Untruths in Stone

The Anglo-Saxon origins of the town of Stone are told in these fine iron railings at the end of its High Street - telling the story of Rufin and Wulfad, who were killed by their father King Wulfhere for converting to Christianity. Their mother, it's said, buried them under a cairn of stones nearby - and so the town came to be called 'Stone'.

The trouble: the story's a lot of nonsense. Wulfhere did, yes, have his issues with Christianity, but there's no evidence at all of the existence of the two boys, or the terrible deed.

I'm conflicted about this.
Is it right to deceive people with this 'untruth' (such a nicer word than lie), or am I being stuffy? What would most English towns do without their origin myths???
Or... should we just tuck it away, defining it as a 'known unknown' (as Dick Cheney might say)?

Death and ale

The Black Lion pub at Cheddleton is one of my favourites. It's (slightly) off the beaten track, has no frills at all, has a history, and is a proper drinkers' local. It is a real pub.

Like a proper pub, it is in the shadow of the local church (which, in this case, is an attraction itself, with its Pre-Raphaelite associations). So, if you want, you can wander the graveyard in between pints. If you want.

Urban design... not.

In Hanley, the huge new Tesco super-hyper-megamarket covers acres of territory just outside the town centre. For all the tens of thousands of pounds spent on the building and its environs, the architecture is plainly uninspired; and I guess that comes down to money. Fair enough.

Yet this pathway, along one of its sides, linking the supermarket back to the town centre, drives me to despair , because it is such an example of total lack of regard for our environment.
It could have been a wonderful corner, or vista, or community 'piazza', but it ends up being unfriendly (in my humblr opinion).

This side-pathway was a positive chance for Tesco to show some real urban, creative imagination in the design of a small but self-contained, redundant space - but they came up with this dull...virtual nothing. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Stafford's hottest place

The glasshouse at Stafford's Victoria Park looks inviting: full of tropical, exotic, colourful plants to pore over and wonder at.
But on a sunny, summer day like today? It's 23 degrees outside - and blimey, it's much hotter and more sultry in there!

Memorials of war

There are war memorials all over Staffordshire. Even just as simple records of names, they tell the saddest story. In one rural village I know, a simple board in the church records the deaths of fifty men in the Great War - which must have been a huge loss to that small comunity.

The one in the photo, in Hanley, is one of the largest in the county, yet I would guess most office-workers would walk past it not noticing it, simply because it is one of those permanent features that we all, after time, ignore. But, nevertheless, they shouldn't be moved out of town centres, or pulled down, just because we largely disregard them. War memorials, like old churches (and pubs!), are one of the few ways we all maintain our common, continuous history.

Books revival in Newcastle

There are not many rare & second-hand book shops in town centres in Staffordshire. I can count them on the fingers of one hand.
I guess that charity shops (the Shelter one in Hanley is okay) have stolen the bottom end of the market, and that Amazon/ebay has the more lucrative end.

So it was nice to see a new one opening - in Merrial Street, in Newcastle-under-Lyme (near the police station). The books are a tad pricey for me, and it's not easy to find what you want, but the range is good and the owner's enthusiasm is infectious. (He will bargain too, if pushed).

The owner is convinced that news of the 'death of the book' (hello, Kindle!) is premature. He says you can't love a kindle like you can a book, and a kindle "doesn't smell like an old book". (He's right there!). I wish I was as sure as him - but I'm not.

Rudyard Lake 'Lady'

Rudyard Lake (just north of Leek) is unique in Staffordshire as the one reservoir which has private homes lining its shores. The others are generally reserved for water activities or for wildlife.
Only the western shore of Rudyard has homes, and, as you can see, they nestle into the steep bank that rises from the waterline. It's a great setting for a home, and properties come expensive there.
The building on the far left of the photo is the historic Lady In The Lake boathouse.

The 'disadvantages' to owning a home here are the children who scream in mock-horror as they take boats out (from the sailing club), and the flood of walkers like me, as one five-mile path circumnavigates the lake very neatly.

Incidentally, the parents of the writer Rudyard Kipling honey-mooned here, and named their son after the lake.

Photo-blogger's hello

I guess we've all done this, so I don't feel too embarassed. Here's a hello to you all from my shadow, taken by a footpath stile in Hilderstone. Hi!

It has been a wonderfully warm and sunny day here - hence the country walk.

Talking of which, I was once made starkly aware of the issues of being a woman - even today, in our freer world - when a woman-friend of mine (who is pretty feisty, no wilting violet) once said to me that she would never feel comfortable going for a walk on her own in the open countryside. I was stunned; and realised that we have a way to go yet for full 'Progress'.

Photo - just photo

Why did I feel compelled to take this photo?
All photo-bloggers have the same experiences: sometimes you have those days when nothing, yes nothing, seems to be worth even a desultory snap; and then there are those other days, when, for no apparent reason, random photos (like this one) beg to be taken.

So... I can't tell you why I like this composition. I just do.

Christ goes without...

What's special about the Jesus in this photo? Can you see?

The picture was taken at the Unitarian Chapel in Newcastle-under-Lyme, where they say, proudly, that Josiah Wedgwood himself was a regular attender three centuries or so ago. I was being shown round the tiny building, and was asked the same question - but I failed to come up with the answer. Answer: Jesus has no halo (a sign of a divine nature) in this glass. Unitarians are Christians, but believe Jesus was fully human, not divine, so he gets no halo.