Wine and Cheese brought about by my Cathedral talk research ...

 

Honestly … let's have a change … my health is still with challenges, the leak still not resolved … and my mental thoughts aren't very polite!!

Winchester Cathedral - longest medieval
church in the world

So now let's go towards Cathedrals … I did my talk on Cathedrals in the Medieval era (I based it around the 1100s AD) … not on the actual style of building etc … but from the workers point of view – how were they built etc etc …

Different – but I don't do what's expected of me – exactly … however it seems to have rung bells for many. I'd come across the Ken Follett book 'Pillars of the Earth' – the story of building a cathedral, and of those closely connected with its construction …

It is what it is - !

Ken Follett in his introduction explains how he wanted to write about Cathedrals, but 'knew nothing' about how to build, or the way of life back in the 1100s – he looked to Nikolaus Pevsner's An Outline of European Architecture, and then two by a French man Jean Gimpel – The Cathedral Builders, and The Medieval Machine.

Pevsner's Guide showing
interior of Chichester
Cathedral

Follett is an author of thrillers, of which actually I'm not sure I've read any?! … but I bought Pillars of the Earth (over 1000 pages!) … and drafted my talk mainly from it – I had to fill in odds and ends from elsewhere.

Jean Gimpel's book
on The Cathedral Builders

Medieval England in the 12^th century was a turbulent place – civil war, famine, religious strife and battles over royal succession … all of which tore lives and families apart …

Jean Gimpel's book
on The Medieval Machine

Building a cathedral back then would have taken over 30 years, and in some instances over 500 years (Winchester Cathedral) … the stones revealing the construction history – the stops and starts, the damage and reconstruction, extensions in times of prosperity, repairs when disaster struck … and ultimately the incremental improvements – as an example when stained glass started to be added … to tell the stories of the time …

Henry II and Thomas a Becket
(early 14th C representation of them)

But when I'm 'researching' and putting ideas to paper … I often come across titbits that amuse me and I think – ah ha for you all reading this blog … so here's a couple for you …

Henry's claims over lands in France
(at their peak in red) 1150s

I was looking at the year 1141 AD – when The Anarchy, a civil war in England and Normandy between 1138 and 1153 was ongoing … at that stage 'we' owned a fair amount of western France – well that's another story …

Ricasoli vineyard today - in the
mountainous region of Chianti - 
Tuscany

... but I spotted that the Italian winemaking company Ricasoli was founded … I had to look didn't I? They've even got a Chianti – Viticultori in Chianti Classico: Ricasoli 1141, named after that year.

Cheddar - so delicious

Oh – we need cheese don't we …? Another date I 'interrogated' was 1170 AD – when it is recorded in a pipe roll (financial records) Henry II apparently purchased 10,240 lbs (over 4.5 kgs) of Somerset cheddar … only available at court!

What's not to like after giving a talk on Cathedrals … but some wine and cheese – which in fact I didn't have … had some lunch though.

Live and learn – and that I certainly do … more tennis this week, when we have the counties down here competing in their Championships – excellent tennis to spend some time watching with a cousin who comes down to help with the admin of the tournament.

See you all soon – and thanks for visiting …

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Update 3rd - and again slow life a la E/b …

 

Tennis – an elderly friend who would like to watch the tennis … says she can't see the ball on the tv … first it's far too fast, second … why can't they have black balls?, then she could (perhaps) see and enjoy it more … sometimes we have to laugh, and swallow our ripostes …

Handful of tennis balls -
sorry obvious caption!

...then I'd never realised you need to be able to read to play first class tennis … I'd always wondered what the players were doing looking at or weighing the various balls in their hand – now I know – they look at the writing to see how 'wrecked' the ball is … and select the ones with the clearest lettering …

I have to say – I've enjoyed the tennis, and from this end of the world think electronic line calls work well … fewer disputes …

What I call 'village' salad ...
using local ingredients

I was over with friends not far from here, but inland a little, where we all concurred the weather has brought Autumn forward … dry, dry, dry … we had very little rain recently …

As you know it's been rather warm here, so I've been making lots of cold soups and salads … a melon salad over the years I've always made … one can vary it appropriately …

Melon salad ... mine would be
rougher looking than this ... 

... and then (red) Gazpacho … love that cold tomato and veggie whizz up … both of these I'd serve with herby bread … and/or whatever else was appropriate for the family/friends on the day …

Gazpacho soup

I'm no further forward with anything … plumbing-wise here, or health-wise – I had a hospital appointment last week, where I was discharged from that setting, but can go back within a year, when I'm ready … 

Architectural Elements
in a Cathedral - courtesy Cultural Travel Guide
and Abir Pothi - an Indian site 

... but I'm managing on with life … as that meeting gave me some guidance … next is a letter to my doctor (General Practitioner) to see if I can get the ball rolling sooner …

My main priority now is to get a talk for Monday mostly finished, particularly the slides … it's on the building of Medieval Cathedrals … which I'm finding fascinating – a whole newish area of knowledge … and takes me away from fretting …

A brief update – in the next few days I'll be round to everyone's blogs … life says take your time – which I'm doing … and it is cooler - a relief … see you all soon ….

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Update 2nd … and more life a la E/b …

 

The leaking world continues on … all will be fixed in due course … but it has gone downstairs into the flat underneath … so will be a challenge for the landlady, who lives in Kenya, and the owners of the other flat who live in the States … and the agents …

Africa, Oh! Africa ...

... also it's still ooze-leaking, which I thought it might be … the plumbers will return shortly to replace some pipe … from the 'laundry area' through the wall into the kitchen … it'll be messy-ish. 

I now have no hot water … fortunately there's an electric shower – so a degree of hot water is available … boiling the rest, as necessary.

Flooding from the sea -
in Seaside, 
Eastbourne, 1904

... I've accepted life will take its own course … communication isn't brilliant, repetitive updates – but so be it … health-wise … I'm up and down too – fortunately, I'm fairly convinced, it's not that serious – but, frustrating, as I'm slow and on occasions don't feel up to much.

Recently – before my leaks – we had a mains water burst just up the road from here … that was fixed in about 6 hours, once they were able to get here to repair it …

... the reason for my mentioning this now – is that friends who live in that block asked me if I'd noticed all the sand on the road, and then told me that the repair-waterhole-diggers dug down into sand, rock and shingle (which spewed out) … we do live very near the sea. Eastbourne is built on shingle and chalk – not the world's best land – but it'll see me out …

Marine Gardens,
Eastbourne - 
before it was built up
mid 1700s onwards

The town started to expand over 300 years ago, as in the late 1700s George III sent some of his children down here for a holiday by the sea – the area now known as 'Seaside' … shingly Seaside … so our infrastructure is ageing, as it's been around a while!

It has cooled down and now is very tolerable … another plumber comes tomorrow to sort the cold-water stopcock out … plenty of people coming in and out to look – workmen, health-carers – to sort out challenges … as time goes by life will quieten down and improve, I sincerely hope!

Mackerel Sky - by Tirzah Garwood
(Eric Ravilious' wife/widow - he's known as our
Sussex artist - he died in the War off Iceland)

Enjoy your seasonal times – warm or cold … and here's to more settling times …

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories