England under frost

Yesterday morning I returned from the West Midlands by car.  The north Worcestershire countryside was beautiful, whitened with frost.  We travelled mainly on the motorway network, which has a tendency to leave the traveler slightly dislocated; all of a sudden we were in the East Midlands.  At Broughton and Geddington we had entered an almost magical landscape - sometime intimate, other times vast - where everything seemed in a harmony: blue skies, touches still of frost, beautiful stone built villages, the brown of fields and the more striking green of evergreens in that long slanting light of winter.  Few exceptions to this - the mammoth cement works at Ketton, for instance.  Eventually to Stamford, and the slow, gentle diminution of hills to the Fens.

James Lees Milne

   Firstly let me apologize for not blogging of late.  I was preparing a post on F L Griggs when my father was taken ill and was hospitalised for over a week.  Then came Christmas and the preparations thereof.  Not too mention the continuing upheaval here with re-decorating.  My neat plans were thrown into terrible, and sometime apathetic, confusion.  Normal service will, I hope, be restored shortly.

   I suppose it was reading 'Anti-ugly', but for the last couple of weeks I have been dipping into Michael Bloch's biography of James Less Milne, and the volume of Less Milne's diaries entitled 'Through Wood and Dale; Diaries 1975-1978'.  Lees Milne is a character I find deeply fascinating, not only (and I hope this doesn't sound too prurient) on account of his personal life but his interest in architecture and history, and his self-knowledge.  It was through both books that I returned to church on Christmas morning.  I think I would have liked to have met him.

   After re-reading both 'Excellent Women' and 'Casino Royale' I am re-reading the first part of 'The Lord of the Rings'.  An excellent book for this time of year.

Currently reading....'Anti Ugly'

   'Anti Ugly' is a collection of short essays - articles, really - written for 'Apollo' magazine by the architectural historian Gavin Stamp.  I first became aware of Gavin Stamp in the early Eighties via colour-supplement article on the 'Englishman's Room' - a selection of pieces from a book of the same name written by Alvilde Lees Milne, photographs by Derry Moore.  I regret that he (along with Brian Sewell and Vivienne Westwood) didn't lecture at 'The Prince of Wales's Institute of Architecture' at least while I was there.  He's also a good artist, producing pen and ink drawings with an Edwardian feel, which can't be bad.
   The title, (also the title of one of the essays), refers to a student led campaign in the sixties which ostensibly was concerned with quality of contemporary architecture but in fact only demonstrated outside modern Classical and traditional buildings.  This article and others importantly remind us of the damage to the built environment wrought by that almost manic love of the New, that love of Modernism and Modernity that seems (almost) to have saturated British life in the Post War years - what Christopher Brooker called 'Neophilia'.  The loses were great, the scars still born by our cities, and disproportionally by the communities those interventions were often designed to help.  It's hard to disagree with his opinions; he is rightly critical about the recent surfeit of monuments particularly in London, which are mostly of poor quality - he doesn't mention it but RAF monument in the National Arboretum is a real shocker. (It really is appalling.) He is also right to applaud the recent redevelopments of St Pancras and King's Cross stations in London.

Gavin Stamp's bright, cheerful yellow drawing room features in the latest post on the blog Bible of British Taste.  Here's a link

St Peter, Cambridge

     This the church of St Peter.  It stands adjacent to Kettle's Yard - in fact the house forms part of the boundary of the graveyard. Church and graveyard stand in the oldest part of Cambridge (Roman in origin) - though you wouldn't necessarily think so from the architecture, which appears mainly Victorian once you have crossed the Northampton St./ Chesterton St. junction.  Pockets, however, of the old urban fabric survive in and around Northampton St/ Pound Hill area.  Kettles' Yard and the adjacent church form one of these enclaves.  As you can see the church is very small - the process of historical change - but it probably was never that large to begin with.  It is now under the are of the Churches Conservation Trust.  And they keep it very well.

     The CCT tend to simplify the interiors, enhancing their sense of the numinous and deepening their antiquity.  Note the Norman period font decorated with Mermen.

     Beside the altar is this - the ledger stone for Jim Ede.  Exquisite lettering.

Kettle's Yard Part II

   Kettle's Yard stands as a monument to the High-mindedness of a lot of 19th and 20th century British intellectual life.  I suppose it had its origins in the Evangelical Revival in the early years of the 19th century, and in the Victorian ideal of the Gentleman.  It is to be found in the life and works of Thomas and Matthew Arnold, and in all those other intellectual dynasties that flow through British public life.  It's there in that Post-War Labour Government.  I see it too in the leadership of the Congress Party in India, such as Nehru and Krishna Menon.  I see it too in the character of  Stephen Lynn in Noel Coward & David Lean's film 'Brief Encounter'; effortlessly superior, clever, and above the physical, and indeed emotional sides of life.  The sort of character you may find between the pages of a novel by C P Snow.  A rational human being, thanks to the developments of modern science and psychiatry. Its end was in the rise of Post War popular culture.  Thankfully Kettle's Yard displays more than just those attributes.  There is a poetic quality to the space and, on the afternoon we visited, the light.

   The downstairs living room.  The white walls, absence of mouldings, lack of curtains (grey venetian blinds instead) suggest modernism.  The furniture, the fireplace, bare boards and oriental rugs suggest some older aesthetic - part cottage, part gentry.  In fact there are no pieces of Modernist furniture - no steel, chrome, or black leather.   The furniture is mostly pre-industrial and English.  The 'feel' is very English all together.  It is understated if not frugal, though one is tempted to think that this 'look' is not cheap to achieve.

   The Dining alcove, Modernist or Arts and Crafts?  The detailing around the fireplace suggests the former.  Note the ceiling light in the alcove.  If I remember correctly this is the only one in this room; as I wrote in Part I, the Edes seemed averse to modern technology - the house was lit mainly with candles.

   Jim Ede's desk, barring the way to his bedroom.

   Jim Ede's bedroom.  There is a self-denying ordinance here.  Austerity.  One is tempted to say a denial of the carnal self.  Modernism might be successfully deployed to re-enforce that sense, and thereby becomes a series of styles to be used and combined around the house as needed.  The house has become monastery.  I would go so far a to say that Kettle's Yard was indeed a sort of secular monastery, if not church, dedicated to the propagation of a certain set of artistic values, with Jim Ede as both collector and curator acting as the High Priest of the Mysteries.  For in place of God there was Art.

   Another view of Jim Ede's bedroom.  A Neo-Georgian bay window with Modernist blinds.  The important thing here though is the grouping of objects and the objects themselves.  Firstly this low grouping is repeated three times in the house, and then the objects:  the pre-industrial furniture, the Modern art (I think that figurative art just predominates in Kettle's Yard), and the found things.  In assembling them thus he gave resonance to both furniture and found objects.  They become art.  In assembling natural objects as he did Jim Ede gave order to a Post Religious and Post Enlightenment world.

   Neo- Georgian detailing on the stairs, but the material (teak) and the open treads suggest Scandinavian Modernism. 

   The upstairs sitting room.  The alcove here provides a different sort of sustenance from the one below.  The chairs, though comfortable, are not for relaxation.  Again the solitary light fitting.  Perhaps because Mrs Ede's bedroom is the next room this room has a more 'femine' feel.

   Another view of the upstairs drawing room, with Mrs Ede's bedroom beyond. Note the repetition of low table and chair found earlier in Jim Ede's bedroom

   In the early 1970s Kettle's Yard was extended at one end, and apart from this one section where I took this picture this extension is currently closed for renovation.  The work, not by the original architect is completely Modernist, and although in sympathy is not entirely in keeping.

yet more re-decorating.....

     The saga drags on.  I take full responsibility.  I should have booked the painter and decorator much earlier.  The first floor is still topsy-turvy.  Though I have redecorated the bathroom, well almost.  The delay however has allowed me to take my time in choosing the colour for the walls in my bedroom, and to have a major crisis of confidence.  The visit to the bf's gave me an opportunity to get some tester pots at 'Cutlack's' in Ely - they stock Zoffany, Sanderson, Little Green, Fired Earth and Farrow and Ball.  And since I've been back I've been a busy boy.

  The print over the desk is a student work by the photographer, Rick Morris Pushinsky

     Currently my bedroom is painted in Sanderson Spectrum - Bronze Olive Lt (walls) and Cameo White (everything else).  I don't dislike the colour at all and I will keep the Cameo White (in fact I have extended its use to the whole house), however I feel the darkness of the walls contributes to the room, which faces west, getting so damn hot in summer.  A lighter colour is needed.  As of today the clear favourite is 'Scarab' by Fired Earth, with 'Mouse's Back', by Farrow and Ball a second.  I would have preferred to stay with Sanderson, to be consistent, but their browns contain too much green.

     A chaos of paint samples in the guest bedroom.

Kettle's Yard, Cambridge Part I

   Back from a few days away at the bf's.  Forgetting to take my camera with me I have no images of our rather damp day in London: no images of 'Simpson's Tavern' in the City of London where we had lunch, or of the uber cool Lamb's Conduit Street (obligatory visit to Ben Pentreath's shop just round the corner in Rugby St.), or 'Paxton and Whitfield' in Jermyn St..  Quite a crowded few hours!  However I did take my camera along with me the next day in Cambridge.

   I first went to Kettle's yard as a teenager on a school trip to Cambridge, and like the city it is a place to which I return over and over again.  It has this power to constantly fascinate.  I won't bore you with the history of the place; you can easily find it online.  Sufficient enough for now to say it is the creation of a single agent: Jim Ede. Though I suppose his wife, Helen, must have had some input - surely?  Between 1958 and 1973 Jim Ede created and maintained this enchanting and curious place - a 'palace of art' in effect filled with early twentieth century English Modernism, but also part stately home, rustic farmhouse and, almost Cistercian, monastery.  The Edes had no television or radio and little electric light - they rose and retired to bed with the sun.  It is these contradictory aspects - these ambiguous attitudes to both Modernism and Modernity - that I wish to explore on my next post.

