August 2019 Archives

Chiddingstone in Kent is one of England's oldest villages and is an example of a one-street Tudor village. (One of the buildings from the town was moved to the Weald and Downland Museum.) Legend has it that the town took its name from a large stone formation near the centre, which was named the "chiding stone". According to the local legends, the stone was used as a boundary marker and a place where villagers would meet up and possibly be used as a judgment/meeting point. The town means "stone of Chidda's tribe", and Chidda was thought to have been a local leader in the area. So, the name then meant "to chide" further on in time.

A photograph of the stone is below. The stone has many carvings on it, and many of these appear to be recent carvings. Another side of the stone, on the back, the stone can be climbed onto and sat upon. It appears that many have climbed and worn down the stone over the ages.

Chiddingstone village is owned by the National Trust who rent the buildings (except for the castle and church here), and it is descrubed as being the most perfect surviving example of a Tudor village in the country. The village was also used in some filming locationes, such as 'A Room with a View'.

There is a tea room/cafe in the village, a post office with small shop, and a pub.

The wooden beams of the old Tudor timber-framed building still retain decorative carving.

I had a bite to eat in the pub, The George Inn. (Insects and wasps were outside on a sunny day, so I sat inside the main pub next to the bar where I took the below photograph.)

The "chiding stone" is only a couple of minutes walk from the pub. It is up at the end of the terraced row of timber-framed buildings, bordering the town hall and school (both modern buildings). Visitors with a keen eye can spot the sign to go through to the footpath to access the stone. 

Here are some more photographs of the village and pub with a vintage Bentley.

Have you ever been to Chiddingstone?

I visited the Weald and Download Museum earlier this month, and the day brightened up into a warm and sunny day. The weekend that I visited was also the weekend of the "Saddles and Steam" annual show, which features horses and steam engines (with some classic cars, World War, and toy collections in the mix). I always enjoy visiting a living museum or living history museum such as this to go inside the houses and buildings to imagine how people lived in different ages.

I loved the above view over some of the houses in the museum from the hillside.

I've detailed many of the buildings below. Some of the buildings housed other collections too. Railway and model boat enthusiasts would be happy visiting here because there is a lot of that here to see.

Home from Walderton, Sussex

This house from Walderton, Sussex, dates from the 15th-17th centuries. The inside is older and contains an open hall, but the home's purpose was changed for living in the 17th century, and the interior has information about the transformation. At the back is a garden dating from the 17th century with some edible weeds but notably more effort spent on growing vegetables, herbs, and roots (for food and medicine) with a few aesthetic plants grown and fruit trees at the back. The house is broken up into a kitchen on the left (as entering the door), and a larger room for dining on the right. Upstairs are a couple of bedrooms with closet. The fruit trees include quince (similar to a pear), Rosemary Russet apple, Black Worcester pear, Harvey apple, and Warner's King apple. Herbs were grown such as rosemary, lavender, fennel, mint, sage, wormwood. Vegetables and plants included pumpkins, broad beans, leek, cardoons, parsley, onions, asparagus, peas, salad leaves, garlic, beets, and other root vegetables.

Toll House from Beeding, Sussex

This toll house dates from the early 1800s, but the toll board in front comes from a different toll house. These cottages were set up along stretches of road in order to maintain the road from road users. The little cottage has a small sitting room inside the front door and a small bedroom at the back. 

Pugmill from Redford, Sussex

This building was a horse-powered pugmill used for making bricks. It dates from the 19th century.

Brick-drying shed from Petersfield, Hampshire

This shed dates from 1733 and was used for drying bricks. Inside the shed is an exhibition about how bricks are made, how they are laid, and how the unique patterns are created. This is next to a similar-looking shed dating from the early 19th century used as a sawpit shed, which came from Sussex and was also a typical building seen in villages in that age.

Bakehouse from Newdegate, Surrey

The buildings at the front of the site relate to milling and baking. The bakehouse actually sells items cooked on site with some ingredients made on site. It dates from the 17th century and was a large Victorian bakehouse in its heyday. It ceased to be used in the 1930s. There are three rooms: a preparation room, a stove/oven room, and a room at the back where the shop would have been.

Watermill from Lurgashall, Surrey

This watermill dates from the 17th century and is a working watermill used for grinding wheat into flour. Flour made here can be purchased, and biscuits and other items are also for sale inside the mill. Visitors can see the mill in action. The mill was used until the 1930s before being moved to its present location.

Dairy from Eastwick Park, Surrey

This octangonal building was a dairy dating from the early 1800s. It is currently not open to the public. It is only a recent acquisition, and it was in a ruined state previously.

Storage (unknown)

The above shed is a type of storage for a granary or something similar, raised off the ground to prevent moisture from entering. It includes shelving with bagged-up flour and appears to be used by the water mill. I would expect that it dates from the 1800s or early 1900s.

