Derelict Clapboard House & Warehouse, Hertford, North Carolina, USA

 

We have a guest photographer for this one! Please be aware that these still come under the copyright laws and are credited to D.G. Wright. If the surname sounds familiar that's because he's my son who lives in North Carolina with his lovely local born wife. :)

Anyway, he found this derelict house and nearby warehouse and took quite a few photos. I was very impressed with them and the fact that he'd included odd little details seen in and around the properties, and was really pleased that he gave me permission to add these to the blog. Any slight blurring is my own fault because I always reduce photos a lot smaller, which saves space and makes them much easier to manage.

A fabulous weather boarded house with porch and veranda, a top floor containing windows with shutters, some brick masonry and beautifully overgrown with various trees and plants. It's an absolute delight and somewhere I would love to live...after it's been renovated, of course. :)

There is a slight difference in meaning, architecturally, between British and American porches. The porch in both languages refers to an archway and/or covering above a doorway, whereas in America it has also come to refer - probably through usage - to the veranda reached by steps, and which stretches along the front of a house. In some cases it also continues around the sides and even wraps around the house to include the rear.

In this case the veranda seems to wrap around at least three sides. These first photos above are of the side along this street and below shows what I assume to be the side around the right corner, which is also boarded up and has a similar door near to the end.

One of the doors seen below...

...and part of the brickwork foundations, below.

The photos below are of the warehouse, showing a brick wall with boarded up areas and another door. I've had to edit this to include the warehouse, as I didn't realise there were two buildings on my first posting.

 

Another brick wall seen below with rendering that has started to fall off.

A funky sprinkler connection, which is interesting. This is something we don't have in Britain as our summers aren't as hot as parts of the US. We just let the lawns and grassy areas die down during the usual two or three weeks of summer, growing back once it's cooler and we have rain. If we do have a lengthy hot summer then watering bans come into effect to conserve the reservoirs.

I've also noticed that lawns are more prevalent in the US, whereas a lot of British gardens are mostly plants and trees with much smaller areas of lawn. There are also horrible large areas of gravel in some gardens, for which I blame erstwhile garden programmes on TV for their popularity and because they are thought to be less work - until the weeds grow through! ;)

Something built in cement and brick was situated along the side path, below.

And now for the best bit - this frontage of the house with the most gorgeous door, glazed in the top two thirds with square panes, a narrow strip of side windows and a transom window above. There are also shutters on the windows each side of the door. It looks somewhat different to the other side, with its lovely pale blue and white colours with the brick veranda columns painted over. The upper floor can't be seen here on this side.

 

Isn't it lovely! I would really love to live in a house like this. Such a shame it's in bad condition but hopefully someone will take it on and restore it to its former beauty.

And finally, my son has a YouTube channel with videos about numismatics and his coin collection, and it can be accessed here for anyone who's interested. It's a good one too but still fairly new so needs a bit of support. He also has his first Sci-fi book published and is on Amazon here. :) 

And that's about it. A rather nice surprise as I hadn't got this on my list. I was post editing photos from my dowloads ready to go into folders and it wasn't until I was organising these that it struck me how interesting these buildings are. I was really excited to write the article and finished it quite quickly.

Next up, I've got a few on the go but it will probably either be Stourbridge College of Art & Design or Marine Parade in Lyme Regis. I've been putting off the latter because it's getting really rather long. So I might slip the college one in first. Most, if not all of my old website articles have been rewritten and posted on the blog but there are still plenty of other things to do, including some newer stuff and more visits planned.

Hope you enjoyed this one. Cheers. :)

 

 

Odds & Ends: Part Four

 

For anyone who's new here, these Odds & Ends are odd photos that haven't merited a full article, either because I only have one or very few photos and/or lack of information.

This one was part of a project I started in an attempt to document old cider orchards in East Devon. I didn't get very far but these apple trees are in the rear grounds of a local pub in Seaton called The King's Arms.

I then had the idea of using these - as well as other orchards I have photos for - to write a general article about orchards. I still might do that, although one of the others is also a stand alone one due to the lovely houses surrounding it. I also might make this a separate article along with the King's Arms pub it belongs to. I need more photos!

Anyway, here are a few of these trees in springtime with their pretty apple blossom. Something to look forward to this time of the year as well as having a coffee sitting out there, which I haven't done for some years now.

The next one is a lovely Victorian Gothic style building in Axminster with the name Register Office above the door. For those who aren't familiar with them, a register or registry office is where births, marriages and deaths were officially registered. Now called Registration Offices they are often also venues for civil ceremonies, such as weddings.

No longer used for registration, this is a Grade II Listed building and was built circa 1850-60. It's a rather narrow building snuck inbetween a shop on the left and what looks to be a former factory on the right.

I took these in 2004 and saw it again in 2011, when it was a restaurant. I didn't have time to take more photos then and regret that now, but if I can get to Axminster again I'll definitely take more photos and also investigate the adjoining buildings for a proper write-up.

Still in Axminster, another intriguing little building is this one belonging to Axminster Railway Station. Further up the line from the station is this crossing point called Axminster Gates, where there was a signal box - which is no longer there - and this little building called a crossing box, where two crossing keepers worked the gates to allow road traffic through. No longer needed, as signals and gates are now remote controlled.

Another one to take more photos of and see if it still has a function with the railway or if it's something different now.

And now queue some fairground music for the next set...

Taken a very long time ago (1975/6), when I still lived in Worcestershire, I went to the Carnival Fair with some friends and also took the opportunity to try out some nightime photos. The slides are old and haven't stood the test of time very well but I was quite pleased with them at the time. A funny story below.

