St Mary's Church, Brome

 This is another of those churches that is really 'just up the road' and I wonder why I've not been before.

It has an unusual round tower and inside are some things not often seen in small village churches and Brome really is a very small village.

In from the road through the lovely Lych Gate

Looking very different to many village churches

Fantastic flint work. Below is a curious bit outside  between tower and nave 

Usually the font is straight ahead when entering but this is different - it's in the base of the round tower

Looking down the nave to the altar

Yet another Suffolk church with memories of the USAF who were based on one of the many airfields here during WWII

Mother and child

Very unusual and  ornate Victorian stone pulpit

More carved stone on the Reredos behind the altar and the altar rail. The sculptural work was all done by Thomas Jekyll a well known sculptor of the time.

Carved tombs more suited to one of the much bigger town churches, dating from 1544

All the tombs and memorials are for parts of the Cornwallis family who were a powerful and  important family at  the end of the Medieval period and into Elizabeth 1st reign.

This is a beautiful stained glass window with an usual design for a small village church

 

More of the history and more photos HERE - Simon Knott's  Suffolk Churches website.

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The Week to the First Saturday in August

The first Saturday in August is usually the day I dash out to deliver entries to the the Flower and Produce Show and then go back to help with stewarding for the cookery judge and to see if I've won anything. Not this year, I'm not in the WI there anymore and not growing many veg to have to show and baking for the cookery classes has got very expensive to do. I'm not bothered as it's either very hot in the marquee and/or very wet outside and they tend to have the same events every year.

Brother-in-Law was brilliant last Monday as he came and cut the horrible Yew hedge out the front of the bungalow, it took me an age and too much energy last year with my electric hedge trimmer but with his huge petrol driven machine it took less than an hour to cut, while I cleared up all the bits and he could reach to cut right across the top, which I've never been able to do.

Then there was the  Keep Moving Group, a bit of batch cooking(and cheese scones as a thank you for BiL) and all the usual house stuff . I had another fail with Wordle, only a few days after the previous fail, so it didn't matter - I think the word was Savvy, another odd one. I discovered a new series, series 3 of Whitstable Pearl, on the U channel, for anyone who's read the books by Julie Wassmer. 

It had been an uneventful week so on Thursday I decided on a 'Tourist in East Anglia' trip out. Which I'll write about as soon as I can get the photos to load properly. The internet connection was very poor on several days last week.

And then the excitement of food shopping on Friday and gee whizz I bought a new frying-pan! 

And I still can't get into Chris-in-Porthcawl's blog. Tried various things but it's still blocked by virus protection.

Have a good weekend

I'll be back Monday

 

August 1st

  AUGUST

The Emperor Octavian, called the August,
    I being his favorite, bestowed his name
Upon me, and I hold it still in trust,
    In memory of him and of his fame.
I am the Virgin, and my vestal flame
    Burns less intensely than the Lion's rage;
Sheaves are my only garlands, and I claim
    The golden Harvests as my heritage.

from The Poets Calendar by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Illustration from The Illuminated Book of Days by Eugene Grasset

Today is Lammas, the 1st of August was one of the Celts 'cross quarter' days. The dates that fall between the solstices and equinoxes that were used to mark the agricultural year. Lammas or Loaf-Mass marks the wheat harvest. In early Christian  days a loaf of bread made from the new crop would be brought to church to be blessed.

Dry August and warm

Doth harvest no harm.

 This year the harvest was going well with tractors and full grain trailers passing all the time but then came the last two weeks of July with rain on and off and it's all gone quiet again in the fields.

 Looking back at what I'd written for previous  1st August posts and came across this, which I'd forgotten - but the bit about making the most of our time while we are here is a good thing to remember...............Apparently I found this in one of the old Folklore diaries.

The act of sacrifice at harvest is a reminder that we all follow the same path of life and death and reminds us to make the most of our time whilst we are here. Consider the passing of the summer and enjoy the bounties it has brought us and think how best to prepare for the coming autumn and winter.

It was an important day in the country, as land which had been harvested could be made available for village people to graze their animals. It was once a public holiday when fairs were held.

 Perhaps that was why the first Monday in August was a holiday for years until it was moved to the end of the month. 

I decided to find out more........................ and discovered ..............

1. Prior to 1834, the Bank of England observed approx. 33 saint’s days or religious festivals and took them as holiday.
2. Bank holidays were first introduced by the Bank Holidays Act of 1871 and reduced public holidays to 4 days (Easter Monday, 1st Monday in August, Boxing Day and Whit Monday).
3. The act was introduced by Sir John Lubbock, the 1st Lord and Baron Avebury, (30th April, 1834-28th May, 1913), English banker, politician, naturalist and archaeologist.
4. The 1871 Act was repealed 100 years later and its provisions incorporated into the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971, which remains the statutory basis for bank holidays.
5. Bank holidays designated since the 1971 Act are appointed each year by Royal Proclamation.

 (Much of this post has been on previous August 1st posts from several years ago, hopefully long forgotten by everyone! )

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 Apologies for not replying to yesterdays comments - had a long morning out and then a busy afternoon.