It seems such a long time since I wrote a Monday Miscellany post so I thought I'd write one this week with just a few things that have made me smile over the last couple of weeks.
By the River Sow in the county town of Stafford and just outside the entrance to Victoria Park stand what remains of the now demolished Town Mill. The wheels have been preserved in their original location. The mill was built in 1834 by George Brewster on the site of the original medieval mill. The early 19th century mill was demolished in 1957 and the mill pond is now part of the nearby park.
The park is undergoing restoration and enhancement at the moment with the help of the Heritage Lottery Fund. We are going to go back in Spring to see more of this garden with its bowling green, flower borders and elegant bridges over the River Sow which runs through the middle of the park.
There is a wonderful glass house which was most welcome in the cold weather. The colour of the lilies above caught my eye.
Last week we visited the City of Chester. Again it was cold and very wet so we drifted towards the Grosvenor Museum. You can't beat an interesting Museum and Art Gallery in wet weather.
The Museum was built in 1886 to house the collections of the Chester Archaeological Society and also those of the Chester Society of Natural Science Literature and Art. To the rear of the building is 20 Castle Street which is the Museum's period house. It shows a sequence of rooms dating from 1680 to 1925. There is also a refreshment area near the gift shop set out as it might have been during the second world war.
17th century room
World War II refreshment area offering hot and cold drinks and small snacks.
Tea and a Tunnock's tea cake anyone?
Replica Roman pot in the 'hands on' school section of the Roman Gallery. Of course Chester is famous for its Roman remains. It was founded during the reign of the Emperor Vespasian in AD79 as a 'castrum' or fort. Its name Deva Victrix came from the Legio XX Valeria Victrix which was based there.
Last week we visited the City of Chester. Again it was cold and very wet so we drifted towards the Grosvenor Museum. You can't beat an interesting Museum and Art Gallery in wet weather.
Tea and a Tunnock's tea cake anyone?
Ammonites in the Natural History Gallery.
Last week we walked around Westport Lake in very cold but bright weather. As we glanced towards the small ponds which lie at the back of the paths around the lake we saw a flash of bright blue. A Kingfisher! It sat for quite a while with its back to the path overlooking one of the small pools. Not a great photo but it was lovely to see it and to take a photo of it just as it turned its head sideways.
Over the last few days I've been having difficulties with my blog getting a 'whoops - that's an error' notice when I try to access it. It seems to finally pop up after refreshing the page a couple of times. I've done all the suggested things like getting rid of cookies and clearing history but it is still happening. I assumed at first that it was my lap top but after visiting a 'help' forum it seems I'm not the only one so I'm assuming it is a google blogspot problem. Is anyone else affected by this? Apologies if you have had difficulties visiting me here, I hope the problem resolves itself soon.
What a great statement those mill wheels make, they look so majestic. Sadly I am going to decline on the tea and Tunnock's tea cake I am just not a fan.
ReplyDeleteThere were little plates of the tea cakes on the table, I haven't seen any of those for ages:)
DeleteHow annoying, I haven't had a problem . . . yet. Let's hope Google sort it soon. Ten points for spotting a kingfisher and taking a photo of it! You've had a couple of nice days out exploring, the weather hasn't been too bad really. 😊
ReplyDeleteThe problem seems to have sorted itself now, it was annoying at the time. We saw the kingfisher again today it was flying from tree to tree on the main lake:)
Deletemust visit the Grosvenor Museum next time we are in Chester.We havn't been for years and it is only half an hour away!We got Chester but for the shops.Did you go in the cathedral?
ReplyDeleteThe Musem seems to have got bigger since we last visited, I think because of the extension into the house behind. We didn't go into the Cathedral this time but have been in there before. We once went in and sat through a bit of a rehearsal of Verdi's Requiem for a concert in the evening. It was wonderful:)
DeleteWhat wonderful places to visit and wander through...
ReplyDeleteAs you know, I had troubles accessing your blog, and told you. Then it promptly cleared up! :-) For me, anyway. Hope it clears up for all your readers.
Yes,you did and thank you for letting me know you had a problemI appreciated it as you alerted me to the fact it wasn't just my machine so I visited the help forum and found out it wasn't just this blog either. All seems okay now:)
DeleteYou do find some interesting places to visit Rosie. It is years since I have been to Chester - the museum there looks so interesting. Well done on spotting the Kingfisher :)
ReplyDeleteI haven't had any problems accessing your blog or, touch wood, with my own. Hope Google sort it out soon.
ps love the ammonites :)
DeleteI love ammonites too, large or small and fossil sea urchins. Chester is a lovely city with lots of interesting places to visit. A few with Roman connections of course. Glad you haven't had a problem with blogger all seems to be well now. Saw the kingfisher again today flying from tree to tree on the smaller of the two lakes I was so busy looking at a little chirpy robin that I nearly missed him:)
DeleteInteresting photos & I do love the kingfisher, which is related to our kookaburra, though way more colourful. I too have the same error come up, but only with blogger, not wordpress or typepad, nor anyone running a blog through their own website. It must be a problem with blogspot, maybe. Take care.
ReplyDeleteI can see how the Kingfisher is related to the Kookaburra. The blogger problem seems to have disappeared now, hope it has for you too:)
DeleteIt's lovely to see a Monday Miscellany post! I've not been to any of the Chester museums (except a roman one on a school trip once) - I've not visited Chester at all but one day I'd like to. I've not yet seen the blog error you mentioned.
ReplyDeleteThanks Louise. Glad you didn't have the error it was annoying for a few days but gone now. Chester is a fascinating place to visit hope you get there one day:)
DeleteI like the look of that museum, though it looks as though (along with every reconstructed room from the 20th century I've ever seen) there's something missing. Ashtrays - they used to be everywhere! So far my blog seems to be error free - apart from the ones I make!
ReplyDeleteYou are right about the ash trays. I can see the 'woman' in the war time cafe with a cigarette dangling from her lips whilst she serves tea!:)
DeleteThat hot house looks a perfect place to visit on a frosty day as does the Chester museum. How lovely to see a kingfisher. I’m still on the hunt for one. Not sure I’m going to be as lucky. B x
ReplyDeleteBoth places were an interesting shelter from the cold and rain. We saw the kingfisher again on our walk today, it had come into the main part of the walk and was flitting along the side of the lake. Hope you see one, I love the streak of bright blue as they whiz by:)
DeleteI always get 'whoops that's an error' when I delete spam from the blog but it deletes it anyway! The kingfisher must have been such a wonderful sight. It looks like a tropical bird with its vivid blue feathers. x
ReplyDeleteHow funny, I've just found your comment in spam! Perhaps because it containes the word? I saw you had placed a comment on here because I had an e-mail and read it there but it didn't appear here, I've just found another one from a friend on a post I wrote just after Christmas which had gone into spam too. Some very strange things happening at the moment. The Kingfisher is such a wonderful colour isn't it?:)
DeleteJust tried to comment, that your comments, coming into my gmail, go to Spam. I check Spam and click them, NOT Spam. Anyway, my comment was not accepted or something.
ReplyDeleteYour comments do Publish on my blog, and do not go into Blogger Spam though. Which is goooooood.
Ahhhh, the twists and turns of blogging.
We just have to keep telling each other, when funny things happen, I guess.
Happy Valentine's Day!
Indeed, thanks for letting me know, these things seem to affect each of us in a different way:)
DeleteYour pictures are fabulous. Enjoyable and interesting.
ReplyDeleteThank you Jean, glad you enjoyed them:)
DeleteSuch an interesting post! I love the photo of the reflections in the millpond and the lillies in the glass house. How clever to get a kingfisher too! Chester is an interesting city - I'm actually from the Wirral so know it well. Thank you :)
ReplyDeleteI always find Chester fascinating and the Wirral too. We stayed on there a couple of years ago so we could travel across to Liverpool easily but found some lovely places to visit on the Wirral as well during our stay:)
DeleteThis is such an interesting post, Rosie. I’ve only visited Chester once and it was many years ago, so thank you for sharing. That WWII tea room setting is terrific and I adore Tunnock’s tea cakes, so I’d be happy to join you for a cup of tea. I love your kingfisher photo - they can be a bit elusive, so you did well with this shot. Marie x
ReplyDeleteThank you Marie, glad you enjoyed the post. It seems ages since I had a Tunnock's tea cake, I remember having something similar when we were younger, my Mum used to buy them:)
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