Tag: Photos

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.

Click to enlarge

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.

Click to enlarge

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:

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 – 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.

Click to enlarge

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:

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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If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome!

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.)

Click to enlarge

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:

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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Useful? Interesting?

If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome!

Image of the day – 76

Chesterton, Stratton and the Beeches areas stand on slightly higher ground. For this reason, the church tower is visible from the distance wherever the view is not blocked by woodland or buildings.

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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’ve posted 22 photos of Cirencester recently; I’m going to choose some other topics for a while and will return to images of the town later.)

Click to enlarge

The Parish Church of John Baptist towers (no pun intended) over the rooftops of other buildings in Cirencester in this image. The photo was taken looking east from the top of one of the grassy banks covering the Roman Amphitheatre. The honey-coloured Cotswold stone glows in low, January sunlight from the south.

In the background you can see the low hills that surround the town in most directions; the town itself lies on the lower area where the Churn approaches the Thames, but this lower area is small. The Roman town of Corinium was entirely on flatter land (apart from the amphitheatre); but the modern town has spread further, so Chesterton, Stratton and the Beeches areas stand on slightly higher ground. For this reason, the church tower is visible from the distance wherever the view is not blocked by woodland or buildings.

Cirencester

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Cirencester area images:

A417 roadworks, Advent Market, Bishops Walk, Baunton, Canal 1, 2, Castle Street, Christmas lights 1, 2, Church 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Churn flood, Countryside, Fallen tree, Fleece, Gasworks, Gloucester Street, Hare 1, 2, Hospital, Market Place 1, Phoenix Fest, Riverside Walk, Stone plaque, Stratton Meadow, Tank traps, View, Wonky 1, 2, Yellow Iris

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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If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome!

Image of the day – 75

As you might expect, in addition to the music there’s a selection of vans serving food and drink, and the event has a relaxed, family atmosphere.

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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.

Click to enlarge

Yes – This, too, is Cirencester! this is the annual Phoenix Festival, held in the Abbey Grounds right next to the Parish Church. The Phoenix is an old Cirencester emblem, and the name seemed a natural one.

Saxon forces defeated Romano-Britons in the year 577 CE and the old Roman town of Corinium was sacked and destroyed. Cirencester rose from the ashes like the Phoenix and this might be the reason for the association; but there are other plausible explanations.

However that might be, the Phoenix Festival is popular locally and is free of charge. As you might expect, in addition to the music there’s a selection of vans serving food and drink, and the event has a relaxed, family atmosphere. It’s held on two consecutive days in late August. See you there next year?

Oh, by the way, Cirencester’s Phoenix Festival is not to be confused with the Phoenix Festival once held annually near Stratford-on-Avon. That festival was a rival to Glastonbury, very big with world-class bands and notorious for crowd troubles and bad behaviour.

Cirencester

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Cirencester area images:

A417 roadworks, Advent Market, Bishops Walk, Baunton, Canal 1, 2, Castle Street, Christmas lights 1, 2, Church 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Churn flood, Countryside, Fallen tree, Fleece, Gasworks, Gloucester Street, Hare 1, 2, Hospital, Market Place 1, Phoenix Fest, Riverside Walk, Stone plaque, Stratton Meadow, Tank traps, View, Wonky 1, 2, Yellow Iris

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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If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome!

Image of the day – 74

Beyond the lock is a canal basin, currently just an area of grass at a lower level than its surroundings. And beyond the basin is the bridge that featured in an earlier image.

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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.

Click to enlarge

We return to the village of Siddington for today’s image, just a couple of miles south of Cirencester. You can see the brick-built remains of a canal lock, part of a ladder of four locks at this point. Beyond the lock is a canal basin, currently just an area of grass at a lower level than its surroundings. And beyond the basin is the bridge that featured in Image of the day 61.

Although derelict right now, work to improve things has already begun here. Trees growing in the canal bed are being cut down, the towpath is getting some basic care such as filling holes and repairing serious erosion. Down in the western part of the canal in Stroud the section connecting to the Stroudwater Canal is in water and navigable; and within the next two or three years the Stroudwater itself will be connected to the rest of Britain’s canal network at Saul Junction near the River Severn. Focus is moving now to Lechlade in the east where the canal joins the River Thames, and also to the area in the Cotswold Water Park, near South Cerney and Latton. As the Lechlade section develops further, boats will be able to access the canal from both ends, but it will be decades before it becomes possible to travel the entire length by boat.

Check out my articles on walking the canal towpath, and why not walk a section yourself?

Cirencester

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Cirencester area images:

A417 roadworks, Advent Market, Bishops Walk, Baunton, Canal 1, 2, Castle Street, Christmas lights 1, 2, Church 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Churn flood, Countryside, Fallen tree, Fleece, Gasworks, Gloucester Street, Hare 1, 2, Hospital, Market Place 1, Phoenix Fest, Riverside Walk, Stone plaque, Stratton Meadow, Tank traps, View, Wonky 1, 2, Yellow Iris

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?

If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome!

Image of the day – 73

Of course, non-local companies are far, far better than empty shops. Cirencester has fewer empty shops than most towns; and we do have a good proportion of small, local businesses springing up all the time.

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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.

