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Showing posts from July, 2015

Early Twenty Century Regents Canal - British Pathé

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Amazing film of the Canal in East London The Barge Fellows - Studies On The Regents Canal - British Pathé

Tales of the old East End - The Tribe

Memoires from London at war Tales of the old East End - The Tribe

Gilbert Scott - forgetful man

A new site on George Gilbert Scott has an amusing anecdote: 'Gilbert Scott : W. R. Lethaby, the leading exponent of the Arts and Crafts Movement and a friend of Morris, in his biography of Philip Webb published in 1935 stated the usual early twentieth century view of Scott: Sir Gilbert Scott (1811-78) made his way, by remarkable powers of energy and persistence, to a position of eminence and prosperity. It is told that once having left town by the six o’clock train, the ‘office’ on slackly assembling, found a telegram from a Midland station asking ‘Why am I here?’ On another journey he is said to have noticed a church that was being built and to have inquired who was the architect – ‘Sir Gilbert Scott’. '

Hobbit doors at St Edwards Stow-on-the-Wold

The North Doors of St Edwards are certainly amazing, and everywhere described as the Hobbit Doors, but as far as I can tell the 'evidence' is simply that Tolkein knew the Church and must therefore have been inspired by the Doors. But then the references cited in , for example, Stow-on-the-Wold, The Cotswolds #travelthursday | Adventures of a London Kiwi : does not describe a door with two trees beside it - it describes and invisible door with a badge on it which has various insignia including two trees: 'The two greatest craftsmen of the Second Age, the elf-lord Celebrimbor and the Dwarf Narvi, built the Doors. They were made like a flush door, the jambs invisible to the eye, and matched so perfectly with the mountain rock that, when closed, the Doors could not be seen. The slabs were made by Narvi out of grey material stronger than stone and inlayed by Celebrimbor with Ithildin, which can only be seen in starlight and moonlight; when visible, the fine silver-li