It has been a few weeks since I last posted on my blog. I thought that I would start a new “thread” of posts based on one of my favourite topics – bicycles.
Cycling was one of my favourite recreational pastimes throughout much of my life. Cycling to school, cycling to work, bicycle touring on the weekend and bicycle touring on vacation. It all came to an abrupt end, after being hit by a car door, but that’s another story.
During my travels, I have always looked out for bicycle photo ops. The following images are the beginnings of my nostalgic look at old bicycles and how they are or have been used. I hope that you find some enjoyment in these as well.
bicycle and flower potsbicycle and treatsbicycle leaning on a concrete block wall
This will be my last regular post of images of doors for a while. I will be away for a few weeks and I am uncertain when I will have the time and opportunity to contribute to Thursday Doors.
In the meantime, I hope that you enjoy this week’s contribution of a “potpourri” of doors that have some unusual characteristics.
When is a door not a door? Maybe when it is missing. The door at this address has been replaced by a sheet of plywood, but hopefully a new door will be installed when the construction is completed.
Door MIA
This second image was selected more for the resident door stop than the actual door. Maybe trolls shop here.
Friendly door stop
This next door looks very much like it has a face and a moustache. One has to wonder – was this intentional or just left to the beholder’s imagination?
Doorway with a face
We all know what happened when King Henry VIII was not amused – off with her head! Best to obey the sign and enter the pub through the correct door. Too bad they didn’t write the sign using an older style of font.
My original post of three doors from the UK (albeit two were actually from Ireland) was not intended to be serialized as a weekly post. But then Norm from Thursday Doors commented on my doors – and so we have progressed on a new track.
In this week’s post I am revisiting my collection and adding three more doors from the UK. I have also corrected the title of my earlier post and sub-titled it “Part 1.”
The first two images are of grand Georgian doors from the Royal Crescent in Bath. I came across these doors in mid-December one year, just following the first snow fall of the season. In some parts of the world, we are still seeing some snow, so these doors are still “in season.”
Apparently, door No. 22 has received some notoriety, due to its colour. In the 1970’s, the resident of No. 22 painted her door yellow, while all of the other doors were painted white. The Bath City Council insisted it should be repainted white, the Secretary of State for the Environment intervened, and the door remained yellow. Rebellion in Bath!
No. 22 The Royal CrescentNo. 23 The Royal CrescentDoor No. 10, somewhere in Oxford
The third door image was shot in Oxford, and is probably the earliest vintage door in my digital collection. The longer I study this door, the more I discover its eccentricities. One of the stained glass panels differs from the other two as the grid pattern is smaller. And what happened to 10A?
My contribution to Norm’s Thursday Doors this week is doors with a nautical theme. The door with a porthole is similar to one I included in an earlier post, but it comes from a coastal port in Cornwall, instead of Ireland. Maybe, over time, the porthole got miniaturized to become the peephole that is now a common feature in doors?
The Seawitch, Penzance, CornwallMermaid Cottage, Kinsale, Ireland
This is the second half of my collection of doors from southern France, and this week’s contribution to Norm’s Thursday Doors.
We begin with another door from Narbonne – this one more institutional than the doors included in Part 1. Someone has gone to a lot of work to preserve the finish on these two wood doors. The two gargoyles are also quite well preserved.
Office door in Narbonne
The glazed door is from a hotel in Avignon. The glazing and the opened door make this entrance much more inviting than any of the other doors – but then, for a hotel to be successful, this is a good feature to have.
Avignon is well known as the site of the Pont d’Avignon, located on the Rhone River. Several popes resided in Avignon in the 14th Century, and parts of the city are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, making it a popular tourist attraction.
Hotel door in Avignon
The third door is from Les Baux-de-Provence, another historic village in southern France. Baux is a hilltop village that has been inhabited for thousands of years. There are typically more tourists than villagers in town on most days.
