Janet Roberts's Blog

'The Dog at Chatsworth' Exhibition - Chatsworth - Derbyshire

The latest exhibition at Chatsworth celebrates everything doggy. The idea came from the Duchess of Devonshire who says, on a large banner at the beginning
'Dogs have been part of life with the Devonshire family and in the landscape at Chatsworth for hundreds of years.  This deep connection continues, and now dogs are also made welcome in our garden.  It is a great pleasure for me to watch visitors with their dogs enjoying the beautiful surroundings,'

It was staggering how many things 'doggy' they had managed to find and put on display!  In the Great Hall were a group of sculptures, including this sucking greyhound.

Outside, seen through the window was this very large metal sculpture, although my absolute favourite, which I studied for ages, was this stunning gold table centrepiece, where there were loads of dogs of every breed.  In fact it was fun to try and find them all!  Quite breathtaking and priceless I should think.

There were of course a lot of paintings including dogs, and I particularly liked these two scamps.

In the Sculpture Gallery was this large piece, which you can just see is standing on a viper!


A really good and different exhibition, which continues until the 6th October 2019.  Something not to be missed.

WWi Trench Display - Sherwood Pines - Nottinghamshire

There seems to be little publicity about this most interesting display, set deep in Sherwood Forest.  Not only are there informative boards, but peep holes that you can look out and see what conditions would have been like on the front line in France.


There is a time line along the boards, that give instructions as to what each man is expected to be doing at any given time.  In addition there are peeop holes where you can look at the dreadful conditions, although a sniper could get you if you poked your head above the parapet.




























There were even poignant pages from a diary written in the trenches.




I thought this was so well done it seemed a pity it wasn't more widely advertised, and then sign posted once you got to Sherwood Pines - I had to ask where it was in the Information Centre!

Hardwick Hall at Christmas 2018 - Derbyshire

Every year the decorations in Hardwick Hall, the Elizabethan House in Derbyshire, just get better and better - and I thought this year they were just lovely.

The entrance hall, always a really impressive space, was just spectacular with white decorations, candles and lilies everywhere, and the huge table all set out and inviting.  How I would have loved to have stayed for a meal!

Further along, even the stairs had been decorated - all done apparently by volunteers.



The space that fascinated me the most was where a most impressive model of the Hall was on display.  The Guide said he believed it was going to kept permanently, and I really hope so, as it must have involved so much work, and was really good.
Along the sides of the room, in the same style as the Hall, were models of medieval dwellings, which were absolutely fascinating.

Altogether this was an excellent experience and well worth a visit, especially when followed by a meal in the Stable Yard cafe!

The decorations are only on display until the 23rd December, so hurry if you don't want to miss them!

Once Upon a Time at Chatsworth - Derbyshire

Time to see the amazing Christmas decorations inside this glorious Stately Home in Derbyshire. All the way up the approach to the house silhouted figures showed us the treats in store!

In the Entrance Foyer a huge, somewhat pink, dragon curled round and gazed at us, and then it was up into the main House, when some 13 familiar childrens' stories had been cleverly depoicted, including the Princess and the Pea, Sleeping Beauty and all the characters from the Beatrix Potter books.


One of my favourites was this video showed the elf helping the poor shoemaker!



 Interestingly beyond that were display cabinets containing shoes from generations of the Cavendish family.  The label here reads:
'Red leather shoes worn by the 7th Duke's eldest son William Cavendish who died in infacny'









In the library, such a spectacular room, a gentleman was playing on the grand piano, and  how good it sounded!



However, in the Sculpture Gallery, the Wicked Witch was full of gloom and bad tidings. 
The Chriustmas decorations remain in place until the 6th January 2019, but the House is closed from the 24th - 26th December, and the 1st of January.  Pre-booking is advised. 

'Christmas in Neverland' - Tissington Hall - Derbyshire

Every year it's the same - we must make a visit to Tissington Hall to see the decorations!

This year the theme was 'Neverland' from JM Barrie's 'Peter Pan', and excellent it was too!

 There were six rooms decorated, and everywhere were real, roaring fires, which was both warming and added considerably to the atmosphere.
One my favourite rooms was in the Nursery with Nana, sitting outside her kennel, which was inscribed with her name


However, my absolute best room was up in the library - such a lovely place anywhere, but now home to a fearsome crocodile, slowly emerging from the swamp, ticking clock in mouth!  Who could resist that!
In the corner was even the typewriter where the author may have sat to write his fascinating tale.


And what fun we had in Captain Hook's Dining Room, helped by an enthusiastic room guide.

