I've owed this blog post for a few days now, so I apologise for the delay to my fans :) On Thursday my boyfriend took me to Canterbury to see the cathedral for my recent birthday, which also gave me the opportunity to break out the camera and take some snaps!

Canterbury in itself is a nice place to walk around. There's a lot of old and, in cases such as the pub above, rather unique buildings to see as you wander along. Quite a few are half-timbered ones from the Tudor period, in a few places one or two looked a little more Georgian in design. The side streets are quite narrow with the buildings overhanging, basically how London used to be before the center burned to the ground in the 1600's.

There's also a river running through it, although I can't for the life of me remember which one (actually I've just Wikipedia'ed it and it's the River Stour, I'm very glad I didn't try to claim it was the Thames XD) and some of the buildings literally overhang the water instead of the street.

The cathedral itself is beautiful. There's the usual intricate carvings and high-vaulted roofs, but there's also a lot of lovely stained glass including some along the windows right at the top of the roof (which must be difficult to clean, even with scaffolding!) and a lot of carved marble memorials along the inside walls. Jon pointed out that a lot of them were for members of the armed forces but thinking about it that doesn't surprise me too much, soldiers were far more likely to die abroad so their families didn't have a grave to visit, but a memorial in their home town acted as a marker that connected their family to the deceased and ensured they would be remembered.

What always amazes me about these buildings is the fact that they were built entirely by hand. No power tools, no health and safety, just wood and rope scaffolding and ladders. It raises the question of just how many men died in the process of building these incredible monuments?

After we'd been around the inside (including the shrine to Thomas a Beckett, which was quite moving in a way, but I preferred the single lit candle that stands where the main shrine used to be before the Reformation) we walked around the outside as well and saw the cloisters, where Jon took the above photo. We then diverted to the nearest pub for a tasty lunch, and on our wanders visited the Roman museum, which was nice and modern but rather small and quite difficult to navigate with the school group that was there.

If anyone is thinking about visiting a nice old city then I can highly recommend Canterbury. We probably would have wandered around a bit more had not been freezing cold and drizzling, I'd also recommend visiting in the warmer months in future.

Have a nice evening everyone!

Osterley Park Country Fair

Yesterday I went to the National Trust property Osterley Park to visit their Country Fair weekend. I was a bit apprehensive because in my experience London doesn't manage to get the "countryside vibe" when it tries this kind of thing, but I thought I would give it a shot. I was also tempted by the fact that the posters about it mentioned jousting and the last time I saw that was when I went to the Renaissance Faire in Ohio a few years ago.

The bad news is that it was £6 for entry and honestly I don't think it was worth it. There were three small marquees as the "craft fair" part and they were mostly full of jewellery. Looking at the stall prices on the organiser website, it's pretty obvious that most crafters would have been priced out of featuring right from the start. It seems that nowadays you're not a proper "craft business" if you can't afford £150 for a stall, even over a two day event. In comparison the last time I did a fair back in my home village is was £20 for a day in the craft marquee, and they cover two fields that never seem to be short on sellers.

Last time I went to a country fair was the awesome one hosted at Hatfield House, which I won tickets for. THAT was impressive as it had a wide range of things to see and do, with several events going on at the same time throughout the day, a huge range of places to buy food and quite a lot of charity stalls as well. Osterley Park had a few children's rides and a few food stalls, but nothing out of the ordinary, and public numbers seemed a bit thin on the ground as well.

However despite all this I managed to get some decent photos.

Osterley Park Hall - Front View

Osterley Park Hall - Front View

This photo is the ceiling on the inside bit between the pillars at the front of the house (I can't think of the proper technical name for it).  

"William Wallace", one of the Knights of the Damned

I can't remember the name of this "character" but the rider is a woman, she did a very nifty stunt where she tried to pick up a "peasants head" by dropping down the side off the saddle.

"William Thatcher" and his adversary "Count Adhemar", clearly someone has been watching 

"A Knight's Tale" a bit too much.

