Saint Chad portrait

St Chad is the most important saint associated with Staffordshire. Basing himself here at Lichfield, it is reputed that he converted the Anglo-Saxon Midlands to Christianity.

But, he originally came from the north-east of England… and it was there that I found this modern portrait of him.
I rather like its strange, disjointed panels, and primitive approach. I guess the artist (whose name I couldn’t find out) was trying to evoke a stained-glass piece.

It was part of an exhibition in the so-called ‘art-church’, St Edmund’s Chapel in Gateshead. This small town-centre church is used by artists to display their work, though it does have services of course.

Tamworth flowers

Tamworth is a prettier town than most people think – well, around the old town anyway. I really like the fact that the council maintains the flower-beds around the castle, even now, as you can see, in deep mid-winter. It's amazing to see such a colourful display in January.

Trouble is, there was some really ugly new-build put up alongside the heritage parts of the town. St Editha’s Square is a good example of the mess you get when you mix, without thinking, some very ugly new shops alongside venerable heritage.

A most mysterious place

Lud’s Church – in the ‘Dark’ Peak District - is a very odd place.  It’s a natural rock chasm, about one hundred yards in length and fifty feet in depth.  Two people can just about walk abreast along it, and, as you can guess with such a narrow and deep cleft, little direct sunlight ever penetrates, so its sides are covered in moss.

There are all sorts of legends about it, including the fact that it might be the main setting for the medieval poem Gawain And The Green Knight, but, for me, it’s just the being there that is so impressive.

Mind you, if you do go there, I’d wait until it dries out. The constant rain of the last fortnight has turned its bottom into a quagmire.

Links: Gawain Poem / A Walk to Lud's Church and back

Mucky Duck

Ah, the Mucky Duck…!  Many a pleasant hour has been spent in here by members of the drinking classes in Leek.

Yes, I know the official name is the Black Swan, but Leekites would just look puzzled if asked where it was, and know it only as the 'Mucky Duck'.

Dr Johnson broods

The literary genius, Dr Samuel Johnson, broods over his home-town of Lichfield. His statue is right in the centre of the market-place next to the parish church, so it really is integral to the town.

It’s a bit unfair to make him look so gloomy. Yes, he did have really bad bouts of depression, but it came and went, and a lot of the time, he was full of energy, and a booming vitality.

And, as we know – he was full of clever and witty sayings.  One of his I like it because it relates to what I and other bloggers in the 'City Daily Photo' family are doing:
The world is not yet exhausted: let me see something to-morrow which I never saw before.

Link: Selected sayings of Dr Johnson

Fallen tree - whipped away!

The high winds last night and today have brought down a number of trees. 

However, I was amazed to see how quickly the council’s emergency services responded. A few hours after this tree had collapsed, blocking this country lane in Saverley Green, it had been shifted, cut-up ... and the remnants removed!

In the day, the lane would have been blocked for the whole day, if not longer.

Gravestone warning

The verses one can see on old, rural gravestones are generally amateur efforts – from the mason himself, sometimes – but, even though they don’t count as ‘great poetry’, they can get you with their simple, but profound lines.

This stone for an 18 year-old, in Brewood churchyard, reads:
Time was I stood and viewed the dead,
And look’d at them as thou do’est me;
In time, thou' l lie as low as I;
And others stand and look at thee.

Hmm.  Made me think.

Study-areas shrinking

Libraries – to me – are valuable places.  Not only are they places for me to get hold of books (and even CDs) I can’t afford to buy, but they are places I associate with my youth. In my parents’ crowded house, the only place I could go to study for school-homework in peace was the local library.

Yet, most libraries that I know of in Staffordshire (fearful of being shut I guess), have reduced their ‘quiet areas’ - and some have no study sites at all.  The spaces have been turned over to story-telling areas or computer-zones. And, even where there are study areas, they tend to be squeezed into some cold, small rooms that usually double as something else.

So – thank Goodness for Hanley library.  This study-table, in its reference section, is one of half-a-dozen in the section.
Mind you, the best study-area in the county must be at Tamworth Library. The whole of the top floor is given over to study there - and there's even a coffee machine!

What I don’t understand is: what do youngsters do now when they want peace in which to study? Do all kids have their own bedrooms now?  Maybe they do… 

Walking together

‘Walking Together’ is the name of this terrific and startling sculpture in Abbots Bromley Church.  It’s huge, as you can see, and is quite a surprise, because one doesn’t really see it at first. It hangs over the main-door and one passes right under it and into the body of the church before even thinking to turn round to see it.

I guess it’s quite a good symbol for thinking about the twelve months ahead.  2012 is going to be rather a tough year, and, for many, a bit of companionship during it will definitely be helpful.

New Year's Day Bridge Jump

The Mappleton New Year’s Day Bridge-Jump & Raft-Race is not exactly a centuries-old tradition – it was only dreamed up just under thirty years ago, after a drunken session by some local lads in the pub…  But, it’s turned into one of the area’s big Eccentric Events, and this year’s activities were as daft as ever!

Two Santas make their way
to the finish line

The competitors sail a raft a few hundred yards downstream on the River Dove to Okeover Bridge, run up on to the bridge itself, leap down into the water, swim to the bank, and then sprint across the field to the local pub, the Okeover Arms. Fastest team there wins.
All fairly straightforward – apart from a river now surging with the recent rains, a thirty-foot drop into very cold water, and a run across the muddiest field ever. Just what you need after a NYEve party the night before!
But the British like a bit of daftness, and there were the maximum entries possible this year.

It’s a lovely, very local event with most of the population of the surrounding villages turning up to cheer on the various Santas, spacemen, super-heroes etc, who are all in costume to add to the festive nature.

All passed very safely, thank Goodness; though it’s possible that this year’s event may be the last, as the present organisers say they can no longer commit to all the work and preparations needed. Which would be a shame.

Incidentally, this is a sort of cross-border activity - most of the race is in Staffordshire, but crosses into Derbyshire for the finish. None of the promotion mentioned that it's a race across two counties, but I'm sure some wit will mention it one day.

Link: Mappleton Bridge-Jump