Posted in Art & Design, History, Uncategorized, tagged design, History on May 2, 2013 | 6 Comments »
Carthaginian war elephant by Zig Zlick on deviantART…
I first thought of putting together this image collection about war elephants months ago, when listening to In Our Time with Melvin Bragg, in which he and guests were talking about Hannibal of Carthage and his invasion of Italy, 218-203 BC.
Hannibal, son of Hamilcar, is (more…)
Posted in Art & Design, History, Traditions & Superstitions, Uncategorized, tagged architecture, design, History, traditions on April 14, 2013 | 7 Comments »
Face above the door, a Cardiff side street…
This magnificent face is above all the front doors of a row of old semi-detached houses in a small Cardiff side street that I often walk along.
He intrigues me so much that (more…)
Posted in Gardening, History, Nature, Uncategorized, Wales, tagged Ceredigion, Gardening, History, Nature, Wales on November 1, 2012 | 13 Comments »
Colourful nasturtiums in the garden at Llanerchaeron, Ceredigion, on a wet day in August 2012…
It’s November already and I still haven’t finished sharing my holiday snaps from August! On a wet day (and there were many) we visited the National Trust property at Llanerchaeron, in Ceredigion near the middle of Wales’s west coast.
The property at Llanerchaeron is a late 18th-century Welsh gentry estate – with a house, outbuildings, walled gardens and a small farm. The house is described as a villa, although that makes me think of a Roman country house, or a glamorous holiday home on the Mediterranean, or even a small town house in Edwardian times.
The villa, designed by John Nash, at Llanerchaeron
This one was (more…)
Posted in Uncategorized, Wales, tagged Ceredigion, History, lichen, Nature, Wales on September 2, 2012 | 10 Comments »
Gravestones at the Church of the Holy Cross, Mwnt, Ceredigion
Although I haven’t yet finished showing you all my pictures from Dorset this summer, we also visited West Wales, so I thought I’d start sharing those memories, too.
First up is Mwnt, a little place on the coast of south Ceredigion, four miles or so from the county town of Cardigan and not far from the Pembrokeshire border.
It is most famous for (more…)
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged dorset, History on August 19, 2012 | 10 Comments »
Signs of London 2012 in Weymouth…
The London 2012 Olympics almost passed me by – I was busy at work for the beginning and away on holiday at the end. I enjoyed the clever opening ceremony on TV, and saw the wonderful gold medal performances by Nicola Adams in the boxing and Jade Jones in the taekwondo on TV in our hotel. And I stayed up late to watch Tom Daly’s bronze in the high diving. But that was it, really.
Except that I CAN claim to have been in Weymouth during the Olympic sailing events. Long before we found out that the sailing was going to take place there, we had (more…)
Posted in Art & Design, History, Uncategorized, tagged Cardiff, History on May 7, 2012 | 7 Comments »
The Olympic rings being raised on Sunday, April 22, 2012…
On the way back from Cardiff’s RHS Garden Show in the rain on April 22, I was surprised to see the Olympic rings being raised in front of City Hall. I guess it’s because Cardiff is the venue for some of the London 2012 football events.
As I had my camera with me, I snapped the rings, along with some general views of a few of the wonderful Edwardian buildings of Cathays Park.
Corinthian capitals…
And with the Olympics in mind, I got to thinking how Greek, how (more…)
Posted in History, Nature, Uncategorized, tagged coins, History, Nature, wildlife on April 1, 2012 | 4 Comments »
A Falkland Islands 5p coin found in my change here in the UK...
I always love finding alien coins in my change and this week’s discovery seems particularly fitting – a shiny 5p piece from the Falkland Islands, far away in the South Atlantic. I say fitting, because we are coming up to the 30th anniversary of the Falklands War between Britain and Argentina.
But this is not a political post, nor is it a tribute to those 255 British and 649 Argentine soldiers, sailors and airmen and three civilian Falklanders who sadly died in that short conflict.
This is just about Falkland Island coins and the wildlife depicted on them.
That 5p coin features a Black-browed Albatross or (more…)
Posted in History, Uncategorized, Words, tagged armour, History, Words on March 18, 2012 | 16 Comments »
A brilliant depiction of 'Crestfallen' by Brutalion on Deviant Art...
I’ve always loved the word “crestfallen”. It paints such a picture of abject despair. When we are watching a rugby game and one team just gives in, we always say “they’ve dropped their heads.” “Crestfallen” conjures up a similar sort of image…
Well, as I often find, I have spent most of my life getting it wrong when it comes to a word’s etymology. However, as I think I prefer my version, I will start off by saying where I always thought “crestfallen” came from.
A replica Greek helmet with crest - shiny!
I used to have a fascination with arms and armour. I particularly (more…)
Posted in History, Uncategorized, tagged History on February 14, 2012 | 11 Comments »
Market Square, Stow on the Wold - that church tower is St Edward's
Oh dear, I have been so busy lately that only now am I catching up with the pictures from my January jaunt to Stow on the Wold in north-east Gloucestershire.
Stow means “place”, or “holy place”, and wold just means “hill”. The settlement’s first name was St Edward’s Stow and the main church and town hall still bear his name.
The whole town is built of glorious golden (more…)
Posted in Art & Design, History, Uncategorized, Wales, Words, tagged design, History, Words on December 22, 2011 | 10 Comments »
The Welsh Rugby Union's 'three feathers' logo, left, and a stylised fleur-de-lis symbol
Somewhere, somewhen, someone told me the Prince of Wales feathers and the fleur-de-lis were the same thing. They aren’t, but I am exploring the idea to look for any connections.
I wonder if (more…)
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