Tag: architecture

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architecture buildings colours townscapes Wales

Pembrokeshire coast and gardens – part 3 – Cardigan

We made our way to the coastal town of Cardigan a short drive from where we were staying for our Pembrokeshire holiday, mainly to visit the castle. In fact we found the town itself to be a very interesting place as well as the castle.

There was so much colour in the town’s main streets, with houses and businesses painted in all sorts of shades.

   

We found Cardigan to be a quirky little town which was a most enjoyable place to wander around. The castle would be our next port of call.

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sculpture the seaside the South townscapes

A Week in Cornwall – Part 3 -St Ives

When holidaying in Cornwall in the summer of 2018 we planned to visit St Ives as we had enjoyed it so much when we visited decades ago. We loved the seafront, quayside, the quaint streets full of art galleries some being working galleries and the garden and workshop of our best female sculptor of all time, Barbara Hepworth. And of course we mustn’t forget the wonderful Tate St Ives, a wonderful piece of architecture housing incredible artworks.

        

These photos were taken in a way to avoid the crowds. St Ives had become a busy crowded little seaside town and we were greatly disappointed. But at least the Barbara Hepworth Gallery and Garden did live up to our expectations and match our memories.

 

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architecture buildings townscapes

Our short break in Stratford-upon-Avon – Part 1

In June of 2018 we decided to visit Stratford-on-Avon for a short mid-week break as it has been several years since we last visited. We decided to stay in the centre and concentrate on exploring the centre.

Here is a series of pics of a morning wandering around the town centre, with its half-timbered buildings, the riverside, the theatre and even a sculptured hedge for added interest. There is such a wide ranging style of architecture within the town that no street is void of interest. What has made exploration easier since our last visit is the change in emphasis from traffic friendly roads to pedestrianisation and safe crossings.

  

We visited the house in which William Shakespeare grew up and where his father ran a business making high-class leather gloves. A very smelly business being carried out in a family house must have been a difficult combination. The house had many examples of leather making paraphernalia as well as furnished family rooms.

 

Here is a set of photos of the living quarters of the Shakespeare family home.

          

The working craftrooms were busy places and their stench must have emanated throughout the living quarters. Despite the stenches prevalent within the workshops the gloves made were stunnungly beautiful, colours subtle and textures so soft.

   

Our favourite artefact was a beautiful hand crafted leather glove just like those that Shakespeare’s father would have made.

The second part in this series about our Stratford break will be all about the gardens related to Shakespeare and his family.

 

 

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architecture buildings National Trust photography The National Trust Yorkshire

A Family Holiday in Scotland – Part 6 – Fountains

After our great family holiday staying in our cottage holiday home in the Scottish Borders, we took a few days to make our way home to make our holiday together  last a little bit longer. We enjoyed two days in Yorkshire visiting Fountains Abbey and The Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

In this post we will share our day at Fountains. After a wet and stormy drive down from Scotland we arrived in Yorkshire for an overnight stay. Jude and I had not been to Fountains Abbey for years so were pleased to take the family there.

As we wandered down the sloping pathto the abbey ruins we could admire the amount of structure still left standing. It is really impressive.

  

Arabella enjoys life and loves going out and about – outside is where she prefers to be.

Once down among the stonework you can really appreciate the strength of the building and the sheer brilliance of it’s construction.

  

Mother Nature enjoys a good ruin to grow on finding the tiniest crack with a drop of soil in in which to grow.

 

The monks had left us a convenient stone seat on which we could perch for a picnic.

As we started clearing our picnic away the clouds darkened and cold rain drops fell. We struggled to find any shelter from the following storm. Arabella never minds rain because it means puddles, her favourite phenomena. I hope you enjoy this set of photos where she shows her delight at puddles.

      

We just had time to explore the outside boundaries of the site before the closing time closed in on us.

      

We followed the finger posts back to the car park at the end of another great family day out.

 

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architecture buildings

A Family Holiday in Scotland – Part 5 New Lanark

On one day during our week’s hoiday in the Scottish Borders, we spent time exploring the heritage site at New Lanark, a once busy place in a steeply sided valley, being reborn with a new identity. It is still a living and working village.

