Archive 2013/14

All posts on this site in 2013 & 2014  (one every two days)
Retrospective - ie going from December back to January

2014

Secret sixties garden revealed
Nothing matters
Deceptive bus station
Seighford angel flies
Sainted bee
Staffordshire against slavery
Wonder viaduct
Walking on pigeons
Being watched in the woods
Elvis Presley ... in Staffordshire
Pre-loved stately home
The Spode who got the girl
Grooving with arrows at Alrewas
Thor's Cave is 87th
Pump it up



Mystery saint  Saint Editha is a real Staffordshire saint
Time stops on the lake  These long summer days can lead to still evenings on Rudyard Lake.
Unique hedgehog   There is only one 'Hedgehog Pub' in the UK Honouring the woman   Emma Darwin was the wife of Charles Darwin
Memorial to a selfless pilot  The people of Creswell put up a memorial to Captain John Perrin
Exclusive view   At Kinver must surely be one of the best views in Staffordshire
Cave fit for a saint   This crop of rock might have been the cave of Saint Chad
Eternal face-off at Bradley   Bradley Church is pretty perfect for the 'church-crawler'
Symbolically split   You'll often see 'broken' columns in a churchyard over a grave
Lord Of The Rings on the bridge   In The Lord Of The Rings, the village of Tavrobel
Poppies red in the fields   Wild poppies are studding the fields right now. 
Staffs saint - by Staffs sculptor   Saint Bertram has been sculpted by a Staffordshire artist.  
Joules knot   This reproduction vintage poster for Joules Ales is actually sited in Shropshire
Here comes Queen Elizabeth   Lesley Smith started to 're-enact' Elizabeth I, England's great Tudor monarch
England fans - realistic   Yes... it's World Cup time - but England fans don't expect a great deal
Locking up heritage for the future  This little 'lock-up' (temporary gaol) at Gnosall
Scary preacher   Another example from the weekend: this terrific 'preacher' scarecrow.
Scaring from a bus-shelter   You have to admire the small village of Hilderstone.
Lambs hit the fields   The fields are teeming with the young of many animals right now
Sign of old-fashioned times   Bradley is a posh, attractive, hidden-away little village
Anniversary with real tins   It's Flower Festival time in many country churches right now.
Summer gardens   The gardens at Alton Towers are among the best in Staffordshire
Difficult-to-follow instructions   I am always careful, when walking in the countryside, to close gates
Victoria's post box   There are very few Victorian post-boxes.This one is still intact and in use in Eccleshall
Water living in Hanley   The Waterside complex in southern Hanley's 'Canal Quarter'
A history of graves   The churchyard at Himley is a microcosm of the history of graveyards. 
It's fake, but I like it   People do get excited about Stafford Castle
Obstinate ducks   Why these three ducks chose to sit in the middle of this road is beyond me. A lion to impress  You can't beat the figure of a lion if you want something to impress onlookers.
Big words in Tunstall   They took themselves very seriously, the burghers of old. 
Mined near Uttoxeter   This pulpit is carved of what's known as 'Uttoxeter Alabaster'
Rainbow looks for gold   The constant showers-rain-showers scenario has produced luxuriant...
Farmyard main road   I've seen public rights of way go through the middle of a working farm...
Jacobeans do Elvis, almost Why the Jacobean gentry thought it was a good idea to sport a quiff...
Back on the tracks Back to the daily grind – after the three-day respite...
Swynnerton - a treat A good place in Staffordshire to have a Bank Holiday walk... Three stars on a shield Very blue piece of heraldry on the gates of Cloister Lodge ...Houses with style I can’t help thinking that these decorative porch tiles are lovely...
Skeletal effigy  This rather grim effigy is one of the oldest monuments in Lichfield Cathedral... Cherry blossom The cherry blossom is pretty special this year...
Three standing bishops These three standing stones in Checkley ...
Vigorous dragon-slaying The George at Alstonefield is a fabulous pub...
Unexpected 400 year old sight This amazing, and largely unremarked, house near Eccleshall...
Great preserver Jar upon jar of ‘colours’ used in the pottery industry from a hundred years ago...
Just missed it at the Floral Hall With photography, you often wonder what ‘might have been’...
Beer long time gone The old Joules Brewery Warehouse building still stands by the canal in Stone...
Sunset tree April is the best month to find leafless trees and strong sunsets occurring together...
Death by the road This roadside memorial to a motor-accident victim, Carl Matthews...
George & Dragon looks back Pubs remember the month of St George...
Brassy Hawys This memorial brass, in Norbury Church, is reputed to be the oldest in Staffordshire...
Castle - going down! Looking down into a courtyard in Tamworth Castle was slightly brave...Arrows make grooves Puzzling marks scratched into the side of the wall at Checkley....
Listed triangular prism This milepost is, believe it or not, a listed building...


