On my recent trip to Kent I payed my first visit to Rochester and one of the first things I noticed as I entered the city was a weather vane in the shape of a ship. On further investigation I found that it was on top of the guildhall which was built in 1687.
Outside, mounted on the roof, is an amazing weather vane in the form of a fully rigged 18th-century warship. This is 1.52m tall and weighs just under 51kg. It is made of gilded copper and lead alloy and has weathered the ever-changing climate since 1780.
Tags: Guildhall, Kent, Rochester, Warship, Weather Vane, Weekend away
For more of this weeks PhotoHunt pictures check out Whistlestop PhotoHunt.
Tags: Cat, National Trust, PhotoHunt, Wightwick Manor
I’ll tell you: it isn’t someone who teaches you something, but someone who inspires the student to give of her best in order to discover what she already knows.
Paulo Coelho (from the Witch of Portobello)
Tags: Cherie's Place, Cherie's Place Thought, Paulo Coelho, Rose, Strawberries & Cream, Vision & Verb
In the 1860s Charles Fechter sent Charles Dickens a Christmas present, it arrived in 58 packing cases at Gravesend station. The present was a prefabricated Swiss Chalet which Dickens assembled in the garden at his country home at Gadshill Place. He constructed it in the second part of his garden which was across the Rochester road. In time he built a tunnel under the road so that he could access the chalet without being seen.
A lot of his later writing was done in the upper study of this chalet which was kitted out with all the things he liked to have near him when he was writing. In his studio on the second floor he included a number of mirrors so that the light would reflect around the room and surround him.
The chalet has been preserved and moved to Rochester High Street as a memorial to the writer.
Tags: Architecture, Architecture 100, Charles Dickens, Kent, Swiss Chalet, Weekend away
I have now returned from from my second journey (in a month) down south. It is such a long journey (5 hours) that it feels like a trip to the moon. Making the journey by road is less than ideal; it is mostly motorways, which currently have a lot of roadworks that slow down the traffic. Life has been a bit hectic lately so on this occasion I made the journey by train which was far less stressful than a trip in the car.
The leisurely train journey gave me an ideal opportunity to get started on the first Vision and Verb book group read. I arrived home feeling relaxed and ready for dinner which was prepared in my new kitchen. I then had an earlyish night for me and enjoyed my first opportunity for a long lie in since well before Christmas.
My lie in set me up for a day of emptying boxes of kitchen items that are being stored in the dining room. As part of the emptying, the kitchen items had to be washed and suitable places found to store them in the new kitchen.
Tags: Kent, Light, Moon, Vision & Verb, Weekend away
In ordinary life we hardly realise that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906 – 1945)
Tags: Attingham Park, Bench, Cherie's Place Thought, National Trust, Walled Garden
I invite you to join me at Vision & Verb where I share some facts and folklore about a well known Shropshire landmark.
Tags: Attingham Park, History, The Wrekin, Vision & Verb
