Showing posts with label Places. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Places. Show all posts
Wednesday, 1 May 2013
Tuesday, 23 April 2013
Monday, 22 April 2013
Sunday, 21 April 2013
Monday, 27 July 2009
A Week In North Cornwall
I should have posted this a week ago, sorry folks a very busy Artcafé intervened.
The tartist, theartistandtartist jnr. and myself (theartist) just got back yesterday from a long overdue week away in Cornwall, Trebarwith Strand, near Tintagel to be precise.
View across Trebarwith Strand
Now, to cut a long story short the tartist and I used to live in Trebarwith Strand, in fact it is where we first met, in the Trebarwith Strand Hotel, which the tartist owned and ran with her sister from 1978 to 1991 along with the (way ahead of it's time restaurant) 'The House On The Strand'. Now to be fair the weather was very, well, 'Cornish' and we'd both forgotten how the rain can sometimes fall horizontally for days on end up the valley. For a couple of nights the wind and rain rattled the windows, and we were reminded of the terrible flooding that Boscastle, just up the road from us, received in 2004.
Artist Jnr. on the beach
Our weather related fears didn't last though as we got a couple of days of wonderful sunshine where we enjoyed the spectacular beauty of Trebarwith beach without our raincoats and umbrellas. A feature of our visits to this part of Cornwall is a meal at Rick Stein's Seafood Restaurant in Padstow which the tartist and I along with four of our very good friends vowed to attend once a year come rain or shine several years ago. This year I'm pleased to say we kept the tradition alive, me with an exquisite piece of Turbot, baked and served with Hollandaise and the tartist with chargrilled Dover Sole with Sea Salt and Lime preceeded by a Selection of Oysters on Ice & Ragout of Turbot and Scallop with Vouvray & Basil.
The Tartist at The Seafood Restaurant
The following day saw us take a trip just up the coast to the small but dramatic beach of Crackinton Haven in many respects similar to Trebarwith with imposing cliffs on either side, good surfing and a great little café where we enjoyed real homemade soup and pretty decent coffee. Crackington also has the most fabulous rounded smooth stones on its foreshore which kept us amused for ages, sifting sorting and admiring the veins of pink and white quartz.
Crackington Haven
Although the rain was a bit unwelcome I managed to get in a bit of sketching with judiciously timed sorties to the beach and the aid of a golfing brolly, with which I caught a gust of wind and turned inside out!
Another feature of our visit (as is often the case) was a trek across the breathtaking cliffs to Tintagel to pick up pasties for lunch from Pengenna. I was accompanied on this occasion by artist junior and we stopped frequently on route to take in the spectacular views across the bay, returning with our lunch after ice creams and a stroll around the Norman church of St. Materiana perched high on Glebe Cliff overlooking the castle.
Artist Jnr. on the seat above Penhallic Point
The view out to Gull Rock
No post about a visit to Trebarwith could be complete without a mention of our good mates 'Grip' and Kirsty who run
The Strand Café who kept our chins up when the rain came with hot chocolates, cappuccinos and some of the best chocolate & walnut brownies I've ever tasted. Sadly this will be their last season in the valley so if you're down that way do stop by and say 'hi' from the artist and tartist, and sample some of their wares, you won't be dissapointed.
Grip & Kirsty
So here we are back on flat old Mersea Island and yes, it's still raining, but I've a feeling we'll return to North Cornwall soon, hopefully before the year is out.
The tartist, theartistandtartist jnr. and myself (theartist) just got back yesterday from a long overdue week away in Cornwall, Trebarwith Strand, near Tintagel to be precise.
View across Trebarwith Strand
Now, to cut a long story short the tartist and I used to live in Trebarwith Strand, in fact it is where we first met, in the Trebarwith Strand Hotel, which the tartist owned and ran with her sister from 1978 to 1991 along with the (way ahead of it's time restaurant) 'The House On The Strand'. Now to be fair the weather was very, well, 'Cornish' and we'd both forgotten how the rain can sometimes fall horizontally for days on end up the valley. For a couple of nights the wind and rain rattled the windows, and we were reminded of the terrible flooding that Boscastle, just up the road from us, received in 2004.
Artist Jnr. on the beach
Our weather related fears didn't last though as we got a couple of days of wonderful sunshine where we enjoyed the spectacular beauty of Trebarwith beach without our raincoats and umbrellas. A feature of our visits to this part of Cornwall is a meal at Rick Stein's Seafood Restaurant in Padstow which the tartist and I along with four of our very good friends vowed to attend once a year come rain or shine several years ago. This year I'm pleased to say we kept the tradition alive, me with an exquisite piece of Turbot, baked and served with Hollandaise and the tartist with chargrilled Dover Sole with Sea Salt and Lime preceeded by a Selection of Oysters on Ice & Ragout of Turbot and Scallop with Vouvray & Basil.
The Tartist at The Seafood Restaurant
The following day saw us take a trip just up the coast to the small but dramatic beach of Crackinton Haven in many respects similar to Trebarwith with imposing cliffs on either side, good surfing and a great little café where we enjoyed real homemade soup and pretty decent coffee. Crackington also has the most fabulous rounded smooth stones on its foreshore which kept us amused for ages, sifting sorting and admiring the veins of pink and white quartz.
Crackington Haven
Although the rain was a bit unwelcome I managed to get in a bit of sketching with judiciously timed sorties to the beach and the aid of a golfing brolly, with which I caught a gust of wind and turned inside out!
Another feature of our visit (as is often the case) was a trek across the breathtaking cliffs to Tintagel to pick up pasties for lunch from Pengenna. I was accompanied on this occasion by artist junior and we stopped frequently on route to take in the spectacular views across the bay, returning with our lunch after ice creams and a stroll around the Norman church of St. Materiana perched high on Glebe Cliff overlooking the castle.
Artist Jnr. on the seat above Penhallic Point
The view out to Gull Rock
No post about a visit to Trebarwith could be complete without a mention of our good mates 'Grip' and Kirsty who run
The Strand Café who kept our chins up when the rain came with hot chocolates, cappuccinos and some of the best chocolate & walnut brownies I've ever tasted. Sadly this will be their last season in the valley so if you're down that way do stop by and say 'hi' from the artist and tartist, and sample some of their wares, you won't be dissapointed.
Grip & Kirsty
So here we are back on flat old Mersea Island and yes, it's still raining, but I've a feeling we'll return to North Cornwall soon, hopefully before the year is out.
Monday, 6 July 2009
Thursday, 19 February 2009
Another Trip To Orford
The tartist and I have just got home from another of our battery re-charge visits for a few days to The Crown & Castle in Orford, Suffolk. As you may recall from a post last year on this blog the C&C is run by Ruth and David Watson, Ruth you may know from Channel Five's 'The Hotel Inspector and more recently Channel Four's 'Country House Rescue' and they seem to instinctively know how things ought to be done, both on the accommodation side and the restaurant. Unfortunately for this visit the weather stayed extremely grey and drab so I can't share too many great pictures with you.
On Monday we arrived about 3pm and read in companionable silence in our room as is often our wont, until dinner at 8pm. The artist with 'Mother Tongue' by Bill Bryson, the tartist with Kate Colquhoun's 'Taste', the story of Britain through its cooking, which is a foodie 'must read' in our opinion. After a typically good dinner in the 'Trinity' restaurant and a better than average bottle of sauvignon we turned in.
In the morning I took a walk through the village down to the quay where there is a good view across to Orford Ness and although the weather has been milder in recent days the wind was still biting and I had trouble drawing for more than ten minutes before moving on.
So, off up the gentle hill past rows of beautiful cottages many of which must be hundreds of years old, back towards the large church of St. Bartholomew, like many East Anglian churches it seems nowadays out of all proportion to the village where it stands, but I guess years ago Orford really was a very important port on the East Coast. Until this visit I'd never ventured inside but this time I'm pleased I did.
I was really taken with the beautiful large font with stone carvings all around
particularly this one of god the father shown as an old man holding god the son on a cross between his knees
and inlaid lettering around the base.
