ROLLING HARBOUR GALLERY

‘DUCKING & DIVING’: BUFFLEHEADS IN CENTRAL PARK NYC

Published on December 27, 2013 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

The Bufflehead Bucephala albeola is a small American duck of the goldeneye family, named for the ‘buffalo’ shape of its head. These shots were taken on the JKO Reservoir in central Park NYC, at a bit of a distance. The ducks were mostly floating peacefully, with the occasional sudden splashy dive. When they surfaced, fat beads of water stayed on their backs. Unfortunately the light / position of the sun meant that I never caught one head on, when the purple and green sheen of the face feathers would be clearly visible.

HOODED MERGANSERS IN CENTRAL PARK, NYC

Published on December 21, 2013 by Rolling Harbour4 Comments

These hooded mergansers were on the JKO Reservoir in mid-Central Park, New York. The colourful male is shown first, then the less flamboyant female.

This bird has just surfaced from a dive, leaving her rather wet and dishevelled

AN ANCIENT LIGHTHOUSE, A TRIG POINT & A FINE VIEW: ST CATHERINE’S DOWN, IoW

Published on December 19, 2013 by Rolling Harbour3 Comments

St. Catherine’s Down is a chalk down near the southernmost point of the Isle of Wight, rising to 240 metres above the level of the nearby sea. There is a rewarding walk from a car park on the road, climbing steadily and in places quite steeply. On the way up there are spectacular views across to the Needles to the west.

Eventually the track opens out near the top of the hill to reveal an amazing medieval prototype for a skyrocket near the summit.

This is in fact St. Catherine’s Oratory, known locally as the ‘Pepperpot’, a stone lighthouse built in the 14th century by Walter de Godeton. It is the second oldest lighthouse in the British Isles – only the Roman-built lighthouse at Dover is older.

De Godeton was convicted of scavenging wine ‘belonging to the Church’ from a shipwreck. He was ordered to make amends, under threat of excommunication, by building a lighthouse. Wreck plunder / lighthouse penance – a rare early example of punishment fitting the crime at a time when theft of a sheep might mean death. Fires were lit in the lighthouse tower to warn ships at sea that they were close to the coastline.

There was an attached chapel at one time – hence the ‘Oratory’ – but it has been long since demolished. A replacement lighthouse was begun in 1785, but never completed. Locally this half-finished building is known as the ‘salt pot’.

The hill is surrounded by unspoilt downland, with long views on all sides

There is also a trig point, providing an unstrenuous target for ‘trig-baggers’. Anyone interested in using trig points as a purpose for a nice walk and needing an incentive for the achievement might like to look at http://www.trigpointinguk.com St Catherine's Hill Trig Point IoW 6

HAY CASTLE: ROMANTIC RUIN (c12th) & JACOBEAN RELIC (1660)

Published on December 11, 2013December 11, 2013 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

HAY CASTLE dominates the famous little book town of Hay-on-Wye, a fire-ravaged but stately part-ruin. Currently owned by the HAY CASTLE TRUST, a restoration project for this once-gracious building is underway. I’d started to write my own potted history when it occurred to me that the official one would be (a) more informative and (b) more likely to be accurate. Here it is – click the blue link above for further information about the history and preservation of this important building.

“Hay Castle is one of the great medieval defence structures on the border of England and Wales still standing. Built in the late 12th century by the powerful Norman Lord William de Braose, its history is long and turbulent. The castle was sacked by Llewelyn II, the last prince of Wales, in 1233, and rebuilt by Henry III. Centuries of turmoil followed until the 15th century, when the castle passed into the hands of the Beaufort Estates. Castle House, a Jacobean mansion, was built alongside the tower in 1660.

The remains of the castle include a four-storey keep and a beautiful arched gateway. The multi-gabled Jacobean manor was severely damaged by fire in 1939, and again in 1977. Remnants of the 18th century formal gardens and 19th century terraced gardens can still be seen. Owned by bibliophile Richard Booth since the 1960’s, the site was purchased in 2011 by the Hay Castle Trust.”

The summer Hay Book Festival is one of THE literary events of the year. Less well-known is the Hay Festival Winter Weekend. A Wales-related book published by Mrs Harbour was launched at the Castle, with an author’s talk and a party – followed by (and completely unconnected with) a gig containing copious humourous material of questionable taste by comedian Marcus Brigstocke. Here are a few photographs of the castle.

