It's well past time I was active again on this blog so I've decided to post interesting things I notice on my wanders. These will mostly be phone photos so not the best quality but I hope my few remaining followers enjoy these snippets.
Today's offering is the magnificent ironwork from a bench in a local park.
Today is National Gutters Day 2021, which has motivated me finally to write another post for this blog, to share these photos of some gutters in the Victorian seaside town of Penarth, in south Wales.
Here’s another dating mystery. This gutter
hopper adorns the Mortuary Chapel at
Penarth Cemetery. The building itself does not appear to be listed, and a
search of the Welsh newspaper archives failed to turn up any information on the
building of the chapel, though I did discover that the first burial in the
cemetery was in 1903. I’ve also not turned up any information on the Glaswegian
foundry that made this item.
As you can see, this gutter on the old
building at Stanwell School has not
been well maintained so it’s difficult to make out its surface decoration. An
article in the Weekly Mail of 23
January 1897 reported on the recent opening of Penarth Intermediate School
which, though it has since changed its name and been much expanded, continues
to serve the education needs of local community in the 21st century.
Headland School was originally the Penarth Hotel, built in 1868 by the Taff Vale Railway Company, when Penarth docks handled a lot of the exports of coal pouring down from the valley of the River Taff. The building was repurposed after World War One, when it was purchased by the widow of a war casualty, one Major J.A. Gibbs. In the Major’s memory, his wife gifted the building to the authorities who ran the National Children’s Homes, who used it from July 1921 as a nautical training school.
During this pandemic, while we’ve been under local area restrictions, I’ve used some of my daily exercise walks to get to know my town a little better. When I was checking out local houses last December for my post on Christmas wreaths and then again in January for the street numbers (House numbers, 1 to 10 and House numbers, 11 to 20), I couldn’t help admiring the knockers some house owners have adorning their front doors.
Some are old but still stylish – lions have long been a favourite of mine ...
Many are very similar to each other, the same overall size, shape and design, and were perhaps attached when the houses were first built ...
Others are simple geometric shapes, functional, practical ...
The best to my eyes – the ones I would love to have on my front door, if I had one – are the more creative designs, perhaps reflecting the house’s location – the anchor a nod to the adjacent marina, or a personal interest – the nature-lovers who chose the fox, the bee and that stunning snail.
With these delightful door knockers, the home owners have added a touch of their own personality and more than a little panache to their front doors. And what an impressive statement they make to the world.
