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When conversing with Flo about a set of photographs made at Lindum House in Newark some years ago, she told me that they were taken when she was a little older than I had thought. I then realised that I should have been looking for colour slides, not the negatives I had presumed lost. I scanned the pictures produced in May 2005.
Those I had particularly remembered were of our granddaughter playing with a frog from the pond, which aroused the interest of Matthew’s dog, Oddie.
Mat had also come up for a visit.
Louisa and Errol enjoyed a game of tennis. Oddie tried hard to join in.
Drinks were taken on the picnic bench.
Flo joined in the tennis, then,
no longer needing a push, enjoyed a swing. By now she had changed her attire,
as did Louisa and Errol, for an evening out.
This afternoon the four of us went shopping at Castle Point, near Bournemouth. We drove round and round the packed car park for ages before managing to leave the cars and do battle with other sales shoppers. New clothes for Flo, and a new handbag for Jackie were purchased.
This evening we all dined on Jackie’s delicious beef in red wine; mashed potato and swede, new potatoes, carrots, and runner beans. Ian drank Hoegaarden and I finished the Bordeaux.
This afternoon, Jackie drove us around the forest.
On the outskirts of Brockenhurst a troop of cattle exercised their right to hold up the traffic.
Over Lymington River
a swing has been suspended from a tree bearing
a lengthy lichen-laden limb kept out of the water by a complicated system of rigging.
A pool is filling up on the other side of the road.
Wherever we go we are likely to see a crow perched high enough to explain the term ‘a crow’s nest’.
This one could observe ponies chomping whilst waiting for a bus.
I was just thinking how sleepy one of the animals looked, when it turned and yawned in my direction.
An isolated individual had no competition for the grazing on the other side of the road.
At East Boldre, the sight of the sun behind a tree mirrored in a pool,
encouraged us to return in time to watch the sun drop down below the horizon
and deepen the red, gold, and indigo hues above.
Ponies keeping the grass down here were oblivious of the beauty above.
This evening we dined on fishcakes, one Thai, and one parsley and cheese, served on a bed of onions, peppers, tomato, and garlic; with runner beans, carrots, and cauliflower. Jackie drank Hoegaarden, and I finished the Malbec.
The weather in Newark in June 1992 was drier than it is at the moment. Today I therefore scanned a batch of colour negatives produced during that month.
The erection of a rather splendid tree house in a false acacia tree in the garden of Lindum House had begun before I began to record it. Sam and Louisa had enlisted the help of brothers Gavin and Ian to begin the project.
Louisa was a willing hod carrier, bearing planks for the flooring;
further invention was employed for hauling up greater quantities. You may be forgiven for imagining that William Heath Robinson exerted some influence on this ingenuity. One rope was extended from this tree to another on the other side of the lawn. Attached to this was another bearing a faggot of heavy planks hauled across by Sam, in the bottom left of the picture. Gavin, up aloft awaited its arrival. This took me back to Kennards department store in Wimbledon which had a similar system for conveying cash from counter to office. As will be seen from this photograph you cannot keep a lawn while children are young and you have to accommodate a swing and goalposts.
Gavin and Ian began the task of heaving the floorboards up to the required level.
Sam was soon up there to add his muscle;
eventually the materials reached the required level.
The next storey was soon in place.
The roof bore the combined weight of Sam and James Bird.
Louisa then joined in the test.
Up to seven or eight children would sleep overnight in this three storey house.
A sequel to the story of this adventure is told in ‘The Tree House’.
This evening we dined on minted lamb steaks; roasted sweet potato, peppers and mushrooms; new potatoes, carrots, broccoli and greens. Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I drank a 2015 Bordeaux.
An overnight thunderstorm had freshened the garden and reduced the temperature to a degree that Jackie could continue weeding, hacking, and planting; and I was able to enjoy the game of wandering around seeking her piles of garden waste for me to gather up and transfer to the compost heap or the orange bags for the dump.
In between times, for the next instalment of ‘A Knight’s Tale, I amended some text and
I then scanned another batch of colour negatives from 1990.
I converted to black and white this image of Lindum House made that May.
These show the colours.
Matthew created a testing improvised seesaw for the ever-game Louisa. The dog belonged to Jessica’s cousin Caroline.
James Bird, who here swings with Louisa, is the lad who found the coot.
Perhaps more cosy in the hammock, Wolf and Luci were another pair of swingers;
more precarious were the Rat Pack – popular little pets, of course.
In July, at the Staunton temple opening, featured in the coot post highlighted above, Jessica shares some amusement with an attractive elderly guest.
This evening we dined on Jackie’s excellent lamb korai, sag ponir, and boiled rice. I finished the cabernet sauvignon. Jackie had consumed her Peroni on the patio beforehand.
