Calm before the Xmas storm

 
This month Lichfield Cathedral will go all-out with the Christmas spirit: light-shows, displays, mass carol concerts, even fairs on the green.
So, slightly before all the madness, let's enjoy a pre-Christmas moment of quiet.

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Overgrown truck

All returns to Nature, they say.
This truck has.

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Churchyard but no church

 

Here's an odd thing: a churchyard without a church. This particular patch of 'God's Acre' in Longton is now, essentially, a kind of 'sacred park' for dog-walkers and strollers.
The story is that old St Paul's was pulled down in 1940, despite being quite a handsome building and less than 100 years old (one suspects that mining subsidence may have been the problem, as it is for a lot of Longton).
The churchyard stayed though.
Ironically, the modern Longton Cemetery is only a few yards away.

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Dried up

You might associate lakes that dry up with more tropical countries, but Britain has been having its share over the last few years; it's been around 30 degrees today locally.
Of course, we only get 'heat-waves', ie a stretch of four or five days at a time before we get back to the usual grey skies, but the hot days are getting hotter.

Doors open again

 
Tourist attractions have been opening up gradually, following the Covid restrictions during the Spring, and all seems almost normal again (apart from the masks).  
Moseley Old Hall, where the future King Charles II hid while he was on the run from Cromwell, is one of the best of Staffordshire's great mansions - and is one of those now fully open again to visitors.

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Elvis in the sticks

 

On a fairly deserted country lane lading up to Oulton village, I glanced up to see ... Elvis Presley.  Which was quite a shock.
He seems quite animated about something, but then, he always did.

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Great vase, crazy story

 

Exactly two hundred and thirty-one years ago, a reproduction of the 'Portland Vase' (an object made in Rome in the first century) went on show in London.  It was such a popular event that tickets had to be sold to restrict the flow of visitors.

The original vase (see pic above) is made of glass. However, strangely, a glass copy of it would have been impossible in the eighteenth century, so the reproduction, made by Josiah Wedgwood at his factory in North Staffordshire, is a pottery version - 'jasperware'. 

In Staffordshire we know Josiah's copy very well, because it was his crowning achievement, which took him four years to perfect.    It is vibrantly yet delicately beautiful; there is no doubt of that.  You can still see one of Josiah's versions at the V&A Museum.

By the way, the story of the original vase would make a great film - full of crazy people, obsessed people and shocking moments.  It must be made!

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Railway ghostliness

 

Stafford railway station has been empty (ish) and a little ghostly over the last twelve months. It'll be interesting to see if it returns to its former numbers.

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Light & shade

Country-walking traditionally starts again after Easter (at least, it does for light-weights like me).

 

I do love these Springtime moving-picture vistas, with the sun and cloud moving rapidly in the sky, sweeping light and shade in quick succession over the hills. 
Fast-changing moments have rather been a theme of the last year.

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Fish pour off the bridge

 

This stone sculpture on a bridge in Newcastle-under-Lyme above the Lyme Brook, is called 'The Return'. It vaguely amuses me, though I do worry some of the fish on the far edges of the parapet are actually dead. Who knows?

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Getting close to a Tudor wonder

 
This is about as close to Broughton Hall as you'll get, unless you're fortunate enough to be invited to one of the magnificent Grand Charity Balls that are held here every so often.

Broughton Hall is a famous Elizabethan manor that has been in private hands since it was built, but - one of the magical aspects of the British footpath network! - a walkers' path gets this close to it.  Thus: at least one can admire the wonderful exterior from relatively close.

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Falling foul of Henry

 
What drew me to this stained-glass in Brecon Cathedral was the Stafford Knot in it of course - you can see the knot on this man's shoulder.
He is Edward Stafford, the third Duke of Buckingham.
(The first duke had been born at Stafford Castle and was also the Earl of Stafford. He was the one who had first adopted the knot for the family's badge/livery.) 

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Poor Edward was executed in 1521 after annoying Henry VIII for something or other. 

Sighing to the workhouse

This must have been a most miserable passageway 150 years ago.
The Victorians of the town of Stone lived and enjoyed themselves on the east side of the river, so, on the west, they built the local Workhouse, in which the desperately poor were housed.
To access the workhouse from the comfortable side of town, the poverty-stricken had to pass through this passageway under a small bridge.  A bridge of sighs.

 

After the end of the Poor Laws, the old workhouse became a hospital, and is now - by a curious twist of fate -, luxury apartments!

Geese vs parks

 
Canadian geese are probably the least liked of all birds to be found in Britain. They can be aggressive and hard to disperse.  But, worse than this it seems, park managers despair when they see the birds settle on their patches. This is because, over time, the birds simply nibble away at the luscious swards - and create bare grounds of uncovered mud. There are even guides online on how to cull them (humanel, of course).

The geese like to settle by water.  Here they have destroyed the greens on the riverside walk in Burton.

Singles at Hoar Cross

 

Despite being a relatively young church (built 1876), Holy Angels at Hoar Cross is a stunner, and gets hugely high ratings from both visitors and 'church-crawlers'.  

However, this photo is of the church's single pews (I've neer seen single pews before).  They could almost have been custom made for worship in a time of Covid social distancing...!

Wet lands

 
It has been wet wet wet underfoot.  The snow-melt didn't help either.
I thought if I walked on the top of the ridge at Kingsley it would be drier, but the fields were sodden even up there.
On a track, just twenty yards down from the top, I saw this pipe, which is a farmer's way of trying to drain the excess water from the land.  Some hope... it just kept on gushing, so much so that it was creating a completely new runnel beneath it.

Wall/bridge/lock/road/canal/path

This road-bridge on the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal (1770) is Grade-2 listed, believe it or not - though it was built by Brindley, so does deserve its bit of fame. And it is strangely elegant.
The odd arrangement you see here the because of the challenge set to Brindley to build a lock and bridge in one structure - he always loved a challenge!
If you want to go look for it, it's no 49 on the canal and is to be found in Awbridge (Trysull).
 

Mild & snowy

 
Another bout of the white stuff today. 
You'd think the air would feel cold, or chilly at least.  But this is one of those snowy times when it's actually quite mild out.

Lockdown ways

 

Lockdown again, so back to what we did in the last one - go for walks.

New identities

Brexit Day - the UK leaves the European Union today. 
We'll all be watching to see what the effects, on England+Scotland+Ireland+Wales, Britain, Europe, and the world, will be.

One thing that is predicted is that people will think harder about where their roots really are - and what their allegiances really are. 
This household clearly identifies not just with the United Kingdom (flag on the right) but with Staffordshire (flag on the left) too. Some EU flags are still around - an act of sorrow at leaving perhaps, or do those people feel European at heart? -, but a lot of flags of the St George Cross (England) too.
Curiously, a few 'world flags' (ie the United Nations flag) are also appearing on houses, which I have never seen before.