Printers' Pie*

Another spaniel walk in unfamiliar territory. Walking from Henley to Lower Shiplake via Harpsden Woods and returning along the Thames Path we came across the barn at Harpsden Court Farm. The gable end of the barn is decorated with a great variety of hand carved wooden blocks that were originally used for printing wallpaper designs. Apparently they were bought by the paint manufacturer John Noble from a printing firm in London to be used for building a boat house but he died and that project was shelved. 

* When typographic print was set using individual letterpress characters "printers' pie" was slang for jumbled up letters