by Steve Tanham Beneath the skies of blue that ache with white-kissed beauty Beside the meadows’ deeper green that brightens every day Beyond the water’s vastness blown by breezes on a
Category: Castles
A Most Unlikely CastleA Most Unlikely Castle
James Dawson had an eye for a view. In 1840, he stood on the spot from which the photo below was taken. and decided to buy it. His advisors explained
In the gardens of coughton courtIn the gardens of coughton court
Coughton Court in Warwickshire, fifteen miles from Stratford-on-Avon, is the ancestral home of the Throckmortons, one of the UK’s oldest catholic families and a place of great intrigue during the
Bolsover CastleBolsover Castle
Should you take the M1 motorway north, you might glance over to the right, somewhere around Chesterfield, and see a castle on the hilltop. For me it has always been
Only a Horse and a SwordOnly a Horse and a Sword
We become habitual in our thinking. It’s a good idea (and fun) to play little games with our mind to help us look at things differently. One of these is
Three Days of the Oyster-Catcher (Part 7 Final) Face to Face with MacbethThree Days of the Oyster-Catcher (Part 7 Final) Face to Face with Macbeth
We were standing in the car park near Drumin Castle. Dean was using the visitor map of the Glenlivet Estate to describe the day ahead. We were to begin by
Three days of the Oyster-catcher (Part 5) – Stone in the SkyThree days of the Oyster-catcher (Part 5) – Stone in the Sky
You can’t miss Sueno’s stone. It sits on its own plateau, just off the old main road between Findhorn and Forres; now bypassed. You see its ‘hangar’ first, then realise
Three days of the Oyster-catcher (Part 4) – Sea and StoneThree days of the Oyster-catcher (Part 4) – Sea and Stone
I didn’t want to leave Burghead, not even for Findhorn; a place I’d wanted to visit for a long time. Burghead had filled me (many of us, I think) with
Three days of the Oyster-catcher (Part 3) – A Pictish HeadlandThree days of the Oyster-catcher (Part 3) – A Pictish Headland
The Moray Firth is vast, wild and beautiful. Examined on a map it resembles a child’s geometry exercise in triangles, with the coast between its ‘origin’ at Inverness and far-away
Three days of the Oyster-catcher (1)Three days of the Oyster-catcher (1)
We were standing close to the River Spey in the grounds of Strathallan church a few miles from the centre of Grantown-on-Spey: one of the gems of the north-eastern highlands
The Way to Dusty Death?The Way to Dusty Death?
We were in Ulverston, Dean and I. We’d just climbed the famous ‘Hoad’ – a tall monument on the top of a tall hill that looks like a lighthouse… but
Five Faces of the Macbeth HumanFive Faces of the Macbeth Human
Exploring the faces of the ‘human condition’ should be consuming our world at the moment. We might reasonably conclude that understanding the heights and depths of our shared experience, as
Why not?Why not?
One of the joys of working with the Silent Eye is the people you get to meet. Not all of them are part of the School; most follow their own
North-easterly VII: A final graceNorth-easterly VII: A final grace
“…Manifest thy light for my regeneration, and let the breadth, height, fullness and crown of the solar radiance appear, and may the light within shine forth!” Abbe de Villars,
In the Similitude of a Dream III…In the Similitude of a Dream III…
* … At this his relations were sore amazed; not for that they believed that what he said to them was true, but because they thought that some frenzy distemper
In the Similitude of a Dream II…In the Similitude of a Dream II…
* …In this plight, therefore, he went home and refrained himself as long as he could, that his wife and children should not perceive his distress; but he could not
In the Similitude of a Dream…In the Similitude of a Dream…
* As I walked through the wilderness of this world, I lighted on a certain place where there was a Den, And I laid me down in that place to
The Stone and the Pilgrim (2)The Stone and the Pilgrim (2)
Part 2. Rested, the group of pilgrims gathers beneath the vast presence of Bamburgh Castle. The castle was restored to its present glory by the 19th century munitions entrepreneur and
Pilgrims of Blood and StonePilgrims of Blood and Stone
The blood: the Life that flows through us, taken in as breath, fresh each second, flowing out to be renewed in the world of nature; natural, given. The
Dwellers in TowersDwellers in Towers
A recent trip to the beautiful Northumbrian coast threw up a chance visit to Preston Tower, one of a type known as a ‘Pele Tower’ – a fortified place of
Broken VillageBroken Village
The beautiful Northumberland village of Etal, one of a local twin, has a fine ruined castle; but this blog is not entirely about castles… The picture above is the castle