Fordwich, Britain's smallest town

We walked from Fordwich village along the side of the river Stour (isn't it lovely?) to the "highly attractive" Reed Pond (according to the directions) ...which currently is infested with toxic algae and not that attractive after all. Lots of invisible birds in the treetops but only one item of wildlife to be seen...

The walk passes through Ministry of Defence land which explains this sign - haven't seen one of these before! I didn't stop for long, honest officer.

The picture below shows the contrast between the public land - the side I'm standing on - and the other bank of the river which is somebody's garden. Gorgeous!

We then strolled around the village - which apparently is a town.

 A VERY small town, two pubs and a decommissioned church and fabulous architecture.

We had a drink in the George and Dragon, our table started life as a huge bellows, presumably from a blacksmith. Isn't it great?

The town sign shows the legendary Fordwich trout which was known to Izaak Walton who wrote the Compleat Angler in 1653, I'm guessing the fish is long gone :-)

One of many fabulous historic buildings - this was the home of artist Alfred Palmer from 191 till his death in 1951.

I really like the brickwork at the roofline on this next building, which according to its blue plaque was the home of  John and Gregory Blaxland who lived here between 1769 and 1806 in between exploring Australia. According to wiki "The government promised them land, convict servants and free passages, in accord with its policy of encouraging 'settlers of responsibility and capital" (not like the other settlers who had made the mistake of stealing a loaf of bread then.)

This next building, unbelievably, is the Town Hall. It's closed for the winter but has a ducking stool and is registered as a wedding venue (at which presumably the ducking stool is not used).

Th other pub - the Fordwich Arms - look at the chimneys! The window brickwork is great too.

I loved this little cottage next to the church, not sure how I would feel about graves next to my window but then I took a closer look...

I don't think I've seen tombstones with skulls before, aren't they wonderful?

One last architectural gem, look at the way these windows are leaded. Beautiful.

Snow!

We don't get a lot of snow in the south east of the UK, so when the first fall arrived overnight on Saturday we knew we had to get out there and enjoy it.


I love the way the snow softens the edges in some ways... but then


these trees look like they've been highlighted!


The fence reminds me of fake snow sprayed in windows at Christmas.
Nothing fake here though.


I was pleased with the "framing" around the sheep in this next shot


Wish I could say this was my garden pond, but it's the local trout farm.


I love the way the snow is coating each and every surface it could find here!


Texture!!!


Our local area is beautiful all year round, but I especially enjoy it under snow.




The sun is already working its magic and much of the snow has gone now. I'm glad I enjoyed it!

Foraging for sharks' teeth

We went house-hunting again today, but as it was low tide we started off by visiting Beltinge beach, supposedly one of the best places in Britain to find fossil sharks teeth.

According to the article I linked to above, it's best to kneel or bend down. I soon discovered what happens when you sit on wet shingle!


We were not at all sure we'd find what we were looking for - but MrNifty found the first tooth very quickly, then (luckily!) I found one. We'd have been there all day if I hadn't been successful too! I photographed the first two in my wedding ring to show how tiny they are.


We had an uninvited guest at our picnic lunch:



After lunch we both managed to find another tooth before heading off househunting. You'll be pleased to hear I changed out of my wet shorts! It's quite amazing to think these teeth are from so very long ago - 54 million years according to my link !



Makes me feel quite young ;-)

here's hoping we can move to the sea sooooooon!

SNOW!

Some houses just look better with snow...it's not ours!



nor is this ...



each of these shots was along the route of my walk this afternoon



So Christmassy!



Even the local pigs seem to be enjoying the snow!



I love the way the snow accents the skeletal branches





This last photo is a shot I've retaken every winter since we moved here - this house is quite near us (nothing like our own home!!) and it just looks perfect with snow.



Home now - to light the fire! We don't usually have anything like this much snow in November - brrrrr!

Danger in the countryside

We've been for a walk in our neighbourhood.



Stop, look, listen??





Aren't these old Pullman carriages great? They look just like the ones from my Hornby00 trainset many years ago!

It's not the trains that are the danger though - it's this stuff:



Oilseed rape as far as the eye can see. Not much fun for those of us who suffer frm seasonal allergies ;-(

Virtual friends...

Long ago (or so it seems) I had the most interesting commission, a very special meerkat indeed.



My new virtual friend was kind enough to share my work on her website Eco Enchantments, and finally I've got around to returning the compliment!

We found we had shared interests: we're both in Kent, both enjoy the outdoors. Viv's book is sited in the local area and I discovered I'd blogged about the wind farm which she talks about here.

There is so much to enjoy in Viv's website, especially if you are a fan of faerie. Have fun exploring!

snow!

from my bedroom window this morning :-)



I love snow!

PUB CRAFTS TODAY!

You're all invited! Meet me (lucky people!) and pantsandpaper.folksy.com and AngieSutton.folksy.com and one more seller who didn't get into the poster: TwistedTrinkets

Folkestone

Perhaps not the best start to the day?



It was a *little* windy...



We saw what looked like a railway station.



It was a funicular to take folks to the level of the town...but it was shut.



So we walked by the sea...



...and admired the beach huts. These turned out to be beach huts in disguise - when the council demolished the "crazy golf", an enterprising artist used the "course" to clad some huts!



We had to walk up an outrageous number of steps to the town. Looking back down, we felt sure we could see pacman...