Overall if it wasn't for the jousting I would have felt that ripped off. I don't think I'll be bothering to go back next year unless there's definitely more stalls and more to see throughout the day.

Have a nice day everyone!

Tower Bridge

Today in 1894 one of my favourite London landmarks opened, Tower Bridge!

When I was a little girl my Mum once persuaded my Dad to drive back from a visit to my grandparents in Dorset via central London so I could see some of the things that I'd only seen on the TV before.

This little detour included Tower Bridge, although I can't remember if we saw it up with a boat going underneath (I was only 4 and my memory is decent but not brilliant).

Tower Bridge at Night by blueskyjunction

So happy birthday to Tower Bridge! One of London's loveliest landmarks.

Have a nice day!

Three Skeletons

I was browsing Flickr the other day when I stumbled on the "Commons" section. This is basically a section for institions, such as archives and libraries, to post up the photos they hold in their records.

Looking at the one for the UK's National Archives, the first thing that caught my eye was this;

 Three skeletons at the piano by The National Archives UK 

Clearly at some point in 1892 a gentleman thought of lining up a couple of skeletons and taking a photo, and then registered the photo with the Copyright office (because clearly you don't want anyone else to steal your skeleton snapshot). 

Have a nice evening everyone.

Sunshine

Today is Cinco de Mayo, the Day of the Dead. But today I've spent most of my afternoon strolling around Richmond Park, looking at deer and seeing the bright green grass.

So I'm in a cheerful mood and thinking about death on a day like today seems a bit miserable. I'm going to give you some bright yellow instead!

Bright Yellow Mothers Day Card by Lori411

Have a nice evening everyone!

Kew Gardens - Spring

After what felt like an unusually long winter, spring has finally come to England. The daffodils and crocuses were out a few weeks ago but it seems like the leaves have only now returned to the trees. It's even been warm in recent weeks!

Last Sunday I went for a walk around Kew Gardens and managed to get some photos, although it was then difficult to find some that I actually liked XD

This one was taken near the lake in the middle of the garden, as far as I know you can follow the path around the edge of the lake, but it's too short a walk for me so I haven't gone round again.

This little seat tends to get photographed a lot by me, I just like how tucked away it looks, like a little space of peace (not as peaceful as you'd expect though due to the Heathrow flight path).

Hopefully I'll have some nice pictures for a summer in Kew Gardens post!

Have a nice evening!

St Patrick's Day

Today I wanted a day where I could just lounge around and do nothing and play Sims 2 (I am their God!) but unfortunately it's my only day off this week and so various chores need to be done so no lazy day for me.

On the other hand I do have the week off after Easter Monday so I think I will be able to find a lot of time to be lazy then.

It's St Patrick's Day and I should really post about kind of historical profile of St Patrick, or possibly use this as an opportunity to waffle on about my Irish ancestry, but like I said, I'm in a lazy mood and so I'm just going to point out that the BBC has got a bunch of photos of landmarks around the world that are lit up with green lights to celebrate today.

Right, better get back to those chores!

Have a nice day everyone!

The V&A Museum

Hopefully you remember that when I went to Westminster Abbey I stopped off at the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington, also called the V&A.

In the past I've only stopped by the V&A very briefly, mainly while visiting the London Family History Center or visiting for a clue as part of a friend's scavenger hunt. I must admit that I wasn't fully prepared for how big it is, I normally go in via Exhibition Road but this time I went to the main front doors along Cromwell Gardens (I think that's the name of the road).

I took a right and came into a lovely large gallery with a high ceiling and a small fountain in the middle. The combination of the ceiling, the fountain and the gorgeous marble statuary scattered around made me feel as if I was in the garden of an Italian Rennaissance villa, it was a stunning effect and one that you really can't appreciate unless you visit. There's even two small balconies on the floor above, with the front covered with more marble carvings like a proper villa balcony.

