Blue Skies

Endlessly fascinating, always captivating.

Party!

On a May Bank holiday, the residents at Caterham, Kent were out in strength, enjoying a neighbourhood street party. 

Free jelly and ice cream!

No taker for a cerebral game of chess

Leeds Castle, Kent

A 12th century fortress, the Leeds Castle stands proudly on two islands in the River Len.  This was the place that Henry VIII refurbished for Catherine of Aragon, and where Elizabeth I was imprisoned before her accession.  The extensive grounds and park offer picture postcard view of the Kent countryside.

On the day, the white peacock strutted its plumage, and the black swans that come to symbolise the Castle, were roaming the grounds.  

Appledore and Instow, North Devon

The Quay at Appledore on a bright spring day.

Here, there are fishing trips and even crabbing contests on the quay. 

This quaint fishing village has a maze of narrow streets

leading to the quay, some of them dating back to Elizabethan era.

Appledore, as seen from Instow, on a glorious spring afternoon

Instow, seen from Appledore

Clovelly, North Devon

16th century fishermen's cottages tumble down a single, cobbled street, set in the thick woods cramming a ravine cut into the sheer cliffs overlooking Bideford Bay.  These white-washed houses hug a lane that falls 122m in just 0.8km to the stone quay.  The main street, called Up Along or Down Along, depending on which way you are going, is too steep for wheeled traffic: donkeys and sledges do the carrying.

Lobster pots at the quay

Hartland Quay, North Devon

The jagged Hartland Rock Formations basking in the sunlight of a glorious summer morning.  What a breathtaking view of the Atlantic.

Milano Series - Street scenes

Milano Series - Architectural Gems

Magnificent stone carvings, Duomo

Piazza del Duomo on a rainy day. 

Rain did not stop the bullying tactics of the pigeon feed hawkers

The passageway leading to Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II,

Piazza del Duomo

The lofty and airy arcade at Central Station

Milano Series - Objects of Desire

Greenwich Time

It was a thoroughly wet and blustery day at Greenwich, and the biting cold was cutting through the thoughtlessly thin layer of spring clothing.

Shoehorned into this neat green rectangle of parking beside the Thames are the Royal Observatory, the National Maritime Museum, the Old Royal Naval College and the Painted  - a number of gems at this Unesco World Heritage site. 

The parkland leading to the Royal Observatory

The sumptuous Painted Hall,

an extravagant dining room by any standards

Ceiling of the Painted Hall -

what a hospital canteen where the old souls

munched their mutton and beans!

Some gold barge at the National Martime Museum -

No Photography the sign screamed!

The Tulip Staircase, Queen Anne House

The Great Hall, Queen Anne House

this one taken with my Sony Ericsson C510 phone

A new time, a new place

The campus that I will be visiting for a while.  Spring has been elusive this year.