Kelmscott

Kelmscott is a village along the upper part of the river Thames or Isis as it in known. I doubt most people would look twice at the village if it were not for the fact that William Morris lived there and is buried in the churchyard. The Manor House itself dates back to 1560 and has a 17th century wing added. The unfortunate thing with the place is that it is so close to the Thames it gets flooded 

This is the view of Kelmscott Manor William Morris would have see many time when he wandered round the front lawn

Maybe even sat in the shade here

I wonder if he had anything to do with the hedge

 The garden gave him lots of inspiration

and I admit I found it a peaceful place to walk

Still I did not come here to show the garden but some of the wonderful things you can see inside, like this embroidery 

 Or this one of his wife

The strawberry thief curtains ( I know this as we have them at home)  

The sitting room

the view out of the window of his garden

I love the window catch, if you look you can see a small hole in the peg sticking through where a tapered peg was put to lock the window.  Not sure who the painting is of though

    

These were some times which never made it to production

more curtains hanging on the walls

Fireplace which I thing is original

These are more drawings of his wife I think

more hangings

 I love this light, it's designed  in a way that when it is lit the shape of the lamp is cast on the ceiling

 Another painting, I never get tired of seeing them

 This was an interesting staircase to climb

 and this was an amazing tapestry

View from one of the upstairs windows of the front lawn

 Remember those stairs, well this is at the top

Remember the stairs, well this is at the top

along with a great view out the window

The tree must have been smaller when he lived here

looking out over the countryside nearby, the Thames it over to the right out of shot about 100 Meters away

Yep that is a door you see right up on the left hand side. I'd love to be a kid living in rooms like those I went through in the loft area.

 Drawing of William himself

This is carved in a piece of wood on the wall in a downstairs room

Rather nice photo of William

And another couple of old photos of him and his family

William died in 1896 but his wife Jane bought the place in 1913 and today it is owned by 

Society of Antiquaries of London 

 William and Jane are buried here in the churchyard down the road with other members of the family

 and though I have seen the grave before my wife pointed out this Mulberry flower on the grave I never saw till then.

I hope you have enjoyed my little tour. If you get a chance then do visit, you will not be disapointed

The Llyn Brianne Reservoir

Now I have posted photos from this place before but I thought it was time to show a bit more of the place. Last time it was a pleasant sunny day where we had a picnic, this time not so nice.

To get to the reservoir you need to turn off the A483 at Beulah and head off up into the hills.  Not sure where this is but it looks down the hillside form the road to the river below 

Stopped off to get a photo of the woodland and the sign showing how steep the hill was

as you can see we had not reached the top

Stopped off at the picnic area to look at the reservoir

 and the overcast sky behind which looked quite threatening

drove along winding roads

stopped off for another photo opportunity

sheep

pony's

just having a scratch

 Better view of the reservoir

and the sheep laid down and watched

Eventually we got to where I want to go

view of the dam & spillway

top of the spillway & reservoir

 Looking down the spillway

and the view of the mountains behind it

Data on the dam itself

you can also read about who opened it in Welsh

or English if you like

there is a road across the top

and a bridge over the spillway

view back up the reservoir 

across to where I took the photos

 A stich photo of the reservior

A final look down at the dam. The building at the base is a hydro electric plant and my only regret of the day was that water was not flowing over the spillway. The Llyn Briannne  a nice place to visit and there are places you can stop off for a picnic or camp but I feel it does not quite have the same affect on me as the Elan Valley. Thanks for visiting and nope you liked the tour