The Great Orme

Posted on September 10, 2024 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged bronze age, cable cars, chair lift, copper mines, Great Orme, History, Llandudno, Road, Steam engine, summit, Town, Trains, victorianLeave a comment

The mountain by the sea

A pier stretches out into the water, a grand hotel sits behind it on the shore. Drive round the coast and rise up to the summit by road, or use the tram service, which takes you past a bronze age copper mine. Or up the cable cars to the summit cafe. There is a small nature reserve at the top where indigenous plants are encouraged to grow. The mountain stands above Llandudno in North Wales. The town itself has grand terraces of three and four storey houses, hotels and apartments. Many of them from when the town was a Victorian resort and tourists arrived on steam engines. A good place for a day out.

Under trees

Posted on September 9, 2024September 9, 2024 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged canopy, Green, History, mature trees, Memory, Saplings, Shade, through time, Time, TreesLeave a comment

The trees are full of leaves, bulky and heavy laden. They clean the air, drawing in carbon dioxide and producing oxygen. I hate to think of when these trees will be gone. They may become aged and diseased. I think of them 50 years ago, how big were they then? Saplings or bigger? How old are they. What is their life expectancy? I hope they see the next century safely. Their dark green canopies giving continued shelter even as the climate heats up.

A hero’s name?

Posted on August 22, 2024 Posted in UncategorizedTagged ancestor, beast, Beauty, Comedy, Funny, generations, Hero, heroic, History, odd name, silly name, TimeLeave a comment

I think we mainly assume that a hero will be called Prince Caspian or something similar. Being of noble blood, and handsome. Fairytale books and films lead us to this definition. Only stories like Beauty and the Beast where at the end the Beast turns into a handsome Prince slightly subverts this.

But what happens if the hero has an ordinary or odd name? Maybe Euphonio Grunt-Ffungus? His name being a long lost memory from generations ago of the families profession of truffle hunting!

What heroical task would Euphonio complete? Would he rescue a cat from on top of a giraffe? Fight off a venomous kangaroo? Hide chocolate from a dragon? Kill a giant spider that’s threatening to engulf the palace?

I think this kind of hero would be in a comic fantasy, not a serious story. But we cannot chose our names, let alone our ancestors.

Queen Elizabeth the First

Posted on June 20, 2024 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged dailyprompt, dailyprompt-1975, Drawing, History, Memory, Prompt, Queen Elizabeth the firstLeave a comment

Who is your favorite historical figure?

I wish I could share a picture of Queen Elizabeth 1st, but as I’ve previously explained my Internet is down.

I learnt about the Eliabethans at school, and became obsessed with their clothing. I loved trying to draw and paint the ruffs they wore round their necks and the splits the rich Eliabethans had in their clothes to show the underlying cloth.

I was interested in the history of the Queen too, not just her clothes. Her court of figures such as Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Frances Drake. She was monarch when King Philip of Spain tried to Invade England with the Spanish Armada but was beaten by Drake if I remember correctly.

She never married and was one of the longest reigning monarchs of Britain. She was known as the Virgin Queen. Shakespeare may have written plays for her. But I don’t know the actual facts.

Possible painting?

Posted on April 7, 2024 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged Age, Buddlea, Cold, Erosion, History, Life, Memories, Ruins, spode works, Thinking, Time, WindowLeave a comment

There’s something fascinating about the old windows at Spode Works. I took this photo this week in my friend Amy’s studio. It looks out over the back of the ceramic halls that front onto Kingsway in Stoke. The dirt and grime is from the clay dust that still covers much of the site. The buildings are freezing in winter and stay cool in the summer, I think because of the thermal mass of the solid factory.

Time is gradually eroding and changing the structure of the buildings. Buddlea bushes have colonised one of the older parts of the factory and I wonder if they will make it crumble. It will feel strange not to go there anymore.

Memories

Posted on March 1, 2024 Posted in Fine Art, Memories, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Art, clinging on, Decades, Fine Art, History, Memory, Painting, Poem, Poetry, PortraitsLeave a comment

I’m finding old portraits

Portals to a previous time

Not photographic images

But paint on canvas

You made me smile

You made me laugh

And cry too

So I hold onto these

Small tokens of love

With all my strength.

Decay

Posted on February 29, 2024 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged Building, Crumbling, deterioration, History, Industrial archeology, Life, Planning, Spode site, TimeLeave a comment

Some of the buildings on the old Spode works site continue to deteriorate while others next to them are being restored and reused.

My fear is that some, like this one, could literally crumble before they get any work on them.

Time moves on, plans have been made and then stopped because they did not fit in well with both the historical significance of Spode works and the surrounding town. The traffic management needs considering too. Meanwhile the buildings need protection and rebuilding.

Too many historical and unique buildings in the city of Stoke-on-Trent have disappeared recently. Destroyed because of disrepair or fire or vandalism. The industrial archeology of the city needs saving. Otherwise we will end up with warehouses or generic apartment buildings and lose our history.

Where Manchester used old Mills to create loft spaces and apartments, we seem hell bent on hollowing out our citys history.

He knew his tractors

Posted on February 16, 2024 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged Fordson, History, Hubby, Life, Massey Ferguson, Memory, steam traction engine, Tractor, ZetaLeave a comment

If he saw this tractor he would have known exactly who the maker was. A Fordson , John Deere, Zeta, New Holland, Massey Ferguson?

He knew by their colours /livery., by their shape, by the setup of the wheels. Whether they were row-crop tractors, diesel, paraffin. So much knowledge.

I used to guess what sort they were and he would congratulate me or correct me. Now has gone, I can’t remember.

We would sometimes go to agricultural shows. Hubby would have a pint in the beer tent, avoiding wasps, have a bite to eat, and then watch the tractor or steam traction engine parades in the main show ring. Then a ride on the steam gallopers, or trying to win a teddy bear on the air gun shooting range.

Memories are what I have….

Blurry Summer Dream

Posted on January 24, 2024 Posted in Fine Art, Memories, UncategorizedTagged Black and white cat, Cat, Fine Art, History, Hubby, Life, Memory, narrative painting, Oil on canvas, Summer dream7 Comments

My hubby in about 1982/83, sorry the photos blurry the cat is the same one as in the other painting. It’s propped against the wall and the computer is in the way. The title is Summer Dream. It’s oil on canvas. There are standing stones at the top and a female figure with long hair blowing in the wind, (meant to be me). It’s supposed to be set in the west country.

Another narrative painting.

The Stars like dust

Posted on November 18, 2023 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged Book, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-2123, Fun, History, Issac Asimov, Memory, Old fashioned, Science fiction47 Comments

What book are you reading right now?

I’m reading an old Issac Asimov book. The stars like dust. It’s one I had in the 70s and haven’t read it since.

Asimov mainly wrote books about robots and formulated the three laws of robotics. But this book is about galactic intrigue and the attempts of a young man called Biron Farill, who is the main character of the book, to escape the Tyrrani who rule the Galaxy and are trying to assassinate him.

I have completely forgotten the story, it feels old fashioned but has intrigue. I can imagine watching an old film, some of the settings, seem clunky. But it’s worth reading, and I’m enjoying it.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: History