Totnes Close Ups

Originally published on Photoblog by Gethin Thomas MAY. 15, 2021

This is it. Definitely the last set in this series from my Totnes walk, although there will be future walks covering different parts of town. I really hate being mean about Totnes, after all I must like it to keep going there. I secretly suspect that all the people you see, are hired by the tourist board and all go to a big changing room at 5.30 where they change into gym wear casuals before going home. A bit like a Hippy Truman Show. I think there is a lot to be said for a Hippy Truman Show, and that probably makes me Truman. I am just safe in the knowledge that unlike Truman I can go home at the end of the day, without a nuclear disaster unfolding as I head up the hill in my car. Anyway, in the Hippy Truman Show it would be a Wind Farm disaster that closed the roads.

First a retro mix outside a café in the High Street. It may look like an accident but I will have you know these were probably bought as a brand new "retro" set, ready aged and weathered called something like "Carnaby Street". You pay extra for the scratches and the rust. The rustic (not rusty) organic food, all locally sourced and plant based is guaranteed to taste better too, sitting at a "Carnaby Street" dining set, even if it takes a lot more chewing. All my food is plant based as I only eat grass fed beef. (That isn't my joke but it is worth re-telling). I never realised that goji berries, rice and quinoa grew in these climes but who am I to argue. Faded Formica is definitely in.

Carnaby Street is an iconic shopping street in London, redolent of the swinging sixties, now redolent of pretending we are still in the swinging sixties. It shouts fashion, style and colour, or it did. I think it is more Tower Bridge and Big Ben snow globes now.

Quite a few of the close ups in this set relate to pictures in the other sets so if interested I suggest you browse those too.

Totnes Signs

Totnes Town

Totnes Market

Totnes People

This is the Queen Victoria Jubilee memorial fountain mentioned elsewhere and it is quite a structure incorporating many different stone carved features.

The fountain part is formed from stylised dolphins.

On the reverse of the fountain are The Prince of Wales's feathers. A heraldic badge of the Prince of Wales, the heir to the throne. It consists of three white ostrich feathers emerging from a gold coronet. A ribbon below the coronet bears the motto Ich Dien, "I Serve", which is a statement of loyalty to the Queen and country taken as heir to the throne. This may have been included as the fountain was erected some years after Victoria died when the Prince of Wales had already become King Edward VII.

I can't exactly pin down the origin or meaning of this castle and keys motif below. As far as I can guess, the Tower of London is symbolic of the monarchy and in particular, the post Norman Conquest monarchy. The Tower of London was built as a symbol of power after the Norman invasion in 1066. Even today there is a major symbolic office at the tower called the Keeper of the Keys.

While the Tower remains a living fortress, changing and adapting as times demand, it still maintains centuries of colourful traditions.

Best known among them is the ceremonial locking and unlocking of the gates of the fortress, which has taken place for centuries, and has become known as The Ceremony of the Keys. This the time-honoured challenge that has been barked out by a soldier guarding the Tower, nearly every night for seven centuries. The formal locking and unlocking of the Tower gates started in the mid 1300s, on the orders of a furious Edward III. The King turned up unannounced at the Tower one night in December 1340 and walked straight in, unchallenged!

After imprisoning the Constable of the Tower, Edward de la Beche, for dereliction of duty, Edward decreed that the castle should be locked at sunset and unlocked at sunrise.

Let this be a lesson in life going forward. Never volunteer to be the key holder at work. It is a thankless task. Had they had burglar alarms back in 1340 it is Edward de la Beche who would have got the phone call in the middle of the night and he would have had to go back to the office to check things out. Preferable to life in prison I grant you, but you never met his wife, she would have given him hell in the morning

The story goes that the only time the ceremony has ever been disrupted during the intervening 681 years was when a bomb fell on the Tower on 29 December 1940. The Chief Yeoman Warder was blown off his feet, but otherwise unhurt.

William John Wills was born in Totnes on the 5th January, 1834. As a boy Wills seems to have early developed an enquiring and thoughtful mind. His father says he was never a child in the common acceptation of the term, as he gave early indication of diligence and discretion scarcely compatible with the helplessness and simplicity of such tender years. He was educated at the Ashburton Grammar School, where he went as a boarder when eleven years of age.

Mr. Fabyan Amery, one of his schoolfellows, speaks of him as having always been a very scientific boy, and very observant of natural phenomena, which he always tried to get some scientific reason for. There appears to have been nothing remarkable in his progress at school, though his master commended his steady diligence and uniform propriety of conduct Mr. Paige remarked on one occasion to his father, “It vexes me that John does not take a top prize, for I see by his countenance that he understands as much, if not more, than any boy in my school; yet from want of readiness in answering he allows very inferior lads to win the tickets from him.”

But all said and done, we don't remember any of those boys and William John Wills went on to make history.

