The Great Hall at Cotehele

Posted on March 31, 2014 Posted in England, History, Photography, UncategorizedTagged Cotehele, Cotehele Great Hall, England, History, Medieval Weapons, National Trust, Photography10 Comments

Cotehele is a Tudor manor house built between 1485 and 1539, high above the banks of the river Tamar in Cornwall. It was owned by the same family- the Edgcumbes,for six hundred years and is one of the best preserved Medieval manors in the country. They rebuilt the original 13th century property, before creating an even grander home a few miles away at Mount Edgcumbe, so Cotehele was little used and hardly changed over the centuries. The house became National Trust property in 1947 in lieu of death duty.
Today I’m showing you some of the armoury to be fond in the Great Hall.

And some other items I liked.

I’ll be back in a few days with some more photos of the house and garden.

Looking Through the Squint

Posted on March 31, 2014 Posted in England, History, UncategorizedTagged Cotehele, England, History, Mediaeval Squint, National Trust, Photography, travel11 Comments

I’ve had a really lovely weekend, full of creativity and sunshine. Yesterday I went to a National Trust property just over the border in Kernow – Cornwall. They say that Cotehele probably originated around 1300 but most of the building took place in the late 15th century. I’ll post some more photos later but meanwhile here’s a little squint. A squint is a small peephole built into a wall, so that that owner could look down on other rooms to check what people were up to, they were often added in mediaeval times. At Cotehele this on looks down on the Great Hall.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Street Life

Posted on March 28, 2014 Posted in Photography, Weekly Photo ChallengeTagged England, Igboland, India, Nigeria, Photography, Sicily, travel, Weekly Photo Challenge, Weekly Photo Challenge: Street Life33 Comments

‘A place reveals itself on its streets, from pedestrians strolling during lunch time, to performers entertaining tourists on sidewalks, to the bustle of local markets, and more. Whether you’re shoveling snow from your own driveway or walking a familiar route to work or getting lost in a foreign city, a snapshot of a street (or road or path) can tell a tale.’ So says Cheri Lucas Rowlands over at the Daily Post.

I’ve chosen street life from four different countries, each with many tales to tell.

The first is my own city, Exeter, in England.

Fiumefredo in Sicily.

Okohia, my ancestral village in Nigeria

The last one is in New Delhi.

Click for a bigger view and join in with the challenge at http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2014/03/28/street-life/

Lazy Poets Thursday Haiku

Posted on March 27, 2014March 26, 2014 Posted in haiku, Nature, Photography, UncategorizedTagged Haiku, Lazy Poets Thursday Haiku, Nature, Photography17 Comments

Winding its oak way

gently piercing through the sky

for three hundred years

Wordless Wednesday

Posted on March 26, 2014March 23, 2014 Posted in PhotographyTagged Park bench, Photography, Riverside Valley Park Exeter, Wordless Wednesday18 Comments

Rapunzel Retired

Posted on March 25, 2014 Posted in Photography, PoetryTagged Bastet's Pixelventures, Photography, Poetry, WeDrinkInspiration14 Comments

Rapunzel retired

She scrambles through the memory door,

with care for the height ascending

heavenwards through the Majorelle sky,

to sit, watching from her balcony,

from her sun-dazzled rooftop seat.

A spectator of unfolding beach drama,

and the tides that turn on loving couples,

with swift momentum on the old.

Hair chopped, scrolled, bleached white

her Rapunzel days are over,

no handsome prince will rise to rescue

his dragon heart fell cold.

This post is for http://wedrinkbecausewerepoets.com/2014/03/25/bastets-pixelventures-march-25-2014/ challenge this week which is UP.

The Bears Hut at Killerton

Posted on March 24, 2014March 23, 2014 Posted in England, Gardens, PhotographyTagged Devon, England, Gardens, Killerton, Photography, The Bear's Hut Killerton, The National Trust11 Comments

In 1808 Sir Thomas Acland built a rustic summerhouse for his wife Lydia in the grounds of their estate at Killerton. Two generations later, their grandson shipped a bear over from Canada and kept it as a pet. The summerhouse became the Bear’s Hut and has been known as that ever since. Now it’s the highlight of a visit for children, on Saturday I sheltered from a shower of rain, but I’d like to have a tea party there!

Rippled by Geese

Posted on March 23, 2014 Posted in Photography, Weekly Photo ChallengeTagged Geese, Killerton Lake, National Trust Killerton, Photography, Weekly Phot Challenge Reflections, Weekly Photo Challenge16 Comments

Yesterday at Killerton I walked to the lake to try to get a better reflection shot for the Weekly Photo Challenge. It didn’t work, two lovely but irritating geese put paid to that idea, gliding around rippling up the water as if they owned the place!

I waited a while,
but they weren’t going anywhere,so this is as good as it got.
Oh well I needed that extra 100 metre walk through the mud 🙂

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2014/03/21/weekly-photo-challenge-reflections/

Killerton Spring

Posted on March 22, 2014 Posted in Flowers, Photography, UncategorizedTagged Devon, England, Gardens, Killerton, Photography, The National Trust, travel16 Comments

The weather forecast got it wrong this morning, so I walked the dogs and then took my camera to Killerton to make the most of the unexpected sunshine. I’ve taken you before, for the Christmas decorations and a fashion exhibition, but this time I wanted to see how the grounds were looking in their spring costumes.

The Magnolia blossom was spectacular

Everywhere you look, flowers both woodland and cultivated

Shrubs and assorted loveliness!

Killerton is a National Trust property a few miles east of Exeter, I hope you enjoyed your spring walk.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Reflections

Posted on March 21, 2014 Posted in England, Gardens, Weekly Photo ChallengeTagged Gardens, Photography, Rosemoor, Weekly Photo Challenge, Weekly Photo Challenge: Reflections28 Comments

I may have lots of reflection photos, I may not. Fact is my photos are now in such a muddle I haven’t a clue! I think I would need to take a week’s leave to organise all my images now I’ve got a new laptop. Before I could always find any picture I’d taken in the last 12 years quite easily. Not anymore!
This one popped out so for now it’s the only one I’m posting, I may be back in a day or two.

Join in with the challenge if you can find your pictures, http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2014/03/21/weekly-photo-challenge-reflections/

Lucid Gypsy

Tag: Photography