Nature and Culture

We have been gallivanting around the Forest of Dean eating wild boar sausage rolls and crashing through undergrowth looking for esoteric crags... Well Dr Fred has - I followed slightly less enthusiastically - enjoying stunning scenery and some interesting flora and fauna. 

texture

Its been quite hot which makes moving at any speed and distance hard work but I'm not going to complain just take it steady and enjoy the summer... it wont last too long.  we camped at the yew tree inn just out side Ross on Wye - we had been before - it was adequate but not as nice as we remembered it - I think last time we were desperate and pitched up the one night of the week they served food - out main reason for stopping at a pub camp site - fortunately we had supplies with us so we didn't starve and the beer was quite nice..

Forest

Having exhausted local crags in  Ross on Wye and then headed for r&r at hotel chez friends in Bath - excellent facilities - fantastic food and good company - even some sunshine thrown in - rare whenever I visit Bath and they have a lovely garden to sit out in. 

The weather didn't hold so we took advantage of a rainy afternoon and went to visit The Holburne Museum - an eclectic mix of art which included and very lovely piece by Graham Fagan called A Slaves Lament -  a collaboration with reggae artist Ghetto Priest, composer Sally Beamish and dub producer Adrian Sherewood to produce  a musical installation of A Robert Burns poem representing slavery - (this is a simple explanation) - its in a gallery where there are many portraits of slave traders... making an obvious point.

A Slaves Lament

There was also a charming collection of work by Lauren Child - a childrens illustrator known mainly for her Lola and Charlies books.  It included some of her sketch books, works in progress , finished works and some 'stage set' scenes made to illustrate fairy tales.

Lauren Child The Princess and the Pea

There was also a visiting exhibition of work by Edouard Vuillard and a very interesting display of craft collected by one person over several decades showing all different facets of art and crafts.

ceramic bag and contents

All this was intermingled with the permanent collection - lots of traditional Victorian art much of it associated with the locality and people who lived and worked in and around Bath.

Its a lovely museum, just the right size to avoid museum leg and has a good balance of exhibits to cover all taste.... nice cafe too.