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It’s been quite a while since I did any church crawling. Today I managed to visit a couple. First was St John The Baptist, in Baston. There were traces of snowfall in the graveyard.

A nice if not terribly remarkable church. Kind of run of the mill. But still, as ever, worth a look. One unexpected windfall: I purchased a book on the Napoleonic Wars, for 50p!

Perhaps my favourite thing, on this visit, would be the carving on the screen at the altar? This choice might’ve been influenced by the lovely golden sunlight falling on it.

Betwixt here and the next church there was some very lovely countryside.

Both spots I stopped at featured avenues of trees. Always an attractive feature, blending human control and natural beauty.

The second Church o’ The Day was St Martin’s, Barholm.

Sometimes one just gets a feeling. This was one of those times. As I opened the screen doors into the porch, the old Norman arch bespoke age, and intrigue. Excitement mounted.

The churchyard on the approach is lovely. And was extra nice on this cold, clear, crisp winter’s day. I like the carvings on this old monument (above).

I love the carving over the door in the porch. No idea exactly what scene it depicts. The door itself is a beauty. The metal work around the handle/knocker and keyhole is lovely.

The font is nice as well, with very old looking carving on the stone font itself.

The stained glass is quite nice. More for its overall effect than on close inspection. And in today’s sunlight the coloured light these glasses cast was very pretty.

This is a church I’d like to re-visit, and sit meditatively in, time allowing.

One of a number of features of this beautiful little church is the angel roof. We have a fabulous example at St Wendreda’s in our home town, March. This much smaller church has just four pairs of winged folk, and some of their wings are clipped!

It was a chilly 2°C, but I was very happy to stop and have a Quick Look at this enchanting edifice.

Walking around the church, I spotted a rather large excavation. Who lives here, I wonder?

So much, for Pleasure! The Pain element came during my second work shift. Flo’ broke down! It seems the ‘master cylinder’ on her clutch is failing. So it’s off to The Garage, for Flo’.

Sitting in the waiting room at the Doctor’s, which, as a kid, I recall being pleasantly relaxing.

These days, chiefly thanks to the ultra shite radio – dreadful Muzak, and a radio that’s not-working properly (squalls of digital distortion!) – it’s a form of torture.

Once in, altho’ over an hour late, the doc was friendly, quick and efficient. Oh… he had to examine my rectum. Never fun! Life, eh!?

I’m back home now. I’m soooo tired. It’s really quite worrying. I mentioned this to the Doc’. So, as well as stool samples, they vant mein blut!

Much later… today’s work shift took us – Teresa joined me – past all that remains of Thorney and Crowland Abbeys.

That warmongering serial-killer and religion wrecker Henry VIII was a proper fucking venal vandal!

Teresa is watching The Mirror & The Light. I have to confess that I find such ‘historical dramas’ more irritating than entertaining.

I recall art historian Kenneth Clark noting how late Renaissance art was surely and obviously on a downward path, once all the actors became paragons of beauty.

What Clarke was getting at, I believe, is that there ought to be a truthful relationship between art and life. Turning ugly and ordinary people – if, granted, in extraordinary circumstances – into super-models does art, truth and life disservice.

So why does it always happen? That entertainment lies so frequently and flagrantly? There are doubtless many reasons. But wishful thinking, or fantasy, and worldly success, seem obvious reasons.

In some ways Carry On Henry is at least as historically accurate as Wolfe Hall, albeit in a very comical and irreverent way. But at least Henry is less conventionally handsome, more obviously and grotesquely selfish, and – from a safe distance – an utterly risible fool.

What I dislike most of all in everything from this, to the recent Louis Sun God thing, or Downton Abbey, is the romantic rehabilitation of royalty and privilege.

As (?) said, monarchy is the Popery of government. So fat serial-killer Harry splits with Rome? It doesn’t make him Martin Luther, or any other kind of religious reformer.

Turiya Sings arrived yesterday, and Eternity came today. Looking for’ard to listening to these two!

I’ve got two shifts today. The first isn’t till 2.30 pm. So I had a lie in. Then we took Chester to the vets. He has a fight wound. Luckily it’s healing ok, and there was no charge. Phew!

Now I’m reading Betjeman’s radio talks again. I’m now onto the final few chunks. Currently reading about Holiday Escapes. Lord knows, I/we need much more of those!

I cleaned and polished what might be the final item from our small silver-plate set.

I think we should keep these items as purely decorative things. Not use them.

I wonder if we’ll ever find the broken leg of the damaged jug? It’s a pity it got that way.

I’ve been having another of my occasional Alice Coltrane reveries.

The above was released on a label called Hi Hat, in 2018. And contained just one track, Africa. The concert itself was recorded waaay back, in ‘71!

Impulse – aka ‘the house that ‘Trane [John!] built’ – finally released the full concert, only this year, 2024.

In between these two releases from the same concert, this – another full live concert, but from ‘72 – came out:

Released as a limited edition of 750, by BCT records, this one is hard to buy. But it’s all over YouTube.

I’m enjoying her musical legacy so much, I’ve ordered a few more of Alice’s recordings:

My Alice Coltrane collection is growing. And now looks a bit like this:

A Monastic Trio, 1968
Ptah The El Daoud, 1969
Huntington Ashram Monastery, 1970
Journey in Satchidananda, 1971
Universal Consciousness, 1971
World Galaxy, 1972
Lord of Lords, 1973
Illuminations [w Santana], 1974
Eternity, 1976
Transcendence, 1977
Transfiguration, 1978
The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane, 2017 [Compilation]
Kirtan, Turiya Sings, 2021

Not quite a complete collection, as I don’t have all of her live recordings, or all the stuff from her post Translinear Light return to the music biz later period. But I do now have all of her major label releases, from her ‘68-‘78 period, and then some…

I got set of silver-plate stuff, free, off a Freecycler. It’s heavily tarnished now. Just from contact with the air. No wonder posh folk needed servants.

There are two or three more silver-plate items lurking about our home. Need to find and clean them all!

A casualty of war, above. Sad!

Woah, Nelly!

Phew… a maelstrom of funky soulful neo-psychedelic grooviness! Most definitely not music for all occasions. But if you’re in the mood for out of body astral-travelling?

With Reggie Workman on acoustic bass, and thx late great Roy Hayes on drums. This is a power trio! Make no mistake.

After the full on sonic assault that is the title track, Alice moves over to acoustic piano. And plays a beautiful shimmering track, One For The Father, dedicated to J.C.

This arrived today. I love Alice. But i also bought this in memory of Roy Haynes, who passed recently, and plays on these recordings.

Track three, Prema, features an uncredited overdubbed string section.

Somebody digs Alice in the above garb enough to do this: