Category: This and that


Inside the ‘Unstately Home’

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13/10/2013

IMG_7336My recent post on the gardens at Calke Abbey, Derbyshire, proved very popular. I mentioned in that article that the house was fascinating because of the mixture of restored ‘as it would have been’ rooms, stuffed with elegant furniture, curious collections, animal heads, paintings etc. and alongside this the rather less grand, upper rooms with peeling paintwork and paper,a plethora of odds and ends, surplus to requirements and forgotten. Here is a gallery which I hope captures the essence of the house.

Related article:

The Garden that made me smile like a Cheshire Cat

Further information:

National Trust website

Old School Gardener

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Jump

Filed under: PicPosts- great photographs, Play, This and that — Leave a comment
12/10/2013

PlayGroundology's avatarPlayGroundology

Jump

Somewhere in urban America, sometime ago, this lad jumped. And what a leap as he sails toward the fence.

If anyone knows the photographer, the jumper or the story behind this photo, I’d love to hear from you.

I jumped from a swing in motion when I was a kid and lived to tell the tale. It never approached the drama or daredevilry of the image above but nevertheless my buddies and I felt like we were living a little on the edge.

My young kids are doing it now too. There are such looks of wonder, fear and elation rapidly shifting across their faces as they fling themselves through the air.

This is a concrete example of a playground activity where kids assess risk. It’s all about their own ability and judgment as they face off against gravity.

Check the facial expressions and aerial acrobatics of these jumpers captured…

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The WEEE Man

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11/10/2013

Brigid Jackson's avatararistonorganic

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Giant sculpture made of waste
The WEEE Man is a 3.3-tonne structure which represents the amount of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) the average British household throws away in a lifetime.

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Eden Project

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Chocs Away – Norwich’s History of Chocolate Making

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08/10/2013

shinealightproject's avatarShine A Light

By Dayna Woolbright

Norwich is well known for its industrial past, manufacturing textiles, shoes and mustard from the famous Colmans mustard factory, but what about chocolate?

The Gressenhall Superstore holds an abundance of social history items that relate to Norwich’s industrial heritage but it was some equipment used in Norwich’s chocolate factory that inspired this weeks blog. I also had a great personal interest in the history of locally produced chocolate as one of my earliest memories of Norwich is seeing the Nestle factory, particularly exciting for a child whose favorite book was Roald Dahl’s ‘Charlie and the chocolate factory!’ So sit back and enjoy a whistle stop tour through all things chocolaty, no golden ticket required…

In 1857 Chemist, Alfred Jarman Caley came to Norwich and founded a chemists shop in London Street. By 1863 Caley was producing mineral waters in a room at the back of his shop as…

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Vintage Harvest Event

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04/10/2013

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Celebration of Food Growing and Composting

Filed under: Great Gardens, Grow your own food, Soils and soil improvement, This and that — 2 Comments
Where's Wally? 250 Master Gardeners and Composters (including me) line up for the annual group photo

Where’s Wally? 250 Master Gardeners and Composters (including me) line up for the annual group photo

It was an early start- 5.45.a.m to be precise. Having travelled into Norwich and boarded a coach, we set off for Ryton Gardens, near Coventry. Garden Organic’s HQ, formerly known as the ‘Henry Doubleday Research Association’ in honour of the pioneer organic grower, presents a rich mix of gardens aimed at informing, educating and inspiring gardeners in the ‘organic way’.

I attended the annual ‘Masters Conference’ last year and got to see the gardens for the first time too. This year’s visit was equally interesting and energising, not least due to the concentration of 250 plus growing and composting enthusiasts in one place for the full day conference.

No, not a set from 'Dr. Who', just a display of 'dalek' and other types of compost bin!

No, not a set from ‘Dr. Who’, just a display of ‘dalek’ and other types of compost bin!

Garden Organic do things right – a highly professional outfit, with some world class credentials when it comes to research and education in organic growing, they value their volunteers, and this shows. Little, but important touches like personalised ‘goody bags’, name badges and schedules as well as the cheery welcome from the large number of staff and volunteers around helped to make the day a big success. And of course there are the annual awards, lots of cake and coffee and the group photo that all bind this volunteer community together in their ‘crusade’ for food growing and composting.

One of two Cakes specially made to celebrate the conference-a masterly effort from a Norfiolk Cake maker!

