St. Mary’s Church in Beddgelert, Gwynnedd, Wales – please click on any image for a better view. This site near where the Rivers Glaslyn and Colwyn meet has been a place of Christian worship since the 7th century. By 1230 the monastic community was recognized as an Augustinian Priory with a sizable church and a number of other buildings that have since disappeared. St. … Continue reading Church/St. Mary’s, Beddgelert
Please click on image for a better view. This door provides entrance to what was the Postkantoor (post office) at 42 Coolsingel in Rotterdam, Holland. It leads to an entrance hall with a ceiling rising to 22.5 metres (74 feet). The post office was built between 1915 and 1923. They didn’t want it to overshadow the Town Hall nearby and so situated it further from the … Continue reading Door/17 – Postkantoor
Ailsa’s Travel Theme is History – please click images for a better view. The Chateau Laurier, a 660,000 square foot hotel in downtown Ottawa, was built for $2 million, between 1909 and 1912. When the hotel first opened, private rooms cost $2 a night; and only 155 of the 350 bedrooms featured a private bath. The great Memorial Anchor at the end of Nyhavn in Copenhagen is a … Continue reading Historical Tidbits
The Canadian Museum of History, formerly the Canadian Museum of Civilization, is in Gatineau, Quebec, across the Ottawa River from Parliament Hill. We visited last spring, only taking in a couple of the exhibits. Please click on images for a better view. From the Horse Power Exhibition, this Cabriolet Sleigh represented Canada at the first world’s fair at London’s Crystal Palace Exibition in 1851. It … Continue reading Museum of History
Please click on images for a better view. In the Scottish countryside north of Thornhill in Dumfries and Galloway one finds Drumlanrig Castle, the jewel of the 90,000 acre Queensberry Estate of the Buccleuch family who trace their family history back to 12th century Scotland. Sir James Douglas of Drumlanrig, King Robert the Bruce’s right hand man, was the founder of what later became the Queensberry … Continue reading Castle/Drumlanrig
Please click on images for a better view. Ottawa’s Notre Dame Basilica, built in the mid-19th century, underwent a number of design changes before it was completed. Constructed over a period of five years, it was blessed August 15, 1846. However, the steeples, of which there are two, were not completed until 1858; the apse in 1862, and the primary work on the interior was … Continue reading Church/Notre Dame, Ottawa
Please click on any image for a larger view Its history goes back to the very beginnings of Catholic schools in English Canada. Ontario’s Catholic school system began in the Bishop’s House in the village of St Raphaels. Built as a presbytery in 1808 by Rev. Alexander Macdonell who was the first bishop of Upper Canada (now Ontario). It is three-storeys, about 2, 155 square metres when … Continue reading The Bishop’s House
Please click on any image for a larger view On the road south of Drumkeeran in County Leitrim, Ireland there is a rest and picnic area overlooking the village. This is where I found this statue, The Rookery, by Irish sculptor, Don Cronin, one of the best known Irish sculptors. Drumkeeran is a small village of 298 people where the R200 and R280 meet near Lough Allen. … Continue reading Statues & Sculptures/4
Please click on any image for a larger view Classiebawn Castle, designed by J Rawson Carrol of Dublin and dating to the mid 19thC, was once a favoured residence of Lord Louis Mountbatten. It’s rather hard to miss, sitting as it does on a hill overlooking the village of Mullaghmore in Ireland. It is built from a yellow-brown sandstone brought by sea from Donegal across the bay. The … Continue reading Castle/Classiebawn
Edmund Keating Hyland – Cahir, County Tipperary, Ireland This statue by Mona Croome Carroll, 1999 sits in The Square in Cahir. Hyland, 1780-1845, blind from the age of 15 due to small pox, became a composer and one of Ireland’s most gifted uilleann pipers. Uilleann pipes are the national bagpipe of Ireland from the Irish term pfobai uilleann – “pipes of the elbow”, so known from their method … Continue reading Statues & Sculptures/3
Lotsenehrung – Pilot Ceremony This statue by Reinhard Dietrich is a tribute to the pilots and the saviours of those in distress at sea. It is a 1976 sculpture located near the lighthouse in Warnemunde, Germany. There are a number of other sculptures by Dietrich in and around the Warnemunde/Rostock area but this is the only one I captured with my camera. Dietrich has been recognized … Continue reading Statues & Sculptures/2
It is believed that church services have been conducted in this little church since the early 1800’s although church records only date back to 1863 – that’s considered quite old in Canada; we have such a baby history. Please click on the images for a larger view Attendance at St. Alexander’s Catholic Church has declined over the years to the point it has been in … Continue reading Door 12 – Lochiel Church
Lismore Castle sits on the banks of the Blackwater River in Waterford, Ireland. Rich in history, it was built in 1185 and was originally an abbey where Henry II was known to have stayed. Later in the 16th C it became the property of Sir Walter Raleigh, who sold the property when he was imprisoned for High Treason to Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork. In the 17th C it was … Continue reading Castle/Lismore
Following the Flight of the Earls in 1607, the crown seized Irish land in Ulster and granted it out to English and Scottish Planters on condition that they build settlements and provide strongholds loyal to the king. Sir John Hume of Berwickshire was granted 2000 acres at Tully. It was here, in County Fermanagh on the southern shore of Lower Lough Erne that he built Caisleán … Continue reading Castle/Tully
The Commando Memorial stands In the highlands of Scotland, within sight of Ben Nevis. This was their training ground. The area is dedicated to the memory of all Commandos who gave their lives in the service of their country during the 1939-1945 War. Comrades who have died since the cessation of hostilities are also remembered here. The memorial was unveiled by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth … Continue reading Dedicated to the Memory
Take a centuries old castle and perch it on the rugged Antrim coast of Northern Ireland, add some dramatic skies and you have my kind of scenery. The first written record of Dunluce Castle was in 1513 when it was in the hands of the MacQuillan Family. It sits in a position of power high on the basalt cliffs between Portballintrae and Portrush. Later it became … Continue reading Castle/Dunluce
Said to the the oldest general store still operating in Canada. Built in 1840, the store still has the wood floors and original wooden counters plus antiques used by the original owners. I didn’t take any shots inside so I have to go back and do so. It will make a nice Sunday drive. Paula’s Thursday Special: Traces of the past 03 Continue reading Door/8 – The General Store
Collecting a vial of sand from Juno Beach. Juno Beach was one of five beaches of the Allied invasion of occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944. The men were met with heavy resistance and several assault companies, notably the Royal Winnipeg Rifles and The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada, took heavy casualties in the opening minutes of the first wave. But … Continue reading The Sand Beneath Their Feet
This door leads to the interior of one of the oldest brick Gothic buildings in the Old Town in Lubeck, Germany. The roof of the Kranenkonvent has been dated to the year 1283. Originally a convent, it was modified several times. After the Reformation and until 1846 it was an alms house; then an infirmary. By 1920 it was a residence for the elderly and since 1966 it … Continue reading Door/4 – 22 Kleine Burgstrasse
The Martintown Grist Mill in Glengarry, Ontario was built in 1846. Built of local field stone and operated by water power, it sits on the bank of the Raisin River. It served the village and region as a custom flour milling operation for a 101 years, commercial use ending in 1947. Typical orders were for a bushel at a time of wheat, corn, buckwheat, oats and … Continue reading The Old Grist Mill
Beyond the Brush 