It's good to talk?

Am breaking my own house rules today by writing about an event away from Frome, but the issue is the same whether the subject is the River of Music or Nunney Rocks...

In the capital for the aforementioned 'River' - an ambitious 'London 2012' world music festival taking place at various outdoor venues this weekend along the Thames, from Battersea in the West to Greenwich in the East. My gripe is not restricted to this event, but applies to all such concerts. What is it that makes certain people behave in the open-air the same as if they were sitting in front of the telly at home? That is, to chatter incessantly throughout the performance. Now, no-one expects church-like silence at a gig 'en plein air', but why bother to make the effort to come along if all you want to do is natter to your neighbours? It's disrespectful to both the performers and your fellow audience members who might, just might, want to listen to the music they've paid to hear.

Kayhan Kahlor - stoic in the face of incessant nattering

Now, if it's Bruce Springsteen banging out his rock 'n' roll at x hundred decibels (before the plugs were pulled, of course), that's one thing. But these particular chatterboxes yadder-yaddered their way through half an hour of exquisite Persian traditional music in Battersea Park yesterday afternoon. Maybe they were simply taking their cue from the incessant messaging we also had to endure throughout the day from the event's sponsor. And that was?  BT.

There are fairies at the bottom of the garden...

A quick round-up of our final few events...

Ian McMillan and Luke Carver Goss at Rook Lane: the boy peaked too soon. Less poetry reading with music than stand-up-meets-primary school, the first half-hour was utterly, utterly hilarious. Based mainly on signs McMillan had er, "acquired" from various venues around the country, he spun a web of side-splitting comedy around just a handful of sheets of paper. But after this uproarious start, there was nowhere else for him to go. There was surprisingly little poetry and the so-called interactive finale (where the audience contributed to the composition of an instant verse) looked to have been lifted from one of the poet's school visits rather than something designed for a more grown-up audience. McMillan is a great entertainer, but he badly needs a director.

Also, a quick thought for promoters putting on speech events at Rook Lane - when Ian left the mic to wander the stage or the auditorium (as he did frequently), he could not be heard from under the balcony. Something to do with the building's unique interior/acoustics. A lapel/radio mic would have solved this problem.

The North Sea Radio Orchestra at Rook Lane: too cool for their own good? Having heard some examples of their recorded material, I was rather intrigued by the "chamber pop" of this eight-piece which the Festival programme described as "like Kate Bush meeting Vaughan Williams". Mrs W wasn't keen and had to be dragged, kicking and screaming up Bath Street. Well, surprise, surprise, she loved them, and I was left rather cold. Their settings of poetry by the likes of Yeats, Tennyson and Blake were somewhat uncomfortable, and while the more recent songs that featured their own lyrics were much more effective, their on-stage aloofness was alienating. True, they were somewhat cramped on Rook Lane's tiny platform which may have contributed to their unease, but I took it to be a more calculated kind of cool - which turned out to be profoundly "uncool". Curiously, singer Sharon Fortnam was the exception, wrapped up in the emotion of it all, gripping her skirt in both hands and swaying in a sort of semi-orgasmic reverie, completely at odds with what was going on around her. I shall return to their latest album where their attractive, whimsical fusions are attitude-free.

Laurence Parnell at Holy Trinity: a charming guitar recital of (mostly) self-penned compositions, gently melancholic with Celtic touches. A little more light and shade and variation in tempi would not have gone amiss, but Laurence is a likeable and talented performer (who also makes guitars). The accompanying poetry readings on the theme of music were a little superfluous. However, they were well-performed, although microphone technique was somewhat lacking. Overall a delightful way to spend a lunchtime.

"I'm a fairy, get me out of here"

Nunney Players - A Midsummer Night's Dream in the grounds of Rockfield House, Nunney: let's just say that visiting the extremely posh mobile loos (complete with piped music) on our way out at the interval was the highlight of the evening. I don't like admitting defeat at the theatre, as you never know what might be just around the corner in Act II that could save the day. And I really am sympathetic to the particular challenges faced by amateur companies. But this was not good - the main problem being that it was the most anaemic production of one of the Bard's sexiest plays. Mind you, the actors cast as the lovers were so young that the merest hint of any physical attraction might have led to an arrest by the Vice Squad. The chap playing Puck managed to capture the spirit of the play, but sadly one fairy does not a Dream make...

So a rather unsatisfactory end to what had been a very good week of festival-going. But at least it had stopped raining.

