Unmitigated EnglandA Country Lost and a Country FoundPoundsworth of Ektachrome- August 31, 2008 Wandering about Market Harborough's 'antiques' market this morning, I espied this little booklet displayed very prominently in order to catch my eye. "Two pounds dear", the lady said. I didn't say anything so she said "Alright then, a pound". Thankyou I said and slipped it into the bag that already contained a Batsford book and a 1970's empty packet of Player's. The cover did it for me of course, I've always had a thing about girls in white-spotted red dresses, but then I gulped in pleasure...http://unmitigatedengland.blogspot.com/2008/08/poundsworth-of-ektachrome.html Atheists & Dolphins- August 28, 2008 If you like fonts, babies, and have one that needs Christening, then I should think it's worth getting in with the High Anglicans in Wellingborough. At first sight this Northamptonshire town doesn't appear to have an awful lot going for it, until you scratch beneath the surface a bit. And scratching around in the streets high above the railway station (a real Gothic bargeboarded treat) reveals a rather plain Perpendicular church in gingerbread Finedon ironstone with Weldon stone dressings. But..http://unmitigatedengland.blogspot.com/2008/08/atheists-dolphins.html Unexpected Alphabets No 5- August 26, 2008 There I was, enjoying a spectacularly good party on Sunday night in a Leicestershire village, and, just as I'm getting stuck into another green bottle, my very attractive host crooks her finger at me and says "Come on, there's something I think you'll find interesting up here". Never one to shirk my responsibilities I eagerly steered through the throng towards a dark alleyway that runs through between the house and next door. The current thinking is that this was the old village police station,.http://unmitigatedengland.blogspot.com/2008/08/unexpected-alphabets-no-5.html Low Light, High Hopes- August 24, 2008 "Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness! Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun..." Keats knew what to say, and although we're not supposed to even think that autumn is approaching, the tell-tale signs are there and I for one welcome them. "Oh don't say that" people say "We haven't even had a summer yet". Well I have, and not being one to lie about on a beach with seven million others I can't wait now to get the stove going with my new coffee maker perched on it, and the button sewn on to my...http://unmitigatedengland.blogspot.com/2008/08/low-light-high-hopes.html Bristol Fashion- August 22, 2008 Driving out of Market Harborough this week I chanced upon a stunning shiny black motor car climbing quickly up Gallow Hill. I can't tell you how much I lust after this car (and its stable mates- Inspector Lynley drives one), and I'm only surprised that a) I didn't drive into the ditch in some kind of respectful homage, or b) that I haven't gone on about them on the blog before. This is a Bristol 403, pictured here some years ago in deep cherry red at a location I've forgotten. Chartles Oxley in.http://unmitigatedengland.blogspot.com/2008/08/bristol-fashion.html A New Leicestershire Landmark- August 18, 2008 Not far from here is a road junction at the top of a hill that some of us call 'Whistle Top' Just behind the hedge on the north corner of the crossroads is one of the now sadly defunct triangulation pillars, marking the height above sea level here as 518 feet. Well, last week they had to close the road to Uppingham at this spot, and when I went to the town on Saturday to get the papers I found that the road was open again, but the road men had left a stack of traffic cones on the grass verge. I.http://unmitigatedengland.blogspot.com/2008/08/new-leicestershire-landmark.html Fizzzz Pop!- August 15, 2008 Out on the Fen again yesterday. Ended up photographing stuff I'd done before but with more clouds. However, a stop-off for a melting Kit Kat in a post office near Wisbech revealed two of these signs on the walls. Actually the Kit Kat was just so that I could go in and explain why I was lying on the pavement outside. I said "I remember Corona being delivered on a lorry to my house" and the bloke behind the bandit screen just rubber-stamped something loudly and sighed "So do I", without looking...http://unmitigatedengland.blogspot.com/2008/08/fizzzz-pop.html Cricket & All That Gas- August 14, 2008 Funny where you end up sometimes. I've just been writing about gasholders for Classic Constructs, and talked about the famous ones that pop up in our peripheral visions. The mighty Victorian iron frames that have always greeted trains slowing up into St. Pancras station, now also enjoyed by those arriving from La Continent. And then probably the most high profile one of all, caught in the slips at the Oval cricket ground in Kennington. So I took the tube down there and had a word with security..http://unmitigatedengland.blogspot.com/2008/08/cricket-all-that-gas.html Unexpected Alphabets No 4- August 10, 2008 Not far from Melton Mowbray is a tiny hamlet, just off the undulating road that winds through the Leicestershire wolds up to Colsterworth. Just a handful of houses, and a railway crossing keeper's cottage next to a gate that still has to be opened manually. I tipped up there earlier this year, roaming about looking for a decent photographic viewpoint of the church. Outside of the main churchyard was a little enclosed area, probably ear-marked for new resting places. In one corner was a wooden...http://unmitigatedengland.blogspot.com/2008/08/unexpected-alphabets-no-4.html Bould Statement- August 9, 2008 Last week I showed you Bould's now extinct garage in Kings Cliffe, Northamptonshire, and promised that I might show you Bould's yard next door. I'd forgotten that there were two Austin 1300's in there. We don't see many of these about now, probably something to do with the apparently dodgy subframes. But we loved them when they first came out, perfect for those of us aspiring to a larger mini. They shared the same designer in Alec Issigonis, who also brought us the poached egg Morris Minor, and.http://unmitigatedengland.blogspot.com/2008/08/bould-statement.html |