Grave Stones

These shots were all taken in the churchyard at Dyrham Park. There are many very old graves and the headstones are very interesting and extremely unusual. We have been trying (and failing) to find out more about them!

Not the cheeriest subject for a Friday, but wishing you all a very good weekend all the same. The UK is destined to have more good weather for once! We are off to a family wedding so lets hope that the sun keeps shining!

Welsh Telephone Box

Mindful of how you like an old phone box, we found this beauty whilst in Wales at the weekend. It was standing in these idyllic surroundings! We have more images to post later on from our visit to Monmouthshire, which is just over the border from England into Wales.

This is a view of the church at Skenfrith where we stayed. A most wonderfully peaceful and beautiful part of the world. Awash with ancient castles and churches as well as abbeys. We can't get enough of visiting here, it's only about an hour and a half from our home so we really can get here easily. We were lucky to have a perfect day with not a cloud in the sky. Not the norm in Wales!

New Bath?

These images show the new shopping area and bus station being constructed in Bath. The new shopping district is in keeping with Bath's architecture although the buildings lack the classic Georgian detail. Controversially all the Bath Stone being used to build them was imported from Italy!

The bus station on the other hand is quite a radical departure for Bath...

Dyrham Park

Dyrham Park was built at the end of the 17th century for Sir William Blathwayt. It's our local National Trust property and Emma has been here countless times as well as worked here over two winters pruning in the gardens. This place is beautiful and the house and the garden have been used for many films over the years including Remains of the Day. There is a huge deer park where you can occasionally see the deer grazing. It's a timeless corner of England.

This view is the original front of the house and the lawn was the grand driveway leading up to the house. The Trust are in the process of changing the gardens at the moment with new planting and some new layouts. This week we will show you the church and graveyard which is fascinating (if you like graveyards - which we strangely do!)

Stop The BNP Demonstration

We headed to Queen's Square on Friday evening to lend support to the anti BNP protest which took place in order to try to prevent the BNP from holding a meeting there. The British National Party for those of you who don't know campaign for, amongst other things, an all white Britain. They are a racist organisation and sadly because of the recent scandals involving our members of parliament fraudulently claiming money against expenses, are now seemingly getting a chance of more votes as the people of Britain turn against the mainstream parties. The BNP stand for hate and their roots are based in neo-Nazisim. However as we live in a supposed democracy, the police were out in force to make sure that no violence took place towards the BNP members.

St Martin's Church

More shots of the lovely St Martin's church. I just made a lightning visit to the place but plan to get back there very soon for a longer look round. The place is cared for by the Parish Council and although these photos show it looking quite abandoned, there are services here and the church itself has been repaired. There seems to be serious subsidence issues though which is why the gravestones are all moving down the hill!

English Churchyard

This is St Martin's Church in a tiny village called Northstoke just a few miles from Bath. I have been working right by this place in a garden and took these shots today. This site has been visited by pilgrims for 1,700 years and certainly there was a church here in Roman times. The house opposite the church was a Roman villa and shows the layout still to this day in having a courtyard. All the gravestones are sliding down the hill and the place is incredibly other-worldly, peaceful and ancient.


This ancient yew tree is thought to be between 800 and 1000 years old. Which is pretty staggering. It is possible that it was a seedling when the Normans rebuilt the church in the late 11th century. There is a lot of very interesting history to this place and I will show you more this week. There is a wonderful view across the valley to Bristol as this place is set high up on the hills. It is possible to see the old Roman terraces on the north hills, which are south facing and where they grew vines. (This all just sends a shiver right down my neck!)

Telephone Box

Snatching back the reins briefly to prevent Tom embarrassing me further, I am going to post today! I took this shot recently in Bath as I felt really sad for the poor old telephone box. An icon of British design and a symbol of the good old UK, these boxes are still sometimes used, despite most people owning mobile phones, however, they have been left to decay, which is a great shame. This one stands in a grand position by the Assembly Rooms in Bath, smack bang in the middle of a lot of Georgian grandeur! This image, I hope, sums up the way technology has gone forward in leaps and bounds leaving behind it some casualties.

Silbury Hill

Silbury Hill is the largest neolithic man-made mound in all of Europe. It was constructed at the same time as the Egyptians were building the pyramids. We visited it while on a day out at Avebury to see the stone circles that can be found there. I imagine the views from the top are great but you are not allowed access for obvious reasons.

Happy Birthday To My Darling Wife

It's Emma's birthday today. Although I love her more then anyone in the world I don't always let her know how amazingly gorgeous and special she is. I am the luckiest man in the world and would be nothing without her. Happy birthday baby.

Pulteney Bridge and Weir

Here is another look at the famous Pulteney Bridge. I often gaze at the Weir in the morning, watching the swans and seagulls. We live off to the right of the houses that can be seen in the distance.

Bluebell Sunday

We happened upon these woods by accident on a day out. Usually you can only access them on foot but on these special Bluebell Sundays vehicles are allowed to park so it is easier for the young and old to view this amazing sight. It was a really magical day with the contrasting colours of the Bluebells and Beech trees combined with the beautiful scent of the flowers. That's Emma enjoying the peace and quiet.

Hands Dairy at Abbey Street

Hands Dairy is actually the cake shop previously posted but Bath is chock full of these wonderful old painted signs some of which are really old. As recently as 1981 a Roman tessellated pavement was discovered right by here together with a medieval burial site. We love this city so much for it's rich archaeological history, everywhere you walk you just know that underneath your feet lie layers and layers of Roman history and the romance of this never really goes away despite having lived in this place for nearly fifteen years!

Cloudy Day

It has been cloudy and a bit miserable for May in Bath and bordering on slightly cold too! This shot shows the bottom end of Milsom Street before it becomes New Bond Street. There are usually buskers here, you can just glimpse a woman singing on the left hand side. Have a good weekend!

Dog Sculpture

This chap stands in the doorway of an art gallery in York Street in Bath. Even though I have seen him many times before, I always do a double-take as I forget he is not a real dog! I think he is probably much photographed by tourists who pass this place in their thousands from the tour buses at the end of the street.

Emerging Leaves

This image has been poladroided by us rather than taken as an original Polaroid! It shows the emerging green leaves on this giant Plane tree which grows in the middle of Abbey Churchyard. This area is all cobbled with old original cobbles and is near to the Roman Baths. We keep meaning to go in to the Baths and take some snaps for you guys! We promise to get round to it soon as it is the most awesome sight. Thanks for all your kind comments this week... you are a lovely lot!

Amazing Wisteria at Camden Crescent

This amazing wisteria grows on a house on Camden Crescent not far from where we live. It is an incredible sight and the scent is wonderful. We are so lucky to have this to look at every day as it's on the way to our various places of work. It's a shame the weather has not been too great this weekend as we were looking forward to getting out taking photos but the grey cloudy skies put us off going out! Yesterday was Tom's birthday and most of the day was spent in various pubs around Bath with our best friends! What did you do at the weekend?

Flower Stall

We walk past this flower stall every day to and fro from our various work places. This never fails to cheer me up and occasionally I am lucky enough to be bought a bunch by Tom!