Smithy, 1800s

This blacksmith shed contains equipment to demonstrate blacksmith working with metal, anvils, and fire. It was not working when I visited it, but it looks like it is working for demonstrations.

Windpump from Pevensey, Sussex 

This windpump is a rare working example of a working structure that was a common sight.

Plumber workshop

The plumber workshop dates from the 1800s. It had the plumber workshop on the ground floor and window workshop on the first floor. Inside is an exhibition on some of the tools used in the shop at the time.

Container Wagon, beginning of 1900s

This container wagon was donated by Reynold's furniture company and is one of the earliest examples of this method of transport of goods. The whole container is shipped, and this prevented the goods from being unpacked and then packed again during various transport methods. This method is still used today.

'Tin tabernacle' from Hampshire

The "tin tabernacle" is a name for this method of building of church, which dates from 1908. The church is made from metal.

building from medieval ages

This building in a cluster of public buildings here, which are currently used as craft buildings with model railways and boats, dates from the middle ages. The design painted on the walls was uncovered and shown in the segment below.

Market from Titchfield, Hampshire

This market hall dates from 1620 and is a common example of a market place that every village would have had. 

Medieval shop from Horsham

This is an example of a timber-framed medieval shop (1600s). Shop fronts were used to sell goods with the families living upstairs. The staggered timber frame going out onto the street level is an example of how buildings were constructed in that day.

Downland Gridshell, 2002

This is an award-winning building created in 2002. It is home to some collections and is currently housing a model railway set.

Treadwell from Catherington, Hampshire

This 17th century Treadwell was used to pump water from a well 300 feet down. It is smaller than the donkey-operated wheels, and this one was probably operated by a man.

Farmer's Hut, 1800s

This hut contains a stove and a bed and would have been lived in by a farm laborour. An excerpt of such a hut is detailed in a book by Thomas Hardy, "Far from the Maddening Crowd".

Anglo-Saxon Hall from Stayning, West Sussex

This 10th century hall is modelled after a site that was used as a hall around 950AD. It is a reconstruction of what the hall would have looked like in the site. The hall would have been dark inside.

Tindall's Cottage from Ticehurst, Sussex

This cottage dates from the early 1700s, and the timber in it dates from an earlier building. The design is known as 'Poplar Cottage', and it reminds me of my grandmother's farmhouse, which was actually an older building with probably only one or two rooms before it was extended. Upstairs are two bedrooms, accessed via the one bedroom to another room at the back.

Steam-powered saw

In the forest is a sawmill, and it was in operation with a steam engine when I arrived. There was also information on charcoal and its uses and importance in this area.

Pendean farmhouse, early 17th century

This farmhouse dates from the early 17th century, and it also has an example of a garden from that time containing plants for medicine, food, ale-flavouring as well as plants to keep away insects and others to add aesthetic (roses, irises, golden rod). A large area in front of the house contains elderberries. The upstairs had a small room with a toilet in it, and in order to get between the rooms, visits have to crouch through a small doorway.

14th century hall from Boarhunt, Hampshire

This hall dates from the 14th century and has two large rooms inside.

Medieval cottage from Surrey

This 13th century medieval cottage from Hangleton in Surrey was built based on an archeological find. The cottage was probably abandoned in the 14th century but built in the 13th century.

Barns

The first building is an old barn dating from the 1530s in Sussex. The second building is a farm shed with equipment and a shepher's room with information about sheep and about the sheep fair and breed of sheep. The third photograph shows threshers' shed used by a team that would go around the farms and do work during harvesting, and hot meals would be cooked here; it is not dated, but I assume it is the 1800s. The fourth is a barn and stable from the 18/19th centuries from Tonbridge in Kent. 

Winkhurst Tudor Kitchen

Winkhurst Tudor Kitchen is an example of a kitchen used in Tudor times with an area for cooking and a separate area for dining and an area for storage/preparation. The exterior of the building was not easy to photograph.

Bayleaf farmhouse from Chiddingstone, Kent

This old farmhouse is a smokehouse and does not contain chimney. The fire was lit on the floor and aired out through the side of the windows, as shown in the above photographs. It is an example of a Tudor-framed house from the 13th century. Upstairs shows a wall of how it would have been decorated at the time.

Schoolhouse from West Wittering, Sussex

Dating from the mid-1800s, this schoolhouse is an example of where children were taught and what they had in the classroom.

Whittaker's Cottage, 1860s in Surrey

Whittaker's Cottage was a cottage complex of railway workers, and it contains a garden. 

Medieval cottage from Kent

This medieval house is from Kent. It dates from the 15th century.

Poplar Cottage from Sussex

This cottage probably dates from the 1500s.

I visited on the weekend of the annual "Saddles and Steam" show, which is a day filled with horses pulling wagons and doing demonstrations, steam-powered cars and equipment and vintage cars. There were also mini steam engines on display, a food and craft market, portable music machines, and collections of toys and other items. There was also a D-Day display in the pond and on the land with motorised boats and tanks and World War vehicles.