All Fired Up

First of all, thanks to Anon for your background on the Fashion Show (once again Blogger is not allowing me to respond to your comment directly for some reason). I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the Richmond Park dog's appearance at The Cornerhouse!

Readers of this blog will, I trust, be aware by now that I am not prone to attacks of hyperbole. But at Stonehenge on Wednesday night, it was a privilege to be part of a truly historic event. Images of ‘Fire Garden’ by the French troupe, Compagnie Carabosse, have been well disseminated already by the media, so you probably don’t need a blow-by-blow account of what it was all about. But for the first time in many a year (outside of the organised "Stone Access" visits), one could wander inside the circle, rather than be restricted to the perimeter path, with only two small areas of fallen stones roped off. (Despite this, Mrs Weekender managed to bash her leg on one. But in the spirit of the Cultural Olympiad, we won’t sue. Unless we can blame McDonald’s, that is...)

In amongst the stones were what can only be described as huge vests, suspended from poles with a candle inside each. The symbolism of this passed me by, but the images were startling. Outside the circle sat various vaguely industrial fire machines, spouting out flame and sparks, along with braziers, kinetic sculptures (the shadows of which were thrown against the stones) and huge globes of fire, flames fizzing from flower pots attached to their frames. There was also live music – a one-man band producing a completely appropriate, melancholy sort of world fusion.  It was quite, quite, magical – not in a fairies-dancing-in-a-ring kind of way, but lo-tech, rusty, slightly dangerous... and thrilling. 


Hats off to London 2012 for commissioning this.

Coming next – back at the Frome Fest, Ian McMillan at Rook Lane.

Brenton v Brenton v The Dempseys

The Frome Drama Club's Festival offering is a late-night one-acter at The Cornerhouse: David Tristram's "Brenton v Brenton".  It's great fun - nothing more, nothing less.  Plundering American soaps, cartoons, "Kramer v Kramer" and even "The Importance of Being Earnest", it's an OTT parody of the American advertising business of the 1980s: Mad Men, twenty years on, and with condom jokes.  Subtle, it ain't, but the production captures the tone perfectly.  The cracking pace lapses only once in a curious sequence where, ironically we fast forward several months. Otherwise the gags come thick and fast (not always hilarious, but consistently smile-worthy) and on Monday night the company battled personfully against the noise of the band that was playing on the ground floor.  And it was to their credit that we believed this was clearly all part of the show, and The Dempseys had simply been hired to provide some Chicago club-next-door atmosphere. Recommended.

Less successful was the Fashion Show.  This must be one of the most inclusive events of the Festival in terms of the breadth of the audience, so it was a shame that those who attended this (and perhaps nothing else?) experienced something that was so uneven.  The models were great - all amateurs, all ages, all shapes and sizes and all very happy in their (sometimes well displayed) skin.  The design work of Frome College was most imaginative, particularly the comic strip skirts.   And the opening dance number (from 'Chicago') was great - sexy and skilfully done.  But technically the evening was rather a mess and the presenters did not appear to be entirely in control of proceedings - though to be fair, one of them (whose name I did not catch) was a last minute stand-in.  It all looked dreadfully under-rehearsed. A shame.

Sensationalism (failed)

Just wanted to share a quote from the Toolshed's blurb about their current exhibition which requires no further comment from me...

Peter Conway is a self educated Human Printer originally from Ipswich ... After years of drawing penises in a vain attempt to be sensationalist, he now makes experimental print works and writes about himself in the third person.

Coming soon - thoughts on 'Brenton v Brenton' at The Cornerhouse...

Heads, Hans and quite a Feat

A second visit to 'Frome Facebook' and Hans kindly let me take some photos. 

Do go and see it.

The Silk Mill, Saxonvale until the 15th, 11 - 5  daily.

And the rain, it raineth every day?

Thoughts on the first weekend of the Frome Festival.

Swan Lake, Frome Feast-style. No need to add water.

It rained, it poured, it bucketed down. The Frome, brown and foamy, raced through the town. The drain cover outside the Archangel could not contain the torrent below. The acts at the Festival Feast moved into the shelter of the Cheese & Grain, but the food stalls stayed outside and the hardy punters queued in the monsoon for Kenyan curries, Mexican burritos and pasta alla Fromiata. Numbers were inevitably down on last year (when the sun shone), but Fromies were not to be denied and a good time seemed to be had by all, despite the lack of Gulf Stream meaning our parade was most definitely rained on.