After wandering around various other galleries, including one full of gorgeous Chinese artefacts and a Japanese one with some very pretty kimonos I stumbled across the central courtyard (also known as the John Madejski Garden) with a currently dry fountain in the middle. What I was most amazed by was the ornate brickwork and mosaics along wth tops of the windows. It's a hidden artwork in itself, from the outside of the building you picture the whole building as have a rather plain facade with bits of statuary here and there, but then you find this lovely red brickwork instead.

The door on the other side was carved with pictures of various leaders of various fields, and the top had this marble carving of two men with the words "Better it is to get wisdom than gold".

The leader in the field of sculpture is none other than Michael Angelo, and of course he had his own space on the door.

I only managed to get around half of the ground floor as my legs were very tired and refusing to carry me further, so once I went back inside I followed the final gallery down to the door at Exhibition Road and started to head home. But before I got to the station I paused to take one last photo of the monument that always strikes me whenever I visit this little corner of London.

Bomb damage. During the Second World War the V&A was hit by several bombs dropped by German planes. A lot of the various collections had been stored safely in various places around England, including some pieces stored in an underground station that the V&A shared with the British Museum. But two bombs exploded in Exhibition Road itself, causing a lot of damage to the facade of the building and destroying the glass roof. While the damage looks awful, and while the bombs themselves blew out all the windows and doors, the craters are not actually structurally unsound. At the time it was decided to not repair the damage since it was not actually harming the building, and after the war the damage was kept like this as a memorial.

In 1985 a carving was included further along the wall which reads; "The damage to these walls is the result of enemy bombing during the Blitz of the Second World War 1939 - 1945 and is left as a memorial to the enduring values of this great museum in a time of conflict". To me I like it because it's a reminder of what happened to London. Most of the city was repaired when the war was over, but occasionally you'll find things like that remind you of what the city went through. The V&A holds many beautiful artefacts from history, I find it very fitting that it also holds one of the ugly sides of history too.

Have a nice day everyone!

Westminster Abbey

After weeks of my plans being foiled by illness and chocolate deliveries I finally decided to take Friday off work and put in motion my long-term goal to visit Westminster Abbey.

I've wanted to visit the Abbey for years, but somehow never got round to it. When I was a little girl my parents used to take me to London to see the museums and places like the Tower of London, but again the Abbey never really featured. So since I've now been living in London for nearly two years I decided that this year is the year to start visiting all that the city has to offer!

The main entrance is the Great North Door, which actually looks quite small from the outside. There's a security guard doing bag checks, and while there was a bit of a queue it moved quite quickly. Once your bag has been checked you can go through one of two doors to pay for your ticket, luckily for me I was there quite early in the morning, 10:30 (it opens at 9:30), and a lot of the tourists in front of me had London Pass cards so they were through very quickly. My ticket was £18, and before I knew it I was through the main doors being greeted by a friendly gentleman who gave me a map and pointed me in the right direction.

They have free headsets so you can listen to a commentary as you go around, however I decided to not bother. On reflection I probably should have taken one, there's far more to see than I had expected and I got a little disorientated by the multiple memorials and little side rooms so that, on occasion, I had no idea what I was actually looking at. I was expecting a few more labels and things as I went around, but obviously these are limited as you don't want to attach too many things to the very old brickwork. You can't take photos inside the Abbey, so sadly my camera stayed in my bag. But if I'd had a camera I probably would have ended up even more lost as there is a LOT that you could photograph given half a chance.

After getting around the whole building, pausing regularly to stare up at the ceiling and wonder at the skill required to build something so elaborate and beautiful, I emerged in the Cloisters and went to the Abbey Museum. This is a very small area, but nice and warm after the rest of the building, which houses various effigies of some of the deceased buried in the main part of the Abbey. The effigies were carried at the funerals and then set up near the tombs of the dead, and were often dressed in specially made robes for the occasion. Again, photos aren't allowed here.

