Thoroughfares and short cuts

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On a recent day in London we spent a lot of time on the highways and by-ways of the central and north central area of the city. Highway as its name implies means "main way" or route, and a by-way is a route other than the highway i.e. a side road or a less frequented, subsidiary route. We were using the main roads to get to smaller roads and passages to see some of the less obvious architecture of London, and some of the placenames and relics of former times. The terms thoroughfare and short-cut seemed more appropriate to describe what were doing because in the hierarchy of roads, Fleet Street was as big as we got and St Swithin's Lane the smallest. "Thoroughfare" today often implies a main road because its derivation is from the word "through" and "passage", in the sense of a route that is open and unhindered. And taking short-cuts down narrow lanes was what we were doing quite frequently.

The line of many of the routes in London would be familiar to medieval city dwellers because the properties that line them are still there in some instances and have been respected by later buildings in others. St Swithin's Lane, connecting Cannon Street with King William Street, is a case in point. However, that medieval person would wonder where the old church of St Swithin that bordered the lane has gone. The answer is that the medieval building was burned down in the Great Fire of London in 1666, rebuilt in the Renaissance style by Christopher Wren, and that this building was badly damaged by bombing in the second world war, and its remains were cleared from the site in 1962. Today the buildings along the lane date from the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Our evening walk between Tube stations took us down this modern short-cut, brollies up to counter the heavier rain, our passage lit by light spilling from brightly illuminated, empty offices.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Photo Title: Evening, St Swithin's Lane, London
Camera: Sony RX100
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 10.4mm (28mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f4
Shutter Speed: 1/30
ISO: 5000
Exposure Compensation:  -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

English and U.S. place-name confusion

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It was George Bernard Shaw who described England and the United States as "two countries divided by a common language." By that remark Shaw was highlighting the differences that have arisen between English as spoken by the two countries. And whilst there are nouns, verbs, adjectives etc that appear in one version of the language (sidewalk, thru, etc) and not in the other, or which mean different things in each country (trunk and boot), or which are spelt differently (curb and kerb) the fact is that overwhelmingly the vocabularies are the same: they have much, much more in common than that which is different.

The other day I was in Newark (full name Newark-on-Trent). And, in thinking about the truncated version of that town's name, I reflected that the use of the same placenames in the U.S. and England (or the wider U.K.) actually leads to more confusion than does the differences in vocabulary. To someone from the U.S. Newark is a place in New Jersey, just as Boston is a place in Massachusetts. However, to someone in the East Midlands of England those two towns are relatively near neighbours in Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire respectively. The duplications between the two countries are numerous - Birmingham, Woodstock, Durham, Cambridge, Oxford, Springfield, Marlborough etc. For a fuller list see this Wikipedia page. This mattered little before the rise of the internet, but today it leads to confusion and great care being needed when searching, because otherwise much time can be wasted.

Today's photograph shows Newark's "slighted" castle, the River Trent and the Trent Bridge, a structure of 1775, still the main crossing in the town, with cantilevered footways and railings added in 1848.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Photo Title: Castle and River, Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire
Camera: Olympus E-M10
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 31mm (62mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/1000 sec
ISO:200
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

River names

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The names given to rivers are some of the oldest words to be found in the British Isles. Many of them are pre-Celtic in origin, belonging to a time of which we have little knowledge concerning the languages that were used. The river in today's photograph - the River Welland - is one such name. All we know of the word "welland" is that it occurs in the earliest written documents: we know nothing of its meaning. The same is true of the Lincolnshire rivers Ancholme, Humber and Witham.

When we come to rivers with Celtic names we are often in a position to ascribe a meaning, though sometimes this is no more than an educated guess. In Lincolnshire the name of the River Glen is likely to be of Celtic origin and probably means "the clean one", echoing the derivation of the Northumbrian river of the same name. The River Lymn is also Celtic and derives from the Primitive Welsh "lemo" meaning an elm tree, hence the river's name is "the place where many elms are found". The names of the rivers Trent and Nene are also thought to have Celtic roots.

Why should river names be among our oldest words? The answer is that rivers are important and enduring features of the landscape, a source of food and water, useful for transport and an effective and immutable boundary or defensive line. Such a significant geographical feature would be named before settlements, hills or perhaps even people.

I've photographed Deeping St James church and the River Welland from this location before at different times of year. It makes a fine composition and is an archetypal English rural lowland scene.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Sony RX100
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 37.1mm (100mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/500
ISO: 125
Exposure Compensation:  -1.0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Yorkshire Dales barns

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A recent few days in the Yorkshire Dales re-acquainted me with some stone barns that I've known all my life. Some continue in use much as they always have, others have fallen further into a state of dilapidation, and some are in the process of being converted to new uses.

