A whole day out in High Leicestershire, rummaging about in wet muddy lanes. I've known about these red gates with the top rail painted white since I was I boy, when I cycled out into the countryside around Hungarton just to annoy my brother whilst he was hedge laying, or chucking manure about the fields with the aid of a little grey Ferguson. But today I noticed this curious fastening on the double gates, and on closer inspection realised that instead of it being some convoluted addition to secure the gates to each other, it was in fact a letter 'Q'. The red and white gates have always been associated with the Quenby Hall estate, pastoral acres surrounding what is one of the finest Jacobean houses in the county. What a brilliant but subtle way to announce ownership, rather than the usual mindless corporate image for some agro-industrial complex that often has the adjunct 'keep out' next to it. I fear yet another collection coming on- A Country ABC. Well, at least I've got one of the hardest, although I expect 'Z' is going to prove somewhat elusive.
Diplo's got the right idea. It has to be a letter on its own, like the Quenby gate. But it doesn't necessarily have to be an actual letter, but maybe something like a drainpipe falling down from guttering with a galvanised chicken feeder as the baseline. If you get my meaning.
Ahah. The Metaphor in Photography. Taught it for years. Try asking any ex De Montfort University Media student. Probably shoving leaflets through your letterbox this very moment. A great future blah blah blah.
Try asking any former Demont student about The Great Explorer's lectures and if the're females they get all giggly and start blushing. Glamour shots, anyone?
I am a designer, writer and photographer who spends all his time looking at England, particularly buildings and the countryside. But I have a leaning towards the slightly odd and neglected, the unsung elements that make England such an interesting place to live in. I am the author and photographer of over 25 books, in particular Unmitigated England (Adelphi 2006), More from Unmitigated England (Adelphi 2007), Cross Country (Wiley 2011), The Cigarette Papers (Frances Lincoln 2012), Preposterous Erections (Frances Lincoln 2012) and English Allsorts (Adelphi 2015)
"Open this book with reverence. It is a hymn to England". Clive Aslet
Preposterous Erections
"Enchanting...delightful". The Bookseller "Cheekily named" We Love This Book
The Cigarette Papers
"Unexpectedly pleasing and engrossing...beautifully illustrated". The Bookseller
Cross Country
"Until the happy advent of Peter Ashley's Cross Country it has, ironically, been foreigners who have been best at celebrating Englishness". Christina Hardyment / The Independent
More from Unmitigated England
"Give this book to someone you know- if not everyone you know." Simon Heffer, Country Life. "When it comes to spotting the small but telling details of Englishness, Peter Ashley has no equal." Michael Prodger, Sunday Telegraph
8 comments:
zoo - twycross.
Zennor, Cornwall. Do I get a royalty?
is there not a Z on the Zebra house at Burrough ? Any how estate gates:
Maroon & White on Sir Gerald Glover's patch at Draughton.
Grey & White at Burrough Court Estates ( all over Rutland ).
Dark Green & White at Cottersbrooke.
I'll mull that one over and see if any more come to mind.
Diplo's got the right idea. It has to be a letter on its own, like the Quenby gate. But it doesn't necessarily have to be an actual letter, but maybe something like a drainpipe falling down from guttering with a galvanised chicken feeder as the baseline. If you get my meaning.
Ahah. The Metaphor in Photography. Taught it for years. Try asking any ex De Montfort University Media student. Probably shoving leaflets through your letterbox this very moment. A great future blah blah blah.
Right. I'm paying attention now. Gates, ownership, symbol thereof. Nothing going on here. Must try harder.
Try asking any former Demont student about The Great Explorer's lectures and if the're females they get all giggly and start blushing. Glamour shots, anyone?
Too right Ron. Let's have glam shots of De Montfort students draped over farm gates.
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