By this point I was pretty cold, the weather in England was still pretty chilly this week and I had forgotten to bring a scarf with me, so I went to the Abbey's cafe and had a seriously delicious bacon sandwich and a pot of tea. If you are ever near this cafe then you really have to go and try the bacon sandwich, it was made with fresh sourdough bread and had a decent number of bacon rashers in it!

I finished my trip by wandering all around the outside taking lots of photos, which are the ones I'm using in this post. Everywhere I looked there seemed to be carvings of saints or virtues or demons, some of which were hard to photograph properly and some which were closer to ground level and easier to snap. I also wandered up to the Houses of Parliament and got a few shots of Big Ben, but the Abbey ones have come out better.
 

In general I had a very nice time, but I would definitely recommend going on a weekday rather than a Saturday. There were a lot of tourists using the audio guides, which then caused bunching in various areas as they were stopping in groups to look at various monuments being discussed, and they proceeded to frown at me as I tried to edge past. I suspect it would be far busier on Saturday, especially as the opening times are limited to 1:30, and in the afternoon on a weekday as well. If you're going to go, then do it on a weekday and get there nice and early so you can avoid some of the groups. Probably the only problem I had was that it felt more like a museum than a church, especially since you have to go around in a specific, set direction. But it's nice to see it because it's amazing at how old it is, and contains the tombs of some of England's most well-known monarchs.

Have a nice day everyone!

Walk Around London

A few months ago I saw a picture of a dilapidated church covered in vines and trees. This kind of picture isn't too unusual in the countryside, where tiny Parish churches have been abandoned as the community has moved on (on occasion the community has literally moved on, to another location, so the church spire will be the only thing left), but I was surprised to find out that this church was in London!

St Dunstan's in the East was originally built in Anglo-Saxon times, so a church has been on that spot for a very, very long time. Unfortunately it hasn't been a lucky church. Along with many others it was a victim of the Great Fire of London in 1666 and became one of the projects of Sir Christopher Wren, who is famous for rebuilding St Paul's Cathedral but who actually dealt with the rebuilding just over 50 churches in London. St Dunstan's wasn't rebuilt from scratch, it was simply patched up and given a Wren-designed spire, and then rebuilt properly in the 1800's.

However it only stood for a few hundred years before the Blitz of the second world war led to it being damaged again. Post-war it was decided that the church would not be rebuilt, and in 1967 it was turned into a public garden!

When I realised this church was in London I decided I had to go and see it, and so last weekend I packed up my camera and a book and headed from Kew Gardens out to Monument station (you gotta love the District Line). Monument is one of the stations in "The City", the financial district of London. Normally it's insanely busy and you have to dodge stockbrokers as well as tourists, but on Sunday it was blissfully quiet apart from a few people stopping to gawp at Monument itself (it's a big tower that commemorates the Great Fire).

St Dunstan's in the East

Remember when I said my camera meant I would start putting up my own pictures? Well that's what'll be in this post! That's the entrance to the church, it's a bit difficult to find as you go down a tiny side-street and practically stumble on it. But it's very peaceful and very green!

On my way to St Dunstan's I came across another church, I didn't go in but I did get a snapshot.

Random Church

I wish those bollards weren't in the way, but if I moved closer to get them out then I ended up losing the sense of the narrow street. Personally this is my favourite photo of the whole day, the Italian flags outside the restaurant and the fact that there's actual sunlight suggests you're in Italy rather than London.

I was getting a headache by this point, mostly caused by the underground journey, so I went to a nearby Caffe Nero for a drink and a tasty snack!

Tea and Syrup Waffles

With caffeine and sugar in me I felt much better, and since the rain was still holding off and it was warm without being hot I decided to see how far I could walk. I set off down Eastcheap and simply walked until my legs wore out. I kept finding churches for some reason, I don't know if God was expecting me to pop in for a visit but I always feel weird wandering into a church on my own, so I popped my head round a few doors and then left. There was one very big door I didn't pop in to though, mostly because I want to go back one day and have a proper look!

