A Wonderful Red-Brick Gothic Church in Warsaw

Warsaw has several eye-catching red-brick Gothic churches, and the one below, on the way up to Wola/Wolska, has always caught my eye from the tram:

Finally, after many years of just passing it by, last Sunday, I got off the tram to have a much closer look at it, and I wasn't disappointed:

The statue below is of Saint Woijciech:

I generally like photographing churches to capture the beauty of the buildings themselves, as I rarely have the time to look into the histories of the churches.

My Favourite Shot from Deeply Vale

This is my favourite shot from a recent walk through Deeply Vale as it approached sundown. 

For me, this picture kind of sums up the peacefulness and solemnity I felt on my way for a nice Sunday evening pint at the Lord Raglan up Nangreaves. 

A gentle breeze skimmed the water of the lodge, the wind turbines were gentle creaking; and I was left to my own musings.  What more do you want from life?

The Bank of Poland War Memorial in Warsaw

During the week, I accidentally came across the remains of the Bank of Poland building which was nearly all destroyed in (as far as I know) the Uprising against the German occupation in August 1944.  The building is located near the Ratusz Arsenał metro station on Ulica Bielanskiej:

When you get a closer look at the building, you can see all kinds of what I guess must be German gunfire and shrapnel marks:

Yes, here, you can get some kind of sense of what the Polish people had to endure during the German occupation.

My Upcoming Concerts in Warsaw

The cluster of concerts I've got coming up at the end of June/beginning of July in Warsaw seems to reflect my eclectic taste in music.  First up, it's Sigur Ros at the Sowinskiego Park Ampitheatre on June 25th.  Sigur Ros played the same place in 2008, but, unfortunately, I'd already arranged to go to the US at the same time:

First heard Sigur Ros on British Radio 1:  a live concert from Shepherd's Bush Empire in London back in the early 2000s, aired in the early hours of the morning after a John Peel Show (how I miss this great man and his Show!).  So, better late than never, I should be getting to see Sigur Ros on the 25th of this month.

The day after, I'm going to see Coco Rosie at the Warsaw Basen on the 26th June.  Discovered Coco Rosie through looking at loads of (Seattle-based) KEXP sessions on Youtube.  I became aware of KEXP sessions through first watching one of my favourite bands, Low, doing such a session on Youtube.  Below, Coco Rosie are doing 'Lemonade' on a KEXP session:

Really like the massive contrast in the Casady sisters' voices:  one being impish and Bjork-sounding, the other having a beautiful, high pitched voice.  Also really starting to like the Warsaw Basen as a concert venue, half of the reason why I'm going to this concert, maybe.

Third up, for me, it's the big one out of this cluster of concerts:  Gov't Mule on the 1st July up at the Klub Progresja, another one of my favourite concert venues in Warsaw.  I've only been introduced to Gov't Mule quite recently, but as soon as I heard them, I could see this was music for me:  a throwback to 1970s Rock music (solid pumping rhythm section; well-placed organ sounds; extended guitar solos; and above all else, great melodies):

Yes, this is old-style Rock music with great melodies, something to savour and behold.

Finally, on the 9th July, I'm going seeing Bush at the Palladium, yet another good place in Warsaw for concerts.  When I first saw this gig advertised, I wasn't sure about it, as I only knew Bush for their famous tracks like 'Swallow' and 'Glycerine' back in the 1990s.  However, after watching the concert below (from Germany in 2002), I decided that Bush should be well worth seeing:

Yes, I've got a nice cluster of concerts coming up, and feel blessed that I can see this wide range of music (ethereal-type Rock; Avant-Garde/Folk; Classic Rock; Alternative/Grunge) in Warsaw.  It's fantastic that this range of bands are now visiting Warsaw.

