St Martin Church's Cemetery

This church is the oldest church in England still in use. It is a fascinating building with an important history - the starting point of the revival of Christianity in England in 597 AD by Saint Augustine. St. Martin Church was most probably build as a Roman church in the 4th century outside the walls of Canterbury.

The churchyard contains the graves of many notable local families and well-known people including Thomas Sidnet Cooper, RA (artist) and Mary Tourtel, the creator of Rupert Bear.

The Dangling Conversation

(a song by Simon and Garfunkel)

Its a still life water color,
Of a now late afternoon,
As the sun shines through the curtained lace
And shadows wash the room.
And we sit and drink our coffee
Couched in our indifference,
Like shells upon the shore
You can hear the ocean roar
In the dangling conversation
And the superficial sighs,
Are the borders of our lives.
And you read your emily dickinson,
And I my robert frost,
And we note our place with bookmarkers
That measure what weve lost.
Like a poem poorly written
We are verses out of rhythm,
Couplets out of rhyme,
In syncopated time
Lost in the dangling conversation
And the superficial sighs,
Are the borders of our lives.
Yes, we speak of things that matter,
With words that must be said,
Can analysis be worthwhile?
Is the theater really dead?
And how the room is softly faded
And I only kiss your shadow,
I cannot feel your hand,
Youre a stranger now unto me
Lost in the dangling conversation.
And the superficial sighs,
In the borders of our lives.

TUDOR HOUSE

The Tudor period is the time when the Tudor family came to the throne. Henry VIII is the most famous tudor king. One of the most startling transformations in the history of English architecture took place in the Tudor period. It was not, however, a transformation in style. Buildings were still largely Gothic in form; at least during the first half century of the Tudor period. Instead the transformation was a social one; building effort now went towards secular, rather than ecclesiastical buildings.

Curiously, changes in architectural style resulted in buildings shrinking; becoming more intimate. Rather than the move towards spaciousness so evident in the late Gothic period, Tudor architecture focussed on details. Windows and doors were smaller, but more ornately decorated, more complex. The smartly pointed arch of the Gothic period gave way to the flattened Tudor arch. And that brings up a second noticeable characteristic of Tudor architecture; the use of brick in building. However in several areas of England, notably Cheshire, Lancashire, and Warwickshire, wooden houses, generally in oak, are more numerous than brick.Where bricks were too expensive plaster was the infill of choice, resulting in the typical "black-and-white" small Tudor house, whitewashed plaster set between blackened oak timbers.

Three Tombs


St Cuthbert's (also known as West Church) contains some of the oldest headstones in Edinburgh and, being located at the west end of Princes Street, makes an ideal diversion from the crowds of shoppers.

Photograph was made with Hasselblad 501C, 50mm Carl Zeiss Plannar lens and using yellow filter. The film is Kodak Tmax 100 rated at 64, developed with Rodinal in N process using semistand agitation. Printed in MGIV FB Ilford

Have you ever noticed
a tree standing naked against the sky,
How beautiful it is?
All its branches are outlined, and in its nakedness
There is a poem, there is a song.
Every leaf is gone and it is waiting for the spring.
When the spring comes, it again fills the tree with
The music of many leaves,
Which in due season fall and are blown away.
And this is the way of life.

- Krishnamurti

Photograph was made with Hasselblad 501C, 50mm Carl Zeiss Plannar lens and using yellow filter. The film is Kodak Tmax 100 rated at 64, developed with Rodinal in N process using semistand agitation. Printed in MGIV FB Ilford paper developed in Ansco 120 and Ansco 130, 3 minutes, archival processing, and selenium toning

The Lady Chapel, Bristol Cathedral

Bristol Cathedral, near College Green, is on a site that has probably had a church on it for over a thousand years. It is the Cathedral Church of the Diocese of Bristol.

In 1220 the Elder Lady Chapel was added by Abbot David and used for quiet services and also for the Blessed Sacrament. In 1298 the Abbey was rebuilt and the Choir and beautiful Eastern Lady Chapel were completed two years later, the Centre Tower and Transepts added in 1460-80. In 1539 the Abbey was closed and the Nave demolished.

Photograph was made with Hasselblad 501C, 50mm Carl Zeiss Plannar lens and using yellow filter. The film is Kodak Tmax 100 rated at 64, developed with Rodinal in N process using semistand agitation. Printed in MGIV FB Ilford paper developed in Ansco 120 and Ansco 130, 3 minutes, archival processing, and selenium toning

THE DANCING TREES

"Long before man and woman

walked the earth.

The trees walked about.

They danced.

They danced as gracefully

as the finest ballerina.

The sound of the wind

was their music.

It was a symphony unlike

any other

...."

By Terry Lowenstein