St Paul's Cathedral

Yes it's St Paul's Cathedral! Excuse the road sign but it's difficult to get a decent photo of the blasted thing as it's surrounded by busy roads, and frankly I was simply relieved that I hadn't over-exposed the sky, which is my biggest problem with these kinds of shots.

Bracken House

I have no idea what Bracken House is but I had to take a photo of the "clock" over the doorway simply for the zodiac signs! It looks even more beautiful when you're right in front of it.

Strand Station

For a year of my life I walked past this station once a week as I headed to Kings for a lecture as part of my MA. Strand Station is an abandoned underground station that is now regularly used for films. During the second world war it was used during the Blitz to store art from museums and art galleries that were at risk of being bombed.

And at this point I was started to get a bit tired, so I walked on a bit further and then cut down a road to the river and walked along until I found Embankment station and decided it was time to call it a day.

If you're ever in London and full of energy then walking from Monument down to the Strand is ridiculously easy and takes in a lot of well-known areas, along with St Paul's you also end up going down Fleet Street, where the newspapers used to be, and go past The Old Bailey, and if you carry on further than I did you'll end up at Charing Cross near Trafalgar Square. Plus there's lots of places along the way where you can stop for a drink and a sandwich.

Have a good week everyone!

Postcards and Prints

When I moved to London just over a year ago I found myself living with rather bare walls for a while. I solved some of this by buying some cheap posters off eBay (I have The Boondock Saints guarding my bedroom door as a result) but I'm quite fussy and it was difficult to find posters that I liked.

However I do like postcards, especially photography print ones, and so I have slowly but surely been buying ones I like and sticking them on my walls. Some have been bought from Zazzle, but others have come from lovely Etsy shops so I thought I'd highlight a few that I've purchased already and a few that I hope to purchase in the future!

Winter Ice by Maddenphotography

Bree Madden of Maddenphotography currently has an 8 x 10 BOGOF sale going on so if you like her work, this is the time to buy! I got a lovely autumnal photo as well when I bought this print as BOGOF, they both came as photos on folded card, so I cut the excess card off before sticking them on my wall. She's got some lovely flower and shabby chic prints as well, and everything arrived really quickly in a nice secure card envelope. Definitely check her out!

Hearts All Over by AmeliaKayPhotography

According to her shop descrption Amelia Kay has been featured in quite a few magazines recently, and it's easy to see why! I love photos with light and light manipulation, which is why this postcard was one of my first purchases when I decided to decorate, but she has lots of other beautiful photos too which you can buy either as postcards or as prints.

Paris Photo Postcards by GeorgiannaLane

I always love photos of Europe, especially France as I spent many summer holidays out there as a child, and I love the bright colours Georgianna has used for this set. She's also got some gorgeous photos of Venice, and her shop also has photo pendants which you can use for jewellery making. This is one set that's definitely on my wishlist.

Postcard Set- Paris by TheParisPrintShop

When I said I love photos of Paris I wasn't joking! Nichole of TheParisPrintShop has got a whole collection of photos in various colour sets, I've chosen purple for the blog but the blue one and the red one are also catching my eye. She's got lots of lovely photos in her shop, or if you're near New York she now has a book out for sale which can be found in Anthropologie (we won't get in to how much I love Anthropologie and how happy I am that they now have a branch in London).

I'm going to go and count out the pennies in my penny jar and see what I can buy!

Have a lovely week everyone!

Crocuses

Spring is coming to the UK at last! Despite recent chilly snaps and extra snow up in Scotland and northern England it's slowly starting to warm up properly. There's blossoms starting on various trees around the place, daffodils are popping up in the grass in front of my flat, and when I go to Kew Gardens there's carpets of crocuses dotted around the place.

So since I've already done a post about daffodils I figured this time it should be crocuses. They look very delicate, but when there's lots of them together they create a really lovely sea of purple.

First Flowers by AniseSprout

Of course crocuses don't just come in purple, as this photo by Christine of AniseSprout shows. Her shop has got some really lovely photos of flowers and I highly recommend having a browse if you're looking for some new photography art for your walls!

