Thematic Photography - On the street

Towards the end of the season some holiday streets empty a little just like this in Cornwall.

Uphill in St Mawgan

The entrance to where we are staying is just beyond that red car.

Bollards outside the church ready for wedding cars

The building with the blue sign is the Falcon Inn, the Post Office and village shop is down the street to the left.

Turn round and then right over a small bridge, a narrow street leads out of the village.

There is barely enough room for vehicles to pass each other. The street steepens round the corner where on the left there is a public footpath to Mawgan Porth. And then -

Up the street to Treance

However an interesting test is on the pitch and putt course on the right of yet another hill.

For photos on other streets walk over to Thematic-photographic-423

Cornish Fences

I don't often photograph a fence just because it's there but on a trip to Cornwall last month there were some I could not resist and others just happened to be there.

Headland fence

The building on the horizon to the right of the fence is the Headland Hotel at Newquay just up from the famous Fistral surfing beach. The fence is there to stop people falling over the cliffs into the sea (Atlantic).

There is more where the Headland ends.

Atlantic from the Headland

We went for Sunday lunch at a hotel further up the north coast of Cornwall.

Crantock beach

The rope fence to the car park was all there was to prevent a fall down onto the beach.

On a walk between St Mawgan and Mawgan Porth the shots I took had fences in then too, but these weren't really meant to all that important as - 

The white horse

and 

The turkey wanting to be fed

This is a post for Good Fences of course.

A-Z Challenge 2016 - Wildflowers 'Y'

My theme this year is wild flowers. Most of us will be aware of the flowers that grow in our gardens but what surprises me is how few of the wild flowers that I know.

I pass them every day but rarely look at them. Well this year will be different - even if many of them fall under the letter 'X' for unknown.

'Y' - Yellow Rattle, Yew

As we have nearly reached 'Z' I guess it's time to think about celebrating. What better way is there than to make a noise with a rattle.

Yellow Rattle (Rhinatus minor)

This is actually a pernicious weed. and a semi-parasite, that grows on grasslands and in old meadows. It helps itself to minerals and water by means of its roots making contact with the roots of grasses and other plants.

The flowers appear from May to August, each one developing into a swollen capsule containing numerous large seeds. When the capsule is dry and the stem is knocked or shaken, the loose seeds inside make a rattling sound. This natural alarm clock was once used to signal the time for haymaking.

One of the tasks I have set myself is following the development of flowers from when they appear until they have faded away and turned to seed. Sometimes this has not been possible and I'm starting the other way around. The Yew tree is a marvellous example of this.

Berries on a Yew tree

It was only last month that I wondered what the its flowers looked like.

Yew tree flowers on a local tree

Not very obvious, are they?

Flowers on a churchyard tree

There is an ancient tradition that the evergreen yew sheltered the first Christian missionaries to Britain - before churches were built - and this is why so many yew trees are found in our churchyards.

Last summer I found a magnificent yew in Cornwall just outside the village of St Mawgan. Because of where it was located I could not get all of it in one photo.

By the size of its trunk, it must be hundreds of years old. I'm left wondering whether it is a male or female tree.

Attributions:

• Yellow Rattle; Great Holland Pits, Essex, 30 May2004, ex en.wikipedia.org,by Sannse - CC BY-SA 3.0
• Common or English Yew, flowers on a male tree - St Mary's Churchyard, 19 February 2009, ex geograph.org.uk, by Trish Steel - CC BY-SA 2.0 generic

From a great height - Thematic Photography.

This is a bit late for last week's theme but all the photos were taken then, during our holiday in Cornwall.

St Mawgan - from a third floor window

Mawgan Porth from a cliff walk

Beach with no access from the cliffs along the coastal path

Same beach - no way up if you get caught by the sea

Still looks inviting

From a great height the holiday ends looking down at the clouds.

Homeward bound

There's still time to look down from a great height elsewhere by following the links at Carmi's Thematic-Photographic-351.

What light through yonder window breaks? - Thematic Photography

When I saw Carmi's window theme this week I knew I would not have to look far for what I had to post. The question was where to stop.

