Travel – Journeys of Heart and Mind

Arkell’s Brewery plaque

It’s likely the cracking will have been caused by differential thermal expansion and contraction with the iron changing its dimenions rather more than the ceramic glaze.

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Image of the day – 189

What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye. I’m posting an image every few days.

This is one of the old brewery plaques, once numerous across Britain. This example is in Castle Street, outside The Brewers Arms, not far from the junction with Querns Lane and Lewis Lane.

Arkell’s Brewery

The brewery originated in 1843, the year on the plaque. It was founded in Swindon by John Arkell, remains family-owned and operates as one of the oldest remaining brewery companies in Britain.

The plaque is probably of cast iron with enamel decoration and apart from some cracks seems to be in almost perfect condition. It’s likely the cracking will have been caused by differential thermal expansion and contraction with the iron changing its dimenions rather more than the ceramic glaze. The plaque has seen more than 180 day/night cycles in its time!

The image is of Noah’s ark with a large capital letter ‘L’, so a play on Arkell (‘arkL’). There’s a long history of businesses advertising their presence with logos and other illustrations, it happens in all nations and cultures, sometimes the themes, names and images employed can become quite famous and long-lived. When I was a young child, Brasso (a British brass polish) was sold in steel containers with blue and white rays coming out in all directions. It’s still available today in cans with the same design. And it probably looked just the same in Victorian times as well! When I was young it was fitted with a low-profile, steel screw-cap, today it has a much larger, plastic cap. Otherwise, it looks identical to me.

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The old Woolmarket

Castle Street

A grand old house in Cirencester

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Come on in!

The simplest and cheapest way to travel would have been to walk, and people often did exactly that. For an example look no further than the old story of Dick Whittington.

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Image of the day – 188

What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye. I’m posting an image every few days.

This photo was taken in Cirencester, peering in through an entrance to a courtyard beyond. If you are familiar with the town, I wonder if you know where this is? *The answer is at the bottom of the post.

There’s an invitation in this photo

That’s why I called it ‘Come right in!’ There seems to be an unspoken welcome here. What appeals to you most in this picture? Is it the warmth of the light? Or perhaps the sparkle of the decorative lights at the far end? Or the open doors beckoning you to enter? In days of yore, this double doorway might have allowed a horse to be brought inside for stabling, feeding, watering and grooming to recover for use the following day. The carriage would have remained on the street outside.

‘Days of yore’, this funny old expression is a poetical way of saying long ago. ‘yore’ is an Old English word closely related to the modern word ‘year’. So the sense is ‘in the days of years ago’. There’s a large garden at the back of the hotel, with a lawn scattered with tables and chairs, a lovely place to eat and drink with friends or family in the summer months. I imagine the horses sometimes being turned out to graze in a grassy field here, what a treat for them!

Shelter for travellers

Travelling on horseback or by horse and carriage was a slow affair, requiring regular stops for meals or to shelter for the night, and that’s why the old routes between towns in Britain are liberally scattered with pubs, inns and hostels. Practically every village of hamlet would have had one and towns would have had many more. They’re not hard to spot, although these days many have been converted to other uses.

It wouldn’t always have been necessary to pay for accommodation, friends or family along or near the route would have made travellers welcome and on dry, warm, summer nights it would have been possible to pull off the main roads and sleep outside or in the carriage. The simplest and cheapest way to travel would have been to walk, and people often did exactly that. For an example look no further than the old story of Dick Whittington. In Roman times there were parallel systems for official/military and public use. Every 30 to 50 km (a day’s journey) there were mansiones or official stops with good accomodation, fresh horses, dining areas, and perhaps even baths. And between these were mutationes, (literally ‘changes’) for a brief stop, a fresh horse, and perhaps some refreshments but without overnight facilities. Non-official, privately run facilities included cauponae and tabernae, some of these were a bit rough and disreputable, some were well appointed with courtyards, kitchens, and decorated dining rooms. Several modern English terms come from these words – mansion, mutation, and tavern are notable.

The Bible is usually regarded as a religious book, but it’s also a good historical source as well. Read the book of Acts, for example, to get a good idea of what travel by land and sea was like 2000 years ago. See for example Acts 28:11-16 where a place near Rome called ‘Three Taverns’ is mentioned (Tres Tabernae).

* It’s the Corinium Hotel in Gloucester Street, once the Corinium Court Hotel.

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The old Woolmarket

Castle Street

A grand old house in Cirencester

Image of the day – 80

Hot water rose in the system and the returning pipes contained cooler, denser water that flowed down, re-entered the boiler and warmed up again.

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What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every two days (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

The Montalto Estate in County Down had an extensive fruit and vegetable garden to supply the house year round with freshly harvested crops. Greenhouses were an important feature, providing out-of-season crops and exotic fruits like pineapples and citrus. These greenhouses needed heating in the winter months and this was supplied by wide-bore cast iron pipes below the plant benches.

