Ax

An Island of the Cremated Dead

Archaeo𝔡𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔥

When is it ok to photograph funerary monuments and memorials situated in public places? Well, I won’t publish images of private gardens and houses, but this memorial is on unenclosed rough grazing land and on a public right of way in Denbighshire. It is fully visible on Google Street View. Hence, I think it appropriate to share it as a distinctive creation of a privately created memorial landscape for the cremated dead in a public location beside a major road and a popular roadside cafe.

A series of shallow ponds have been dug with an island at their centre. On the island are a modestly high number of memorials around a pair of conifers. It is a veritable island for the cremated dead!

Close to the Horseshoe Pass, this is a landscape replete in memorial locations where ashes are scattered, but also a hotspot for road deaths. Close by, a…

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A New Day.

S C Richmond

A New Day.

A rustle, a flutter.

Everything is still and calm on the surface,

Below the calm is nature waking up, waiting for the new days sun to take away the white coating.

Within minutes colours come alive, fragances sweep across the forest, fresh and clean.

A new day begins.

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Ax

A Talent For Murder. – Review

S C Richmond

4.5/5.0 A Must for Christie fans.

A Talent For Murder – Andrew Wilson

A very enjoyable read, it fills in the gaps beautifully of the factual days Agatha Christie went missing. Still today we don’t know why she went awol, but this reads just like one of her novels, driven by the mystery and a plausible and particularly nasty baddy. It’s an interesting thought as to the reasons she was missing and well written in Christie style. She is portrayed as a strong intelligent, attractive woman which is a strong plus for stories set in this era.  If you’re a Christie fan then you’ll love this and it’s cozy approach to murder as every good Agatha Christie style book should be with a nice added twist, will she take up the job offer? Would we ever know?

Relax on your settee and curl up with this book.

The Blurb –

‘You, Mrs Christie, are going to…

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Wayland’s Smithy – Stones and Hidden Bones

Archaeo𝔡𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔥

IMG_2106 Wayland’s Smithy, Oxfordshire (historically in Berkshire)

Wayland's Smithy II: the blocked passage Wayland’s Smithy II: the blocked passage

IMG_2181 Sign-climbing

Recently I presented a keynote at a conference on the Subterranean in the Medieval World conference at the University of York, outlining my preliminary thoughts on the Past in its Place Strand B case study: Wayland’s Smithy.

Only subsequent to this conference did I get the opportunity to revisit this Neolithic monument of the 36th and 35th centuries BC. I went there to take photographs of the monument and also to think through some of my ideas about the site’s form and its location.

IMG_1747 Uffington Castle from the Ridgeway, looking back whilst en route to Wayland’s Smithy

Getting to Wayland’s Smithy involved a 1.4 mile walk from the car park along the historic Ridgeway path. This is a completely different and benign experience to my memories: closed to motor vehicles and carefully managed, this stretch of the…

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Song 4 in the 5 Song Challenge.

Love this!

S C Richmond

I have been invited to do the 5 songs challenge.

The rules are to post the lyrics of a favourite song five days in a row, explain what they mean to you and add the video if available.

So here we go again with day 4. Led Zepplin – Thank you.

All of Led Zeppelin’s tracks are brilliant but this one stands out and has for many, many years. You don’t need me to waffle on about all the moments in my life I associate with this song, I know you just want to listen to it.

Remember to be tell those you love how much you really do care about them, hold them close and say ‘Thank You’

“Thank You”

If the sun refused to shine, I would still be loving you.
When mountains crumble to the sea, there will still be you and me.

Kind woman, I give you…

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Death of Death, Death of Time – Reviewing the New Bryn Celli Ddu

Archaeo𝔡𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔥

In 2014 I wrote a basic blog post about the Neolithic passage grave at Bryn Celli Ddu, Angelsey. This is a Neolithic passage grave under the care of Cadw. The post here is a refreshed ‘site review’, critically commenting on the site’s new signage introduced since my last visit in early 2015.

I love the designs, and the new images on the signs are striking and evocative. The efforts to encourage visitors to also explore other ancient monuments on Anglesey are to be commended. Likewise, the emphasis on following-up with further information available online is great too. Furthermore, much remains the same about the experience of visiting the site, and the changes are not distracting to the visitor experience of the monument itself in any fundamental regard. Still, I left feeling that the visitor experience has been impoverished, rather than enhance, by the new signs.

Directions

The old sign that…

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