Just photos, but a pleasant evening in Coltishall and there were no shortage of people sitting by the river.
Author: admin
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Don’t Quit from Hammerton Brewery
I can’t write about pubs at the moment since they’re a bit shut, so photos of beer at a BBQ will just have to do instead. And this is the rather lovely Don’t Quit from Hammerton Brewery, a vanilla pecan pie imperial stout which comes in at 9.1%.
The beer had a rather lovely smooth taste, richness of pecan pie and an elegant sweetness with a flavour of chocolate running through it as well. Very drinkable, this was one of the options stocked at the Artichoke pub in Norwich and the can is also quite attractive.
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Hardley – Hardley Mill
Hardley Mill is located off of the Wherryman’s Way and was constructed in 1874 for Sir Thomas Proctor Beauchamp.
The 1874 construction date is visible on the stone tablet, with Beauchamp residing at Langley Hall, which is now used by Langley School.
The mill was used until 1950 and at that time the Internal Drainage Board abandoned the building and it might have easily become derelict and lost. The mill was saved by Peter Grix and other volunteers who in 1981 were able to save it from falling down, slowly restoring it and making it operational once more.
The sign notes that this is one of the original doors from the top of the turbine well.
The windmill looks quite graceful on the Norfolk Broads, with the cap being added back to the top in 2009 as the previous one had effectively fallen off. Although the ongoing health issue meant that it was closed when we walked by, the mill is often open for tours and there’s a visitor centre here as well which can provide snacks and drinks.
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Wherryman’s Way Near Claxton
Just photos from the Wherryman’s Way, or routes just off it, from last week. This is the area near to Claxton and the other side of the river bank from Cantley. I’ll be doing the entirety of the Wherryman’s Way in a couple of weeks, so there might be quite a few posts about that coming up…..
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Florence – Museo degli Innocenti (Coronation of the Virgin by Benedetto Buglioni)
This is a glazed terracotta altarpiece that was moved here in 1905 from the Bottigli Chapel at the manor of San Miniato al Montanino outside Figline. There’s an inscription at the base of the altarpiece which dates it to 1520 and it was commissioned by Madonna Francesca.
This work celebrated its 500th anniversary this year, it’s survived remarkably well since it was created by Benedetto Buglioni, a Florence artist who lived from 1459 until 1521. The colouring gives it a vibrant feel and it depicts the Coronation of the Virgin with St. Dominic and St. Francis. These saints are the founders of two of the most important Catholic orders, the Dominicans and the Franciscans.
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Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day Eighty-Eight
The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue was first published at the end of the eighteenth century, and given that the Coronavirus crisis is giving too much time to read books, I thought I’d pick a daily word from it until I got bored…..
Conny Wabble
This is defined as “eggs and brandy beat up together” and the dictionary adds that it has Irish origins. This is a beautifully crafted phrase, of which the origins seem to have been lost, but it is also spelled ‘conny wobble’. It’s primarily a breakfast drink, which I can’t say would appeal much to me if it arrived instead of coffee at some hotel breakfast.
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Internet Archive and Legal Action
There is a very useful resource of books and publications at the Internet Archive that offers the text of hundreds of thousands of books. They’re in the challenging situation now of finding themselves being sued by four publishers, the Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, John Wiley & Sons and Penguin Random House. The aim of the Internet Archive is to make older books available on-line, and for those books still in copyright, they restrict the number of copies that can be lent out in a similar set-up to traditional libraries.
It would perhaps be a great shame if the publishers are able to bring down this project at the Internet Archive, but a real problem remains that libraries are failing to service the need of many readers. The stock of titles on the shelves of Norfolk libraries is, to be honest, erratic and users have to pay per book to access the vast majority of useful stock which is at the “County Reserve Store”. The library service does an excellent job of supplying modern fiction titles, but their selection of non-fiction misses out some key texts that I’m not sure any library should be without, not helped by the problem mentioned to me by the library staff member at Dereham that they lost many books to thieves.
Many of the books at the Internet Archive are out of print, so can only be obtained at some cost from second-hand book dealers. The publishers will probably win their campaign against the Internet Archive, but I’m hoping there is some compromise available. Anyway, the text of their case (in .PDF) is here.
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Florence – Museo degli Innocenti (St. Mary Magdalen by Agnolo di Polo)
This terracotta figure dates from the first part of the sixteenth century and was inspired by a wooden statue produced by Donatello. It was created and painted by Agnolo di Polo, a local artist who was born in Florence in 1470 and died in 1528. Due to old damage, the hands of the figure are modern and were added in 2015, but are connected with magnets and can be easily removed if required.
This is the wooden statue, now in the Cathedral’s museum, produced by Donatello.
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Florence – Florence Cathedral Museum (1523 Choirbook)
Always lovely to see an old book on display, this one in the Cathedral’s museum dates to 1523 and is known as an antiphonary, or a religious book which was used by the choir. The imagery, beautifully created, depicts Moses showing the Tablets of the Law.
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Florence – Florence Cathedral Museum (King David by Andrea Pisano)
This statue was once located on the north side of Florence Cathedral and depicts King David. It was sculpted by Andrea Pisano (1290-1348), who became the Master of Works at the Cathedral in 1340, between 1337 and 1341. This sculpture was part of a set of depictions that were designed to show those prophesied the coming of Jesus.