The Public weekends when Tissington Hall is open to the public is 11-3pm 24/25 November 2018 and 1/2nd December 2018 - and it's well worth a fun visit!
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Torches at The Tower of London

To mark the centenary of the Armistice at the end of the First World War the Tower of London filled the moat with 10,000 torches.

At the start of the war, Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey famously declared 'The lamps are going out all over Europe.'  This commemorative exercise represents the moment they came back on again - along with the grief of those who survived to rebuild a shattered world.

It was called 'Beyond The Deepening Shadow: The Tower Remembers' with a floodlit bungler on the roof of the Middle Tower playing the Last Post and a minute's silence - which was incredibly moving.
Then a small processing of Yeomen Wardens - better known as Beefeaters - plus the Constable and the Govenor of the Tower formed a guard of honour and the first of the torches was ignited by a tri-service trio.  Then out of the shadows, a small battalion of volunteer torch-lighters emerged in pairs.  Each night, about a hundred of them have the task of illuminating half a mile of grass-covered moat.  Each pair consisted of a 'leader' with a magnetic wand who lifts the metal cover off each torch followed by a 'lighter' who carried a blowtorch on the end of a rod. Each has been issued with a flame-retardant grey boiler suit (to blend in with the Tower's stonework) and had undergone several hours of training - not just to tick all the health and safety boxes but to ensure they lit their designated 'zone' of torches in the correct order.  It has all been planned in minute detail by Tom Piper, the designer of the installation.


Despite the scale of the exercise, it took only about 20 minutes before the whole moat was ablaze.

The whole experience took place to the sound of a specially-commissioned choral work recorded by sound artist Mira Calix.  Called 'One Lighted Look For Me,' it's based on a line from the war poem, Sonnet to a Soldier by Mary Borden, who wrote it while working in a field hospital on the Somme.

Smoke wafted over the scene, although this was actually dry ice used for theatrical effect as the torches use smokeless fuel so do not give off any smoke, fumes or smell.





This was a unique and very special occasion, and I felt very privileged to have seen it.

'Thteads through Revelation exhibition - Southwell Minster

This amazing exhibition is at Southwell; Minster until the 30th November 2018.  It is the work of textile art Jacqui Parkinson, who is based in Devon.  Her work will be visiting cathedrals across the country until the end of 2018.

'Threads Through Revelation' uses vivid silks and literally millions of stitches to explore the Book of Revelation, one of the most vivid books in the Bible.  The book of Revelation describes the extraordinary visions of John on the island of Patmos in the first century and has inspired and challenged many artists over the centuries.

Jacqui became particularly drawn to the book in 2013 and for three years and three months worked on a sequence of panels and a book, which was completed in 2016.  It is thought to be the largest single-artist textile exhibition in the world

This is the start of the story. John was simply praying when he was disturbed by a thundering voice behind him.  He turned and saw an amazing scene of seven golden candlesticks with someone dressed like a man walking among them.  Someone with a full length robe - hair like snow - eyes like blazing fire - feet like bronze in a furnace.  He is holding seven stars in his hand - has a sword in his mouth












This is panel 14 - entitled 'New Creation' 








 Here the Last Judgement is depicted, showing battles, judgements and feasts.  Here in this small section Christ is leading his army .
 
This is 'The Great Bttle' with the birth of a baby, but the seven headed Dragon - a symbol for Satan and evil - is waiting to devour the baby.

It is hard to show the size and sheer impact of these amazing creations, but perhaps something can be glimpsed from the video I took whilst attending a lovely lunchtime concert given by The Boys Choir from the Netherlands

Tissington Well Dressings 2018 - Derbyshire

Tissington is such a delightful village it's well worth a visit at any time, but the outstanding Well Dressings just have to be seen to be believed.  I visit every year (see previous blog)and think they are just marvellous.

Planning starts during the winter months, with the design, often of a Biblical nature being drawn.  Some days before the process of dressing begins the sturdy boards on which the pictures will be mounted are soaked in the village pond. 

Manoeuvring them must be a real task as they must be extremely heavy, especially when wet!

The boards are then covered with clay which has been cut from a local area, and trodden down to a soft consistency, a process which can take several hours.  The picture is then traced onto the board using a pointer and then marked out with cones from the local alder trees.

Then comes the delicate task of infilling with flower petals and other natural materials.  No artificial or synthetic materials are ever used at Tissington.  Each petal has to be put in separately and they overlap like tiles on a roof so that the rain will flow off the picture.  The process takes many hours and occupies all the three days preceding Ascension Day.

The Wells are blessed in a service in the Church on the Thursday, and remain in place until the following Wednesday.


