Grandads Monday morning blog
Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2020 12:27 pm
As I don't go anywhere of interest these days I have had to resort to my picture albums to find something to post. This morning I needed a photo frame and knowing that I had a selection in the loft, up the ladder I went. Interesting how old frames with old pictures can ring bells and the frame containing this picture is one such. It is 'Prospect Cottage' on Dungeness beach in Kent.
Dungeness is a headland formed mainly of shingle beach with a history of being a base for fishermen. A narrow gauge miniature railway runs from Hythe to the point. There is an old lighthouse which is open to visitors and well worth the climb to the top. The new light further down on the point is unmanned and automatic.
The fishermen are long gone but there are relics of their presence strewn across the beach in the form of wooden huts, clinker built row and motor boats, tracks to haul the catch across the beach, and debris of nets and floats. This all gives the area a feeling of desolation and desertion.
Personally I find it a fascinating area There are many similar cottages providing accommodation for mainly 'arty' types, but the best known is Prospect Cottage.
From 1986 until his death in 1994, this was the home of film director, set designer , artist and gay rights activist Derek Jarman. He is well known for his garden at the cottage which is constructed on the shingle with plants that survive in the harshest conditions.
Just days ago there was an item on the local TV news that the cottage, its garden and contents, have been declared 'A Work of Art' and there is a move to raise the funds to 'Buy it for the Nation'. The price tag....... wait for it.......£3.5 million. What planet are these people living on?
So far £1.8 million has been raised from the Arts Council and the like. My mind is boggling.......
Here are a few pictures of the late Derek Jarmans garden, and his neighbours' cottages. The whole area is in the shadow of Dungemess B nuclear power station.
PS: You may have a problem viewing the pictures. I did when I reviewed the post after postig. I think it is because I 'dragged and dropped' some pictures and 'copied and pasted' others.
The fishermen are long gone but there are relics of their presence strewn across the beach in the form of wooden huts, clinker built row and motor boats, tracks to haul the catch across the beach, and debris of nets and floats. This all gives the area a feeling of desolation and desertion.
Personally I find it a fascinating area There are many similar cottages providing accommodation for mainly 'arty' types, but the best known is Prospect Cottage.
From 1986 until his death in 1994, this was the home of film director, set designer , artist and gay rights activist Derek Jarman. He is well known for his garden at the cottage which is constructed on the shingle with plants that survive in the harshest conditions.
Just days ago there was an item on the local TV news that the cottage, its garden and contents, have been declared 'A Work of Art' and there is a move to raise the funds to 'Buy it for the Nation'. The price tag....... wait for it.......£3.5 million. What planet are these people living on?
So far £1.8 million has been raised from the Arts Council and the like. My mind is boggling.......
Here are a few pictures of the late Derek Jarmans garden, and his neighbours' cottages. The whole area is in the shadow of Dungemess B nuclear power station.
PS: You may have a problem viewing the pictures. I did when I reviewed the post after postig. I think it is because I 'dragged and dropped' some pictures and 'copied and pasted' others.