I belonged to a camera club at the time and put the best two into the monthly competition, and was given a scathing review! I wasn't all that surprised, being the only female member, very much ignored and obviously unwanted. It didn't help that I'd joined along with a male friend who also happened to be my landlord, so we had the same address but with different surnames, lol. After all, this was the 70s!

And again, these will come up in a future post, having scanned them with a slide and negative scanner I bought some years ago. They are mostly from my birth place in Worcestershire with a few at the beginning of my life here at Devon. Some are quite striking & colourful, so it would be nice to give them an airing.

Meanwhile, back in Devon...

This is a tiny path to a row of cottages behind some shops in Seaton. The first one, below, has the nameplate September Cottage on the wall, which I neglected to photograph, and which I'll be rectifying soon. I'll be doing some research as well as taking more photos and hopefully write about it at some point. :)

I've just realised that all of these could be tasters for possible future articles! And the same goes for the last one.

I took these two of a road seen from my balcony, which I call the Higgledy Piggledy Road because it just looks so quirkily interesting as it meanders up the hill. I recently started looking at these houses more closely as I walk past and they are a fabulous little enclave of Arts & Craft houses. So I'm definitely going to make a photo visit. Another project! ;) 

And I think that's about it for now. I still have two or three more, but the photos aren't all that good - or all that interesting, lol - so I'll leave it there for now until I've collected some more odds and ends.

That was a departure from the articles I said I'd do at the end of my previous post, so I've still got those to finish off. Plus the odd short one about Stourbridge Art College to slip in, which might actually be next. 

Cheers, everyone. :)

Otter Nurseries/Garden Centre, Ottery St Mary, Devon

 

 
This is somewhere I've visited several times and always found something different to take photos of. Although plant nurseries and garden centres can be fairly generic there are often features which are specifically local, or use local materials, and it's interesting to see how they fit into the landscape. One of the local features can be seen in the photo above - the ubiquitous Devon thatched roof on the archway near to the entrance, and - like the Sidmouth Garden Centre - it's set in the beautiful East Devon countryside.

Now called Otter Garden Centre, I've also added the original title of Otter Nurseries from my visits. It truly is a proper garden nursery too, as the majority of the trees, shrubs and plants are grown and nurtured here. It's also one of the largest garden centres, with a lot of interest and such a really nice place to walk around and enjoy.

With extensive grounds outside there is a huge variety of plants, including a great selection of cacti and succulents. Also a delightful area for a pond containing some lovely koi carp and water lilies, plus a stunning Japanese Pagoda style gazebo & ornaments.

 

Ottery St Mary is twinned with a town in Japan called Otterie and I did wonder at the time if this was set up in honour of the twinning. I did ask by email but didn't receive a reply, so I don't know, but it's a really nice thought if they did.

When I first added this to my former website it was the garden centre's 50th anniversary in 2014, having opened in 1964. A family owned concern, it was begun by Marilyn and Malcolm White as a market garden, growing vegetables and plants for local businesses in the market trade. It now encompasses seven garden centres, five in Devon and two in Somerset.

It's off the bus route for me and I've always wanted to go there so when a friend suggested going during the summer of 2013 I jumped at the chance. It's a fabulous place to have a wander around, buy plants, take photos, have coffee or lunch, and we went back there several times...sometimes with other 'ladies who lunch'!

Part of the displays was this trolley full of flowers, below. And below that is my own trolley with plants I was buying that day. Two pots of Felicia with their lovely mauve-blue flowers, a tray of Runner Beans, pots of Sweet Peas and orange Pansies.

At the end of the long indoor hall containing the small plants on tables and stacks is this greenhouse area.

Open at the sides this section includes ferns, palms, shrubs and small trees, such as the fabulous magnolia and lovely pale roses seen below.

Outside again where trees for sale are situated plus other outdoor produce and garden ornaments.

The one above is a stack amongst several containing plants ready to be moved indoors. This is my favourite photo of all the visits. There's always one!

Now onto the pots and garden statues.

Bearing in mind that the displays were often changing according to the seasons and new fashions in produce, and that these were taken some eleven to nine years ago, then it may look quite different now.

There be dragons! Plus funky goblins, fairies and other mythical beasts...

 

...along with graceful classical statues.

Including some cheeky mushrooms!

And some fab Buddhas and pagodas, seen below.

Then there were pots...lots of pots!

Other things too, such as hanging ornaments for the garden. I bought a fabulously mediaeval type of beastie on one of my visits, seen here...

...but other than that I mostly bought plants and packets of seeds - apart from a couple of things from a huge section selling all sorts of non-gardening related products. It led off from the cafeteria and, being a one way system, there was no choice but to go through the bait trap. It annoyed me because there were so many twists and turns, and dead ends with false Exit signs, so I always got lost. I really panicked the last time I went and my friend called for assistance to let me out through the emergency door, lol.

One of the last visits was a lovely soft day.

Attractive sculptures and a lovely acer tree showing off it's colour against the pale day.

We also came across these gorgeous fake ruins for the garden, which I really love. Unfortunately, they won't fit on my balcony! ;)

 

 

And I think that's just about it! Well, that was a lot quicker than I expected. Mind, half of it was already done and some of the rest was laid out with photo numbers and some text already in place. It was just a case of putting the rest in and tidying up. It still took a while but I'm really chuffed to get two done in one day. Making up for lost time!

Next is either Marine Parade in Lyme Regis or Fore Street in Beer. I've also got a smallish one that has no exterior photos but just some gorgeous stained glass inside, which I'll slot in at some point. :)