A couple of weeks ago I took a week off work and decided to go and visit my mother and her partner on the south coast for. I hadn’t seen them for over a year and it was so good to spend time with them face to face. Of course, while I was there my mother put me to good use getting me to do some odd jobs around the house that had been building up for a while.
One such job was to drive them into Chichester and help with taking watches to be mended and buy some kitchen things in Lakeland. Of course, the opportunity to photograph some lovely doors presented itself and I took leave of my duties for five minutes to photograph these beauties. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.
Stunning door with boot scraper to the left, Chichester, May 2021Large awning and worn steps on this door with boot scraper to the left, Chichester, May 2021Door with beautiful brickwork including a crest above it, Chichester, May 2021Door to the Hospital of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Chichester, May 2021Green doorfie, Chichester, May 2021
So that’s it for another week, I hope you have a good one.
If you have made it this far, you probably like doors, and you really ought to take a look at the No Facilities blog by Dan Anton who has taken over the hosting of Thursday Doors from Norm 2.0 blog. Links to more doorscursions can be found in the comments section of Dan Anton’s Thursday Doors post.
This is the second set of photographs of Blaise Hamlet, a small National Trust estate of ‘Lilliputian’ cottages in North Bristol, where posting doors is really an excuse for me to share this amazing place with you, as the doors themselves aren’t really anything too special.
I managed to visit a couple of weeks ago with the dog in tow, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. This small oasis reminds us of days gone by and a less complicated time that offers a sense of peace and tranquility. Enjoy the second part of this visit:
Dove doors at No 4 Blaise Hamlet, Bristol, May 2021 Door at No 4 Blaise Hamlet, Bristol, May 2021 No 5 Blaise Hamlet, Bristol, May 2021 Door at No 5 Blaise Hamlet, Bristol, May 2021 No 6 Blaise Hamlet, Bristol, May 2021 Door at No 6 Blaise Hamlet, Bristol, May 2021 Thatched cottage No 7? Blaise Hamlet, Bristol, May 2021 Doorway to No 8 Blaise Hamlet, Bristol, May 2021 No 9 Blaise Hamlet, Bristol, May 2021
I hope that you have enjoyed the quick tour of these delightful cottages, and strongly recommend that if you find yourself in Bristol with 30 minutes to kill, a quick visit would be very worthwhile.
If you have made it this far, you probably like doors, and you really ought to take a look at the No Facilities blog by Dan Anton who has taken over the hosting of Thursday Doors from Norm 2.0 blog. Links to more doorscursions can be found in the comments section of Dan Anton’s Thursday Doors post.
I have been keen to return to Blaise Hamlet ever since my first and only visit when I first settled in Bristol in the 1990s. More recently, that urge has been amplified by the lock-down as it is a place that can be visited safely and is very local. Finally, I managed to get there a week or two back, and this is the first of two posts featuring the quaint (a word I rarely use) cottages, owned and managed by The National Trust.
Blaise Hamlet was a 19th-century housing project and a part of the Blaise Castle estate. The following description is from The National Trust website:
In 1789, John Scandrett Harford, a well-respected Bristol banker and Quaker, bought the estate for £13,000. In 1795, he commissioned an eminent Bristol architect, William Paty, to build a new house for him and his family. The house is substantial but plain, in keeping with Quaker principles. Harford also invited the leading landscape architect of his day, Humphry Repton, to redesign the grounds. In 1796, Repton went into partnership with John Nash, the architect who is best known for designing the Brighton Pavilion. Repton introduced Nash to Harford who commissioned him to design cottages for the estate.
This week I will introduce you to the first three cottages, which although modernised indoors, have all the original exterior features.
Blaise Hamlet, The National Trust, Bristol, May 2021
Number 1, Blaise Hamlet, Bristol, May 2021
Door at number 1, Blaise Hamlet, Bristol, May 2021
Number 2, Blaise Hamlet, Bristol, May 2021
Door at number 2, Blaise Hamlet, Bristol, May 2021
Number 3, Blaise Hamlet, Bristol, May 2021
Door at number 3, Blaise Hamlet, Bristol, May 2021
The perfect ‘chocolate box’ hamlet harking back to a time and environment rarely seen in England these days, complete with a village green and water pump. Perfect.
I will conclude this doorscursion next week… Until then may I wish you all a very happy week.
If you have made it this far, you probably like doors, and you really ought to take a look at the No Facilities blog by Dan Anton who has taken over the hosting of Thursday Doors from Norm 2.0 blog. Links to more doorscursions can be found in the comments section of Dan Anton’s Thursday Doors post.
