A Friday Five

 Five things for Friday

1. Artisan Bakers.  

Above and below The Dough Mother

Last week we visited friends in Beeston and we wandered down to meet Robert who once a week visits The Dough Mother which is just a ten minute walk from home.  Once there he sits in a corner facing the door and writes and people watches.  He produces what he calls his 'paperbag' stories as on one visit he forgot his notebook and the lovely owner of the bakery gave him white paper bags to write on.  Some of his stories have been made available in the shop.

We spotted another bakery in Ashbourne.   

This one specialises in sour dough bread.

I know our friend Robert who, like Paul, makes his own bread will like the sound of the rye and carraway loaf above.

2.  Water - or lack of it.

Not far from Ashbourne is Carsington Water.  It's a Severn Trent Water reservoir with lots of walks, a visitor centre and a few shops.

We were headed for the RSPB shop to buy suet sprinkles for our garden birds. These purchased we popped them back to the car and went for a walk.

As you can see from the photos the water level was low, worryingly low.  We've seen the reserves low before but never as bad as this.  Sheep have taken over the mound where we normally see Lapwings. 

 

 3.  In the conservatory

The Paperwhites are well and truly in flower now.  Their scent fills the air.

4.  Telephones 

I'm probably showing my age by calling them telephones and not 'land line' or 'mobile'.  I still call a radio a wireless but of course like lots of words it means something totally different now.  Anyway our land line cut out late on Sunday night after our service provider had updated the speed of our internet connection.  We didn't realise until I dialled 1471 on Monday to see if we had received any calls whilst we were out.    The next day it still wasn't working and it was difficult to find a way of contacting the provider as the mobile phone is a different service to the land line and internet.  In the early hours of Wednesday morning the land line phone started ringing at 4.a.m and continued to beep over the next two or three hours so we switched it off for a while.  An engineer was finally booked for today.  This morning the internet was down too.  By the time the engineer came both land line and internet services were back. A fault had been found in the system at the box round the corner.

5.  Armistice Day Today

I haven't taken any new photos but here are a couple from the travelling exhibition of  'Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red.'   This is 'Weeping Window' at Middleport Pottery in August 2018.

 

and below 'Wave' at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in September 2015

Such wonderful exhibitions to see and so poignant too. 

 

 

When we visited Ashbourne I purchased a copy of the Derbyshire Life Magazine and inside there is an article about Paul Cummins who had the vision to create the poppies and the first exhibition at the Tower of London.

 

A Sudden Appearance

Beautiful red poppies have appeared recently on a wall of the Old Phoenix Works just off the main road on King Street, Longton, not far from the station

The site of the old Phoenix works has, over the last few years, undergone renovation work and some areas have been turned into shops and offices.

The factory was built around 1879 - 1881 by Thomas Forester and Sons pottery manufacturers who specialised in producing Earthenware and Majolica.  In 1881 Thomas Forester is said to have received the largest order for the very popular Majolica Wares ever received by a Staffordshire Pottery.

Above The Glost House Cafe Bar

Above The Portmeirion Pottery Factory Shop and the Period Property Store.

Anyway, back to the poppies.  This work was commissioned for the centenary of the end of WWI and was produced by the  Entrepreneurs Network over a few days last week.  I wish I'd have seen them working on it.

It's rather beautiful.

Weeping Window at Middleport Pottery

On Monday last week we visited the '14-18 Now' Weeping Window of ceramic poppies at Middleport Pottery which stands on the Trent and Mersey Canal.

We had booked tickets for 11a.m. so arrived about 9.45a.m. at nearby Westport Lake.  We had a stroll around the lake and a coffee in their cafe when it opened at 10a.m.  

The stroll down the canal from Westport to Middleport takes no more than fifteen minutes. We arrived at the entrance about ten minutes early and were told to wander down to the canal side keeping to the left.  We went straight up to the poppies.

 
 In my mind I had thought that entrance would be strictly timed with only so many people allowed in at a time. Not so.  It was quite relaxed although I would think it was not so relaxed when busier at the weekend or late afternoons perhaps.

We stood for a while by the poppies just taking a few photos from either side and then taking a few moments to reflect on what the poppies meant before moving on to allow other people to move forward.  I wondered how many young men working at the pottery volunteered or were conscripted and how they fared.  How many young women from the pottery went to work in munitions factories and what sorrows and hardships would face those left behind.

It always upsets me that this generation lost so much.  I think of them as children running and playing, struggling at school or working at home with no idea what the future would hold for them and what horrors they would have to see and endure.

It is hard to imagine as we enjoy the freedoms of life today. All we can say is thank you and always remember their sacrifice.

Poppies, Photos, Peregrines and Princes

On Friday we drove over to Derby to see the Weeping Window poppies which are at present adorning the tower of the Silk Mill at the side of the River Derwent.  

 The tour of the ceramic poppies is organised by '14-18 Now' the UK's art programme for the centenary of the First World War.

The poppies were the concept of and designed by Paul Cummins and the installation was designed  by Tom Piper.  These poppies are some of those from the original installation 'Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red' which were first seen at the Tower of London in 2014.

They looked wonderful in the bright sunshine.

I like the Silk Mill building anyway so it was great to see it draped with poppies.

As we stood and looked at the poppies we could here the mewling up above from one of the peregrine falcons which nest every year on the nearby Cathedral.  My camera was stretched to its limits but I did get a mediocre photo of the bird.  Here is a link to the Derby Cathedral Peregrine Project's Blog.

I like this little area of Derby with its individual shops and cafes and a small independent department store called Bennetts.  The bunting was out blowing in the breeze which added a quite festive feel to the street, it was good to feel the warmth of the sun too.

The statue above is of Charles Edward Stuart usually referred to as 'Bonnie Prince Charlie' or 'The Young Pretender.' On 4h December 1745 at the height of the Jacobite Rebellion he marched with around six thousand men from Ashbourne towards Derby intending to ride towards London.   Two days later he was beating a retreat northwards and back to Scotland.  Four months later, on 6th April 1746 he was defeated at the Battle of Culloden.  Here is more information

We met him again in the Museum and Art Gallery.  We had popped into the museum to see a photographic exhibition before it closes this weekend.

The exhibition is called People Place and Things and explores early studio photography from 1854 onwards by using a collection of photos taken over the years by local photographers W.W. Winter which is, apparently one of the oldest running studios in the world.

There were lots of visitors enjoying the photographs and several finding people and places they knew.  There was a small group of people who were delighted to find their grandfather and uncles on a wonderful photo of Walter Tickner's butchers shop.  Below is a photo of the WW Winter photographic studio in the early 20th century.

Paul was thrilled to find a photo of a trainee pilot in a flight simulator at Derby Airport c. 1938.  So, as an early birthday treat for him, we bought the book which accompanies the exhibition.

Have a lovely weekend everyone.