Posted by Norman Creighton at 00:00, January 3 2011.
The weather forecast was for a sunny day (although the sun never shone) so I set off for Sherwood Forest and drove around aimlessly for ages before finding a couple of groups of trees that grabbed my attention. It was exactly the wrong way to go about it.
Following the John Blakemore model I should find a site that has appeal, visit it often, get to know it and sit quietly each time, taking in the sense of the place, before starting to take pictures.
Robin Hood would find it hard to hide in Sherwood Forest these days as it is mainly scrub land interspersed with random plantations of new growth. I saw one beech wood which I will try and find again in the spring. The feeling that today's Sherwood Forest is totally man made come over in this image.
Following the John Blakemore model I should find a site that has appeal, visit it often, get to know it and sit quietly each time, taking in the sense of the place, before starting to take pictures.
Robin Hood would find it hard to hide in Sherwood Forest these days as it is mainly scrub land interspersed with random plantations of new growth. I saw one beech wood which I will try and find again in the spring. The feeling that today's Sherwood Forest is totally man made come over in this image.
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I am please with this panorama, that is a composite of five images, as it captures the sense of the place well. I used Serif Panorama Plus X4 to do the stitching.
On the way back I was drawn by the sight of the soring spire of All Saints church, Laughton en le Morthen, on the horizon and ended up at St John the Baptist Throapham, which is just round the corner. The key holder was out so I had to make do with an exterior shot and use another from an earlier visit when the sun was out.
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It's a neat little church although the tower does seem a bit skinny and the north aisle minimal and drab. However the interior can look wonderful.
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My favourite object in the church is the monumental brass to John Mallevorer, who died in 1602. The text is clearly from a very close friend (TL) and effected me so much that I was planning to use it as the basis of my first novel. The world will just have to wait!
"An epitaph on the right wor' John Mallevorer of Lettwell
in ye countie of York esquire,
He that most bountifully fed the poore,
Lov'd all and was of all beloved, the store
Of generous virtues, he that from his birth
Lyved soe, his fame must still inhabit earth,
Hath left to earth his earth; his better part
Heaven keepes, his memory each good man's heart.
His dust lyes here, and I (a stone) must tell
Mongst men few men ere lyved or dy'd so well. T.L."
