More Holes

The large holes in the stonework of our church I mentioned a few days ago are on the North facing side and just in one particular area:



The holes being 20 to 25 mm in diameter.
Recently I decided to look at the other walls and found holes on the East and South facing walls:









There are scores of holes, mainly above head height and much smaller at about 10mm diameter. They give much more the appearance of being the homes of masonry bees. I doubt I will ever find out for certain what made those larger holes on the North side.

To quote Toyah: "It's a Mystery"

The Holey Part of the Church

The walls of my village church were built using a mixture of greensand, ironstone and limestone.
One section is possibly softer than usual.



I'm always fascinated by the holes in that section.
Were they made by bees?



Many seem to have been taken over by spiders.



The largest must be getting on for 3 cm in diameter which seems to me to be rather large for a mining bee.
Any other ideas?

Church of St Leonard, South Cockerington

I have been meaning to visit the Church of St. Leonard, South Cockerington, Lincolnshire for a while and wanting to try out the Canon M5 mirror-less camera gave me the incentive. I took the camera fitted with a Canon EFS 17-85mm zoom lens and a Speedlight flash gun to use inside. As the church is at the end of a long, narrow, winding lane I was very relieved at not meeting any traffic coming in the opposite direction.

car video clip


There was just enough room to park one car off the lane by the entrance to the church.

First view of the early 14thC, late 15thC and 19thC restored church



The only gargoyles I noticed were near the top of the tower



Inside the North entrance porch with its plank door

    

Once inside we see the font



The view looking to the East where the 15thC screen can be seen



Restored in the 19thC



To the right of the screen is a large alabaster monument to Sir Adrian Scrope who died in 1623.
The figure rests on a tomb chest of white and pink streaked marble on which are panels depicting two kneeling daughters and six sons







Taking a peek through the screen the choir stalls and altar can be seen



In the walls either side of the altar are small niches



Returning to the West end of the church we see the small chamber organ.



This has memories and a small connection with my family.
My father played the organ at several of the local churches. Many years ago the S. Cockerington parish decided they would like an organ, the church not having one at that time. This one was in a church which had dropped out of use and permission was given to move it to St. Leonards. My father and I were asked for advice on how to dismantle and move it safely so one weekend we went along and helped. The firm advice given was in the handling of the pipes. Many have a high lead content which gives them the traditional sound. Consequently the metal is very soft and easily damaged. A group of us carefully dismantled the organ, labelling all the pipes and where they fitted, transported it and re-assembled it in its new home. After that a professional organ tuner was engaged to finish the job of retuning it. He complimented us on the care we had taken when moving the organ.

By the way, all the windows are fitted with plain clear glass so no stained glass to photograph this time.

Back outside to have a look round.
The West entrance at the bottom of the tower



A view of the South side



A couple of grave stones



The oldest one I spotted



The inscription reads:
"Here lies the body of George and Eliz
Son and daughter of George and Rebecca Dunham
Both departed July the 7th 1759
He in the 19 she in 17 year of their ages
They're pluck'd like roses not full blown
(the next line is well worn or scratched out)
(It appears to read 'As you a bove may see')
To heavn I hope they both are gone
To reign eternally"

A view from the far end of the spacious graveyard



The only other visitors I saw

  

About ten common darter dragonflies



Then the drive back home along that same narrow, winding lane.

All photos were taken in RAW, batch converted to virtually lossless jpgs with Preview. Some were cropped or tweaked slightly with Affinity Photo on a Macbook. I found the M5 fairly difficult to hold with the extra weight of a zoom lens and Speedlight. Also I found it too easy to accidentally press the video button when holding the camera in portrait mode. Otherwise I am pleased with the results. It was very useful at times to tap the touch screen to choose where I wanted it to focus.

What a Whopper

Yesterday I drove down to a mower centre on the coast to have a look at some ride on mowers. The route along the back country lanes takes me through the village of South Somercotes.  Passing through the village I always have a quick glance at the village church. Very noticeable, even from a distance, is the size of the spire. I've been promising myself for years to stop and take a closer look but it is positioned near a narrow, dangerous Z bend in the road. This time, on the way back home, I found a nearby lane where it was safe to park.



The following photos were taken with my Nikon Coolpix S9050.

The tower and spire probably date back to the early 15th Century

 

 

The church is known as "The Queen of the Marsh".
Local legend suggests the spire was built so tall to act as a beacon for sailors.
The parish register dates back to 1558.

Once in through the North door



the 15th Century font can be seen. It is carved with the instruments of the Passion.



including two flails, two lances and four nails



The interior of the church is roomy and light.



The pulpit







Moving on through the chancel screen

 

one can see the altar table



and a harmonium. (I used to have one like that many years ago)



On a table there are two old bibles.
I had a close look at one of them



It contains many full colour illustrations. This is the title page.





Looking back towards the base of the tower



The belfry hold three bells, two dated 1423 and the other was cast in the 14th Century.

Outside -looking at the tower and spire from the South side



The South entrance porch



The walls of the church are a mixture of limestone, sandstone and greensand with some repairs patched with brick. The nave and chancel are roofed with Welsh slates and the aisles with lead.

Finally, a fascinating niche in the base of the tower



Information on the history of the church was gleaned from a small booklet produced by The Churches Conservation Trust.

St Wilfrid's Church, Alford, Lincolnshire

Saturday afternoon, though still cool, the Sun decided to shine on the righteous. I wanted to visit the Alford charity shop which supports Fen Bank Greyhound Sanctuary. That is the rescue centre where I found Penny six years ago. I knew she would jump at the chance of a car journey and visiting somewhere different to investigate so in no time she was sprawled out on the back seat of the car and we were on our way.

Once we were parked up near the town centre I had a pleasant surprise.
The first hour's parking was free.
Just enter the car registration number and hit the green button on the ticket machine.



First task was to walk out the back of the car park which leads to a country lane. That gave madam a chance to have a good stiff at every tuft of grass and do whatever else she needed before we walked into the market square. As we ambled back past the shops I saw the charity shop was busy so I decided to have a look round the outside of the parish church.

This is the second church built on the site, the first being constructed of wood.
At least part of the present building is said to date back to 1289.

 

On previous visits, mainly in the Summer time, I have seen people abseiling down the tower, usually to raise money for charity. This time all was quiet apart from the traffic which passes the church on the way to and from Mablethorpe on the Lincolnshire coast.

Once we had found a gap in the traffic we dashed across to the church where we could relax and take our time.
I had not walked round the church before and there was plenty to look at.

First the base of the tower and its entrance door





Once round the back, the North side, I could see the roof edge was lined with well weathered gargoyles.



One thing I did notice was that most of the arches over the doors and windows were terminated with carved heads. A couple of composite pictures made with the Mac App Photo Wrangler to show closer views of the carvings.

 

Just look at those magnificent hinges.



A clearer view of one



Nearing the East end of the church a glance heavenwards showed the pinnacles which top the tower.



Moving round to the front of the church one can see the very prominent war memorial.





There are several grave cover stones in this area.
One which caught my interest (complete with patient greyhound shadow).



An enhanced view of the inscription.



That led us to the main entrance.



After this quick tour round the exterior of



we walked back to the market square and visited the charity shop. I achieved my purpose - to buy a pack of Christmas cards which have been specially designed for Fen Bank Greyhound Sanctuary. The four legged boss fell in love with the lady who had the tin of dog biscuits kept to reward doggy visitors. Then it was time to return to the car and journey home.