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK, a series of ten commissions that have been touring the UK this year. This particular light show has already visited cities in Hull, Luton, Caernarfon, and Londonerry.

The event was spectacular with sound, imagery, and words coming to life. The projection may come to a location near you in the future, and I recommend to see it if it does. 

Several years ago now, Canary Wharf used to host an ice sculpting festival during the month of January, and this was replaced by their Winter Lights event. This November, ice sculptures have returned to Canary Wharf. The event, known as Winter Ice, was held from Thursday to this Saturday from noon until 7:00pm. There are fifteen ice sculptures of animals to see around Jubilee Park at Canary Wharf. I visited them on Friday evening. 

Throughout the day, visitors can watch the ice sculptors at work and can also participate in interactive workshops to create a polar bear out of ice. These events are held around Canary Wharf in different locations, but the ice trail is only available to view in Jubilee Park. The fifteen sculptures around the park showcase an animal, insect, bird, or creature that is endangered. 

In addition to the ice sculpture events, the ice rink at Canary Wharf has also opened, and the event hopes to attract visitors to the area. To visit the ice sculptures and to participate in the events, today is the last day to do so.

I've been going through my street art photos of the last few years to share. Today, I want to share a collaboration between street artists Fanakapan and Voyder that was made in Camden in 2020, right before the world shut down. I visited in the summer of that year. I love seeing collaborations, and I found this to be an excellent piece on a large wall around the corner from Camden's markets.

Fanakapan is known for his chrome balloon artwork, and he's been a regular on London's street art scene since around 2013 when he was experimenting with his style. For the past five years or more, he's perfected the chrome balloon style, and this collaboration features a silver chrome smiley balloon.

Voyder's style is a little more difficult to explain, but his contribution to this mural is the crouching female figure. He normally paints a lot of grafitti with his tag in a variety of styles from neon to digital grafitti tags, which is how he started. The artist is from Bristol, so his work isn't seen too often in London. 

More work by Voyder on this blog can be seen here:

Voyder Street Art for Leicester Bring the Paint in 2019
Halloween Street Art (2018 and 2019)
Meeting of Styles Wall 2018
Bristol Upfest 2015

More artwork featuring Fanakapan can be discovered on my blog here:

Fanakapan and Nerone Collaborate on "Neighbourhood Watch" in Penge
Fanakapan "No Words" Mural, Hoxton Square
Fanakapan Street Art Around East London
Fanakapan "Up Yours" Mural on Heneage Street
Fanakapan "BITER" Street Art on Pedley Street
Fanakapan Street Art Smiling Balloons
Fanakapan Paints "Hah" Laughing Gas on Pedley Street
Halloween Street Art by Fanakapan
Fanakapan Street Art on Mornington Crescent and Star Yard
Fanakapan Paints PacMan Pizza on Brick Lane and Other Street Art
Fanakapan Star Yard MagnaDonuts Mural
"Follow the Leader" by Fanakapan
Peace for Manchester
Fanakapan Paints Shoreditch Clowns
Chrome Balloon Dog in Star Yard
Fanakapan Paints "Power Tools" on Village Underground Wall
Fanakapan Paints "Drunk Glass Elephants"
Fanakapan, Horror Crew, & Jerry Rugg
Louis Masai and Fanakapan: "Freedom?"
New Chrome Street Art Mask by Fanakapan
Balloon Animal Street Art
Cranio & Fanakapan
Fanakapan and Horror Crew
Camden Street Art Self-Guided Trail
Halloween Street Art (2018 and 2019)
Cranio Returns to London in 2020 and Paints Brick Lane

At the end of 2020, street artist Zabou painted a mural in Penge dedicated to Gordon Gibbens, a photographer who documented London's graffiti and street art for nearly two decades, despite cancer and having to use a wheelchair. He would often venture out with his daughter Jane Murphy and her husband Tom in order to capture street art across London. The mural shows the photographer at work on a railway wall on Bycroft Street in Penge.

