Sunday; a mish-mash

I have been delving in that enormous cauldron called Youtube and came up with, first, John Betjeman and Diss in Norfolk, which led me on to Nikolas Pevsner, that great chronicler of English churches, and then Dan Cruickshank came galloping into view on a tour of the weird and wonderful houses of Norfolk. Linkage is pretty good on Youtube, trouble is everything moves on so fast.

Pevsner was a bore, there is no getting away from it, he collected churches like train numbers, neatly caught in those small books of his. My late ex-husband probably had the whole series of his books and I would browse through them, always wanting more on the histories.  In fact I have always preferred ' Online History' which also includes earlier histories and manor houses.

I can never fault John Betjeman, as he sweetly wanders around his English towns and villagers in fading black and white film, slowly disintergrating at the edges.  His poetry is charming, poems written in the male perspective, and who can ever forget those immortal lines....

Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough!
It isn't fit for humans now,
There isn't grass to graze a cow.
Swarm over, Death!  

The rest of the poem is here a lovingly written poem of our England of old.

As for Dan Cruikshank, he is much younger here in the video.  I have also liked Cruikshank for introducing me to the fact that John Wood who gave us Georgian Bath, built into his dream a Masonic key which is only seen from the air....The Circus as the round part of the key walk down Gay Street to Queens Square which is square, and you will see the ‘key’ of Bath.

And lastly, a small homage to my ex, whose books engrossed me for many a year, our wedding reception at Waterstones (I mean where else?) And whose influence led me on to the dance of archaeology.