Then to The Cornerhouse to catch some Gipsy Jazz, but the place was so packed that you could neither see nor hear the band. The Rich’s (on draught) made up for it though.

To the Green Fair at the C&G where a copy of The Somerset Cider Handbook was acquired and will aid and abet my research into the most benevolent sacrifice any apple can make.

Visual arts highlights –

‘Facebook Frome’: Hans Borgonjon’s ‘life masks’ of Frome folk, gathered over the last few months and now on show at the stunning Silk Mill. They inevitably remind you of death masks, but these are Momento (Momenti?) Vitae. They are intriguing, absorbing and ever so slightly creepy.  And it’s good fun to try and spot familiar faces. Next door is The Tool Shed, a new gallery space in this former industrial complex. Beatrice Haines’ ‘Garden of Earthly Delights’ is a wide screen representation of a cactus – extraordinarily detailed and both inviting and intimidating; Mark Kasarick’s ‘To Aphrodite’ also manages to be unsettling and attractive – roses and (real) nails make unlikely bedfellows.

Also highly recommended – Ellen Tovey’s startling portraits on show in Lower Keyford, Amy Yates’ semi-abstracted Frome townscapes which can be seen at The Limes and Clive Walley's video installation in Michael Bennett's studio above the museum - a meditation on art and nature, serene and thoughtful.

The afternoon after the night before. But there's a banner!

  

Oh, and further to my post about banners… I’ve spotted three. But the Half Marathon has upstaged the Festival and nabbed pole position…

Festival Fever?

So the Frome Festival is just under a week away, and I have to say I'm getting quite excited in an understated, English sort of way...

Mrs W and I have tickets to a variety of events from Ian MacMillan to the Fashion Show, from the North Sea Radio Orchestra to the Alternative Guide to Frome. One of my recollections of spending the first weekend of the event in the town last year was that there was very little evidence of the Festival actually going on, if you just happened to be passing through. Where were the banners, the flags, the bunting, the outward signs of inner celebration?  Even the local drama and operatic societies manage to string a banner across Stony Street or Cheap Street to promote their productions.

Rue du Roi - pas en fête

I know all this costs and times are currently hard, but hopefully when we roll up on Friday it will be plain to resident and visitor alike that Frome is truly 'en fête'. And, who knows, a few passing punters - otherwise unaware of the riches on offer  - might then be tempted to investigate further...


www.fromefestival.co.uk

Tree Cheers for the Council!

The centre of Frome is a most attractive place with its ancient streets and buildings, except for the unsympathetic Westway Centre and the surrounding tarmac desert of car parks. But the Town Council wants to "soften" the Market Yard parking area with tree planting. This is the first glimpse of the town for many visitors - either leaving their cars there to venture further afield or to attend an event at the Cheese & Grain next door. And it hardly says "Welcome to our unique and historic borough".

The Market Yard from across the river on a 'Frome Flea' day

I say "bravo" and while others may splutter "waste of money", this is actually dosh from the budget that is earmarked for just this sort of thing. And there are times when our surroundings need a helping hand from our political masters. 'Green' volunteers - such as the Friends of the River Frome - can't be relied upon to do it all. 

Now it's just down to Mendip District Council (the owners of the car parks) to rubber stamp the idea. Come on, Mendip, don't be planting poopers...

www.frome-tc.gov.uk

On the air, in the air, everywhere (on and off)...

This has been a big weekend for Frome. Last night the community radio station officially took to the airwaves on 96.6 (despite its name, Frome-FM had only broadcast on the internet up until now). The launch took place at the Assembly Rooms and the Fromarati was out in force. Following a witty "fasten your seat belts" montage from manager Phil Moakes, the first prog proper was a chat show hosted by Sam Phripp and featuring local celebs Luke Leighfield, Mark & Caroline McGann, Cara Dillon and Sam Lakeman, with music from The Bad Detectives. Unsurprisingly the questions were hardly stiletto-like, but the likeable Phripp did a pretty good job. And while he floundered a bit towards the end and the show outstayed its welcome by about 10 minutes, the first 50 were highly entertaining.

So we all wandered off into the Fromian twilight with high hopes for the future of our local station, now all grown up and able to go out on its own on car radios, transistors and radiograms across East Somerset and West Wiltshire. Unfortunately, the best laid plans...

Day One has been a bit of a disaster. Long periods of 'dead air', programmes being abruptly terminated, sponsors messages fading out midstream and so on. One of the flagship launch shows, an ambitious production of Shakespeare's 'The Rape Of Lucrece' with Frome Drama Club, fell foul of the automated play-out system and we were denied Lucrece's tragic end by the technology.

