Blackland, Calne (Thursday 20th October 2016)

After the previous day's circular walk, on Thursday I did a circular drive, taking in Blackland, Little Horton, Honeystreet and Marlborough. I took pictures in all these places and these will turn up in an album in the fullness of time, but my trip began in Blackland where I had specifically returned to blip St Peter's Church.

The church is fortunate to have avoided Victorian restoration and was most recently restored by CE Ponting in 1907. Inside its upper gallery remains, not having been removed for an organ to be installed, unlike many others. The oldest remaining parts of the church are the western end of the chancel, which still has its original trussed rafter roof, and part of a tympanum, and these probably date from the late 12th century. There was a church here at the time of the Domesday survey, but it was described as being in poor condition. The bell has tolled there for over 300 years, and many of the stained glass windows were designed by Charles Kempe,  who operated out of a factory in London, and has windows in Gloucester Cathedral and across North America.

Until this visit I was unaware that David Hemmings was buried there. He and his wife Lucy used to live in the Old Mill House in Calne almost opposite my late friend D., who knew them. He had been a boy soprano, then an actor and film director (Blow-Up was a favourite film of mine) and died while filming in Bucharest.

L.
26.10.2016 (2025 hr)

Blip #1953 (#2203 including 250 archived blips)
Consecutive Blip #002
Day #2401 (447 gaps from 26 March 2010)
LOTD #1188 (#1314 including 126 on archived blips)

Calne series
Churches series

Taken with Pentax K-5 and Pentax smc P-DA 12-24mm F4.0 ED/AL (IF) lens

Walks Around Blacklands, 19-20 October 2016 (Flickr album)
A Circular Drive In Wiltshire, 20 October 2016 (Flickr album)

Lozarhythm of the Day:
Weekend - The View From Her Room (12 inch version) (recorded January 1982)
Weekend were a relatively short-lived band that featured former members of Young Marble Giants and future members of Working Week. They made one studio album, La Varieté (an album I now own in its expanded CD version), and a couple of excellent singles including this one, featuring the vocal of Alison Statton, Larry Stabbins on sax and Harry Beckett on flugelhorn, included on the CD.
The baterian section in the middle features a cuica, a single-headed drum with a stick mounted inside the drum body, perpendicular to the head. It is played by rubbing a damp cloth along the length of the stick whilst pressing the drum's head with a finger or thumb. The greater the pressure against the stick, the higher the pitch of the sound produced, making those interesting sounds.