Thursday 19 May 2011

Battle of Hastings





On Wednesday morning Stewart and I went to 'Battle'!
Well! The Battlefield of 1066 at the town of Battle!
If you look at the map above Hastings is on the coast and
Battle, the actual Battleground of 1066 is inland.
The original castle was wooden and it was William,
that had the Abbey built on the grounds after the Battle.
It took 25 years to build and by the end of
William's reign it was one of the wealthiest Abbey's
in Britain.
Stewart and I did the walk around the Battlefield and as you can see
by the steepness of the hill the Norman soldiers had
a real struggle, to overcome and reach the top.
We live in Norfolk, which is known for it's flatness!
So this was a good walk/climb for us too!
It is always fun to get into the steps of History!
See more by visiting

This video is an animation of The Bayeux Tapestry

Brighton Festival





After walking around The Brighton Lanes we
needed a cup of tea and went into The Corn Exchange
for a cuppa and to see what else was going on around Brighton.
Inside the Foyer Bar was this Origami Booth.
It was funny as I had been playing with origami last week.
We watched the video and following the
instructions we made a lotus flower.
Coco Sato is a conceptional artist and you can see
more of his work and The Brighton Festival
by visiting
There was also a tribute table to Aung San Suu Kyi,
The Brighton Festival is celebrating her perseverance and freedom.

Brighton



Walking around Brighton window shopping
and soaking up the atmosphere,
was so interesting and I especially liked this shop window
with all the old sewing machines. I have never seen
so many in one place!
Brighton has so many individual shops and boutiques
there was so much to explore.
There are galleries and art work everywhere.
The murals are something else!

Brighton Pier



After the Royal Pavilion we just had to do the stroll
down Brighton Pier and take in the 'Sea Air'.
As you can see by the photograph directly above
the tide was on the way out and the 'Sea Air' was very fresh!
We had an ice creams, walked right to the end and watched
people putting up the deck chairs!!!

Brighton Pavilion






On Monday we went South to The Sussex Downs about
three and a half hours by car from us to stay at
Leonard on Sea in a cabin.
Neither Stewart or myself have been to this side
of the country to stay so we wanted to visit
Brighton and of course The Pavilion.
We entered by The Coach Door,
the original entrance visitors to King George would enter.
We were breathless in how the Pavilion is decorated,
most of which is so over the top it is amazing!
Everywhere is painted, gilt and showmanship.
Each and every room has it's own atmosphere and
must have looked even more spectacular
or imposing by oil lamps.
One of the crystal chandeliers in the Banqueting Room
over the dining table weighs a ton
and has a large silver dragon sitting on the top.
The Music Room Dome is covered in hundreds of guilded
scallop shells and has had to be restored several times.
We have never seen anything like this before
and would recommend Brighton Pavilion
as a must see for extraordinary interiors.
This is one of the few videos that shows the interior
and gives some of the history of
The Royal Pavilion.

Gallery Tuesday 18th May 2011



@ The Gallery Dereham is hosting one of the Taster Exhibitions,
for Norfolk's Open Studios this week.
The Gallery looked very different when we went to view on Saturday.
there are eight artist work on show.
Open Studios is always worth visiting and enjoying.
I didn't hold a workshop Tuesday this week because of the taster
and we were away on Holiday in Sussex.