Todays's photograph shows a modest barn near Settle called Far Thornber Barn. Most Dales barns  that are out in the fields have names. Often these relate to the first owner, to the location or have a name whose origins are lost in the mists of time. Sometimes the last part of the name is "Laithe" rather than "Barn", a word that derives from the Old Norse (ON) word "hlatha" meaning barn. This reflects the influx from predominantly Ireland and Norway of Norse settlers in the years after 800 AD. In this area, a mile or so south of Settle, there is a cluster of barns that I know well. The oldest is Brigholme Barn near Giggleswick, by the River Ribble, which apparently dates from the seventeenth century. The last part of its name comes from the ON "holmr" meaning a dry, raised place in wet land - a suitable location for a barn -  and the first may derive from either the Old English "brycg" or the ON "bryggja", both meaning bridge. In my childhood it was piled high with bales of hay. It's now surrounded by newer structures that serve modern farming better, but is still used, cared for and maintained with traditional methods (lime mortar etc) as befits a listed building.

A few hundred yards from the barn in the photograph is the oddly named Fish Copy Barn. A more "architectural" structure than many it has a "porch", carved stone decoration and a late nineteenth century date stone with the owner's initials. For many years it was roofed, and the upper part of the porch was notable for a pile of song thrush nests about six feet high, the work of successive generations of birds each building on the nest below. Now it stands forlorn, unwanted and roofless amid a patch of waste land. By the A65 road the cluster of Cleatop Barns (named after the nearby house and wood) are in the process of being transformed into offices, retail space and a restaurant: a sad end for these distinctive buildings.

I visited Settle in a period of unseasonally hot weather with clear blue skies - not ideal for walking on the limestone and millstone grit uplands or for photography. This shot, however, was taken on the first morning of my stay when some low cloud pierced by patches of sunlight made photography much easier.

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 60mm
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/160
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation:  -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Mavis Enderby and Old Bolingbroke

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The place-names of England offer endless fascination and not a little fun. I was raised in the Yorkshire Dales market town of Settle, a place with a name that has the distinction of being a settlement, a verb and a noun. Across the River Ribble from Settle is the unlikely sounding village of Giggleswick, a word that the comedian, Tony Hancock, found humorous enough to use in his act. A couple of miles down the valley is the equally strange Wigglesworth. As a child I was intrigued by the names of some farms not too far from my home-town, one called Israel and another Rome, presumably founded by people of a strong religious persuasion. But how, I wondered, did the adjacent farms of Higher Wham and Farther Wham come to be given such improbable titles?

When I grew older and began to travel around the country I discovered that my corner of Yorkshire wasn't the only place where strange names abound. A journey by train (from Giggleswick) to Morecambe in Lancashire passed through a place called Bare where there existed, so I was told, a branch of the Women's Institute - yes, the Bare Women's Institute! This national organisation, with branches in most towns, is probably also found in the village of Loose in Kent. In Derbyshire it's possible to live in Hope, Dove Holes and Flash (the villages of), whilst Dorset offers Whitchurch Canonicorum, Gussage St Michael and Plush (with the nearby Scratchy Bottom). However, a strong case can be made for the county of Lincolnshire as the area with greatest number of place-name oddities. Here's a selection of them from the top of my head - Anton's Gout, Ashby Puerorum, Bag Enderby (surely an inspiration to Tolkien), Bicker, Boothby Graffoe, Cowbit, Hop Pole, Pode Hole, Quadring Eaudike, Saracen's Head, Spital in the Street, Swallow, Twenty, Wasp's Nest and Wrangle.

I was reflecting on such things as I cycled to the church of St Michael in the Lincolnshire village of Mavis Enderby the other day. I had recalled a story, possibly apocryphal, that a passing wit, noticing the road sign that said, "To Mavis Enderby and Old Bolingbroke", added the words ", the gift of a son." Above is the photograph of this medieval "greenstone" church that was comprehensively restored in the nineteenth century. A couple of days previously I'd been at Old Bolingbroke, the birthplace of Henry IV in 1367, and so here is a view of its old church (also featuring greenstone) as well.

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 11mm (22mm/44mm equiv.)
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/1250 seconds
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -1.0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Pinchbeck

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Pinchbeck near Spalding in Lincolnshire doesn't take its name from the alloy of zinc and copper used as imitation gold, nor does it derive from the inventor of that metal, Christopher Pinchbeck (c. 1670-1732), the famous London clockmaker. His invention caused "pinchbeck", in the nineteenth century, to become a synonym for cheap and tawdry. However, his unusual surname makes it quite likely that some of his ancestors came from the Lincolnshire village. In the Domesday Book (1086) Pinchbeck is called Pincebec. Later spellings include Pyncebeck and Pincebek, suggesting that the name is a compound of the Old English pinc (minnow) and the Old Norse bekkr (beck or stream). Whether or not the stream that flows through Pinchbeck is still noted for its minnows I don't know!

