Monument of the Month – A la Ronde
A round house with many angles
A la Ronde is one of those National Trust properties that really feels like a discovery when you first see it. It has a great charm and more atmosphere than many of the Trust’s grander houses. It is also one of the odder properties being an elaborate cottage ornee with Victorian additions.
There is a story that it was inspired by a church in Venice but I feel it is more in the tradition of similar 18th Century buildings that drew inspiration as widely as possible. It is a great shame that the cottage ornee at Prior Park in Bath is ruined as it would make an interesting comparison.
Spring Trees at la Ronde
A house of two stories
The property was created by two spinster cousins (the third was sent home from their grand tour) and intended to descend in the female line of the family. The ground floor of the house is still very much concerned with the Parminter cousins and the many souvenirs from their grand tour. Not to mention lots of handiwork with shells and feathers! The National Trust have restored the central octagon to give the feel of the original and it is a fine space. As a friend says, you can imagine their parrot flying up to the top of the shell gallery there.
The shell gallery is still astounding as it is a decorative work created from shells, feathers and other media embedded and stuck to plaster. It has windows all around with amazing views across the estuary. I find it very impressive that the cousins created this without a safety rail given the dress size to walkway ratio!
The tower!
However, despite their best efforts a man inherited in the form of a Victorian vicar called Oswald Reichel. He was something of a character whose activities included suing his bishop! He became a reformed character in later life and contributed many articles to local historical journals.
He also converted the first floor into accommodation, put in a bathroom, a dumb waiter and gloriously steam punk central heating! He also tiled the roof and made other changes but kept the shell gallery.
I feel the National Trust is missing a trick in not telling his story as well as the Parminters. Not least because they each shaped one story of the building in both senses of the word story!
Get involved!
I have volunteered at A la Ronde form some years now. Working in the garden was fun as it needed rescuing a bit and over time it’s been good to see it progress. I did my first work on collections at A la Ronde and was trained in object photography there too. I didn’t manage to photograph all the objects but got a good thousand done before a new job in the heritage world meant learning more new skills and less time for volunteering.
Volunteering is always a great way to get to know a place and it can be a lot of fun at A la Ronde. They have a website but why not drop in and see for yourself?
It is a bit Way Out
Photo Blogs Squared
Not just one but two!
I am a longstanding reader of Mike Johnson’s The Online Photographer blog. I enjoy the mix of news, reviews, articles, and odds and ends. As you can tell from that list there’s plenty of variety too! I first came across Mike’s writing in Black and White Photography when he provided a monthly column on US photography. Sadly the column came to an end but I then found The Online Photographer – hurrah!
It’s the blogger’s style and open approach as well as crunchy content, like in depth reviews and thought provoking pieces, that keep me going back. Plenty of comments and opinions on there too. Another nice touch is having guest bloggers contribute posts and it was one of these that prompted this post.
Another blogger whose posts I enjoy is Kirk Tuck, also from the USA. His review of the first model of the Olympus Pen encouraged me to invest in one.
Now there’s a coincidence
This week Kirk Tuck has contributed a guest post to Mike’s blog about digital formats. Specifically the pleasure of the square format. Unlike Kirk I never saved enough for a square format film camera, so on finding my Olympus Pen can provide square format images with a few clicks in the menu it was goodbye Bronica aspirations and hello square images!
Kirk Tuck’s own The Visual Science Lab blog is well worth trying. He opens a very clear window into the thoughts of a professional photographer. Again he is often thought provoking and also responds to comments – even to the point of changing a recent post on SOPA.
His advocacy for the Olympus Pen was one factor that made me decide to try and then buy one. Sadly I couldn’t afford the model he recommends but if you can I would say go for it!
And the excuse for the pun?
Well two photography blogs is surely a square? With that and a discussion of square format I couldn’t resist it!
Since finding the square format on my Pen I have been restrained. I get the most out it by using it for a specific set of shots or the good old photo project approach of taking all my shots over a day in square format.
