This is Halloween

Some photographs snapped around Westminster Abbey after work yesterday evening.

And the friendly bat that lives on my balcony door (his friend lives with my sister):

Hope everyone's having a good weekend, however (and whether) you are marking Hallowe'en, All Hallows' Day and All Souls' Day.

Rainy Day Gardens

When I visited the deer park at Knole last summer, I noted with some sense of regret that the walled gardens at the property are open on Tuesdays only over the late spring and summer. I love an historic garden, but when does one ever have a free Tuesday when one works full time in an office? If you have a Tuesday off, it's generally because you also happen to be abroad as part of a longer break.

However, I was delighted to discover that my new place of work has a few extra bonus days off each year in additional to the usual ones, one of which is the Tuesday following the late May Bank Holiday. So I knew immediately what I was going to do with my day, come rain or shine. And boy, did it rain! But that's okay, because I had my brand new wellies.

My new wellies were just one part of my incredibly generous parting gift from my former workmates. One of my friends took note of my comment that I was in need of a pair of fit, respectable, good wellies. My new job is likely to require walking around a fair few churchyards, which can be very wet underfoot, so it was thought that furnishing me with wellies would be a good idea for seeing me off on my way.

So when I knew what the weather was to be for my Knole visit, I dressed from the wellies up. I went with a fitted green jacket (part of a 1940s suit) and shirt for a respectable country look, but coupled with a denim skirt to keep it from being too dressy for a muddy, puddly garden romp.

And I had a delightful time in the garden in the rain. Yes, I couldn't sit down and enjoy a book or anything like that but I marched through with my wellies and umbrellas, unhindered. What a wonderful, extensive gardens, full of many hidden treats within the 'Wilderness' and all around.

Because my wander around the gardens was naturally slightly inhibited by the weather, I also had plenty of time to explore the house, which I missed on my last visit as I was too busy enjoying the fine summery day. No photography was allowed inside, but sometimes that's kind of preferable, because you can just look without feeling as though you have to capture...

The house was itself wonderful, and I would definitely recommend a visit. The spaces were amazing, the stories fascinating and the collection full of fabulous and exquisite objects, furniture and paintings. I enjoyed hearing about the Spangle Bedroom, which takes its name from a bed with curtains which, in their Elizabethan heyday, would have shimmered and sparkled with the firelight reflecting off the thousands of spangles or sequins that formed part of the decorative embroidery.

The Spangle Bed (Image source: Knole Conservation Team Blog)

So, all up, a rather satisfying day of rainy day walking, historic interiors... and a perfectly warm and delicious toasted cheese and bacon bagel bought at a bargain price from a local bagel shop on the way back to the station... Bliss!

Halfway Down the Stairs

The Tate Britain re-opened in its full glory today, following a massive refurbishment. Apparently one of the highlights is the new staircase:

Tate Britain, Millbank, London (Image source)

And don't we, as a species, just love a good staircase?

Wells Cathedral, Somerset (Image source)

Tulip Staircase, Queen's House, Greenwich (Image source)

Nelson Stair, Somerset House, Westminster (Image source: David Holt London)

Tassel House, Brussels (Image source)

De la Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex (Image source) 

What is it about staircases that we find so appealing? Is it simply the graceful sweeping form of a curved stair, and the pleasing angles and geometry of those that are square on plan? Or is the sense of anticipation in not knowing what lies around the next bend or on the next landing? Or is it the underlying feeling of wonder for the mathematics and physics that appeals to us on some subconscious level, even if we aren't engineers? Or it it that slight sense of exhilaration in being able to move across planes and spaces in ways that would not be possible, were it not for these structures?

Whatever the case, I certainly think there is something more profound than pure aesthetics that gives us a sense of awe and great pleasure on encountering a particularly noteworthy, or even a relatively average staircase.

M.C. Escher's Relativity (Image source)

And that, my dear readers, is what I call a tangent - from a gallery re-opening to waxing philosophical about staircases. Though I did manage to draw it back to art with Escher there.

But do pitch in, what is your favourite staircase? Is it a simple stone medieval spiral staircase? A sweeping marble Baroque palace staircase, with ornate gilded balusters? A clean white, sleekly formed Modernist staircase? Or is it something more humble, like your carpeted, timber staircase at home?

With that last thought, let me leave you with an old favourite poem, which might indeed say a little more about the simple appeal of staircases:

Halfway Down

(A.A. Milne)

Halfway down the stairs

is a stair

where I sit.

There isn't any 

other stair

quite like 

it.

I'm not at the bottom,

I'm not at the top;

so this is the stair

where 

I always stop.

Halfway up the stairs

isn't up

and it isn't down.

It isn't in the nursery,

it isn't in town.

And all sorts of funny thoughts

run round my head.

It isn't really

anywhere!

It's somewhere else

instead!

Love Letter from Normandy

A small selection of the rest of the French trip, which entailed a ferry trip from Portsmouth to St Malo, Mont St Michel (as documented yesterday), a stay in a remote French village, a spot of roof-slating (yes, I can do manual labour!), a visit to Bayeux to see the astounding tapestry, and much eating of cheese and drinking of wine. 

Lone souls on the beach at St Malo

e

The view from St Malo's town walls

The bay of St Malo

Gotta love a dandy - Chateaubriand, France's own Byron

Miscellaneous views of the French countryside

A Normandy windmill (captured by one of my travelling companions)

Bluebell wood

I was excited by the bluebells...

Views over the valley

Cider and reflections on the ferry home

The Channel / Le Manche

Love Letter from Mont St Michel

I spent last weekend in Normandy on a work social trip. We made it to Mont St Michel, as hoped. I'd really been looking forward to this, and it certainly didn't disappoint.... I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves, though they don't come anywhere near capturing the astounding beauty of this place, or the fun we had there.

Things along the way...

I have all these ideas for posts in my head but I'm still a bit too exhausted from writing thousands of words for my thesis to feel capable of writing an entertaining post. So, instead, I thought I'd share some fun and pretty little moments I snapped as I went about on my site visits.  Here are some from Wells, Somerset...

Wells Bishop's Palace Cat

An artistic use of unused firewood in an unused fireplace

Ducks under the sluice gate

Wells Bishop's Palace moat

All the colours of stone! 

Old friends out for a walk

Detail of stunning Adam and Eve sculpture in the gardens of the Bishop's Palace

I found this description so endearing, and bullet point number two made me giggle...

... and here's the chap himself, unfortunately without a jaunty hat

Sunset on Wells cathedral close