theonlyD800inthehameau
Photography by theonlydeadheadinthehameau
The Liver Bird Reigns Supreme
Posted on October 19, 2022
This cloud formation over our house was too interesting to ignore…
…especially as it reminded me of the iconic Liver Bird, the symbol of Liverpool, the finest city on earth:
Tuesday Photo Challenge: In My Life
Posted on February 13, 2018
Frank was inspired for this week’s prompt by the Beatles’ song ‘In My Life’ (I assume that’s the reference anyway). I know it well:
‘There are places I remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain’
I was born and grew up on Merseyside, and although I haven’t lived there for more than forty years and my home now is very much here in France, my roots will always be in Liverpool.
You can take the boy out of Liverpool, but you can never take Liverpool out of the boy.
Neil Young (in ‘Helpless‘) also has something to say about the importance of where you grew up:
‘And in my mind
I still need a place to go,
All my changes were there’
Last time I was back there I spotted this, covering some scaffolding in the city centre, so I grabbed a quick photograph with my mobile phone.
It seems like fair comment to me.
Thursday Doors: Doors Of The Year 2017
Posted on December 21, 2017
As this will be the last instalment of Thursday Doors in 2017, with Norm taking a well-earned festive break until 11 January, it seemed like an appropriate time to review some of my personal favourites that have been posted here over the last twelve months.
With the exception of my ‘official’ Door of the Year these are in no particular order of preference and are just placed chronologically. A full ranking of the 300 or so doors that I’ve put up here in 2017 wouldn’t be possible but would be pointless.
This first one – a striking and well-cared for door in the town of Saint Junien – appeared last February. You could hardly miss that mustard-yellow paint.
By way of contrast, in March I started posting doors from the town of Confolens. This was one of the first I came across on my initial excursion and it’s hardly been bettered.
Both Confolens and Saint Junien are about a 30 minute drive from here at Tranquility Base, but this third door, from June, is much closer – a mere ten minutes away in the village of Saint-Martial-sur-Isop. It’s irresistibly bijou
It’s not just France that has interesting doors. This elaborate example, originally posted in July, can be found in Rodney Street, Liverpool:
In September I made another visit to the national monument of Oradour-sur-Glane, where this door can be found in the church:
However, this is my personal choice for Door of the Year 2017. Posted in October it’s to be found in the medieval village of Saint Cirq Lapopie and I’ve never seen anything like it as an example of making the door fit the hole:
Thursday Doors 21 December 2017
Thursday Doors: Liverpool (2)
Posted on August 10, 2017
For the second and final instalment of doors from the great city of Liverpool this week, we’re down in the city centre, which still shows plenty of evidence of the port’s historic prosperity.
To begin with, there’s the grand Walker Art Gallery (although it’s rather overshadowed by it’s immediate neighbour, the great rotunda of the Picton Library – where I worked once upon a time).
However, it was commerce that provided the resources for the architectural statements of the city, as in the case of these Victorian office buildings:
Behind the Town Hall, on an open space called Exchange Flags, there’s this imposing building:
I can remember when the Bank of England had a branch in Castle Street, although the building has stood empty for years:
Finally, here are the splendid bronze doors of what was originally the Adelphi Bank on Castle Street – just opposite the Bank of England in fact.. For a time this was a branch of the Co-operative Bank and I worked in it for a few months in early 1974. It’s now a coffee shop, which means that it’s open from early ’til late, so I couldn’t get a shot of the doors closed. However, for an excellent piece about the Adelphi Bank and its exceptional doors you should visit this excellent blog, Alan’s History & Genealogy Spot.
Thursday Doors 10 August 2017
Thursday Doors: Liverpool (1)
Posted on August 3, 2017
I was back to my Merseyside roots a few weeks ago (armed only with an oldish iPhone rather than my ‘proper’ camera kit) and spent a nostalgic day wandering around the centre of Liverpool.
Of course, a lot of it has been modernised since it was my stamping-ground almost fifty years ago, but there are still plenty of doors that have been around far longer than I have, as I’ll be showing over the next couple of weeks.
To begin with, here is a selection from the area around the Philharmonic Hall and the Anglican cathedral. One of Liverpool’s ‘posher’ thoroughfares is Rodney Street, dating from Georgian times and now – as the local equivalent to London’s Harley Street – largely occupied by medical and dental practices.
Over a hunderd years ago, my grandmother was a domestic servant in one of these grand houses, although probably not this one, which, according to the plaque, was the birthplace (in 1809) of W. E . Gladstone, who was Queen Victoria’s Prime Minister on no less than four separate occasions.
Another impressive example from further along the street:
Nearby is Hope Place, with its Georgian terraces set back from the street:
Heading back downhill into the heart of the city, you pass this long-standing edifice, which is where football referees go to complete their training:
And finally for this week, by way of contrast, just opposite the entrance to the Mersey Tunnel is a small green space called St. John’s Gardens. If memory serves, these used to be the entrances to the Ladies and Gents public conveniences:
Thursday Doors 3 August 2017
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