Monday Mourning ~ Winter Sun

The Rt Hon. The Lord Colwyn ~ 2nd Baron of Colwyn

In 

Loving Memory of

My Dear Husband

Ian

The Right Hon.

The Lord Colwyn

Who Died 31st May 1966

Aged 51 Years

Frederick John Vivian ~ Ian ~ Smith, 2nd Baron Colwyn was born on 26 November 1914.
He was the son of Hon. Frederick Henry Hamilton Smith and Hilda Ross.

He was educated at Malvern College in Worcestershire. During the Second World War he gained the rank of Captain in the service of the 2nd Battalion, Gordon Highlanders, where he was wounded. 
He became a Stockbroker after the war and succeeded to the title of 2nd Baron Colwyn, of Colwyn Bay, co. Denbigh, on 26 January 1946.

He married three times, firstly to Miriam Gwendoline Ferguson in December 1940 and they divorced in 1951. They had two sons, Ian Anthony Hamilton~Smith, 3rd Baron Colwyn who was born in January 1942 and Timothy Hamilton~Smith, born in June 1944.

His second marriage to Hermione Sophia O'Bryen Hoare in July 1952 ended in divorce in 1954, he then married for a third time to Beryl Walker in January 1955. 

He died on 29 May 1966 at age 51.
     

Struck By Lightning

In Memory of

Helen

Beloved Wife of

Albert Donald Humphris

Who Was Killed By Lightning

on 30th May 1949

and

In Loving Memory of

Don

Who Died 11th October 1982

Much Loved Husband of

Joan Franklin Humphris

Requiescat in Pace

I think it seems like such a tragic accident, that after surviving the Second World War, Mrs Helen Humphris was killed by lightning. 

About 24,000 people are killed around the world every year by lightning and another 240,000 are injured. In the UK between 30 and 60 people are typically struck by lightning every year. 

From 1852 to 1859 there was an annual average of 19 lightning fatalities. The figure dropped to 12 deaths from 1900 to 1949, then five a year from 1950 to 1999. 

Since then it has fallen to about three per year, due to fewer people working outdoors and better awareness of the risks. 

In the UK you are 600 times more likely to die in a road accident than from lightning strike, twice as likely to die froma Bee sting or a falling tree and 130 times more likely to drown.

Talking Tombstones of Föhr ~ Do Not Break My Grave.....

So Do Not Break My Grave As It Will Awaken Me In Time

Here lies Blessed Commander 

Simon Tuhis Pootans ~ Midlum ~ 

who was born 23rd Oct.1742 in Wrixum

His first marriage is told on the reverse side

3rd Jan. 1783 he married a second time Gontje Martinen from Midlum

with whom he lived well for  ? years.

He died 17th March 1792 aged 49 years.

His wife Gontje Simons 

was born 14th June in Alkersum 

and died 14th March 1819 at the age of 80 years.

Death Can Only Give Us That Wishing Souls are Living.

Silent Sunday Cemetery Scapes ~ Ascension Burial Ground, Cambridge

Talking Tombstones of Föhr ~ Boldixsum, Germany

Here rests in God

Seel Lobbe ~ last name is not legible

Daughter Anna so born 1711 the 15th

June. Married to the Shipman Nikels Jappen

1735 the 30th December. 

During the marriage were born 2 daughters and after

the husband died in 1740 in November 

during a journey to St. Valert,

she walked into another marriage

to Commander Namen Frerck 1744 the 4th December.

Unfortunately the remaining information on this stone is underground. 

It is a fine example of the 'Talking Tombstones of Föhr' ~ a North Frisian Island off the coast of Germany ~ The tombstones are so called because of the amount of personal information they contain and the carvings upon them also depict a wealth of information too.

Pictured above we can see the woman ascending to heaven with the five daughters from her second marriage looking on from one side and her first two daughters looking on from the other side and are shown smaller and lower.

Silent Sunday Cemetery Scapes ~ St. Nicolai, Boldixsum, Föhr, Germany

Saxophone Inventor ~ Adolphe Sax

Adolphe Sax was born on 6th November 1814 in Wallonia, Belgium. His father was an instrument designer and so Adolphe began to make his own instruments at an early age. Adolphe studied music at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels.

Adolphe's first important invention was an improvement of the bass clarinet which he patented at the age of 24.

He moved to Paris in 1841 and began working on a new set of instruments, these valved bugles became so successful that they became known as Saxhorns, with a range of approximately seven sizes in all from Sopranino to subcontrabass and he patented them in 1846. 