Skips of shards
Stoke at Euston
Canal makers stream through
Impressed villagers buy old lady...a grave
The old lady of Tamworth
Golden hour...
Digging India
Boswell - in with the traders
The Green Man grins
Sun dial gets busy
Unused grit
Horrifying statue
Remembering Sir Robert
Hollington weave

**

Flood blocks path   The constant rain of the past few weeks..
Cuts cut potters   The Gladstone Pottery Museum in Longton really is...
Platform in the forest     The co
Warm games in the winter damp     The co
Broken once-palatial gates   The co  
Grim pub sign    The co 
Spring's green man     The co
Weather is nuts  The co
Flood blocks path  The co   The co
Cuts cut potters  The co 
A day for monsters  The co
Golden roof    The co
A day for monsters   The co
Pure-water village   The co 
House in shape of bottle   The co
Round house   The co
Clay pit - makes pool   The co
The cavalier remembers   The co
Attractive decay   The co
Co-operative town   The co
Ancient dragons   The co
Colliery remains   The co

2013

Knots inter-twine   The co
Picturesque wharf   The co
Zombies welcome   The co
Walking by the pool   The co
Spiders' work   The co
Hug bridge   The co
Christmas gardens   The co
Burton at Euston  The co
Great artist - small church    This is as beautiful a piece of Victorian...
A crooked pub Yes, this pub is literally tipsy. One end is...
Dismount - and re-mount You know you're in horse-riding territory when...
Autumn colours We're having a real russet autumn... it's a real...
Once was employment Pretty grim, isn't it? Another example of...
Buried in Stone This Elizabethan tomb is rather weather-beaten -...
A folly on the heights Mow Cop 'Castle' as it's known, is, of course, a...
Railway colours survive On the South Staffordshire Railway Walk, a...
Axis war graves It's not so well-known, but there are a lot of...
The gates that dazzle At Maer, the Stafford Knot entwined with a symbolic plant (a...
Bagnall lions Funny old autumn weather: long streaky sunlight,...
Mitchell memorial Yes, this is a SuperMarine plane etched into the...
Autumn stream Autumn is running late by two to three weeks this...
The heights of worship Known as the Rushton 'Chapelle in the Withernesse'...
HS2 protest on the road Yesterday's report from the government (see:...
Stapenhill... well? Is it a cave? a blocked-up old well?...
Hundreds of miles of canals There are more miles of canals in Staffordshire...
Family serves beer for 100 years Some old pubs, The Anchor, ...
Young Stoke celebrated The 'Forsyth Window' can be seen in the stairwell...
Five in a grave To lose five children, four of them just toddlers, must...
Staffordshire's female general Ethelfleda ('The Lady of The Mercians') is celebrated by...
King George's postbox A few old 'wall-boxes' (as they are properly called) can...
Blondes, redheads & jet-black hair Blazing scarlet hair is not the unusual sight it once...
Railway station? Pub? Codsall has come up with a very neat solution to the...
And now... autumn Yes, it is Autumn.  I admit it.  I've been hoping that...
Living wall This is a 'green wall' - at Staffordshire University. ...
Cold ... kiln This structure is to be found in the fields near Eland Lodge...
Figurines in public Passing along a pavement on a street of terraced houses,...
Free works of art  The British Ceramic Biennial Show is under way in...
Sexy redhead in church A lascivious redhead? It can only be Mary Magdalene -...
The smallest room - and coldest Original outside-toilets can still occasionally be seen...
Misty day in Tunstall cemetery Misty autumn day today, though the temperatures...
Unisex etiquette Unisex toilets are pretty commonplace now, being mostly...
Fairy on the water There are over a dozen fairy sculptures to be found...
Roman knot What does the Roman Empire have to do with the...
Happy birthday, Doctor Dr Samuel Johnson, the creator of the first 'proper'...
Mellow month of September So... autumn is here.  The arrival of a chill in the...
The other William Morris  Poor William T Morris! Despite being a fine...
Walking ... football ! Over-50s want to play football too, even if they don't...
Eccentric annual event The 'Abbots Bromley Horn Dance' is Staffordshire's own...
Taking tea in the graveyard  Garden furniture is not common in a graveyard, and I'm...
Pleasant days We're experiencing an Indian summer... the beginning of...
Protest music is back Radical protest bands such as Headsticks have been...
Smallest telegraph pole Another curiosity of Staffordshire (there are so many!)...
A bit of posh Ingestre Festival Day is about as posh as one can get in...
It's not shopping; it's charity This clever poster, created for Red Cross charity-shops...
Is it a fish? Is it a man? This extraordinary gargoyle is to be found on the...
Bridge for a saint  Ilam: an old stone bridge, a beautiful spot, sunshine: the...
Ruins for a poet  The poet Richard Barnfield was born here - at Norbury...
Inflatable church This is the most unusual church building I've ever...
Expensive - or cheap? - holiday  The most expensive holiday home in Staffordshire is...
Hazy days of summer The warm days go on.  For middle-England to have a...
Bravery rewarded. In a way  Poor Timothy Trow.  In Stoke, seeing a young girl...
Shakespeare in Staffs Shakespeare and Staffordshire connections... are there...
Lichfield in Malta This building in Sliema (in Malta) is like...
Going to school for 150 years (plus) Primary schools still use old Victorian buildings...
Tamworth's attractiveness  Tamworth really does try harder. The park...
Scrooge's ... memorial  Real grave...fictional person! I came across this gravestone...

