Posted on September 29, 2017
The glass roof of the covered open-air vegetable market in the city of Chartres is replete with symmetrical lines and angles to meet Cee’s theme for this week (and works particularly well in monochrome).

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Lines and Angles
Category: Black & White Tagged: Architecture, Black & White, Cee's Black & White Photo Challenge, Chartres, geometric, Lines and Angles, markets, open air, Symmetry
Posted on September 8, 2017
Cee’s theme for her Black & White challenge this week is ‘textures’. This stone tablet, mounted high on a wall in St Mary’s church in Beverley, East Yorkshire certainly meets that brief, but additionally has quite a poignant tale to tell.

The inscription is very worn and quite difficult to read, but this is what it says:
NEAR
Are the ashes of Mr Richd Greyburn
Who was ye only son of Mr Willm
Grayburn of this town, Alderman
IN
The dearest memory
Of so dutiful a son
So honest a tradesman
So pious a Christian
Who died ye 18th of May
Anno Domino 1720
In ye 31st year of his age
HIS
Mournful father
hath created
this Monument
Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Texture
Category: Black & White Tagged: Architecture, Beverley, Black & White, Cee's Black & White Photo Challenge, Church, In Memoriam, St Mary's Church, Texture
Posted on September 7, 2017
This week, a brief respite from the usual diet of characterful old French rural doors, with a selection from the mix of historic and modern architecture in the attractive market town of Beverley, in East Yorkshire.
This is probably the oldest door still standing, from the early 16th century. It was the gateway to a Dominican friary that once stood in the centre of the town:

The most characteristic architecture is Georgian, however, and there are quite a few interesting examples still to be seen:




This little cottage lies on a narrow street right in the town centre:

And finally a triple-whammy – three architectural styles in a row:

Thursday Doors 7 September 2017
Category: Doors Tagged: Architecture, Beverley, Doors, Georgian, Thursday Doors, Yorkshire
Posted on August 31, 2017
A final set of doors from Abbaye de La Réau this week.
As we started last week’s instalment with an image taken from inside looking out, here’s another of the same, this time from the smithy/workshop:

This one is in the Visitor Centre:

In the grounds of the Abbey are the ruins of a round defensive tower, a refuge for the monks if some of their theological debates got a little heated:


And a couple more interesting doors from other buildings within the complex:


Thursday Doors 31 August 2017
Category: Doors Tagged: Abbaye de la Reau, Architecture, Church, Doors, France, Medieval, Thursday Doors
Posted on August 31, 2017
The Gothic arches and vaulted ceiling of the cloister at the Abbey of Noirlac constitute an impressive architectural structure:

Weekly Photo Challenge: Structure
Category: Weekly Photo Challenge Tagged: Architecture, Cloister, Noirlac, Stonemasonry, Stonework, Structure, Weekly Photo Challenge, weeklyphotochallenge
Posted on August 29, 2017
After last week’s theme of ‘pink’ it’s quite natural for Frank to set us the challenge of ‘Blue’ this week.
I hope this is blue enough for everyone. It’s a detail of the roof of what used to be called the Yas Hotel, on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi – just outside the Formula One racetrack. At night, the colours cycle through the spectrum, but I managed to catch it when it was at its bluest:

Category: Abstract Tagged: Abstract, Abu Dhabi, Architecture, Blue, fpj-photo-challenge, hotel, Night, Rooftops, Tuesday Photo Challenge, Yas Island
Posted on August 25, 2017
This week we’re continuing our exploration of Abbaye de La Réau with some internal doors. I doubt whether any of these are absolutely original, but most of them are pretty old-looking, it has to be said.
However, to bridge the exterior/interior divide, here’s an image looking out from inside the monks’ living quarters:

A few examples of the doors leading off from this entrance space:



Rather prosaically, this is the door to the (communal) privy. Three seats (holes in a plank, to be more precise), no waiting:

And finally for this week, a door situated in the inner courtyard of the complex. Comes complete with bonus door within a door:

Thursday Doors 24 August 2017
Category: Doors Tagged: Abbaye de la Reau, Architecture, Church, Doors, France, Medieval, Thursday Doors
Posted on August 24, 2017
This angular building in Abu Dhabi is comparatively new, but reflects traditional architecture. It has the characteristic appearance of a wind tower – an old design that was able to capture the cooler breezes that circulate well above the ground and direct them down towards the ground.
Nowadays, of course, they have A/C.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Corner
Category: Weekly Photo Challenge Tagged: Abu Dhabi, Architecture, Corner, Weekly Photo Challenge, weeklyphotochallenge, Windtower
Posted on August 23, 2017
A rather different perspective – from a roof terrace – of the cloister of the Cistercian Abbey of Noirlac:

Tuesdays of Texture 22 April 2017
Category: Texture Tagged: Architecture, Church, France, Noirlac, Stonework, Texture, TuesdaysofTexture, Wall
Posted on August 17, 2017
The Abbaye de La Réau is an outstanding set of monastic buildings, some dating back to the 12th century, in the Vienne département of central France. In addition to the massive religious buildings, the site also includes the secular edifices that were a practical necessity to support the community of monks that lived here. The whole site is being sympathetically restored both internally and externally and a recent visit revealed many interesting doors – again, both internal and external – to be shared here over the next few weeks.
To begin with, though, some external views, starting with the great doorway of the Abbey itself:

The roof of the Abbey has completely gone, but the walls still look as solid as ever, even if some former doors have been closed up:

This is a view of the adjacent, and much more recent, residential block:

Although it seems clear from this image that some of the living accommodation was reclaimed from earlier uses:

This is in the grounds, next to what is now the Visitor Centre:

And finlly, for this time around, this building lies just outside the walls that enclose the complex:

Thursday Doors 17 August 2017
Category: Doors Tagged: Abbaye de la Reau, Architecture, Church, Doors, France, Thursday Doors