A series of articles covering our first holiday on the Island Star cruise ship. We'll be calling at Palma de Mallorca > Day at Sea > Villefrance, France > Monte Carlo, Monaco > Livorno, Italy > Florence, Italy > Marseilles, France > Barcelona, Spain > Ibiza.
Another round-up of sketches and artwork done over the past year.
It has been another weird year in more ways than one. In 2021 we were still in a lockdown year and in fact this is the only bit of artwork that I undertook during the final three months of that year. This is the village of Brent Knoll in Somerset, from an old sepia postcard from the early 20th century. It had beeen called South Brent, but was changed somewhere in the 10 years from 1875 as railways spread in order to avoid passenger confusion, there being another South Brent in Devon. Oil pastels on A2 paper done over a few days at the end of Novermber 2021.
Done in a day, the day being the 21st of January 2022, this is Polperro in Cornwall, drawn in pencil crayon in the A4 sketchbook from one of my own photographs, taken in 1971.
Also in pencil crayon in the A4 sketchbook and also from one of my own photos, this is the harbour at Torbole on the northern banks of Lake Garda in Italy. A lovely place that we have visited a few times. This was done on the third of March 2022.
Towards the end of May we had a couple of nights stay in Bourton-on-the-Water in Gloucester. The Cotswolds can pull me towards them any time and we had an enjoyable few days with only a few interludes of rain. It was also wonderful to be able to sit and draw with the scene actually in front of me in real life and not just on a photograph.
Also in Bourton - I think it's the town hall or something like that. I should take more notice...
This one is of Arlington Row in Bibury from the same short break. It was raining a little as I did this. I was sitting in the car on the back seat with the sliding door open. A few people came past and one or two stopped to drip and say nice things about the developing sketch.
After the Cotswolds break everything started to go a little bit pear-shaped... In June I was called back after a blood test showed anemia. After a second blood test I was referred to the gastroenterology department at the local hospital where I was told it looked likely to be cancer. I had CT scans, cameras up and down and an MRI scan after which cancer on the liver was confirmed. At the end of June I was referred to St James Hospital in Leeds, they being the liver specialists for the region. I went over during the third week in July to be told the cancer was too big to operate on. It was inoperable and incurable, however a procedure would deliver targetted chemo directly to it via the arteries from my groin - nice... The procedure took place on the 11th August and a few weeks after we had a couple of nights break in Bridlington as a bit of a "sanity break" for the mind. Whilst there we hopped a bus to Scarborough where I drew this from a small garden near the funicular cliff railway. By way of a footnote, the procedure shrank the cancer as evidenced by a further MRI scan on 17 September. I now await another MRI in December to see what has happened since September.
Wednesday 26 October 2022. The third and final article on our short stay in Lincoln.
If you have been reading these articles in order, you will know that we spent Wednesday morning inside the cathedral. We came out of the cathedral through the main west entrance overlooking the rear of Exchequer Gate.
Walking through the archways leads us to Exchquer Gate - the area in front of the archway with Steep Hill on the left and Castle Hill directly in front of us.
A cup of tea was what was needed. A small cafe looked inviting and was nicely decorated, but then the drinks came served in cardboard cups. Oh dear... Looking back from Castle Hill to Exchequer Gate and the Cathedral.
The castle grounds were free to enter and walk round. There was a charge of £15 each to go round the buildings and walk on the walls. I wasn't at all sure I was up for climbing up and down spiral staircases so we just had our free entry's worth!
As with so many city castles, Lincoln had retained its use over the centuries as a jail and court. At the opposite end to the main gate through which we had come was today's Crown Courts.
In one corner of the wall a dragon has forced its way into the wall and emerged on the opposite side of the tower known as Cobb Hall. This was a place of execution which saw the deaths by hanging of prisoners take place on the roof.
The castle saw a major battle on 2 February 1141 when during the Anarchy - the civil war between King Stephen and the Empress Matilda (aka Maud) - King Stephen's besieging forces were attacked from behind by a force loyal to Maud, led by her half-brother, Robert, the first Earl of Gloucester. They were eventually successful, after a fierce battle at both the castle and in the city streets, King Stephen was captured and taken to Bristol to be imprisoned. Maud assumed the throne for a few months until Stephen was exchanged for Robert of Gloucester who was captured in the Rout of Winchester the following September.
The next battle came in 1217 during the first Barons' War. Prince Louis of France had invaded and proclaimed himself King. Many of England's barons, whose power was diminished due to King John's Magna Carta, supported him until John's death in 1216 when his nine-year-old son, Henry III became king, guided by Sir William Marshall as Regent. In May 1217 Prince Louis had taken the city of Lincoln and was besieging the castle which was held firm for King Henry by a female castellan, Nichola de la Haye. Marshall marched from Stow to the north and gained the north gate of the castle whilst his crossbow men took high positions on the roofs of houses. They rained bolts on the besieging army who were then charged by Sir William's knights and footsoldiers and routed. As it was held that the city had supported Prince Louis by housing his army, the city was sacked and pillaged, this later being cynically referred to as the "Lincoln Fair".
We left this scene of death and destruction and walked (in my case, very gingerly) down Steep Hill. The photo shows the point at which it approaches its steepest point, the posts of its railings can be seen between the groups of people and I walked very slowly holding on with my left hand to the railings and right hand to my walking stick, trying to ignore my back which was saying "What the hell are you doing???" We found a model shop down this stretch and they had a good stock of Hornby and other makes of OO guage model railway locos, rolling stock and accessories.
And so we found ourselves back on High Street, having walked through the Stonebow.
We had lunch and then Miss Franny indulged herself in a bit of shopping before we emerged from a mall onto the River Witham. We were standing on a small pedestrian bridge over the river when something spooked around a million pigeons that were being fed a few yards away. We were not the only ones to duck...