On Tuesday we took ourselves off to Snape Maltings, just a few miles up the road from Orford and a lovely drive through Tunstall Forest. Snape Maltings is always worth a visit as it has lots of departments that are right up our street, from a good gallery exhibiting some interesting work by mostly East Anglian Artists including the wonderful Maggi Hambling to a really well stocked kitchenware department...
where the tartist is in her element.
There are also a couple of fairly good cafés too for when the urge for a pot of tea and a lemon tart gets too much, shame about the lack of cake forks though.
On wednesday we decided to take a drive out to the old market town of Woodbridge by the river Deben and what a nice little town it happens to be, with lots of independently owned interesting shops to browse, and a nice salty-marshy thing going on down by the river. No sooner had we parked the car when we bumped into Patrick
who owns a lovely delicatessen called The Woodbridge Fine Food Company
selling really excellent local produce; vegetables, pies, fish, meat, dairy, the lot (and we have to thank Patrick here for the sample sausages). Parick wasn't backward in coming forward and said 'if you like what you see here you should try our café down by the river'. So, with Patrick's directions we headed down to the Waterfront Café where we enjoyed a spot of lunch, homemede chicken and ham soup and potted shrimps with organic brown toast and butter, yum!
I can't leave Woodbridge figuratively speaking without telling you about another gem in the High Street we discovered called Browsers Bookshop and Café. They are just what most of our provincial towns need right now and describe themselves as 'a one-off independent bookshop and the antidote to bland high-street chains'. They were well stocked with a wide range of books particularly local titles and lots of 'arty' cards with the added bonus of a good little café. I think if we didn't have our art cafés the tartist and I would be tempted start something similar where we live.
So, quite content and with tired feet we headed back to the C&C for our last night, I think we could actually have done with a couple more nights away. Once again we've found more interesting places to visit just a short drive up the coast in Suffolk.
On Monday we arrived about 3pm and read in companionable silence in our room as is often our wont, until dinner at 8pm. The artist with 'Mother Tongue' by Bill Bryson, the tartist with Kate Colquhoun's 'Taste', the story of Britain through its cooking, which is a foodie 'must read' in our opinion. After a typically good dinner in the 'Trinity' restaurant and a better than average bottle of sauvignon we turned in.
In the morning I took a walk through the village down to the quay where there is a good view across to Orford Ness and although the weather has been milder in recent days the wind was still biting and I had trouble drawing for more than ten minutes before moving on.
So, off up the gentle hill past rows of beautiful cottages many of which must be hundreds of years old, back towards the large church of St. Bartholomew, like many East Anglian churches it seems nowadays out of all proportion to the village where it stands, but I guess years ago Orford really was a very important port on the East Coast. Until this visit I'd never ventured inside but this time I'm pleased I did.
I was really taken with the beautiful large font with stone carvings all around
particularly this one of god the father shown as an old man holding god the son on a cross between his knees
and inlaid lettering around the base.
On Tuesday we took ourselves off to Snape Maltings, just a few miles up the road from Orford and a lovely drive through Tunstall Forest. Snape Maltings is always worth a visit as it has lots of departments that are right up our street, from a good gallery exhibiting some interesting work by mostly East Anglian Artists including the wonderful Maggi Hambling to a really well stocked kitchenware department...
where the tartist is in her element.
There are also a couple of fairly good cafés too for when the urge for a pot of tea and a lemon tart gets too much, shame about the lack of cake forks though.
On wednesday we decided to take a drive out to the old market town of Woodbridge by the river Deben and what a nice little town it happens to be, with lots of independently owned interesting shops to browse, and a nice salty-marshy thing going on down by the river. No sooner had we parked the car when we bumped into Patrick
who owns a lovely delicatessen called The Woodbridge Fine Food Company
selling really excellent local produce; vegetables, pies, fish, meat, dairy, the lot (and we have to thank Patrick here for the sample sausages). Parick wasn't backward in coming forward and said 'if you like what you see here you should try our café down by the river'. So, with Patrick's directions we headed down to the Waterfront Café where we enjoyed a spot of lunch, homemede chicken and ham soup and potted shrimps with organic brown toast and butter, yum!