Previous work by Zabou featured on this blog:

Zabou Refreshes Brick Lane and Salvador Dali Artwork Zabou Paints "Good Vibes"
Zabou Paints "Sisters" on Kingsland Road
Zabou Paints Audrey Hepburn on Brick Lane
Zabou: "Jack the Ripper" Street Art
Zabou: 'Racism is a Virus' Street Art
New Murals by Zabou in East London (Clockwork Orange, Sherlock, David Bowie)
Zabou "The Shining" and Refresh of Salvador Dali in Spitalfields
Villana and Zabou Collaborate on Amy Winehouse Street Art
Zabou paints Sid Vicious from 'The Sex Pistols'
Zabou Paints Freda #2 at Broadway Market
Zabou Paints Salvador Dali on Commercial Road
Koeone and Zabou Collaborate
"Keep Out!" Street Art by Zabou
Zabou's 'Cabinet of Curiosity' Street Art
Leake Street Tunnels Street Art, Spring 2016
Recent Street Art by Zabou
Street Art: Zabou

Lilleshall Abbey, which dates from the mid-1100s, is the ruins of an Augustinian monastary that was founded by "black canons" from Oxfordshire. It is thought that 13 canons lived here. In the 13th century, it was a reputable and prestigious institution until it fell into financial crisis in the next century. In the mid-1500s, the abbey was converted into a private home, and it was damaged in the civil war. After the damaged, it was left to ruin. In the 18th century, a canal was constructed through the site. Today, visitors can see the quiet ruins down a lane.

Only a small part of ruins can be seen today, and the first area that you come upon after walking down the narrow lane is the main entrance. The field surrounding is now farmland with cattle happily munching on grass close to the ruined walls.

The altar stalls, which would have lined the walls in the abbey, are thought to have been moved to Wolverhampton where they are located in St. Peter's church. They are thought to date to the 15th century.

There are a couple of rooms still covered today with vaulted ceilings.

The carved doorway was part of the cloister where the tree exists today, and the doorway dates from the 12th century.

The cattle were more interested in their food than me.

There is also one staircase that can be climbed up to get a partial view down the abbey nave. The ruins are maintained by English Heritage and are free to visit, though note that there is not a lot of parking places, and it's a short walk down a narrow farm lane.

A medieval castle in Ohio, United States? Yes, there is, but it's not quite medieval. Loveland Castle (also known as Chateau Laroche) was constructed in 1929 in Loveland, Ohio using stones from the riverbed below the castle. The castle was inspired by European medieval castles, and it has an interesting story. 

Loveland Castle was constructed by Harry D. Andrews in the 1920s, who was a World War I veteran and Boy Scout troop leader. The name "Chateau Laroche" was inspired by the military hospital in France where Andrews served in World War I, and it means "castle rock".  Andrews built the castle over fifty years until his death in 1981 by collecting river stones and bricks molded from cement using quart-sized milk cartons. The castle was not completed, but the Knights of the Golden Trail (KOGT), which was founded by Andrews, completed the work and maintained it over the years.

The chapel features stones from all over the world that are set into the wall that had been brought back by Andrews and his friends and followers.

There are three videos detailing the life of Andrews in the war as well as two videos about the construction of Loveland Castle that were filmed in the late-1970s. The videos detail Andrews' love of medieval history and castles. He was a nurse in the war and contracted spinal meningitis along with other soldiers. He was actually reported dead, but he made a full recovery six months later. According to one of the videos shown at the castle, his blood was used to help treat other soldiers with the disease, and they survived. Andrews decided to stay in Europe and visit castles after the war as his fiance had married another man after Andrews was incorrectly declared dead.

The castle entrance contains a small gift shop and some personal items as well as items from visitors. A small office and kitchen is located off to the side.

Armour and other medieval props were dotted around the castle.

Below are some examples of stones brought back from travels.

Swords and stained glass with the KOGT (Knights of the Golden Trail) has been built into the castle window.

