Full moon for crows

The full moon in March is known by some Native Americans as the Full Crow Moon, because the cawing of crows at this time signals the end of winter.

Balloons & cars

Balloons always seem to make for interesting photos.
That's it.

Time painted into a circle

Look very very carefully at this picture of the tower at Yoxall Church.  See anything odd?

The oddness is that this is not a real clock-face at all, but a painted one.

I don't know why, but I find this almost to be a form of cheating...  But why should I feel that way?

Cat on wall

A classic pose for a cat; classic shot for an urban photographer

Lots of Bishton

The rooms of Bishton Hall have been turned this week into the repository for an enormous bric a brac sale.

The family have moved out earlier in the summer and the place has been sold, to make a hotel, probably - so all the contents have been put up for auction. Lock stock & barrel. There are so many pieces that it will take a week to finish the auction process.
Viewing the lots has proved a sombre activity.

Elegant dovecote

This dovecote sits in a field east of the Swainsley Tunnel in the Staffordshire Peak District.
Doves and pigeons are drawn to nest in dovecotes; meaning the owners could have another source of meat & eggs.
Apparently dovecotes were often built away from the lord’s main house and near a public highway, because they could act as status symbols: as only a rich man could afford them.
But this one is a nineteenth century construction, so it was probably designed as a decorative and elegant pastiche. It is certainly lovely in its simple way.

Knot no longer

'Match Of The Day' is back tomorrow, as Premier League football returns.
But this screenshot of one of the programme's opening credits (from last season) is now quite redundant, sadly, and will never be seen again.
It features the Stafford Knot and the iconic bottle oven, both signifiers of Stoke City Football Club. Which was relgated to the Championship last season.
Sob.

Rest from The Great War

It’s the number on this plaque that makes one stop and ponder.  The text says that the club formed here at St Chad's School Room in Stafford had to deal with forty thousand soldiers.
Stafford was just a regular market town; and to think that the numbers, in such a relatively small place, were as great as this over two years shows how enormous the effect of World War One was in provincial England.

Algae tracks

The hot summer means lots of algae growing in rivers. It is so solid here on the River Sow at Shugborough that the ducks make tracks through it as they swim.

Rainbow in church

The Meerbrook Church Flower Festival was really colourful and, well, better done than most.  (Frankly, a lot of church flower festivals look like the place is just decked out for a grand funeral).

The theme for this particular festival was 'A Good Read', and each exhibit illustrated the makers' favourite book. Featured were the usual suspects - from Tarka The Otter to Wind In The Willows etc.
Mind you, I was a little surprised to see that the exhibit in the photo above was a tribute to 'The Rainbow' by DH Lawrence, a book banned on its first publication for its risque passages!
Good ol' Meerbrook...