Have you ever visited the Weald and Download museum? It is located near Chichester near Portsmouth in Hampshire.

Emmett's Garden is a six-acre National Trust garden, woodland and arboretum located in Kent, England and maintained by the National Trust. I visited Emmett's Garden at the beginning of August, and the rose garden was particularly beautiful. So, who was Emmett and how did this garden come to be created, and why is it here and maintained and a tourist attraction today? Read on to find out.

Emmett's Garden was created in 1860 along with the adjoining house. The house is privately owned and located behind the rose garden, but visitors cannot access this. The name "Emmett" actually does not relate to a person, but it is a local word that means "ant", and this place got its name for the large anthills that covered the area. There are some references to ants in the park with sculptures, which is mainly an attraction for children. 

The land and home was purchased in 1890 by Frederic Lubbock, who was a banker and avid gardener and who had a large family. Lubbock's older brother was a world expert on ants, which is probably what influenced the purchase of the land. As well as enjoying studying and writing about ants and bees, he was responsible for giving workers time off and Bank Holidays. The gardens were planned in the early 1890s by a friend William Robinson, and the Edwardian style of garden design was achived. A shrub garden, pictured above, was added a few years later. Lubbock enjoyed his gardening as it was his passion, so he spent a lot of time on making it beautiful.

In 1927, Lubbock passed away and Charles Watson Boise, an American geologist, purchased the land. Boise had made his fortune in diamond mining. He continued to employ the gardener that Lubbock had used. He largely kept the gardens the same but had filled in the ponds because he worried about catching malaria as he had done in the Congo, increasing the size of the rock garden, and creating a golf course. Boise had also enjoyed village life and invited local children to enjoy the gardens at Christmas and turned his Buick into a fire vehicle during World War 2 to help put out fires and control damage. In the early 1960s, he left the gardens to the National Trust. In 1987, a storm brought down some trees and shrubs that had been planted by both men, and the National Trust had to replant, so many of the trees in the arboretum side are young.

Upon entering, visitors can walk through the rock garden, which does contain a small pond.

After the rock garden, visitors can sit on one of the benches in the rose garden or admire the feature-piece, a fountain with a statue of Cupid. The roses were particularly beautiful when I visited them.

After visiting the arboretum, I visited the other gardens on the way back through to the exit. These contain mainly wildflowers and are located with a small pond.

The lower part of the rock garden is also passed through on the way back.

Opposite this is a small cherry orchard, open field, and an area on flat land that had tulip bulbs planted on it and should look beautiful in the spring. The bluebells are also said to be in abundance here. 

Emmett's Garden is open from March until December. The best times to visit are in the early or late spring or mid-summer when the flowers are in bloom. I am unsure how the gardens or arboretum look in the autumn if visited then, but I highly recommend this in the summer, particularly when the roses are in bloom. (I visited near the beginning of August.) 

I visited Mottisfont Abbey in Hampshire at the end of July. The house iteself is set up as a period home with furnishings mainly from the early 20th century, but it was actually the monastary that was built in 1200. However, the current building is only about a third of the original size. The monastary was the Augustinian order and was called "The Priory of the Holy Trinity". 

After the monastaries were dissolved, it was turned into a residence and then bought by the Russell family in the 1930s. I explored the house, garden/grounds, and checked out the gallery, which was exhibiting "The Beano" comics at the time of my visit.

As mentioned, the house is only a third of the size of what it was when it was a monastary. In the image below, the building extended into the foreground by 2/3rds.

The Russell family enjoyed artwork, so some fine pieces are shown throughout the house.

Only very few pieces remain of that original building, and a corner of the room (Red Bedroom) was left exposed to show some carving. A religious mosaic has been inset into this room to pay tribute to its past.

This was my favourite room, the Morning Room; it is a very bright room with a library. It faces the front of the building, and the owners would relax here with some of their friends, which included artists and writers famous in the day.

This is the view from the doors in the Morning Room.

Up the stairs near here is the gallery, which was used to showcase artwork that the Russell family enjoyed. Today, the gallery hosts several major exhibitions each year. When I visited, it was exhibiting "The Beano" comics, which is the longest-running comic of all time.

The main living room, or Whistler Room, is currently under preservation. The owners commissioned artist Whistler to create a realistic (trompe l'oeil) painting over the walls to make the room appear medieval and three-dimensional.

Outside the house, visitors can visit the cellar. One of the cafes is also located here. This area was the undercroft of the original priory building. It functioned as a cellar and office for the person responsible for the goods used here. A couple of the rooms running off of here showcase some examples of mosaic floor and pottery/glass shards and other findings. In one of those rooms, nine skeletons were uncovered.

The part I enjoyed most about Mottisfont was actually the gardens, which are beautiful. About twenty years after the National Trust was given the property, old rose bushes were brought to the rose garden here and planted. I just missed the roses as they bloom in mid-late June, but when I visited, the garden was beautiful and smelled of lavender.

