A Month In Pictures

December will be magic again.  I'm only just starting to believe Kate's festive lyrics after a couple of weeks of neck/shoulder pain (finally resolved by a pummelling from the chiropractor), swiftly followed by one of the worst colds I've had.  Here in the UK, we're dropping like flies with a perfect storm of Covid, flu and various other seasonal viruses circulating and spreading their own individual Christmas messages.

Should anyone fall foul of one of these viruses, I've done thorough market research on the over the counter remedies available.  The upshot is, most of them do absolutely nothing, so keep your hard earned cash in your pockets.  However, for persistent coughs, the only throat sweets I have found to be remotely effective are Lockets.  The only cough medicine that packs a punch is the Lemsip one.  But for evenings in, I recommend ye olde hot toddy, comprising the juice of half a lemon, a good teaspoon of honey, hot water and don't spare the brandy.

Anyway,let's move on.  The only good thing I can say about the last week is that I've stayed close to home, not wanting to spread my germs with the rest of the family by driving anywhere and consequently, I've managed to get some moody shots of the Black Country, by venturing out on foot.  The seasons definitely dictate how I see the world and I'm currently finding it impossible to extricate myself from my love affair with black and white.  This one was taken a couple of streets away.  I love this tree lined street and the way the sun bounces off its rain slicked surface.

Here's a suburban snapshot in a puddle...I was drawn to the lines.

Here's a typical Black Country boozer.

Venturing on to the neighbouring village, Wordsley, here we glimpse the old house at the entrance to King George V Park, flanked by some impressive monkey puzzle trees.

Another day, another detour through the side streets of Wordsley.  Can you spot the famous Red House Glass Cone?

Some old factory units, still in use and housing a small car repair service.  I wonder how many more years these buildings will exist?

Onto the canal...a sure sign you're in the Black Country.  The network was used to move coal, limestone and iron around the country and whole communities sprung up around them.  Life on the canal is much more sedate these days.

Onwards we go, past my first primary school, The Brook, first established in 1872 and attended by my Mom when it was a secondary school.  Some time in the 70s, the secondary school relocated and this building reverted to being a primary school.

The only pupils in attendance on the day of my visit were of the feathered variety and had flown in from Canada.  

This was my regular route to school as a small child.  For the longest time, there was some graffiti dedicated to the Irish band Thin Lizzy on the white expanse of wall.  I felt a little sad when suddenly one day, it had vanished.

Another glimpse of that cone.

Nature overspill.

Back on the towpath and the Red House Cone in all her glory, newly restored and imposing.

Rewinding a little, we went to see some more live music, courtesy of Black Country band Headshrinkers.  Securing my position at the front because I was relying on my mobile camera (and because I just love feeling the music and leaving with my ears ringing), I took a few shots, composing, framing and checking focus single handedly, as my other hand was rarely without a beer.  We had a blast and were blown away (almost literally) by the band's raucous noisy energy, lyricism and sheer talent, plus a welcome horn section.

They were ably supported by a female fronted band, Bld Sugr! (Blood Sugar).  The vocalist loved her theatrics and had a good set of pipes as our friend Ade pointed out.

After the show, Gareth snaffled a couple of vinyl editions of Headshrinkers' new album Judgment Day.  I had a brief chat with the lead singer, Garran, during which we discovered that we'd been following each other on Instagram for the last two years.  I hadn't made the connection prior to that evening, probably because it's a personal account and he posts less frequently than I do.  I really need to address my spiralling screen time!

I loved that the band are proud of their Black Country roots, Garran's lyrics are poetry and their videos are shot at various locations close to home.  I hope they make it!  Here's a link to Threadbare, which has proved to be an earworm and also features Dudley Priory ruins, which you may recall I also used as a location for my Halloween Steampunk shoot last year.

Headshrinkers - Threadbare (Official Video)

Staying with the black and white imagery, I made a final visit to Archie's Attic in Enville.  That's the beauty of our region, urban sprawl with a gritty industrial heritage, punctuated by pockets of picturesque countryside.  

Archie's is in a hamlet called Enville, seemingly in the middle of nowhere (but a short drive from the town of Stourbridge) with views to die for, an intriguing history and at least two Knights Templar graves.  The owner and great supporter of local crafters and creatives, Clare is moving on to pastures new.  The cafe will continue though, under different management and will be reopening in mid January.

