Geograph IrelandLatest Images by Colin Vosper
https://www.geograph.ie/
2024-03-29T13:09:46+00:00text/html2016-11-20T17:37:29+00:00https://www.geograph.ie/profile/19916Colin Vosper51.293180 -2.448549ST6854 : Canal Cottage
https://www.geograph.ie/photo/5200091
This cottage so named currently as "Canal Cottage" is in the grounds of the Radstock Hotel (formerly the Waldergrave Hotel). The renovated cottage is in good repair and now used as hotel staff accommodation. It has lost the area in front of the cottage as the railway was built at a much higher level than the original canal. Consequentially, it is difficult to obtain this view which can only be obtained by taking the photograph over the fence alongside the cycle path, a path created along the line of the old railway which was built on top of the canal route.text/html2016-09-13T23:47:42+00:00https://www.geograph.ie/profile/19916Colin Vosper50.661529 -4.218758SX4387 : Detail of carved knife showing IXL feature
https://www.geograph.ie/photo/5116526
A curious detail, only just visible in the photo, was added to the knife blade - the letters IXL which Hems adopted for his own self-promotion (inditing his proud boast... namely:- "I excel"). The letters, with an asterisk as in I*XL, were initially a corporate mark formally registered to his mother's Wostenholm family who ran a large and very successful Sheffield firm of cutlers. [[3360192]]
www.eggintongroup.co.uk/history/the-history-of-george-wostenholm.html
Harry Hems as a young boy had been unsuccessfully apprenticed to his grandparent's firm of cutlers but abandoned it to take up an apprenticeship with a Sheffield woodcarver.text/html2015-07-07T08:48:26+00:00https://www.geograph.ie/profile/19916Colin Vosper50.965394 -4.172965SS4720 : Roving Bridge on Rolle Canal
https://www.geograph.ie/photo/4558558
This bridge was designed as a special canal feature to enable the horses to cross the canal from one tow path to another without the tow rope having to be unhitched. This is likely to be the only such bridge in Devon.
In this case the tow path shown in the picture continues on and follows a precarious route along the edge of a steep rock face, dropping down to the River Torridge. On the far side of the bridge the tow path runs along the other bank of the canal.
The very narrow channel of the original canal can be seen on the right passing under the bridge, but is now largely dry and rather overgrown.
The 5.5 mile Rolle Canal was designed and built under the direction of the engineer James Green who worked on the overall project for Lord Rolle over the years 1823-7. [[4324740]]text/html2015-04-09T22:59:08+00:00https://www.geograph.ie/profile/19916Colin Vosper50.678148 -4.348214SX3489 : Tala Water - Bude Canal aqueduct - stonework detail
https://www.geograph.ie/photo/4421257
The view shows the stone work on the west side of the supporting bridge had deteriorated and fallen away as the bonding deteriorates.
The disused Bude Canal used to pass over the Tala Water via this aqueduct.
[[4421236]]
Link to photo taken in 1978 [[64687]]text/html2015-04-09T22:47:00+00:00https://www.geograph.ie/profile/19916Colin Vosper50.678151 -4.348072SX3489 : Bude Canal - aqueduct over Tala Water
https://www.geograph.ie/photo/4421236
The view shows the line of the disused Bude canal as it passes over the stone bridge supporting the aqueduct over Tala Water, a tributary to the River Tamar.
The stonework of the supporting bridge appears to be sound unlike the stonework on the far side, or upstream side, of the bridge. [[4421257]]
There is an indication of a cattle crossing or ford crossing Tal Water from the track running down to the river from the five barred gate on the far left.text/html2015-04-05T14:34:55+00:00https://www.geograph.ie/profile/19916Colin Vosper50.994020 -3.216970ST1422 : Grand Western Canal - aqueduct over River Tone
https://www.geograph.ie/photo/4414381
The photographer is standing on the towpath as it crosses the bridge over the River Tone. The river is visible on the left.
On the right is the disused aqueduct, part of the old Grand Western Canal. The aqueduct is just wide enough to contain the narrow tub-boats used on the 13.5 mile section of the canal from Taunton to Lowdwells. This section of the canal closed in 1867 after being in operation for nearly 30 years.
