Revisiting the arable parable woods
A couple of years ago, I reposted a little thing I had written 5 years before, An Arable Parable. Now that I'm back at my parents' home for a few weeks, I went for a wander in the field last…
One field, rather a lot of trees and a post-arable parable
20 years ago my parents bought a south-facing wheat-field off a local farmer. As an investment. It’s about 10 acres in beautiful rural Norfolk (here’s a view from the church tower right) So how would you invest?
Some more Norfolk B/W experiments
We were in Norfolk again last week for half term. My parents have been instrumental in heading up the Bergh Apton Sculpture Trail since it began back in 1999. I’ll say more about one or two of the items that struck me in a future post. (more…)
In the service of his king:What Baldwin hadto do for King John
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My parents have been doing what we in our family call ‘rootling’ – searching through family roots, trees and provenance. They’ve been doing some digging on their area in Norfolk and suddenly came across this utterly bizarre little mediaeval detail.
It is a scan from Blomefield’s Topographical History of Norfolk published c1739 – and I can only imagine what must of gone through the learned Mr Blomefield’s mind as he recorded the annual (Christmas, no less!!) duty of Baldwin le Pettour of Hemmingston. I just love the fact that he takes the trouble to include a quote from a contemporary Latin chronicle, just in case we doubted his word: per saltum, sufflatum, et pettum).
The mind boggles about what Baldwin must have initially done to deserve such an honour; or, for that matter, what particularly provoked King John (right) to demand such a duty. (more…)
Photographic lights and shadows
It's a bit of an in-joke in my family - but when i visit places, I tend to take more photographs of places than of people. It's not that I don't find people interesting. Quite the reverse in fact! It's…
Experiments in black and white in Norfolk
We celebrated 5th November en famille early - and here was a jammy shot from above of everyone watching a rocket head out. Yesterday we visited Langley Abbey - a family-run farm built up around a pre-Reformation Abbey, dissolved by…
Autumnal Clouds, Silhouettes & Reflections
Been in Norfolk for children's half term - have had some beautiful skies. I love big skies... Here are a few...