Latest Blog Posts
Posted 0 sec ago
It is unusual to stand on a spot which was once occupied by a cathedral but is now entirely vacant. The old Norman cathedral at Sarum in Wiltshire was replaced by Salisbury in the 1200s and is now just a set of peculiar foundations and enigmatic shapes.
Posted 22 hours 24 min ago
In The Castles of Scotland, Martin Coventry refers to some bones which were found when a wall at Strathaven Castle collapsed in the nineteenth century.
Posted 1 day 22 hours ago
I recently enjoyed reading Andrew Thomson’s biography of John Owen (1616–1683), the great seventeenth-century puritan theologian. Despite the author being a Scottish Presbyterian minister, the old rivalry between the two expressions of church government failed to diminish Thomson’s evident admiration for the great man.
Posted 1 day 22 hours ago
St Mary’s Parish Church in the Lancashire-North-of-the-Sands town of Ulverston I saw last month. It is a pleasant building, and one which is kept open mid-week. I enjoyed looking around while a friendly church member rested from her vacuuming.
Posted 2 days 22 hours ago
‘Intermediate Avens’ is one of the dullest names given to a wildflower, the usual examples of which are colourful, vernacular and memorable. It sounds like some kind of examination award for the bored, non-academic 16-year-old. Yet the Plantiary website describes the poorly named flower in a rather charming manner:
Posted 3 days 22 hours ago
Rubens’ Old Woman and Boy with Candles hangs at The Hague and is a wonderful study of the effects of light. It was never made to be sold but was retained by the artist, perhaps as a model for pupils regarding illumination. The grandmother shields her face from the glow with a hand while the child waits for his candle to catch the flame, though her fingers come close to burning.
Posted 3 days 22 hours ago
Portsmouth’s Royal Garrison Church has had a long and chequered history. This is reflected in its current name as well as its previous one, Domus Dei, when it was attached to an alms-house and hospital.
Sunday Worship 10.45am & 6.00pm