Tuesday 4 March 2008

Pointless Portals - Part One



I have stumbled across a few gateways to nowhere in the archive and it seems they need publishing in the hope that we can determine that, in fact, nowhere's just fine. We pass through entrances to shops, houses, offices, railway stations, churches and pubs as part of our every-day lives, often without giving them a second thought. I appreciate that our great unmitigated coleague has this patch well covered and hopefully we can all learn something from his observations on the subject. What I am exploring here is the opportunity we are given - by virtue of the fact that we are not distracted by the price of bread, remembering our host's name, panic at missing the train or deciding what beer we need - to actually appreciate the craftsmanship and pointlessness, speculate on the history and to-ings and froe-ings that these structures have witnessed. This particular gate way did originally serve a purpose in the late eighteenth century but now is more easily passed around than through. What is startlingly absent is the security intercom and opening mechanism that would have enabled his lordship to sweep through at speed, horses lathered and fearful, on his way to church with a well timed "bleep" from his remote switch.

6 comments:

Peter Ashley said...

Welcome back Diplo, what a superb blog and pics. I think I know where it is, but am reticent to commit myself in case of making yet another appalling gaff.

Diplomate said...

Yes you're quite right - and that is section of bumper from a Humber Super Snipe glinting in the undergowth.

Peter Ashley said...

Don't get me going on cars again, I've just found my brochure for the Rover 3-Litre.

Affer said...

I really like this idea of Gates to Nowhere. Seeing these, for reasons I can't put a finger on, I immediately thought of Blott on the Landscape. Then I was struck by the belt-and-baces approach to gates: a set of nicely-fitting wrought iron ones (presumably to keep the great unwashed out) backed up by a simple picket fence (presumably to keep the prize Tamworths in).

It's not the Peatling Magna Boot Hill is it perchance?

Diplomate said...

Alois - so good to hear from you. I've been a little slack on the blog lately. This gate is actually on the old carriage drive from Lilford Hall to StJohns at the nearby Achurch, in the adjacent parish of Thorpe-Achurch, Lilford-cum-Wigsthorpe having already lost its church at the hands of the Powys family - more of that later.

Peter Ashley said...

I knew it was Lilford, but didn't like to say. You must have run the risk of getting all four barrels from a matched pair of Purdey's though, being as you had to go over the wall to catch the sunny side.