Russell-Cotes

We woke up to wonderful sunshine this morning so we decided to have a look round the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum in Bournemouth. It's in an interesting building, originally constructed between 1897 and 1901 as a house for Sir Merton and Lady Russell-Cotes as both their home and a showcase for their extensive collection of art and artefacts from around the world. In 1907 they announced they would give the house and its contents to the people of Bournemouth. It's owned by the Borough Council and has free admission.

The artworks the Russell-Cotes's collected were contemporary British paintings, which were relatively affordable at the time, as the British Victorian artists had little truck with the important modern movements of mainland Europe. Many of the artists they collected were unfashionable at the time and most have remained so, although that may be changing.

There are excellent paintings by Albert Moore, Lord Leighton, Rossetti, and Edwin Long - who was new to me - but photography was not allowed. The museum has set up an enterprising website where you can order reproductions of paintings from their collection, to your specification.

From the pier we enjoyed watching some jet skiers having fun in the waves.

It was the Garden Bird Watch today and I managed to record a staggering six species in an hour this afternoon.