Sunday 9 January 2011

A short, sunday walk

This tree in Abbey Green is probably almost as old as the buildings that surround it. On the wall of the building behind it, to the left...


... is this piece of Georgian graffiti. "Rich. P. Hod... Good Friday, 1762" I'm glad it has not been obliterated. Just round the corner, hidden away...


Is Ralph Allen's town house - a perfect mansion in miniature. He had a big place out of town, but this is where he crashed after a night's gambling in Bath. I worked on this little gem years ago, and when we went in, we found the original chandeliers in boxes in the cupboard, plus the original bell-pull for the servants, next to the fireplace. I wonder what happened to them.

This used to be a free-standing house, but was built in by these surrounding pubs and hotels in the 19th century. The view from the front windows used to be...


... 'Sham Castle', built by Ralph Allen just to look at from his town pad. In the days when single, rich people were allowed to change the face of a town, this was the result. These days, when we allow multi-national corporations to alter towns, they all look the same. MacDonald's, KFC, Tesco....

18 comments:

  1. I have never been to bath,
    but it looks lovely!
    I lived in york for a couple of years and it reminds me of that...except rather grander!

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  2. P.S. I'm trying to change the layout of this blog so that it will show unclipped videos, which is why I have put all the other stuff down below. I cannot work out how to enlarge and centralise the main pictures in 'design' with this format. Any got any ideas?

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  3. I do like a good Folly. Maybe someone will build a Chateau several miles away from our wee cottage, just to have the view of my 'Tower'.

    Cart before the horse?

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  4. Are4 those all the crude, rude American tourists taking photos at the Abbey?

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  5. Probably, Cro.

    Probably, Groucho. I tried to look as English and local as I could when I took my pictures. There used to be a lapel-badge you could buy here in Bath which said, "I am NOT a tourist". I thought that was a bit mean - I actually like tourists, and try to show them stuff which is not obvious (until they make their excuses and run away). The graffiti and the town house are both not obvious, but the tree and the castle are, for example.

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  6. P.S. I've just noticed a sinister figure standing to the left of Sham Castle which I did not see when I took the picture. That's the thing about telephoto lenses, it's only a matter of time before I record a murder - like 'Blow-up'.

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  7. Tom, there is a wonderful Abbey south west of Bath called Mottisfont. It hold a national collection of old roses in a magnificent walled garden. Well worth a look see when you start up the car up in June.

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  8. Mottisfont? I've never heard of it, but I'll look it up and visit. Thanks Grouch.

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  9. I've just looked it up, and yes - it does look lovely. It's not too far away in Hampshire, so I will make a trip as soon as I can dig the car out of the glacier.

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  10. Tom you could try the template Minima Stretch. Go to Design, then Edit HTML, then scroll to the bottom of the page and you will see old templates from 06 or 07 one of which is Minima Stretch. In this one you can use XL photos like I use over at my place. I hope this helped.

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  11. Thank you very much Olive - I will look into that in the (our) morning. You will see the results later I hope!

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  12. I always wonder when/if you sleep!

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  13. I wish I had been in the enigmatically beautiful Sham Castle

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  14. Please no MacDonalds or KFC, altho as a yank who must survive in the land of Mickey, I understand "grouchy" and his feelings. Except it is the reverse for us! Life is all about perspective and I certainly have enjoyed yours of late.... Ann TBL

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  15. re Sham Castle/sinister figure pic. What are those brown things on the tree in foreground? Unfallen Chestnut husks perhaps? Or something more exotic!

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  16. You cannot get 'in' the castle, Dibakar, it is a facade - just one elevation with no rooms.

    I am just about to do a post about the land of 'Mickey', Boston Lady, because Groucho has reminded me that it might make a good story.

    That tree is in 'Parade Garden', Cro (a Victorian pleasure garden in the middle distance), so it's probably exotic, but I don't know the name. Those things are spiky seed-pods, I think.

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