Kimmeridge

Kate and I went to Kimmeridge on Sunday. Kimmeridge is famous for its oil-bearing shale and the Clavell tower (built in the 1820s) which is shortly to be relocated before it falls of the edge of the cliff. There has been an oil well at Kimmeridge since the 1950s, the latest in a long line of uses of the flammable shale, which was the reason for building an experimental glass furnace here in 1615.

The bay and the tower from the beach.

Me taking a photo!

Close-up of the tower

Kate and Moss looking down on the bay from the tower






This was a day of quite striking light and intermittent cloud. Both of us were in a bad way, with aches and bruises from snowboarding the day before and somewhat the worse for wear after a birthday night out with Matt and friends.

More snow!

A bit more snowy this morning, and quite slippery en route to work as this particularly exciting sequence of photographs reveals. But first, the view from my other window this morning...

The Wrekin












And we're off down the lane...
















Things were a bit easier when I got to the (gritted) main road part of the journey.

Frost and Snow

This morning was very frosty. This was the view looking out of the window...














It basically snowed all day, but damp English snow so it didn't settle.

Tintern Abbey

My birthday expedition organised by Kate took us to the Forest of Dean for archery and historic perambulation. Among the highlights was the beautiful and well-preserved remains of Tintern Abbey, alongside the River Wye. The light was really nice, although we didn't get there until quite late so time was limited.

Whitecliff Furnace

For my birthday (last week) Kate organised a suprise trip to the Forest of Dean. We stayed in the Tudor Farmhouse Hotel in Clearwell. The hotel itself was very nice, the room was fantastic and the atmosphere was brilliant. The hotel restaurant was a bit disappointing value for money wise, although the food was very nice. The following night we went next door to the Butcher's Arms - for the same price as one course and one bottle of wine in the hotel the pub gave us two courses and two bottles of wine - and wonderfully innovative cooking as well, I can certainly recommend the black pudding lattice with marmelade as a starter!

Anyway here is a picture of the iron smelting furnace at Whitecliff which we visited the day after...
















The furnace was built in 1806, and was restored in the 1980s following an appeal for public subscription and with support from the Historical Metallurgy Society. The furnace is owned by the Dean Heritage Trust, and there is more information about the furnace on their website. The Forest of Dean has a rich ironworking heritage and no doubt I shall post more about this in due course...