Photographs taken around Gunwharf and Old Portsmouth in October. While certain others are shopping I like to wander around the city in the immediate area of Gunwharf. Inside Gunwharf itself are many original dock buildings dating back to the c18. Past the harbour in Old Portsmouth and Spice Island you can still get a feel of the old maritime city in the time of Nelson, with many interesting Georgian buildings, doorways as well as the defences and churches. See also, Portsea
Central Hampshire, in the quiet English countryside, a unique building for the study of the the works of J. Krishnamurti, which really means the study of oneself and one’s relationship. I spent the previous four days as a guest at the Krishnamurti Centre, relishing the quiet and space it provides for serious inquiry and light-hearted conversation at mealtimes. Here is a photographic tour of the building designed by religious architect Keith Critchlow, using the principle of sacred geometry
Brockwood Park School Pavilions Project, a set on Flickr.
Update of photographs. The oak frames are being put in place on the rear three of seven buildings
With the new term fast approaching and the school staff arriving back this week, after lunch I took a quick tour of some of Brockwood Park School before it once again fills up with people. Here are some views of some of the original(?) features of a building begun in the 18th Century.
November 2006, Caroline and I visited my mother in France. On one excursion we went to the impressive town of Rocamdour, built into the cliff above a river. From the top of the cliff you can descend through the white-stoned town, winding down steps and into courtyards, pretending you are in Lord of the Rings. Hundreds of years ago, pilgrims would ascend to the the churches on their knees.
This morning, we went to Northington Grange just north of Alresford. It’s a fine 17th Century house with a monster of a neo-classical shell bolted on to make it look like a temple. It’s a tremendous building to be sat quietly in mid-hampshire.
This gives it the look of some kind of institution or hospital, or a lego building where you don’t have enough of the right bricks, when viewed from either side.
I guess it was trendy, this Greek Revival style, slopped together with Roman Cement. Surely it is very impressive and that is the idea.
If you go round the back, you see some of the original exterior.
It’s a beautiful location, with a lake and open parkland all around. The lake glistened in the late winter sunshine
I really enjoyed watching this video of Bath from 1962
John Betjeman made some good points (albeit sarcastically), and right at the time the planners were considering redeveloping vast swathes of Georgian Bath. Things have turned about now, with the neo-Georgian Southgate shopping centre replacing the 60s one, and hiding the car parks below ground.
BTW, Camden Crescent was not completed because the ground up there on the hill couldn’t take the weight. You can see in the video how far it was supposed to stretch beyond the central colonnades.
It feels like summer, March 11. We went for a walk along the lanes and tracks nearby, for a couple of hours or more. The trees are ready to get their leaves out and the grasses are rising quickly.
Just along from the furthest I normally go on a short walk, we checked out a place called Riversdown House, hoping to find a river or at least a stream. From the lane you enter along a track with Victorian looking lamp posts, ending with the old old house from 1328. A really old feel to the place, with not many houses that age left standing. Here is the link to the place; you can stay there to learn English, or B&B: http://www.crossculture.com/stay/.
Here is a brief history: http://www.crossculture.com/riversdown/history.html
On the opposite side to the photo, the roof starts low and has many windows in it. I wanted to go in and explore the corridors, imagining secret rooms and cult activities going on in there. The place had fine lawns and a relaxed feel.
It is odd that this place is nearby yet we have never been there. That kind of experience makes you feel like you have been a long long way from home.
Falling Awake 