Doolin Folk Festival 2018: A Few Other Shots

It's now well over a month since the Doolin Folk Festival, but it's still firmly etched in my memory.  The shot above is from the bar in the Barn (main concert area).

The wallpaper below is from the gents urinals inside the Barn:

Below, there's a shot of Nava who kicked off the festival on the main stage:

And a shot of Sara Ryan who kicked off the proceedings at the White Horse Sessions stage:

Durdle Door and Back

Of course, while visiting Lulworth Cove, we couldn't resist the trek to Durdle Door.

This trek was scenic but more arduous than I'd imagined.

But it was well worth the trouble for all the great views along the way (I could easily picture the land-carriers picking up their barrels of brandy on the beach below):

Have just read that Thomas Hardy's friend, Arthur Moule, who served as a missionary in China for many years, wrote some lines about Durdle Door in a book of poetry he wrote called 'Songs of heaven and home, written in a foreign land'.

As a prominent agnostic, Hardy didn't half have a lot of clergymen friends.

Must say that the descent back towards Lulworth Cove was much more pleasant than the earlier climb away from it:

Bradford-on-Avon: The Bridge over the River

Another enduring image from Bradford-on-Avon, the old bridge over the river Avon.

Just shows that if you look hard enough, you'll discover that there's still an England (in some parts of England, that is).

Galway: Passing the Fire Station

Arrived in Galway from Doolin in the morning; had a sleep in the hostel for a few hours; then went out heading for Salthill, but then saw the dark clouds above the fire station, and thought otherwise.

Really liked the metallic structure below, though:

Bradford-on-Avon: Interesting Buildings Everywhere

It seemed that everywhere in Bradford-on-Avon town centre, there was something worthy of a picture.

Like my friend said, everything looked like it was made of Bath stone (having read a few things on the Internet, I think this may well be the case).

Even the textile-type looking places were interesting.

If you're ever on the Bristol-Weymouth train line, I think stopping off at Bradford-on-Avon for a few hours is well worth it.

Thomas Hardy's Wessex: Lulworth Cove

Finally, on my third trip to Thomas Hardy's Wessex, I got to see Lulworth Cove. 

After setting our tents up on a campsite at Wool, we managed to catch the last bus (at teatime) to Lulworth Cove.  We were obviously not disappointed by what we found there:

Lulworth Cove was important to visit for me, because of its Thomas Hardy significance:  being the place where Sergeant Troy disappears and is feared to have drowned in 'Far from the Madding Crowd'; and where Cytherea and Owen Graye visit on a paddle steamer trip from Budmouth (Weymouth) in 'Desperate Remedies'.

In 'The Hardy Way', Margaret Marande (2015: 36) reveals that Hardy and his sister Mary visited Lulworth Cove on a paddle steamer from Weymouth in 1868 and that such excursions continued until 1955.

It's a real pity that the Weymouth-Lulworth Cove paddle steamer excursions stopped, but I can almost imagine them in the shot below:

We got our best views of Lulworth Cove during the long, steep ascent towards Durdle Door:

Margaret Marande (2015: 36) also reveals that Lulworth Cove is the setting for one of Hardy's best short stories, 'The Distracted Preacher' in 'Wessex Tales', as it is a "landing point for contraband where Lizzy Newberry and the reluctant young Methodist minister, Stockdale help the smugglers land tubs of brandy".

Warsaw: Sun Shining Nicely

This shot was taken in April or May, some time before the World Cup anyway, when the sun was shining nicely.

Since then, there's been quite a lot of rain (kind of British weather), but, thankfully, the sunny weather has returned over the past few days.

Badger State Girl Choir at St. Nicholas' Collegiate Church, Galway

Was drawn into St. Nicholas' Collegiate church in Galway as I heard some amazing singing coming from inside there.

The teenage/young adult, female choir had amazing voices.  As far as I could make out, they were singing some kind of Godspell-type music, but I could be miles off with this guess.

I enjoyed the concert so much that I took a picture of the notice showing who the choir were:

It was only when I got back to Warsaw, Poland, when looking at some of my pictures from Ireland, that I found out that the Badger State Girl Choir were from Wisconsin in the USA.

Have just read from the choir's website that the mission of the choir is to provide life-enhancing experiences through studying and performing significant choral music.

Bury (Lancashire): Visiting a Bronze Age Burial Site

Up until last year, I never knew that Bury had its very own Bronze Age burial site, Whitelow Cairn.

As it happened, Whitelow Cairn turned out to be very near Grants Tower, on a hill at the top of Walmersley Road (where the buses run down into Ramsbottom).  The old (possibly ancient) path up to Whitelow Cairn is signposted on Walmersley Road:

The Cairn is actually located on top of a hillock in a farmer's field:

I struggled to find the place, but, thankfully, when I was in a wrong field, I was pointed in the right direction.

Have just read that between 1960 and 1965, members of the Bury Archaeological Society excavated this Bronze Age Cairn Circle.

And that an extremely rare, ceramic stud (for fastening a cloak) was found there.

And that quite a few cremation urns were found too, with it having been a burial place, after all.

Yes, this place had a kind of solemnity, it's really amazing what you can find in Bury if you put your mind to it.

 

During an afternoon saunter, I got to visit Tentering Tower in Ramsbottom/Stubbins and Grants Tower and Whitelow Cairn at the top of Walmersley Road overlooking Ramsbottom and the Irwell Valley.  

These were three things on my bucket-list that I had to do while visiting my old hometown of Bury, Lancashire, for a few days.

Bradford-on-Avon: Seeing St. Laurence's Church

This has to be the jewel in the crown of what we saw during our Thursday evening, unscheduled visit to Bradford-on-Avon:

Have just read that St. Laurence's church is the finest example of a surviving Anglo-Saxon church without any medieval alterations:

Can also see that there's some debate over whether it dates back to about the year 700 or 1000 AD:

Either way, it's an incredible building.

Galway to Shannon: A Strange-Looking Building

Passed this strange-looking building on the Express coach from Galway to Shannon Airport.  Don't remember exactly, but think it was on the outskirts of Galway.

Sometimes, but not often, postmodern-type buildings can be interesting to look at, and I think this is such a case.