I can't leave Woodbridge figuratively speaking without telling you about another gem in the High Street we discovered called Browsers Bookshop and Café. They are just what most of our provincial towns need right now and describe themselves as 'a one-off independent bookshop and the antidote to bland high-street chains'. They were well stocked with a wide range of books particularly local titles and lots of 'arty' cards with the added bonus of a good little café. I think if we didn't have our art cafés the tartist and I would be tempted start something similar where we live.
So, quite content and with tired feet we headed back to the C&C for our last night, I think we could actually have done with a couple more nights away. Once again we've found more interesting places to visit just a short drive up the coast in Suffolk.
Friday, 10 October 2008
A Souvenir From Berlin
My very own Trabant!
The youngest member of the artistandtartist clan returned from his A level history trip to Berlin last night and presented me with this rather funky model 'trabi'. I had completely forgotten a few months back I had waxed lyrical about one day having one of these most un-cool, cool cars from the former DDR. I'm now the proud owner of my very own Trabant! We scoffed some rather excellent chocolate whilst watching his slide show of all the sights...The Reichstag...Checkpoint Charlie...Brandenburg Gate...T.V Tower...The Wall...etc. Anyhow he had an interesting trip and we are pleased to have him home.
Sunday, 3 August 2008
A Couple of Days in Orford
Having just returned from a couple of day's away just up the coast in Orford, a very welcome birthday treat to me from the tartist I felt another post to be well overdue. We stayed at the Crown & Castle, our third visit now. It's owned and run by Ruth & David Watson (she of t.v.'s 'The Hotel Inspector') and as one might expect the quality of food and accomodation is very good.
Their restaurant is called 'The Trinity' and often features dishes from one of Ruth's three recipe books 'Fat Girl Slim', 'The Really Helpful Cookbook' and 'Something for the Weekend' all of which we have at home and use from time to time. Apart from containing interesting recipes they are also very nicely designed. The tartist made me probably the finest Lemon Meringue Pie I've ever tasted the other day from one of Ruth's recipes!
On our second day we took a stroll across the square to The Kings Head (also run by the Watsons we understand) and took our lunch there. Maggie having a better than average traditional ploughman's and I had what I can only describe as a fantastic slab of 'Gloucester Old Spot' pork pie with Courgette Pickles.
The Riverside Tearoom
The 'Tartist' in The Riveerside Tearoom
Orford Castle
Orford really is a very unspoilt piece of East Anglia with abundant good walks, an imposing and well preserved castle, a large forest nearby at Rendlesham and not very far up the road is Snape Maltings with it's shops, galleries, cafe and concert hall. We went to Snape on our first day and were rather taken with the work of artist Melanie Wickham who makes these chunky linocuts of animals. We had to have one...
'Beaks of the World' by Melanie Wickham
I'm aware now that this all sounds a bit like a tourist office press release, apologies for that, suffice to say we had another lovely couple of days here in this rather quaint Suffolk village and probably will again soon, when time will allow.
Tuesday, 27 May 2008
A Few Days In North Norfolk
Hilke MacIntyre ~ Linocut
The Dunes ~ Burnham Overy Staithe
A few days away in Norfolk to recharge our collective battery really seems to have done the trick, I found myself wide awake and in my studio at 6am today. While we were away we had a good look around plenty of galleries, this part of Norfolk seems to be stiff with 'em, some quite 'pricey' work too. So, as well as sampling lots of cafes, deli's, etc. we also returned with some inspiration for the spirit. A couple worthy of a mention, I think, are 'Bircham Gallery' in Holt where I was particularly taken with the current exhibition of work by Hilke MacIntyre (gorgeous and rather colourful ethnic influenced paintings, linocuts and ceramics), 'Big Blue Sky' in Wells-Next-The-Sea, where I was really surprised to find a large collection of old wooden letterpress headline type for sale. Maggie and I also got some exercise and some lungs full of fresh sea air at Burnham Overy Staithe where the seawall and footpath wind their way towards beautiful white sand dunes for miles and miles. This seems such a surprising landscape and for us so close to our home. Sometimes living on the Essex coast you can be forgiven for thinking the sky doesn't get any bigger but on the edge of North Norfolk it certainly does.
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