This was my second visit to Mottisfont Abbey; my first visit was nearly 20 years ago and in March. In March, there isn't much to see at Mottisfont, and the gardens were not in bloom. This National Trust property is best visited in the summer months.

Thomas and Jane Carlyle were originally from Scotland and met in 1820. They rented this home in Chelsea in London in the 1800s. Thomas made his fortune as an author, and the family were very popular in their days and had many friends. Many of these friends were fellow authors and artists, politicians, and other influential people in society. The house is virtually as the Carlyle's left it after good friends of the couple purchased it and then donated it to the National Trust for others to enjoy. It is actually an extremely unique place, left virtually untouched and with a lot of information about the Carlyles and their visitors. The house is a townhouse on a quiet street near the Thames, and it has a walled garden and is five storeys tall.

Thomas Carlyle's books are large and often multi-volume history books. The French Revolution, Oliver Cromwell, and other subjects became subjects of his writing at this time when England had many popular writers. Jane Carlyle wrote many letters, which are highly regarded today. Upon entering the house in the row of terraced houses, the hallway leads to a back room separated into a parlour and living room, which is common in older houses.

This room (or these rooms) were actually painted by an artist Robert Tait and named "The Chelsea Interior", which looks exactly how the room is left, complete with the sofa and other furniture. The Carlyles were not very pleased with this painting when it was completed. 

Many of the rooms in the house have information about the many well-known people (writers, journalists, poets, humanitarians, artists, philosophers, scientists) who visited the Carlyle's over the years. The information around the room encounters experiences of the Carlyles and these people which was obtained through their diaries/letters and through the letters of the Carlyles.

The bedroom contains a few pieces of information about other authors, particularly other female authors of the time and extracts of the letters they sent to the authors after reading the books. There are also sketches in one corner of the room along with cards.

One of the most interesting items in the room is carved into the window glass. At the end of the 1700s, this man John Knowles carved his name into the glass. Arthur Conan Doyle of 'Sherlock Holmes' fame actually included this room and the message carved in glass in one of his books. I find this amazing that it still survives today.

At the top of the house is the writing room. It contains a shelf of books, many sketches, and many personal items. There is also much more information about the author and the visitors to this home. In addition, this study has one of the first sound-proofed rooms ever made. The bane of existence for the writer was the buzz from Cremore Gardens along the Thames not far from here. The attraction attracted 15,000 a day and included a maze, theatre, gypsy grotto, jousting, puppets, shooting, ballet, brass band, dancers, and other musical and theatre performances.  

In the semi-basement level, visitors can look at the modest kitchen and learn about the servants who worked for the Carlyle family and read about them in Jane's letters.

According to a display in the museum/house, Thomas Carlyle is the man responsible for the following phrases: absent-minded, world-famous, self-help, manhunt, craftsmanship, pretentious, decadent, gullible, improvised, genetic, upholstered, and approximately. 

Nottingham Castle brings back some memories during my last visit to Nottingham. I last visited Nottingham (my first ever visit) sometime in the summer of 2000. I had arrived on coach from Victoria Station in London and had a few hours to look around the city. One of my stops was to visit Nottingham Castle. I was told that the castle itself was demolished, so the structure present is a newer building. Note that Nottingham Castle was closed in July 2018 and will remain closed until 2020 because it is having money spent on it to improve it as an attraction.

The castle was demolished in the mid-1600s and a mansion built on the site in the 1800s, which was then unused and a ruin. The castle sits on top of a rock hill. The castle was used in the fictional Robin Hood story, although Prince John and the Sherrif of Nottingham did occupy the castle in an effort to rebel against king Richard I.

On my first visit, I explored the castle museum. I do not remember much about this other than I found it underwhelming and there was not a lot to it. There was a lot for children and activities at the castle at that time. It probably had improved somewhat from my visit in 2000, and it will improve again once the castle is remodelled again in two years.

The grounds around the castle can still be accessed, and the famous statue of Robin Hood is present and is popular with both tourists and locals.

Have you been to Nottingham Castle? I am interested in seeing what happens with the castle after its remodelling is complete. Hopefully I will be able to return and tour it again as well as tour the caves, which I also did not do during my last visit to Nottingham in 2000.

World Horse Trail is a sculpture trail in three parts, created after the success of a previous trail in 2016 at the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials. The three trails (all with unique scuptures) are located at horse rehoming centres across the UK, Windsor and Kensington/Chelsea in London. The trail covers the story of horses helped by the World Horse Welfare charity, who have put the trails together in order to raise money by auctioning off the sculptures.

Julian Seaman - Gitana

Gitana is a working horse in Nicaragua who travels to the city everyday with her owners, selling goods. Her name means "gypsy", and her design is inspired by colourful outfits. Her owners needed additional help for her.