This first shot was taken looking out of a window in Cornwall where the light really did break through.

St Mawgan interior

A windows theme would not be complete without some stained glass.

Lady Chapel - St Mawgan church

And one much nearer home.

Shorthorn cattle - Kirklevington Parish church

Shorthorn cattle were made famous by Thomas Bates who lived and died in the village.

Moving to the USA I came across these windows at the entrance to the Ford Museum.

Ford Museum, Dearborn, Michigan

Back to Europe for the view of a public building alongside some less imposing panes.

Brussels Royal Opera House

While we are on the subject of the arts, this is a very modern place.

Inside Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (mima)

Finally a much older building which took my fancy which has a window or two.

Timber building at York

For other, possibly clearer, views of windows get your wash leather out and visit Carmi's thematic photographic 221.

Greyish - Thematic Photography

When I saw the theme was greyish I immediately thought of battleship grey.

HMS Illustrious - 1940 Aircraft Carrier

 

 

This photo comes from my brother's photos taken during WWII. He served on the Illustrious in the Mediterranean  and may have been aboard when Swordfish aircraft from the carrier attacked the Italian fleet at Taranto.

Swordfish (I think)

Seaplanes also flew off carriers but this one seems to have lost its way.

Grounded - Supermarine Walrus

To add a bit of colour to our greyish theme I'll change to grey and green,

13th Century Parish Church, St Mawgan, Cornwall

Dedicated to St Mauganus and St Nicholas

St Mauganus was a Welshman so I'm told.

In North Yorkshire the best preserved ruins of a Cistercian monastery are those of Fountains Abbey.

Fountains Abbey, North Yorkshire

I have nearly 40 photos of the Abbey but for this greyish theme you will have to be satisfied with one.

For other grey matters you need to pay a visit to Carmi's thematic photographic 185

Sepia Saturday Takes The Biscuit

I thought it would be a piece of cake to meet the theme this week. Then I found I had no photos of corner shops nor could I find any from years ago on the web. I had to settle for this in the end.

Jewelry - Corner Shop

 

Next I searched for aprons, registered milk vendors and even Mothers Choice (that was a mistake.) Finally I latched on to the Biscuits sold in Alan’s shop and found something much closer to home.

Wright's Biscuits in South Shields

 (Turners Photographic of Newcastle)

 By TWAM - Tyne & Wear Archives and Museums@Flickr Commons

Wright’s Biscuits was a well known company in South Shields. Set up as a maker of biscuits, they started out by supplying ships in 1790. After a fall in demand, Wright's turned to making more up-market biscuits. The factory closed in 1973.

There is a shop in the corner of Preston Hall's Victorian Museum which I have shown before.

John Walker's Chemist Shop - Preston Hall Museum

 John Walker was the inventor of the first safety match. Other shops in the Victorian street include this one next to Walker's.

Shop - established 1783

The only 'modern' shop among my photos is one from St Mawgan in Cornwall - Roger, the owner, makes an excellent marmalade.

St Mawgan Village Store & Post Office

 Don't forget to visit other shops at Sepia Saturday 89

If you want a prize for this I suggest you take a biscuit - but what's on offer is this:

Dog biscuit

(By Five Rings - Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 unported license)

Cornish Memorial

In the churchyard of the Church of St Mawgan-in-Pydar there is a memorial to ten men who drifted ashore in a boat, frozen to death, on 15 December  1846.

Memorial - St Mawgan Churchyard

Tregurrian beach is now called Watergate in the Bay beloved by Newquay surfers. The guide book to the Church says the men drifted ashore at Beacon Cove.

Beacon Cove near Trevarrian, Cornwall - Geoff Tydeman (CC A-S A 2.0 Generic license)

 

In 1808 the introduction of the "Dead Bodies Interment Bill" meant that a Christian burial was required for the shipwrecked, with expenses met by the county and rewards to those who discovered the bodies. The ten men, including Jemmy, were the first to be buried in the churchyard at St Mawgan in accordance with the new law.

The original memorial was replaced in 1992 by the carved replica of the stern of a boat shown in the picture.