The narrow canal aqueduct can be seen from a different angle in the following linked photos.
[[1489287]]
[[1489294]]text/html2015-04-04T09:23:39+00:00https://www.geograph.ie/profile/19916Colin Vosper50.938095 -3.331362ST0616 : Grand Western Canal - branching point
https://www.geograph.ie/photo/4412796
The photo shows a sharp 90 degree turn in the canal as it follows a route to Tiverton, a route that was planned to be a branch canal of the main Grand Western Canal.
At this location in the photo, the Grand Western Canal as planned should have carried straight ahead. Initially it would have routed in a SW direction contouring along the valley of the River Lyner heading towards Topsham where the canal would have ended with entry out into the River Exe.
Looking at a modern map confirms the planned route of the canal would have followed the general route taken by I. K. Brunel's Great Western Railway and later the route chosen for the M5 motorway.text/html2015-04-03T10:29:51+00:00https://www.geograph.ie/profile/19916Colin Vosper50.967885 -3.321390ST0719 : Lowdwells Lock
https://www.geograph.ie/photo/4411502
Lowdwells Lock is at the eastern end of the Grand Western Canal Country Park extending along the banks of the canal providing a peaceful walk and cycle route covering a distance of 18km (11.25 miles) from here to Tiverton.
The canal was completed circ 1815 by Scottish Engineer John Rennie and is completely level from here without any further locks, inclines or boat lifts through to Tiverton canal basin.
To the left of the photo can be seen the drop down into the old Grand Western Canal which closed in circa 1867 and is now drained of water.
In the centre left of the photo is the site of the lock gates which have been removed and the area filled in to provide a path across to the picnic bench on the opposite bank. To the right can be seen the old canal lock basin now without any lock gates. The photo continues to give a view of the canal as it disappears into the distance as it makes its way towards Tiverton 18km away.text/html2013-03-07T10:10:38+00:00https://www.geograph.ie/profile/19916Colin Vosper50.463237 -3.564126SX8963 : Wood Font cover
https://www.geograph.ie/photo/3360262
This medieval font cover was renovated in 1898 by the ecclesiastic wood carver, Messrs. Harry Hems and Sons of Exeter. The font cover is now kept securely behind the screen to the north chapel. It is not where it is stated to be in the church's guide book. In the linked photo the font cover can be seen behind the screen to the left. [[3357728]]
By comparison, in 1874 a new font cover was created by Harry Hems craftsmen during the restoration of St. John the Baptist church, Stowford. Both font covers are in a Gothic style one original (shown here) and one created new and shown in the linked photograph, but in a similar Gothic style. [[3360252]]text/html2013-03-07T10:00:01+00:00https://www.geograph.ie/profile/19916Colin Vosper50.661616 -4.218904SX4387 : Font and carved wood font cover - St John's Church
https://www.geograph.ie/photo/3360252
The font is believed to be 12th century, but the wooden font cover is attributed to the work of the firm of Harry Hems of Exeter, a firm of ecclesiastical carvers. The firm was commission on a restoration project under the overall supervision of architect Sir Gilbert Scott. On this occasion the font cover to keep the holy water secure and uncontaminated was created new in 1874, on other restoration projects Hems renovated and repaired existing medieval font covers.text/html2013-03-07T09:44:16+00:00https://www.geograph.ie/profile/19916Colin Vosper50.661616 -4.218904SX4387 : Carved roof timbers - St John's Church
https://www.geograph.ie/photo/3360244
Entering the church by the south porch, the original wood timbers with a roof boss covering one of the main joints are believed to date from the 15th or 16th century. [[369104]] [[3360192]]
Harry Hems' Exeter based firm was involved in the restoration of the church in 1874 under the overall supervision of the architect Sir George Scot. Earlier, Hems had made a practice of travelling around Devon to visit churches to make plaster castings of medieval wood carvings to use as a guide or template for his specialism of restoring old, damaged or missing medieval wood carvings. When the firm finally closed in 1937, Hems collection of over 400 items was acquired by the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter and a selection from that collection is on display at the museum.