Jamie Osbourne - Patience

Patience is a horse from Haiti whose owner uses him as a taxi service to tourists. His owner brought him to a clinic to receive treatment caused by a poorly-fitted collar. 

Sara Cox - Melvin Andrews

This horse had been dumped in a back yard overnight after the thirteen-year old daughter responded to an advertisement. He was cared for and rehomed. 

Martin Clunes and Jennifer Bell - Clippy

Clippy was found in a poor state in stables that were in bad condition. His story was told at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, which inspired his floral design.

Rob Williams - Sinbad

Sinbad was rescued with his mother because the owners could not properly care for them. Sinbad now competes in local shows and events. His design is inspired by the tales of Sinbad on the sea.

Gillian Higgins - Black

Black is a working horse from Costa Rica. He is used to teach children about horse welfare and to demonstrate to owners how to properly care for their horses so that can can continue to keep helping their families for longer. 

Judy Boyt - Chiquita

Chiquita is from Costa Rica, and she helps provide transport through the jungle. She also helps to take the children to school and help with agricultural work. Her sculpture design is inspired by her home and helping with her family.

Lee MacKenzie - Rayo

Rayo is from Panama and helps his family earn a living and transporting cargo. The owners of Rayo have been helped by the charity to provide welfare to their horses.

Competition entry winners - Hope

Hope is from North Wales, and she was part of a large group of horses that needed to be cared for and whose owners could not take care of them.

Alan Titchmarsh - Jewel

Jewel was brought into care after her owners could not care for her, and she was a bit timid. She has since been rehomed, and the design is inspired by the 200th anniversary celebrations of the birth of Queen Victoria.

For more information about World Horse Trail, see:  https://www.worldhorsewelfare.org

At the end of July, Silverstone hosted three-day event "Silverstone Classic"; this event celebrated several different races with different types of car, parade laps of classic cars and supercars, access to view thousands of different special cars on site, free access to pits and grandstands, driving experiences and demonstrations, live music, fun fair, food, and car displays (classic, vintage, and modern supercar). I went along to the event. This year marks some important anniversary years for Bentley, MINI, and MX5.

Unfortunately, the weather on the day that I went to the event was not the best. The rain did not last the whole day, but it did rain off and on. I had a look at some of the classic/vintage and supercars and watched some races. I also had a look around the pits and garages. Below are some of the photographs from the event.

Silverstone Classic is an annual event held toward the end of July and offers a day of racing and other car-related events and activities. It was a good day out (though it would have been much better if the weather had been dry and warmer), and there were a lot of cars to see and interesting races; these races included classic cars, MINIs only, MINIs and American supercars, vintage race cars, and more recent race cars.

It has been five months since 'The Garden at 120' on Fenchurch Street has opened to visitors. I visited soon after it was opened in March and took some photographs, impressed at the good views, especially the views toward Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. You can see my photographs from my first visit in March here: London's Newest Roof Garden @ 120 Fenchurch Street. Well, I went back at the beginning of July with a friend from the states; we'd wanted to also visit the Walkie Talkie before to get breakfast, but this seems too busy to visit anymore even though they do say walk-ins were fine, we were turned away twice.

I got to see the difference in the seasons from 'The Garden at 120'; when I visited it in March, plants had been planted and landscaped, but nothing was in bloom except for a few daffodils, and it appeared a bit empty. On my July visit, the plants had grown and were in beautiful bloom. I didn't take any photographs of the view, so please check out my earlier post to see more photographs.

At some point, there will be some restaurants up here, but there wasn't anything when I visited. The gardens are free to visit, and I think that visitors will be impressed with the view.

At the end of June, I had a weekend away in the Yorkshire Dales, a part of England that I have not explored much. Several years ago when I went to Harrogate, I went into the southeast tip of the Dales, but this time, I stayed at the Pheasant Inn near Kirkby Lonsdale in the southwest part of the country. The accommodation was a pub-restaurant with a garden and located in a small settlement of buildings bordering sheep pastures.

I had a nice four-poster bed in the bedroom, and it included an en-suite bathroom with bath. The window looked out over the road in the small country village, and I watched the tractors carrying cut hay in wagons back and forth through the village. The booking included two nights, which was a gift to me. This also included breakfast every morning and dinner on the first night. (Dinner included a starter or dessert and a main; drinks and a third course were charged extra.)

To celebrate some much-needed time off, we had three courses. I had the vegetable soup, which came served with a slice of fresh bread. My only complaint was that the soup was too thick. The rest of the meal was good, though! The soup should have been thinner, not lumpy.  

The bloke had steak, and I had chicken risotto.

For the desserts, the bloke had ice cream. I had the brownie.

Now to cover what I got up to in the Yorkshire Dales. In the short of it, I visited castles, abbey ruins, show caves, and the Wensleydale Cheese Factory. I had part of a day in the Lake District as well, but I did not get a good sense of discovering it. I went on a boat trip to Piel Castle, which was probably the highlight, to a castle and an abbey.

