Figureheads Galore

The upper floor of ‘The Victory Gallery’ houses the ‘Spirit of Figurehead’ display which showcases a wonderful collection of ship figureheads from the late 18th century.

Cherie's Place – Thought for the Week

The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the greatest intention.

Khalil Gibran

Sitting on the Patio

A perfect summer’s day was followed by a perfect summer’s evening. How could I resist sitting on my patio with a glass of wine watching the sun go down behind ‘my oak tree’?

I sat enjoying the warm air and the sounds of nature…

I wondered if my friend the hedgehog would show his face, but he proved a little shy this evening. The frog that surprised me a couple of weeks ago, when I found him sitting on the top of the watering can was also absent. I was however visited by a bat buzzing around the garden on a quest for an evening snack. After he left, a large moth flew into the house and thankfully flew straight back out again. I shut the door quickly so he could not make a return visit.

A perfect way to spend an evening 🙂

Cherie's Place – Thought for the Week

Friendship is a single tree under which many can enjoy the shade.

From a Thousand Paths to friendship by David Baird

Tynemouth Priory and Castle…

…The Percy Chantry

The Percy Chantry was built in the 15th-century and is the only part of the priory church to survive complete, although what we see today is the product of renovations. The Chantry has an intricate ceiling composed of intersecting ribs with 33 carved bosses.

52 Photos Project – Gallery 26 – First Thing I See

Well perhaps not quite the first thing I see, the first thing I see would be my bedside table. The above photo is a view that I see as I go around opening the curtains in my house.  It is the view from my computer room.  How lucky am I 😉

More ‘first thing I see’ can be found in the gallery.

Sanctuary Knocker – Durham Cathedral

It is tempting to think of cathedrals simply as places of worship, but theire civic function was as a place of sanctuary. People who had committed a ‘great offence’, for example killing in self defence or escaping from prison, could clame sanctuary within the cathedral for 37 days. after which they either had to have solved their problems or were given a safe passage out of the country. The state of sanctuary was a bit like ‘refuge’ status today – one lost some of one’s rights as a citizen. Durham’s famous sanctuary knocker was allegedly what those claiming sanctuary had to grasp. The current knocker on the cathedral’s door is a replica; the original is on display inside the cathedral.*

*Durham World Heritage Site, A Guide to the Castle and Cathedral – Published in 2013 by Durham World Heritage Site.

The Castle Keep

The castle at Newcastle is situated on a steep sided promontory overlooking the River Tyne.

It is a naturally defensible site, which archaeological excavations show has been occupied for nearly 2000 years.  Flint flakes and a stone axe head hint at prehistoric activity, and the grooves left by early ploughs – ard marks – have been found in the clay subsoil.

From the mid-2^nd century until the beginning of the 5^th century a Roman fort – Pons Aelius – stood here, guarding the river crossing below.  The name refers to the Roman bridge (pons) across the River Tyne, and to its builder, the Emperor Hadrian, whose family name was Aelius.  The site of the bridge was probably close to the present Swing Bridge.

The castle keep as we see it today is the product of a number of restorations over the years:

Despite these changes the keep remains one of the best examples of its type in the country.  The names used for the rooms in the keep in the medieval period are unknown: those used today were given by antiquarians in the 19^th century.  The keep has been open as a ‘curiosity’ or visitor attraction since 1812*

*Information from Newcastle Castle guidebook (Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne).

52 Photos Project – Gallery 22 – In My Hands

People who know me well will appreciate this photo 😉

I always have my camera in my hand/s when I am out and about.

More ‘In My Hands’ can be found in the gallery.

Happy Easter :-)