Poppies, Photos, Peregrines and Princes

On Friday we drove over to Derby to see the Weeping Window poppies which are at present adorning the tower of the Silk Mill at the side of the River Derwent.  

 The tour of the ceramic poppies is organised by '14-18 Now' the UK's art programme for the centenary of the First World War.

The poppies were the concept of and designed by Paul Cummins and the installation was designed  by Tom Piper.  These poppies are some of those from the original installation 'Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red' which were first seen at the Tower of London in 2014.

They looked wonderful in the bright sunshine.

I like the Silk Mill building anyway so it was great to see it draped with poppies.

As we stood and looked at the poppies we could here the mewling up above from one of the peregrine falcons which nest every year on the nearby Cathedral.  My camera was stretched to its limits but I did get a mediocre photo of the bird.  Here is a link  to the Derby Cathedral Peregrine Project's Blog.

I like this little area of Derby with its individual shops and cafes and a small independent department store called Bennetts.  The bunting was out blowing in the breeze which added a quite festive feel to the street, it was good to feel the warmth of the sun too.

The statue above is of Charles Edward Stuart usually referred to as 'Bonnie Prince Charlie' or 'The Young Pretender.' On 4h December 1745 at the height of the Jacobite Rebellion he marched with around six thousand men from Ashbourne towards Derby intending to ride towards London.   Two days later he was beating a retreat northwards and back to Scotland.  Four months later, on 6th April 1746 he was defeated at the Battle of Culloden.  Here is  more information

We met him again in the Museum and Art Gallery.  We had popped into the museum to see a photographic exhibition before it closes this weekend.

The exhibition is called People Place and Things  and explores early studio photography from 1854 onwards by using a collection of photos taken over the years by local photographers W.W. Winter which is, apparently one of the oldest running studios in the world.

There were lots of visitors enjoying the photographs and several finding people and places they knew.  There was a small group of people who were delighted to find their grandfather and uncles on a wonderful photo of Walter Tickner's butchers shop.  Below is a photo of the WW Winter photographic studio in the early 20th century.

Paul was thrilled to find a photo of a trainee pilot in a flight simulator at Derby Airport c. 1938.  So, as an early birthday treat for him, we bought the book which accompanies the exhibition.