Street Food

Although the weather has been very unreliable in recent weeks, there have been some great events to cheer everybody up like the National Firework Championships, and, for the first time, the whole razzmatazz of the Americas Cup sailing races, takes over Plymouth Sound in a few days time.

Annual favourites like the Flavour Fest were very sucessful and, as usual, there were some great street food stalls.

The Umbrella Stall

For the whole of August it seems as if, for every fine sunny day we have had two days of showers, sometimes very heavy showers indeed.

I would think that the only part of the retail sector to have seen buoyant sales figures this summer has been umbrella sellers.

The Art Critic

 "The critic is basically an arrogant bastard who says "this is good, this is bad" without necessarily being able to explain why. At least not instantly. The truth is, we feel this stuff in our bones. And we're innately convinced we're right.Critics are born not made. Whatever criticsm is, it is not a democracy". Jonathon Jones on Art

 Read the full Guardian article here.

From Forder village to Antony Passage

Forder Creek flows under the railway bridge, which carries the main line down through Cornwall to Penzance.
 It passes the old tidal water mill, which dates back to the 1600s,

 


and joins the River Lynher at the small hamlet of Antony Passage,

 which looks across the river to Jupiter Point, the sea training centre for the Royal Navy's main training base at HMS Raleigh, Torpoint.

Forder Creek

The village of Forder lies at the head of this tidal creek, on the River Lynher. It is only 8 miles by road from the city centre of Plymouth, but it could be 80 miles and 80 years away. It is close to the point where the Lynher flows into the River Tamar, just below the Saltash road and rail Bridges.

I took these pictures on the morning that the world saw the first TV coverage of the rioting, looting and burning in London and some of this country's major cities.



Times are hard.

I spotted this Ferrari in a Lidl car park last week.

Clearly our Prime Minister is right, "We are all in this together."

The Optomist

Wishful thinking.

Thou shall not covet thy neighbour's ............

......... nor his apple crop.

The Red Hat Society

When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple

with a red hat that doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.

Jenny Joseph (to see Jenny read all of the poem click here)

Last Friday when visiting Taunton, in Somerset, I encountered these wonderful ladies from the Taunton Chapter of the Red Hatters, as they were getting ready for lunch.  Click to visit the Red Hatters website.

The Garden of the Elizabethan House in New Street

With the same detailed attention to the archaeological evidence and material from archival documents, that characterised the restoration of the house, a typical Elizabethan garden has been recreated in the area immediately behind the Elizabethan House in New Street.

The Interior of the Elizabethan House (2)

The Front Bedroom, in the attic, contains this superb Tester bed. Made of oak, with scroll carving on the canopy, posts and panelled back, this a fine example of 16th century craftsmanship. The original iron rods for the curtains are still in position and have been used to hang these new drapes.

In the Rear Bedroom are a number of pieces of oak furniture and this very interesting box bed from France. Made in Brittany of carved oak, with a sliding door and decorated with cherubs, this provided considerable warmth and privacy. It was transported to Plymouth by fishing boat in 1909.

Come back tomorrow to see the recreated Elizabethan Garden.

The interior of the Elizabethan House (1)

This is the Front Parlour, the main reception room. The large window, spans the full width of the house, it is the window you can see at first floor level in yesterday's post.

All the items on display throughout the house are authentic to the period and many have been carefully selected from local archaeological finds.

The Kitchen, with its large inglenook fireplace, is on the ground floor whilst the Eating Room is  on the first floor.

Access to the upper floors is reached through a spiral staircase, a typical feature of houses in old Plymouth. The central newel is almost certainly a disused ship's mast and probably the work of a local shipwright, while the heavy rope guide is another traditional feature.

The Elizabethan House in New Street

The Elizabethen House is a rare surviving example of Plymouth's history. By the late 1500s the city was a bustling port, bursting at the seams with ships and crew, merchants and craftsmen. More housing was needed and around 1584 New Street was developed, providing homes for sea captains and middle merchants whose livelihoods were based around the waterfront.

Although the first owner is not known records of ownership from 1613 are complete to the present.

By 1850 the prosperous merchants had moved out and New Street was full of slums and hovels. The 1851 census records 47 occupants of this house which by 1891 had risen to 58. The 1920s saw major slum clearance projects clear virtually all the houses in the area but in 1926 the Borough of Plymouth bought the freehold and restoration work began.

Come back tomorrow and we'll look in side.

The Recycler

His stock of cigarette ends by his feet, on his right.

The little pile of retrieved tobacco on the step by his right hand.

The unwanted filters thrown to his left.

 

Who let the dogs out?

Then and Now.

Robert Lenkiewicz 1941-2002 was one of Plymouth favourite artists.He moved here in the 1960s when he was offered a large studio space on the Barbican, where he lived a colourful, bohemian lifestyle.

 He painted this mural on the large gable end of the building adjoining his studio in 1971, (click on the images to take a closer look). The salt, sea air has taken its toll over the years, particularly since his death, and it will shortly disappear for ever.

Take a look at a Gallery of his work here.