A Visit to Bowes Castle (County Durham, England)
Exploring White Scar Caves in the Yorkshire Dales, England
A Visit to Egglestone Abbey (Country Durham, England)
A Visit to Barnard Castle's Castle (County Durham, England)
An Afternoon at Wray Castle in England's Lake District
A Morning at Piel Castle, Piel Island
Days Out: Furness Abbey (Cumbria, England)
Days Out: Wensleydale Cheese (Yorkshire Dales, England)
Days Out: Ingleborough Cave (Yorkshire Dales, England)
A Visit to Pendragon Castle (Yorkshire Dales, England)
An Afternoon at Brough Castle (Cumbria, England)

One of my stops in the Lake District was to Fell Foot on Windermere Lake. This was only a fleeting trip. The area is picturesque with sailboats and people enjoying the sun and the water.

A Roman villa was discovered here in the flat area near the parking, but there's no remains visible of it. There is also a boat house here.

That concludes my visit to the Yorkshire Dales and Lake District. Hopefully I am able to take more time off in the future to make it a longer journey, but I could not take much time off at the moment.

Pendragon Castle is rich with history and legend. It is rumoured to be the castle of King Arthur's father, and he diverted the river Eden near the castle to fill its moat. Some legends claim that King Arthur's father and other men died here due to a poisioned well. However, this castle actually dates to the 12th century, and it was a Norman keep and home. It was passed to the owner Anne Clifford of nearby Brough Castle (An Afternoon at Brough Castle (Cumbria, England)).

The castle is on private farmland just off the road and can be visited, but there's not much to see because it became a ruin after Anne Clifford died and her successor stripped the castle of its useful resources.

A set of stairs can be entered into the castle keep remains, but there's nothing here now except mounds of grass.

I am sure that this was a nice castle before it fell into ruin.

On Sunday morning, I went over to Notting Hill to try possibly what is London's newest cafe and Instagram spot, Eggslut. Eggslut opened in Notting Hill on Wednesday last week. As the name suggests, the cafe serves egg-related sandwiches and other plates, but they are not all breakfast sandwiches. They sandwiches include cooked egg in bun with choice of cheese, bacon, hamburger or sausage, and the bun can be substituted for salad. Eggslut also serve a 'slut', which is a coddled egg with potato and an American-style buttermilk biscuit with honey-butter.

Eggslut first launched as a food truck in Los Angeles in 2013, but it became popular quickly and has a celebrity following as well. Although they do have a couple of branches outside the United States in Lebanon and Kuwait, this Notting Hill branch is their first branch in Europe. Fear not, though, because I overheard them talking about a Shoreditch location opening in October.

When I visited on Sunday, the first weekend of the cafe, I had to wait awhile for my order. After talking to one of the staff members, I was talked into the Fairfax option. This is their signature option that they have perfected and is egg with chives, carmelised onions, cheddar, and sirachi mayonaisse. The egg is generally served rare, but I asked for it to be well-cooked, and I had it without the mayonnaise because I dislike mayonnaise. Bacon, sausage, and other options could be included for a small cost, so I choose bacon. It was really delicious.

I also ordered the American-style buttermilk biscuit, which was a little different than what I've eaten in America, but it tasted very similar and was very filling.

The location was bright with neon signs, indoor 'plants', and street art. The street art below is by Woskerski (see my post here about this artist: Recent Spring 2018 Woskerski Street Art). The cafe is perfect for Instagram photographs, and the food does photograph well.

Eggslut is located at 185 Portabello Road in Notting Hill, and it is open from 8:00am to 5:00pm daily at the time of writing this.

One of London's newest immersive theatre experiences is the "War of the Worlds" experience, based on the musical by Jeff Wayne's "War of the Worlds". This is based on the original science fiction story by H.G. Wells, one of the founders of the science fiction genre. The experience launched in May and is due to finish in November. It has taken over 22,000 square feet of a building on Leadenhall Street in the City of London and includes a bar/cafe that visitors off the street can enjoy without requiring tickets to the attraction and another bar halfway through the experience. I visited the experience last weekend.

I arrived at the venue early in order to have a drink and a enjoy the atmosphere in the bar and restaurant area. Ticketed visitors are expected to arrive no later than 15 minutes before their time as otherwise they will not be permitted. Visitors go into groups in up to twelve; I visited on the Sunday, and most slots had at least two spare spaces. Because I was there early, we got to go into the slot before the one we were booked into, which ended up being better because there were only five people in that time, and the slot we would have had had eight people in it already. 

The bar itself is inspired by Victorian steampunk as H.G. Wells wrote his stories in the late 1800s. ('The Time Machine' 1960 version, one of my favourite films, and it also includes a similar design with the time machine, which has become an icon.) 

In the middle of the bar room, the main feature is a Martian creature inspired by the alien creatures in the story.

