View video on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmOPpGJYV-U&t=85s
A commission initiated by Telford & Wrekin Council has transformed an underpass that I regularly walk past into an artwork.
The project saw local graffiti artist ‘Auniqueart’ and community groups transform an underpass and six signal boxes with street art, themed around the new nature area being cleared by Leegomery Community Centre.
The mural, painted by street artist Neil Willis, is designed to make people feel safer by removing graffiti as well as improving the area and deterring vandals.
6 Comments CherryPie on Oct 4th 2022
Located in the market place in the heart of the medieval city of Norwich, St Peter Mancroft is the largest of the city’s 31 surviving medieval parish churches and one of the finest perpendicular parish churches in Norfolk. It is known for its medieval stained glass, its collection of medieval and renaissance treasures and its importance as a pioneering tower in the uniquely English art of change-ringing on church bells.
Like the market place where St Peter Mancroft stands, the Church was a Norman foundation built by Ralph de Guader, Earl of Norfolk, in 1075. The Normans tried to suppress the old market, held in Tombland, by building their Cathedral and monastery enclosure over it and set up a new market place in the great field below the Castle where they could keep an eye on it.
Not long after, Earl Ralph lost everything in rebellion against William the Conqueror. Ralph had bestowed the church on one of his chaplains, Wala, who in turn passed it to the Abbey of St Peter in Gloucester where he fled after the Rebellion. For 300 years it was known as St Peter of Gloucester in Norwich. In 1388, after local pressure, it passed to the Benedictine community of St Mary-in-the-Fields whose Church stood on the site of the present day Assembly House and Theatre Royal.
The Dean and Chapter of St Mary’s found the old Church of St Peter in a poor condition and in 1390 they decided to rebuild it. However, it was not until 1430, with gifts and legacies from wealthy citizens, and donations from merchant and craft guilds, that the first stone was laid. The church was consecrated 25 years later. The present building owes much of its unity of style to a single phase of construction.
2 Comments CherryPie on Oct 3rd 2022
One year later (minus a week) we revisited Jodrell Bank in order to see the new First Light Pavilion which is located within the arboretum. It was still under construction on our previous visit.
Inside the First Light Pavilion will be a spectacular exhibition, in which visitors can engage with the stories of the amazing scientists and engineers who have worked at Jodrell Bank over the years, and whose stories continue today.
This innovative and interactive new gallery will include displays, objects and artefacts from the site’s rich history and will incorporate the fabric of the original 1957 surface of the Lovell Telescope. Archive footage and large-scale projections will animate the exhibition and bring the past to life.
A beautiful new 130 seat auditorium will also feature, housing an immersive projection space where visitors will be able to watch an animated history of Jodrell Bank. *
Our first stop was Oswestry to pick up a friend of Mr C. The in-car SatNav then took us on an unexpected (un)magical mystery tour through never ending traffic queues. The conversation and laughs we had made up for the inconvenience but I regretted not picking up my portable SatNav which is far better at route planning. When we arrived at Jodrell Bank, 45 minutes later than we planned it was time for lunch, which we enjoyed in the First Light café.
After lunch we walked to the Lovell Telescope and explored the Space Pavilion before it was time for our pre-booked Dome Show. We all thought that the show was rather bland and lacked something. The interactive gallery and display in the other half of the Dome made up for this, the exhibits drew us in to explore the history of the Lovell Telescope and explorations of Space. We will be back to explore the gallery in more detail on a future occasion.
We had afternoon tea including ‘naughty cakes’ and browsed the shop before leaving (empty handed) on our homeward journey. The SatNav behaved itself and took us in the direction we had expected to travel on our outward journey!
*Quoted from the Jodrell Bank website in 2021
6 Comments CherryPie on Oct 3rd 2022
Blickling Hall is a Jacobean stately home situated in 5,000 acres of parkland in a loop of the River Bure, near the village of Blickling north of Aylsham in Norfolk, England. The mansion was built on the ruins of a Tudor building for Sir Henry Hobart from 1616 and designed by Robert Lyminge. The library at Blickling Hall contains one of the most historically significant collections of manuscripts and books in England, containing an estimated 13,000 to 14,000 volumes. The core collection was formed by Sir Richard Ellys. The property passed into the care of the National Trust in 1940.
12 Comments CherryPie on Sep 29th 2022
I chose a local route to complete my memorial walk in honour of the late Queen Elizabeth II. The walk was perfect with both sunshine and showers.
I will now retrace my steps on my virtual route from London back to Windsor (just under 29 miles), concluding with a ‘real’ walk along the ‘Long Walk’ from Windsor Castle to the Copper Horse statue of King George III.
16 Comments CherryPie on Sep 28th 2022
