Category: Architecture

Fettiplace

Many years ago, after a walk in the Cotswolds with Sandy Murray, we stopped at Swinbrook to look at the church where Nancy and Unity Mitford are buried and there are these magnificent reclining ancestors. There are two triple-deckers so it is worth the detour.

Boyne Bloomers

A letter in The Times suggests that the name of the president-elect of France could be derived from MacRonald, “one of the wild geese Irishmen who migrated to France after the battle of the Boyne”. What nonsense.

Just a Minute

I try to avoid hesitation, repetition, and deviation. I fail lamentably with deviation and there is an element of repetition today.

St Paul’s

At the end of March 2012, I went with my cousin to St Paul’s Cathedral for a service to mark the centenary of Scott’s doomed expedition to the South Pole.  My cousin is of an adventurous disposition and had been in Antarctica, qualifying him for two tickets to the service.

Lambeth Palace Library

My maternal grandfather read Theology at St John’s College, Durham and was ordained. He was appointed junior chaplain to the Bishop of Bombay in 1906. Much later he became vicar for West Malling in Kent. 

Mount Juliet

Mount Juliet is a mid to late 18th century house built by the 1st Earl of Carrick in Co Kilkenny. It was sold to the McCalmonts in 1914 and a ballroom was added in the 1920s.

Gozo Notes

Malta has two main indigenous grape varieties: Gellewza (red) and Ghirgentina (white). Not as catchy or easy to pronounce as chardonnay – remember that Oz ad campaign, “say g’day to a chardonnay” that implied Australians at the very least cleaned their teeth in the morning with the stuff. 

Carnival and Churches

  A few tourists but mostly Maltese pour into Gozo for Carnival. The usual population is elderly but Carnival is for the young and thirsty. Robert and I must be the only people who didn’t have a drink – but we didn’t stay long. The parade hadn’t started which made it easy to take these… Continue reading Carnival and Churches

Building on Gozo

The buildings on Gozo are mostly built in warm, honey-coloured limestone. They often have elaborately carved balconies, columns and pediments although many were only built in the 1980s and 90s. Perhaps this is because there are strict planning laws and to retain Gozo’s reputation as a heritage island? Where does this limestone come from?

Great Scott

The St Pancras Renaissance Hotel was originally the Midland Grand Hotel designed by Sir Gilbert Scott in 1865. Did Sir Gilbert think he’d done enough that year?