Had to stop for this shot of the sun coming up over the top of a rise.
The River Stour on its way through Canterbury. If you look carefully, above the boat you can see a chair on a wooden beam. This is the Ducking Stool and dates from the days of the witch hunters. The idea was that a suspected witch would be strapped into the chair and lowered into the water in an effort to make him/her confess. If she did not confess she was put under for longer, until the witch hunters thought he/she should have drowned. They were then lifted out again. If they were dead, well, hm, maybe they were not a witch afterall. Still, they were in Heaven now, so that was OK. If the witch was still alive, well that proved they were a witch and they were burnt at the stake!
This building used to fascinate me when I was a kid.
Check out the door! And there are still people who think that having something that was Made in Britain is a good thing!
11 comments:
Ok - I'm definitely coming for a visit one day - great pics! - Loved the river pic!
These were fantastic!
I'm in love...
This has been so much fun!!
I love the river picture and that building was hilarious! They must have cut that door to make it work...LOL!!
Thanks again!
That building would drive me crazy if I had to look at it every day. I'd want to FIX it!
Rock Chef...these are great pictures, the dunking stool story is great, reminded me (for some reason) of the Bridge of Sighs,then that kooky building...I'm with Terri, my OCD would kick in and I would want to straighten that up. Thank you so much for sharing your lovely home with us, I feel like a true armchair traveller.
Zig - The river is great isn't it? I should have mentioned that Pizza Express is just on the right, so you can eat lunch and watch the river go past.
Jen - Glad you enjoyed these.
Ali - Of course, it is not all this quaint and nice. Maybe I need to do a set of photos of the less pleasant side of the place...
Logzie - I am sure this place has had a lot of work done to stop it just tipping over!
Terri - FIX IT? That would be like straightening up The Leaning Tower of Pisa!
Kiki - You too? Sigh. Glad you liked the ducking stool. Talk about a no-win situation!
Love the pictures. I love the country side. I love the hidtory of old buildings & castles & such. Good thing we didn't live back in those days.
My Father in-law is from England & still goes & visits. He tells us sotries all the time. Hopefully we can pay a visit this summer. Can't live on Europe & not visit other countries.
We'll be praying for you & your wife.
The crooked building is insane! The river photo is trememdous and I thoroughly enjoyed the story of the dunking stool. Thanks for the picture post and history lesson! You're the best!
that bldg fascinates me and i'm not a kid!! cool bldg!
i love the pics. is this your neighborhood?? if so, you're a very lucky man. beautiful area.
i've never been into the countryside while in the UK, but i definitely want to some day.
interesting story about the witches. didn't know that at all. does anyone sit in that chair? or just there for looks or what?
They built it like that to single out the tourists. ;)
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