Latest Finds
Here’s some of my latest finds that I’m loving lately. I Found the tinplate flip calendar with world map (one side the Americas the other the rest of the world!) and 2 of the fiction books on ebay (Real World by Natsuo Kirino & Audition by Ryu Murakami) and the other (Naoko by Keigo Higashino) on Bookmooch – a great online place to swap books.
Then found the stunning chinese martial arts dvds at a charity shop & supermarket, bargains! and I also found the teak wooden leaf at a charity shop and am using it as a display plate for lots of little things that don’t have a home (a stag antler button, an old spanish peseta, a few beads, a rubber stamp, rose quartz & a geode), plus I’m loving my Minnetonka Moccasins, I feel like I’m on the wild American plains in the 18th century, having made my own shoes! (I wish)
AUTUMN sights
Autumn is a time for changing and falling leaves, trees going bare, blankets and fleecy socks, the return of hats and gloves and seeing your breath come to life in white wisps. Of brilliant sunshine one day and freezing hail the next, catching up with tv, film and books and of seeing the sights…
including steam engines,
crooked spires which legend has it came to be because the devil sat on it!
Fresh autumn walks…
Revisiting old architecture that has always been there (in your lifetime at least!) and that you’d forgotten about (The Devonshire Dome, Buxton)
The last few stubborn leaves that don’t won’t to leave till their return in the spring…
Reading great biographies — I just read ‘Bess of Hardwick by Mary S Lovell which mentions Mary, Queen of Scots a lot, as she and her husband the Earl of Shrewsbury were Mary’s ‘prison guards’ and took her to stay and ‘take the healing waters’ of Buxton and stayed at ‘The Old Hall Hotel’.
The hotel is one of the oldest in England and you’re still supposed to be able to see where Mary scratched a farewell to Buxton onto one of the window panes. (read the fascinating history of the hotel here)
MANCHESTER ART
There’s some great exhibitions about this Autumn and I recently caught the new one at Manchester Art Gallery ‘The First Cut’ featuring all works made out of paper, including Rob Ryan’s largest ever papercut above which ponders on life, death, earth and whatever’s above or next….
There was some beautiful large scale installations based on the weather by and a nebula inspired creation by Andy Singleton
Not sure who these were by but the whole show was pretty fantastic, it’s on till January 2013 so go check it out!
A leaf forest by Manbu Hangai
My favourites however were by Noriko Ambe (no photos allowed on these so this image which wasn’t in the show- came from here)
And then I walked all the way down to the Whitworth Art Gallery where I saw two great shows.
Jane & Louise Wilson have been on my radar for a few years after I saw the beautiful film ‘Monument’ filmed on a run down old pavilion by Victor Pasmore at the Whitworth. And they don’t disappoint again. The big film being premiered was ‘The Toxic Camera’ but I was more drawn into ‘Face Scripting - What did the building see?’ which chronicles a hotel in the UAE where a Hamas operative was murdered in Room 230. Watch it here
Having initially gone for the Jane & Louise Wilson I always love getting surprised by the smaller shows that are on at the same time, and that was so with ‘Hockney to Hogarth: A Rake’s Progress’ which puts Hogarth’s famous 12 plate chronology of a man’s life filled with gambling, womanising, prison and love next to Hockney’s loosely based version of him exploring 1960’s New York. Beautiful etchings from the 18th Century & 20th Century side by side what more could you want, except maybe to have them hanging in your house..
The Whitworth Exhibitions had great leaflets too beautifully designed by Creative Concern, bold, simple and informative, they’re both still on till 27th Jan.
MUSIC on REPEAT
There’s always tons of music being released but rather than just constantly consuming it I love to come across music a bit more organically and natural like through projects or through that great advert on tv or finding a amazing artist through another of your favourites. So here’s a little selection of music that has recently come into my life, made it better and are stuck on repeat.
Read up on the Scottish folktale that ‘Annachie Gordon’ is based on here, it’s pretty sad….
and cause we all love a bit of the Bee Gees & their only #1 Single from the 80’s (that’s so gonna come up in a pub quiz one day!)
JANE EYRE & HATHERSAGE
— View of North Lees Hall (centre) and Stanage Edge near Hathersage (image from here)
I’ve never read Jane Eyre only seen one of the many tv adaptations of it but I think I might have to read the book now after just walking around Hathersage & North Lees Hall which were the inspiration behind Charlotte Bronte’s famous novel. (I forgot my camera so means I will just have to go back sometime for a rerun to get pictures!)
We walked up to the Church, St Michael’s & All Angels (great photo of the church taken in the mid 1800’s found on the V&A website)
The church was endowed by the Eyre family, a local wealthy family who Bronte no doubt took the name from for her heroine. The Church and Graveyard have lots of interesting sights such as…..
Memorial brasses of the Eyre family, here’s a rubbing taken from one which was in the Church (image from here)
and The grave of Little John, Robin Hood’s trusty friend & lieutenant! Who knew he died in Hathersage? (image from here)
I picked up this postcard in the Church which details all the buildings still in Hathersage which appear in some form in Jane Eyre:-
From the Church we headed on up the valley over fields filled with sheep and through lots of gates and over stiles till we rounded the corner and spotted North Lees Hall.
It was built in about 1590 and is said to have been the inspiration behind Thornfield Hall where Mr Rochester lived and where Jane Eyre was a Governess and there’s a pretty good description of the hall in the novel: ‘three stories high …battlements round the top gave it a picturesque look. Its grey front stood out well from the back-ground of a rookery ..’ (image from here)
From North Lees Hall we climbed just a bit further up to get to the bottom of Stanage Edge, a rocky craggy edge which has been filmed lots for period dramas (cue Keira Knightley standing on the edge about to fall off in Pride & Prejudice) (image from here)
We didn’t have time to go up along the Edge, it was packed with walkers and climbers and people doing a Knightley! We then walked back down to Hathersage passing Brookfield Manor which was also the inspiration for Vale Hall in Jane Eyre.
A great little walk took about 2 hours we heard the chiming church bells at 12 on the way out and 2 on the way back into the village! Now off to get the freebie Jane Eyre book for my kindle, perfect autumn reading!
