The first picture is the colouring page that I promised to share with you in my recent post about my visit to Hodnet Hall. I coloured it during July and August.

The second two photographs are colourings that I started a while ago and only recently completed.

The Charred Cross is made from two medieval roof beams which had fallen in the shape of a cross in the rubble after the bombing of the Cathedral in 1940.

Cathedral Groundsman Jock Forbes’ instinctive action was to set up this sign of Christ’s suffering amidst the destruction. the beams were bound together and placed the Sanctuary of the Ruins. the Charred Cross remained there until 1978 whin it was brought to this location for safekeeping.

The beams were originally held in place with medieval roof nails. The ‘Cross of Nails’, formed from three such nails, is the internationally-recognised symbol of our peace and reconciliation ministry. You can see the original ‘cross of nails’ in the centre of the High Altar Cross. *

*from a sign board next to the Charred Cross

Today I am spending the day in Nottingham with my brother to celebrate his birthday and tomorrow is the long awaited Shutterchance meet up at Cosford Museum.  As a non shutterchancer I will be gatecrashing the meetup again

The image of a mushroom cloud and the fear of a four minute warning were ingrained in the minds of all those who lived through the Cold War in the United Kingdom.

The mushroom image created by nuclear tests was seen widely throughout the media and illustrated the threat of the Third World War.

In the event of war, Soviet missiles launched against the United Kingdom would be detected by the Ballistic Early Warning station at RAF Fylingdales in North Yorkshire. This would give only a four minute warning before the missiles began to fall on their intended targets.

These four minutes would have allowed the RAF V-bombers to get into the air but were insufficient to allow the public to have received a warning.

The whole concept of survival during a nuclear war was parodied in popular, music, literature, film and television.

For more of this weeks PhotoHunt pictures check out Whistlestop PhotoHunt.

For more of this weeks PhotoHunt pictures check out Whistlestop PhotoHunt.

I do not know with what weapons World War 3 will be fought, but World War 4 will be fought with sticks and stones.

Albert Einstein

The gardens were one of my enjoyments although I had to do a little detour when a group of (eight) Neanderthals were yelling to me from the other side of the small lake…    I am sure they were just being stupid on the way through the garden to their next adventure in the theme park, but it would have been unwise of me as a lone female to take any chances.  Survival techniques kicked in and I retreated into the tree line out of sight.

I was supposed to meet up with the rest of my party for lunch.  I went back to an easy to find location close to where the others were so I could meet them after they had finished on their ride, after much queuing…  The signposting and mapping are not great, you have be familiar with the park to understand how to get to everything.

They didn’t quite understand where I was waiting, which was a couple of minutes away.  Things and timings got complicated so I suggested they did their own thing for lunch.

I caught up with them later

Sunday was supposed to be a chill out day but I found myself in the National Cold War exhibition.

Where did my weekend go :-/

I find it hard to believe it is 20 years since the Berlin Wall fell, time flies by so quickly.  I can remember the images so vividly, it only seems like yesterday!

The BBC report on how a blunder led to the downfall of the wall:

From the safe distance of 20 years, the opening of the Berlin Wall can be seen as inevitable – the natural consequence of changes that were reshaping Europe. But for most of 1989 it was unthinkable.

And the decision itself was an accident – intended neither to happen the way it did nor to spark off the tumultuous changes that followed.

I find this link from my friend Luisa particularly interesting:

November 9 is a key date in Germany’s chequered 20th century history. It isn’t just the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Berlin Wall. On this day in 1938, Nazi Germany launched a pogrom against its Jewish population in which more than 2,000 people died. SPIEGEL ONLINE looks at three events that occurred on this fateful date before 1989.

For more of this weeks PhotoHunt pictures check out tnchick.

A couple more photos from my recent visit to the Cold War Museum at Cosford.

For more of this weeks PhotoHunt pictures check out tnchick.