Squaring the circle
The Courtyard Deli Cafe
Falmouth boats and food
Fishing boats in Falmouth
Falmouth encapsulates two interests for me – maritime culture and food!
The National Maritime Museum there has a good permanent collection and has interesting exhibitions extending beyond Cornwall. I found the two exhibitions on when I visited with a friend were both enjoyable. I learnt a lot from the arctic exploration one and the lighthouse exhibtion indulged my fascination with lighthouses. I find lighthouses fascinating as feats of engineering, displaying true humanity in trying to save lives and the history of Trinity House running in tandem with supporting commerce.
The permanent collection covers all aspects of Cornwall’s relationship with the sea. This includes a photograph of one of the fishermen my grandfather used chat and smoke with in the fisherman’s shelter at Gorran Haven. And there’s a Tuke or two to enjoy in the town art gallery too!
But what about the food?
Like most tourist destinations Falmouth has eating places to cater for all tastes. It’s worth taking time to find one that suits you.
We found the Courtyard Deli Cafe just off the main street. Its courtyard dining area was an oasis of calm on a busy day in the season. Oh, and everything we had was really good and served by pleasant staff too!
The Deli Cafe Falmouth
Monument of the month – The Cabell Tomb
A Devilish Squire
A change from Prehistory with a move to the Restoration and a man in league with the Devil!
The tale is that Richard Cabell (or Cabel) Restoration squire of Buckfastleigh was in league with the Devil. The squire’s wickedness and wantonness knew no bounds it seems and was only contained after death by putting him in a iron barred mausoleum. Further proof of his infamy was seen by the Devil’s wist hounds (demonic hounds that accompany Old Nick on his hunts across Dartmoor and sleep under the rocks of Wistman’s Wood) turning up to mourn the squire at his burial. Not to mention accompanying his spirit on ghostly hunts of course.
The Cabell Tomb
Mind your fingers!
The legend is if you run round the tomb seven times widdershins the squire will nip your fingers. Or the Devil will – perhaps sniffing for mephitic vapours could help you decide who it was as you nurse your nipped digits.
Sadly such a ripping yarn rather falls apart under close scrutiny. Details like his wife outliving him when he was meant to have murdered her don’t do much for credibility and muddling in of other Dartmoor tales like the wist hounds don’t help clarify things either. The historical evidence points to further muddling of the lives of three different men to create the legend.
And of course the church itself, Holy Trinity at Buckfastleigh has its own legend of the Devil trying to destroy it as it was built.
The empty church on the hill
Approaching Holy Trinity on its hill you could be forgiven for thinking it is a flourishing place of worship. All looks well tended and there are fresh flowers on graves and wreathes around the war memorial.
Holy Trinity Church, Buckfastleigh
On looking in you find there is only a shell of a church which has seen two major acts of arson – one in 1840 and another in 1992. The last one did for the church and it was rebuilt in the town below. However the bells were saved and restored to their place and are used.
Inside the ruined church
The church has a lovely calm atmosphere even on a wet and dark day like the day I went to see the infamous squire’s tomb. Rather prosaically the inside of the tomb is used to display parish notices!
You can explore the shell of the church and the the 13th Century chantry chapel ruins. I found the evidence of 19th Century ornate graves with lots of ironwork around them interesting too. The path from town to church can still be reached by the old steps.
Steps leading up to the church
If Buckfastleigh or the squire sounds familiar
It may well be because you have heard of the tonic wine produced by Buckfast Abbey. This gained notoriety from being a drink of choice for the younger and poorer drinker. It proved particularly popular in Scotland being know as Bucky although whenI worked in Glasgow some years ago youngsters referred to it as Commotion Lotion. I thought that was a great name!
You can still buy the wine although there’s pressure to make it less potent…
And the squire may remind you of a work of fiction set on Dartmoor. Apparently the story of the squire was one of Conan Doyle’s sources of inspiration for the Hound of the Baskervilles.
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