Photo Friday:  Author’s choice – Roof tops and chimney pots

I hadn’t intended to post pics of Exeter Cathedral (The Church of St Peter) for Photo Friday, but while I was in Exeter recently, I happened to take some rather interesting roof line views:

 I’d love an opportunity to climb the bell tower and see the roof from above ~ and also explore the roof space. I’m in the process of becoming a member of the friends of the cathedral, so it may be possible in the near future. They say that if you visit to explore the roof space:

“You should bring your camera. The views can be fantastic and the interior spaces are fascinating”

 The first master mason of the cathedral whose name is known, Master Roger, is mentioned in the Fabric Roll for 1297. Amongst subsequent architects, the best known was Thomas of Witney (master mason from 1316 to around 1242). Masons left a number of their marks in the vault.

Fast forward past the history if it doesn’t interest you – to see some chimney pots in Sidmouth.

Timeline of Exeter Cathedral:

AD 909	Devon’s first cathedral established in Crediton, seven miles from Exeter.
1046	Leofric appointed Bishop of Crediton and St Germans.
1050	See moved by Leofric from Crediton to Exeter. From 1050 until 1114, the cathedral occupied the large Saxon minster church that stood a few yards from the present West Front.
1114	Construction of the Romanesque (Norman) cathedral started on the site of the present church (it was two thirds of the length of this).
1133	Consecration of the Norman cathedral (at around this time the cathedral priests were able to evacuate the Saxon minster).
1170/80	Completion of the Norman cathedral.
1225	The first Dean of Exeter, Serlo, was appointed.
C1230-1270	Carving of the cathedral misericords.
1258	Bishop Bronescombe attended the consecration of Salisbury Cathedral, traditionally the stimulus for the decision to rebuild Exeter Cathedral in Gothic style.
C1265/70	Start of the rebuilding of Exeter Cathedral in Decorated Gothic style. The work began in the Lady Chapel and its flanking chapels, 100 feet from the end of the Norman Cathedral. The Cathedral Fabric Rolls (from 1279-1353), kept in the Cathedral Archives, provide an almost complete written history of the rebuilding.
1280	By the time of Bishop Bronescombe’s death in this year, the Lady Chapel had reached window-sill level.
1303/4	First glazing of the Great East Window.
By 1310	The quire was probable structurally complete at the death of Master Roger, the first named master mason of Exeter Cathedral.
1310-19	Construction of transeptal crossing
1313-27	Quire furnished, including the installation of the high altar, reredos and sedilia (1316-C1325), the pulpitum (1317-1325) and the quire-stalls.
1326	Assassination of Bishop Stapeldon in London
1328	The High Altar was dedicated and the area west of the pulpitum evacuated to allow the nave to be ‘Gothicised.’
1332	West front reached and great timber roof of nave under construction.
1342	Completion of body of the cathedral and presumed death of Thomas of Witney, Master Mason of the cathedral from 1316 – 1342.
C1342-1360	Erection of lower two tiers of west front image screen. They depict angels (bottom tier) and kings, probably Kings of Judah (middle tier).
1350/1360	Addition of Minstrels Gallery
1391	Re-glazing of Great East Window by Robert Lyen
C1412	Fire destroys upper part of Chapter House.
1450-1470	Addition of upper tier of west front image screen, depicting saints and apostles. When complete, this was coloured.
1465/1478	Wooden roof of Chapter House installed
1530-50	During the English Reformation, secular cathedrals like Exeter tended to suffer less damage than the monastic institutions, but the high and other altars were dismantled, the reredoses stripped of gold, silver and jewels and images and effigies of the Virgin Mary and the saints were despoiled.
1642-60	During the English Civil War and the Commonwealth period the church and the chapter house were in the hands of an extremely Puritan City Chamber. The medieval cloisters were demolished in 1657.
C1661-65	Building of the cathedral organ by John Loosemore
1748-1784	Light refurbishment and re-glazing
1805-1821	Partial restoration of the west front of the cathedral by John Kendall.
1870-1877	Major restoration by George Gilbert Scott, who was also responsible for the installation of the Martyrs’ Pulpit in the nave.
1939	Cathedral ‘treasures’ removed, including the Great East Window, the Bishop’s Throne, the misericords and the Bronescombe effigy and distributed for safe-keeping to cellars in Devon and Cornwall.
1942	On 4th May, in the only major air-raid on Exeter, the St James Chapel, the muniment room above it and two flying buttresses were almost completely destroyed. They were rebuilt between 1945 and 1953.
1971-1973	Excavations on the west side of the close revealed the site of the Saxon minster, home of the first Exeter Cathedral in 1050AD, cemeteries from various ages and a Roman bath-house.
1973-1982	Nave and crossing vaults cleaned and restored and quire vault cleaned.
1980s	Major conservation work on the west front, including the replacement of the figure of St Peter in the apex.
1983-1989	Design and creation of the Exeter Rondels