   Kettle's Yard from the east, along the path leading up past the later gallery (on left) from Castle St.  St Peter's churchyard is on the right.  The entrance to the house itself is further up the steps and under the dark weather boarding.

   Another view of the east side of Kettle's Yard from St Peter's churchyard.

Sir John Ninian Comper II

     I was lucky to be in Ketton on Monday. It is an attractive limestone village just west of Stamford - worth a stroll about. The church (St Mary) is a cruciform structure was a supremely elegant central tower and spire. Unfortunately my attempts to photograph it failed.  However what I was able to photograph (marginally) more successfully was the series of stained glass windows by the Sir John Ninian Comper inside.

These two pictures taken in the nave show the position of the Comper windows, and dramatic, and precarious looking, access route to the bell ringers chamber in the tower.

     Comper's other glass, which I take to be later, fills the three lancet windows in the east wall of the (Victorian) chancel.  In this window Christ is show as young, blond and beardless.  Note also the lack of backgrounds. It became fashionable, I suppose, as a reaction to the sombre-saturated churches of the mid to late nineteenth century.  It wasn't uncommon in the mid twentieth century to rob Victorian windows of their dark backgrounds to let in more light.

Aviemore Pottery Vase

     'As readers of this blog will know' I like Studio Pottery.  One of my favourite marks is 'Aviemore Pottery'.  I remember buying odd bits as a child on holiday in Scotland mainly as presents for relatives.  I did also buy for myself.  Life being what it is I managed to loose the meagre collection I had, and it's really only in the last few years since I got on line that I have started collecting again.  I purchased this lovely vase a few weeks ago.   I must confess to the odd doubt when I realised how small it is.  The fears however were groundless; it is a wonderful piece with a depth and quality to the glaze I think is marvellous, and deeply tactile, enhanced by the size and shape of the body.  I also enjoy the contrast between the white inside the neck of the vase and the dark intensity of the outside glaze.

     I took these shots earlier this afternoon.  The following shots were taken earlier this week and later in the afternoon.  I particularly love the raking light at this time of year. Anyway I played with these earlier images and here are the results.

Potato printing

   I thought it's be fun to print some wrapping paper for the bf's birthday presents.  I've been meaning to have a go for months and needed a reason.  I decided to use a potato as the 'block' and cut out a simple branch motif, and printed it on to ordinary brown wrapping paper.  (I used a charlotte potato which tend to be on the small size.)  It was my first attempt at this sort of thing and I'm reasonably happy with the results.

   The use of potato gives an uneven folksy quality.  I had intended for the 'branches' to be on their sides, but found the design worked better turned at right angles.  I think I will develop the design as trees. My main mistake, however, was to leave too much space around each motif.  It just should have been a tighter design to cope with the size of the presents.  I was inspired by the Edward Bawden, but looking at the design now I see the influence of Indian textiles but also Laura Ashley, and indeed I've become very interested in the furnishing fabrics she produced in the 1970's and early '80s, which I believe are excellent though neglected.  Snobbery?

Alan Sorrell Part III 'Saxon England'

   I had made plans to write this post a few weeks ago, but my attention was diverted by clearing out my late Aunt's flat - an deeply emotional experience that is still sending out it's little ripples of sadness.
   So here, somewhat delayed, is the third in my occasional series on the work of the artist and illustrator Alan Sorrell.  This is an book in the series he illustrated for the Lutterworth Press.  His collaborator this time was the archaeologist John Hamilton.  The cover is certainly brighter than the one he drew for 'Roman Britain'.  There is something in the quality of both colour and drawing that reminds me of the work of Pauline Baynes (1922-2008) - the illustrator of, amongst other things, 'The Chronicles of Narnia' published by Geoffrey Bles.)  The most Neo-Romantic illustration is that of a Celtic monastery, a composition that seems to echo a lithograph by John Piper.  That brings me briefly on to the slightly unsuitable title, perhaps 'Dark Age Britain' would have been more appropriate for a book that covers all of these isles.

Ely shopfront

     I spent a couple of days with the bf last week.  We found this old shop front undergoing restoration/redecoration in Fore Hill, Ely.  The lettering is rather lovely.  I wonder what lives are signified by it.  Apologies for the photography.  I was very tired: a sleepless night, a trip to Saffron Walden and the exquisite Fry Gallery, a trudge up from the station....

St Michael, Langtoft

     It's over two weeks ago now that I went to St Michael, Langtoft.  The position of the church in relationship to the village is similar to Baston: both churches are parallel to the long village street.  Neither village has a green as such, but both main streets are broad, generous and straight and run north east; in the case of Baston it roughly follows the course of a Roman road that leads from King Street (aka Stoney Street) into the fens.  The same could be also be true of Langtoft.
     The church is grander than Baston, with an elegant broach spire, (the tower is almost detached from the building).  The south chapel is striking from the outside with its square-headed windows, (though obviously restored in the nineteenth century).  It contains some luxuriant, if somewhat clumsy, Decorated period carvings, and reminds me a little of the 'Golden Chapel' at St Mary's in Stamford. The church also contains some interesting later furnishings, including a matching pair of Baroque monuments.