Williamson Art Gallery

We love a good film here in The Glade. Also it seems that British talent is riding high at the moment and was demonstrated at the recent BAFTAS. Fingers crossed for Eddie Redmayne tonight at the oscars! He really does seem to be a most charming and humble chap.

Here on the Wirral we have the Williamson Art Gallery which is often described as a hidden gem and where, Andy Gotts, the celebrity photographer, has an exhibition currently being staged called “Behind the Mask”. It features actors that have been nominated or won BAFTAs spanning the ages since 1954.

The collection is displayed  in two long rooms and apart from the piano pictured above, there is no other furniture. As you can see from this picture, all the exhibits were framed in the same size, black frames, it gives a very polished look.

I have been struggling with deciding how to hang my family pictures in this new house but this arrangement has inspired me.

The pictures seem to be  mostly a true representation of the subject giving the impression that they had not been photoshopped. Except, disappointingly, Kate Winslet which clearly had. That is such a shame because it is really noticeable amongst so many interesting images.

That said, it is well worth a visit and you could let me know if you recognised Colin Firth or not! (We didn’t ha).

It is on until the 22nd March 2015.

 

A late afternoon in Parkgate: An adventure with Jack

We are very fortunate on the Wirral to have access to the “Wirral Way”. It is 12.2 miles of disused railway line that is situated within the Wirral Country Park. The park contains some of the most peaceful and pretty countryside, in my humble opinion, that England has to offer. It is so vast that you can often find yourself alone for large stretches. This section of the route is through the small hamlet of Parkgate which was once a port along the River Dee. The river once came as far as the sandstone wall that you can see in this picture, however this is now 100 square foot of salt marsh. Towards the end of the eighteenth century, Parkgate was famous as a seaside destination with baths.  Lady Emma Hamilton, Lord Nelson’s mistress, was born nearby in a small village called Ness and, it is believed that she bathed here regularly.It is even rumoured that Nelson sailed up the River Dee to visit her.

It is also thought that in April 1742, Handel stayed in Parkgate before sailing to Dublin to  perform the Messiah for the first time!

But nowadays, Parkgate is famous for Nicholl’s ice cream and still has a   fantastic line in summer sunsets.  However, even in February the early evening sky, above the North Wales Coast, is still very pretty. For us, there are two other things that we particularly like about Parkgate; the carvery pub at the end of The parade and, Mr Glade’s sister works as a district nurse in that area, today we bumped into Aunty T, everyone was very pleased to see her, especially Jack! You can find more information about Parkgate here.

Thurstaston : An adventure with Jack

Here is Jack of The Glade on the beautiful headlands at Thurstaston. Thurstaston forms part of the Wirral Country Park and can be found on the west coast of the Wirral peninsular. It is about a 20 minute drive from The Glade.

This picture was taken on Saturday on the 14th February at approximately 1pm. It is quite amazing because only moments before we had been walking along the beach and taken the photograph below, what a difference when the sun managed to break through (no filters used!).

There are two sets of steps to get from the headlands down to the beach . They are well worth the effort because look at that beautiful sand.

To read more about Thurstaston click here.