A trip down memory lane.

One of my husband's young relatives arranged a trip for both of us to visit the village where he grew up in Surrey, a place he left as a teenager. Unbeknown to us she had spoken to the owner of what had been his grandfather's farmhouse and arranged for us to see the property.

My husband's grandfather, grandmother, and their five children. The young 7 year old boy standing between his parents is my husband's father - he was the only child who stayed on to manage and help run the farm with his father.

This pen and ink drawing of the farmhouse was done from a photograph by one of my husband's cousins 40 years ago, and this is how my husband remembers it. The barn at the side of the farmhouse sits on staddle stones (mushroom) legs which kept rats and other unwanted creatures away from the corn stored inside. Both the property and the barn are now Grade 11 listed.

This is how the farmhouse looks today, but I personally feel, that it has lost some of its charm. The entrance porch has been removed, and the interesting square patterns created by the brick and flint stone work when it was built in 1590 are now hidden by paint.

We wandered down to the village church and discovered that strangely there were two entrance pathways leading up to the church. 

However, I discovered that this deep pathway traditionally is used to carry coffins into the church, which makes sense.

The photo below shows both pathways leading to the church. 

We loved the pretty steeple made out of chestnut wood shingles which over the years has turned a lovely shade of silver-grey, and the attractive sundial clock. The bird flying around the tower was one of several Buzzards seen soaring up into the sky on thermals.      

H0RA PARS VITÆ

Every hour is a part of life

This last image is another ink drawing again done by my husband's cousin from an old photo. This is the road that runs besides the church, and we were surprised to see that it still looks exactly the same today even though this image was probably taken during the 1930s.

Quiz...........The Answer

This small wooden carved Treen lady with a head and pair of boots which can be removed is known as an Artist's Companion. The age of the carving indicates that she may have belonged to a lady who lived during the end of the Georgian era leading into the Victorian era. 

The head reveals a small blade that could have been used for etching, engraving, sculpturing or perhaps a pallet knife used to mix different paint colours. One boot has a pencil, and the other a brush. 

The only correct answer came from Debra, who incidentally is a gifted artist herself. She even got all of the items correct apart from the knife which she thought might be an eraser. Well done Debra, and thank you to all of those who gave the quiz a shot. 

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

  

Guess the Quiz?

 A rare piece of Antique Treen from c 1850 

This unusual piece of treen consist of a carved lady, whose boots and head pull off. To each is attached an item revealing what she is used for.  

Can you guess her purpose, and what the three items might be? She was not used in a domestic environment. 

I will leave the post up for one week. If you get the correct answer then I will hold it back so that everyone has the same chance. 

'Time Out'

 During the middle of December I caught a very unpleasant virus the consequences of which have stayed around until recently. With the many disturbing events around the world; the urge to blog is currently absent. However, by re-posting this happy sunny visit to the beautiful city of Lecce in Southern Italy, I am hoping that this might help to alleviate my lapse. 

Baroque Lecce

There are hazards to visiting Italy and setting your heart on seeing particular treasures as I have discovered over the course of many, many, visits.

Years ago, my youngest son did History of Art at school, and I took him to Florence for a few days so that he could view the paintings and sculptures from the Renaissance that he was passionate about seeing. One of the many places on his list was a visit to the church of Santa Maria where he longed to see the great frescoe cycle in the Brancacci Chapel done by the young Renaissance painter, Masaccio. Although Masaccio died when he was only 27 years old, and despite his brief career, he had a profound influence on all the other artists during that Quattrocento period. We made our way to the chapel only to discover that the particular cycle he wanted to see was under wraps for restoration - needless to say my son was hugely disappointed. I myself have visited the cathedral of Orvieto twice, three years apart, in order to see a particular frescoe by Luca Signorelli, and both times it has been under wraps. After visiting Italy so many times I now realise that it is best not to set too high an expectation of seeing particular treasures in order to avoid disappointment. It was, therefore, no surprise to discover that the baroque exterior of the Basilica in Lecce that I was looking foward to seeing was under wraps!

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The city of Lecce 'Florence of the South'

I was comfortable with the buildings in Lecce - they had a familiarity to them being made of a similar honey coloured limestone that surrounds me back home in the Cotswolds

Many of the balconies in Lecce are held up by a variety of wonderful cavorting beasts - horses, lions, and mythical creatures or as in this case sheep.

It is early afternoon and the Duomo along with the Bell Tower are now shut, fortunately we visited the inside during the morning. What we found extraordinary was that we were able to stand in the sunshine and admire this building and have it completely to ourselves. Carved by Giuseppe Zimbalo, architect and sculptor he was known as 'Lo Zingarello' (little gypsy). He earned the Baroque city of Lecce the title of 'Barocco leccese' which flourished under his guidance during the mid c17th

Bell Tower

From far below the Bell Tower I could just make out a ceramic tiled roof which I endeavoured to capture. When I put the photo into the computer I was very surprised to spot the bronze figure of St. Oronzo which was not visible from the ground. He is holding an orb and cross, the symbol of Christian authority from the Middle Ages. St. Oronzo was appointed to be the Bishop of Lecce by St. Paul in AD57 and some of you may remember that we encountered him previously in the little white hilltop town of Ostuni.  

Bizzarely, in one of these Seminary buildings, castrato singers were once supplied to the Vatican! A practice that fortunately ceased towards the end of the c18th.

 Here is St. Oronzo once again dominating the centre of Lecce - he keeps on popping up all over southern Italy. The column he stands on is from antiquity and once marked the end of the Appian Way - one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient republic which ran all the way from Rome to nearby Brindisi. The people of Brindisi presented this column to the city of Lecce.

In the Piazza of St. Oronzo is a first century Roman theatre which was discovered in the 1930s. Hidden beneath the main city streets, it was found to be virtually intact complete with orchestra and seats

Down narrow alleyways

and through arcaded passages

we arrive at Lo Zingarello's crowning glory - the basillica of Santa Croce

with its exuberant Baroque rose window

and elaborate exterior covered in many hidden messages and symbols. The caryatid above represents a turbaned warrior from Assia Minor, now Turkey. It is giving out a message regarding the feelings of the people of Lecce towards their invaders. This warrior is now destined to hold up their basilica forever!

Inside the exuberance continues, but I didn't feel that it was too much - I liked it 

In Lecce, unlike northern Italian cities, when the clock strikes one until 4 o'clock you can enjoy the whole place virtually to yourselves.