theonlyD800inthehameau
Photography by theonlydeadheadinthehameau
Thursday Doors – St Junien revisited
Posted on January 9, 2020
Recently we’ve had to spend some time at the hospital in the nearby town of St-Junien.
It’s a comparatively modern place, although it replaced an adjacent much older and smaller institution:
It’s on the outskirts of the town but is surrounded by old houses, some of which boast rather interesting – in a decrepit kind of way – doors:
and gates…:
Some are better looked after than others:
But for a demonstration of what it means to be houseproud, it’s tough to beat the lace curtains on this garage:
Thursday Doors 9 January 2020
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
Tuesdays of Texture: Boulangerie
Posted on April 25, 2017
This shop sign provides an attractive juxtaposition of textures with the wall on which it is set, above a boulangerie (bakery) in the town of St Junien.
To put it into context, here is the street view:
Weekly Photo Challenge: Security
Posted on April 6, 2017
‘Security’ is generally a serious subject, so all the more reason to allow a little levity sometimes when dealing with it.
This sign can be found outside a chandlery (and key-cutting) shop in the town of St-Junien, in the Haute-Vienne département of France.
C is for Ceiling
Posted on March 10, 2017
The fresco on the ceiling of the Collègiale church in St Junien is very faded, so you’re not missing much by seeing it only in monochrome:
Thursday Doors: St Junien – decrepit
Posted on February 23, 2017
For the fourth and (I promise) final instalment of doors from St Junien I’ve saved – depending on your point of view – either the best or the worst ’til last. They’re certainly among the tattiest, and that’s fine by me.
Actually, this first one isn’t too bad:
but these next three; oh dear:
Lastly, a double helping of double doors. The second one looks like it’s tipping me the wink:
Thursday Doors 23 February 2017
Thursday Doors: St Junien – Open to the public
Posted on February 16, 2017
For this third instalment of the doors of St Junien, as a change from the doors of private residences I’ve confined myself to some of the public buildings of the town.
To begin with, the old municipal offices which still stand opposite the new Mairie and admin block:
The main church of St Junien is a Collègiale. To be honest, the interior isn’t particularly impressive in my opinion, although the main doors are worth a look. As it’s now surrounded by newer buildings, it’s difficult to get a complete view in one shot (well, it is with the lenses I’ve got), but this close-up gives you the general idea:
To the left of the main entrance of the Collègiale is this unloved gate:
This is the Salle des Fêtes; in the UK it would probably be called the Assembly Rooms or something similar. The large ‘cartouche’ above the windows tells us that it was built between 1898 and 1900, following a vote of the local council in 1897. There then follows a long list of the members of the municipal council who approved the construction. Fascinating.
And finally, on a much smaller scale, is this unpretentious construct that sits in the middle of a roundabout on the main road through the town. Open to all passing birds, presumably.
Thursday Doors 16 February 2017
Thursday Doors: St Junien (2) – Colour
Posted on February 9, 2017
Last week’s initial instalment of the doors of St Junien were, with one exception, a pretty drab bunch (unless you happen to be a big fan of brown, of course), so this week I thought I’d feature some more colourful examples:
Even if the colour isn’t necessarily to your taste, someone is clearly making an effort…
…no matter how narrow the door you have to work with:
Next, a couple of more faded examples:
And just for a change, to finish this week a set of gates:
Thursday Doors 9 February 2017
Mundane? Park Bench
Posted on February 7, 2017
Another mundane (?) image from St Junien: this park bench is also outside the local Tourist Information Office, not far from last week’s postbox. Properly framed, the symmetry is quite appealing.
Mundane Mondays
Thursday Doors: St. Junien (1)
Posted on February 2, 2017
St Junien is one of the major towns of the Haute Vienne département and claims to be (or have been) the glove-making capital of France. Leather gloves, that is; they’re quite particular about that.
As with many other similar conurbations, there is a medieval centre that has become increasingly surrounded by more modern, and largely featureless, developments. Be that as it may, a recent ‘doorscursion’ provided plenty of photographic opportunities that will keep my ‘ Thursday Doors’ contributions well-supplied for the next few weeks, so here is the first instalment.
This ancient wooden door is set into what’s left of the old city walls:
By contrast, this house is obviously occupied and well cared-for:
as is this:
This one is more colourful than the norm:
Although these last two are a little more careworn:
(The white street sign in the last image is in the Occitan language, which was what was spoken round these parts until French became the official language of the whole country after 1789.)
Thursday Doors 2 February 2017
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