Doors 148 – Another plunge into some archive street/graffiti art doors
Still swamped with work, and although I did actually go on a doorscursion last weekend, I haven’t had time to upload the photographs yet. What this means is that I have had to have a very rapid rummage in my archives for some street art or graffiti doors from last year. Here they are:
Varo, Leonard Lane, Bristol, September 2020 Nathan Bowen, Jamaica Street, Bristol, September 2020 Nathan Bowen, Hepburn Road, Bristol, September 2020
DazCat, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, September 2020 Hazard, Jamaica Street, Bristol, September 2020 Getting Up To Stuff, Jacob’s Wells Road, Bristol, September 2020 Inkie, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2020
Doors 147 – At last some doors from a recent wander in Bristol
Many of the doors that I photograph are from exploratory walks in my endeavours to seek out street/graffiti art that I have not seen before. These expeditions require me to go to places that I have never been to, and I found these gems in a light-industrial estate in Bedminster. It was a gorgeous day and the world felt good.
Two shabby doors for the price of one, Bedminster, Bristol, April 2021
Old iron door, Bedminster, Bristol, April 2021
Door within a door, Bedminster, Bristol, April 2021
Nicely paired doors, Bedminster, Bristol, April 2021
Several repairs on these doors, Bedminster, Bristol, April 2021
Beware of the dogs, No Parking, door within a door, Bedminster, Bristol, April 2021
All in all a good walk, and I found some street art that I have been searching for for months leaving me a very happy person. That’s yer lot for this week, have a fabulous weekend wherever you are.
If you have made it this far, you probably like doors, and you really ought to take a look at the No Facilities blog by Dan Anton who has taken over the hosting of Thursday Doors from Norm 2.0 blog. Links to more doorscursions can be found in the comments section of Dan Anton’s Thursday Doors post.
I had to do a bit of a trawl through my Thursday doors folder to dig these forgotten doors out, and am rather pleased that I did, because I have overlooked them for far too long. Hoping to get some fresh doors soon, but until then we will have to make do with this rather random selection of photographs from Bristol taken in 2018 and 2019.
Wingman barbers door with doorfie, Christmas Steps, Bristol, June 2019
Bristol South Baths, Entrance doors, Bristol, May 2019
This is where my son trained to become a lifeguard.
Haberfield House gate, Hotwells, Bristol, March 2019
Those steps could do with a sweep.
Beautifully carved triple door, the Centre, Bristol, March 2019
Heavy iron door, Bedminster, Bristol July 2018
Animated post box door, Bristol, May 2018
With a fair wind and a bit of time I hope to go on a few doorscursions soon, but at least I am working through my back-catalogue which has needed a bit of tidying up.
Have a great weekend, wherever you are.
If you have made it this far, you probably like doors, and you really ought to take a look at the No Facilities blog by Dan Anton who has taken over the hosting of Thursday Doors from Norm 2.0 blog. Links to more doorscursions can be found in the comments section of Dan Anton’s Thursday Doors post.
Doors 145 – Just some doors dotted around Bristol that took my fancy
I so desperately want to post some magnificent doors from a stately home or National Trust property or something like that, but I still haven’t been out much, so I am stuck with the ordinary everyday doors from around Bristol. Here we go for another Bristol doorscursion:
Door and steps, Saint Phillips, Bristol, April 2021Two graffiti doors, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2021
Door within a door, Bristol, April 2021Sliding doors, Easton, Bristol, April 2021DNT, Nine Tree Hill, Bristol, April 2021Bricked up door with the original gate intact, Bedminster, Bristol, April 2021
The weather is improving and lockdown is easing, so it shouldn’t be too long before I can get out and about for some fresh doors. Overseas holiday doors though are still a distant dream which is a pity… patience is a virtue.
If you have made it this far, you probably like doors, and you really ought to take a look at the No Facilities blog by Dan Anton who has taken over the hosting of Thursday Doors from Norm 2.0 blog. Links to more doorscursions can be found in the comments section of Dan Anton’s Thursday Doors post.
Doors 144 – Archive street/graffiti art doors from last year
Already we are well in to April, over a year on from the first England lockdown, and apart from local doors, I haven’t been on a proper doorscursion in all that time. I am ultra busy this week, so these archive street art doors will have to do. Soon I will get out to find some new doors – I can’t wait.
In the meantime here are some street art doors originally published on Natural Adventures in August last year:
Little doors on a garden wall in Redland, Bristol, August 2020Silent Hobo, Hammersmith Road, Bristol, August 2020Kin Dose, North Street, Bristol, July 2020Kleiner Shames, Moon Street, Bristol, August 2020Taboo, Moon Street, Bristol, August 2020Silent Hobo, Belmont Street, Bristol, July 20203Dom, Upper Sandhurst Road, Bristol, August 2020
Aah! those glorious sunny days. I have a plan for my next Thursday doors, but it will depend on whether or not I have time to get out and take some pictures.