Click to enlarge

This shop was Stradlings when I was a child. It was a watch, clock and jewellery business and had been a clock maker at one time. If you enlarge the image you will see a clock between two first floor windows on the left. That clock is marked ‘Stradling maker Cirencester’, a relic and reminder of times past.

Businesses come and businesses go, that is normal, it has always happened. But something has changed dramatically in Cirencester as in towns across the county (and indeed much of the world). And it’s this – many of the incoming businesses are branches of large companies, often with little local knowledge or experience.

Of course, non-local companies are far, far better than empty shops. Cirencester has fewer empty shops than most towns; and we do have a good proportion of small, local businesses springing up all the time, especially restaurants, coffee shops and so forth. But the trend is clear, especially when you take the long view. I’m 76-years-old, but as a child almost every business seemed to be local. Perhaps the biggest exceptions were banks and building societies. Sometimes, it’s even in the names, ‘Nationwide’ is indeed a nation-wide building society!

But despite all this, many of the old names, like Stradlings, have left visible mark that can still be seen if you look closely enough. The old clock is still on the wall – a clock made in Cirencester! Not far from Cotswold Contemporary, the current owners of the clock, you’ll find an old sign above a shop front on the same side of the street. There are no words, just a black teapot and a cup and saucer. If you are ever in Cirencester Market Place, see if you can spot it, another emblem of the past. I won’t mention the current name of the shop, that would make it far too easy; but I will say that back in the day it was Anne’s Pantry. They sold little cakes, dainties and pastries to take away, or you could take a table inside for a cup of tea.

If you find the teapot or have memories of Cirencester to share, leave a comment.

Cirencester

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Cirencester area images:

A417 roadworks, Advent Market, Bishops Walk, Baunton, Canal 1, 2, Castle Street, Christmas lights 1, 2, Church 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Churn flood, Countryside, Fallen tree, Fleece, Gasworks, Gloucester Street, Hare 1, 2, Hospital, Market Place 1, Phoenix Fest, Riverside Walk, Stone plaque, Stratton Meadow, Tank traps, View, Wonky 1, 2, Yellow Iris

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?

If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome!

Image of the day – 72

If it’s raining you’ll be looking for an umbrella or zipping up your waterproof coat, in the sunshine you’ll be glad of the shade while enjoying the clear sky.

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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.

Click to enlarge

The Riverside Walk runs from Thomas Street (near the junction with Cecily Hill) to the north-western end of Gloucester Street in Cirencester. It crosses the Barton Mill pound, although the mill itself was destroyed in a fire in the 1920s.

This view is from the bridge across the mill pound looking towards the site of the old mill. Riverside Walk is a favourite for Cirencester people walking or cycling from the town centre towards Stratton. It’s a peaceful place to stroll, one end surrounded by fine, old Cotswold stone houses, and the other with a view over flood meadow, and the path is accompanied by water for the entire length.

At the halfway point this footpath crosses Barton Lane, with access to Cirencester Park to the west and Gloucester Street to the right. A lovely part of the town.

What will you think about as you walk this lovely footpath? If it’s raining you’ll be looking for an umbrella or zipping up your waterproof coat, in the sunshine you’ll be glad of the shade while enjoying the clear sky. If you are lucky you might see the kingfisher, the heron, the little egret, or a red kite passing overhead. All are regulars here, though you’ll have to keep your eyes peeled.

Cirencester

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Cirencester area images:

A417 roadworks, Advent Market, Bishops Walk, Baunton, Canal 1, 2, Castle Street, Christmas lights 1, 2, Church 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Churn flood, Countryside, Fallen tree, Fleece, Gasworks, Gloucester Street, Hare 1, 2, Hospital, Market Place 1, Phoenix Fest, Riverside Walk, Stone plaque, Stratton Meadow, Tank traps, View, Wonky 1, 2, Yellow Iris

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?

If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome!

Image of the day – 71

This old inn would have been part of the coaching network before the coming of the canals and railways.

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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.

Click to enlarge

This is one of Cirencester’s wonderful old hotels, ‘The Fleece’. It has a long history in the town, and its appearance is especially interesting. It looks like a timber-framed building at first glance, and at least one upper level has a visible overhang, a typical feature of multi-storey timber frame construction. But a closer look shows that the building has a render finish, and the ‘timbers’ are created with black paint on the render. Nonetheless, I can’t help wondering if there are real timbers underneath the render, it actually seems quite likely! If so, the render and the painted ‘timbers’ would be a sort of double-bluff. How intriguing.

Whatever the truth about the timber framing (or not), this old inn would have been part of the coaching network before the coming of the canals and railways. Passengers and their luggage would have been carried from here to Burford, Oxford, London and other destinations. The Fleece is 300-years-old and Grade II listed.

Today, the business has expanded into the properties either side, but to my knowledge the central part still looks exactly as it did 70 years ago.

Cirencester

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Cirencester area images:

A417 roadworks, Advent Market, Bishops Walk, Baunton, Canal 1, 2, Castle Street, Christmas lights 1, 2, Church 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Churn flood, Countryside, Fallen tree, Fleece, Gasworks, Gloucester Street, Hare 1, 2, Hospital, Market Place 1, Phoenix Fest, Riverside Walk, Stone plaque, Stratton Meadow, Tank traps, View, Wonky 1, 2, Yellow Iris

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 >

Useful? Interesting?

If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome!