Odeon Building, Leek

Odeon Building

(Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 17-70mm @ 17mm, 1/320s @ f/8.0)
The Odeon Building in Leek. I guess that at one time this half-timbered, "magpie" building at a major crossroads in Leek housed the Odeon Cinema. It now houses a large antique centre.

All Saints, Leek Flower Festival

Arrangement on the font

(Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 17-70mm @ 25mm, 1/100s @ f/5.0 ISO 800)
This year is the 125th anniversary of the completion of the Grade I listed All Saints church in Leek. The church was designed by Richard Norman Shaw, one of the leading architects of the Arts and Crafts movement. As part of the celebrations for the anniversary the church is holding a flower festival and embroidery display this weekend. The displays are very well done by the Leek Floral Arts Group and members of the church. The embroideries include both modern works and past works from the Leek Embroidery Society, part of the Arts and Crafts movement established in 1879 by Elizabeth Wardle whose husband, Thomas Wardle, was a silk importer and an associate of William Morris. The photo below shows a detail from the "Arts and Crafts Stole" designed by Thomas Wardle Jnr. and created by Lady Gaunt, daughter of Elizabeth Wardle.

Detail of the Arts and Crafts Stole

Hen Cloud

Hen Cloud from The Roaches

(Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 17-70mm @ 33mm, 1/500s @ f/8.0)
Another photo from my walk along the Roaches on Monday. Hen Cloud is an outcrop of gritstone on the same line as the Roaches but separated by a saddle. Both the Roaches and Hen Cloud, along with nearby Ramshaw Rocks, are popular climbing areas.

Peak National Park

Peak National Park sign

(Canon EOS 60D, Tamron 10-24mm @ 14mm, 1/500s @ f/8, HDR of 3 images)
Has summer arrived at last? This is the iconic sign for the Peak District National Park. The more modern signs are not nearly so distinctive. For those that don't know, the wheel like object is a millstone. The Gritstone mined in Derbyshire was the main source of millstones for England in the past. This photo taken near Onecote in Staffordshire.

Doxey Pool

Doxey Pool on the Roaches

(Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 17-70mm @ 17mm, 1/500s @ f/8.0, 3 image panorama)
Doxey Pool on the Roaches is a mysterious place. The pool, never dry, sits near the top of the ridge. There is no stream flowing in or out. The water is a dark peaty brown, nearly opaque. Doxey Pool is associated with the legend of "Jenny Green-teeth", a monster that inhabits the allegedly bottomless depths. Jenny is said to have long, weedy green hair, talons and sharp teeth. She will appear and grab anyone who enters the pool and drag them down to their watery grave!

Well Dressing

Brown Edge Well Dressing

(Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 17-70mm @ 53mm, 1/125s @ f/10)
We are now well into the well dressing season for the Peak District. The village of Brown Edge in the Staffordshire Moorlands is not actually in the National Park but does maintain the tradition by dressing three wells. This years theme is fairly obvious, the Jubilee and the Olympics. The wells are traditionally dressed using flower petals, foliage, lichens, mosses and seeds pressed into a bed of wet clay. Those in Brown Edge this year have used a large amount of coloured gravel which, while not traditional, stands up well to the ravages of the heavy rainfall we have been having.

An Olympic theme