FF-M is a great asset to the town. Run entirely by volunteers, much of its programming is very good indeed and the new frequency will enable it to reach more listeners than ever before. But in these days of multiple media choices, people are notoriously impatient and will quickly re-tune if the output is not up to scratch. Hopefully the glitches of today are merely teething problems and will quickly be cured by the radio equivalent of a dose of clove oil.

www.fromefm.co.uk

Frome Festival - arts for all?

Frome Festival starts in just over a month's time. The brochure is available and the famous Tunnel Tours sold out within minutes of tickets going on sale. It's a great asset to the town, but it's under threat. The organisers have warned that unless income increases, this could be the last one. That would be a tragedy for a community with such a lively cultural scene.

The Duke of Monmouth ponders on whether being
the pin-up boy of the Frome Fest is as good as being King...

The festival embraces music (of all genres), theatre, the visual arts and literature, plus walks, talks, workshops and open gardens. The programming is varied and imaginative - but mostly within what you might call a middle-class, middlebrow artistic policy. Why not take some open-air performances to the housing estates on the edge of town, rather than restrict shows to the usual central venues? Street theatre won't make pots of money, far from it. But it might well produce oodles of goodwill. And at times like this, PR can be as important as cash in hand.

www.fromefestival.co.uk

Walk a mile in my shoes...

Walking can be a frustrating hobby, but then there are cloud/silver lining moments that make it all worth while...

The Best Laid Plans of the Weekenders today led to us to Beckington, a pretty stone village just to the north of Frome. A copy of 'Where Somerset Meets Wiltshire' in hand, our guide (usually reliable and informative) sent us across a stile that was no more, into a strip of field (barely trodden) to a barbed wire fence lacking in any exit. The cricketers on the adjoining pitch looked on nonplussed, as if they'd seen it all before.

Iford Eyeful

We've hit too many rambling dead ends in our time to do anything other than abandon a false lead, so a quick peruse sent us to another of WSMW's suggestions. And what a joy... Avoncliff is one of those places where the Kennet & Avon Canal crosses the River Avon by aqueduct. The railway line is squeezed into the only other bit of land that isn't either river-wide or gorge-steep. The walk was varied and delightful. Reminiscent of the Wye Valley in parts, and still filled with the scent (of the now past-its-best) wild garlic, it follows the Avon and then the Frome via Freshford and Harold Peto's Iford Manor, before a steep climb up to Westwood and a final descent back to Avoncliff.

Arriving at Iford just too late for a cup of their famous tea, we nonetheless had a chat with the housekeeper who was about to lock up. She gave us a brief history of the place and revealed herself to be an example of history's cyclical nature - she had ended up on the same estate as her one-time mill-worker antecedents.

Westwood is hosting a Scarecrow Festival. Slightly naff? You might think so, but the topical theme of Kings & Queens had inspired the locals to come up with some wonderfully witty creations such as King Kong and Burger King (!), as well as the somewhat more inevitable fairy tales. Clever, the good folk of Westwood.

Westwood Royalty

This unexpected excursion was rounded off with a large glass of house white and a half of Box Steam's Funnel Blower at the Cross Guns' beer garden, right on the riverside. We watched the trout, almost suspended in the shallows, while musing on serendipity. It all worked all right in the end.

www.ifordmanor.co.uk
www.crossguns.net

The Village Gets A By-Pass

To the Cheese & Grain last night for The Imagined Village.

Organisational whinge out of the way first. Cabaret-style seating (nice) around the edge of the hall, standing room in the centre (daft). Sightlines - terrible. At the Folk Festival, the seating was at the front, standing room at the back. Sightlines - good. Is it that difficult to get right?

Anyway, onto the music. The IV is a multi-cultural, folk fusion supergroup (!). They first brought English folk music kicking and screaming into the 21st Century a few years back by adding electronica, dance beats and ethnic elements to traditional songs. Sometimes it worked brilliantly, sometimes it was embarrassing, but it was always bold and never less than interesting. On the evidence of last night's show though, they are moving away from this into predominantly original compositions that hint at the tradition, but never quite set the goosebumps, er, a-bumping.