207 High Street is built on the western edge of a bridge over the River Witham. Narrow gaps between it and the adjoining buildings lead down some steps to the banks of the river.
The riverside path takes you underneath a large bridge, wide enough for the path to be known as Brayford Tunnel. A mural has been painted along the walls and the tunnel is both pleasant and smell-free to walk through.
It brings you to Brayford Pool, with a marina and Lincoln University on the southern side and pubs, restaurants and a cinema complex on the north side.
Looking back to the road bridge/tunnel, as you walk west you read "Where are you going?" and now looking east a similar message reads "Where have you been?" I plonked myself on a bench enjoying the weak sunshine and numbing chill factor of the breeze whilst Miss Franny went back through the tunnel to buy herself a pair of boots. "I came out of a different door and had to get my bearings," she said, flicking at the icicles and frozen pigeon droppings that had unknowingly decorated my appendages whilst she had been away...
Before returning to the hotel, we took a stroll back up Bailgate for another cup of tea and to choose somewhere to eat our evening meal. We arrived once more at the Roman Newport Arch and wandered along the narrow street to its right to view the remains of the Roman city wall. Then a couple of hours in the hotel bar lounge where I looked longingly but ultimately and reluctantly self-denyingly at the Guinness pump tap - I'm not now allowed alcohol by doctor's orders. I left the camera in the room whilst we went out for a last meal and walk and we woke on Thursday morning ready to come home, gleefully uncaring that it was chucking it down with rain!
Wednesday, 26 October 2022. Our short break in Lincoln continues with a visit to the famous cathedral.
Wednesday morning starts with breakfast in the hotel as we look forward to visiting the cathedral and hopefully discovering the Lincoln Imp - a carving of a supernatural being, supposed to be a bit mischievous, but not supposed to be easy to find!
We walk through the grounds to the cathedral entrance. Some parts of the cathedral are free to enter, others require an entry fee. The upkeep of a building like this must be enormous (1.6 million pounds in 2021) so we didn't begrudge paying. Following the directions from the lady on the desk we arrived at the cloisters. Building started in the year 1072 and continued sporadically over several hundred years. In fact it was largely destroyed by a magnitude 5+ earthquake in April 1185. Only the lower part of the west end and its two towers exist of the former building. In 1311 a steeple was added to the central tower making Lincoln Cathedral supposedly the tallest building in the world for 238 years, the spire collapsing and somewhat spoiling the legitimacy of the claim in 1548.
The north walk of the cloister has open archways rather than continuous windows in a wall and an arch made a nice frame for a view of the central tower (previous photograph), whilst here you can see the grassed area that the cloister surrounds.
The Chapter House was the first octagonal chapter house in England and was used to depict that of Westminster Abbey for the filming of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code in 2005. Polystyrene replicas of Isaac Newton's tomb as well as other feature of Westminster were used, though the use of the cathedral for this purpose was not without controversy.
A painting of four former Bishops of Lincoln, all thought to be buried within this area of the church. They are: Robert Bloet 1094-1123; Alexander the Magnificent 1123 -1148; Robert de Chesney 1148-1167; and William of Blois 1203-1206. The painting is by Venetian artist Vincenzo Damini who in 1728 had been asked to restore an original painting from medieval times but instead just painted over it. As you do... The wall tablet beneath commemorates a bequest of the proceeds of bonds received by Dame Margaret Thorold after the failure of the South Seas Company "bubble" to be distributed between "Six poor old men of the city and Lincoln Cathedral".
There are so many sculptures of people, animals and imaginary beings on the walls of the cathedral that it is almost mind boggling. For instance, there are 33 different depictions of the Green Man (faces made up out of foliage or human faces with leaves and vines growing from facial orifices). Yes, I know... gross... but fun to spot!
A modern (2014) sculpture of the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus by Aidan Hart in the Chapel of St Nicholas, or Cantilupe Chantry.
St Hugh's Choir. The stalls are in three tiers with the rear for canons, centre tier for Vicars Choral and the front row for choristers - where they can be kept an eye on! Hugh was elected Bishop of Lincoln in 1186, the year after the devastating earthquake. He had a pet swan that was devoted to him, eating out of his hand and following him everywhere, whilst attacking anyone else who tried to approach Hugh. He is the patron saint of swans, sick children, sick people and shoemakers. Work that one out...
The organ of 1898 has four manuals and 64 stops.
The pulpitum screen separates the nave from St Hugh's Choir. It dates from the 1330s and was originally colourfully painted.
On this detail photo of the pulpitum screen traces of red and green or blue pigment can be seen.
The head shrine of St Hugh - his head was detached from his body. I didn't find out how or why or if it was that turncoat of a swan... The modern iron sculpture represents the back and curved neck of the swan.
And finally... we found impish faces all over the place. But not the one we were looking for. In the end we asked and were told to look on a pillar above a king's head near the shrine of St Hugh. You can put 20p in a slot to light a spotlight that shines on him - thus picking him out but making a photo almost impossible against the surrounding gloom - The stonework looks a lot lighter here than it did in reality!
Someone had just invested 20 pence, so I waited until the light went out and took several photos of which this was the sharpest I could manage. The legend goes that Satan sent two imps to the region. They caused all sorts of mischief in many churches until at Lincoln Cathedral an Angel sorted them out after they smashed tables and chairs and tripped up the Bishop. One hid under the wreckage of the furniture but this one climbed the pillar and was turned to stone by the angel whilst the other escaped.
A general look down the nave. By now it is getting perilously close to time-for-a-cup-of-tea, so we leave the calm of the cathedral and rejoin the secular world outside.