I never tire of this magical place built around the historic Enville Hall.

I want this sign!

Mistletoe.

My one regret - unavoidable as it was - was that I was too unwell to go to see Sharon Shannon's Big Band Tribute to Shane MacGowan in Birmingham's Irish heart, Digbeth, on Friday.  Unsurprisingly, it was by all accounts an incredible evening, featuring the likes of Imelda May and former Pogue Kate O'Riordan.

So, I'll just have to make do with my vinyl copy of my favourite Christmas song, Fairytale of New York.

Oh, and because they look festive, I'm sharing the spools from one of this month's rare charity shop visits, where I managed to bag all the reds; a pair of leather gloves and a cashmere asymmetrical poncho.

Whatever you're doing, have a good one!  

A Night for Knights and Greensleeves

As I've mentioned in previous posts, one of our favourite places to walk locally, is the Enville Hall Estate.  Enville offers everything you could wish for in a walk; lung busting hills, rewarded with incredible views, glimpses of pleasure gardens past (if you know where to look) and on the return, you have refuelling choices; village cafe or real ale pub.  

Enville is mentioned in the Domesday Book compiled in 1086 for William the Conqueror.  Overlooking the village of Enville, (previous designations, Evenfield, Enfeld, Envil or Enfeild) from a spur of land, is the Church of St Mary the Virgin dating back to the early 12th century.  The current St Mary's has a Norman nave, 13th century chancel and a Victorian tower added in 1871.  Today, the church prides itself as being "A 12th Century Church with a 21st Century Welcome."

As an atheist, my interest in churches is relatively superficial.  I can appreciate the history and skills utilised to erect houses of worship and marvel at the details, but if I'm honest, I'm more interested in them on a human level, preferring to seek out old graves and learn more about the figures associated with them or entombed within, like the incredible alabaster chest tomb we spotted in the east end of the south side of the church, belonging to "Thomas Grey of Enveld esquire & Anne his wyfe, daughter to Sir Ralph Verney of Yeardley in ye Countie of Bucks..."  Thomas passed on 31st December 1559 (see below).

Thomas Grey

So, the recent discovery of not one, but three graves belonging to the ancient order of The Knights Templar, demanded a visit.  Impulsive as we are, we had a family chat about it and in spite of the darkness, driving rain and blustery wind, we headed out there and then.

We immediately sought shelter from the rain inside and took in the atmosphere and natural, rapidly fading light of this historic church.

The impressive organ came from St Leonard's church, Bridgnorth and was dismantled in Bridgnorth and rebuilt at Enville by Messrs Longstaff and Jones of Dudley and given to the church in the 1970s.

The church boasts a fine set of four misericords or mercy seats, which rival the famous sets found at Ripley and Ludlow, with scenes depicting bear baiting, a lute playing angel and Arthurian legend, Sir Yvain trapped by a portcullis when trying to get through the gate upon entering an enemy castle.

Whilst it's not known when they were installed, they could well be the ones recorded back in 1697 in the church records, in which case, it's conceivable that they came from a neighbouring abbey at the time of the Dissolution of the monasteries on Henry VIII's watch.  To think these were around when Greensleeves was penned!

However, there was no denying our key mission, to find the Templar graves.  Given their recent restoration, they weren't hard to locate, but I decided we needed to visit in daylight to capture the details.

The Knights Templar were a powerful military organisation of devout Christians in the medieval era, formed in 1119 and tasked with providing safety to pilgrims to Jerusalem.  

They created a different model of knight, one in which members were monks, sworn to poverty, chastity and obedience and committed to fighting "infidels" in the Holy Land.  Promising to serve the Christian cause, they received papal recognition at the council of Troyes in Champagne in 1129.  

Highly disciplined, the knights were required to live austere lives.  Chastity was a must, so no kissing, even their own mothers.  Fur and fancy clothes were forbidden, as were pointed shoes and shoe laces, which were deemed pagan.  They could have meat only 3 times a week (which doesn't strike me as particularly austere).  

In reality, the knights being sworn to poverty meant very little.  The Order as a whole became astonishingly wealthy.    Pope Innocent II exempted them from paying any taxes.  The Templars collected donations from all over Europe.  Kings and Queens gave them huge estates.  Even ordinary people would leave donations in their wills, leaving the Order small plots of land that added up.