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Today I scanned another dozen colour slides from July 2004.
The first three are of Flo getting to grips with the swing suspended from a false acacia tree in the garden at Lindum House.
The others are the next nine in the Streets of London Series.
This wall in Judd Street WC1 is enlivened by a bright hanging basket.
Here is another view of the juxtaposition between The British Library and the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, this time from Euston Road NW1. The photograph also shows the effect that a lane closure can have on London traffic.
Seven years ago two separate estate agents advertised this house in Flaxman Terrace WC1 at £2,375,000 and at £4,250,000.
The headquarters of the British Medical Association straddle Upper Woburn Place and Tavistock Square WC1. The third view is from the corner of Endsleigh Street, the End of which has been chopped off.
University College London occupies a number of buildings in and around Gordon Square WC1. I imagine the two young men in this picture are university students.
There are three streets named Charlotte Mews in London. It wouldn’t be amusing to find yourself in either the one in W10 or in W14 if you were aiming for this one. Note that if you were driving a vehicle needing more than 11′ headroom that wouldn’t be funny either.
This fascinating mural in Goodge Place W1 was painted by Brian Barnes in the year 2000. The following details are taken from The website of the London Mural Preservation Society:
“Residents and workers in the Fitzrovia area are very aware of the mural off Tottenham court road – some because they walk past it every day, others because they were around when it was created. However, are those same people aware of the small mural located on the side of the Fitzrovia Neighbour Centre on Goodge place?
This painting covers the lower part of the side of the building. It was painted in 2000 by Brian Barnes. In the mural are famous people or buildings in the area. The gentleman in the red coat is Olaudah_Equiano who lived in the area during the later years of his life. He was a prominent African involved with the British movement to abolish slavery. Behind Olaudah is an image of a ship. This scene is taken from the painting by J M W Turner called The Slave Ship.
Below Olaudah is Marie Stopes who was responsible for opening the first family planning clinic. This establishment set up it’s head quarters on Whitfield Street in Fitzrovia in 1925. To the right of Stopes is Simon Bolivar, a Venezuelan political leader who helped free Latin America from the Spanish. He was sent to London in 1810 to seek protection from the British Government. Whilst in London he met with Francisco de Miranda who is portrayed to the bottom right of Bolivar. He was also a Venezuelan revolutionary who had led a previous revolt in Latin America. De Miranda settled in Fitzrovia. Both men are remembered in the area; there is Bolivar Hall which is part of The Venezuelan Embassy and a statue of De Miranda on Fitzroy Square.
Above De Miranda and next to Bolivar is the writer George Bernard Shaw who had a home in Fitzroy Street. Moving to the top of the mural is an image of the Middlesex Hospital. The first hospital was built in the mid 17th century and functioned up until quite recently. The place was closed in 2005 and most of the buildings have been pulled down; the site is still waiting to be redeveloped.
To the left of the mural at the top is Totterhall Manor, an Elizabethan building whose land is now occupied by Fitzroy Square. Below the building ia a former resident of this place, the writer Virginia Woolf. Next to her is a stalwart for the Fitzrovia Play Association, Cynthia Williams, a local resident for more than 50 years who passed away during 2000 and was commemorated in the mural. Finally below her we have some Bengali dancers. The neighborhood centre does much work with local Bengali people. Next to this picture is an image of the BT tower,completed in 1962 and at one point the tallest building in London.
This mural offers an education about just a small number of the famous people associated with the area. Sadly it’s possible that the Fitzrovia Neighbour Centre will move out of the building after 36 years of service. It will be most likely that the mural will be destroyed after that so pop down and have a look at it before it goes.”
This evening we dined on Jackie’s newly created Post House pie. This was a layered savoury concoction. Minced beef was covered by onions, peppers, and leftover vegetables, Mashed potato topped by mature cheddar cheese came next. It was most moreish. Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I finished the rioja.
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Mat arrived with Poppy this morning. Our granddaughter was walking about and talking scribble. She was straight into toys.
She likes playing with the mice;
but was soon absorbed with the seal box and its fish contents, making lots of cooing noises.
Stopping for beverages at Beaulieu Farm Shop, where there was an Halloween table on display
we took a packed lunch to Hatchet Pond so Poppy could see the gulls,
which Jackie began to feed with the stock of seed that Matthew had supplied.
It wasn’t long before the hopeful donkeys came over for what they saw as their share. They were even more interested when our lunch appeared. Matthew correctly observed that that was why we were discouraged from feeding the asses..
Poppy wandered around clutching her food, which, naturally, was liberally smeared around her mouth.
A rather large fungus mushroomed through the turf.