The remains of some of these pipes are visible in the photo. They usually ran in pairs; there were no circulating pumps, instead the boiler would be below ground in a stokehole and the hot water would rise and flow by gravity acting on the changes in density. Hot water rose in the system and the returning pipes contained cooler, denser water that flowed down, re-entered the boiler and warmed up again.

I remember greenhouse heating systems just like this from my childhood, my father had a role in the family business at that time, a nursery with greenhouses full of cuttings and seedlings and houseplants that needed heating during the winter. There was a wonderful smell of greenery, the pipes were always warm, yet never too hot to touch, delicate maidenhair ferns grew wild around the pipework below the benches and these were allowed to remain because the fronds were always useful in making bouquets and buttonholes for sale in the shop in town, or for weddings and other occasions. Even on cold, frosty days you’d want to take off your coat, hat and gloves if you went into a greenhouse!

Modern glasshouses are very different, they have oil or gas fired systems controlled automatically on demand by thermostats, and the heat may be distributed by water pipes or by fan-blown air circulation.

Images from our Irish holiday 2024

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Irish holiday images:

28th Jul – Welsh Botanic Garden, Robin, Fishguard
29th Jul – Wicklow Mts, Glendalough, Powerscourt, Rose, Greystones
30th Jul – Liffey, Temple Bar, St Patrick’s Cathedral
31st Jul – Newgrange, Battle of the Boyne
1st Aug – Monasterboice, Mourne, Thrift, Window
2nd Aug – Spelga Dam, Hydrangea, Pipework, Lough Neagh
3rd Aug – Coagh, Springhill, Portrush
4th Aug – Beach at Portrush
5th Aug – Giant’s Causeway, Carrick-a-Rede, Portrush

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

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Image of the day – 79

Thrive like an Irish Hydrangea, get rooted in surroundings and situations that bring out your very best.

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What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every two days (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

Irish gardens often have the most magnificent Hydrangeas, in striking colours, not just white, blue and pinks, but purples and very vivid blues as well as many kinds like the lacecaps where there are small inner flowers and large outer ones as in the photo.

It seems there’s something in the Irish soils or climate that cause Hydrangeas to thrive particularly well! We visited the Montalto Estate just south of Ballynahinch where I took this shot, but it’s typical of all the gardens we visited in our two weeks in Ireland.

Perhaps the same is true for people. Do we thrive best in particular places? Perhaps the cultural ‘soil and climate’ suit us best in the country we call home, or amongst people we know well. Some people are energised by good company and parties, others (like me) are energised by solo activities. I can walk for miles on my own and come home afterwards feeling calm, balanced, and ready for anything. Others I know are just the opposite, a long, solo ramble would be hard to endure.

Whatever the individual differences it’s good for all of us to spend time in the ways that are most comfortable to us. Thrive like an Irish Hydrangea, get rooted in surroundings and situations that bring out your very best. You deserve it! And the people around you deserve it too.

Images from our Irish holiday 2024

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Irish holiday images:

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

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Image of the day – 78

The photos were not taken from quite the same place, the landscape is more established and natural than it was 64 years ago, there has been a modification to the overspill structure.

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What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every two days (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

This is the Spelga Dam in the mountains of Mourne. The reason I’m including it here is that I took a photo of it when I was quite young and that earlier shot is below for comparison and additional interest.

I took the old photo when I’d just turned twelve, and the recent one when I’d just turned seventy-six, so they’re almost precisely sixty-four years apart. So what has changed in that time? Not much, really! I have changed far more in that time than the dam and its surroundings have done. The photos were not taken from quite the same place, the landscape is more established and natural than it was 64 years ago, there has been a modification to the overspill structure, and the concrete of the dam is more discoloured – but that’s about it. The dam might well be there in another 64 years, I will not!

Images from our Irish holiday 2024

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Irish holiday images:

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

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Image of the day – 77

This looks like a window that would invite you in if you were a friend, but sternly resist if you were trying to break in or up to no good!

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What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every two days (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

(I plan to return to some more images from our Irish holiday for a while, before getting back to more Cirencester images in the near future.)

I felt I really had to share this delightful little farmhouse window with you. Donna had booked an AirBNB near Castlewellan and it was right next to the farmhouse across a little, cobbled yard.

I love the heavy, stone construction and the little wooden frame – so rustic, so pretty, and a young conifer is trying to get in on the act in the lower left corner. This looks like a window that would invite you in if you were a friend, but sternly resist if you were trying to break in or up to no good! I’ve never before thought of windows as having personalities – but this one certainly does!

Images from our Irish holiday 2024

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Irish holiday images:

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

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Image of the day – 55

This often came in the form of a silver sixpence, but sometimes as two thrupenny bits.

