#228 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn PlymouthLeave a comment

Not an average evening on Plymouth Hoe. Faithless blasting out from a music festival and a beacon lit for the Queens Jubilee.

A lovely evening walk, ripe for a good old ponder. How effective was the beacon system as an early warning system. There is a good bit of theorising on the internet hampered by not a huge amount of recorded data. It is said that when the Armada was spotted of the coast of Lands End the beacon system alerted London about 6 hours later. Beacons were located about 5-15 miles apart depending on the geographical features of the land. Each beacon would have had a watcher and a beacon lighting team, their efficiency would have had an impact on the transmission time. Beacons were dotted along the south coast of England as far as Portsmouth and then turned inland and spread the news to London and the rest of the country. It is said that the news reached York in the north of the country in under ten hours. This is all vague because at the time no-one kept the time. The specificity of the news would have been carried by a messenger on a horse, the horse and probably the rider would have changed regularly between the start point of Lands End to the end point London. The news would then have then been spread far wider by horses and messengers being sent in all directions from London.

©BBC

Tonight however the Queen touched a symbolic globe and without any horses or messengers, the beacon lit up in Plymouth and many other locations , just like magic. Although not exactly magic, we were close enough to the beacon to hear the gas being turned on several moments before the Queen placed her gloved hand anywhere near the globe. A moment made all the more memorable by ceremonial bagpipes adding unexpected notes to very well known Faithless anthems. Its been a day of anthems.

P.s. here is a proper photograph from a proper photographer.

©One Plymouth

#227 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Family, London, SerendipityLeave a comment

Welcome to the Thursday that thinks it is Saturday. The Queen has been on the throne for seventy years, so in Britain we have a four day weekend with today, Thursday,being the first of the days off.

The Queen as Ziggy Stardust, both great British institutions.

My head has been incapable of adjusting to a Thursday Bank Holiday.I can’t help but be puzzled that this is not Saturday. Our usually quiet week day walk was enlivened by huge numbers of tourists. The dogs took their time reading all the pee mails that the unknown holidaying dogs have left, almost making us late for our usual, free, two hour parking spot. A big celebration in London with us not visiting is unheard of, but we never considered going this time. We no longer have our own Welsh Guardsman performing for Her Majesty.

Not because we have lost him, but because he has retired his Bearskin. To be fair his instrument of choice made him one of the men in the back row so we have spent many events of great national significance waiting for a glimpse of his bottom.

We often got front row seats, again really very lucky. On one occasion the seats were so special we had a slightly awkward sartorial moment. We had taken some South African friends, with us, who were dressed amazingly, I suppose we were dressed well enough for normal but as it turned out our tickets were anything but normal. London, on these occasions, is also far from normal so when our tickets, being checked at pinch points, sent us nearer and nearer to Downing Street we were not particularly perturbed. Alarm bells were slightly raised by the fashion and style of all the other people who were being gently directed with us. If we were dressed to an OK standard the others in the queue clearly had a different dress code. Men in Morning Dress ( three piece suits with tails) women in fabulous outfits with high heels and hats of the most fabulous sort. What sealed the deal for the strangeness of our ticket allocation, was the last part of our journey which was through the gardens of Number 10 Downing Street. The home and Office of the British Prime minister. We had randomly been given tickets on the same stand as International Diplomats. We diplomatically stuck close to our South African friends, who looked more dressed for the  occasion than we did. We took our places in the stand and had fabulous views. No one noticed us at all,  apart from those moments when our friends caught a glimpse of a black Welsh Guards musician and ululated with joy. Having done it once, those diplomats and their families, who could ululate, joined in on on every subsequent occasion. I suspect that is not the normal behaviour from the Diplomats stand, but it made the days events joyful and memorable.

Thursday as the new Saturday, a Platinum Jubilee is unlikely ever to happen again. My confusion is unlikely to be repeated. Probably just as well!

#226 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity4 Comments

The dogs have a new beach of choice for one of their daily walks. It is a river beach that lies on the Devon side of the Hamoaze , a sort of watery border area, the sort known as 4 corners in some parts of the world. To the west is Cornwall, the east is Devon, north is the Tamar River and to the south the Atlantic, or Pymouth Sound. For the dogs the beach is a collection of freshly changed fascinating smells. At high tide the beach doesn’t exist but at mid tide a treasure trove of smells for them and treasure for their human companions is there for anyone to pick over. It is hard not to be fascinated by little pieces of sea glass and pottery. This handful was gathered in about ten minutes

The dogs love the area because even the most time conscious human loses all sense of time while picking up treasure. This allows them to sniff and track all manner of fascinating fragrances without interruption by a human anxious to get home. We go there so often I have created an indoor collection of ‘treasure’ that has definite boudaries. A box lid that can only contain a finite amount of bits. As new and more colourful bits are added, less interesting ones must be returned to the beach to continue their journeys.

