Magazines of Mine - Sepia Satuday

We have never been a family that subscribes to magazines. We may have dabbled with one or two related to cooking or to the art or writing, but now it's a case of a weekend magazine issued with the Saturday paper and in which i usually only scan the pictures.

However I do have a few back issues with which I have been associated. These have had an influence on many of my blog posts.

In 2008 my "Houses in Fiction" appeared in "The Lady." 

The article included photos chosen by the magazine - and I'm not sure where I stand with copyright so you will have to settle with these representing the houses I wrote about.

From Uncle Tom's cabin I jumped to:

followed by Green Gables on Prince Edward Island.

That triangle at the bottom left of the blurb was a picture of Pride and Predujice's Mr Darcy on the steps of Pemberley, aka:

Chatsworth House
(By Paul Collins - 2007)

The site for Brideshead Castle on TV and in a more recent film was here at Yorkshire's - 

Castle Howard

We have to move further north for the location of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the films of JK Rowling's Harry Potter Books.

Alnwick Castle, Northumberland

My second magazine is from a local Yorkshire town.

The piece that was my second blogspot post was about Gertrude Bell. You can read Al Khatun here. 

I hadn't discovered Sepia Saturday then or identified the source of photos I could have used. But here is two that would have been appropriate.

Gertrude Bell in Iraq in 1909
(From the Gertrude Bell Archive)

Rather unkindly the photo identifies the lady's age as 41.

The Al Khatun article also revers to the Theodore Roosevelt's famous African safari in 1909 where he shot his first lion.

(From African Game Trails, published in the USA 1910)

Sir Alfred Eward Pease (centre), is flanked by Kermit Roosevelt, Theodore's son, on the left and the former President Theodore Roosevelt on the Athi Plains in 1909.

As for the lion,  it is immortalised in the stained glass window in Guisborough's St Nicholas Church shown in the Al Khatun blog post.

You may browse through other magazines at Sepia-Saturday-248.

Messy - Thematic Photography

"To find a form that accommodates the mess that is the task of the artist now."

If you substitute photographer for artist in the quote from Samuel Beckett you get the task that Carmi has set us this week.

Where to begin?

Messy corner

Having loaded up with cameras, backpack and hat I only had to travel to the bottom of my drive for another messy corner created by a sycamore tree losing its leaves.

Autumn's first mess

With autumn taking a step forward, it does seem to have been long since something in the pink has turned into a messy sight.

'Browned off hydrangea'

Then there is a mess that is becoming more useful as it ages.

Maturing horse manure

And a sign that nature can take care of its own mess as it rots.

Blackberries past their best

Some autumn sights add colour to a scene.

Grass verge carpeted with leaves from an ash tree

But there is some mess that I wish some people would not leave behind.

Messy litter (5 months old) dumped in a lay-by

Have I succeeded with this 'messy' post?

"Success is relative. It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things." (T S Eliot)

To view others' posts check out the messy links at Thematic-photographic-310.

Royal Institute of Chemistry - Sunday Stamps

I have some Nobel Prize winners for you this week.

The Royal Institute of Chemistry's centenary was commemorated by a set issued on 2 March 1977.

Great Britain - Royal Institute of Chemistry, 1877-1977

In addition each stamp commemorates the work of Nobel Prize winners.

• 8.1/2p: Steroids - Conformational Analysis - Derek H R Barton, Nobel Prize for Chemistry 1969
• 10p:     Vitamin C Synthesis - W N Haworth, Nobel Prize for Chemistry 1937
• 11p:     Starch - Chromatography - Archer John Porter Martin and Richard Laurence Millington Synge, Nobel Prize for Chemistry 1952
• 13p:     Salt - Crystallography - William Henry and William Laurence Bragg - Nobel Prize for Physics 1915.

I remember studying the work of the Braggs (father and son) in chemistry and metallurgy, but the other names are new to me. Or is my memory failing?

To see what others have chosen for this week don't forget to check the links at Viridian's Sunday-Stamps-189.

Guys in uniform

My father and at least one of his brothers served in WWI, my brothers in WWII. I have no photos of them in uniform except for copies of war photos of my elder brother in the Fleet Air Arm, some of which I have shown before.

Arthur (on the left)

My sons have not had to join the forces but did turn out in uniform.

Cub scouts  - eldest son's head under someone's arm!

Although I did two years (mandatory, then) National Service in the Royal Signals no photos of me in uniform exist.

In August this year the town of Yarm held a service at the war memorial to commemorate the centenary of the start of WWI. Men and a few women in uniform took part.

Army cadets at the head of the parade.

If you look closely at their arms you might think they are out of step. The video below shows just how badly.

My old Sergeant Major would have had a fit.

Later there was a drum head service in another part of the town.

Cadets waiting to take part

When the fun fair began I just wonder whether it was as entertaining as this.

Not like my Sergeant Major at all.

Now march over to the links at Sepia-Saturday-247.

O what a tangled web we weave...

Spun on a September morning,

Mammals - Sunday Stamps

I have used many of my animal stamps before and as you might expect a lot of big mammals appeared on stamps from African countries. I'm sure you will recognise these from Benin.

Benin - Lion and African (Cape) Buffalo

The stamps also carry their scientific name - Panthera leo (Lion) and Syncerus caffer caffer (Buffalo).

I had to find out more about Benin and the postmark gave me a clue to the capital city of Cotonou.

These are two stamps from a set of 7 issued on 20 September 1995. The highest denomination (300f) is part of a mini-sheet for Faune Africaine which shows a magnificent elephant.

I acquired two more of the set at the same time.

Benin - Impala and Chimpanzee

Aepyceros melampus and Pan troglodytes are their scientific names.

The International Union of Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species includes the Chimpanzee which ironically is possibly extinct in Benin.

To see other mammals you should visit the links at Viridian's Sunday-Stamps-188.

Tent Warfare - Sepia Saturday

When I saw the tents in the prompts for the next two weeks I knew I was in trouble - which photos do I show when even the sailor suit caused a problem of sorts.

Looks peaceful and a time for fun,

However during wartime in the Mediterranean it was serious business for my brother ashore during his Fleet Air Arm service in WWII.

Tented Accommodation

This was probably in Egypt where it was warm enough to:

Dry that white sailor suit

At another (treeless) location seen from the air I'm left to wonder who used the tents.

Recovering aircraft or operating a desert airstrip was even less luxurious.

Somewhere in the Middle East

I'm left to wonder as I never saw these pictures while he was alive. If I'd asked where, he'd probably have told me I didn't want to know.

After all when he left to go to war I was instructed to tell anyone who asked that he had gone to stick a bayonet up Hitler's arse.

For other experiences under canvas I suggest you check out the links at Sepia-Saturday-246.