100 ABSTRACTS - NUMBER 77 - AND MALMESBURY ABBEY

As Mr. HCB is going to be away every day for most of the next two weeks watching cricket, weather permitting, of course, we decided to go out together today.  We had come through Marlborough last week and it was packed, so decided that we would go the other way, towards Cirencester and have a wander around.  

However, the nearer we got to our destination, the blacker the clouds became until there was a cloudburst and we realised that perhaps wandering around Cirencester might not be quite such a good idea.  We sat in the car for about quarter of an hour with the rain hammering down so decided rather than just sitting there, to drive on towards Malmesbury.  The sun put in an appearance, and we managed to find a parking space right in the centre of the town, where amazingly, there was no charge for a Sunday!  

We went into Coffee #1 and enjoyed a coffee and Danish pastry and then as we were quite close to Malmesbury Abbey, decided to have a wander around the grounds - I took lots of photographs and thought a collage - put in as an extra - might be the best way to show them and it also includes a view of the Malmesbury Market Cross, which stands in the High Street, and was built in 1490 - it's not often you can get a shot of this with no cars and no people around!  If you look very closely, at the top right shot, you will see Mr. HCB trying to get out of the way!  I rather liked him in there - it shows the scale of the building.  Here is some information about the abbey:

"The Benedictine monastery at Malmesbury was one of the longest established in England, founded in the late 7th century, and remaining in continuous use until the suppression in 1539. The earliest church was built around 700 by Aldhelm, the second abbot (and later a saint), though this was soon replaced by a series of stone buildings, on a site now occupied by the graveyard, and this endured for several centuries until construction of the much larger abbey in the mid 1100s. 

At its peak the abbey was the third most important religious institution in the country, behind Winchester and Canterbury, and the church boasted the third tallest spire in England (431 feet), behind only Lincoln Cathedral and Old St Paul's Cathedral. The spire and its supporting tower fell shortly before 1500, also destroying the east end of the abbey, however following the transfer to the Church of England in 1541, and the other collapse around 1550, the building has remained largely unchanged, the most eventful subsequent period being during the English Civil War, when it was captured and recaptured several times by the opposing factions.”

I must add that this is not merely an old abbey, but is a vibrant church community in Malmesbury, which is great to know.  Although it has been closed because of the pandemic, it is now open for services, but places need to be booked.  However, we didn't go inside today.

My main shot today is of the clouds as we drove home - they were so beautiful that I asked Mr. HCB to stop the car so that I could take some shots and this one won the day.  This is Number 77 in my 100 Abstracts Challenge to raise awareness of the Mamie Martin Fund, which enables girls in North Malawi to have a good secondary school education.  

Interestingly, last night I was watching a video of someone pouring acrylic paint onto a canvas and then using a hairdryer to “blow” the paint into an abstract design - I am going to look into this because it really appealed to me.  Who knows, if I do some, I might be able to sell them and become famous!  When I saw these clouds today, it reminded me of the video but of course, this is one of nature’s own abstracts and fits the bill well for my challenge.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s raining and dark; 
     the sun is shining above the clouds.”
Elie Tahari

https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/MaureenIles