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And Now... A Touch of Whimsy!
Nov. 26th, 2011 03:38 pmCould those of you who are offended by cute topiary please look away now? Thank you!
I had my regular dose of retail therapy this morning. DVD acquisitions were Dr Who - Inferno (a Jon Pertwee episode which I've never seen and which is supposed to be very good) and the film Plunkett and McLean which is a very funny historical comedy staring Bobby 'Begbie' Carlyle and Jonnie Lee Miller. I have also acquired Velociraptor by Kasabian, which is a good album, though not quite up there with their eponymous first album or their recent West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum. Then J took me to B & Q to look at paint and textured wallpaper (he's decided to redecorate the kitchen...).
After that, I came home, did some gardening (for quarter of an hour) and got soaked. Bad news on the penstemmon front - one of my Heavenly Blue's died from some kind of damping off or similar, and the other one doesn't look that robust. I've moved it to the porch where the air is cooler, and hopefully less damp, so I'm hoping it'll survive. I've also potted up a Sour Grape (singular!!) but it's a very small and fragile-looking plant, so I'm not sure how it'll do and a Hewell's Pink...
Enough of that. Let's go back to Wenlock Priory, where I promised you the story of John de Tycford. Which is such a ridiculous story, that I thought it would go perfectly with the topiary animals that currently adorn the cloister.
I'll leave it to Pinnell to tell the story, as she recites it very eloquently indeed:-
'In 1272 John de Tycford was appointed as prior. He had previously been prior of Bermondsey and had brought that monastery to ruin by his dealings with a notorious money-lender, Adam de Stratton. John de Tycford's activities at Wenlock brought the prior into debt, and as a final act before being deposed, he sold the wool crop of the monastery in advance and kept the money. He was unpopular with the monks and one of them, William of Broseley, left the priory at this time and gathered together an armed band of men who hid in the forest, threatening to kill the prior. A government order of 1276 instructed sheriffs to arrest 'vagabond monks of the Cluniac order'. William of Broseley was eventually captured and, according to the Worcester chronicler 'received what he deserved.' (Pinnell, J, 1999. Wenlock Priory Shropshire, English Heritage (London), p. 19).
Unlike John de Tycford, who, like a twenty-first merchant banker footering around in the subprime market, probably got a light ticking off, then lived the rest of his days on a nice hefty pension...
Plus ca change, eh? Who says history isn't relevant??
And now, here's some topiary for your delectation. The animals had been given a haircut the day before our visit (why, they must have known we were coming!!!) and were evidently looking at their best:-
I don't quite know what they're supposed to represent. Mice? Bears? Foxes? Bizarre conglomerations of all three?
I
And with that, I'm off. I've got a book to write!!
I had my regular dose of retail therapy this morning. DVD acquisitions were Dr Who - Inferno (a Jon Pertwee episode which I've never seen and which is supposed to be very good) and the film Plunkett and McLean which is a very funny historical comedy staring Bobby 'Begbie' Carlyle and Jonnie Lee Miller. I have also acquired Velociraptor by Kasabian, which is a good album, though not quite up there with their eponymous first album or their recent West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum. Then J took me to B & Q to look at paint and textured wallpaper (he's decided to redecorate the kitchen...).
After that, I came home, did some gardening (for quarter of an hour) and got soaked. Bad news on the penstemmon front - one of my Heavenly Blue's died from some kind of damping off or similar, and the other one doesn't look that robust. I've moved it to the porch where the air is cooler, and hopefully less damp, so I'm hoping it'll survive. I've also potted up a Sour Grape (singular!!) but it's a very small and fragile-looking plant, so I'm not sure how it'll do and a Hewell's Pink...
Enough of that. Let's go back to Wenlock Priory, where I promised you the story of John de Tycford. Which is such a ridiculous story, that I thought it would go perfectly with the topiary animals that currently adorn the cloister.
I'll leave it to Pinnell to tell the story, as she recites it very eloquently indeed:-
'In 1272 John de Tycford was appointed as prior. He had previously been prior of Bermondsey and had brought that monastery to ruin by his dealings with a notorious money-lender, Adam de Stratton. John de Tycford's activities at Wenlock brought the prior into debt, and as a final act before being deposed, he sold the wool crop of the monastery in advance and kept the money. He was unpopular with the monks and one of them, William of Broseley, left the priory at this time and gathered together an armed band of men who hid in the forest, threatening to kill the prior. A government order of 1276 instructed sheriffs to arrest 'vagabond monks of the Cluniac order'. William of Broseley was eventually captured and, according to the Worcester chronicler 'received what he deserved.' (Pinnell, J, 1999. Wenlock Priory Shropshire, English Heritage (London), p. 19).
Unlike John de Tycford, who, like a twenty-first merchant banker footering around in the subprime market, probably got a light ticking off, then lived the rest of his days on a nice hefty pension...
Plus ca change, eh? Who says history isn't relevant??
And now, here's some topiary for your delectation. The animals had been given a haircut the day before our visit (why, they must have known we were coming!!!) and were evidently looking at their best:-
I don't quite know what they're supposed to represent. Mice? Bears? Foxes? Bizarre conglomerations of all three?
I
And with that, I'm off. I've got a book to write!!
