Saturday 12 October 2013

Saturday.


Set out just after nine a.m. last Friday morning to motor down to Wiltshire, where we broke our journey, stopping on our way at one or two antique shops - it has long been a belief of mine that a holiday is not really a holiday until you've bought enough stock to have paid for ithe holiday (in all  honesty that has not been really possible this last year or so,  but..... well, every little helps. Took above photo of Sillbury Hill in mid afternoon. It's the largest man-made hill in Europe (and probably the earliest. It's base covers just over five acres, and it is thought to date from around 2,500 B.C.).  Stayed at a B.and B. establishment that we've used before - as good as ever.
On Saturday morning we were on the road by just after nine, and drove to Watchet.


Above is Watchet Harbour. Below is a sign on the harbour wall that seems to me to be verging on tautology.


Arrived at our hotel, the Northfield Hotel in Minehead, mid afternoon.  Above is one view from our room.
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Got in a bit of a muddle here. The above photo was taken at Watchet Harbour. I wonder if any of my readers can work out who the above character is? I managed to. He is not an historical person. If you can complete the couplet "Why look'st thou so?"  then you should be able to work out who this is a portrait of - sort of this week's mystery object. Check out his accessories.
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 I seem to be tiring rapidly, typing slowly,  and making too many  typological booboos anyway. So will knock off now, and resume this tomorrow..
Goodnight all.

10 comments:

Crowbard said...

The character is from the longest major poem by the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, written in 1797–98 and published in 1798 in the first edition of Lyrical Ballads. Modern editions use a revised version printed in 1817 that featured a gloss. Along with other poems in Lyrical Ballads, it was a signal shift to modern poetry and the beginning of British Romantic literature.

Crowbard said...

The character is from the longest major poem by the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, written in 1797–98 and published in 1798 in the first edition of Lyrical Ballads. Modern editions use a revised version printed in 1817 that featured a gloss. Along with other poems in Lyrical Ballads, it was a signal shift to modern poetry and the beginning of British Romantic literature.

Pat said...

Just for once I know the answer but will restrain myself:)
I think the hill in Wiltshire may be near where my son lives in Warminster.
That's a super view from the Northfield. I've never been upstairs.

Rog said...

I used to drive around in a ancient marina

Unknown said...

Well done Crowbard, Pat, and Rog. It is, of course, a statue of Coleridge's The ancient Mariner. I found meself looking at it and thinking, "What's that bloke doing with a big bird and a crossbow?" and the lines came into my head '"Why look'st thou so?"
"with my cross bow, I shot the albatross."'

Unknown said...

P.s. Pat. It is quite near Warminster, I think.

You're right, we did have lovely views from our room at the Northfield, although we were on the ground floor. It's a nice, welcoming hotel, altogether.

Liz said...

I remember stopping to look at Silbury Hill on a visit to the West Country in 2004. I think we were on our way to Avebury to look at the stone circles. I was disappointed that we couldn't get nearer to Silbury Hill but I did see a pair of deer run down the side of it, which I thought was rather lovely.

Unknown said...

It sounds lovely Liz. I'd like to have seen that. It's a very steep sided hill - but deer are very sure-footed.

Z said...

My husband was straight into the antique shops on the first morning of our honeymoon, were you? I was very young, I had no idea married life would be like that.

Unknown said...

Hello Z. We were married on Saturday, February, 1963. It was a dreadful winter, and the only practical place to honeymoon in England (could only afford a long weekend)was in London. Got there late afternoon, dinner at our hotel, and took in a show - 'Goodnight, Mrs. Puffin' I think it was, with Irene Handl. As the next day was a Sunday, and antique shops didn't open on a Sunday then, we probably didn't do any antique shops. Honesty compels me to admit, though, that had it been a Saturday, we'd have combed the Portobello Road Market, which was a happy hunting ground of mine, then.