If you have made it this far, you probably like doors, and you really ought to take a look at the No Facilities blog by Dan Anton who has taken over the hosting of Thursday Doors from Norm 2.0 blog. Links to more doorscursions can be found in the comments section of Dan Anton’s Thursday Doors post.
Doors 143 – April Fools’ Day – some central Bristol doors.
Some of you may have seen reports of unrest being reported in Bristol over the last week or two. Such is the nature of the press in the UK at the moment that you’d think the whole of the city was in flames, and violent protesters lurk on every corner. It just isn’t like that.
There have been four protests now where citizens have taken to the streets to object to the police, crime, sentencing and courts bill which is passing through parliament right now. This bill along with others coming from the hard-line right-wing Home Secretary Priti Patel seeks to restrict human rights further and by doing so, cement central control over the people she is there to serve. The first protest ended with violent exchanges which is so deeply sad, because of the damage it did to the purpose of the protest.
You get what you vote for, and sadly it seems that people who voted for this Government have been happy to see our public services brought to its knees through the policy/ideological choice of austerity; our exit from a powerful trading partnership and the freedoms to work in and participate fully as citizens of Europe; a clamping down on our right to protest peacefully; a reduction in our overseas development budget at a time when wealthy countries should be stepping up and not stepping back; an Australian-style immigration system proposed to keep ‘illegal’ immigrants out of the country unless they have documentation that their lives are at risk (impossible for people whose lives are at risk… think about it); a perfunctory recognition that climate change is really important because we are hosting the COP 26 conference in Glasgow this year, not forgetting that many serving in this Government were climate sceptics only a few years ago, and some still are; a jaw-droppingly incompetent response to the Covid-19 pandemic with more than 126,000 people who have died from this deadly disease and a clown at the helm with nothing more important to himself than himself.
I would love to say at this point that I am only joking and that the above paragraph is an April Fools’ Day piece, but it isn’t, it is real, and it is our future. It is no wonder some people want to protest, and it is no surprise that this Government want to suppress any kind of objection or resistance or anything that might expose them as anything other than brilliant. Unfortunately they have Rupert Murdoch on their side and the full weight of his media holdings which makes it much easier for them to sway public opinion.
Oops… I appear to have gone off-topic, but I feel much better for sharing. I hadn’t intended to ‘go there’ but it just started to spill out. The point I was going to make was that the protests have ended up in one street, Bridewell Street, which is only a stone’s throw away from where all these doors are. Most of these doors are now entrances to pubs or restaurants where once stood banking and finance establishments. Our city centres are ever evolving and a further evolution is set to take place as many businesses leave their offices and commercial premises in favour of ‘working from home’ models.
I hope you enjoy my doors more than my rant, but both would be doubly satisfying… here they are:
Blue door, Clare Street, Bristol, March 2021
Stunning door surround, Clare Street, Bristol, March 2021
Boys door, St John’s Steep, Bristol, March 2021
Metal and leaded window door, Bristol, March 2021
Carved wooden door and ornate surround, Clare Street, Bristol, March 2021
Garage door to Electricity House, Christmas Street, Bristol, March 2021
That’s it for this week, and I’ll try to steer clear of politics in the future – have a wonderful Easter/Passover weekend.
If you have made it this far, you probably like doors, and you really ought to take a look at the No Facilities blog by Dan Anton who has taken over the hosting of Thursday Doors from Norm 2.0 blog. Links to more doorscursions can be found in the comments section of Dan Anton’s Thursday Doors post.
In recent weeks I have managed to get out for walks around Bristol, but have struggled to find new and interesting doors… things will be so much easier once lockdown restrictions are lifted. This is an eclectic selection of doors photographed while out on street art hunting forays. I hope you enjoy them.
Graffiti door, City Road, Bristol, March 2021
Fleece side door, Bristol, March 2021
The Fleece door, Bristol, March 2021
Back gate door, Bristol, Maarch 2021
Beware of the dog, makeshift door, Bristol, March 2021
Bull at a gate, Door, M32 cycle path, Bristol, March 2021
So that is another week gone and another week closer to a new normal. I wish you all the very best of weekends, and to those of you in the northern hemisphere an enjoyable emergence of spring.
If you have made it this far, you probably like doors, and you really ought to take a look at the No Facilities blog by Dan Anton who has taken over the hosting of Thursday Doors from Norm 2.0 blog. Links to more doorscursions can be found in the comments section of Dan Anton’s Thursday Doors post.
