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SPECTACULAR SHADES OF LEAF FALL

By on November 6, 2012 in Autumn, Autumn Collection, Chipping Norton, Cotswold, Fall, John of Gaunt, leaves, Shakespeare

Early November means the trees are becoming very bare, here in the Cotswolds. The upside is of course the wonderful colours that surround us – greens, yellows, russets, browns – they’re all there, mostly now spread on the ground. Beauty indeed, perhaps best summed up in the words of Shakespeare’s John of Gaunt, “…This other [...]

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NORTON MOTORCYCLES BACK ON THE ROAD WITH THE COMMANDO 961 CAFE RACER

By on November 5, 2012 in Donington Park, Leicestershire, Norton, Norton 961 Cafe Racer, Norton Commando, Norton Dominator, Pierre Terblanche, Stan Dibben, Stuart Garner

To motorcyclists of a certain age, the name Norton means the maker of a range of classic bikes that, along with machines from Triumph, ruled the roads of England in times past, their heyday the 1940s and 1950s. Now, after various changes of ownership, Norton has come back to England, with a new factory based [...]

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BOY’S OWN PAPER – 60 YEARS ON, A MAGAZINE FOR NOSTALGIA BUFFS

By on November 4, 2012 in BOP, Boy's Own Paper, Cadburys chocolate, Pyruma, valve radio

In the New Year, The English Eye is going to bring you the best of ‘Boy’s Own Paper’ from 60 years ago, as an online edition. The pages of BOP were produced from offices in Bouverie Street, London, and provide a fascinating insight into the commercial world of 1953, with adverts for all sorts of [...]

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COTSWOLD HARVEST HOME

By on November 3, 2012 in A44, Cotswold, Moreton-in-Marsh, Wellington Museum, Winter time, World War II

Now it’s Autumn, and the clocks have gone back to ghastly winter time, which means that shades of night are drawing in not long after English teatime – and before that when the skies are overcast. One day perhaps, we’ll decide to stop this twice-a-year moving the clocks back and forth. My choice is very [...]

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DAVID HOCKNEY – ENGLISH MASTER ARTIST, ON SHOW AT SALTS MILL, YORKSHIRE

By on October 30, 2012 in 1853 Gallery, Bradford, David Hockney, Jonathan Silver, Saltaire, Salts Mill, Titus Salt, UNESCO, Yorkshire

If you’re an art fan, a trip to Yorkshire has to include the vast Salts Mill, a rambling Victorian pile near Bradford, opened on local industrialist Titus Salt’s 50th birthday in 1853. I’ll be looking closer at Titus and his works soon, but right now I’m concentrating on the mill’s 1853 Gallery, where you can see [...]

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THE ENGLISH EYE VISITS SCOTLAND TO HUNT ‘THE REAL LOCH NESS MONSTER’

By on October 26, 2012 in Amazon, Loch Ness, Nessie, Scotland, The REAL Loch Ness Monster

I journeyed to Scotland recently with a team to investigate a famous legend, Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster. We explored all around Loch Ness, visited the tourist sites, went to the museums, cruised out onto the water, and theorised late into the night. As for Loch Ness itself, I hadn’t realised quite how much water [...]

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MALHAM COVE – A YORKSHIRE BEAUTY MADE BY A HORSE WITH EIGHT LEGS

By on October 25, 2012 in Dales, Ice Age, J.M.W.Turner, Malham, Malham Cove, National Trust, Odin, Sleipnir, Tate Britain, Turner Contemporary, Yorkshire

Well, that’s one legend anyway – apparently the Norse god Odin was riding his horse Sleipnir, when one of the giant beast’s hooves caught on the rocks, creating the horseshoe-shaped cove that’s the pride of Malham village . A more scientific explanation is that Malham Cove was formed at the end of the last Ice [...]

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PIERS AND POSTCARDS – REMINDERS OF AN ENGLAND PAST

By on October 24, 2012 in 617 squadron, Barnes Wallis, Birnbeck Pier, bouncing bomb, Burford, Cardiff, Clevedon, Dambusters, Somerset, Victorian, Wales, Weston-super-Mare

Browsing in a Burford antique shop recently, I ran across this postcard showing Birnbeck Pier in the early 1900s. I never knew that Weston-super-Mare had two piers, let alone this splendid example, the only pier in England that links the mainland to an island, even if Birnbeck Island is just a rocky outcrop jutting above [...]

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CHIPPY 2012 AUTUMN FAIR – ABOUT THE TRANSITION NETWORK

By on October 17, 2012 in Autumn fair, Chipping Norton, Chippy, Transition Network

I finally had a chance to learn a little about the Transition Network (TN), inspiration for the hard work that went into Chippy’s Autumn Fair on October 6, 2012. The Giant Pumpkins were quite a sight there, as were other activities, shown in the pictures below. It was interesting to see that TN started in [...]

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LAST GASP OF THE BERRY SEASON – AND A RECIPE FOR BLACKBERRY COMPOTE

By on October 14, 2012 in Autumn, Blackberry and Apple Compote, Chipping Norton, Chippy, compote recipe, cotswolds, elder

A beautiful Autumn day means it’s time to raid the hedgerows for their berries. Now, this indifferent English summer has meant that 2012 has not been a bumper year for blackberries, though it’s been another story for elderberries, with my ‘secret’ hedge positively groaning with them However, it’s blackberries that take my fancy today, so [...]

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