The experience takes place over ten rooms with visitors led into different rooms that have been decorated to add to the story: a Victorian living room, an observation room with telescopes, a church, a graveyard, underground tunnels, a hot air balloon, and a dock to name a few. Real actors and actresses helped to bring the story to life and guided us through the journey. In some places, to make the story come to life, visitors wore a VR (virtual reality) headset to experience the Martians and other characters throughout the story. The VR headsets were a little choppy and glitchy at times, but each visitor was transformed into a Victorian character in the VR world and watched the aliens attack. The person I went with had their headset fail in one place, and both of our headsets glitched in the balloon ride without being able to see the full experience. The other VR characters did look slightly creepy.

Overall, the experience was really good and really fun, and the actors and actresses really helped bring it to life and engage us in the setting. The VR was put together well, minus some of the glitches, and it helped to bring the story along. To help the pacing, we had a twenty minute break half the way through our journey in a bar, which was just enough time to get a cocktail or ice cream. With the experience cost, we included a cocktail in the bar called the "Red Weed cocktail". This cocktail was dressed in red vines as if taken over by the alien creatures, and the music in the bar was an extended version of one of the songs from the Jeff Wayne musical.

At the end of the experience, it was time for lunch. I had a pizza, and the person I went with had a steak pie. We both thought that the food and drinks were very good and were surprised that many others were not staying for food and drink. If you do go to the experience, leave room for a bite to eat after the experience. The cocktails were also very good and strong.

Overall, this was a very good experience. It was a little similar to the 'Star Wars' experience in Westfield a few years ago which allowed you to be part of the action and actually interact by shooting virtual stormtroopers and enemies. The organisers of the "War of the Worlds" immersive experience are known as dotdotdot, and this is their second large production after their award-winning dream experience Somnai. I look forward to seeing what else they achieve.

London's best-dressed pub and one of the top Instagram (photograph) spots in the city is the Churchill Arms on Kensington Road near Notting Hill. The pub is covered with thousands of colourful flowers, and it must be seen to be believed. It really is beautiful. However, it does attract a lot of people trying to get their perfect selfie or group photograph.

Inside the pub is a different story; the pub lives up to its name and shows off many pieces associated with Winston Churchill. The pub serves hot meals and drinks and is a nice place to visit, although it does get busy.

For other seasonal photographs, check out the Churchill Arms in winter and in spring:

Festive Pint at the Churchill Arms, Notting Hill/Kensington
The Churchill Arms Pub in Kensington Decorated for Spring

I visited Maitre Choux at the beginning of last month with friends from the states, and we went to Maitre Choux in Soho to have a drink and an eclair. We were attracted to the beautiful and colourful eclairs in the cafe window. Maitre Choux is a three-Michelin star cafe that specialises in choux pastry, which is a type of light and puff pastry. They sell sweet and savoury eclairs.

While in the shop, we were offered to try a free chouquette, which is a puff pastry ball with a flavoured filling. Some of them were also covered in chocolate.

We bought an eclair and had a drink and three of the chouquettes on a plate in the cafe.

I couldn't resist some pretty photographs of the eclairs in the window before we left.

We visited the Maitre Choux in Soho, but there's another branch in Kensington. 

Last summer, I visited Manchester for a long weekend with my friends from the states who were staying there. I got to explore a lot of the street art in the Northern Quarter, and you can see my post of the street art from last year (Manchester Street Art). This year, they were back in the city, and I had a quick look to see what had changed in the world of street art in Manchester. I have already blogged some new work by AKSE, and you can see my post here: AKSE Paints Arya Stark, Millie Bobbie Brown, and Liam Gallagher in Manchester. This post covers the other new street art that I discovered.

Hammo

Trafford Parsons

Faunagraphics

Nomad Clan

unknown

Mark and Serena

unknown

unknown

Lowdown

Mark and Serena

dmstff (inspired by 'A Clockwork Orange')

ThisOne

Jay Sharples

Jungle

Flok

Trusty Scribe

Jay Sharples

Jay Sharples

If you know who the artist is for the ones I marked as unknown, please let me know.

Street artist Paul Don Smith is also known as 'the banker' or 'tapman', and I've covered his work many times on this blog. He uses stencils to create portraits of famous people and fictional characters, and I used to see him putting up new work in Shoreditch and Spitalfields when I worked on Brick Lane. These days and for the past three years, however, he paints exclusively in Soho, west London. I've photographed some of his more recent murals around Soho.