The evening took off in fits and starts - whenever Johnny Kalsi was released from behind his array of percussion to take centre stage with the dhol, the temperature in the hall rose appreciably. And when Martin Carthy took the vocals in Billy Bragg re-jig of Hard Times of Old England, the original, imaginative purpose of the band shone through. Carthy fille, Eliza, was full of vim and vigour, bouncing around the stage like Tigger-meets-a-rock-chick. Sometimes when a musician is demonstrably enjoying him or herself, this can actually alienate an audience - the party's going on up there and we're not invited. But Eliza's enthusiasm was endearing and infectious.

Eliza Carthy in a rare moment of a calm at the C & G

There was one truly bizarre moment. Carthy Senior sang Slade's "Cum On Feel The Noize" in a dirge-like arrangement. What was the point of performing this as if it was some gloomy 18th Century murder ballad? Was it an example of the Louis Armstrong Philosophy? (He once said ALL music is folk music). Frankly, it was just odd.

So an uneven evening with the Villagers. Where will they go next - back to their roots or further into folk-pop territory? I fear for the latter.


www.imaginedvillage.com

Horses for Courses

Oh no! Someone's only gone and booked another concert into the Westway (Kirsty Almeida on the 24th). After our experience at the Folk Festival, I suggest you get there very early and nab a place near the front or else you'll only see the top of her head. It's a cinema, not a concert hall, and the rake of the seating reflects this...

Very much looking forward to The Imagined Village at the C&G this Friday night though...

http://realworldrecords.com/videos/the-imagined-village-trailer

On The Cloth Trail

The Cloth Road is a marketing wheeze to promote an art trail linking a handful of towns and villages on the Somerset/Wiltshire border that historically had connections to the textile trade - Bradford-On-Avon, Trowbridge, Corsham etc. The Cloth Road may not be the Silk Road, but it has its bucolic charms. Mrs W and I sallied forth amidst Bank Holiday rain to sample some of them. Veterans of arts trails, we know that sometimes the venues are more interesting than the work And to see inside some ancient Norton St. Philip homes was a rare treat. The village has joined the trail for the first time this year and all power to its collective and creative elbow, but here the architecture triumphed over the art.

The real treats were to be found in Bradford (we got no further after a late start). We'd never visited the wonderful collection of buildings that was once Barton Farm before and what a surprise... Centred around a 14th century tithe barn, there are shops and a tea room and as part of the trail the tough, yet paradoxically elegant work of blacksmith Brian Greaves was on show. Brian, surprisingly, works on a narrowboat moored on the Kennet & Avon Canal just behind the barn.  I guess one advantage is that there's plenty of water about if the forge ever gets out of control...

So were we...

Then to Melissa Wishart exhibiting mostly coastal scenes in her beach hut-like summerhouse. We were moved to put our hands in our pocket and invest in a small and very reasonably priced moody Scottish seascape.

Finally to the Artemis Gallery where we chatted to the delightful Frome painter, Caroline Walsh-Waring, about the challenges of marketing art and encountered for the first time the remarkable work of Cath Bloomfield: intense and dense collographs of flora, fauna and females (with stitching). Fascinating.

The Cloth Road Arts Week continues until the 13th May.


www.clothroadartists.com


PS Down in Vallis Vale the wild garlic is in full flower and aroma. Well worth a wander.

Here's to you, Benjamin Braddock

Frome Drama Club continued its obsession with all things transatlantic with a production of The Graduate at the Merlin last week.  While their last show (and our first experience of FDC) was a triumph (Ayckbourn's very English The Revengers' Comedies) , the company seemed less at ease with the American vernacular (though ironically they keep on producing plays written or based across the pond).

It was technically slick - good sound, lighting and video projection - and staged with a boldness (complete with sex scenes of varying athleticism) that would leave many an am dram company hiding behind their Noel Coward scripts. But somehow it never really took off. It wasn't as funny as it should have been nor as sexy. But there were a couple of stand-out performances  - Dan Gaisford as the eponymous lead (perhaps a little old for the part, but still convincing) and Tina Waller as the girl he eventually leads away from the altar and off to a happy ending in a motel room.

I wonder if the directors are enamoured of American theatre, while the actors are more comfortable on British soil. Their autumn production is Macbeth set during World War I. We shall see if the witches can weave some home-grown magic.

http://www.fromedrama.com

Moving Pictures

To the Black Swan for Portraits of the Working People of Somerset. When I first read about this, I had my doubts. What would be the point of getting people to pose and then video-ing them, rather than just shooting still images? What would video add? And the title was hardly a grabber, either. 


