Buckland’s Small Treasures

Posted on April 21, 2013 Posted in Elephants, History, TravelTagged Buckland Abbey, Devon, England, History, national trust houses, Photography, Queen Elizabeth 1, Sir Francis Drake, travel14 Comments

As you know I was captivated by Buckland Abbey. It isn’t the most grand of National Trust houses but for me it is an interesting one, packed with history and little surprises. Here are a few of the things I enjoyed.

I know, it’s just a chair leg, but imagine all the ankles that have brushed against it.

Time flies indeed.

I loved the little incense boat.

A 17th century sea chest.

Elegant porcelain.

A model of the Golden Hind.

This chess set has Lord Burghley as King, Queen Elizabeth as Queen and Sir Francis Drake as the Knight. Each of the Pawns is a miniature Golden Hind.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Up Again

Posted on April 19, 2013 Posted in Photography, The Daily Post, Weekly Photo ChallengeTagged England, History, Kuala Lumpur, Photography, Weekly Photo Challenge, Weekly Photo Challenge: Up47 Comments

Sara Rosso has chosen Up this week. I knew this was familiar and sure enough some of us have been UP before. Here is mine from 2011 https://lucidgypsy.wordpress.com/2011/08/26/weekly-photo-challenge-up/ I still love my laughing Arabian!
To join in this time go to http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/04/19/weekly-photo-challenge-up-2/ and add your entry.
This time I’ll show you one just snapped at the park.

Further from home, the tower in Kuala Lumpur

and one to make you rush! If they rang you had to get up really quickly!

Buckland Abbey Costumes

Posted on April 17, 2013 Posted in England, History, Photography, UncategorizedTagged Buckland Abbey, Devon, Elizabethan Costumes, England, History, Photography, travel16 Comments

Hand crafted gentleman’s attire

A lovely gown made by the Costume Group

Sir Francis and his good wife

The collar detail

And lastly, the lady from my poem last week. She was very knowledgeable and when I admired her hat, she told me that Elizabeth 1st ruled that all ladies should wear woollen hats. This apparently was to help promote the growth of the woollen trade.

Buckland’s Books

Posted on April 14, 2013 Posted in England, History, UncategorizedTagged Ancient manuscript, Buckland Abbey, Devon, England, History, Medieval Antiphonal, Old Bible, Old Prayerbook, Photography14 Comments

I have just been inspired by a TV program to show you three books that I tried to photograph at Buckland Abbey last week. The program, The Century that Wrote Itself, sets out to trace ‘our modern sense of self back to when ordinary people first took up the quill’. These books were not written by ordinary people, but one at least would have been written with a quill.

This one is my favourite and its the oldest, a medieval Antiphonal from Italy in the late 14th century. An Antiphonal is a winter choir book giving the sung parts of the service for each day from the first Sunday of Advent to the feast of Pentecost.

I Went to the National Marine Aquarium . . .

Posted on April 13, 2013 Posted in Photography, Travel, UncategorizedTagged Devon, England, National Marine Aquarium, Photography, Plymouth, travel12 Comments

. . . in Plymouth today with my kids! We saw anemones and jellyfish.

And fantastic fishies

As always click to see a slide show.

Buckland’s Newest Old Treasure

Posted on April 12, 2013April 11, 2013 Posted in Art and Design, EnglandTagged Art, Devon, England, History, Rembrandt, travel10 Comments

One of the reasons I went to Buckland last weekend was this painting. If you live in the UK, you will probably have heard recently that its been discovered that a painting given to the National Trust in 2010, has been investigated by experts and found to be no less than Rembrandt self portrait. It shows the Master, aged 29, in a hat with white feathers, and it is signed and dated 1635.
The National Trust has a collection of some 13,500 paintings but this is the only Rembrandt. It has been valued at around £20m, but can never be sold, it belongs to the nation. There are no plans to move it from Buckland, so if you want to see this valuable find, you’ll just have to visit Devon.

Buckland Abbey, a Few Inside Photos

Posted on April 11, 2013 Posted in England, History, Photography, UncategorizedTagged Buckland Abbey, Devon, England, History, Photography, travel16 Comments

Hampered by not being able to use flash I’m afraid!

A Fireplace since 1576!

Edwardian chapel

The hob, each area a different temperature

A bored volunteer making sure we didn’t pinch the artifacts!

A room with a view

Spinning corner

Going down

Laundry

Kitchn doorway

Family crest

The Georgian dining room

Tudor dresser

The Lazy Poets Thursday Haiku, Spectre

Posted on April 11, 2013April 8, 2013 Posted in Photography, PoetryTagged England, Ghost, Haiku, History, Photography, Poetry11 Comments

Grey spectre lady

waiting for precious lost love

four centuries past

Wordless Wednesday

Posted on April 10, 2013April 7, 2013 Posted in Art and Design, HistoryTagged Art, England, History, Photography, Wordless Wednesday19 Comments

Too Early for Gardens

Posted on April 9, 2013April 7, 2013 Posted in Gardens, Photography, Travel, UncategorizedTagged Buckland Abbey, Devon, England, Gardens, Photography, travel19 Comments

Buckland Abbey is on the far west of Dartmoor and spring is late this year. It isn’t a garden with herbaceous border, more formal and functional elegance and sweeping grounds. There is an Elizabethan garden and although it’s box hedges have been damaged by blight in recent years, it has been replanted. The National trust have been working to establish a flowery mead since 2001 and its wild flowers attract butterflies and moths. Each September the mead is cut and to maintain the low nutrients in the soil that grassland needs the cuttings are rmeoved. In day gone by these cutting would have been animal fodder and also strewn around the floor in the house for its sweet fragrance.