The Church Photography Workout

After a stormy and cloudy weekend, Monday turned out to be remarkably sunny. Motivated by the ever-present fear that the sun is about to go away any second (which is quite justified in England), I just had to go out and enjoy it.

So I took my camera for a walk through Great Milton to Great Haseley, a village about 2 miles southeast of us. Having things to take pictures of seems to be the best motivator for me to exercise these days, so thank goodness there are some old churches around here!

And boy, did my trip ever turn out to be a workout, as I'll explain below. I was absolutely exhausted when I returned two hours later! But I had such a good time. Since I took so many photos and it was a nice memory, this post might be a little longer than merited by the events, but I think I'll enjoy reading it later. So feel free just to skim!

My walk took me past Great Milton church, so I got two churches for the price of one. Of course I've photographed this one a thousand times before (approximately), but this time there were pink flowers!




Not long after passing the church I had to cross a large and busy road, but fortunately there was a nice large shoulder to use:


But the grass was really tall, so it took extra effort to make my way through.


Interactive map of Great Haseley. View Larger Map

The road into Great Haseley was long and straight, and would be good for bike riding. It was unbelievably windy out this time, though, which made a huge roar in the trees.


An attempt to photograph the wind.

Great Haseley is a nice village. I barely saw any people, which is always a bonus. There was the requisite pub and lots of nice stone cottages.


The Plough


Houses of Great Haseley

And here's where I got some extra exercise through having no sense of direction. As you can see in the map above, the main road through the village is Rectory Road, but you can use "Back Way" as a bit of a shortcut. I looked at the map before I left home and planned to take the shortcut.


Back Way

When I finally saw the sign for Back Way I turned onto it and walked to the end. The problem is that I had missed the first sign for Back Way and thus turned onto it where it comes out onto Rectory Road after the shortcut is already over! So I ended up walking back to where I started, doing a complete counterclockwise loop. Oy vey.

After another walk past all the same cottages and the pub, I eventually got to the church. And the sun promptly slipped behind some rather ominous-looking clouds. Argh. But all was not lost. I hung around for a little while hoping the sun would come back out, and soon I made a fuzzy new friend!


Was he ever cute. His owner told me he is Italian and a rare breed. She loved it when I took this photo of him and asked if my camera was digital so she could see the result.

About 10 minutes later, the sun came out! But only for about 30-second intervals. So this is where I really had my good workout. I literally ran from spot to spot taking photos while the sun was out, rested while it went behind a cloud, then repeated when it came back out again. English weather is ridiculous.


West front (14th-century, I think)


Side view


Longer side view


Run further down for a shot of the other end...


Do some deep squats for a tombstone photo...


And bend low to look through the keyhole at a stained glass window. Sadly, I had no key. I'm sure someone at a nearby cottage has it, but I haven't yet determined who that is.

There's info and more photos of Great Haseley Church here:
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/england/great-haseley-church.htm

Then I walked my weary self the two miles back home, getting variously sprinkled on and warmed by the sun, depending on the state of the sky above me at the moment. On the way back through Great Milton, I came across this lovely sight:


A Dodge Ram proudly parked at Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons (right), with the church tower visible on the left. Fun stuff, since I have a green one of these back home.

Today

This morning the sun shone brighter than yesterday and I thought it would be a good opportunity to take some pics of Great Milton church in the morning sun. David told me via e-mail that the weather was supposed to "go completely pear-shaped" (one of our favorite British expressions) later today, so that was even more motivation to hustle on down there.

Today's walk was much easier than yesterday - just 12 minutes each way, although that includes a substantial hill. The sky was more consistently blue, too, which was great. Here a few of today's pics:





I really love our local church. It's good and old (mostly 14th century), which is always the first requirement. It's also quite different, with its short and thick tower, smaller round towers on the corners, big wide aisles on either side, and lots of niches on the outside (they once held sculptures, destroyed at the Reformation). The stone is soft and pretty and the whole thing reminds me of a small castle. There are a few weathered gargoyles too, although I'll need to visit with a zoom lens in order to share them with you.

Since the weather seemed to be holding for the moment, I decided to finally have a look inside the church. Fortunately I knew where to get this key - the aforementioned Le Manoir next door. It was a good excuse to visit that fancy-pants place anyway.



There was a dapper-looking man in a shiny Mercedes in the parking lot, whom I took to be a personal driver from the way he was waiting, and delicious smells emanating from the kitchen. The receptionist was very nice and seemed pleased I was interested in the church key (probably because it was an easy request to handle).

Sadly the interior of the church is not nearly as cool as the outside, but it was generally attractive and there were a couple interesting things to see.


The choir and altar were decorated with bread for the upcoming harvest festival. I think the bread is real, but I didn't poke it.


The only sculpture I could find inside is this lady with a silly hairdo.

The main historical highlight is the Dormer Monument, which was carved from alabaster in 1618 for a local well-to-do family. Although monuments aren't really my thing, I will admit this is a nice one.



My favorite shot of the monument: the skirts and shoes of Mrs. Dormer.

I've now added these and lots more photos to my photo gallery at:
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/england/great-milton-church-photos/

I made it all the way home in good weather, but about an hour later, the dark clouds came and it began pouring down rain. And now it is dark as night and hailing. I'm sure glad I got outside when I did! And I hope it stays cloudy tomorrow so I can rest! :)