Happy 1st December!

This is the planet Venus low in the sky taken from near Princetown on Dartmoor yesterday evening.

Brockham green in Surrey

Hungarian Parliament building in Budapest.

Yes, flags don't last too long here on the coast!

The Odeon cinema, Kingston

Torquay seafront on a cold winter's night.

The sun setting behind the trees near Horsham

This is the cliff railway at Babbacombe Downs in Torquay, Devon. The Torquay Tramway Company commissioned the engineering and construction of this funicular railway in February 1923. The cliff railway opened on 1 April 1926, with operations being temporarily suspended during World War II over security concerns. The railway reopened in 1951 after some modernization and underwent further refurbishment in 1993; a three-year programme of further renovation took place during the winter months of 2005 into 2006. Ownership of the cliff railway was transferred from Torbay Council to a local community company in July 2009.

Pictured here is one of two cars operated by the railway, each having a capacity of forty standing passengers. The cliff railway has a gauge of five feet eight inches and a track length of around seven hundred feet which the carriages cover in around one and a half minutes. The cost of the trip up and down is well worth the money. Until the 1960s, the road that can also be used to access the beach below the downs was used as a hill climb racing track… It is somewhat steep!

Yes, it's nearly Christmas.

These are examples of the art of the master thatcher. The vast majority of the dwellings in the village of Cockington near Torquay have a thatched roof which gives this picturesque little hamlet enough charm as to attract visitors, not just from across the United Kingdom but from across the world. At present, a number of the buildings in Cockington are undergoing renewal of their thatch with many being decorated with these attractive little figures which are believed to bring good luck upon the household.

In addition, I have a number of pictures which show the master thatcher himself at work on both the old mill house and the village forge; pictures that I will post for your enjoyment over the next week or so.

Onukuhou Stream at Opoutere Beach area, Coromandel Peninsula.

Mallard; who's a pretty boy?

Here is the master thatcher who is currently replacing the thatched roof on the Old Water Mill in the village of Cockington in Devon. The material that this roof is being replaced with is water reed, the best of the three materials used, and rooves made with water reeds may last for up to sixty years; twice to three times as long as those constructed using wheat reed or longstraw.

The hand tool that he is using in this picture is the modern version of an ancient paddle-shaped tool known as a leggett which is used to dress a completed section of roof before the thatch ridge is set in place. On the ridge at the right hand side can be seen other tools of his trade. The small shepherd's crook like implements are known as set pins which are inserted through the thatch across the width of the roof to ensure that the reeds are applied in a uniform thickness. The arch-shaped items are known as spars and are produced using a hand tool called a spar-hook from split lengths of hazel or willow. The spars are sharpened at each end and are twisted in the centre; these are used to fix the bundles of reeds to the rafters and the materials used to line the roof space underneath.

Many of the traditional materials used by thatchers today have been replaced with modern versions but the traditional craftsmen still continue to use the methods and materials that have been handed down over many, many generations.

sisterseagull, another lovely one. I would say you have a definite way with birds.

A little shop near Chingford all lit up.

A new block by the River Lea in Tottenham Hale

1. Snip conifer in front garden.
2. Snip three more evergreen shrubs.
3. Eat mince pie.
4. Bind conifer to frame with florist wire.
5. Eat mince pie.
6. Bind extra greenery with more wire.
7. Remember you forgot to add lights after conifer but before evergreens.
8. Curse.
9. Eat mince pie
10. Tuck lights in, wire through greenery, get halfway, go to bed.
11. Get up.
12. Remember wreath, curse.
13. Add ornaments, wire round previous wire, curse.
14. Eat mince pie.
15. Hunt for roll of ribbon.
16. Curse, curse, curse... find it!
17. Staple ribbon.
18. Remember how useless you are at tying fancy bows, curse.
19. Eat mince pie.
20. Fetch stepladder, hold wreath in front of door, reach over and round back of door, attach ribbon to last year's hook.
21. Celebrate last year's failure to remove hook with mince pie.
22. Add M. Pierrot. Bon Noel, M. Pierrot, ça va?"
23. Add batteries to lights, test. They work!
24. Reach for mince pie to celebrate. Curse, they've disappeared!

An interesting row of shops in Wallington

And who would have thought that the designer of New Dehli, the Cenotaph and many other important and public buildings across the world would also turn his hand to designing a good old British country pub?

This is the Drum Inn just outside Torquay which was designed and built by Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens, work beginning in 1936. It is now considered to be one of the most important public houses in the United Kingdom (at least according to its owners it is!)

There's an awful lot of cursing going on there Flopsy!

Ashby St Ledgers, a small village about 10 miles from here, is best known for being one of the places where the Gunpowder Plot was hatched. However, it also has a row of thatched cottages designed by Lutyens; they're opposite the pub... maybe he liked beer!

I left out the curses that were uttered when I stuck the wire into my fingers... not suitable for FT!

New Plymouth port area, Paritutu Rock, Sugarloaf Islands, Taranaki countryside & the Tasman Sea from the Lookout part way up the volcano, Mt Taranaki-Egmont. Unfortunately it ended up a dull and overcast day.....again.

This is an example of a Chaotic Pendulum, a scientific display within Saint Mary Redcliffe Church in the City of Bristol.

It was devised by Dr. Eric Albone MBE, based upon an original idea of Professor Sir Brian Pippard FRS. The water powered pendulum was constructed by Mr Robert Knight and is sponsored by Bristol Water plc.

It is an amazing thing to see and, although the pendulum movement can never be accurately predicted, if used to power a clock it is believed that it would possible of keeping incredibly accurate time.