Old door in Les Baux-de-Provence
The largest set of doors in my French collection belong to the Church of Saint-Trophime in Arles. The church is well known as a good example of Romanesque architecture – note the round arch above the doors – as are the sculptures on the portal.
The images in this series were collected on a walk on the Camino de Santiago in northern Spain. They were taken at various locations between Roncesvalles and Santiago de Compostela.
The scallop shell motif is one of the waymarkers that is used along the Camino. The scallop shell is said to be a metaphor, representing the routes starting at various locations throughout Europe and leading pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela, where the tomb of St. James is located.
In the first image, I found the shell appeared above the doorway and as a decorative item on the actual door.
Door to No. 49Old door and windows with shuttersDoor to No. 4
This is the second instalment of my posts dedicated to doors and this week’s contribution to Thursday Doors. This week I have selected two doors from southern France.
These two doors are located in the city of Narbonne, which is located in the former region of Languedoc (now Occitanie) in south-west France. Narbonne is an ancient city, established in the second Century, and located on a major Roman road that connected Italy with Spain. The city became a regional capital, and it reached its zenith in the 12th and 13th centuries, after which it declined in importance.
Both doors are very Medieval in appearance, and one can imagine that they looked the same hundreds of years ago. The diamond motifs and the use of studs are two characteristics of Medieval-style doors.
From a young age I have always been interested in topical collections. My first memories from childhood include collecting matchbook covers and swizzle sticks. My matchbook covers were usually collected on the streets near home. Swizzle sticks often came from further afield, including vacations with my parents, when we would be served drinks with a swizzle stick for stirring – usually just a Coke for me!
Later on, I started to collect stamps with a common theme. My choice was to collect stamps from around the world that pictured airplanes, which evolved to include rockets and satellites once we entered the space age.
In photography, my first topical collection was based on circles, and I printed many black and white images of circles, which I mounted onto cardstock. Those prints are long gone now. More recently, I have been collecting digital images of front doors during my travels.
Doors can vary in design, size and colour depending where you are in the world. I have included a few images of residential doors that I have discovered and enjoyed in England and Ireland.
Blue door with porthole – IrelandRed door – CornwallBlue door and gate – Ireland
I recently visited the Weald & Downland Open Air Museum, located in West Sussex in the UK. Founded in 1967, this independent museum was established to preserve hundreds of years of history of rural and village life.
Many historic buildings from the region have been relocated to the Museum. Two of these are included in this series of images.
The Toll House was moved from Beeding in Sussex. It was originally built in the early 1800’s to control entry to a new turnpike, and tolls were collected for all vehicular and animal traffic. For example, “For every Horse, Mule, Afs. or other Beast laden or unladen and not drawing, the Sum of Two-pence”. Toll roads are not a new thing.
Whittaker’s Cottage #1 was built in Asthead Surrey in the 1860’s. It is furnished with the Museum’s collections as it may have been in the late 19th Century, when the house was occupied by the Filkins family, which included 8 children. Each floor of the 2-storey cottage has two rooms – one heated, and the other not. I wonder how the heated bedrooms were allocated?
Stay tuned for a post on the people of the Weald & Downland.
Toll House from Beeding, SussexWhittaker’s Cottage #1
These three buildings are closer to home – they are all located in Canada.
Customs House is an historic building prominently located on Wharf Street in downtown Victoria. It was built in the 1870’s – which is very old for anywhere in Western Canada. The pink exterior blends in nicely with the pink cherry blossoms when they arrive in the spring.
The lighthouse from Prince Edward Island is one of many similar structures located on the island. I love the serenity of this image.
The waterfront industrial building is located on the north shore of Burrard Inlet in North Vancouver. It represents a waning marine and logging industry in a growing metropolitan area. Eventually to become another waterfront condominium development?
Customs House, Victoria, BCNorth Rustico Lighthouse, PEIIndustrial waterfront, North Vancouver, BC
