Author Archives: miladysboudoir

No Trains Today! Alton Station, Staffordshire

Welcome to Alton

On Friday I stepped back in time visiting a pre-Beeching era railway station. My friend, Ann, and I were on our way to spend a weekend visiting Pugin-related buildings in East Staffordshire, staying at a National Trust cottage in the Manifold Valley (Peak District) and, hopefully, fitting in a country walk in the valley. More about these in future posts; but our first destination of the weekend was the Landmark Trust’s Alton Station which Ann arranged for us to visit on this changeover day. Continue reading →

Remembrance : Rosanna’s Mosaic Poppies

My friend Rosanna posted this earlier in the week. The South Street Gallery is in Isleworth at 2 Shrewsbury Walk, Isleworth, TW7 7DE (020 8758 9177)
Sunday 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Monday to Friday 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
I also love Rosanna and Alan’s plans to walk The Capital Ring.

NOTE : Some of Rosanna’s photos don’t appear here so please click the link to the original post to see more!

Rosanna's Mosaics's avatarRosanna's Mosaics and Glass

P1050595For this Remembrance weekend I have made 3 poppy mosaics. They will be in the South Street Gallery as Lesley is having a special weekend event.

Here is a reminder of the fantastic poppy art installation that graced the Tower of London last year.  A stunning, moving display that will stay in the mind forever.

LONDON ACTIVITIES:  We have started to walk ‘The Capital Ring‘ which is a 78 mile route around London, divided into 15 sections. Walking through open spaces, nature reserves and woodlands, it passes numerous historic sights and places of interest.

Section 1: Woolwich to Falconwood. Starting by the river at Woolwich going towards the Thames Barrier, branching off into Maryon & Maryon Wilson Parks, past Charlton House, over Woolwich Common and Eltham Common before ascending Oxleas Meadows for spectacular views over London and a well deserved cuppa before catching the train home. A beautiful…

View original post 9 more words

Fountains Abbey to Markenfield Hall

autumn colours

Autumn colours at the start of the walk

The area around Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire provides several opportunities for walking without the need, lovely as it is, to actually enter the grounds. This is especially important when leading a walk for Weekday Wanderers as not all group members are National Trust members. The Trust encourages walks in the area by publishing descriptive leaflets. For me the beauty is also free, reasonably safe parking and the use of facilities at the Visitor Centre. There is also interest in the buildings and landscape and walking is generally pretty level. Continue reading →

Devon Day Out with Dovegreyreader

Yesterday was my annual Devon outing with Lynne, the dovegreyreader. In past years we’ve met here, here and here. Not forgetting (and I never will) our weekend at Port Eliot last year.

Lynne invited me to her lovely home which also features, along with the calm and beautiful countryside on her doorstep, on her blog. After tea and chinwag, a house tour and letting the dogs (Rusty and Nell) have a quick run in the field next door we donned our walking boots and set off on a walk that Lynne had planned for us. The walk took in two churches and ended (as every perfect walk should) at a pub.

Sydenham Damerel methodist church

Sydenham Demeral Methodist Church is no longer in use for services and sadly wasn’t open but its churchyard is still beautifully maintained and there’s the perfect view across fields with only a couple of habitations in sight; one of which is Lynne’s home. Continue reading →

Tiger, Mog, Pink Rabbit and More : The Jewish Museum, London

Kerr leaflet

On Sunday I met my sister, who was visiting me in London for the day, at the Jewish Museum, in Camden. As her train was somewhat delayed and she had had to leave the train at Stratford instead of Liverpool Street we had only a limited amount of time to look round. We chose to visit the current temporary exhibition on the third floor :Pink_Rabbit_home_page_920x265__false__true

and then quickly work our way through the History: A British Story section on the second floor. While I was waiting I spent time on the ground floor looking at the crowd-sourced Sacrifice displays. Continue reading →

Rothenstein’s Relevance at The Ben Uri Gallery

RR poster

In January 2014 I visited the Ben Uri Gallery in north London and today I was back there again.  It’s very fortuitous that I happen to be dog-sitting again when another excellent show is on at the Gallery. Sir William Rothenstein (1872-1945) was born in Bradford and attended Bradford Grammar School and was a very significant figure in the art world in the first half of the 20th century. Continue reading →

Historic New England Houses

The second place we stayed on this trip was in Maine and had the delightful name of Merrymeeting Retreat. It’s named after the nearby peninsula and bay of the Kennenec River to which it’s possible to walk, through woods, to see eagles nesting and other wildlife.

Our host told us that the house, below, was built in 1780 by Captain Samuel and Hannah Hinton Lilly. It stands next to the very quiet Route 128 (River Road) about 12 miles north of the historic town of Bath and about 8 miles from the equally historic (by American standards) town of Wiscasset to the east.

river road house

porch Continue reading →