Blog

My Grandfather had a postcard of Huck’s Bridge. When it came into my possession I was surprised that this small corner of Cumbria was printed on a postcard and then later even more surprised to find more of them existed (the joy of ebay).

I’m not sure where he acquired the card but he had it because of our family connection to this bridge.

The Hucks can be traced back to the 1500s in this part of eastern Westmorland (now Cumbria). Huck’s Brow and Huck’s Bridge on the A6 are a reminder of the influence they once had in this area.

Huck’s Bridge is named after the First Toll Keeper, Gerrard Huck who was Toll Keeper there in 1777. The family moved from Shap to High Borrow Bridge some time in the mid 1600s and descendants of the family have remained in the parish until the present day.

From ‘A Life by Huck’s Brow’ by Anne Hyelman..

“In 1745 they reluctantly played host to the remnants of Bonnie Prince Charles’s army, having the foresight to bury the pewter and oatmeal in the field behind. The rebels stayed one night and left the next day taking all the household footwear in exchange for the tattered remains of their own once fine shoes. The visit of the Highlanders and the burial of the pewter are well documented. Family tradition also tells that it was a devil of a job finding the buried pewter afterwards!

The bridge was built by Francis Webster in 1826.

A great small local history museum run by volunteers. As well as enjoying the museum I loved the location. It’s well situated, allowing you to explore the beautiful quiet back streets, escaping the busy high street with amazing views over the village.

Robin Hood’s Bay Museum

There seemed to be a plethra of vintage poster maps in the French flea markets and second hand shops. These colourful and simple educational ones are my favourites.

With the last batch of 600 film all gone from the polaroid factory prices are rising fast. Although I have some left I don’t think I will buy anymore unless the impossible project do the impossible and bring it back.. here’s hoping.

Gardens at Blois, Loire

• More polaroids taken in France

Château de Cheverny was Hergé’s inspiration for Château de Moulinsart which featured in ‘The Adventures of Tintin’ books. Cheverny has adapted one of their buildings into a beautifully crafted Tintin exhibition, which may be closest you can get to walking through the comic book.

First of some flea market finds from France. At Agde’s regular wednesday market I fell for these Rich Hochet comic books. I wish I could read them but the colourful action-packed covers are enough to keep me happy.

I’ve often admired the design of British road signs but hadn’t appreciated the standard traffic light system until I visited the David Mellor workshop and museum. It was a pleasant surprise to discover David Mellor had designed them along with many other objects including his famous cutlery which is still made on site.

I was inspired to visit after reading Shelf Appeal and agree that the small horn and rosewood coffee spoon is very pretty so I picked one up for myself.

I’ve made a few unsuccessful Gocco prints since my first one. Its fustrating when it goes wrong - the wasted screens, bulbs, ink and time. But when it goes well its rewarding. Freshly printed are this year’s christmas cards.. the skating chimp.

Things I have learnt in the past few efforts. Always test inks before applying them to the screen - with some of the older inks the oil has separated and comes out the tube first - this made my paper stick to a screen. Don’t put the foam separators too close to the ink area as the will stop it from printing a solid colour. Start designing with the colours you have - I scanned in the tube packaging and made a illustrator swatch palette with the colours so I could easily experiment. I’ve found mixing colours hasn’t worked very well. Yellow hardly shows up on the off-white card I use. More complicated designs look better on screen, more simple ones look better printed.

Prints are available in my Maraid Etsy shop.

On the list of things to do on holiday in Prague, along with the usual tourist attractions, was Terry Posters. Terry Posters sell original Czechoslovakian film posters, many of them vintage. It’s perfectly situated in Světozor Cinema.

When I was finished I had visual overload and my hands hurt from flicking through the racks. It was a joy. We bought five lovely ones from the 1970s. Terry Posters is also online.