Matthew used an interesting method of feeding the swans;
then took his daughter to look at the water.
He and Jackie then began a swinging game which had to be constantly repeated.
Thinking Poppy might like the tyre swing on Tanners Lane beach, we made that the next visit. She wasn’t happy with this swing, which was a little too advanced for her, but she was quite content to wobble about the shingle.
Across The Solent we could see a string of yachts passing the Isle of Wight.
After our offspring had returned home, Jackie and I dined on her perfect pork paprika with wild rice, followed by chocolate eclairs. She drank Hoegaarden and I finished the shiraz.
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This morning Aaron began taking dead branches out of the cypress tree. As can be seen, there is still much colour in the garden. I photographed him and made him an A4 print which I cannot upload, receiving the same message as yesterday. I tried several times and have come to the conclusion that the problem is a direct result of the loading of the new Sierra Mac operating system on Friday. I cannot phone Apple because the help line is not operating at the weekend.
My granddaughter, Emily has asked me for some of her baby pictures for a project at her workplace. I sent her a link to an earlier post, ‘Emily Goes Wandering’ which she had already seen, and is pleased with.
I then e-mailed several scans of earlier prints. First Sam holding his niece;
then Louisa cradlng her;
and finally me.
This afternoon Jackie drove us to the beach at the end of Tanners Lane. On a mild, sunny, day a number of families were enjoying wandering among the donkeys, or searching for crabs in the rock pools. Sunlight glinted on the water and provided the clouds with highlights.
Jackie played with sea shells as she sat on a wooden breakwater within reach of Portsmouth’s spinnaker.
Boats and buoys bobbed.
Just as I was about to photograph the shadows cast by a tyre swing suspended from a stunted, gnarled, tree, the facility became occupied by a young girl. I found her mother and asked if I could photograph the current scene. Once the mother had recovered from her initial thought that I might have wanted the child removed, she was more than happy to grant her permission.
A young man from East Boldre told me that, on just one day in the year, it is possible, at low tide, to walk across to a Spitfire normally under water. He had done it when he was twelve, ten years ago. That looks like a subject for tidal research.
After passing a pheasant-filled field on our way home we stopped for a drink at the The White Hart in Pennington. We received a very friendly welcome. It is not unusual in English pubs to have free nuts or crisps available on the bar counter. Here we were given roast potatoes and Yorkshire pudding with mint sauce.
The walls were decorated with photographs of the area in bygone days. One of a knife grinder from 1900 reminded us that our streets had been visited by one during our childhood: mine in Stanton Road, Raynes Park, South West London in the 1940s; Jackie’s in Penge, South East London in the 1950s.
The sky, on our departure from the pub, was so enticing that we nipped over to Lymington to have a look at the sunset.
Anyone who feels deprived of photographs is advised to follow the link above. Otherwise, we must pray that the Apple help line can get to the core of my problem tomorrow, and I can insert the photos I took today. (It was not until 25th that I managed to complete this task)
This evening, we dined on superb chilli con carne and savoury rice. I drank more of the Madiran.
On another recuperating day, I scanned a batch of colour negatives from a French holiday in the autumn of 1985.
Here Becky is first amused,
then contemplative, in the garden of the gite.
Once Sam had given her a push,
Louisa was proud to work the swing on her own. Most children wait until they are older to acquire the permanently scuffed knees. Not, game for anything, Louisa.
Behind the wire netting beyond the children lay a pair of old cartwheels.
What more could a photographer require in the way of props?
This evening we dined on roast pork, boiled and roast potatoes, broccoli, carrots, and runner beans. Jackie drank sparkling water and I drank Barbera D’Asti Superiore 2012.
Although my virus has definitely improved, it is still taking a while to clear my head, so, when I set out this morning to scan another batch of Elizabeth’s returned prints, I couldn’t face sorting them, so, instead, scanned a group of carefully catalogued colour slides from March 1973.
On a walk in Westminster’s St James’s Park I made some pictures
of briskly striding wrapped-up walkers, with Westminster Abbey in the background;
and of perching pigeons and other passers-by.
Against the background of the apple tree that featured in Becky’s Book, I photographed
Matthew.
and Becky.
This afternoon Helen, Bill, Shelley, and Ron came fro a late lunch which extended into the evening, when we watched the first day’s highlights of the final Oval Test Match.
Jackie offered a choice of excellent meals well up to her usual standard. There was a tender beef casserole, mashed potato and swede, with crisp carrots and green beans; and there was choice chilli con carne with superb savoury rice. I enjoyed small portions of each. Desserts were lemon tart, profiteroles, and forest fruits strudel. We could take our picks. Assorted red and white wines were imbibed.
Australia, finishing on 287 for 3, had a better day in the cricket.
