Green man welcomes Spring

This 'Green Man' carving at Longdon Church looks out from a Norman column - which makes him 1000 years old, almost.  The church is remarkable, not just for this figure but a number of sights, and is worth a visit.

Incidentally, that is not a huge handlebar moustache that he sports (though it looks like that!) - it is vegetation, growing ivy-like, from his mouth.  He is a symbol of Spring and re-growth.

All that is left of what-was

As one wanders along a wooded path in Longdon Green, suddenly one sees, up upon the bank, this gravestone: "William Edwards died 1775, Clerk of this Chapel for 19 Years".  Nothing else.
Apparently the chapel was pulled down years ago, and so all that is left of what-was is this gravestone... and it looks like (to me) somebody is regularly clearing it of ivy.  I wonder who.

Good luck wedding charm

You'll find this odd, rather amateurish carving in the porch of St James Church at Longdon - it is of a hand, with a heart at its centre.
The church guide says it is called 'The Bride's Hand', as brides used to touch it on their way in to the church as a way of bringing good fortune to the marriage.  Some still do.

I can find nothing else about it, as for example... how old is it?  Why does it show a left hand, when it is on the right-hand side of the porch door? If that is a heart in the centre, why is it upside-down? 
I suspect, however, that it was just a bit of fun when it was carved - and is nothing more than that.
Well, I think so...

Blonde wheat

It's one of those things... we always think of wheat as golden-brown.  In fact, it is honey-blonde.  Well, it is at this point in the growing-season anyway.