Spring Flowers and Recent Reading

 

I popped into a fairly local churchyard at Castle Bromwich last weekend to check on the snowdrops there and there was a good display of the flowers.

There were a few Primroses starting to flower and loads of purple crocuses.

There are lots of buds on Daffodils and I did find a few in flower.

I also spotted this lovely weather vane at a pub that used to be called the Coach and Horses.  I am not sure if it has changed its name now but it is these days a Hickory Smokehouse.

There was also a lovely sundial on the wall.

Cherry Plum blossom is now starting to appear.

Reading

I think I mentioned in the last post that our favourite second hand bookshop is closing at the beginning of April. So we popped in there recently to make a few purchases. This book on Architecture was a good buy.

The volunteers are trying to raise funds for essential repairs to the shop. They need £30,000 but already have raised about £10,000. I do hope they succeed.

I've been reading the book below for ages!  It is a lovely idea where the author delves into the stories behind the names on gravestones in churchyards.  I did enjoy it but I don't know East Anglia where the book is set that well apart from a few short breaks in Norfolk. I think I would have enjoyed it more if it had been set in an area I know well.

Another brilliant book in the Jackman and  Evans series.

This is another book I read over the course of the last year - each chapter covers a different month with details of folklore around certain dates such as Bonfire Night, Pancake Day, Christmas, etc etc.  Highly recommended.

I hope everyone is staying safe and well.

Recent Reading

 

Thankfully E finally tested negative last Sunday and was able to return to work.  Thankfully, she had a very mild dose of covid with cold like symptoms for a few days. Touch wood the rest of us have so far escaped catching it.  E was very good though staying in her room and wearing a mask and using dettol wipes on everything she touched if she did have to come out of her room.

I haven't been anywhere much recently mainly because of E having covid - I know you don't have to self isolate anymore but it doesn't seem fair to go out and about. Also the car has a slow puncture and trying to get it booked into Halfords or Kwikfit has been a nightmare.

So I have been doing plenty of reading.

Thanks to Billy for mentioning the Faith Martin books in a comment.  Its a new series for me and I so enjoyed the first book that I bought the second in the series and read it straight after!

I've been meaning to read "A Month in the Country" for some time as I have seen it mentioned on Twitter and Blogger (Rosie - was it you  who commented on it once?).  Its a short book but I loved it. Totally different to anything I have read before and I think the story will remain with me for a long time.

This Melissa Harrison book has been on my Kindle for ages!  Its well written although I personally don't think I would call it "nature writing" but that is a personal view.  I still can't make up my mind whether I enjoyed it or not although the ending frustrated me - too many unanswered questions remained.

I was really sad to hear recently that our favourite secondhand charity bookshop in Coleshill called "Books Revisited" is closing. We will really miss it as we have found so many good and very reasonably priced books there in the past.

The following two local books were bought there - one is on the village E is moving too and the other is based on the Shustoke area which is not far away.  The books have many old photos from the past and snippets of history.

The next Wesley Peterson novel was very good again.  I am not looking forward to reaching the end of this series!

I love Mary Berry's traybake recipes - everyone I have tried has been good.  This is the almond and cherry traybake made last week when we had run out of biscuits, chocolate bars and crisps!!

I hope everyone is staying safe and well

Water Orton - St Peter and St Paul and the Methodist Chapel and First Signs of Spring in the Garden

 

The flat that E has just bought is situated in the North Warwickshire village of Water Orton.  It is a place I know quite well as its not far from home but I thought I would go for a little wander there the other day while B was busy decorating E's flat.  She hasn't yet moved in as she has been buying the big items of furniture she needs. 

Water Orton was originally called Overton meaning "settlement on the Tun". At the end of the 16th century the name Water Orton appeared.  It was for many years a very small village but the coming of the railways and the building of a station meant it expanded in size quite rapidly.

The exterior of St Peter and St Paul, Water Orton's Parish Church

The church was built in 1878/9 by Bateman and Corser in the Decorated Gothic Style.  The spire was removed from the tower in 1987. Pevsner thinks the church is a "poor job architecturally" and to be honest I do tend to agree with that comment.  The ground for the church was given by a Captain Digby and his wife laid the foundation stone in September 1878.

I didn't go in the church and as D was with me I didn't check if it was open.

This is the Methodist Chapel built 1868 which is fairly close to the village church.  There is polychromatic brickwork and pointed windows by the entrance.

I also went to check out a cottage built in the 1800's which is currently on the market.  I do like the chimneys seen in the photo below but I think the cottage is overpriced as it is a semi detached and I have vowed never to live in another semi after what is happening with the rebuilding work in the house next to ours.  Also I would prefer to move further away and feel it wouldn't be fair on E to follow her to the same village.

The Digby  - we nearly held our wedding reception here many many years ago!

Vesey Bridge over the River Tame was built around 1520 by Bishop John Vesey of Exeter who came from nearby Sutton Coldfield.  I don't have a photo of the bridge so these are two paintings B did some years ago when he attended an art group in the church.

Placed in the bridge stonework there used to a stone panel depicting St Gabriel which came from the Chapel of St Blaise, Sutton Coldfield.  I have seen the panel which is now located in Curdworth Church for preservation.

This is an ancient stone cross or preaching cross located in the churchard in Old Church Road. It could be C11th or C12th and certainly existed when Overton village was given a licence to hold services in their newly constructed Chapel of Ease in 1346.  The chapel was demolished and a new church was build in 1887. I am not sure why but 100 years later this church was demolished too and the new one seen above was built in a different location.

Signs of Spring in the Garden

A snowdrop is now flowering :)

More Wild Primrose flowers are appearing.

Male and female hazel catkins

A few buds are appearing on cyclamen and buds on Camellias.

Primula

Seedheads - we leave these in the herbaceous border and elsewhere and don't remove them until the Spring as birds like the seedheads and insects can be hibernating in the stems or seeds.

Worryingly E tested positive for covid yesterday.  So far she is fine and just feels as though she has a cold.  To be honest with her working with the public we are lucky to have escaped it for this long although I do know she is very careful.  She is keeping to her room and wears a mask when she has to emerge so one can but hope no-one else catches it!

I hope everyone is staying safe and well.

All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera (I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone wants to use one of mine or my son's I would be grateful for an email first - thanks.

Reference:
The Buildings of England Warwickshire by Chris Pickford and Nikolaus Pevsner  Yale University Press 2016.

Water Orton Warwickshire In Times Past by C W Green