The church of St Mary is the oldest building in the village. It has some re-used zigzag and billet moulding suggesting that a Norman (C11 and C12) church stood here. What we see today is a big church with a sturdy, finely proportioned tower (though it now leans somewhat) of the C14 and C15. This has a beautiful west doorway with an ogee arch with fleurons and much cusping. The exterior of the building is mainly fourteenth and fifteenth century, but inside is older. The nave arcades (see above) were probably heightened when the church was enlarged, but they mainly date from the C13. At the west end the exceedingly tall tower arch is C14. Much of the eye-catching roof is original, probably C15, with tie-beams and hammerbeams alternating, the latter having large angel figures (for another angel roof see here). The whole structure was restored by the eminent Victorian architect , George Butterfield, in 1855-64. He did a good job, making sensitive repairs and additions to the structure.

My photograph is a view of the nave from in the chancel. Behind me at the east end is the high altar. However, as is common today with the smaller congregations of churches, another altar has been set up at the east end of the nave near the pulpit. I usually make a shot into the nave, from beyond the chancel arch, a strictly symmetrical composition. However, here I went for asymmetry and stood to one side. Despite it being early February the light inside the church was excellent for three reasons: the south aisle and clerestory windows are clear glass, the sun was shining, and the churchyard still had a reasonable covering of snow that was acting as my photographic reflector, illuminating the building and, particularly, the roof and its old timbers.

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 14mm (28mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/19
ISO: 400
Exposure Compensation: -1.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Walking by the River Slea

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A twelfth century document notes that a record dating from 852AD refers to the Lincolnshire town of Sleaford as Sliowaforda. This is the earliest known reference to the settlement. Over the centuries the spelling of the town's name varied considerably - Eslaford (1086) and Sleforde (c.1170) are two examples - but generally bore some correlation to either that first name, or the name we use today. The first element of Sleaford's name comes from Sliowa, an Old English river name that means "muddy waters", or "water with slimy vegetation." So, the full name of the town means the ford over the river called the Sliowa (Slea). Evidently the town was at a good crossing point, a common reason for the siting of a settlement.

Today's photograph shows the River Slea flowing through the countryside a few miles east of Sleaford, near the village of South Kyme. Nothing about the river on the day of our walk suggested that it was well-named! The water was clear and the patches of vegetation on the river bed were visible, aligning themselves with the flow, though I didn't ascertain whether or not they were slimy! As I headed back to the car Kyme Tower, St Mary & All Saints church, and a tractor harrowing a river-side field came into view. The serpentine leading line of the river, these three points of interest across the scene, and the increasing cloud mass suggested a landscape shot, and here it is. Take out the tractor and the telegraph poles and it is a fairly timeless scene of the sort that features in English landscape painting by the likes of John Constable.

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 67mm (134mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/400
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Algarkirk

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Many architectural historians consider that the district of South Lincolnshire, long known as Holland, has the best group of medieval churches that England can offer. During the middle ages the flat landscape of the Fenlands echoed to the cry of sheep, and it was on the back of these animals that masterpieces such as St Botolph at Boston, St Mary at Long Sutton, and St Mary Magdalene at Gedney were built. Virtually every village in this area has an old church, often begun in the 1100s, added to in the 1200s and 1300s, and given a major overhaul or expansion in the 1400s using the money that flowed from the wool that made it one of England's most affluent localities.

St Peter & St Paul, Algarkirk (shown above) is one of the lesser known churches of this part of Lincolnshire. A cruciform building, it was begun in the 1200s, completed in the 1400s, and given a major restoration by R. C. Carpenter in 1850-4. At a time when the Victorian restorers were often heavy-handed, replacing old with new, and re-modelling with great insensitivity, The Ecclesiologist described Algarkirk as a model of refurbishment "so good it could hardly be improved upon". Tractarian principles were applied, with Carpenter aiming to be faithful to the design and spirit of what he found. So, new window tracery was modelled on the decayed original designs and examples from old drawings of the building: new choir stalls were based on delicate fourteenth century models rather than the current heavy Victorian style. Today the church sits in stately splendour in its churchyard, barely a mile from its contemporary neighbour, St Mary the Virgin at Sutterton, as much a pleasure to our eye as it must have been to the original builders.

Why is my title Algarkirk rather than Algarkirk church? In the Domesday Book of 1086 the settlement is called Alfgare which is thought to be an old Danish personal name (the area was settled by Danes in the early middle ages.) In 1174 it is called Algarescherche, adding the Old English "cirice" (church) to a variant of the original name. But, by 1212 the Old Norse for church (kirk or kirkja) was used and the village became Algarekirke. Clearly the building of this church that we see today resulted in the village name changing to incorporate its largest building. It is that which renders the additional word "church" superfluous in my title!

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 22mm (44mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f8
Shutter Speed: 1/500
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: Off