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What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every two days (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

Thrift flowering among rocks near the beach

Close to the beach in Newcastle, County Down, this is thrift (Armeria maritima), sometimes known as ‘sea pink’, growing among the rocks well above the high tide mark. These tough and hardy plants are native in the British Isles; they are tolerant of salt in the air and soil, close to places where the waves break on the beach.

A stylised thrift plant was used on the reverse of the old UK 3d coin prior to decimalisation. We called it ‘thruppence’ or a ‘thruppeny bit’. At one time when I was at junior school, my pocket money was 6d a week; this often came in the form of a silver sixpence, but sometimes as two thrupenny bits. Either way I could always find a way of spending some of it and saving some in a tin box as well.

Images from our Irish holiday 2024

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Irish holiday images:

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

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Image of the day – 54

The town nestles beneath these mountains in a way that reminded us of Aviemore in Scotland, but Aviemore has no beach.

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What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every two days (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

We visited Newcastle in County Down, this is the town where my parents spent their honeymoon in 1947. It’s the place where ‘the Mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea’.

The photo shows the properties on Main Street with the fine beach behind me. The town nestles beneath these mountains in a way that reminded us of Aviemore in Scotland, but Aviemore has no beach so Newcastle wins the beauty contest!

The name of these beautiful mountains also reminds me of a song, ‘Mountains o’ Mourne’, so here it is sung by Don McLean.

Images from our Irish holiday 2024

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Irish holiday images:

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

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Useful? Interesting?

Image of the day – 53

The crosses are usually carved with traditional Celtic patterns, but often they have panels containing carved pictures that illustrate a story.

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What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every two days (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

Irish monasteries had a number of features not found (or rarely found) in other parts of the British Isles. The round towers are one example, there are one or two in Scotland and the Isle of Man, but nowhere else outside Ireland. Stone high crosses are another example. These are found throughout the British Isles and parts of France. The ruined monastery of Monasterboice has a round tower similar to the one at Glendalough, but is particularly noted for several outstanding high crosses, one of these features in my photo.

The crosses are usually carved with traditional Celtic patterns, but often they have panels containing carved pictures that illustrate a story, perhaps a Bible story. They were clearly important to the people and communities that took so much care and effort to create them, and they are one of many strong reminders of the Celtic, and particularly the Irish Christian traditions that were significantly different in many ways from the later, Catholic traditions coming into south-eastern England in Saxon times.

The Catholic Church brought initially to Kent from the Continent introduced a hierarchical style, with church officials under the Pope, and fixed orders of service. The Celtic church that had developed from early, pre-Catholic traditions in Roman Britain, was based more on travelling teachers (often missionary monks) who were more flexible in style, without strict rules. They often took little with them but their learning, and depended on the people they taught to support them on their journeys.

Which of these two styles do you think followed the teachings of Jesus most closely?

Images from our Irish holiday 2024

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Irish holiday images:

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

< Previous | Index | Next >

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Image of the day – 49

Let’s focus on whatever is sunny and joyful in our current experience – so far as that is possible.

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What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every day (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

Back to Ireland today, this photo is the entrance to a Dublin bar in the centre of the city.

The hanging baskets full of flowers make a lovely contrast against the old stone and brick of the archway. This photo is from the Temple Bar part of Dublin where there are narrow, old streets and passageways. It’s a lively area as well, with gaudily painted walls and doors. It happened to be a bright, sunny day, and this added to the happy, carefree and optimistic atmosphere.

We had walked across one of the bridges over the Liffy from the Customs House to make our way through Temple Bar en route to Dublin Castle and St Patrick’s Cathedral and our mood shifted as we walked.

On a day like this, in a place like this, it seemed impossible to be sad or gloomy. I think optimism and energy are infectious, perhaps sadness and despair are too. So let’s focus on whatever is sunny and joyful in our current experience – so far as that is possible. For an exceptional example of this in the midst of pain, distress and hardship, take a look at Yara’s posts from Kyiv in the heart of battered Ukraine. Even when she writes on a tough topic, there are glimpses of the sunshine in her heart.

Images from our Irish holiday 2024

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Irish holiday images:

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

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Image of the day – 189

Arkell’s Brewery

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Image of the day – 188

There’s an invitation in this photo

Shelter for travellers

See also:

Useful? Interesting?

You might also like:

Images from our Irish holiday 2024

Themed image collections

Useful? Interesting?

Images from our Irish holiday 2024

Themed image collections

Useful? Interesting?

Images from our Irish holiday 2024

Themed image collections

Useful? Interesting?

Images from our Irish holiday 2024

Themed image collections

Useful? Interesting?

Images from our Irish holiday 2024

Themed image collections

Useful? Interesting?

Images from our Irish holiday 2024

Themed image collections

Useful? Interesting?

Images from our Irish holiday 2024

Themed image collections

Useful? Interesting?

Images from our Irish holiday 2024

Themed image collections

Useful? Interesting?