Poppys Place

Sunday, 25 November 2018

Pugin's Church, St. Augustine's R.C. Church, Ramsgate Kent. Part 1

St Augustine's Church was the personal church of Augustus Pugin, and is situated in Ramsgate, next to Pugin's home The Grange, shown to the left of the Church of the photo.

The Church was started in 1846, and sadly, Pugin died in 1852, before it was finished. His sons completed the work and the project was finally roofed in 1849, although further work has been carried out since then.

I have driven past this Church many times, the front of the Church is on one of the main roads into Ramsgate, and is enclosed by a tall stone wall together with The Grange, Pugin's house, so is not obvious from the road. The view above is from the back of the Church, which faces the sea and shows part of the Churchyard.

Looking from the Nave towards the Chancel and the High Altar, showing the beautiful Rood Screen. As it was Lent when we visited this beautiful building, the statues are all covered.

The crucifix above the Rood Screen, also showing part of the lovely ceiling.

The High Altar in The Chancel.

The Organ Gallery in the Chancel.

The baptismal font in The Nave.

The Lady Chapel with Pugin's stained glass window above.

One of the beautiful doors leading into the Lady Chapel.

The Garth (small garden) surrounded by enclosed Cloisters.

Above and below are two of the Gargoyles (water spouts) in the Garth.

A beautiful ceiling in one of the Chapels in the North Cloister.

Looking through to the North Cloister from one of the small Chapels.

The following photos show the amazing carvings of The Stations of The Cross which are situated on the North wall of the Cloisters.

This is an amazing sight, the painted carvings were made in 1893, this and the two chapels in this cloister were finished by Pugin's son, as Pugin died in 1852.

The Shrine of St. Augustine, which holds a relic of St Augustine.

St Austine's Shrine was originally in St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury which was dissolved in 1538 as part of The Reformation, when most of the Saints body and his Shrine were destroyed. A small piece of bone belonging to the Saint was moved to its present position in 2012.

The Altar in the Pugin Chantry Chapel, originally this was in Pugin's House, note the beautiful tiles.

Pugin's Church, St. Augustine's R.C. Church, Ramsgate, Kent. Part 2.

An effigy of Augustus Pugin in the Pugin Chantry Chapel, Pugin and other members of his family are buried in a vault underneath this Chapel.

No dog for Pugin to rest his feet on, two doves instead, a lovely idea :)

Part of the carved marble behind Pugin's effigy.

Tiles in the Pugin Chantry Chapel, which I believe shows the Pugin Crest.

Examples of some of the beautiful tiles to be found in the church.

Part of the Augustine window in the Pugin Chantry Chapel.

Pugin's stained glass window above the High Altar in the Chancel.

Another part of the Augustine window in the Pugin Chantry Chapel.

Gorgeous stained glass

Memorial plaques in the Pugin Cancery Chapel. Pugin and various members of his family are buried in a vault underneath the Chapel.

Memorial to Pugin's son, it looks as if there should have been a few more details about his wife?

A silver candle holder.

Pew end carvings on the Choir Stalls in the Chancel.

A wonderful brass memorial

We had a great time looking round this wonderful church, the next time Pugin's house is open to the public my friend and I intend to visit it :)

Sunday, 14 October 2018

Beijing - Houhai

Houhai is not far from where my daughter lives, Houhai means 'rear lake' and is a popular place with locals and visitors.

The streets leading down to the lake are full of really lovely shops, brilliant for buying all the presents. The shop above had amazing jewellery :)

So pretty :) I particularly love the little boy in the photo below, trying to post his letter :)

Yes the young lady is wearing a wedding dress with a denim jacket. Before the actual wedding ceremony the couple dress in their finery and have 'pre-wedding' photos taken in a pretty place. The dress the bride is wearing in this photo is not the one she will wear for her wedding. We saw two or three couples having their photos taken in this area, I think it is a lovely idea.

Looking towards the main lake from the bridge. We were on our way to one of the lovely restaurants for food :)

Tourist boat trips :)

Another photo looking towards the main lake, can you see the crocodile in the front of the photo? It is of course a stone one, with a matching one on the other side of the canal, both were fenced off, but I am not sure why.

Sunday, 23 September 2018

Beijing revisited, The Summer Palace - the Opera House and Marble Boat.

Tucked away from the main tourist areas in the Garden of Virtue and Harmony building complex

is the Opera House or Grand Theatre, situated in a very calm, peaceful and extremely beautiful area of its own.

This is the back of the building

The photos above and below show the individual rooms near the stage of the Opera House, it is easy to imagine the members of the Empress's Court enjoying an evening watching the Peking Opera.

The Empress Cixi loved Opera and would have watched the performances from the Hall of Nurtured Joy which is situated directly opposite the stage, this building was not open to the public when we visited, but peeping through the window we saw the couches covered in yellow silk which would have been used by the Empress.

The Stage :)

Bats on a door decoration. Bats in the Chinese culture are symbols of happiness and joy. Five bats together as seen in the centre of the photo represent the Five Blessings, which are long life, wealth, health, love of virtue and a peaceful death.

Some of the many beautiful decorations that can be seen all round the Opera House area, every one is different, all are just gorgeous - I wonder how many hours were spent painting these?