Below is the dining room.

The river can be seen below.

Off to the side of the dining room is Andrews' bedroom. It is closed off, but a sign tells visitors to look up to see the vaulted ceiling that Andrews constructed and that has withstood time.

After the castle visit, we headed through the garden outside where there are a few areas to sit and relax.

Loveland Castle is very interesting, and the three videos really help to understand the significance of the castle and the man who built it well into his 90s and continued to build it and live in it until he passed away.

Dan Kitchener (Dank) is a street artist based in London, and east London is a popular spot to find his artwork. One of the most recent was painted on Commercial Road in a spot that the artist has painted in previously. The work is titled "Arcade" and features the night city street scene that the artist is known for painting. In addition, various Japanese-style advertisements are also depicted with some famous brands and characters. According to his Instagram, the artwork was painted quickly.

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

Dan Kitchener "Tokyo Dreams" Murals in Evelina Road, Penge
Round-up of Dan Kitchener Street Art in East London and Camden
Dan Kitchener Paints "London Colours" at NYX Hotel Holborn, Southampton Row
Dan Kitchener Addition to "East London Geisha" on Commercial Road
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

Earlier this spring, street artist Sr. X painted a wall near the corner of Brick Lane and Redchurch Street. Sr. X is a Spanish artist who has previously painted in London on a number of occasions. He uses popular culture and illustration that mimics vintage posters. The subjects in his artwork are often very expressive and painted with bright colours. The artwork shows a man and woman looking at each other with a can in the middle, holding a circular object as if they are about to eat it. The artwork uses a great placement based on the architecture of the building with the round dials and archway appearing to create a sense of movement and objects that the pair are both holding.

Other artwork by Sr. X (Senor X) on this blog can be seen in the below posts:

Sr. X Street Art at Paternoster Square
Sr. X Summer 2020 Murals in Camden
"The Back of Your Mind", New Street Art by Sr. X
Camden Street Art Self-Guided Trail
Sr. X (Señor X) "The Rapture" Street Art on the Village Underground
Sr. X (Señor X) "The Itching" Street Art off Brick Lane
New Sr X Octopus on Hackney Road
Sr.X Paints Village Underground Wall
Sr.X "Buy Shit!" Sign on Village Underground
Sr X Collaborates with Zabou

I have decided to put together a list of wineries that I have visited in Ohio. The majority of these were visited during my visit earlier this year, but some of them were visited in previous years. I will be updating this list continuously and re-visiting the existing wineries that I visited awhile ago. 

Breitenbach Amish Country Wines (Dover, OH)
This Amish country winery is located in a small group of wineries. I only had a fleeting visit here, but it offers a large area to enjoy the wines and food with outdoor seating at the back. They also offer entertainment. 

Buckeye Winery (Newark, OH)
Located in downtown Newark, this winery offers a large selection of wines for sale, seasonal wine slushies, and cheese/meat boards. Visitors can also bring in pizzas from the local pizzeria to consume in the restaurant.

Bunker's Mill Winery (Cardington, OH)
Located in a small village in north central Ohio, Bunker's Mill offers several rooms of indoor seating, a shop, and some outdoor seating. They do not offer food except from a small food truck outdoors.

Dalton Union Winery (Marysville, OH)
This winery is located out of a wooden barn with indoor and outdoor seating. There's entertainment on weekends, and a food truck visits during the live music days. They offer a selection of wines and beers. They had some really delicious sweet white wines here.

Five Vines Winery (Wapakoneta, OH)
This winery is located amongst the vines and out of a converted barn. The winery has indoor and outdoor seating with entertainment, and they offer a selection of cold meats and cheeses. The food and wines were good. I loved the Jalepeno wine.