~

 And a row of chimney pots on some Regency houses in Sidmouth:

 And finally, chimney pots on our own Regency home (1830):

Take a closer look (oh dear, I wish I hadn’t zoomed in – the guttering needs clearing again!): 

Photo Friday Advance Diary:

Friday 10th July:  Author’s choice -  A  Guided tour around …. (a selection of photos that give a guided tour around a favourite building  or place – it could be a church, or library, or any building, or a park etc. in you own home town)

Friday 17th July: Author’s choice -  Water, rain, puddles, lakes, rivers, waterfalls, tears ~ you choose!

It’s The Circle of Life
And it moves us all
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the Circle
The Circle of Life

Regular readers will recall that my beloved Grandfather died on December 10th 2009. He maybe gone but he is not forgotten. So for those of you that followed his story, I thought you might like to know that Grandad’s headstone was finally put in position last week, so I visited his grave at the weekend to take some photos.  I’ve thought about posting them all week ~ but I needed to keep them private for a few days because I felt so very sad. You see, somehow, putting up a headstone is so final ~ it is saying you were here, and now you are gone.

I thought you might like to see the lovely head stone I chose for Grandad, and also the setting where he  lies at rest. I had to wait for six whole months because the ground had to settle before the stone could be placed. Grandad didn’t request a stone, but I thought it very important to show my respect by marking his burial place. Grandad held great store by respect and tradition. He would have loved the stone ~ I just know it ~ although he would have thought it extravagant and told me off for wasting my money on him. It isn’t wasted though Grandad.

I chose a Peace Dove to adorn the stone because the same image is on my father’s headstone – and I wanted there to be a clear connection between Grandad’s grave and his son’s grave.  Also because I hope they are both at Peace together now. The lettering on Grandad’s grave is silver and gold leaf,  and the stone is a beautiful dark grey marble. I designed it myself and thought it very dignified. The burial ground is built into the side of a hill ~ which is why you may be thinking I wasn’t holding the camera steady.

~

 

This is the setting (Sidmouth, where I live, is just over Peak Hill which you can see in the background ~ it is only 5 miles away), Grandad’s headstone is at the forefront of the photo below:

~

~

The burial ground is a beautiful, restful place. I miss grandad’s cheery presence very much – but I know he had a long and happy life and that comforts me. I walked around the burial ground with P (my husband) -  we couldn’t find any evidence of anyone else having lived for 100 years. The oldest we found was 99 years ~ so grandad was very fortunate to have had such a long life.

 ~

So now the circle of life is complete.  Grandad was born, lived, died, and is now buried and at rest. And this year my oldest son and his wife are to have their first child … so life continues. It is a little girl, they already know. I am sad that Grandad will not be here to see his new great, great, grand-daughter when she is born – he adored his other two great great grandchildren, Addison and Isabel (my younger son’s children).

~

RIP my beloved Grandad, I so miss you. To live in the hearts of those you love is not to die.

~

On a happier note: I heard today that I had won a prize, a baby quilt!  It was quite a shock since I never  win anything usually! So thank you Kathleen at Magic Quilter, you made my day. And of course, my new little grand-daughter will become the lucky owner of it just as soon as she is born. I’ll be sure to post pics of her snuggled with it!

I’m combining Window Views and Photo Friday this week – because when I was preparing my post for Photo Friday, I realised that these photographs just had to be shown in the Windows Views  meme. Why? Because no one can ever look through these windows again, or see these exact views – and in that way they are very special. I took these photos before I had a digital camera – so I’ve had to scan them into the computer and the quality isn’t great – but hopefully the subject matter will compensate. So that’s why Photo Friday is appearing on Thursday this week!

If you’d like to join in with this meme visit  WINDOW VIEWS  and leave a link to your post!

The only rules are:
Post your own photographs
Sign Mr. Linky over at Window Views
Leave a comment there too
Visit other participants

Photo Friday:  Author’s choice –  Looking Down (from a great height perferably – or from an upper window)

So why can’t these particular window views ever be seen again?  Because I took them looking from the windows of the World Trade Centre in Manhattan, NYC. New York has always had a very special place in my heart because I love it’s energy, I love the people, and I also got married there. It has always been a favourite place to visit for me and my husband and we often go back to celebrate our wedding anniversary or just to shop and enjoy the city and it’s culture. One of our favourite places to eat used to be Windows of the World (107th floor North Tower), so we visited the WTC many times and have very many happy memories associated with it. I dedicate this post (humbly) to all of those who died in 9/11, and to those who survived, and all of their relatives and friends who must live the rest of their lives without their loved ones. Blessings to you all. It doesn’t have to be September 11th in order for us to remember.