But I was converted. Projected onto the end wall of the gallery, they are beautifully lit and shot - subdued colours with hints of Victorian photography and Vermeer. The seated ones work best (those standing look rather uncomfortable). A potter, a basket weaver, a coffin maker, a stone carver, cheese makers and so on sit perfectly still in profile with their work and/or tools around them. Then a slight turn to camera -  and the effect is both surprising and revealing. 


The accompanying oral history interviews would benefit from some judicious editing (a frequent problem with oral histories for the casual listener/viewer), but the portraits are well worth a visit. I've not spent such a long time in a gallery, so engrossed, for many a day.


At the Black Swan until 5th May.


http://www.blackswan.org.uk/exhibitions_black_swan_arts_Detail.php?Portraits-of-the-Working-People-of-Somerset-29

An Embarrassment of Riches

Fromians and regular readers of this blog will be well aware of the town's remarkable cultural life. But sometimes you can have too much of a good thing. Last night, for example, there was Savoy Brown at the Cheese & Grain, Frome Choral Society at the Wesleyan Church, comedy with Nick Revell (amongst others) at The Cornerhouse and (I quote) "Suzy Quatro's Sax Player" at The Archangel. And there may have been more going on that I'm unaware of.

Hats off to events co-ordination!
(Frome Folk Fest 2012 at the Cheese & Grain)

Are all these events competing for the same audience? Would each have benefitted from being on a different night? There are some Saturdays when very little is on offer, so wouldn't some sort of entertainment co-ordinator be a good idea in order to avoid this kind of overload? There was talk of the C & G taking on the role of central box office for the town's venues - maybe they could keep a "clash diary" too?


PS Thank you for your comment below, "Dream Job". (Blogger is misbehaving and won't let me reply directly). I take your point, but I have incontrovertible evidence, m'lud. May I refer you to OS Explorer Map 142...?

A Sign of the Times?

During World War II, signposts were removed in what would surely have been a vain attempt to confuse any invading Germans (didn't the Third Reich have maps?). But at one time or another, we must all have suffered from missing signs or deliberately altered ones while on foreign territory - be that Swindon or Swaziland.

There's a sign on Frome Bridge which I pass regularly. It directs cyclists onto National Cycle Network route 24 and pedestrians to the railway station (it's a handy short cut if you're catching a train - 90% pedestrianised, avoiding the town centre and a steep hill). It is fixed to a post and is constantly being turned round, thus sending any visitor who doesn't know the town in the wrong direction. What a laugh, eh? All those people who visit Frome, spending money in the shops and restaurants, being sent God knows where. And you know what, depending on how much this wild goose chase spoils their day out, they might not come back. How hilarious is that?

I don't have a photo of the sign, but here's one of the bridge
(courtesy of Ross Websdale on Flickr).

I've tried to get into the mindset of those who tweak signs. Are they so disengaged from society (big or small) that to send someone up the wrong path is their perverse way of "making a difference"? While the more public spirited amongst us would get satisfaction from pointing a stranger in the right direction, these individuals get their kicks from the opposite?

Whatever their motivation, I shall continue to turn the sign back whenever it has been molested. And I urge you to do the same with any in your neck of the woods. A passing German might just thank you for it.

On The Level(s)

First of all, many thanks to Anonymous for his/her entertaining and informative comments.
Interesting your thoughts on Wiltshire being posh. Have you ever been to Swindon?

Good Friday was spent on the Somerset Levels around Langport/Muchelney, an area we've always wanted to explore. My image of the fenland prior to this visit was dominated by Don McCullin's photographs - monochrome, wintry, wet, bleak, big skies etc etc. On Friday, the fields were green, the skies big, yes, but blue and sunny, and (thanks to the recent lack of rain) the earth was dry and cracked - more Sahara than Somerset. It was still wonderful, the walking was easy, Muchelney and Langport were each fascinating in their own way (especially Mulcheney's infamous brazen angels), but it was all a bit more neat and tidy than I'd expected.

One of the "uninhibited" angels on the ceiling of Muchelney Church
 (not at all McCullinesque )

It's interesting how one's preconceptions of a place are either reinforced or undermined by the actual experience of being there. Is our response ever exactly what we expected? Are we always to some degree surprised - either in a positive or negative way? Do those preconceptions get in the way of a genuine reaction to somewhere? Research and learning are marvellous things, and technology has made them easier to acquire than ever. But sometimes I wonder if Ignorance really is Bliss.

http://www.aperture.org/exposures/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/008_mccullin.jpg/bmi_orig_img/008_mccullin.jpg