He also created the Saxtromba, but this was to survive only briefly and the unsuccessful clarinette~bourdon an early design of contrabass clarinet.

Saxhorn instruments spread rapidly throughout the world and remain largely unchanged today. The British Brass Band movement exclusively adopted the saxhorn range and they are widely used in Concert bands. However they never became a standard Orchestral instrument for which they had been intended to be used.

A plaque on the side of Adolphe Sax's tomb

The saxophone made Adolphe his reputation and secured him a teaching post at the Paris Conservatoire in 1857.

Adolphe suffered from lip cancer between 1853~58 and although he made a full recovery, he died in Paris in 1894.

The Saxophone Family

Belgium's Famous Son is celebrated on currency and postage

A variety of Saxophone styles

Light Jazz Sax ~ Cry me a River ~ Tenor Sax

Ravel ~ Bolero ~ Mi~Bemol Saxophone Ensemble

Piazzolla ~ Libertango ~ The Italian Saxophone Quartet

Rimsky Korsakov ~ Scheherazade ~ Mi~Bemol Saxophone Ensemble

Tex Beneke and the Glenn Miller Orchestra ~ In the Mood

Valentine's Day ~ Serge Gainsbourg ~ 'Je t'aime..'

You can tell by the lipstick kisses and other mementos ~ I once found a cabbage which had a message in Japanese writing on it ! ~ that the admirers of Serge Gainsbourg have an emotional connection to the man who gave us the once controversial song Je t'aime...moi non plus 

Serge Gainsbourg's name at Birth: Lucien Ginsburg ~ 2nd April 1928 ~ 2nd March 1991

Father: Joseph 1898 ~ 1971  Mother: Olga 1894 ~ 1985 

Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin

Although the song was banned in several countries as it gave the impression of two people making love, it reached no.1 in the UK charts in 1969. 

Je t'aime...moi non plus

Silent Sunday Cemetery Scapes ~ Welford Road Cemetery, Leicester

Protecting Monuments ~ All Wrapped Up for Winter

In Loving

Memory of

A Beloved Husband and Father

George Cox

Died Feb 7th 1968

Aged 69 Years

Christina Maria

A Devoted Wife and Mother

Died Feb 12th 1980

Aged 80 Years

Looking more like a Ghostly Spectre than a Saint, this monument has been all wrapped up for protection against the winter despite the mild sunny autumn afternoon when we found it. 

The Saint depicted is St. Martin de Porres 1579~1639, who was a lay brother of the Dominican Order, he is the patron saint of people of mixed race and those seeking interacial harmony. 

Click here to see the monument Unveiled 

Silent Sunday Cemetery Scapes ~ San Michele, Venice, Italy

  

Britain's Longest Grave ~ Centenary

Believed to be Britain's longest grave, this memorial which is more than 98ft long, is dedicated to the crew of the 'Hera' who lost their lives when their vessel sank off the Cornish coast.

One hundreds year ago today, the German barque 'Hera' had been 90 days into it's voyage to Chile when it hit rocks off the Roseland peninsula and was wrecked. It was carrying a cargo of nitrates when it struck a reef during a thick fog.
Of a crew of 24, only five of them survived and only 12 bodies that were recovered are now buried in the churchyard of St.Symphorian in the village of Veryan in Cornwall. 

A Maltese sailor was almost missed by rescuers after spending the night clinging to rigging in cold winter seas. When the lifeboat retrieved only four of the men, Joseph Cauchi  had to call out to be saved or he too would have perished. 

In this centenary year the crew of the 'Hera' are being honoured with a requiem service, concert and exhibition by the local community.

Silent Sunday Cemetery Scapes ~ Pere Lachaise, Paris , France

When Monuments Watch You

Le Docteur

Guy Pitchal

Nous A Quittes 

~ he left us ~

26th February 1989

1922 ~ 1989

Doctor Guy Pitchal was a Psychoanalyst who was known for his work with many French celebrities, including the singer Dalida whose own monument is not far from this one. 

It makes perfect sense to me, that a psychoanalyst should have such a fascinating monument that highlights how we perceive the world around us, by proving that things are not always as we think they appear to be.   

Sadly the quality of this short clip is pretty poor, as the pathways are cobbled and this made filming and maintaining your balance whilst walking was rather difficult. But it shows how the concave face becomes convex as it appears to turn and watch you as you pass by.

Guy Pitchal

Click on this link to understand the Hollow Face Illusion 

Below is another example of how we perceive using our right and left hand sides of the brain.