The first two pics are favourite of mine now, because both towers can be seen as I point  the camera downwards. I could never have guessed in my wildest nightmares that these two towers would one day be gone:

 

view through the window:

Below: you can see my husbands feet reflected in the glass of the window – he was standing next to me as I took the photo:

 Looking from the North Tower, towards the South and beyond …

 

And finally, the towers from ground level … with an amazing array of windows.

This photo of me was taken by my husband when we were on our Honeymoon (1994) – I’m standing on the viewing platform of North Tower.

Probably many regular readers of this blog will be aware that I have an interest in architecture. And the design of the twin towers was something I looked into – because it amazed me that those structures could stand so high (being a layperson with limited knowledge of construction).  What I discovered about the construction of these buildings in my own research, was later made much issue of by the press when their own researchers discovered the same information -  after the buildings had collapsed.

The World Trade Centre (1976) was designed by MinoruYamasaki and Emery Roth and Sons.  It’s height of 110 storeys had dramatic appeal, even in a city full of splendid buildings. It was possible to stand at the top of the buildings and see jet liners pass beneath your field of vision and of course the straight silhouettes (especially in relation to the other buildings around them) became iconic images of the Manhattan skyline. Most people loved or hated the design – there was rarely indifference voiced. I loved them. I loved their stark simplicity, their symbolism, the way they reached towards the sky and gave you the most amazing views of the city I love.

Of course the height of the towers necessitated technological innovations to previously used skyscraper designs. The skin of the buildings actually bore most of the weight – whereas previous conventional tall buildings were supported by a steel skeleton where the majority of the weight was carried in the foundations of the building. In conventional building the cladding, or skin of the building (the exterior) was in place to protect the building from the elements. It was a departure from this standard design that may have contributed towards the towers collapse on that dreadful day. Since the corrugated walls of the twin towers were load bearing – it is not hard to understand that when they were torn asunder by the impact of aeroplanes hurtling into them – the effect was catastrophic.

Advance Photo Friday Diary:

Friday 3rd July:  Author’s choice – Roof Tops  &  Chimney Pots.

Friday 10th July:  Author’s choice -  A  Guided tour around …. (a selection of photos that give a guided tour around a favourite building  or place – it could be a church, or library, or any building, or a park etc. in you own home town)

 

Sometimes I think I’m the only person left on the planet who doesn’t do Facebook. I can’t tell you how many invites I’ve had to join but I have declined each and everyone (no offence, don’t take it personally if the invite was from you) because I just don’t want yet another time consuming computer based activity in my life. Having a blog (well 3 actually if you include my 2 photographic blogs) is quite enough! And then there’s helping my cats blog! And I don’t Twitter either – same reason as Facebook! And as for using these methods to link up with long lost friends and colleagues – didn’t I lose touch with most of them in the first place, for a reason?

Plus I spend the majority of my working day on a computer. And I write on a computer in my spare time, and I also download, edit and store my own photos,  create YouTube videos, e-mail friends  …  And I’m the the UK co-moderator of an online Cancer support group – the list is endless!  So all in all, I need a break from computers! Doesn’t anyone else feel the same way?

 

The beautiful photo of the sea below was taken by Mark Windsor, a dear friend who died on June 1st 2009, after Chondrosarcoma complications. RIP Mark.

You may have noticed that there is a new widget in my sidebar – you couldn’t miss it really as it’s bright orange and in your face! I get many visitors to this blog (although not many leave comments!) and I thought it would be great if  those visitors could help me make a positive social impact. So I’ve teamed up with SocialVibe, and by adding the SocialVibe widget to my blog, I am able to earn donations for the charity of my choice: Stand up to Cancer. Many of you will be aware that I am a cancer survivor (Chondrosarcoma), and my beloved father, and several of my closest friends died from cancer too. So cancer research is a charity very near to my heart.

Each time someone visits my blog and pressess the HELP NOW, it’s free button on the widget they’re making a difference. You get to leave a message to say you donated and the impact is immediately visible on the badge. You can have a SocialVibe button too,  if your blog is on WordPress.

Setup is easy and only takes a few clicks – just go to Appearance->Widgets in your dashboard, add the SocialVibe widget and pick a cause and a charity. For more details you can find documentation in the support area. If you change your mind about your sponsor or cause, you can easily make adjustments by visiting your widget dashboard. Easy huh?

With SocialVibe, we can can pool our individual influences to create positive change in the world. Now isn’t that a great idea?

PS: Don’t forget to make a FREE donation before you leave please!

(The information above was taken from a post about SocialVibe by Raanan Bar-Cohen)