Doorway mosaics from Guernsey and the Isle of Wight

Once again it's been far too long since I've updated this blog. I thought it had perhaps been a couple of months but was somewhat surprised to discover that it was in fact way back in April, so pretty much four months. Rest assured I have been urban, rural and coastal wandering during this time, but I have been very busy outside of that, moving from being a long-term, permanent employee to a freelance consultant, setting up my own company, landing my first contract, etc., and have just not found the time to blog.

I've amassed a fair number of photos from my wanderings over the past four months and have been considering how best to lay them back here. I think that rather than producing what might come across as a travel diary, I'll focus on common themes covering several locations. So without any further delay, here's my first post for a while and it features doorway mosaics from Guernsey, Isle of Wight and Somerset.

Doorway mosaic, St. Peter Port, Guernsey

Doorway mosaic, St. Peter Port, Guernsey

This was probably the most impressive doorway mosaic I saw in Guernsey but unfortunately there were a couple of black bags of rubbish in the doorway. It was quite a bust street and I would have felt a little conspicuous taking the bags out to get a better picture.

Doorway mosaic, St. Peter Port, Guernsey

On to the Isle of Wight now. This was the first time I had been to the Isle of Wight since I was at junior school, far too many years ago to reveal. The whole place really felt like stepping back in time, to a 1970's England, in the days before out of town retail parks, and where high streets still had shops other than charity shops. And in terms of doorway mosaics I suspect I only scratched the surface, I felt the island had many more to offer.

I'm not sure that this first one from Cowes is strictly a mosaic, but it's close.

Doorway mosaic, Cowes, Isle of Wight

Doorway mosaic, Cowes, Isle of Wight

Doorway mosaic, Cowes, Isle of Wight

Doorway mosaic, Newport, Isle of Wight

In other news, I have been managing to find some time, although again not as much as I'd like, for reading. Two of my recent reads include A Field Guide to Getting Lost by Rebecca Solnit, and the wonderful Common Ground by Rob Cowen. I really cannot recommend the latter enough.

    

Yet another coastal wander around Lymington, Hampshire

Between trawling through record shops in search of vinyl I used to have as a teenager, and work, I have found some time for a bit of wandering. I had last week off work and the weather was simply wonderful. We didn't go away anywhere but instead undertook a number of day trips, of which this trip to Lymington was one.

To make a change from our usual walk around the salt marshes to the west of Lymington, we headed off to the east to see what was around the corner, other than the Isle of Wight ferry.

Small boats, Lymington

Spring in bloom, Lymington

Over the past few years we have only ever seen the Isle of Wight from this distance. It's on the list but we just need to find the time.

Isle of Wight, from Lymington

I'm not normally one for any sort of horse, pony or donkey, but in this case following the cost path it was unavoidable and we had to walk through them. Feeling brave, afterwards, I stopped to take a quick photo. Not sure why I was worried, the ponies couldn't have cared less.

Horses and ponies, Lymington

I'm not remotely nautical, but there is something about the sight of a shipyard that attracts me.

Ships in Lymington harbour