Dougie Mac for the community The phrase 'community cafe' is bandied about a lot -...
Sturdy bottom hero  The extremely sturdy buttocks on this Perseus statue...
Astonishing wall-paintings This astonishing interior at Hanbury Church is just part...
The accidental Roman villa There are only three Roman villas in Staffordshire that...
Spreading the word 'Hedge-hopper' preachers are not seen as often on our...
Bratch 'Castle' allowed to decay This Victorian castle-style building is ...
Ancient oak 'Puthery' is a word used in Staffordshire to describe...
Reflective angel in Aston On a sunny day graveyards are simply calm and quietly...
We're having a heatwave... It's a heatwave - officially.  Today Staffordshire got a...
Bass beer meets Staffs regiment The 'Bass-Triangle story' is an amusing one, and has...
Old SCFC bus gets the attention This Lymer's bus had pride of place at the Draycott Fayre...
Trading in Longton since 1914 Williamsons is the most old fashioned – in a very nice...
Trainspotter's delight The art of the trainspotter is not dead, thank goodness,...
The 'old' Harecastle Tunnel The ‘old’ Harecastle Canal Tunnel, the southern end of...
Get yer replica seals here... The Staffordshire Archives Publications department...
Wombourne's tomb-face mystery  This grotesque carving is on the tower of Wombourne's St...
Lichfield's small stop Lichfield Trent Valley station is one of those small, bare...
Lady in a niche This charming sculpture is to be found in Keele University...
Red splashes in the fields The red poppies are making brilliant splashes in the...
Memorial to "benevolent individuals" This is a cemetery memorial to organ-donors, as it...
Stafford knot up the pole I collect Stafford Knot photos, and here is another...
Burslem to India The name Kipling is associated with Staffordshire..
Earth, air, fire, water ... and spirit The five elements of classical times were earth, air...
Landlord is just a walk-over Arthur Rigby was, the story goes, so popular in Tunstall...
Is it a tree? A camel?  This tree in Longton Park resembles nothing so much to...
Sarah's poisoned grave This gravestone in Wolstanton tells a grim story...
Dry stones in the Peak Dry-stone walls are a feature of the landscape in the...
Cave garden opening The National Garden Scheme 'open garden' events in...
Black wool, white socks = Zwartbles These dainty lambs - with the distinctive white 'socks'...
Decaying before one's eyes The 'indoor market' in Burslem has been closed for some...
English landscape feelings The English landscape can be just perfect some days..
Arnold Bennett lounges about It’s Arnold Bennett’s birthday today – he was born May...
Electric cars are the future How soon will we have electric cars in...
Thors Cave - better out than in There will be a mad rush into Dovedale this weekend...
Camouflagued factory The factories owned by JCB always fill me with...
Schoolboy remembered  What sad story does this grave tell?  It is unusual to...
Tunstall Shard sucks up light The Tunstall Shard is a spectacular piece of large...
You are here, wherever you are There is something spooky about this sign...
No waggons, carts & cattle There's a lot of the past in Staffordshire - perhaps too...
Danger - quicksand! Quicksand is not a common threat to walkers in...
The loving care of bankers This rather touching ‘embryo man’ at Trentham has a...
Sumer is icumen in What a bizarre country we live in.  Just a few weeks...
Time's death-struggle In this tombstone carving you see a winged figure...
Crooked road leads to... ...the Crooked House in Himley, one of your more...
Strangeness in Stafford centre The strange designs at St Chad's Church...
Stoke ladies top the Midlands Turned up to see the Midlands Ladies League Cup Final at...
Getting eco-friendly in Longton In the back streets of Longton, they've renovated the...
Canal crosses canal The Hazlehurst Aqueduct by the Hollybush pub at Denford...
George & Dragon in trouble Oh, the plight of the English pub! On St George's Day...
Contemplating nature in a Westport pit There aren't many spots in grimy old Stoke ...
Lichfield's German twin The fad for twinning with other European cities seems to...
The Colours of the playground In this photo of the playground at Hanley Park...
Inaccessible Chartley castle We are not known for authentically old castles ...
