EXETER CATHEDRAL

I have posted pics of Exeter Cathedral before, but haven't posted a tour of the inside.  So when we visited last weekend, I righted this omission. 

The cathedral is, like so many others, set in largish gardens, a popular gathering place on sunny days.

 

You can see the mediaeval buildings that still surround it in the background on the left.  The oldest parts of the present structure are the 12th century Norman towers and nave walls.   The building was extensively remodelled in the 13th century, hence the more ornate Gothic exterior.

The main feature of the Cathedral though is the ceiling - the longest mediaeval vault in the world.

 

The central bosses are carved and painted and hold the whole thing together.  This is the Becket Boss (top middle), depicting the murder of St Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1170.

Here is a boss up close to give you an idea of size.

Unusually, there is also a minstrel gallery in the nave.  This was added in the 14th century.

Note the various musical instruments being played by the angels.  And this is a side window.

Glass from the main windows and many of the greatest treasures were removed during the War and thus survived when a bomb damaged the building in 1942.  The cassocks are embroidered with British plants and birds.  Although I thought they might have found some different birds to depict.

Across the centre of the nave is a 14th century screen and balcony.  The paintings were added in the 19th century.

Many of the tombs hark back to Britain's colonial past.

As do some of the carvings - this is on the pulpit, depicting the martyrdom of St Alban.

This is not quite the oldest tomb in the cathedral (there is a similar one dating from the 13th century), but I was quite shocked to see that someone had carved their initials in it.

 

An interesting 14th century husband and wife tomb.  Note the swans for her and the lion for him.

Those are the bass pipes of the organ in the background.  And this is the tomb of Bishop Oldham.

His name was apparently pronounced 'Owldom' and so the chapel is decorated throughout with owls - you can see them carved into the wall and embroidered on the kneeler

Here's a memorial that needs to be shown as a reminder to our present leaders.

This is the 15th century astronomical clock.

Note the hole in the base of the door underneath the main dial.  This was the mediaeval cat-flap for the Bishop's cat.  The clock ropes used to be greased with animal fat, a great attraction for mice, and so the cat was to make sure the mouse didn't run up the clock.

Some of the choir seats date from the construction of the cathedral and are the oldest in Britain.  But I was fascinated by the imaginative animal carvings.

There are more, even more fantastical, on the Bishop's throne.

The throne itself is supposed to be one of the finest examples of mediaeval carpentry; it's about 18m tall and constructed without any nails or screws.

 
And just to finish off, here is a modern bronze that I liked.

ARCHITECTURAL PRINCE

The Prince of Wales, as you no doubt know, has strong feelings about urban design and planning.  He has therefore begun to build an experimental town, called Poundbury, on the edge of Dorchester, on land that he owns, according to the traditional principles of urban planning that he supports.  I have always had a slightly sceptical attitude towards the project, partly because it doesn't seem to have reduced urban motorcar use (which was one of its design aims) and partly because this is what you can see form the road as you pass it by -

it looks like something my grandson or Enid Blyton might have designed.

But we decided to visit it last week to see for ourselves.  I can't comment of what it's like living there - it's supposed to be designed with ease of travel and access to essential services in mind - but it certainly made an impression.  It's still a little like a cross between a Farrow and Ball colour chart, an estate agents catalogue and a Fairfield Porter painting, but I must say I thought the environment rather pleasant.  I can see why car use has not been less than elsewhere - the distances are probably more than most people wish to walk in their own towns these days, but walking around was a fairly pleasing experience and it is certainly more open than most new towns.  The visible construction did seem to be to the high standard it was puffed up to be too.  If it's true that there won't be disturbance from road works every few days either, I could see the model being a successful one.  Never the less, it is often land prices that prevent investment on this scale and I'm not sure whether spacious towns like this develop any sort of community.

Just a few glimpses, but how does it look to you?

SPRUNG?

Went to Nymans gardens in Sussex yesterday, where they had a Signs of Spring event.  And there were signs of spring.  Herewith just a few pics of the gardens . . .

Interestingly, I see we visited about the same time last year.  It was just as spring-like, but also just as cold.  It snowed just after our last visit . . .

AT OUR WHITLEY'S END

With the prospect of a reasonably fine day last week, I had an outing with one of the local ramblers groups.  We started from the White Hart at Whitley.  The pub has 17th century bits but I believe the original parts are 14th century.

And although it didn't rain until later, the signs of recent storms were all around.

 And we had to take a detour at this path (just as it started to rain!).

 

Some liked the water better than others.

 

I guess the golfers didn't like this much on the 4th green and 5th tee.

 

When the sun was out, the woodlands were beautiful.

 

I haven't posted any pornographic trees for a while, so here are a couple from this walk.

And there were stunning views across the Surrey countryside

with some pretty little cottages.

The Dog and Pheasant is a lovely pub, I suspect mostly 16th century, now a popular foodie restaurant.  We sat in the garden though and ate our sandwiches.

The footpath is hard to miss on the hill down the other side.  But it was perversely the hardest part of the walk, being wet and slippery and at a rather unhelpful angle.

We are blessed with snowdrops almost everywhere at the moment.

And then we were back in the old village of Whitley, with its historic cottages.

A nice example of the local pointing style called 'galletting'.

VINTAGE TRAVELLER

OK.  Back from France, wine cellar replenished, few extra pounds round the middle, silly grin on face.

We stayed at a former chateau (most rural hotels seem to be former chateaux)

 

in a little place south of Calais, not far from the Belgium border.  It was set in small but pleasant grounds.

 

When I say 'small', I mean a bit bigger than my garden, with only a small stream running through it.  It was perfect for a couple of days relaxing and of course we had chosen it for its renowned chef, who likes to surprise guests, rather than give them a menu.  Here's a starter - scallop soufflé on caramelised endive with seafood sauce and a crustacean foam.

Yes, it was stunning.  Main courses don't photograph so well, so here's a dessert - baba on a sort of crème with spiced pineapple and a little tube of rum (I'd already squeezed mine!).  There's a mulberry lurking round the back too.  Don't know what the red bits are; maybe the chef cut himself.

 

Even for someone who doesn't do desserts, this was heaven!

The hotel was used during the War as a hospital (for German soldiers).  There is still a bomb shelter in the grounds (which we didn't have to use).

We spent a day in Ardres, which has a nice public office (if you look closely, it is dated 1679.  Actually, it is dated 1679 even if you don't look closely.),

an interesting church,

 and a very nice wine shop.

But we also enjoyed driving through the French countryside, with one village seemingly piled on top of the next.

Though the roads in these parts were horribly congested.

 

I took this pic just because I liked the colours.

 Some nice brickwork.

On the way home, we stopped in Boulogne.  We always used to lunch in the old city, partly because it is historic and nice, and partly because it is nearly all restaurants.  But we've now found where the locals eat lunch . . .   This is the town hall in the old city.

 This is the town hall in Calais.