The Burke and Wills expedition was organised by the Royal Society of Victoria in Australia in 1860–61. It consisted of 19 men led by Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills, with the objective of crossing Australia from Melbourne in the south, to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north, a distance of around 3,250 kilometres (approximately 2,000 miles). At that time most of the inland of Australia had not been explored by non-Indigenous people and was largely unknown to the European settlers.

Wills. “As the great object of the science is the correction of error and the investigation of truth, it necessarily leads all those that feel an interest in it to a higher appreciation and desire for truth;"

Burke. “I consider myself very fortunate in having Mr, Wills as my second in command. He is a capital officer, zealous and untiring in the performance of his duties, and I trust he will remain my second as long as I am in charge of the expedition.”

The return journey was disastrous and when they arrived back at the main camp in Cooper's Creek having reached their goal, they discovered that the party awaiting them had left only seven hours before. They had left a note and some buried provisions. Wills buried his journals at Cooper's Creek before they continued their journey making a fateful decision on which route they would use which ultimately led to their deaths.

Before starting Wills’ journals were buried in the cache, with the following note from Burke:

“Depot No. 2, Cooper’s Creek Camp, 65.

“The return party from Carpentaria, consisting of myself, Wills, and King (Grey dead), arrived here last night and found that the depot party had only started on the same day. We proceed on to-morrow, slowly down the creek towards Adelaide by Mount Hopeless, and shall endeavour to follow Gregory’s track; but we are very weak. The two camels are done up, and we shall not be able to travel faster than four or five miles a day. Grey died on the road from exhaustion and fatigue. We have all suffered much from hunger. The provisions left here will, I think, restore our strength. We have discovered a practicable route to Carpentaria, the chief position of which lies in the 140° of east longitude. There is some good country between this and the Stony Desert. From thence to the tropics the land is dry and stony. Between the Carpentaria a considerable portion is rangy, but well watered and richly grassed. We reached the shores of Carpentaria on the 11th of February, 1861. Greatly disappointed at finding the party here gone.

“(Signed) Robert O’Hara Burke, Leader.

“April 22nd, 1861.

“P.S. – The camels cannot travel, and we cannot walk, or we should follow the other party. We shall move very slowly down the creek.”

A life's lesson from me at this point. When you have two routes to choose from, probably avoid the one that goes via Mount Hopeless. Above all we should remember that Wills who was an unremarkable schoolboy, crossed the world, and then crossed a continent on foot. The driest and hottest continent on the planet.

Think of it this way. When we eventually send humans to Mars they will be sent to an area that has over a forty year period, been mapped, photographed, measured and sampled. There will be shelter waiting for them to assemble and food and water, or the means to make it, waiting for their arrival. Thousands of people and hundreds of thousands of work hours will have gone into ensuring they can get there and get back safely.

The Burke and Wills expedition travelled blind and carried everything on foot. They knew less about the conditions and geography and weather that awaited them than will our first travellers to Mars. When Wills died he was just 27.

Today it is not uncommon for 27 year olds to still be living in their parent's spare bedrooms while they ruminate on how hard done by they are and how oppressed they are, and how few opportunities they have. Not having found a continent they haven't even "found themselves". Their main achievement in life more likely to be a plan to destroy a memorial.

It takes a certain assuredness and self-confidence to decide to have the name of your business carved into granite. Of course they didn't have digitally printed plastic banners as a choice. Did Daniel Defoe walk across these stones back in the 1720's on his " Tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain", carrying his notes and writing materials?

There is something about all the small details that I like about this window. The patterned wallpaper, fruit juice, multi surface cleaner, the promise of a good roast coffee, artificial sweet peas, and best of all the assortment of vintage china on the window ledge. Then there is the doorbell and hint of a fire extinguisher. There is even a TripAdvisor sticker, I wonder what it says.

This is an architectural detail from an old church doorway. I can imagine the architect adding the various layers of different materials and decorated elements as he drew up the plans to impress the client. It is understated, but solid and dependable, plain, while stylish. Unnecessary but showing attention to detail.

This on the other hand, below, is a bit of plumbing madness that may have inspired Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano to design the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Why put the pipes inside when you can put them outside?

In my Totnes Signs post I showed the Mod Barber and explained the background. Well, parked up just around the corner was this scooter so I rest my case. This cannot be a coincidence.

This little birdy was part of an installation you can see in Totnes Town.

This was in the courtyard of the Totnes Museum.

As was this grindstone below.

On the front of the museum are these three unusual carvings. Modern additions to a very old building.

The museum is housed in an Elizabethan merchant's house that was built c.1575 for the Kelland family. The house has many original features and has been carefully restored.

Totnes Museum has twelve galleries, a courtyard, and a herb garden. The collections date from 5000BC onwards, including coins minted in Totnes during Saxon times, and concern the cultural, economic, and social history of Totnes.