Alan MacDonald and Lindsay Kemp

Venom

Hardy

Fonzo

Keith Flint of 'The Prodigy' tribute

'Blade Runner'

Previous work by Paul Don Smith on this blog:

Paul Don Smith Paints 'Legend' Mural on Hanbury Street & Other Work from the Summer
Paul 'Don' Smith's New Street Art: Spock, Heath Ledger, Loki, and More
Don "Paul" Smith's New Street Art: Elvis, Mad Max, Hulk, Bob Marley, and more
New Summer 2014 Street Art by Paul 'Don' Smith (the Banker)
Whitecross Street Party 2014
Street Art on Whitecross Street
New Street Art by C215 and Paul 'Don' Smith
Recent Street Art in Early 2014
New Street Art from Don 'Paul' Smith, including pieces from Whitecross Street
New Street Art and a Meeting with Paul Don Smith (the Banker)
Street Art: Don Smith

One of my good friends from the states came to London for a few days in early July, and we went to Four Winters Ice Cream on Gloucester Road after spending the morning and early afternoon wandering around the city. This was at the height of Wimbledon, and Four Winters had a special Wimbledon-inspired ice cream on the menu. 

Four Winters use liquid nitrogen to quickly cool down the ingredients (cream and flavours) to make ice cream. The flavours are often pre-mixed, and these are combined with other toppings to create delicious desserts. I last visited in early February, and I had a delicious strawberry ice cream (Four Winters Ice Cream (Gloucester Road, London)).

However, this time I had the Wimbledon ice cream. This came in a white chocolate shell, designed to mimic a tennis ball. Inside the white chocolate shell was strawberry ice cream. These were pre-made.

My friend got the chocolate brownie ice cream. 

Four Winters is located near Gloucester Road tube station on the District and Piccadilly lines. It's address is 103 Gloucester Road, and it is open daily from 12:00 noon to 11:00 at night.

One of the most spectacular and interesting castles in the Cumbria region, located at the top of the Yorkshire Dales, is Brough Castle. In fact, this bit of land served as a Roman fort before it was a stone castle. The earthworks date from the Roman fort and a previous castle here, but the stone that can be seen today dates from the 1100s. This castle has a rich history. 

This site began as a Roman fort Veretis. It was one of a number of forts on an old Roman road between York to Carlisle (similar to the next fort toward York, where Bowes Castle currently stands), and it was probably built around 80AD. It is thought to have accommodated 500 men, and items discovered near here suggest that it was a Thracian army, which were men from modern-day Turkey. The old Roman road follows the current road, where the below photograh was taken between Bowes Castle and Brough Castle. The view is impressive, and I can see why the Romans built two forts here as it gave them the advantage of looking out over their empire.

When the Normans invaded in the late 1000s, the site of the fort was reused. The earthworks provided them with a new castle. The ditches were dug deeper and the walls wider, following the outline of the Roman fort. This area was always under attack from the Scottish (whose border was actually not far from this castle at one time), and the castle was given to Vieuxponts family by King John; this was then inherited by the Cliffords family who used it as their primary residence.

When the castle suffered a fire over Christmas in the mid-1500s when Lord Clifford hosted a party, it was rebuilt by Lady Anne Clifford in the mid-1600s. Lady Anne Clifford was the last to reside here. She was the last of the family line and also helped repair other castles. The castle was unused from the late 1600s and finally abandoned in 1713, which is a shame because it looked like a fantastic castle.

Today, the castle is located next to the village that sprung up beside it, and a cafe and ice cream shop is near the entrance. There is also a playground and picnic tables for families here. In the field next to the castle are horses that greet visitors, and the castle grounds are pasture that contained sheep when I visited.

The castle keep (pictured below) sits at one end of the castle, and it was rebuilt after being destroyed by the Scottish in a siege in the late 1100s. The keep can be climbed up a few stairs to the first floor, but there's nothing much to see except some good views over the valley. The castle does not have a well, so rainwater would have been collected from the gutters.

The entrance to the castle is through a small door, and the interior courtyard is completely paved in cobblestone.  

The keep is in the background in the photograph below, but the remains of walls to other buildings can be seen. To the left in the photograph below are the remains of the stables.

The photograph below shows the main living quarters. Opposite these (to the left corner in the photograph) were the kitchens.

The kitchen walls can be seen to the right in the below photograph with the keep in the distance.

I had a wander around the living quarters, and the walls here are mainly intact. Visitors can make out the doorways, chimneys, and staircases as well as where the wooden beams for the upstairs rooms would have been.

I recommend Brough Castle to visit because it is an interesting castle with a long history dating from Roman times and is set in a picturesque setting with a small cafe on site and beautiful views over the countryside. 

Soho Square in London has been a public square since the mid-1950s but was owned by the Portland family until 1966. It used to be called King Square due to the statue of King Charles II in the square (pictured below). However, it has been known as Soho Square for many years and is a quiet area to sit and avoid crowds from the bustling Tottenham Court Road, Oxford Street and Soho. The timber-framed building in the square was built in 1926 as a mock "market cross", but it actually hides an electric substation.

The square was built in the mid-1600s and was fashionable at that time, and it has been altered since then. 

One less-known fact is that an air raid shelter was built under the square during World War II. Another fact is that one of the benches in the square was bought by fans of singer Kirsty McCall, who wrote a song about the square. The lyrics are inscribed on the bench: "One day I'll be waiting there / no empty bench in Soho Square".