Wordless Wednesday….Another Favourite Place

Location: Yewdale, Cumbria.  Raven and Calf Crag high and dark behind Yew Tree Farm

9th November

(C) David Oakes 2016

Advertisements

All Things Bright and Beautiful

Monday woke us early with some gorgeous sunshine…. cold but yep, sunny. The forecast is not too good so without much delay we headed of to some South Derbyshire woods to make the most of another bonus morning of sunshine.

The many colours of autumn are starting to show but they are still fighting the greens. So for the moment the woodland is a cheque board of colours…

Long shadows and a low sun added to the mornings magic, a magic that others also had decided to enjoy….after all with the current bad weather forecast this may be the last good day for awhile

I was also on the hunt for the Red Deer.  Maybe it is  because of the recent unusually warm weather but in these deer woods the Red have not yet Rutted (the Fallow Rutted a couple of weeks ago).  They proved to be elusive and a close shot was not possible…just a glimpse as one stag headed off over the horizon….

and it was true ..All things were Bright and Beautiful

8th November

(C) David Oakes 2016

Moody Monday

The Hill with the Lonesome Pine

7th November

(C) David Oakes 2016

 

A Change in the Weather…

 

Waymarker Cairn on Burbage Moor

The Heather has all but died back, the horizon is hazy, The light is lower, the wind is blowing from the north east….and it is bitterly cold…..just the right sort of day for the moors.

A weather change has arrived and more than likely snow later in the week.

6th November

(C) David Oakes 2016

 

Sunday….So off to Church

Holy Trinity the Parish Church of Much Wenlock

Much Wenlock is a small and very ancient Market Town in Shropshire. Like most towns across the UK  they once played a very important role in their regions, commerce, industry, agriculture, transport and in later days health and education.

But Much Wenlock can also make a very big claim to being the birth place of the modern Olympic.  The collaboration between Dr William Penny Brooks and Ross Frisby created the first Athletics Wenlock Olympics.  Those games celebrated their 130 gathering this year and we all know how the International Olympics have developed.

But back to Holy Trinity.  The church you see today is solid plain Norman in style and dates to 1150.  At some point the Tower also sported a Spire but that was removed early in the 20th century.  Like most English Churches it is again built upon a site of early Anglo Saxon worship.

The Nave is long and high, not over ornate but has high arched windows, stone pillars and Box Pews….simple and yet stylish.

Perhaps the simplicity is because the Church was built by an order of Cluniac Monks from Wenlock Abbey. Indeed you could say that Holy Trinity is literally and physically in the shadow of the Priory.

Wenlock Priory is perhaps the bigger attraction for visitors to the Town, but those who limit their visit just to the Priory miss out  on the Church and the Town and all its local history.

Wenlock Priory

Again dates can be confused….as can names.  Originally the Priory was named after Saint Milburga.  It was originally a 7th century Monastery, then a Cluniac Monastery in 1079.  The current ruins of the Priory are just a little younger being 12th century. Priories were not just places of worship but fully contained communities.

Like all ruins it is fun deciphering the  layout, identifying where worship took place , where they slept, ate and of course where they prepared their food and stored the wines and beer…and of course where they washed and bathed.  These may now only be a skeleton of what existed but they still illustrate the skill of the stone mason with only the simplest of tools.

 Quite a contrast in both styles and size….plus the chance to explore a lovely market town that also has many more interesting buildings spanning the centuries and illustrating the Towns obvious importance to this part of Shropshire…yep, Much Wenlock is worth exploring.

( Off to Church on Sunday has been a regular blog for a few months now but I am going to give it a break till sometime the New Year. So next Sunday will be the last for awhile. I have something planned which I hope will be a fitting Off to Church contribution but more importantly appropriate blog for Remembrance Sunday)

6th November

(C) David Oakes 2016