Tag Archives: St Albans Cathedral

Thursday Doors – The Watching Loft

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img_3172My door this week comes from the ancient cathedral of St Alban, and is the entrance to the fourteenth century Watching Loft.

img_3175Prior to the dissolution of the monasteries, St Alban’s Cathedral was part of a huge abbey complex, at the centre of which was the shrine to the martyred saint. The Watching Loft was constructed so that monks and soldiers could keep watch over the shrine at all times, ensuring the sacred remains were undisturbed.

img_3173The doorway, as you can see, is quite narrow, and the loft itself seems quite cramped – I imagine the monks and soldiers up there crammed in like roosting pigeons, not to mention the contortions it would have taken to get up the stairs. Still, it is a wonderful surviving example of its type – the beautiful carving and ornate design a reminder of a time when people built things to last.

This is my entry to Norm 2.0’s Thursday Doors Challenge. For more doors, or to add one of your own, visit Norm’s site and click the link.

Thursday Doors – The Bishop’s Door, St Albans Cathedral

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IMG_3166A little while ago I posted about a set of doors at St Albans Cathedral, which someone commented ‘were probably the oldest’ set of doors to appear in the Thursday Doors Challenge. Now, I know I have an advantage, as I live in a country where buildings can be a thousand years old. However, this week, I have an even older door.

Also in St Albans Cathedral, the Bishop’s Door is thought to have been made around 1396, and the Great West Doors I featured previously, made around 1420-40, were based on the design of this earlier door. On the top right-hand side of the doorframe is the crest of St Albans, and on the other side the crest of Richard II, king at the time the doors were made. The timber has been well maintained over the years, so is in better condition than the Great West Doors, and the quality of the carving is just beautiful.

IMG_3167And here is some more carving – two hundred year old graffiti, scratched into the wall at the left of the door, just above the stone plinth. There are even older examples to be found in the cathedral, some dating back to medieval times, proof that people always like to leave their mark.

IMG_3169This is my entry for Norm 2.0’s weekly Thursday Doors Challenge – for more doors, or to add one of your own, visit Norm’s site and click the link 🙂

 

Summer Daze, Part II

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IMG_0305Hello everyone! Summer is flying past and the gorgeous girl is back at school next week, which I cannot believe – where have the days gone?

I know I’ve been quiet on the blog front (again) this past week, though I haven’t been completely absent. The lovely Suzie, over at SuzieSpeaks, reblogged one of my posts this past weekend, which was a welcome boost – thanks, Suzie! And Lucy over at BlondeWriteMore included my in her list of What Writers Wear When Writing, taken from her excellent author interviews. Apparently when asked, I said I wore something ‘cool and glamorous.’ Well, I wish I could tell you that black track pants and a red Miffy t-shirt are cool and glamorous, but I think I must have been joking, or unusually well-groomed, when she asked me 😀

IMG_3144And so what have I been up to? I spent part of the weekend helping out with our dojo refurbishment. This is a fairly traditional part of martial arts – our dojo is a timber framed building in a private garden and, once a year, the adult students contribute their time and effort to sprucing it up for the coming winter. I was on measuring, then painting duties, and it was nice to see my fellow students again after our summer break.

IMG_3157I’ve also been hanging out with the gorgeous girl, taking her out for the day yesterday, having lunch and visiting shops, plus enjoying some art, craft and history at St Albans Cathedral. Today was more of a mundane at-home day, making sure we have everything ready for school next week, then a last-minute trip out to make the most of the glorious summer weather we’re having at the moment.

Oh, and writing? What’s that? Just kidding. I’ve now completed my edit on A Thousand Rooms, and am working up a launch strategy for the next month or two. ATR is quite a different read from my Ambeth books, aimed at an adult audience rather than YA, though with my usual twist of fantasy. Silver and Black is also calling to me, the manuscript rattling around in its digital drawer, so I know I need to look at that soon. There’s been a song in my mind this past little while, to the point where I ended up downloading it to Itunes – it’s an older song, but there is a vampire connection (no, it’s not by Muse), and it seems to me that the song will feature in Silver and Black.

I’m hoping to get a few more posts up this week, as well as make the rounds to see what everyone else has been up to. I’d also like to welcome some more new blog followers – thanks so much for choosing to come on the journey with me! And finally, I’ve been having fun with Instagram – I’ve been on there for a while and never done anything with it, now all at once I’m hooked. So if you want to find me on there, I’m helenejones33 – hope to see you!

And that’s about all for today. The sun is setting, last golden glow in a turquoise and purple sky outside my window. I think it might be time for a cuppa, and maybe a bit of reading, before bed. Hope you’re all having a wonderful summer – let me know in the comments what you’ve been up to!