Archive for September, 2009

Parlington Oil Paintings Exhibition

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

Sunset over Barwick in Elmet

This coming October, 4th-11th each day from 10:00am- 4:30pm, is an exhibition at Aberford Interiors featuring the paintings by the internationally acknowledged artist Anthony Christian. He and his wife Marian, enjoy a quiet and thoughtful existence in the grand old Gardens House, just up the hill from the site of the old hall. However, today’s produce is oil on canvas whereas in days gone by the Gardens house was renowned for the production of fresh produce for the Gascoigne table. Residing in such surroundings is a great nutrient to the creative juices and we are pleased to see his work on local landscapes being presented at an exhibition in the village. Of course Aberford has often been the subject of artistic endeavours the Almshouses once being used by local artist, Heather Walker. The windmill long since demolished on the hill above the road to Lotherton, was often the subject of artists, and the main street with the bridge over the Cock Beck has drawn the eye of amateur painters over the decades.

This is a preview of Parlington Oil Paintings Exhibition. Read the full post (407 words, 2 images, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)

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A Weekend in Norfolk

Thursday, September 17th, 2009

Rotunda in the Market Place Swaffham

After a tedius drive down the A1 and then across country on the A17 to Kings Lynn, bypassing Sleaford thankfully, and on along the A47, we arrived at our destination, Swaffham, a country market town in the heart of Norfolk. The small country town was a favoured meeting place in the eighteenth century, for visiting gentry, and the Rotunda shown above was the centre of their activities along with the nearby Meeting Rooms. My purpose in adding this short article is to mention the visits made to Holkham Hall and Sandringham House, during our short stay. Specifically there are lots of photographs of the grounds at the two venues, including the exterior of an elegant Ice House in the grounds near Holkham, and their own Triumphal Arch, not as imposing as the one at Parlington I might add, but in better shape. The photos are on my .Mac account here

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Parlington Talk at Lotherton Hall

Friday, September 11th, 2009

Lotherton Celebrates 40 Years

I am giving a talk at Lotherton Hall on Saturday 31st October, 2:00-3:00 pm, it is open to all comers and is advertised at Lotherton and on their web site. The talk is a computer based ‘slide’ show, dealing with the uncovering and discovery of the demolished mansion house of the Gascoigne family and tracks what has been unearthed, literally in some cases, in recent years. Included are some unique photographs taken in the nineteenth century, that have provided new insights into the hall! There is also the ongoing mini exhibition of Parlington artefacts on the first floor landing in the display cases at Lotherton Hall.

Permanent link to this post (108 words, 1 image, estimated 26 secs reading time)

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Internet Links

Wednesday, September 9th, 2009

I am regularly asked by friends, “email that link won’t you”, so here is a list of bookmarks I use from time to time on subjects of interest, some of these you may find interesting, but more than the “Steve Davies” [former Snooker Champion] sense of that word! The links are on the Bookmark Sharing Page, in the column to the right.

This is a preview of Internet Links. Read the full post (141 words, estimated 34 secs reading time)

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Country Life Magazine

Friday, September 4th, 2009

A reader of the Country Life magazine sent a letter to the editor about a painting they had of Parlington, a water colour, I was later contacted and asked if I could supply a picture for the magazine for their response to the the reader. The picture below is of the item in the September 2nd 2009 edition. The reply was provided by a Mr Scott of Merseyside. I requested that the magazine publish my web site address to accompany the item, this they did as you can see in the image of the magazine page below.

This is a preview of Country Life Magazine. Read the full post (539 words, 1 image, estimated 2:09 mins reading time)

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Geophysical Research

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

The old hall footprint is well established as a result of the ground plan produced by George Fowler Jones architectural parctice in 1885, this is still in existence and held I believe at Temple Newsam. I obtained a digital copy of the reference photograph some years ago and have used it extensively to assist in discovering how the parts of the hall were aligned on the ground. However with the recent discovery of the photographs taken by Jones in the latter part of the nineteenth century; held at the National Media Museum, Bradford, it became clear that the lawns had extensive flower beds. Moreover the plan shows drainage lines and the position of the fountain and the river Crow which runs across the lawns in a stone culvert. We decided therefore to undertake a geophysical analysis of the ground to determine if any of the earlier features could be discovered.

This is a preview of Geophysical Research. Read the full post (334 words, 3 images, estimated 1:20 mins reading time)

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The Round House

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

Round House with roof?

The Round House, designed by William Lindley, or as it is referred to by English Heritage, the Deer Shelter and others as a cattle shelter, as it might have looked after it was built in c1802. After a brief inspection over the weekend, dodging the showers, I managed to inspect some stonework lying in the central area and was pleased to discover what appears to be a quadrant shaped stone. This could well have been part of a circular central column which supported a conical shaped roof, perhaps a thatched roof, but I prefer to theorize that it would have been in Westmoreland slate, as there are quite a few fragments of slate used in the lime mortar to support the stonework until it set. Many other structures around that are key to the family were roofed in the same slate, the ice house is one, as was the shelter in the main Deer Park.

This is a preview of The Round House. Read the full post (179 words, 2 images, estimated 43 secs reading time)

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