So far this system has worked, only time can tell if discipline or hoarding will ultimately win.

#225 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Art for sale, Colour SquaresLeave a comment

Curating and managing group art exhibitions is a rewarding experience. The positives are really valuable to working artists. Seeing what other artists submit is a pleasure and inspiring in equal measure to artists and our visitors

So much frenetic work goes into these temporary exhibitions and yet there are also moments of great calm, often when there are no visitors. Time to really concentrate on one or two pieces of art created by someone else is a real treat.

Listening to visitors comments within their visiting groups is also real guilty pleasure of mine. So much to be learned in a creative space. Spring and summer are the time these fleeting amateur art exhibitions pop up in neighbourhoods all over the world. Don’t just drive or walk past, if you have the time, pop in, for just a few minutes you can step into multiple other worlds. It won’t make the world a better place but it might make you smile.

#224 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Van Life1 Comment

Our impromptu visit to North Somerset took us to a gem of a small seaside town, Clevedon on the Bristol Channel. Like everywhere in Britain, things are getting titivated ready for the Queens Jubilee next week.

Tiffins Cafe

Clevedon is a town that swelled in popularity when the Victorians fell in love with fresh air and coastal holidays. The jewel in its crown is the Grade 1 listed pier.

Which managed to get into every one of our photographs during our brief visit.

Queen on a bollard
Donkey on a bollard

The pier is very well cared for and is blissfully free of all the amusements tat that usually accompanies sea side entertainment. If fact this pier is very well balanced, with a coffee shop at either end.

All this loveliness failed to completely impress two members of our family. Hugo lowered his centre of gravity firmly to the decking boards of the pier and refused to move. Hannah got the sort of nausea that could only be alleviated by having coffee at both ends of the pier. Both of them affected by seeing the beach and sea far below them between the gaps of the decking boards. Hugo had to be carried, a favoured luxury not lost on Lola who made no fuss at all. Her face says it all in this picture.

The weather was not particularly kind, the one aspect of the pier that we failed to explore was the Port Hole room. We would have had to hang around a bit until a private function ended so I’ve pinched a couple of pictures from the Pier website.The porthole shows off the engineering beauty of the structure.

https://clevedonpier.co.uk/the-porthole-room/

With the weather turning rather wet we turned for home. An ebay bargain stowed in the back of the van and a new destination explored.

#223 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity, Van LifeLeave a comment

Yesterday was a fine example of planning v serendipity and also a lesson in observation. We had planned to meet some friends for an early morning dog walk and breakfast. We were very surprised when we arrived , the cafe, which we had never noticed before, was very close to the end of one of our regular dog walks.

The end of our walk is between the double lines, we walk until there is nowhere else to walk. Quite how we have missed the Waypoint Bar and Bistro is beyond me. If I have an excuse it is that there is always loads of things to look at.

The actual Waypoint, itself demands attention. Yesterday the breakfast demanded attention.

There was also a pretty, camp, figurehead to catch the eye.

And pretty yachts, prepping for the Round Britain and Ireland Yacht Race.

Round Britain and Ireland Yacht Race

No wonder the chatter around the other tables at breakfast were in so many different languages and so animated. When we left to do the gardening, , I almost wished I was going on an epic journey requiring skill and courage. Then I remembered I have neither of those attributes and that my potbound spider plants would not thank me for going off on an unplanned adventure. Later with the gardening achieved we waited to see if a cheeky offer on Ebay would be successful.

It was and the unplanned part of the day began. Our purchase required us to be in Bristol with the van early on Sunday morning. Supper and breakfast and a few clothes were popped in the van and we drove to a  farmers field between Bristol and Bath for the evening.

Once we left the traffic jams of the motorways we found a different sort of hold up.

Paella in the sunset was our reward for gardening and driving.

The evening dog walk brought one more surprise for the day.

Definately a day that taught us to be more observational.

