A short break in Norfolk allows me to breathe the fresh air of the countryside and to refuel. Being Norfolk born and bred the landscape has certainly left its mark in my own visual language, and its always fantastic to collect in my memory the horizontal lines of Norfolk and of course the big skies.
Today we visited Dudley Zoo. Until today I had no idea that we had such a prized set of buildings of international importance only two trains and one bus away from our house! The great man of London Zoo’s penguin pool, Berthold Lubetkin designed this Modernist set of reinforced concrete buildings – Tectons, which were granted World Monuments Fund status two years ago. I include some photos but I recommend a visit to fully appreciate them. The Kiosk reminded me of Arne Jacobsen’s petrol station just outside Copenhagen, also from 1937, and of concrete – but that’s another story!
Lots of care and attention are still needed to get the Tectons back to their 1937 former glory, but they still represent an ideal and aesthetic relevant for today. I have only hinted at what to see there – I wouldn’t want to ruin your search, but the entrance is rather fantastic too. (I thought I ought to include some shots of animals seeing as it was a zoo trip! The penguins are another nod to Lubetkin.)
It’s been a long wait, but today our first Dahlia of the season has opened its petals and shown itself. This is a huge success given the battle of the slugs that I have been fighting – organically mind. We have more to come but today we celebrate – by morning it may well have been felled by slugs or rain.
I’ve been rather keen on dahlias for years and have admired the huge borders that the National Trust are able to show off at this time of year. I hope they are sharing in our success. The long border at Baddesley Clinton is usually well worth seeing and I think Packwood House may also have some. The second and third photos are from last summer – note sunshine! I also include an image of ‘pompom’, an editioned lino print I made a while ago, having been inspired by the dahlia season. Long may they bloom!…
Today we enjoyed exploring the site and old ruins of the castle in Berkhamstead and found a lovely patch of meadow grass to study. In between the showers I gathered some lines and stripes…
We escaped Brum for Scotland to see some countryside in order to recharge our batteries and climb the odd hill. Beautiful colours and textures were inspiring after the wet concrete pavements I’m used to. Crossing waterfalls, wading through bogs and dodging midges were all part of the fun. We had no idea what surprises would greet us in the shape of cats too in Newtonmore. Great fun for all the family.
www.newtonmore.com/things-to-do/in-newtonmore/wildcats/wildcat-experience.html
We’ve been out and about in the country to see Rapture and Wright’s open studio – beautiful hand printed textiles,
and we visited National Trust’s Snowshill Manor which might encourage me to stop hoarding! Always lovely to see another garden too…