One of two Cakes specially made to celebrate the conference-a masterly effort from a Norfolk Cake maker!

It was interesting finding more out about community composting, some of the ‘goodies’ in the garden (as far as bugs are concerned) and of how projects are using food growing to reach communities that find it difficult to fully engage with society for various reasons.There were also some wonderful tales of Master Gardeners and Composters from around the country who are helping people not only to grow food, but to ‘grow’ themselves! And several of these were from Norfolk.

Apart from the chance to look round the gardens once more, the highlight was veteran naturalist Chris Baines, who gave an inspiring talk about how important it is to create parks, gardens and other green spaces in an increasingly urbanised world to help keep cities cool, air clean, provide habitats for wildlife and psychological respite from living and working places that will in all probability become ever more hectic, hassled and hot! He shared some encouraging signs that developers are starting to integrate such features as ‘rain gardens’ and other nature havens in their plans.

The other cake…
Physalis
Chris Baines
Phacelia
Squash tunnel
A rather large pot…
NMaturalistic planting area

Further information:

Ryton Gardens

Garden Organic

Master Gardener

Master Composter/ Home Composting

Old School Gardener

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Stats reveal so-so September

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02/10/2013
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The History of Norwich (Part 1)

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shinealightproject's avatarShine A Light

By Wayne Kett

Here in the superstores we have objects related to Norfolk that cover a huge period of time, but predominantly we house a social history collection related to Norwich. The objects we have help to tell the history of Norwich and its people, it is a history, lasting at least 1600 years. I wondered if I could condense 1600 years into a single blog? I tried and the answer is No! I will instead attempt to fit as much as possible into 2 blogs, so here is the history of Norwich part 1……

I am going to focus on 10 key events or periods that were crucial in shaping the city we know and love today. I will take the time to highlight objects from our stored collection in the superstore and across the museum service as a whole that relate to each period.

The Arrival of the Anglo-Saxons

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Tree’s perspective

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sethsnap's avatarsethsnap

Come with me, a big oak we will be.  Let’s explore the world through the eyes of a tree.  Imagine the scenes that pass as time goes by and we go up. We are the living history books.

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Bygone Harvest at Haveringland Church

Filed under: Historic landscapes, This and that, Wildlife and Nature — Leave a comment
01/10/2013
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The clocks are being turned back at Haveringland Church this Harvest.  Thanks to vintage farm equipment and enthusiast Graham Kirk from Aylsham we will be re-creating a traditional harvest using his binding machine. 

Graham earlier in the year planted his ‘Historic wheat’ around the Church and hoped for good weather.  At first nothing happened, but thanks to our wonderful summer the wheat which is a variety used from around 1600, is now perfect for harvesting.

The Vintage Harvest will give 21st century consumers an insight into how harvests were very much a community event before the introduction of combine harvesters.  It will be a great opportunity to re-connect with our rural heritage.  Friends from Aylsham Town Band will assist with playing some harvest hymns and a short service will include harvest blessing and of course the hymn ‘We Plough the Fields and Scatter.’

Haveringland Church stands at the end of the old Swannington World War II runway. There is a memorial stone dedicated to the service men who flew from the base at the entrance of the Church.

The modern British tradition of celebrating Harvest Festival in churches began in 1843, when the Reverend Robert Hawker invited parishioners to a special thanksgiving service at his church at Morwenstow in Cornwall.

Revd Andrew Beane, Vicar of Aylsham said “This is a wonderful opportunity to see history come alive and realize why the end of the harvest was truly a time to celebrate!  Life through the winter depended on a good harvest.  We now so often forget the absolute dependence on the land that our great grandparents generation knew, and which so many people around the world still experience.  We are so grateful to Graham who has cared for the crop throughout the year to make this special event possible.”

The Vintage Harvest is free to all and anyone is welcome to come along.  It would be wonderful to see young and old together sharing in what was once a common event all around rural Norfolk.  Why not bring a picnic and join us!

Sunday 6th October, 2.30pm – Haveringland Parish Church

Haveringland Church can be found by following the brown Church signs off the B1149

WEATHER PERMITTING – FREE EVENT – PARKING AVAILABLE – REFRESHMENTS

Related article:  The Church in the Fields

Old School Gardener

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