SETTLING IN

 

Uses of moulded clay. Pictorial inserts in a tree seat. (This kind of incidental street art is very common in Basingstoke) Ionic capitals and entablature in Fairfields School, a board school dated 1887 using typical local materials in a somewhat Dutch manner.

The school is still in active use, and a privelege to have on my walking routes, which also feature Georgian houses and many retaining walls that lean alarmingly. Very picturesque but sooner or later they will have to be rebuilt, hopefully in a sensitive manner.

 

It has to be said that although the call to prayer was intriguing when I first moved to Dubai and I have great respect for my many devout Muslim friends (and some not so devout perhaps) this is the sound of my home country, England and feels very comforting on my Sunday afternoon walk.

Culture is deeply embedded in our history. I to cannot be frozen, nor can it be changed in an arbitrary manner. Continuity is important. Although I travelled the world for 45 years and England has changed quite alarmingly while I was away, it is still my home.

 

The highlight of my weekend, and second year in a row to visit this event with my son, who moved to Basingstoke from Austria ten years ago.

It's great to be permanently settled in the same town together for the first time since he left for university, 25 years ago. My family is smeared across the globe. Not sure why that happened, but we remain close in spirit, thankfully.

My dad bought a grey Austin A35 van when I was still a in short pants. There was a time period before he could fit rear windows and seats (tax reasons?) We took it camping around the coast of England Scotland and Wales, upgrading to a J4 van which allowed us to do without a tent for a while.

Maybe those holidays planted the seeds of adventure. Wonderful memories, that's for sure.

 

The circus has come to town. Seems to be a regular cycle of events. I guess I will start to measure my year, not just by the changing weather and length of day (things we didn't really have in Dubai) but also the sequence of spectacles coming to War Memorial Park.

I only just noticed the WMP logo built into the park gates, which must date from after the time when Goldings Park Country Estate was taken into public ownership. But after 1918 because the memorial was originally to WW1.

Turning around the other way you see the dark clouds gathering. Not God's message to the PM, just the weather we are having. A little bit of light sleet later after I got home.

 

HA HA SAID THE PARK

 

 

War Memorial Park was once the grounds of Goldings, a country house built by Francis Russell in the late 18th Century. He bought Hackfield Field to create 6 acres of parkland to the south of his house, which incorporated parts of old timber frame cottages, but was restyle in a manner not unlike that of John Soane.

To separate the house and its garden from the parkland he built a ha-ha (concealed ditch) (1) parts of which are still visible at the south entrance to the park, close to the War Memorial itself. (2)

 

 

The house itself is now the registry office (3), and framed by council offices in modernish style. The older block leans towards brutalism (4), and the newer one towards postmodern vernacular (5).

Perhaps surprisingly, the whole urban set piece works rather well.

 

 

Uses of moulded clay. Pictorial inserts in a tree seat. (This kind of incidental street art is very common in Basingstoke) Ionic capitals and entablature in Fairfields School, a board school dated 1887 using typical local materials in a somewhat Dutch manner.

The school is still in active use, and a privelege to have on my walking routes, which also feature Georgian houses and many retaining walls that lean alarmingly. Very picturesque but sooner or later they will have to be rebuilt, hopefully in a sensitive manner.

 

 

It has to be said that although the call to prayer was intriguing when I first moved to Dubai and I have great respect for my many devout Muslim friends (and some not so devout perhaps) this is the sound of my home country, England and feels very comforting on my Sunday afternoon walk.

Culture is deeply embedded in our history. I to cannot be frozen, nor can it be changed in an arbitrary manner. Continuity is important. Although I travelled the world for 45 years and England has changed quite alarmingly while I was away, it is still my home.

 

 

BEDDING IN - NEW ROUTINES

 

Incremental progress on my Baroque church model. The "air-lock" doors don't feature in the floor plans I have seen, but it's a normal feature of church design (sound lock really) and perfectly obvious when you try to build a model from publicly available photographs. So that's one thing I've been working on. Still not quite happy with the proportions of the various components, but we are moving in the right direction.

Some effort has also gone into the column bases and the shafts, which are less tapered than my "standard" corinthian version. And finally the beginnings of infill panels between the columns which are framed up with various designs of niche and cartouche. It seems to me the niches were intended to take statues, but in the end were left blank.

I have yet to add the hollowing out of the wall for these niches, plus the pendentives currently looming above as dark voids. Day by day, we do what we can, and gain insight along the way.

 

Nibbling away at this seemingly herculean task. Accepting the less than perfect for good reasons. Making headway day by day.

This is San Carlo, a tiny church placed at a junction with four drinking fountains and dedicated to Charles Borromeo, an opponent of the modest reforms introduced by the breakaway church of England.

Distant times but familiar human nature. Also a very beautiful and greatly loved place of worship to uplift the human spirit. I have introduced preliminary versions of the side altars. Modeled in place to establish the basic size and proportions, then kept 'open' while I copied the geometry to a loadable family template. Now the two copies can be further developed as RFA files, with efficient use of time and computer memory.

 

This is a ghost gable on London Street, a short walk from my place. I decided to 'AI out' a 'for sale' sign that was distracting my eye from the subtle shadow letters. Of course the gremlin then hallucinated nonsense letters, so I proceeded to pixelate these away.

On future visits to the Reference Library I will look out for older images and text relating to this music shop that once thrived in a street that is now dominated by Turkish Barbers and exotic groceries.

Change is an ancient feature of English society and a fascinating study topic. But has it gone too far, too fast? It's a worry.

 

 

Friday late lunch. Rewarding myself for a nice long walk with fish and chips at the local Weatherspoons.

 

Still have to buy the hooks and plan picture hanging properly, but for the moment I've got a workable arrangement in place at my new home and most of the clutter tucked away.

Beautiful day.