Georgetown Tavern on the Hill (Cambridge, OH)
One of my favourites, Georgetown Tarvern on the Hill winery is located on the hills above Cambridge, Ohio. There is a wrap-around decking to enjoy the views and wildlife (I saw deer in the vineyard). Visitors can enjoy a selection of wines and slushies, beer, and other alcoholic drinks. The food is also amazing; they serve mozarella sticks and pizzas, both of which were delicious. The strawberry shortcake wine slushies were so good.

Hillside (Gilboa, OH)
Located in the small village, the unassuming front of the building appears to have a bar and a couple of rooms. However, visitors can go outside, and there's a huge area outside around the back along the river. They were starting to put on live music. There isn't any food on offer.

Hocking Hills Winery (Logan, OH)
Located next to Hocking Hills, this winery is a building with indoor seating, and visitors can enjoy cold meats and cheeses with the selections of wine.

Oak and Brazen (Delaware, OH)
Downtown in Delaware Ohio, Oak and Brazen is a large pub. They offer selections of alcohol, including wines. It gets busy with the local university student population.

Rainbow Hills Winery (Warsaw, OH)
I visited it a decade ago now, and it's time to go back.

Raven's Glenn (Coshocton, OH):
This winery is located amongst the vines and has an Italian restautant on site. This is where I had my wedding reception.

School House (Dover, OH)
This winery is located out of an old one-room schoolhouse near Dover, Ohio. The wines are named after school-related themes. They had a larger selection of red wines than white wines.

Shamrock Vineyards (Waldo, OH)
This is a family-run winery located near Waldo, Ohio, and they have a nice selection of red and white wines. They are all vastly different, and you're sure to find a favourite here.

Silver Moon Winery (Dover, OH)
On the edge of the Amish Country, this small winery offers a large selection of wines to enjoy. There is a large shop and a couple of wine slushies too. 

Sycamore Lake Wine Company (Columbus Grove, OH)
This is another favourite winery with a large area to explore with lake and covered bridge, vines, and a lot of outdoor and indoor area to enjoy a large selection of wines. The venue also offer food, such as pizzas, salads, and bread sticks.

White Shutter Winery and Brewey (Nevada, OH)
This charming winery is located at an old farm house, and they offer live entertainment on weekend nights. It is a buzzing atmosphere with a food truck and a selection of wines. The two kittens on site were adorable. The wines are named after 1960s and "hippy" themes.

"Wine Your Way Out" Corn Maze (Coshocton, OH)
Technically, it's not a winery, but it uses the wines from Raven's Glenn. This is a seasonal venture to a corn maze. Visitors can enjoy finding their way out of the maze and finding the wine stations inside the maze for tastings.

Yellow Butterfly (Coshocton, OH)
This winery has a beautiful yellow barn and fields of alpaca. I visited it a decade ago now, and it's time to go back.

In mid-September, I found myself in Kentucky for a little over a day. One of the items on my list was to visit a bourbon distillery. We found ourselves in Four Roses distillery in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky toward the end of a day, but we were too late to do a tour. I didn't book because I did not know what the plan was with everything. So, I ordered a couple of tasters and a cocktail. Visitors can take a distillery tour and learn about the distillery history and the brand, which claims to date from the 1860s. The building itself dates from 1910.

I ordered a couple of tasters and a cocktail at the bar. I loved the cocktail, which was fruity and did not taste too strong. The cocktail was the Roses Lemonade, which is made with Four Roses Small Batch, strawberry lemonade, lemon and strawberries.

The tastings I ordered included Four Roses Small Batch Select Bourbon, which is 104 proof alcohol. The other was Four Roses Single Barrel Bourbon, which is 100 proof alcohol. They were both very strong. 

Afterwards, we had a quick look in the gift shop and in a small museum area off to the side of the gift shop.

I would like to visit other distilleries at some point, but the trip was all a bit rushed. 

Today's post is long overdue and has been in progress for awhile. I've been to Camden a few times over the past few years and am only just getting around to posting these photographs of artwork from Irony. Irony's style is realistic though a sense of character is brought out in her portraits; the artist also often paints animals. I love seeing their work as the style is so good, and it always pops off the wall. I wanted to showcase four murals in Camden that I captured, and they are all fairly close together. 

