DropBy

 As I finished my meal I could see yesterday evening was too good to miss. i assembled camera, tripod & fishing stool & walked dure sout, up the bank from me, through the village & between the terraces of old mining cottages, up, up the sloap.

I came to a lane rather primly called South St, & followed this as far as an old church burrial ground.

The path to the left of this led between two rows of alotments & into open fields on the very highest point for some distence.

I was looking south into County Durham, or behind me north across Northumberland - & the evening was clear as a bell.

I did my pictures from that point, then made my way down again by a circular route, returning as the sun was dropping below thr north westen horizon.

During this past few months we have been busy working on our first Go Gravesham Visitor Guide.

We are pleased to say that it is now available as an online flick through edition on the homepage of our tourism website www.gogravesham.com (You will need flash player 8 to open it).

The brochures should be with us very soon and available for you to pick up from the Visitor Centre at Towncentric from next week (weather permitting).

We hope that you like this new version and the way it promotes the borough.

Best regards,
Virginie Whittaker
Tourism and Town Twinning Manager
TOWNCENTRIC

Gravesend Town Centre Regeneration & Information Centre

18a St George's Square, Gravesend, Kent, DA11 0TB
Tel: 01474 338001   Fax: 01474 337601

Website: http://www.gogravesham.com

Follow us on Facebook/GoGravesham and Twitter@GoGravesham

The ideal place to visit and stay - just 24 minutes to London St Pancras and 12 to Stratford and the Olympic Village

Gravesham Borough Council - Connecting with the Community

 

I wandered onto a "common" several times this week and began to wonder whether many people have thought about how commons are made: should I really say were made? Anyway I supposed that they came about when a prehistoric woman got the menfolk to settle down and start making a shelter in a cave or by using timber, furs, mammoth rib cages, and other stuff.  

Once they had done that he was "instructed" to get farming : rather than going off to hunt. Farming and animal husbandary requires lots of boundaries to delineate fields for crops and animals - so the first job was to create fences and walls. If they had animals these had to wander off on to the wild unenclosed lands until the fields had been created.

To cut a long story short the wild lands became prehistoric commons.  Much later other families settled nearby and also allowed their animals on to the "un-owned" commonly held lands. At that time there was no ownership of land just possession. No doubt family tribes came about and the head of the head family might have thought she or he owned all and could distribute it to others. In fact consensus prevailed until the head family was deposed or one or more of the others went off far away and "posssessed" some wild land and started their own tribal place. Again the wild land became a common around the new settlement.

To be continued....[Now I'll go off to another common] 

 Northeast of High Holborn is Bakers Lane. This leads into Leather Lane and north across Dorrinton St. by Crumby Buildings and so across Bookers Market.

 

Before you turn in by St Alberny-the-Martor if you look sharp left over your shoulder there stands a rather fine example of the better 1960s Council block in a good dark red brick stock.

Continuing south down Leather Lane past the rows of [on a Saturday afternoon,] empty market stalls, you come into Holborn, west of Holborn viaduct.

 Cross over here and into Chancery Lane and you see the Silver Volts to your left. Star Yard, off to the right is where Ravenscrofts have been making and selling wigs for gentlemen from 17^th century on into the present day, when they are mostly a form of uniform in the near by Courts of Justice.

Cross Cary St and you will be in Bell Yard.

Here there is a need to traverse part of Fleet St and walk south a short way up Kingsway before finding Wild St on the left hand [Hyde Park] side.

This narrow ally takes you between a side entry to London School of Economics on the left, and the rather imposing Masonic Hall on the right before coming out and crossing into Great Queen St.

From here Bettenton St leads to Short St and so Neal St and Marcia St.

On crossing the Charring Cross Rd there is a nice coffee shop. It is worth stopping there a moment.

Then west from there down Gosport St, out through the archway of ‘The Pillar of Mercy’ then right past the ‘Gay Hussar’ and diagonally across Soho Sq.

On this northeast corner find Colbert St and so out into Wardor Street.

 

 

At that time the remnant of Berwick Market was till helping local customers to buying veg for weekend meals.

