Connections

Little things that connect, that send your mind drifting back into the past. Memories weaving here and there some of them as clear as if it were yesterday.

On Wednesday morning we went up to Leek to look around the shops there.  The museum, for some reason was closed but we ventured into the Foxlowe Arts Centre to look at a local art exhibition.  On the same floor was a book case of second hand books for sale, the title of the one below caught my eye and the memories flooded in.

 

It was 1980 and we were staying in Lyme Regis, a place we both love.  Paul had an appointment with the curator of the Philpot Museum to look at and photograph Pterosaur specimens and I was just fascinated with the story of Mary Anning who spent days on the Undercliffe searching for fossils.  We stayed at a small hotel called the Old Monmouth where creaking floor boards and suddenly opening doors led the other people at breakfast to delcare that they were sure that they had heard 'Old Monmouth' during the night.  The owners had a cat called Cleopatra who more often than not visited the bedrooms, luckily we liked cats, as once or twice we found her curled up in the sink in the corner of our room.  I remember the hotel was across the road from the church and the church clock could be heard ringing each hour.

A very fuzzy and discoloured old photo of me outside the Old Monmouth. Below the Philpott museum both taken in 1980.

 

The day of the appointment arrived and we went in to meet the curator who at that time was the eminent writer John Fowles.  He was interested in why we were visiting and what we were interested in and happy for Paul to identify a fossil for him. He referred us to Dorchester Museum to find another fossil there.  A few weeks after we returned home we had a thank you letter from him.  We still have it somewhere, most probably in a file, in a plastic box in the back of the garage.  Perhaps one day we will come across it again.

The book is full of illustrations by an artist called Elaine Franks with a foreward by John Fowles.

John Fowles of course is no longer with us but - here - is an article about Elaine Franks.

This Week

 Monday

We walked at Trentham as we usually do at least once a week.

We walked around the lake and then up through the gardens.  Festive displays had arrived but I'll show those in a later post.

There were three female pheasants down by the lake.  I managed to photograph one of them, they were well camouflaged.

The beavers have been busy.   Not seen them yet.

 Tuesday

The snow came quietly and softly overnight

Above and below - photos taken around 8a.m. from our bedroom window of the back garden.

 The now leafless Tulip Tree covered in snow

 Wednesday

Was a stay at home snow day.  I'm so glad there were no medical appointments this week. I had a hospital appointment last week and have another appointment next week. There was no pressure to be out and about as the roads up here on our little hill seem worse than further down towards town. The snow takes twice as long to melt. The main roads were gritted.  Ironing done. 

Thursday

A walk on the Brampton in Newcastle-under-Lyme and a visit to a local art exhibition in the Museum.

To me this seemed like the coldest day of the week.  Both leaves and snow crunched underfoot.

The Open Art and Craft exhibition featuring local artists is on show until 22nd December.

Friday

Another walk this time at Westport Lake followed by lunch at Middleport Pottery.

The frozen ponds near the large lake.

One of the shops on the first floor.  Tables were set with different designs.

Hot and delicious Cauliflower and Broccoli soup.

Middleport Pottery and Museum is a short walk from Westport Lake down the canal.
 

Today, Saturday another stay at home day keeping out of the way of the storm which seems to have arrived here.  I can hear the rain on the conservatory roof and the wind rattling the door knocker on the front door. Reading A Refiner's Fire by Donna Leon, her latest Commissario Brunetti mystery set in Venice and listening to Max Richter's recomposition of Vivaldi's Four Seasons.  Spring is so very beautiful.

Take care, stay safe and warm. Have a good weekend.

The Home Front Museum

Back to our visit to Wales in June.

The Home Front Museum in Llandudno is housed in an old garage which, during the second world war, was the town's auxiliary fire station.  All the artefacts in the museum are from one man's collection.

You can find it in a little back street just a stone's throw from the main thoroughfayre of Gloddaeth Avenue.  It is also quite close to the main town museum.

It was quite dark inside but a welcome relief from the midday heat.   The dark made it hard to take photos but I've added a few here.  

I think I was most fascinated with the shop and the types of food products available.  Dreadnought Household flour and Marmite cubes.

 

'I make good soup says potato Pete.  Save the fleet.  Eat less wheat.'

We were left alone to wander around as we chose, sometimes doubling back to see something we'd missed or wanted to look at again.  As you walk round you also hear the sound of radio announcements, musical entertainment, comedy shows,  commentry from newsreels and also the sound of air raids, especially in the Anderson shelter.  For some reason I only took a photo of the outside of it.

 

We did sit inside though, for a while.

 

We then moved on to the Llandudno Museum.  We'd visited the museum a few years ago and it had changed quite a lot since our last visit.  I'll sort out some photos for a post at some point.  In the meantime here is a collage of the little Welsh dragons which were dotted here and there around the museum.  

I assume as a trail for children to follow.

 

Take care.

Seaside and Strawberries

 We've been away in Wales for a few days.  When we got home the first strawberries of the season had ripened after spending lots of weeks looking hard and green.  

The first sweet pea flowers had opened up as well.

I've popped a few photos of where we've been below and I'll be back with more on some of them in a later post.

Colwyn Bay

Llandudno

Bodnant Gardens

Sheep grazing near the cafe at the top of Horseshoe Pass

Inside the Home Front Museum, Llandudno

Swan and cygnets at the Rhuddlan nature reserve.

Welsh Dragon on a 20mph road sign near the school in Acrefair.  

All for now.

Wintry Days

 After all the wet weather the last few days have been sunny but oh so cold.  We have managed to get out and about for a couple of walks this week. Both yesterday and today the sky has been so blue.

Tuesday we woke up to a light dusting of snow and the car had to go into the garage for it annual service.  Wednesday, after a supermarket shop, we visited the Brampton Musem in Newcastle (under Lyme) for a mug of coffee and a shared slice of banana bread.  I liked the sign on the front of the counter in the tea room cafe.

After coffee we popped into the galleries to look at the latest exhibition.  Art work by the Society of Staffordshire Artists.

Yesterday we took a walk around Trentham Gardens the weather was so different from last week.

The fountain in the shopping area had frozen with some beautiful patterns in the ice.

Lots of blue sky, shadows and reflections.

Even though it was getting towards midday it was still very cold.

On the lake the Coots were marching across the ice, there were quite a few of them all together. Apparently the collective noun for Coots is a cover.

They were joined by two Little Grebes.  The Little Grebes or Dabchicks had found an un-iced over area to keep diving in.

Cormorants. 

Nuthatch

At home Snowdrops are peeping through the frost and snow, there is no sign of the Winter Aconites yet.

I'm looking forward to seeing them both again this year.

Matisse and Crocosmia

Another small break was needed away from all the work so we visited nearby Newcastle-under-Lyme and popped into the museum on the Brampton for a coffee and a look at the new exhibition.

Drawing with Scissors is a touring exhibition exhibition from the Hayward Gallery at the South Bank Centre.  It features thirty five prints by Henri Matisse (1869 - 1954) which the artist produced in the last four years of his life.

Almost bedridden and no longer able to paint or draw Matisse used coloured paper and scissors to create his works.

Meanwhile out in the grounds and gardens there was a riot of Crocosmia.  So bright and cheering on a grey day.

 

There were also many other plants and flowers blooming and lots of bees and butterflies were enjoying them.

All for now.