part of a wrought iron frame, British museum, Bloomsbury, London, England

these oxhead terminals form part of an iron fire frame or fire-dog which dates from circa  50 BCE - 25 BCE

it was found in a rich cremation burial at Welwyn, with silver cups and five wine amphora, its function is unknown - the frame may have been used to spit-roast meat, like a fire-dog but traces of wood preserved in the corrosion may indicate that it was a sacrificial table or altar

 the whole frame (courtesy of the British museum)

RHS Chelsea flower show 2013 - 7

the seeability show garden’s theme was sight loss and was created to “raise awareness about the effects of visual impairment by expressing specific sight conditions in a conceptual way through design and planting features

the curtain of stainless steel spheres dripping with water and reflecting light represent the blind spots that occur with macular degeneration

the rusty steel structure suggests the loss of peripheral vision experienced with glaucoma”

like many gardens at Chelsea this year the garden had cow parsley as one of its featured plants – almost every garden seemed to have some, it was everywhere both the common-or-garden or the "posh" sort

the common sort of anthriscus sylvestris usually known as cow parsley is also referred to as wild chervil, wild beaked parsley, keck, or queen Anne's lace, it is also sometimes called mother-die, a name that is also applied to the common hawthorn flower – from the superstition that to pick it and bring it into the home would result in the death of one’s mother (similar superstitions apply to lilac, campion, rosebay-willowherb and plantain) it is related to other diverse members of apiaceae, such as parsley, carrot, hemlock and hogweed as it also looks rather like hemlock (conium maculatum), a well known poisonous plant it is easy to imagine why children might be discouraged from gathering it

it is considered to be edible, though having a somewhat unpleasant flavour, sharper than garden chervil, with a hint of carrot and is rumoured to be a natural mosquito repellent when applied directly to the skin

the posh cow parsley seen at the show was anthriscus sylvestris 'Ravenswing'  and is described as ‘an elegant purple form of common cow parsley which has pretty clusters of tiny, creamy-white flowers in late spring and early summer, highlighted by the lacy, deeply cut dark purple foliage’

the even posher sort, orlaya grandiflora (white lace flower) made a number of appearances in the show gardens and in the great pavilion and seemed very popular with the flower- arrangers – probably because they can safely pick it without fear of their mothers dying

RHS Chelsea flower show 2013 - 6

 

water feature in the artisan show garden section for “le jardin de Yorkshire” inspired by Yorkshire’s successful bid to host the 2014 grand depart of the tour de France

the tour will pass through many cities, towns and villages and some of these are commemorated in the water feature that celebrates the route

RHS Chelsea flower show 2013 - 5

garden tools in the artisan show garden section for the motor neurone disease association called ‘a Hebridean weaver’s garden'

“set in the 1950’s this garden is based around a traditional blackhouse in Lewis

the remoteness and bleakness of the island are reflected in the design and highlights the skill of the weaver in earning a living in such a difficult terrain and climate”

 

RHS Chelsea flower show 2013 - 4

this wheelbarrow dates from the late-19^th/early-20^th century and was part of a show garden designed by Tony Smith for the RHS with hortus infinitus

the garden was a celebration of the humble wheelbarrow, without which the Chelsea flower show would never have been possible

the show garden looked like this:

 

 

 

RHS Chelsea flower show 2013 - 3

poppy seed-head plant-supports for sale at the show made and sold by Tom Critchley

RHS Chelsea flower show 2013 - 2

the M&G investments centenary garden – ‘windows through time’

‘”the design embraces both new and traditional garden features from modern sculpture to planting threaded with shrubs popular in the 1900s

“a contemporary sculpture ‘window’ frames the design, giving the impression of looking back at a century old Chelsea garden”

that’s what it said in the souvenir catalogue, price £10 

RHS Chelsea flower show 2013 - 1

earlier this week i went to the Chelsea flower show, it’s been happening for 100years so there was something of a celebratory air about the whole event (even a few sleb gnomes made an appearance)

there was a great deal of ‘designer rust’ dotted about the place (i never realised this photo blog would have so much influence, he said modestly) and this week’s photographs were all taken at the show

 

the first one is part of the water feature in the show garden of the Stoke-on-Trent garden partnership which is “designed to tell the story of Stoke-on-Trent’s journey from its rich industrial past to its present incarnation as a modern and vibrant city”

 

a poster for the first Celsea flower show in 1913 to which the entry price was ten shillings which was a good deal of money then as average annual earnings, for all wage-earners in the United Kingdom (men, women, boys and girls) are estimated at £51 in 1913  

average family earnings were probably between £95 and £100 annually

for a full week's work the average earnings of a man were about 31shillings and for a woman 14shillings.

gate at a disused garage, Shoreditch, London, England

inspection cover, Walthamstow central train station, London, England

burnt-out car beside king John's walk, Mottingham, London, England

digger buckets used in replacing London's Victorian water mains

many of the water pipes in London are still made of cast iron which dates back to the nineteenth century and is slowly deteriorating
following widespread criticism of Thames Water for the amount of water lost to leaks in its distribution network the company started a major programme of upgrading the water supply network to use modern plastic piping

outflows, river lea, Bromley-by-Bow, Tower Hamlets, London, England

architectural detail, new development beside the regents canal, Islington, London, England