Black and White

   Half - timbered buildings fascinate me. They epitomise Old England, and the english yearning for a rural past that, in truth, wasn't much fun to live in. No plumbing, no heating, chuck the contents of your chamberpot out of the window...no thanks.
   I once spent a week in a half - timbered farmhouse in Wales. The floors weren't level. Every room as on a different level from every other room. There were narrow, twisty staircases in odd places. And I banged my head on roof beams and door jambs ten times a day. Nicer to look at than to live in, I'll admit.
   Apart from the link with history, though, it's the contrast between the black timberwork and  the white plaster that catches my attention. Most of the survivors are pretty high - status buildings, and the designers went overboard with the decoration. So the timbers form complex geometric shapes
   There's loads of examples round here. Bramall Hall, Baguley Hall, Wythenshawe Hall, the Shambles in Manchester, and a few miles further south, the all - time classic, Little Moreton Hall
    Some of these buildings only date from the 1500's. Timber was cheaper than stone, so these primitive structures were thrown up long after there were more durable alternatives. And yet they age very well. The timbers warp and sag, but the buildings still stand.
   Such is their magic that Mock Tudor has become an architectural style in its own right.In Speke, near Liverpool, there are mock tudor houses with thatched roofs that can't be more than 90 years old.
Thatched roofs! That's what I mean about the yearning for the past. Though with toilets, obviously.
               

And all because the Lady loves - Tomatoes

 

A vegan take on the old Milk Tray adverts.

Fort Nelson

  

    Once upon a time, we were afraid of invasion. From the French.
   So in 1859 the prime minister, Lord Palmerston, commissioned a series of forts to defend the navy's main anchorage at Portsmouth. These huge structures still stand, surrounded by suburban houses or looming over thhe town on Portadown hill. And one of them, Fort Nelson, has been restored. It's in the hands of the Royal Armouries, and it's where they keep the big guns. The one at the top is one of two Mallett's Mortars. With a calibre of 914mm - about three feet - it shares with the American Little David mortar the title of biggest gun ever.

       The fort's guns weren't trained on the harbour. The worry was that the sneaky French wouuld land further down the coast and attack the anchorage from the landward side. So the forts effectively defend Portsmouth from the rest of England. Of course by the time they were finished, at stupendous cost, the threat had vanished - courtesy of the Germans, ironically, after their victory in the Franco - Prussian war. So they became known as 'Palmerston's follies'. Defence procurement foul - ups aren't just a modern phenomenon.
   Entry is free - as it is to the other Royal Armouries outbase at Leeds. Well worth a visit.
  
  

Bartholomews Road Atlas - a work of art

  Some maps are more attractive than others. I've always preferred the old one mile to the inch Ordnance Survey maps to the modern 2cm to 1km ones; they just look nicer. And most road atlases are just boring overviews of roads, leisure attractions and towns, with plain white between them. But they weren't always like that.

   My dad had a Bartholomews road atlas. As a kid I would look at it for hours. It's a magical thing. Bartholomews are credited with inventing Hypsometric tints - using different colours to emphasise the contours, ranging from dark green for below sea level through yellows, greens, pinks and browns as the land rises. You can see at a glance where the hills and valleys are. It really gives you a feel for the look of the landscape. And the level of detail is astonishing - there are even lightships shown off the coast.

   They were always charmingly archaic - my 1971 edition has the major roads updated and the  Beeching railway cuts in place, yet the urban area looks to me like it hasn't been updated since the 1920's. The part of Offerton where I live is shown as open countryside.

Facades

  Some bits of buildings are worth more than others. Usually for historical or aesthetic reasons. And planning regulations - you know, those obstacles to progress that George Osborne wants to get rid of, at least in areas where poor people live -being what they are, the good bits have to be preserved.
  Usually its the facade that's worth keeping. Just look at the town hall - the front all gleaming portland stone, the back and sides predominately brick. So what usually happens is that the facade is left standing when the building is demolished, then a new building is bolted on in its place. But sometimes smaller bits are good enough.
  There's three good examples of preserving the best bits in Stockport that I can think of. Look across the road from the town hall and you'll see the grandiose facade of Stockport infirmary. Built in 1833, operations were transferred to stepping hill in 1996 but the huge neo - classical frontage was too good to lose. Now it fronts an office complex.

  Facing each other down the bottom end of merseyway are two other ways of dealing with the issue. . The Warren Bulkeley faced the Buck and Dog across Bridge Street. Both good pubs, sadly missed. They kept the Warren Bulkeley's facade, but moved it round the corner, where it now fronts the Laura Ashley shop.

  Look over the road, and all you'll see is Barclays bank. The poor old Buck and Dog wasn't worthy of  commemoration, it would seem. Except, if you walk round the far side of the bank, you'll see this...

...the pub's old doorway. It's a magnificent piece of stonework, and the buck's antlers are made of some kind of metal. The pub used to look like this, looming over the river like dracula's castle. Much the same inside, come to think of it. The clientele looked like they never saw daylight.

  Sometimes they can't find a use for the facade, though. If you go down Tib Street in Manchester you'll see this...

...which has been there for as long as I can remember.Just waiting for the right building to come along.
   

How Americans think - I think

Hayling Island

Your actual houseboats!

Blue sky, blue sea, blue lavender.

Art Deco golf club. Though built in 2002.

Wierd place, Hayling. Makes the Isle of Wight look bang up to date.