From here on along Brewer St, Vego St [where stands the Royal Academy of Music.] through New Bond St and Burton St, across Berkley Sq and up little used Jane St.

Walking south-to-north up Dover St and you arrive in the thick of heaving Oxford Street.

Left [west] here and in just two hundred yards you come to ground at Bond Street Station and the Central Line.

 

 

 

 

 

Wood smoke drifting low along the valley, following the twist & turn of the river as it passes between the pumping station at Wylam on the left bank & Hagg Bank on the right; currents twisting & eddying. The air sharp with a sharp breeze slipping across the top between the off-license, the bus stop, the chemist & the bookie – four essentials to a modern community on the bedrock of an old village. Pitmen’s memories of a lost childhood; terraces winding down the bank to a remnant of the mine. Forestry clothing the hills behind, between farm buildings where sunlight glints on window panes, & fields padding the peaks. This is my home.

As I travelled in to Newcastle this morning the air was soft & gentle. Each of the pit villages I pass still shows their faded Victorian charm – their varying size & wealth. From Prudhoe & Mickly, with their simple but affective coal waste disposal system, to Crawcrook & Ryton, modest little villages who’s front streets still look as they did in the early 1880s; on to Barmoor, a family run pit with just three long terraces of cottages – but also a row of Retired Mine workers’ Cottages for it’s elderly. Barmoor was one of the very first deep pits to build pithead baths for its workers. On down the side of the Tyne by the site of Addington Pit [now completely gone & matured as a nature preserve – a modest forest of Silver Birch, Roan, Oak & Hawthorn:] where a cottage doorstep or a fireplace can still be found among the undergrowth - though no longer the Chapel, the School Room or the Reading Room there once was. So to Blaydon, birth place of the Co-Operative Movement & site of so many Lock-outs & Strikes in the early 19th century. Through Dunstan, where in 1890 the Kealmen lost their work of rowing coal out to the ocean going Colliers, when the big coal Stathes were constructed & the Tyne was dredged for deeper vessels. And so across the Redhough Bridge with a view of St. Andrew’s church tower, the castle & the Civic Centre - & through the river mist into the Town.

Help shape Knole’s future Can you help us by participating in one of our focus groups about our plans for Knole? You will be helping us shape the way visitors experience it in the future. And we’ll give you a National Trust gift voucher as a thank you. We’re also looking for people you know, or even friends of friends, who can help us. We are hoping the groups will be as mixed as possible, so everyone is eligible, regardless of age, social background, nationality or anything else. When: Mid-November, and carrying on into next year. Each session will probably be about two hours long. The first groups will be on Mondays and Tuesdays, in the morning, afternoon and evening. How often: One or two first of all, and more if you would like to come back. Which of these groups do you fit into the best? You can choose more than one. Focus group 1: ‘Curious mind’: people who... • Love learning new things • Are interested in a wide range of things • Look for new things to do or learn • Like to ask questions about factual details • Appreciate good service • Visit alone or in a couple Focus group 2: ‘Exploring as a family’: people who... • Enjoy visiting places as a family (adults with children or grandchildren) • Enjoy activities that the whole group gets something out of and can all participate in • Look for stimulating experiences for the children/grandchildren • Are not completely led by the children – the adult/s makes the final decision on where to go / what to do Focus group 3: ‘Out and about’: people who... • Visit with other adults rather than just with children • Love sharing their experiences with friends or family members • Don’t get very absorbed in the detail of things • Want their day to create special/emotional memories and/or experiences • Want everyone in the group to have a good day out, even though everyone will have different interests Focus group 4: People with a disability • To begin with we are concentrating on people with one of three disabilities: a visual impairment, mobility problems or a learning disability. Read on for a fuller description of the project, and the small print. Knole needs you! Over the next few years, the historic house of Knole is undergoing a transformation. We plan to create better visitor facilities, a brand new conservation studio, improved interpretation for the park, and an exciting presentation of the landmark and its precious contents. Knole was the inspiration for Virginia Woolf’s novel ‘Orlando’, and her words capture the timelessness and extraordinary story of Knole. Our plan is to use Knole’s literary history to create a whole new presentation for visitors. We think we have come up with a great new approach which will allow us to tell the story in a way that interests and excites our visitors. But we need your help to get it right. We are looking for volunteers to test the new storyline of Knole. In a series of workshops, we are going to present our ideas and ask you: • How do you feel about using literature to illuminate the visitor experience? • What do you think about the positive and negative feelings that writers through time have recorded about the palace? • What do you think about using a book to tell the story of Knole? • Is our approach to the storyline understandable? Is it engaging? Is it informative? • Does it make you want to visit and find out more? • Is there anything else we could do to make Knole more accessible to you? Our plans for Knole have the visitor at their heart, and our volunteers will play an integral part in how Knole is presented. Please join one of our groups and tell us what you think. The small print Taking part in these focus groups is entirely separate from any other volunteering you may do at Knole. What we give you to thank you for taking part does not constitute payment for your normal volunteering at Knole. Similarly, although we will pay your expenses in attending, this will be done separately from any other expenses we may defray. What next? For more information, or to get involved, contact Jonathan Sargant on jonathan.sargant@nationaltrust.org.uk or call 01732 467173. Thanks again! Jonathan Jonathan Sargant Community Learning Officer Knole Tel. 01732 467173