#222 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Art for sale, SerendipityLeave a comment
©Michael Jenkins

Not exactly sunrise to sunset, but not far off. The curating and hanging teams for the Spring Exhibition, including me, worked hard all day to hang all the 2d and 3d work submitted for the Spring Exhibition. 12,000 steps on a hard concrete floor are enough to make your feet shout for a break, but that was not an option. All the works were hung and the space beautifully tidied up by the time the doors opened for the Private View. Then the owners of the same exhausted feet made sure that our guests had drinks in their hands and delicious canapes in their mouths. Lovely conversations were had and sales negotiated. Gilly our treasurer had her hands full with Pimms and payments all happening at once. All in all a good day was had.

©Michael Jenkins

#221 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Art for saleLeave a comment
©Mark Fielding

Setting up a group art exhibition is exhausting but the thrill of unpacking other peoples creativity is an enormous treat. The other great pleasure is meeting and talking with the artists as they arrive, weighed down by their precious creations.

©Sue Richardson

After the last two days of setting up and installing we have a week now of being open to the public and plenty of time to chat. Anyone local to Gunnislake or the Tamar Valley, we would love to see you, there will always be a warm welcome.

©Sarah Grace.

#220 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn art, Art for sale, Serendipity2 Comments

The mackerel are gathering, this can only mean one thing.

An art exhibition is about to be constructed over the next couple of days. As usual I am not quite ready.

Deconstructed Daffodil 1
Deconstructed Daffodil 2

Another artist had delivered her work to my house last Saturday all beautifully wrapped and bagged up. My work, in comparison, was all over the place. I also need other essentials like cable ties and S hooks to enable the construction of the boards,that hold all the artwork, and give the Artists plenty of space to show off their work.

Lester Longwool goes to Devon
Lester Longwool goes to Cornwall

It is always a surprise scrabbling around in my studio. Things that are put away unfinished come to the surface like this abstract of Silver Birches that needed just a dusting of silver to be finished.

Silver Birch Plantation

This next one needed framing and he looks magnificent finished off with a frame. It is a cheeky picture of the return of Nightlife to The Barbican. He is also finished with High Gloss Resin which makes the image almost impossible to photograph.

Nightlife Returns

Just one last picture to share from my contribution to the group show.

Nearly There Trees

I had lost this original for several years before finding it a couple of weeks ago in the final tidy up and reorganisation of the studio. Reproductions of it always sell well but the original had hidden itself away. As things turned out I am so glad I spent some time with it yesterday mounting and wrapping it ready for sale. The Nearly There Trees are a landmark close to the A30 on the Devon and Cornwall Border. Their proper title is Cookworthy Knapp. They are symbolic and significant to all who love Cornwall. Below is a link that explains more about the Trees.

https://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2019-10-10/the-nearly-home-trees-lifton-s-legendary-landmark

Yesterday evening I learned that an artist friend, who lived in Spain, had died earlier in the week. She was born just across the water from where I live now on the Mount Edgecombe Estate. The Nearly There Trees are hugely significant because she chose to return to Cornwall for her last months. Artists are funny folk who mostly work in isolation, but when we flock together we shed and share ideas . My lovely friend and I met at the Arts University Plymouth. She introduced me to Elvis, I’m not sure what I gave her. She and I often pondered the subjects of these blogs, I am so glad she made it home.

#219 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn HomeLeave a comment
Sunflowers in Cuba

Todays blog is a little late due to holiday travel. Not mine, for certain, as I am still without a passport. But it did give me the chance to share one of my favourite holiday photographs. This morning I dropped some friends to the airport for their holidays and by coincidence several friends and family are travelling to Europe for weddings this weekend which makes my whatsapp notifications bright with happy holiday images.

©Debs Bobber

All of my adult life I have taken foreign travel for granted. Covid and now an inept passport office have kept my feet very firmly on United Kingdom soil for nearly three years. This has made me appreciate the similarities and pleasures of Britain that I previously would, perhaps, have not even noticed. After the drive to the airport this morning I went to Sutton Harbour area to have new tyres fitted. I heard a sound that would be well known to anyone who has spent time in the Mediterranean . A handbell being rung from the window of a white van carrying food items. Today was not freshly caught fish or locally grown vegetables but the humble pasty!

So, I am a little envious of my nearest and dearest sampling foreign sights and sounds. The minute a passport lands in my hands, foreign adventures will be planned. But today I walked past scenic lobster pots with a baguette under my arm, only the weather proved to me that I was not, currently, somewhere more exotic.