THE VIEW FROM THE TOWN SIDE

THE CASTLE FROM THE GARDEN SIDE

A round-arched window dating back to an earlier period of the castle’s history

The only occupied part of the ruined side… a perfect place for birds to nest

hay castle trust Mrs RH takes the lectern 2 "Powys" by Robert Scourfield

AN UNSTRENUOUS HILL WALK AT NEWCHURCH, POWYS

Published on December 3, 2013 by Rolling Harbour3 Comments

The area round Newchurch is a short distance north of the book Mecca that is Hay-on-Wye. Barely 15 minutes drive will take you to low hill country of moorland and open common, with fine views of the Black Mountains and, more distantly, the Brecon Beacons. We had book-related events to attend in Hay, and a remote farm B&B near Newchurch as base-camp. Behind it, Newchurch Hill and a Trig Point to ‘bag’ while the late November sun shone.

Easy walking on open terrain, with plenty of sheep for company

And horses. Most are wild, in that they are mainly left to their own devices all year round. They are a mix of Welsh mountain ponies, Welsh cobs and perhaps some pit ponies, with other breeds adding to the genetic mix over the years. The greys are the purest bred.

There were a number of broad tracks, and because the land was so open the sheep tracks were very clearly defined. This one stretched a remarkably long way. You can just see our trig point target on the skyline

The trig point marks Newchurch Hill as 424 metres high, and provides extensive 360deg views

There are any number of ways to get to the top, and to return. This was a tempting track

At one stage we were joined by a pair of red kites (the area is known as ‘red kite country’). It was gratifying to find that at one stage we were actually higher than they were. I wished I’d taken a bigger camera…

As we walked down, a pair of riders from a nearby stables passed on the skyline

The stables had the perfect name for spelling out with horseshoes…

DORSET DROVES, ‘PRIORITÉ AUX VACHES’, & BOVINE BEHAVIOUR

Published on November 25, 2013November 26, 2013 by Rolling Harbour2 Comments

Dorset is to a large extent farming country. We are lucky enough to be in the middle of it, in an area where some farming routines are little changed for centuries. Not in terms of mechanisation and modernised practices, obviously, but simply the question of moving livestock from A to B. Before the arrival of Messrs Tar and MacAdam, most of the ‘roads’ were mainly cattle and sheep droves. Many of the original un-made droves still exist today, a criss-cross rural network of broad green lanes between thick hedges. These historic byways, mostly designated footpaths or bridleways, have become the joy of visiting off-roaders who tear them up for their sport and generously leave them for the rest of us to enjoy the aftermath. They meet from far and wide, enthusiastically and noisily make the complex of droves unwalkable, then zoom off again proudly mud-scarred from their recreation…

I’d have no problem with that at all, if after exercising their ‘right’ to off-road, they would discover a reciprocal ‘responsibility’ to reinstate the land and leave it exactly as they found it. This sound principle is not, apparently, mentioned in “The Off-Roader & Mud Warrior Handbook”. Maybe it should include a page showing Hohfeld’s Analysis of correlative rights and duties. *

Returning to a more pastoral theme, there are several farms in the village that use nearby fields outside the village for their stock. This entails the regular herding of cattle from farm to field, and in due course back to the farm. Gates are shut. Men with sticks are stationed at junctions to ensure the kine don’t charge down a side road. A tractor precedes the procession, discouraging overtaking by its Massey presence. A van drives behind the herd to encourage the slow forward progress, the sides being banged vigorously when cows begin to hang back. And so they move along the same route as they did in Thomas Hardy’s time and before that, passing our house and leaving copious evidence of their healthy diet in their wake. As they did last week.

Stately progress down the hill to the village

One of several complete cow-panics, and consequent mayhem

All sorted out and moving generally in the right direction

What of the bovine behaviour mentioned in the heading? I expect I have hinted at one sort. There’s another, though, that is a recent development in the last 10 years, and is increasing in frequency and insistence. I took the brief video below on my phone last year. The cows were mooching along the road, from farm to field, in the usual way. I pulled the car tight into the grassy side of the road to watch them pass. Frankly, there was no other option. The line was long and quite slow – this was indeed a classic lowing herd winding slowly o’er the B-road. I opened my window. Only one animal actually tried to push her head inside the car. Almost as soon as I had stopped the film, a car behind me started hooting. And then the car behind that. They were joined by the approaching cars on the far side of the herd. This impatience is regular and increasingly fractious occurrence, so the farmer told me. So the question might be posed: whose right of way? The cows, with their age-old prescriptive right to wander, supervised, down the road from farm to field; or people in their shiny motors and in a hurry?

HOHFELD’S ANALYSIS – A VOLUNTARY DIGRESSION

Hohfeld, a jurist, attempted to disambiguate the term rights by breaking it into eight distinct concepts. He defined these terms relative to one another, grouping them into four pairs of Jural Opposites and four pairs of Jural Correlatives.

		(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)
JURAL OPPOSITES		Right No-right	Privilege Duty	Power Disability	Immunity Liability

		(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)
JURAL CORRELATIVES		Right Duty	Privilege No-right	Power Liability	Immunity Disability

This use of the words right and privilege correspond respectively to the concepts of claim rights and liberty rights. Hohfeld argued that right and duty are correlative concepts, i.e. the one must always be matched by the other. If A has a right against B, this is equivalent to B having a duty to honour A’s right. If B has no duty, that means that B has a privilege, i.e. B can do whatever he or she pleases because B has no duty to refrain from doing it, and A has no right to prohibit B from doing so. Each individual is located within a matrix of relationships with other individuals. By summing the rights held and duties owed across all these relationships, the analyst can identify both the degree of liberty (an individual would be considered to have perfect liberty if it is shown that no-one has a right to prevent the given act); and whether the concept of liberty is comprised by commonly followed practices, thereby establishing general moral principles and civil rights. (Wiki-sourced edit for brevity)

WINTER BRIDGES OF CENTRAL PARK, NEW YORK

Published on November 18, 2013November 19, 2013 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

THE POND

NEAR COLUMBUS CIRCLE

THE DAIRY

BOW BRIDGE OVER THE LAKE, SUNSET

NEAR COLUMBUS CIRCLE

TUNNEL SUNRISE

DORSET DAHLIA DEFIES THE ONSET OF WINTER

Published on November 15, 2013 by Rolling Harbour4 Comments

November. A month when summer flowers are over – or if not, get banjaxed by the first touch of frost. Here’s a dahlia, newly planted this year, that decided to keep calm and carry on. For the moment, at least. The flowers are still near-perfect, even at close quarters; and the leaves haven’t yet started to blacken and go squishy in the traditional way. It’s only a matter of time, though…

CENTRAL PARK & ALL THAT JAZZ: “30 BANDS, ONE SET LIST”

Published on November 11, 2013November 12, 2013 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

Central Park, New York: The Lake, Bow Bridge and The Ramble

9 NOVEMBER 2103. CENTRAL PARK, NEW YORK. 30 BANDS. 1 SET LIST

This remarkable event involved 30 different jazz bands spread round different locations throughout the whole of Central Park, simultaneously playing from one carefully timed set list. The ensemble below, the Jazz at Lincoln Center All-Stars (feat. Russell Hall Quartet), were stationed at Cherry Hill, the scenic horse carriage circular turn-around overlooking The Lake and Bow Bridge (see header picture, taken in February)

I’m not a jazz person myself, but this sort of open air occasion could get me interested… For anyone who might like to know more details, here’s the set list to give an idea of the breadth of the repertoire and the opportunity for quality soloing. The four-hour event was entirely free. What’s not to like on a misty November day?

12.00 – 1.30 pm

Caravan (Juan Tizol)
Bemsha Swing (Thelonius Monk)
Cherokee (Ray Noble)
A Night in Tunisia (Dizzy Gillespie)
So What (Miles Davis)
Footprints (Wayne Shorter
Maiden Voyage (Herbie Hancock)
Take 5 (Paul Desmond)
Tenor Madness (Sonny Rollins)

2.00 – 3.00 pm

Take the A Train (Billy Strayhorn)
Harlem Nocturne (Earl Hagen)
Stompin’ at the Savoy (Chick Webb)
Grand Central (John Coltrane)
Central Park North (Thad Jones / Mel Lewis)
New York City (Gil Scott Heron / Brian Jackson)
A Foggy Day in London Town (George Gershwin)
Las Vegas Tango (Gil Evans)
We live in Brooklyn, Baby (Harry Whittaker)

3.30 – 4.00

Encore – Original Material [‘Free-for-all’]

ON KEYBOARDS…

(Note horse carriage passing in the background at 0.10…)

SAX APPEAL…

Central Park, New York: The Lake, Bow Bridge and The Ramble near dusk

Credits: RH – Bow Bridge images; Mrs RH + iPh@ne – the rest of the Jazz

DARTMEET: AN EASY SCENIC WALK ON DARTMOOR

Published on November 8, 2013November 8, 2013 by Rolling Harbour2 Comments

This is a simple 3-generation Dartmoor hill walk from a rustic car park just east of Dartmeet, the confluence of the West and East Dart rivers. Unchallenging. Great views. Interesting (pre?)historic trackway. Ponies. A grid of side-tracks to explore. Rocks and stones. Something for everyone. The ringed area below shows the track, which ultimately leads to a ruined village, now barely discernable.

I find in retrospect that my photos of the route tended to concentrate overmuch on the ‘agger and fossum’ aspect of the track. There’s a perfectly good natural track to walk up. It looks a fairly steep start, but I assure you it is easy walking…