Bury (Lancashire) Walks: A Short Gothic Church Tour

My hometown of Bury in Lancashire is often described as a 'shithole'.  Moreover, like many parts of the Western world, Bury is most definitely afflicted by its 'fair share' of imbecilic, politically-'correct' social engineering.  Thus, when I occasionally go back to Bury, I have to find other interesting things to do besides just drinking Real Ale.

So how do I transcend the assumed aesthetic shortcomings of Bury?  Well, I like to go on both long and short walks which don't have to be in the countryside to be interesting.  For example, I'll now describe a short tour of Gothic (Anglican) churches in Bury that I did recently.

First, from Bell Lane/Rochdale Old Road, I cut onto Parsonage Street to see the old St. Paul's parsonage/vicarage and church below:

The church is now a block of flats while the parsonage/vicarage might be anything, possibly a secluded residential home, but the important thing for me is that these two impressive buildings are still standing in some shape or form:

After St. Paul's, I veered a touch to the left and headed down towards Rochdale Road  to see St. Thomas' church which I was also relieved to see still standing (I'm not Anglican, but I find these churches pleasing to the eye):

Yes, for me, these church buildings have an aesthetic function, and their beautuful shapes and forms help me to feel somewhat uplifted.  However, when I lived in Bury many years ago, I was completely desensitised to their beauty, and simply didn't notice them.

From St. Thomas', I then switched right and downwards towards Holy Trinity church in the 'Heywood Street' district of town: 

Holy Trinity is an old disused Anglo-Catholic church, where me and my wife were very kindly shown round once when the church was in use.  My wife is Polish and like many 'continental Europeans', she was curious about the official religion of England.

After Holy Trinity, I carried on immediately downwards for a mile or so to get to Gigg Lane, then walked through Bury Cemetery.  After walking past row after row of graves, I got to the Manchester Road end of the cemetery, and had a quick look at the church there:

The picture above is too dark, but at least it kind of expresses the mysterious, sombre atmosphere you encounter in a cemetery.  Also, managed to put my zoom to reasonable use here:

Love the head figures and gargoyles in the bottom centre of the picture.

As I was about to leave Bury Cemetery, I couldn't help but look back into what was now the increasing darkness of what I'd just passed through.  Also got a shot of the interesting building (the cemetery record office, perhaps) at the side of the exit:

Finally, after Bury Cemetery, I turned right for a few hundred yards, and found my 'Jewel in the Crown':  St. Peter's church:

Yes, for me, this is an incredibly beautiful building, lying next to Manchester Road, and yet, hidden, sunk a little away from it all.  Also managed to put the zoom to reasonable use here:

After admiring the church's beauty, I slowly waved it goodbye:

Overall, this was an incredibly pleasant short walk which gave me some good exercise and plenty of dark Gothic imagery to savour.  Yes, whether transcendence only exists in the imagination, or really does exist in a beyond, it's worth seeking, as the meaning of life should not be reduced to such baseline things as gender or racial issues.

Saint Agnes' Church in Rome

This church was important for me, as my (Polish) wife is called Agnieszka.  Also love Keats' classic Gothic poem:  'The Eve of St. Agnes'.

This church looks out onto the Piazza  Navona (above) where St. Agnes was martyred in the Stadium of Domitian in the early 4th century.

Yes, the church is a Baroque beauty, just a pity that I didn't have enough time to go inside.  However, I did eventually find out how people dress up as Cleopatra below:

Beforehand, I saw a guy just simply putting on some kind of soft rubber suit, and that's all it was.

(The New) Bury Hospice

Seeing the new Bury Hospice was a little sad for me, as it stands on the old site of St. Bede's Catholic church up Fairfield.  At St. Bede's, I was baptised by a Franciscan priest back in the 1960s. 

Still, it was good to see that the former church land had been put to good use for the right kind of purpose.  I passed the Hospice several times during my recent stay in Bury, sometimes walking up  Rochdale Old Road:

And other times, up Piggy Lane:

Each time I passed, I could see that the building had a kind of quiet, stoic significance, being necessarily detached from the rest of its surroundings.