http://rammuseum.org.uk/collections/collectors/harry-hems-1842-1916text/html2013-03-07T08:45:05+00:00https://www.geograph.ie/profile/19916Colin Vosper50.661877 -4.219341SX4387 : Bench end - St. John the Baptist
https://www.geograph.ie/photo/3360192
In 1874, restoration of the dilapidated church was underway and overseen by the newly knighted architect, Sir Gilbert Scott. Harry Hems was commissioned for wood and stone carving. Harry Hems owned and ran the Exeter firm of ecclesiastical stone and wood carvers based at the time in Paris Street.
The bench ends in the church of St. John the Baptist are supposed to be examples of some of the best of any Victorian restoration work in the whole of the UK. The church booklet revised by Audrey and Stan Mason in 2010 records that Harry Hems employed two wood carvers from London by the name of Dyer and Moultrie to do most of the carving.
The bench end near the priest's door on the south side of the church is probably the work of one of these men and shows the head of St. John the Baptist with the image of a knife carved below his head. The knife being a reminder that he was executed by beheading. [[369104]] [[2686594]]
A curious detail, only just visible in the photo, was added to the knife blade - the letters IXL which Hems adopted for his own self-promotion (inditing his proud boast.... namely:- "I excel" [[5116526]]). The letters, with an asterisk as in I*XL, were initially a corporate mark formally registered to his mother's Wostenholm family who ran a large and very successful Sheffield firm of cutlers.
www.eggintongroup.co.uk/history/the-history-of-george-wostenholm.htmltext/html2012-04-28T07:48:00+00:00https://www.geograph.ie/profile/19916Colin Vosper50.518667 -3.640440SX8370 : St Bartholomew's Church - reredos
https://www.geograph.ie/photo/2919936
The existence of an active and productive (East) Ogwell quarry [[2919925]] in the area in Victorian times, probably gave rise to the creation of this wonderful reredos. Built with all the skill the masons possessed and with the local natural "Devonshire Marble", the marble columns and the inserted marble panels are set in what appears to be Beer stone from the quarries just outside the east Devon coastal village of Beer.
There are other examples in the church of the use of marble from the South Devon area ... it is worth looking around to see what can be found, but none so wonderful as the marble in the reredos at St. Bartholomew's Church at East Ogwell.text/html2012-04-28T07:31:19+00:00https://www.geograph.ie/profile/19916Colin Vosper50.480765 -3.517346SX9265 : Memorial to Baroness Mount-Temple
https://www.geograph.ie/photo/2919933
There are two intriguing aspects to this memorial. Firstly, a mystery person daily places flowers in her hand. Sometimes a small spray appears and at other times, as in this photo, a reasonably large bunch of flowers is placed in her hand.[[1628450]]
The second point of interest is the base. The base of the fountain is described in the guide books as being of "grey Ashburton marble". Ashburton quarry was one of three local quarries from which limestone was extracted and owned at one time by the firm who owned the Royal Marble Works at St. Marychurch, Torquay. Some of the limestone extracted was suitable to be cut and polished to look like real marble and was known in Victorian times by the general term "Devonshire Marble". Look closely at the base and you can see evidence of the fossils deposited on the seabed some 350 million years ago.
Andrew Blackler of A W Blackler and Son owned quarries at Ashburton, Ogwell and Petit Tor and that is the one that can be seen by looking north from Babbacombe Downs and is at the next headland along the coast. [[8394]]text/html2012-04-28T07:12:34+00:00https://www.geograph.ie/profile/19916Colin Vosper50.515040 -3.623247SX8569 : Conitor Limestone Quarry - near East Ogwell
https://www.geograph.ie/photo/2919929
Now disused as a quarry, the lower sections of the old quarry floor are used as an industrial estate. The top of the buildings in the industrial complex can just be seen in the middle ground of this photo. [[2919925]] [[2919936]]
The view in the distance is of Highweek with its church prominantly on top of the hill.