Sidmouth Methodist Church, Sidmouth, Devon

I took these photos some years ago when I was waiting for films to be processed (a means of satisfying my photo addiction whilst passing the time) but the building didn't really grab me at the time.  However, the intervening time allowed me to view it more objectively, when I realised how interesting it is to see its evolution whilst retaining aspects of its past origins.

The church itself was built in 1885. That is the only snippet of information that I've managed to find so far, and I believe that it was built specifically for the Methodists. There has been some modification since then, both inside and out. It does have a rather pleasing interior, especially due to the use of blue (which happens to be my all-time favourite colour) and pale wooden pews. The sanctuary has a decidedly modern look to it with its 1970's style plain brick walls, large side window and contemporary stained glass window.   

Elsewhere in the body of the church the original windows have been retained; mostly plain glass but those at the east end have some delightful Art Nouveau motifs as part of the pattern. Very unusually, the church is aligned with the altar to the west instead of the east, and I'm wondering if it was originally the normal way around and subsequently changed during modernisation. Which would account for the unusual sanctuary as well as the decorative windows at the east end.

The organ, below, appears to have been built into the side of the semi-hexagonal chancel, which is another later addition forming an apse. Love the blue of the pipes! :)

A view of the other side of the semi-hexagonal partition, with a rather pretty and delicate-looking tiny glass window.

And below is the top part of one of the plain windows with its lovely little quatrefoil above the Y-tracery.

Below is the east frontage on the High Street. Unfortunately I don't have a photo of it, but to the right there is a modern, glass entrance hall. The windows at the base of the building belong to a lower floor, with the main church body on the level above that.

And another look at that lovely wrought iron railing outside.

A small lane shows the building on the south side, and at the end there appears to be an attached building with a rather odd looking tower. I'm not sure if it belongs to the church but I think it might be the church hall.

A bit of a short one this, due to lack of information plus a scarcity of photos as it wasn't easy to photograph, but hopefully it's something of interest. :)

Sidmouth Recycling Centre, Sidmouth, Devon

I have a confession to make. Ever since we've had motorways in Britain I've always had a guilty love affair with their concrete sparseness forging through the countryside, and especially the cuttings between high banks of nature-reclaimed earth populated with gorse bushes, tall foxgloves and other wild flowers. 

It's a guilty confession because I hate seeing the rape of the countryside for pollution pumping vehicles, and I rail against the extinction of Sites of Special Scientific Interest and the annihilation of ancient woodlands just to clog up Britain with more roads that don't actually solve traffic problems. But there is something special about a quiet motorway with high slim bridges spanning the road between clumps of trees so that they appear to hang in the sky without support, like a Japanese painting.

 

This - a recycling centre set in the countryside - has that same unearthly atmosphere, which is why I find it completely magical.

Built in tiers, the split-level design has a traffic loop system with stopping places for specific items to be recycled; at the lowest point there are huge metal containers in concrete bays. Yet even at this lowest point the ground drops sharply away towards the tops of trees, giving the feeling of being on the edge of the world.

The trees look as if they've been there for a long time, but interestingly were planted shortly after the site was built in 2013. It was landscaped and planted with approximately 5,000 trees & shrubs in order to mitigate any adverse visual impact within a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Named as one of the top four recycling facilities in the country, the site was a runner-up in the Civic Amenity Site of the Year category in 2014. The criteria to be considered for the Excellence in Recycling and Waste Management Award include increased levels of recycling, enhanced service, overall design, solar heated water and the use of rain water for the toilet facilities.

The concrete bays on the lowest tier hold these large containers where metal dinosaurs come up to feed! ;)

  

As this is coastal Devon, I often discover the odd boat on my explores and visits...or in this case a Kayak! And a bonus fishing net hung on the fence. This is the outdoor part of the recycling shop where useful things are saved to be rummaged over and bought.

 

During my research I found an article in the Daily Mail, dated 24th July 2015, which told the story of how film buffs Mike Grant, and his daughter Rachael, found an incredible haul of near-extinct silent film reels at the recycling centre. Containing feature films from the Golden Age of cinema dating from 1909, Mike said that he will be donating them to the British Film Institute.