The knights were highly trained and known as fierce fighters who refused to surrender.  But they were also strategic thinkers and would not pick a fight they didn't think they could win.

Some scholars believe that the Knights helped import Muslim ideas that transformed Western legal and educational systems.  For example, the Inns of Court in London, legal institutions formed in the medieval period with ties to the Templars, have some striking similarities to madrassas built around  mosques, where Sunni scholars debate the law.

Photo Edward Tenny

Don Croner

Falsely charged with heresy, the order ultimately disbanded in 1308/9.  To think that three of the knights ended up resting for eternity just a few miles away from us, forgotten and overlooked for so many years, just blows my mind.  Here they are, captured on our daylight visit.

The three graves are believed to be around 800 years old, each bearing the Templar cross within double circles in a standard Templar design and one of the graves also includes a Crusader cross indicating the knight was a Templar and a Crusader of the ancient military order.

Templars were believed to attach themselves to churches dedicated to St Mary the Virgin and so, it is the belief of local researcher Edward Dyas, that Enville Church was a Templar Church.  

Edward also believes that one of the graves is that of a Templar Chaplain of a Templar Preceptory - most likely in Staffordshire, whose Commanderie was at Onneley, near Leek, the other two being acolyte assistants.  His research continues.

As to why the graves were not noticed before, according to Dyas they were, but back in 1588 in a local survey.  For some unknown reason, the descriptions of the cemetery in the 18th and 19th centuries completely overlooked the graves.  It's thanks to Dyas, who, with the permission of the vicar, cleared away the physical remnants of time; earth, moss and lichen, to reveal the three crusading Templars.

I'm not sure the knights would have approved of my other hunt, for the perfect corduroy dress - ongoing for over 12 months.  Even worse, it's green, which, if one of the theories about the old English folk song Greensleeves is to be believed, green women's clothing had negative sexual connotations.  Perhaps they would cut me some slack for being frugal and purchasing one that is decades old, albeit a perfect specimen.  I spotted this beauty in a vintage clothing unit in a nearby Antiques Centre.  It stood out to me, even on the cramped and cluttered clothes rails.  It was love at first sight.  Here's a glimpse. 

I instantly felt better about the £30.00 price tag (I'm much more used to charity shop prices) when I returned home and discovered that its burgundy twin sold for £175.00 on Etsy.

Designed by 60s model turned dress designer Fiona Browne for Spectrum of Gloucester Road, London, the maxi dress is a beautiful muted shade of moss green, although as this blog title might have you believe, there are no sleeves.  But it is exquisite!  It's currently too long for me.  The hem has been clumsily altered in the past and is uneven - longer at the back.  However, my knight with shining thimbles, Vix, is coming to the rescue and has offered to alter it for me.  Watch this space!

Finally, as we're talking about the thrill of the hunt, this huntress is catching up on some much needed sleep after spending the best part of Thursday night attempting to wake me from my slumber. For no good reason, I might add. She has discovered a novel way to disturb my sleep which entails leaping from the window ledge onto the bed and running heavily across my back, chirping with wicked pleasure as she does so. 

Have a good weekend!

Norse Magic

Last week was all about preparing for my latest staged photoshoot - A Nordic Wild Elopement - designed to create content for social media and hopefully inspire my target audience to hire me for their wildly imaginative events.

I absorb Scandi dramas and novels like a sponge and at home, the conversation has very much been centred around our son Caleb's forthcoming educational college trip to Iceland.

With that in mind, I've spent the last few weeks assembling an A team of suppliers, one with a very obliging couple of friends who agreed to do the shoot.

Whilst we have some stunning scenery in the West Midlands, we don't have rugged mountain peaks on the doorstep.  But I try not to let mere details stop me.  I opted for one of our favourite haunts as the location; the picturesque hills and stunning views of The Sheepwalks which passes through the Enville Estate.  I think you can probably guess where it gets its name.  

I'd carried out a recce recently in an attempt to somehow channel a Scandi aesthetic through my photos and was pleased to note that the sheep were further up the hill and so wouldn't cause me any problems on the day.  The photos were also edited in suitably cool tones.

Naturally there was a last minute drama on the morning of the shoot when the original male model jilted his "bride".  Having picked up a wedding dress (on loan) earlier in the week, taken delivery of a couture, hand dyed silk flower crown and collected what felt like a fortune in flowers the day before, there was a frantic hour of head scratching and panicked texts to people in our contacts list.  Just when all hope had gone, Romana's friend Noel stepped in and saved the day.  It was back on.