I loved all the Well Dressings, but I found it so interesting that there was a write-up against this one.  In 1915 Canadian military doctor and artillery commander Major John McCrea began writing his famous poem 'In Flanders Fields'.  After reading the poem in a magazine in 1918 American teacher Moina Belle Michael was inspired to write a poem in response 'We Shall Keep The Faith'.

In 1921 Anna Guerin went in person to see Field Marshall Earl Douglas Haig, founder and president of the British Legion.  She persuaded him to adopt the Flanders Poppy as their emblem.  This was formalised in the autumn of 1921, and nowadays nearly 40 million poppies are produced for wreaths, sprays and buttonholes. 





 The Well Dressings will only remain insitu until this Wednesday the 16th May, so hurry over!

St John's Church - Carrington - Nottingham

This was the second church we visited with the excellent Nottingham Historic Churches Trust.  From the exterior it looked like a typical Victorian church, and it was built in 1843.  Since the beginning of that century the population of the city of Nottingham had nearly doubled and there had been an even greater increase in the population of the surrounding villages.  The parish of Basford contained 2,124 people in 1801 and 8,688 in 1841, mainly due to the expansion of the lace and hosiery trade. As well as factories, workers also used stocking-frames in their homes.

Ichabod Wright was one of Nottingham's eminent citizens, and he lived in Mapperley Hall with his wife Harriet and his 13 surviving children. In the 1840s he became the chief contributors to erecting a church, donating £1,000 so that the church may 'be a blessing to the neighbourhood by giving a religious knowledge to many who live in ignorance of it.'  On April 6th 1843 the church was consecrated by the Bishop of Lincoln.
Initially without a cancel this was added in 1873.

I had assumed this church would be similar to St Paul's in Daybrook, which we had visited earlier in the tour (see previous bog) but what I surprise I got!  Entering through the glass-fronted porch, it was like stepping into another world.  Here it was bright and light, with white painted walls, a glass wall, and an amazing stone altar in the nave.
Over the years this church had undergone several transformation but surely none as radical as those in 2009.  A new entrance had been created through a new west porch, constructed in oak with a zinc roof, into a vestibule under a new organ gallery.  The north aisle had been converted into two storeys for community activities with meeting rooms, kitchen, storage, stairs, lift and toilets.  This has been made possible by filling in the spaces of the arcade with solid glazed panels.

I thought this was all quite marvellous and loved looking around at all the interesting Church fittings.

Outside the surprisingly peaceful churchyard contained a number of memorials to the war dead, presumably maintained by the War Graves Commission.

 Altogether an excellent visit and well worth anyone in the area to also take a look.

St Paul's Church, Daybrook, Nottingham

I was fortunate to visit this interesting church with the excellent Notts. Historic Churches Trust, and how good it turned out to be!

I was, of course, very familiar with the outside of this church, as you pass it on the main road into Nottingham travelling from the north.

In the lecture we learnt how Daybrook expanded in the Victorian era, but before the 1880's Church of England worshippers would either have to walk the considerable distance into Nottingham or use the services of the horse-drawn Church Army Mission.   Then the local school was used, and later the Tea Rooms of the Daybrook Laundry.

Then Emily Seely, the wife of Col. Charles Seely a local wealthy colliery owner, persuaded him to provide a church more worthy of God.  An Endowment Fund was set up, and amongst the main contributors were the Duke of Devonshire (£2000), Col. Charles Seely (£1000) and the Duke of Newcastle (£100).  The total cost of the building was £26,000, and the dedication service took place in February 1896.

The interior of the church is impressive with the nave divided into four bays.  Above its eight arches is a lofty clerestory nearly fourteen feet high with eight traceried windows of four lights.

What I particularly liked was the impressive marble mosaic floors in the chancel, Sanctuary and Lady Chapel which were laid by Italian workers who were especially brought over to do the work.


Behind the altar is a most impressive alabaster reredos, by Nathaniel Hitch, and represents Leonardo Da Vinci's Last Supper.

At the side of the chancel is an elaborate monument, designed by Sir Thomas Brock, holding the recumbent marble effigy of Mrs Emily Seely on an alabaster plinth, and the inscription credits her with being the inspiration behind the building of the church.

The west window in the north aisle illustrates the quotation "Suffer little children to come unto me", and the faces of the children are believed to be those of the Seely children.

The east window in the north aisle, known as the St Cecilia window, depicts the Patron Saint of musicians.  She is surrounded by angles playing various instruments and the face of the Saint are believed from from an early crayon drawing by Mrs. Emily Seely. (It seem rather sad that this woman died before the church was completed, and only saw it under construction once.)

Altogether a fascainting place - well worth a visit.