From the carpark we had to walk down a steep but winding path to get down to the site as it was designed and built all around the River Clyde. The view from the top though was so amazing, I just had to get down there, albeit it rather slowly.

Once down in the valley bottom the sheer immensity and solidity of the old mill buildings became apparent. In its heighday it must have been noisy, busy and unpleasant so seeing it now all cleaned up is rather strange. It is good however to see it being reborn. There is a real sense of pride here.

In its former life it was a group of 4 mills and their support buildings, homes for the employees and even “The Institute” formed by Robert Owen in 1816. All the buildings are built of a beautiful pale local sandstone and local slate for the roofs. They look so sturdy! They have now all been cleaned up and given a new lease of life, a new sense of purpose. The river that runs through the valley providing water for the factories is now a nature reserve. The whole site is home for many but also a massive tourist attraction.

On top of Mill 2 is a discovery waiting for all visitors to find, but you have to be pretty stubborn to get there, as the signage is not good at all. It is even hard to find where to start the ascent!

It is a roof garden featuring strong design in the hard surfaces and a collection of sculptures.

     

Inside the old mills are a few signs of their busy past, now silent.

We loved the sight of this inspiring sign, with words of Robert Owen, a philanthropic social reformer who aimed to make the lives of mill workers and their families more bearable.

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architecture buildings London photography townscapes Uncategorized

A Short Break in London – Part 5

Here we are back with my final post about our short break in London, looking at the day we visited Carnaby Street a fabled street when we were teenagers. It was strange though how wide it seems now and how commercialised. And so busy! That aspect of its character certainly has not changed. We were sad that it was our last day, we had loved our hotel and every aspect of our capital city. These great chairs were the highlight of the hotel foyer! Great shape and super colours!

But first we were treated to a special breakfast at TheWolseley, once the showroom for theWolseley Car company. What an impressive building, and so easy to imagine it lined up with glossy black limousines and ultra-smart salesmen. Today it makes an equally impressive restaurant, smart throughout including the crockery and cutlery and of course the waiters and waitresses, dressed as smartly as possible. What a treat indeed!

So now for a wander at London’s well-known buildings, Hatchards the booksellers, Liberty’s, The Royal Academy, Fortnum and Mason’s and Carnaby Street itself. We had a tour of places we wanted to see and places that Jo and Rob wanted us to see. Quite a mixture! It was the day of the great march when nearly 700 000 people called for a new and more honest Brexit vote. We discovered odd placards which we enjoyed agreeing with.

     

The buildings housing The Royal Academy were proud and imposing. We walked beneath a gateway into an internal courtyard which surprisingly displayed a strange wooden house. I enjotyed spotting a statue of one of my heroes, Carl Linnaeus.

Crazy Carnaby Street was busy, colourful but not quite what we were expecting and it was hard to explain why.

 

A taxi back to the hotel to pick up our gear then another to run us to the railway station ended our greatly enjoyable weekend break. We just have to go back in the spring and/or summer over the next couple of years. Thanks to Jo and Rob who gave us the confidence to return after so long.

 

 

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architecture buildings London

A Short Break in London – Part 4

This is number 4 in this mini-series about our London break, where I will take you along the South Bank.

  

Surprises along the way included the “New Globe” theatre building which seems so out of place but fascinating too, and odd green spaces being enjoyed as relaxation spots.

 

A railway station in the air was also unexpected, totally enclosed inside a bridge over the Thames.

As we reached the end of our riverside wanderings we turned away from the Thames towards a street where we could find a taxi. We were faced with the side of an old building which bore the scars of its many former uses. It was amazing to see it still fully in use.

We passed the famous OXO Building and reached another open green space, a park for the local residents being used on this sunny day. We were amazed to find tiny allotments producing fruit and veg inside “cages” of wire.

A morning in the Tate followed by a South Bank wander made for a most enjoyable day, which was to finish with an evening at “Ronnie Scott’s” jazz club in Soho. We had to return home by train the following afternoon so post 5 will be about that final morning’s wanderings.

