If it’s Monday, this must be Camelot
For reasons I ain’t quite sure, I have been to five ancient piles in the last week, and I’m up early tomorrow for another. (For those following along at home, they are: the Clergy House, the Priest House, Michelham Priory, Smallhythe Place, Penshurst Place and…erm…I have no idea where I’m going tomorrow. It’s work).
The picture above is Penshurst Place. It’s not my picture. They wouldn’t let us take pictures. We almost snuck and took pictures anyway and I kind of wish we had; the ones online don’t do justice to…well, any of it, but particularly this room. This is the baron’s hall and photos don’t give any sense of the scale and amazingness of it.
Probably the most gobsmacking room I’ve ever been in, ever. It made me whisper bad words in wonder and appreciation.
They filmed chunks of Wolf Hall here. If you haven’t seen it, make an effort.
As for last night’s No Kidding Apocalyptic Death Moon of Plague and Blood and Other Bad Things…meh. It was a clear, cold night here — perfect for viewing. We went out at 1:30 and the moon was impressively big, with a bite out of it. I woke up at 3:00 and discovered it hovering outside the bedroom window, still big, with an even bigger bite out of it. I woke up again at 4:00 (what bad night I had) — supposedly the peak of the phenomenon — and it was pitch black.
Maybe it had moved away from the window. Maybe it was only red for a little while as the shadow passes. I don’t know. Not impressed.
Dear Celestial Doodah: must try harder.
Posted: September 28th, 2015 under britain, personal.
Comments: 10
Comments
Comment from Uncle Badger
Time: September 28, 2015, 9:41 pm
I’ve seen a few stately homes in my time but even my breath was taken away by the ceiling of the Barons’ Hall. The photograph Her Stoatliness has swiped doesn’t convey even a slight sense of how jaw-breaking it is. One commenter said it wasn’t just the best baronial hall in Britain it was the best in the world and I suspect he was right.
There is a feeling of unease in England at the moment. The tsunami of ‘gimmegrants’ (as some wag dubbed them) making their way here from any and everywhere (encouraged by our treasonous media) has put everyone on edge. Even the most apolitical seem to have woken up to how we are at risk and there is a genuine and deep rumbling of anger at our betrayal by the political and media class.
I have no idea how it will end but these are dangerous times and several people have said to me ‘it must have felt like this around 1937’, or words to that effect.
Burrowing into the past is a comforting antidote, but unless it inspires those of us in the Olde Worlde to fight back, it could just be a swig of laudanum as the vandals hammer at the gates.
Keep a couple of seats warm in case the mustelids ever need to get the hell out, will you, please?
Comment from Nina
Time: September 28, 2015, 10:17 pm
There was a huge cloud bank in the east last night, and by the time the moon rose above it, the show was mostly over. It was fat and beautiful in the west as I was going into work this morning, though.
Comment from Nina
Time: September 28, 2015, 10:19 pm
And you’re always welcome here. We’ll make room. 👍🏼
Comment from QuasiModo
Time: September 28, 2015, 10:31 pm
I tried to take some pix of it but the zoom on my camera sucks. The sky stayed clear here for once, usually clouds up for celestial events…it’s cloudy today now.
We have an election coming up here in Canada in a couple of weeks…hope the Conservatives can hold onto it…it will really suck if some lefty gets in and starts importing gimmegrants (good word)…that attack on the Parliament a while back put a scare into them, I hope.
Comment from ExpressoBold
Time: September 28, 2015, 11:09 pm
Wow. That is an enormous “house.” Must have a lot of admissions tickets to keep that place in shape. Private. What kind of money can one make as an English Civil Servant?
Comment from dissent555
Time: September 28, 2015, 11:30 pm
The clouds cleared out here in the Chicago area in time to see most of the moon show and it was pretty good. My pix won’t be that great cause my shutter speed was just a hair (ok, maybe two hairs) slower than it should’ve been, but it was interesting nonetheless.
Comment from SCOTTtheBADGER
Time: September 28, 2015, 11:57 pm
Badgers make room for refugee Badgers and Weasels.
Comment from Skandia Recluse
Time: September 29, 2015, 12:57 am
In the picture, what are (is) the pile of logs for? Is that a fire pit? or something? Where does the smoke go?
Grammer has escaped. We should post an amber alert for lost grammer. (It’s not my fault. It’s a chemistry problem.)
Comment from catnip
Time: September 29, 2015, 4:09 am
You must love your work, if this sort of sightseeing is what it entails. IMO, the monumental size of some of these edifices, grand and immaculate as they are, is slightly depressing, considering the number of overworked, ill-paid servants that must have been required in order for them to be habitable. Having a peek at them renders the left’s obsession with “The One Percent” here laughable. The Michelham Priory, I think, is the one I’d most want to visit, with its icky moat and more natural surroundings. Also Sisssinghurst, definitely.
Comment from S. Weasel
Time: September 29, 2015, 5:28 am
It’s an open firepit, Skandia. The smoke just goes up to the rafters. If the picture gave any intimation of scale, you’d see why that’s not a problem. This old print gives some idea.
Not all for work, catnip. Just today’s. And today isn’t for work, it’s with people from work. Uncle B would join us, but he has to work (and we’re leaving at Stupid O’Clock).
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