The beauty in Brewood I'd never heard of St Mary of Cleophas (aka St Mary...
The very rare flag of Staffordshire To see the flag of Staffordshire flying is...
Playtime at 107 in Burton In the big car-park that fronts the old brewery...
Rudest house in Staffordshire  Madeley Old Hall is slap bang in the centre of the...
Bad time for lambs It's been a tough year for lambs. Quite a few haven't...
Skull and... smiley faces On this narrowboat, the brooding skull atop...
Slppery gravestones Saint Giles Church in Newcastle-under-Lyme was rebuilt...
Christ's own wash systems  'Christ' wash systems??? I did a double take on seeing...
Graffiti marks the subway  Most urban/wild graffiti in Staffordshire is now removed...
Rest in peace, mum  The death of a mother often comes with the bitter...
Roy Sproson's football shirt Port Vale Football Club are having a strange run at the...
Bad, bleak winter Sometimes a 'bad' photo can tell more of a story than a...
One, Staffordshire Place I thought it was a rather cute idea to give...
Buttercross farm shop thrives There seem to be loads of farm shops across...
Spring heralds the walking life For me, the Spring Equinox opens the 'long-walks'...
Burning for seven years The smell of acrid smoke at the Hollywood spoil tip...
The rotting Burslem Sunday School The once magnificent Burslem Sunday School ...
Too much snow Snow is back ... again, again.  As I've pointed out...
History - popular stuff ! The annual Staffordshire History Day event today -...
Ex-electricals This huge skip of discarded elecrical equipment...
Free ... Beer in Uttoxeter Well, you have to smile...  It may seem as though the...
A battle... or maybe not (?) The Saxons, or maybe the Anglo-Saxons, fought the Danes...
Grave of honour for dogs  Dogs are not often buried in historic town squares, but...
Thirteenth century bits get new life The priory of St.Thomas the Martyr...
Spears of icicles in rows The chilly weather refuses to go away - so much so that,...
Weird sheep pursue walker Sheep usually run away from walkers, or ignore them, but...
Sixties record shop lives on The Bevans Music Shop in Longton opened in the...
Grey days at Lichfield Only England can do such grey, sombre days as these....
Bring on the spooks and ghosts  Heath House is an old Victorian-Gothic pile at Tean...
Reservoir convert I have always avoided Tittesworth Reservoir as an...
Hanley... improved Strangely the light fall of snow has stuck, so the white...
Bottle-oven in snow The snow has come back yet again, though this time as...
Poet surrounded by weeds George Heath's gravestone stands, surrounded by weeds,...
Keele's prison... not This church (chapel?) looked like a jail to me, the first time I...
'Picturesque' village almshouse  Marchington is a village best described as...
Venice... in Staffordshire This painting of Venice, in Leek Library, reminds me ...
Massive - and abandoned These massive walls at Froghall stand almost alone in...
Frozen at the cemetery  This pool at Keele Cemetery was still frozen (at least,...
Tower crane immortalised Tower Crane Drive, which you will find just outside...
Umbrellas are up After the snow, the deluge... to paraphrase a...
Pelicans in the snow You don’t often see pelicans in snow. Their natural...
A Long Way From Poland  'A Long Way From Home' is how these Polish words translate...
Bashed up bishop Smashing up a church's stone figures is a lot harder than one...
Sheep cope with snow Well, the snow came again as expected, though, here in...
Snow tree The snow has stuck, despite the original fall being...
First snow of the year Snow turned up overnight. It wasn't that thick, and a...
Grave with Revelations The Recording Angel stands over this grave in Meerbrook...
Vikings like Land & Water  This installation in Burton is a tribute to the Viking past ...
Lord Stafford's knot It's no surprise that Lord Stafford's home, Swynnerton...
Under the green wood trees It's been warmer than usual for January so far, though...
Stafford Knot ... in India The Trishul Bakery in south India (near the ancient,...
Sapphic Anna grieves in Lichfield  This magnificent tomb commissioned by Anna Seward...
Year starts with Hunt's tally ho...! The Meynell And South Staffs Hunt meet in Uttoxeter's...

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