The first is on a side street alley near the market, and it's a female with pink hair. The building has a window, which is placed over the eye of the subject.

The second mural was painted last year and is a female with blue hair.

The next mural is the oldest one, painted a few years ago now, and you may have seen photographs of it on my blog already. However, it had to have a touch-up as someone damaged the eye. Irony decided to add a patch with a rose over the eye. It is a brilliant piece and still has life left in it.

The last mural is one of my favourites as it just popped out at me. The picture depicts a portait of a model with piercings, edgy chunky ear rings, and headphones.

The last mural on this post was taken quite a few years ago now and featured a collaboration with Boe. It is a crow, and it's located near Broadway Market (not in Camden), and it's a few years old. The artist's style has come some way since then.

More street art by Irony can be seen on this blog by following the below links:

Camden Self-Guided Street Art Tour
Boe and Irony in Walthamstow
Boe & Irony at Upfest (2018)
Street Art by JimmyC, Boe & Irony, Trust Icon, and Others on Paradise Row
Street Art: Artista, DecoLife, Binty Bint, Ino, Irony, Pixie, SeaPuppy

This year, I got to watch two local fireworks displays for Bonfire Night / Guy Fawkes Day. The first one was on Friday night, November the 4th. The second one was on November the 5th. The weather has been really dreary and rainy. The one on the 4th stayed dry, but there was rain on the next night. I love watching the fireworks. This year, there hasn't been too many personal displays. After watching the fireworks last night, I headed home and met up with a couple of friends who came to my house for drinks. We had a variety of pre-made cocktails and Prosecco, and I also offered "Bonfire lollipops", which tasted of treacle toffee. There were a few fireworks going off about a block away, and we watched these from the garden.

We actually stayed up chatting until 1:30 in the morning, which completely caught us all off-guard as we totally lost track of the time. 

Happy belated Bonfire Night.

The year is 1605, and it is a time of gunpowder, treason, and plot. A few days ago, I headed into Tower of London vaults for The Gunpowder Plot immersive experience, which combines VR (virtual reality) headsets and an immersive experience brought to life with actors and surroundings. The creators of the experience previously brought us "The War of the Worlds" expeirence, which I previously covered: War of the Worlds Experience Review.

Our experience started off with food and drink. I purchased the expensive VIP tickets, and this includes lunch with a drink, photographs, merchandise, and a drink in the bar. We received two coins for the purchase of the interval drink in the Drake and Duck bar, which is about half the way through.

We both had the house wine and food. Some of the food options were not available on the visit, but we were able to have the pizza and burgers. 

I paid extra for the dessert, and we had ice cream. I had The Gunpowder Sundae, which was served with salted caramel syrup and popping candy.

I also tried the cocktails. There was Trick or Treason, since it is close to Halloween, This cocktail contained fruity liqueurs and jelly beans. The second cocktail I had was Toffee Apple, and it included toffee-infused vodka, apple juice, and caramel. I also tried the mocktail, Royal Gala, which tasted like apple juice and ginger beer.

We received The Fuse cocktail at the bar inside the experience. This was made with Prosecco and topped up with orange juice and grenadine.

The experience starts in the Tower of London, where we were currently located in the UNESCO heritage site vaults. We were Catholics imprisoned in the Tower, and we are freed to help the king's loyalists take down a rumour of a plot. Along the way, we meet several characters, both on the side of the plotters and on the king's loyalist side. We help a priest to escape and help escort barrels of gunpowder underneath the Houses of Parliament via the river. There's a lot more that happens, but I'll leave that as I don't want to spoil too much.

Overall, I thought that the experience was fun, but I felt that it fell a bit short of the first visit to the War of the Worlds experience; the second was too rushed. I liked the thought of being transported "back in time" to London in 1605, though I think it was a little difficult for us to get into the theme or mood. I felt that it needed a little bit more of an introduction...as we were playing "Catholics", perhaps having prison guards shouting at us about that as well as perhaps a sense of the injustice between the two religions to help us fit into 1605 London. I think a better introduction would have helped.