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architecture

A Short Break in London – Part 2

As mentioned in Part 1 we then enjoyed time at The Tate Modern, another ambition I wished for but never thought I would be able to manage. Thanks to my orthopaedic surgeon and support from Jo and Rob the visit was very special.

The taxi dropped us right outside the Tate on the edge of its forecourt and we found ourselves with the Tate modern, a restored power station, in front of us and other interesting much more modern buildings around it.

 

The Tate’s neighbours were really good exciting examples of modern architecture, a strong feature of present day London. I loved the use of materials and colour especially the strong yellow on the building in the first photo.

 

Once inside the gallery we loved the signs of its original uses, hard raw concrete surfaces with such strength of structure. Concrete at its best, powerful but sleek. As we had walked 50 yards or so into the building we looked back to see the yellow building looking back in.

   

We enjoyed the building and its structure for a long while before we entered any formal gallery spaces. My favourite pieces will feature in another London post. We broke for coffee and went right to the top of the building to enjoy it. Here an outside balcony walkway afforded us wonderful views over the city. We got so excited about just being there looking out.

     

We began to spot green patches in the air where the occupants of buildings were trying to green up their space with roof gardens, planted patios growing trees and shrubs to help them feel relaxed.

   

After enjoying the delights of the Tate for many hours we took a walk along the Left Bank of the Thames. This will be featured in a further London post.

 

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architecture buildings light light quality Uncategorized

A Short Break in London – Part 1

Since I had a major operation to rebuild my right leg, I find myself being able to tackle  things I have not done for years and I am gaining confidence to have a go at them. Jude and I  have not visited London for decades because of my disabilities, but the time came in early autumn to give it a go. So we relied on daughter, Jo and son-in-law Rob, to organise our London adventure and guide us through our time there.

We managed and it felt wonderful! I think Jude, Jo and Rob were as delighted by it all as I was. I also realised a life’s dream! We spent an evening at Ronnie Scott’s in Soho. It was just as good as I expected and an experience that stays with me every moment.

But lots else happened, not just the world’s most famous jazz club!

The hotel we stayed in, Citizen M Tower Bridge, afforded us the most special of views looking out over the Thames and straight at The Tower.

 

On our first evening in the Capital we wandered towards the Thames to dine in a restaurant on its banks. There is something very special about cities at night.

     

After a good night’s sleep in our i-Pad controlled room, we took a taxi to the Tate Modern, and that will be the subject of my next London post.

  

 

 

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architecture buildings the sea the seaside the shore Wales

Anglesey – Part 1 – A day out in Beaumaris

We love Anglesey and our favourite seaside place must be Beaumaris with its castle and its little pier. It is a seaside town in miniature. In the early autumn of 2017 Jude, the Undergardener and I spent a short break on Anglesey with our son Jamie, daughter-in-law Sam and granddaughter Arabella, and we just had to share our love of the place with them. We had taken Jamie there as a child but Sam, having lived her childhood in France and then moving to Leicester had never been before and baby Arabella was too young to have visited yet in her short life.

We took a wander along the sea front and to the end of the pier and back.

 

Having arrived at the little town mid-morning we needed to find a refreshment place prior to exploring the castle, and discovered this friendly cafe close to the castle alongside the bowling green. It looked very bright with its cerise and green coloured furniture.

From there we passed this old cottage with its typical cottage styled garden before arriving at the castle itself.

It must be one of the most photogenic castles in the UK, as well as being of great historic importance and significance. Jude has given me this information concerning the castle as I am no historian.

The construction of Beaumaris Castle began in 1295 and was built by Edward 1st, the last in a programme of castle building in Wales by the English to subjugate the Welsh. The castle was never finished however as money ran out! It is unusual in that it has a set of walls within walls for extra fortification. A surprising feature is its gateway to the sea, a tidal dock which allowed ships direct access to the castle to deliver supplies.

   

   

We had last visited the castle many years ago and had forgotten just how beautiful it was. Jude, being an historian looked at it from a different perspective from my aesthetic viewpoint, but we both absolutely love it.