Below, I just managed to capture one of my friends, Marion, striking a pose when she saw I was taking photos. That'll teach her, lol. ;)

And finally, the exit sign thanking us for recycling. Underneath that is the legend 'Don't let Devon go to waste'. Ha! :)

 

 

 

 

St Augustine's Roman Catholic Church, Seaton, Devon

A very simple, unpretentious and yet very pretty church inside, I was reminded about it through a chance conversation with a friend back in June 2011 and decided to take a look shortly afterwards. 

 

 

Built in 1937, the exterior is of a fairly plain Gothic style; both the church and presbytery next door faced with red brick contrasting with the creamy coloured Bath Stone window surrounds, porch surrounds and coping.

It's the interior that looks the loveliest, with its parquet flooring and fabulous open timber roof rafters. The mainly clear windows along the nave, together with plain white walls, really set off the colours of the three stained glass windows and the warm, light wood of the floor and pews. The dark rafters contrast nicely too.

I was very surprised at how modern it is, especially the two stained glass windows at either end. Below left is the window above the altar and right is looking down towards the entrance. I want to say East and West windows but, although most churches are aligned to east & west where feasible, this one appears to have the altar at the north west with the entrance at the south east. 

When I was a teenager I once accompanied a Polish friend to sunday mass in her Catholic church, which was very similar to an Anglican high church. That was in the days of latin services and incense, which I thought was wonderful, and was the only previous reference I had.

The altar end with its small sanctuary, below.

Although I don't know much about catholicism I have heard that these depictions on the wall are the stations of the cross.

Going back down the aisle towards the entrance with another look at that fabulous ceiling, where the font and the Lady altar are situated.

A rather lovely statue of Mary holding the Christ Child surrounded by plants, candles and two delightful jugs full of Hedge Parsley. And in front of that is a stand for votive candles.
 

The presbytery adjoining the church, where the parish priest lives.

There was also a community of nuns in Seaton at one time. I remember seeing them around the town occasionally, although I don't know if they were Catholic or Anglican. They lived in a lovely building just along the top of Fore Street, which is the road almost opposite to the church. Being of the Order of St Francis of Assissi they were called St Clare's nuns, also known as the Poor Clares, and the building - originally a private residence - was subsequently named St Clare's.

St Clare's just before it was demolished, above and below. It was later converted into an adult education college in the late 1970s, when the nuns moved away, and they'll be more about it in a future article about buildings that used to be schools and colleges.

Hopefully, it won't be too long before I can add some more posts. So much catching up to do after such a bad start to the year, I'll have to try and make up for it somehow, lol. Cheers. :)

Change of Plan

 

BLOG NEWS

Unfortunately, I've had to change my upcoming posts from the ones I'd intended and said I'd do on the previous post. This is because whilst trying to get the Coastal Erosion one completed & published over the last few weeks it's become very long and unwieldy with a lot more sections, photos and information...and is such a tangled mess. I've had such a difficult time with reorganising it that I've struck a block. So, I've had to shelve it for now and hopefully get my mojo working again by doing some other articles instead. So big apologies for leaving it so long since I posted anything. Ce la vie! ;)

And more news...

 

WEBSITE NEWS

I'm really sorry about this but I've had to delete my website sooner rather than later, and I didn't have time to notify anyone who needed to know beforehand. 

The changeover to the new website builder was completed on 12th March. I eagerly went in to see how my website looked and it was absolutely blinking awful! It was so enlarged that it was very difficult to read comfortably, the photos were huge and looked dreadful as they were originally resized specifically for the old site, some sections were missing and the builder itself looked even worse to use than the last 'orrible one. Doh!

So, I instantly deleted it. And, I wouldn't ordinarily do this, but after twelve years of paying for my website and putting up with the constant problems - including not being able to use it for the last four of those - I'm going to have to name and shame the host.  Originally called Freewebs, and latterly just Webs, it's now owned by Vistaprint. Others may find no problem with the new host and builder, as making a website from scratch may not be as problematic. But, I'm just saying be careful and check out all the reviews first if you're looking for a website host.

 

Anyway, I'll make sure to rewrite the remainder of my website articles for the blog, which I'd fortunately copied to documents, along with the other new stuff waiting in the wings. Onward and upward!

Cheers, Eileen. :)  

Oh, and happy Cherry Blossom Time, by the way!