There were three VR sections of the experience, and these were rushed with the videos playing before my headset was on. The headsets are always too large for my head, and they seemed blurry; I had to hold them in place. 

The group had to choose whether to help the loyalists or the plotters, and we opted to help the plot. I believe that regardless of this, the experience is the same except for some different dialogue.

Overall, I thought it was good, although they need to stop rushing the VR before everyone is ready, and there needs to be more of an introduction to help you "time travel" to a year that is so different from our own. I do think that this expeirience could be made better, and I do think that it will appeal to tourists.

Note: I am not paid to write this review and paid for the experience myself. 

Scotton in Yorkshire was one of the least likely places that I would expect to find street art. Last year, I visited Yorkshire over the Christmas period and stopped off at The Guy Fawkes Arms, a pub that we discovered several years ago now and really enjoyed. The pub is named after the village's famous resident and Gunpowder Plot conspirator, Guy Fawkes. Some people attributed this stencil to Banksy, and his name appears near the work. However, it is not a Banksy. The stenciling is too crude, and it doesn't match the style at all. 

In the artwork, Guy Fawkes is seen carrying a wooden barrel and walking over to a flame where Covid-19 Passports are flying into the flames. There is a silhouette of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament in the flames.

It's not a Banksy, but it's a location where I would not have expected to find street art.

A few years ago, I came across Grosvenor Gardens close to Victoria station in London. I noticed two huts made out of shells, and these interested me to learn more about them. The huts were made during the redesign of the park by Jean Moreux in 1952. They are a fabrique style of building covered in shells in patterns. 

Today's post is about my visit to Armstrong Air and Space Museum in Wapakoneta, Ohio. Wapakoneta is the home town of Neil Armstrong, the famous astronaut who was one of the first to step on the surface of the moon in 1969. I visited with a friend at the start of September, and we had a downpour of rain that caused a couple of massive accidents that we got stuck in. Both involved large trucks. One of them ended up being a fatality, and we were glad when we made it safely there.

The entrance to the museum shows a boy playing with an airplane. The first astronauts were pilots. Ohio is also known as the "birthplace of aviation" since the Wright Brothers were from Ohio (although they tested their prototypes near the shore in North Carolina), and several astronauts are from Ohio. The second statue is located next to the museum entrance.

Upon entering, we saw a wall dedicated to Ohio's astronauts. My grandmother actually went to school with John Glenn; he was a grade or two ahead of her, and they went to the same school and college.

The museum has various exhibitions related to the moon landing, the space race, Neil Armstrong, and the lives and trainings of astronauts. Some of Armstrong's personal items are pictured below along with some photographs of the town as Neil Armstrong would have known it.

Armstrong's space suit was also on display.

Along with signed photographs of shuttles or satellites over the Earth.

There was also a replica shuttle to see - Gemini VII.

Here's a photograph of one of the display rooms.

We could also listen to an interactive bit with sound and an image of the Earth as it could have been seen from the moon's surface.

Below are some of the tools that the astronauts would have used.

Some items from the Apollo 11 moon landing were on display too, such as a moon rock and a part of the fabric from the lunar module.

The below American flag also went on that mission and came back.

Another item on display is the Armstrong space suit sculpture. The suit was a technical advancement for its time and built to withstand radiation. The sculpture is a digitised copy of the suit to help preserve it for future generations.

Below are a set of medals and "keys to the city" (various cities) belonging to Armstrong after his fame.

Below are a set of cameras that were used to film the surface of the moon.

Outside were a couple of replica shuttles/capsuls that could be interacted with. It was wet and miserable weather, so we did not stay there long.

Overall, it was a nice visit with a lot of interesting air and space information for those interested in astronauts and space as well as some of the history about the moon landing.