Belton House

Exploring and making use of the National Trust membership! Belton House was well worth the visit - lovely house and grounds.

The stables block and the archway to the house itself.

Who is this lurking in the ivy?

Monarch of all I survey?

A splendid ceiling in one of the rooms

Stairway and hall with gilt patterns and a portrait by Leighton.

One of several stone urns in the formal gardens

Statue in the formal gardens

Belton church where there are the remains of many of the Cust family who owned Belton House

The lion exedra - so we're told

Small statue in the Orangery glimpsed through the window

and another

Flowers and small tortoiseshell butterfly in the walled garden

Pillar in Belton Church

and the font.

The boathouse and small lake

A modest, or a cheeky statue near the maze.

Nottingham (5) - oddments and sodments

A nurses' home built as a memorial to 'those sailors, soldiers and nurses of this city and county who gave their lives in the Great War'.

A couple of snaps for the colour that's in them -

No wander round the city centre would be complete without Cloughie.

Nottingham (3) - some olde innes and the like

The first one, The Royal Children, is not so old(e), but it amused me, especially with the group nearby. It is said to be named after the children of Princess Anne, daughter of James II. She took refuge in the area in 1688. Here's the story in more detail.

 The one below claims to be very old.

 The Trip to Jerusalem is one of the most famous . . .

The last one is not a pub at all, but Severn's House, a merchant's house, which was moved from its original site in 1969. For more info click here

Nottingham above eye level (2)

Once I started looking upwards,  I was captivated by central Nottingham's rich selection of carvings and decorated buildings, many from Victorian times.

Here are just a few.  The ones below are on the building which is now The Major Oak pub.

The doorway shown below, of Cleaves Hall student accommodation is dated AD 1883.

Nearby there is a sinister looking cow's skull.

Near the Old Market Place, behind Brian Clough's statue is a fine building, now a Brazilian restaurant.

The detail above the main entrance is dated AD 1848

These buildings are surely the expression of a wealthy and self-confident town.

Nottingham curiosities

1. Above eye level

In Victoria Street. The clock was made by the firm of G & F Cope and Co, for the ironmongers who owned the shop in about 1950.  It was later restored, and according to an article in the Lenton Times was in full working order in 1982. Alas it seems to have been stopped now - one face read 4 o'clock and the other face 2.25.
At one time the two blacksmiths would strike the anvil every quarter hour.