I finished a delivery shift in Wisbech. Perfect for a stop over at Peckover House & Gardens. And on such a glorious sunny day? A wander round the gardens was definitely indicated.
It’s lovely to have such a place not too far away. The gardens are simply wonderful. I wondered into an open potting shed. Exclaiming ‘Oh, my God!’, on entering, because I was hit by a wall of incredibly powerful and lovely floral scent. Which turned out to be sweet peas.
I had planned to read and maybe have a coffee in the café. But it wasn’t open. I’d arrived about 11.15 am. And the café opens at midday. I hung around looking at my Joni special issue mag’, for about 30 minutes, and then skedaddled.
So beautiful.Nice combos of colour & texture.
A few sundry oddments of other architectural interest from Wisbech, nearby.
I was out delivering early today. And I went through some lovely places. Above is a lane in Tydd St Mary. I need to re-visit the church there some time. So far it’s always been shut when I’ve passed.
Tydd, St Mary Church
The graveyard.
Some interesting little details, externally…
And what a lovely setting. No bulls were visible when I peeped into the field.
St James, Newton
Also in a lovely setting, is St James, of Newton in the Isle. Also locked. And in a semi-dangerous state of disrepair.
Ordered yesterday, arrived today. Two double-discs of David Munrow early music. Can’t wait to get stuck in!
UPDATE:
It’s a few days later, and I’ve listened to both CDs. And they are brilliant. I’ll have to post again on the subject of Munrow (I’ve done so before!), and his multifarious and prodigious musical doings.
This lunchtime we were at mum’s. On the way home we went to Dobbies, a garden centre near mum’s. Looked at a few things, inc these koi carp:
But mainly we wanted to find out about water lilies, for the pond. Should’ve snapped a few of them! They were about £20 a pop. Might source some elsewhere?
In the gallery below, I start by the workshop shed, and wind up in the ‘green room’, by the pond
The weather has been very changeable. Alternating between rain and sunshine. Some very heavy recent rains actually left the pond water levels visibly higher. The water is now no longer below the bottom of the wee bridge!
All told, we’re really happy with how the garden is coming along, and love spending time in it.
Dejeuner sur l’herbe?
We had dinner – sausages, potatoes and veg – in the garden. Lovely! And then back indoors, for bath n’ bed. A perfect Sunday!
I’ve stopped at this church many times. It’s always been locked up/closed. I rang the only telephone number I could see – which turned out to be that of the local rector/priest (or whatever the name is!?) – and she, a lady called Sandra, showed up and let me in.
Flo’, in a tropical paradise.
Here’s a gallery of images of the graveyard and porch, on a wet grey day. Really hugely atmospheric. Love it! This is what you see when you arrive here. It also looks fabulous on a bright sunny day.
Gorgeously overgrown graves.
I love the above view. The moss and the ivy. Life, richly vegetative life, overcomes, over-grows, death. Beautiful.
The wooden beams spanning the areas ‘twixt the arches are a Victorian addition. Sandra said they are structurally superfluous! They have lovely richly carved corbels, at their bases.
The lectern pictured next was covered with a bin bag! Sandra removed that for me, so I could get a decent photo. Thanks! She told me it’s a very valuable 14th or 15th C. piece. The bin bag keeps off bat-poo!
I love this lectern!
Here are the more interesting (i.e. stained-glass) windows:
The chief glory of St Leonard’s, perhaps? is the ‘Jesse Window’. I had to ask Sandra what a Jesse window is/was. Well, it’s Jesus’ family tree, basically. (Later in the day my pal Pat quipped, ‘How do they represent Jesus as himself and also his own father?’ Of course they don’t.)
The Jesse window.
Sadly my photos of this wonderful window aren’t great. I’ll have to re-visit and photograph it better. Pane by pane, methinks.
Zooming in a bit…… isn’t it fabulous!
I asked how this had survived Henry the VIII and Cromwell, etc. Apparently it was taken down, dismantled, and stored. When restored it had to have large amounts of missing stuff renewed. It’s terrifically well done. This window alone makes a visit to St Leonard’s an absolute must.
I was sad to leave…
I couldn’t spend long here, alas. But I will certainly be going back. It’s a terrific place.
Back to the world.
The wet, grey, rainy day wasn’t at all a bad thing. In fact it made this wonderful place that bit more enchanting. Sandra was lovely. And the verdant lushness of the setting was breathtaking. What a fab’ visit!
All Saints, Moulton
Bagpuss spots another church…
As I drove home, earlier today, Bagpuss and I spotted another spire. Initially I had no thoughts of stopping. But it turns out that, 1) I drove right by it, and 2) it was open. So, why not stop and take a look?
Cats… love ‘em!Opposite the church.
I beamed with totally unconcealed schadenfreude, on spotting the Tory placards at the above (very pretty) house.
Where exactly am I? Oh… right!All Saints, looking rather dour.
Unlike St Leonard’s, I was able to walk in to this open church, without needing to call a keyholder. They’d just had a tea or coffee morning. Which I’d just missed. They also had a book stall. Many churches do nowadays.
All Saints appears to have two, possibly even three fonts! There’s the one that greets you upon arrival. Then there’s another to the left. And a third stone basin is propped against a column. Odd!
I always like to check out a churches’ roof. And any other interesting wooden stuff, like rood screens. I like this one, with the fan vaulting and carved heads.
And then there are all the funny little stone niches. And carved stonework. There’s almost always loads to see and enjoy.
As is so often the case, there are some interesting stained glass windows.
Whilst I missed out on hot beverages and cakes, etc, I did pick up several sachets of plant seeds, for Teresa. These were free. And what they contain, I don’t know. Nor did the church-folk.
Teresa is watching The Masque of Mandragora – hence the above screenshots – an old Tom Baker Dr Who story.
I’m not a fan of Dr Who, as a whole. Only during Tom Baker’s tenure, do I think they hit a genuine sweet spot. I won’t go into why here and now. I think I’ve done so elsewhere.
But, whilst I’m indifferent to most Dr Whos, and downright loathe the more modern incarnations of what has become a dead donkey of a franchise, I adore Tom Baker era Who. Mandragora is utterly wonderful.
And it’s some of the incidental music (as well as the attention to period feel and detail: costumes, hair-dos, scenery, etc.) that launched me on the path that leads to this post.
David Munrow, smoking a bong.*
Some of this period music put me in mind of stuff I’ve heard by David Munrow, the tragic manic early pioneer of the renaissance (read more about him here).
Teresa and I love this music. So I’ve ordered some Munrow CDs. Can’t wait to further explore this old and enchanting sound world.
I love this old record cover!
I wonder if the above is available on CD? And if so does it sport this extremely cool cover? There’s a quest for me!
* Only joking. no doubt it’s some kind of weird early music instrument.