We met in the car park of The Cat Inn (first mentioned in 1718, before becoming an Inn in 1799).  The car park as it is now, was detailed on the Tithe map of 1838, as a large pond.  Having made our introductions, we headed to the pub for a swift drink and no doubt a little Dutch courage for Romana and Noel.

Romana was already made up with the requisite outdoor glow by the talented Selina Bhatti Selina Bhatti - Make up Artist | Facebook, who I previously worked with on my Stranger Things shoot here...

...and who joined us on the day.  

Romana then proceeded to get changed in the back of Noel's van, where I helped to wrestle her gym and yoga honed body (Romana teaches yoga in nearby Shropshire Yogalates with Marni | Shrewsbury | Facebook ) into a wedding dress bodice that was a little too small. A model's life!

Finishing touches were added - the flower crown, complete with Icelandic poppies and a vintage coat (mine) and we set off on our bracing walk.  Just a group of friends taking a walk.  Nothing to see here!

Considering Romana and Noel have never modelled before and are just friends, they took to it like ducks to water.  I had created a storyboard in my head, which helped with direction.  The weather played ball too and there was just the right amount of cloud coverage.

We paused by Temple Lake for a few shots, which, whilst not particularly evoking Icelandic terrain, was too pretty to ignore. 

We met some Enville Estate horses and traversed four stiles along the way.

Romana sensibly wore yoga tights beneath her wedding dress and we opted for some rather glamorous looking patent hiking boots to complete the look.

Gareth was weighed down with mobile phones, wallets, my reflectors, a rucksack full of props and at any given time, one of the two bouquets.  I couldn't have managed alone.

It was around this time that Marni mentioned that her gorgeous big black cat Lexi, had died suddenly that very morning.  We were devastated for her, being cat lovers ourselves and in awe of her for continuing with the shoot.

Making every effort to keep the mood light, we all found that we had some crazy connections and common interests and despite a traumatic start to the day, there was lots of laughter.

I also had to repeatedly break up Noel and Gareth's bromance chats in order to get the shots I wanted.

Who needs expensive jewellery?  I sourced two "promise rings" - one being an old silver ring I bought as a teenager which was vaguely reminiscent of a Norse rune ring...

...and a more tongue in cheek online purchase for Noel.

Deciding we needed to show off the dress a little, I asked the couple to dance.  After a couple of false starts, there was much twirling to be had and with my camera set to burst mode, I got the shots I wanted, including these two.

A celebratory toast was required after all that physical exertion - from drinking horns naturally.  Taking their places on my recently acquired mid century modern geometric blanket, miraculously avoiding sheep droppings, they enjoyed a draught of imaginary mead.

Soon it was time to pack up and head back down the mountain.

Noel had a turn with the bouquet!

We stopped by this impressive tree for a dedication to Norse mythology and Totemism, using our vintage antlers and a wolf mask.

Then back to The Cat for drinks....

before decamping inside for the warmth of the log fire and Enville Ale, opting for the only free table in the snug.  We glanced at the reservation sign, noting the later time of 6.30 pm and promptly made ourselves at home, still in mid conversation.  Suddenly, Romana drew our attention to the sign.  With Lexi at the forefront of our minds, it made our hair stand on end. 

A magical day of crazy coincidences.  Enville Ale, if you've never tried it, is brewed with honey (as is the Viking favoured drink, mead), giving it it's distinctive taste...a perfect way to celebrate mission accomplished.  We were all quite sad not to be able to stay all evening.

Finally, a shout out to the other suppliers who made it possible - to Kim and Laura from The Petal Bar in Bridgnorth (The Petal Bar | Bridgnorth | Facebook) for their incredible floristry skills...

...to Lydia of the newly opened Bride's View Bridal Boutique (brides_view | Facebook ) for the gorgeous gown.

...and a remote thanks to Svetlana from Present Perfect Creations (PresentPerfect CREATIONS | Facebook) in Norwich for the stunning flower crown.  Your hard work paid off!

Oh, and I also created a little video from snippets of footage Gareth took on the day whilst balancing ruck sacks and props.  However, Noel, our groom is working on the soundtrack, so watch this space. 

Dedicated to Lexi and a life well lived.