Felted Crocus Heart Brooch by SandhraLee

I love the attention to detail in this brooch, right down from the beading to the thread used on the leaves SandhraLee has some seriously gorgeous felted pieces in her shop, well worth a look!

Miniature Purple Crocus by Marianne26

Speaking of attention to detail, I think it's safe to say that Marianne Cook has the steadiest hands in the whole of Wales! Her shop Marianne26 is all about miniatures for doll houses, including beautiful pots of flowers made using tissue paper such as these crocuses. It's fair to say I wouldn't have the patience to make even one of these!

Purple Crocuses Blank Notecards by pinkbathtub

These notecards are simple but very pretty, and just one example of the lovely paper goods that can be found in pinkbathtub. She also does recipe cards and giftpacks, all with lovely illustrations and designs.

Have a lovely week everyone!

Autumn Part 2

I have a cold, so today I'm curled up in bed with lots of tissues and lots of tea. But even though I've got the first illness of the season I'm still celebrating the fact that it's autumn!

Glass magnets by TrendyTilesbyTara

The cute designs make these magnets thoroughly adorable. I must admit I never think of an owl as an "autumn" animal but the colours are perfect and make it fit in with the rest of the theme.

Autumn Leaf by TCaponePhoto

Let's face it, this photo sums up autumn perfectly! A fallen leaf in red and orange, is there anything else that could sum up a season so well?

Autumn Fall Colours by accessorarti

I love pearl charm braclets, and this one is so full of the colours of autumn that I had to include it! I especially like the little leaf charms you can see peeking between the pearls.

Autumn Leaves Book and Box by PhoenixFinery

And finally a lovely origami book and a beautiful box. The paper colours suit the theme well and the gold glitter used to embellish the leaves makes them stand out beautifully.


I'm going to go and dose myself up with lots of tea! Have a nice weekend everyone!

Kew Gardens

It's another Bank Holiday weekend! Sadly no Royal Wedding accompanying it so it was only 3 days off rather than 4 (I think we've been spoiled by that this year XD), but it's still nice to have a Monday off work.

So I went home (aka back to my parent's place) for a few days. Which meant that they brought me back to Kew yesterday (Sunday) and since they were here we decided to make a little trip to Kew Gardens.

And as it turns out, there's several people on Etsy who have been to the Gardens and received a bit of inspiration from them!

Kew Garden Gates by lindabutterfly

Palm House Kew by FlaxInk

Palm House at Sunset by 4artssake

Clearly they're not the only ones, we saw several photographers and at least one artist (complete with paint and multiple sketchbooks) as we were wandering around, although potential visitors need to be aware that Kew does not allow "commercial photography" without prior consent.

It's a lovely place to visit, there's more information on their website. If you're in London (namely south-west London, it's a bit of a trek from the center) then check it out!

Welcome!

Welcome to the Bibliophile!

The blog about books and paper and papery things and anything else that I can think of that may, or may not, involve books and paper (and papery things).

Today is the first day of May! It seems like an auspicious day to start a blog. The sun is shining, people are out having a nice day, the trees are green and many are covered in blossom.

Therefore today I bring to you some beautiful things with blossom in mind!

This journal was created by Labyrinth Leathercraft on Etsy. I love the way the colours of the flowers show up against the dark colour of the leather. Just imagine what you could write in a journal like this!

The simple colours and design of this businesscard by ArtsyNikki are very fresh and have a lovely spring feeling to them. She also does some lovely wedding pieces as well!

This photograph comes from the gallery of lauri. This subtle pink against the grey background make this photo simple but beautiful. There's lots of similar photos available in her shop!

And last but most definitely not least, this pendant is by resinpop and would look lovely on a little piece of leather cord or a sterling silver chain. Putting this little trinket on would definitely give you a smile for the day!

Welcome to The Bibliophile. Have a lovely day!