Tag: national
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Chilterns Trees
This post is my celebration of some of the many Chilterns trees I have encountered on my travels. Trees that have left an impression on me. Some I enjoy frequently as I go about my day, others not as much. More I am hoping to see.
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In search of Paul Nash
That Nash had a close relationship with his subject matter is clear; he paints with clarity, scenes and items that are often overlooked as ordinary. Or plain and everyday. He has revealed how a clump of trees on a hillside says so much about ourselves. But therein lies the astonishing skill and beauty in his work.
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Growing Stones
Just like an antique rug, with unravelled threads, blemishes, bald patches and stains, once you begin to look, you see these Ashridge threads in fact link across the Chilterns, even the nation, presenting a tantalising picture of this wonderful place and its story.
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Be Not Weary in Well Doing
The story of why a 19th century Maharajah felt compelled to make such an extraordinary gesture to ensure a free, clean water supply to a small Chilterns community.
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Scorched Earth is the Summer Look
We seem to have lost a month, August feels like September, then parched landscape offering up wild berries ready to pick, and the barley bales dot-dash-dotting the fields.
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Almshouses: a social history
Almshouses are a fascinating curiosity left over from an age when the poor and destitute would typically fall through the gaps as universal care as we know it, did not exist. You will find almshouses in the centre of busy towns, on high streets, beside churches or tucked away in the corner of a field, […]
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An Appreciation of Aylesbury
At first drive-through, this busy Buckinghamshire town is not a pretty sight. Aylesbury is a town that has kept its historic heart well and truly hidden, marooned on a little island cut off by busy roads full of traffic rushing through on their way elsewhere. Perhaps you are familiar with Aylesbury because of its association with […]
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Reclaiming our Castles
Nooks, brick tiles and a fireplace survive, their purpose clear, but place in amongst the lumps of stone unclear. Earthworks and a moat surround the site including an extensive embankment upon which the West Midlands railway service thunders, this place a microcosm of English history;