I am looking for someone to share a cabin with me on the P & O ship Arcadia to Sydney Australia or round the world.

If you look at my photos you will see the itinerary. The voyage starts from Southampton on 5th January 2013 and takes 53 days to get to Sydney or 99 days to go right round the world. The cost will be around £5,000 to Sydney.

 

The National Trust celebrates the World Shakespeare Festival

Clandon Park and Hatchlands Park to host Shakespeare’s greatest plays this August

 

This August, to coincide with the World Shakespeare Festival, Clandon Park and Hatchlands Park, are presenting a series of performances and workshops of some of Shakespeare's greatest plays: A Midsummer Night’s dream, Macbeth, The Tempest and Much Ado about Nothing.

 

The stunning National Trust venues, based near Guildford, will provide great entertainment for all the family, and audiences will have the opportunity to view the famous Shakespeare portrait at Hatchlands Park. The famous Cobbe Portrait of Shakespeare, painted in c1610 by an unknown artist has recently  returned to Hatchlands Park in Guildford, after being the centrepiece of an exhibition in New York’s Morgan Library and Museum. 

 

Now  hanging  in pride of place in the library, this painting caused an international sensation when it was unveiled in March 2009 at the exhibition “Shakespeare Found: A Life Portrait at Last ,” at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon.

The exhibition revealed that the painting was repeatedly copied and that the majority of the 17^th century copies possessed long traditions as representations of Shakespeare. The portrait’s status as the original of these copies has only recently been established by x-ray, infrared examination and tree-ring dating. Perhaps most excitingly, this portrait appears to have been taken from life.

 

The Shakespeare Festival tickets  includes a free visit to both houses in August and a complimentary voucher for the shop and restaurant.  Visitors will be encouraged to bring a picnic or book a meal in one of the restaurants or tea shop.

 

Ari Volanakis, Visitor Experience Manager, said:

“We are delighted to host these talented theatre companies and celebrate the World Shakespeare Festival, described as an unprecedented collaboration with leading UK and international arts organisations and the biggest celebration of Shakespeare ever staged.”

 

The festival kicks off at Hatchlands Park with A Midsummer Night’s Dream, when Guildford Shakespeare Company will take you on 4 magical trips into Shakespeare's comic masterpiece on August 1, 2 and 3rd.

 

This is followed by the spectacular production of Macbeth by The Lord Chamberlain’s Men at Hatchlands for one night only on 15^th August  . The festival ends with a flourish on August 26^th at Clandon Park when Much Ado About Nothing is staged by Heartbreak Productions, with a WWII theme.

The London 2012 Festival is here

The London 2012 Festival bursts into life tomorrow. Over 12,000 events across the UK celebrating the Games – many completely free – with incredible cultural events and top artists from across the world. Wherever you are, whatever you're into, there's something for you. Take your place at the London 2012 Festival – find an event near you