Certainly not a blog ... 2010

December 2010.

Last September, I was in London for the day waiting for a late plane, and thought: I need to visit the Tower and get it over with. So I went. I think the cannon was the first thing that really caught my attention. Or rather, the 'lion' on the cannon.

Over with?

It wasn't my first attempt to see it. My Sussex primary school had a school excursion to the Tower in 1971. At the time, it seemed to me to be the most incredible place one could ever want to visit - battlements, torture stuff, towers, armour - I was so excited that I made myself sick, and couldn't go. A year or two later we moved to Australia, and it seemed I would never see the Tower. When I next found myself in London with time on my hands (just 33 years later), I headed straight there; stood on the bridge and gazed in; looked at the queue snaking across the forecourt; and thought: whatever, one more crowded expensive monument, I've seen enough castles ... and walked away.

But for no very good reason it has continued to bug me. In September there I was, I had the time; so I went in, ready to try and capture that experience. And there was a lot to like. Battlements, torture stuff, towers, armour? Yes, but more interestingly (I thought), things such as a small piece of stained glass tucked into an obscure window.

Endearingly, parts of the Tower are still a home; but it was amazingly busy.

Autumn was coming.

Best of all was Walter Raleigh's room (at least, I think it was Raleigh's). Not only was it nicely furnished ...

... but the door had a lot of latches (need to keep those prisoners secure) and, for some reason, a letter box and a doorbell.

There is a lot of armour, etc., if you like that kind of thing. You can see it on the Tower website.

Also on that trip, I found myself interested in doors. Mostly old, mostly bent. The first two are in Cambridgeshire, the others in Wales.

November 2010.

Things look different by streetlight ...

... or through dusty windows.

If you go down to the woods today ...

Mind the step.

October 2010.

Having an enquiries service had seemed like a good idea, but for some reason it just wasn't working.

The answers are: yes, photographs. No, not photoshopped.

The business closed down a few weeks ago. Then there was an after-party.

Spring. Blue skies. Faeries.

September 2010.

In the north at the end of summer, the heather is in flower and the sheep have their fleece back.

They're all individuals.

An old fence post ... with some kind of ecosystem on top.

All it is lacking is a mushroom or two.

Found a placemat in a local (Australian) junkshop. And a match. Evidently I was there at the wrong time of day.

If your good at catching moles, I guess you should let people know.

A diary of a day in Wales, visiting what was Merionithshire.

August 2010.

The neighbours were throwing an open house.

Too open, perhaps.

Before then.

It's the Great Ocean Road. But which ocean?

Melbourne waves.

If you're travelling the north country ...

There's no chronology here - other than the reverse chronology in which these photos were added to the page.

This website was created by Justin Zobel. All views expressed herein are personal and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department or the University.