The galleries include a Babbage Room, presenting Charles Babbage, the Victorian mathematician who invented the Difference Engine and Analytical Engine, mechanical precursors of the modern computer. Babbage spent his youth in Totnes and studied at King Edward VI Grammar School there.

After having been owned by the Crown during the Civil War the building eventually returned to being a private residence. In 1764 the house became the Eugene Inn and remained an inn for many years. By 1871 solicitor George Presswell lived here with his family. In 1910 the building was sold and became the Elizabethan Cafe.

In 1957 the building was in a poor condition and bought by Totnes Borough Council. They restored it to its former glory and converted the building into a museum.

Interestingly in the picture below you can see the monogram of Queen Elizabeth II. This denotes that the unusual carvings were made during the time it was restored shortly after 1957.

The Time Traveller's Shop window. Bottom left is the same RAF roundel seen on the Mod Barber's sign in Totnes Signs. This is the logo of The Jam.

The Jam were an English mod revival/punk rock band during the 1970s and early 1980s, which formed in 1972 at Sheerwater Secondary School in Woking, in the county of Surrey. The band released 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 1982, including four number one hits.

The police mugshot is Jim Morrison. James Douglas Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer, songwriter and poet, who was the lead vocalist of the rock band the Doors. Due to his wild personality, poetic lyrics, distinctive voice, unpredictable and erratic performances, and the dramatic circumstances surrounding his life and early death, Morrison is regarded by music critics and fans as one of the most iconic and influential frontmen in rock history. Since his death, his fame has endured as one of popular culture's most rebellious and oft-displayed icons, representing the generation gap and youth counterculture.

"Riders on the Storm" was recorded at the Doors Workshop in December 1970 with the assistance of Bruce Botnick. Morrison recorded his main vocals and then whispered the lyrics over them to create an echo effect. It was the last song recorded by all four members of the Doors, as well as Morrison's last recorded song to be released in his lifetime. The single was released in June 1971, entering the Billboard Hot 100 the week ending July 3, 1971, the same week that Morrison died.

(I must add here that after writing the above paragraph about "Riders of the Storm", I saved and switched off the PC, to return later and finish the narrative to accompany this post. Within five minutes of switching off the PC and with the radio on, Rider's on the Storm started to play on air. A very, very strange coincidence which had I been superstitious could have had quite an impact)

Like William Wills detailed above, Morrison died at the age of 27. His death came two years to the day after the death of Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones and approximately nine months after the deaths of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin — all of whom died at the age of 27. Three years after Morrison's death, Pamela Courson, his girlfriend, also died, of a heroin overdose, at the age of 27.

I could probably write several chapters more on the subjects gathered together in this window display. It certainly is The Time Traveller's Shop.

This photo, below, is better left a mystery. What is life without mysteries?

This seat is for sitting on when you are eating gelato. The seat is reminiscent of the seats found on farm machinery of the past. It brings to mind my uncle's Ferguson tractor, grey with red wheels, that he once let me drive. I was about fourteen, and while it was an exciting prospect, once it got going, not having the faintest idea of how to stop immediately terrorised me. My uncle was also responsible for giving me my first gun to have a go with. It was a shotgun that he shot rabbits with. He set up a tin can on the farm gate for me. When I fired it the shock of the noise and the jolt to the shoulder meant I was in no hurry to do it again, which was probably just as well, seeing as I nearly obliterated the gate completely. I will never forget watching him skin a rabbit in about eight seconds and then watching my grandmother pop it into a stew. I was really puzzled as to why they went to shops to buy food when they could have done this every day. Those days of summer when the weather was always perfect and I roamed the farm all day looking for adventure, form some of my best memories of childhood.

It may have been catching trout, or finding an outcrop of clay by the river which I harvested to make a kiln and fire it with some hand made pots inside, all of which broke into pieces, or chopping firewood or milking the cows or plucking the chickens, after their little throats had been cut, or making dens, or collecting blackberries. One thing was for sure, nobody ever heard me utter the words, I'm bored. After all, I knew that ancient mound down in the bottom field probably contained ancient treasure.

This yellow gate, below, is part of some restoration work happening at the church. I just liked the coming together of the corrugated metal the peeling paint and the vibrant green of the tree.

Either side of the main door into the church are two stone carved heads. They look to me like an aristocratic pair, man and woman. The church is Grade I listed, all I found was this, "enriched, arched doorways with C16 inner door decorated in Early Renaissance manner."

If these faces are C16 they are the photographs of their day bringing these people into the future.

Just a nice arrangement of railings in a bright colour. Why not?

I mentioned in Totnes Signs, that the street bollards were covered in small woollen hats so here are some more.

And finally, below, a photo, not of a shop window but of somebody's home. A good note to leave Totnes on. I will be back.

In the market was this display of jewellery, which escaped the market post so I wanted to give it a second chance as a Close Up.