Abbaye de Mortemer
Lisors
Lyons-la-Forêt

"L'Abbaye de Mortemer is a former Cistercian monastery in the Forest of Lyons between the present Lyons-la-Forêt and Lisors, some 34 km (21 miles) southeast of Rouen in the department of Eure.

It was originally built in 1134 on land gifted to the Cistercians by Henry I of England. The land received turned out to be water-logged and the stagnant water or "dead water" - in French "morte mer" - gave the monastery its name. After digging a large drainage lake which still exists today, the monks constructed what was then the largest Cistercian monastery in the world." - Wikipedia

Abbaye Notre-Dame de Fontaine-Guérard
Radepont

"Située sur la commune de Radepont dans le département de l’Eure en Normandie, l’abbaye de Fontaine-Guérard est une abbaye féminine affiliée à l’ordre de Cîteaux dont le style de construction en gothique anglo-normand, gothique primitif ayant des caractéristiques propres à la Normandie, est une pure merveille architecturale. Sa très belle salle capitulaire largement ouverte sur le cloître en est le meilleur témoin. Il ne reste aujourd’hui pratiquement rien des bâtiments extra-claustraux, sinon, au nord, le cellier voûté que surmonte la chapelle Saint-Michel." - Wikipedia

Shooting Lodge, Broomhead Moor
Heather burning, White Carr

A linear walk across Broomhead Moor, by way of Moor Side, Rushy Dike and Dukes Road.

View from the car
Buzuluk to Kazanka

In order to meet up with more of our family we rose early in order to travel by car to Kazanka. This series of photographs attempts to convey what it is like to travel on the dirt roads of Russia which link the villages with the larger towns and cities.

Abbaye Notre-Dame du Bec
Le Bec-Hellouin

"Bec Abbey (French: Abbaye Notre-Dame du Bec) in Le Bec-Hellouin, Normandy, France, is a Benedictine monastic foundation in the Eure département, in a valley midway between the cities of Rouen and Le Havre. It was founded in 1039 by Herluin, a Norman knight who in about 1031 left the court of Gilbert, Count of Brionne, to devote himself to a life of religion: the commune of Le Bec-Hellouin preserves his name." - Wikipedia

Abbaye de Jumièges
Jumièges

"L'abbaye de Jumièges (près de Rouen et de Saint Georges de Boscherville) fut fondée en 654 par Saint Philibert, grâce à un don que lui fit Clovis II. Elle prospéra jusqu'à ce que les invasions normandes la ruinent (841). La renaissance de l'abbaye se fit en deux étapes. Dans un premier temps, elle reprit vie avec l'arrivée de moines bénédictins en 940. Dans un second temps, elle recouvra son rayonnement d'avant les invasions grâce à Guillaume de Volpiano (le concepteur de la rotonde de Sainte Bégnine de Dijon). Guillaume le Conquérant assista à la consécration de l'abbatiale principale en 1067." - Architecture Religieuse en Occident

Eternal flame
Buzuluk

In Russia the only reliable means of obtaining information regarding train times and ticketing is to visit the local railway station.

Town centre
Buzuluk

What would Lenin make of these changing times?

Kazan Kremlin
Kazan

"The Kazan Kremlin (Russian: Казанский Кремль; Tatar Cyrillic: Казан кирмәне, Latin: Qazan kirmäne) is the chief historic citadel of Tatarstan, situated in the city of Kazan. It was built on behest of Ivan the Terrible on the ruins of the former castle of Kazan khans. It was declared a World Heritage Site in 2000." - Wikipedia

Château-Gaillard
Les Andelys

"Richard I of England, simultaneously feudal Duke of Normandy, ordered that the castle be built in little more than 12 months, between 1197 and 1198. The goal was to protect Rouen and Richard's duchy of Normandy from the French kings, but Richard died due to an infected arrow wound on his shoulder before the fortress was complete.

The construction of Château Gaillard was taken over by his brother John. The building of the castle continued but for two alterations at John's request. One was to have an extra window built on the chapel's outer wall and the other was to have an extra toilet in the chapel." - Wikipedia

Lily Pond
Claude Monet's Garden
Giverny

"In 1893 Claude Monet bought this piece of land, then separated from the Clos Normand by the little railway line and the Chemin du Roy (the "King's Way").

Obtaining official permission to dig his ponds was a long and difficult business, but by 1895 Monet was able to build the elegantly ornate Japanese Bridge, now entirely restored." - The Claude Monet Foundation

Chirk Castle

"The castle was built in 1295 by Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March as part of King Edward I's chain of fortresses across the north of Wales. It guards the entrance to the Ceiriog Valley. It was the administrative centre for the Marcher Lordship of Chirkland" - Wikipedia

Signal Box
Koltubanka

As a very hot day gradually cooled, we took an evening stroll around Koltubanka.

Kinder Low
Peak District

A circular walk along the western edge of Kinder Scout.

The walk starts at Bowden Bridge car park near Hayfield, skirts around the northern bank of Kinder Reservoir before climbing William Clough. At the top of William Clough the path heads east towards Kinder Downfall, turns south to Kinderlow, south west towards Kinderlow End before descending to Tungsten Clough Farm and back to Bowden Bridge.

Lose Hill
Hope
Derbyshire

A circular walk around Hope Valley.