The Old Library - St John's College Oxford

Yesterday I had the enormous privilege of a visit to the old library at St John's College, Oxford.

As readers of the late, great Terry Pratchett will know, books have to be chained up to keep readers safe....

...dangerous things books.

Chained books had to shelved with the spine facing away, so the shelf mark had to be written on the leaves of the book.

A rod would have been passed through the ring on the end of the chain....

...and then secured in this gap between the desk and the bookshelf.

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Abbaye Sainte-Marie-de-la-Pierre-qui-Vire

Deep in the woods… …you can find a magnificent… …Benedictine Abbey, which you may have heard of, as they make very good cheese. Although the place dates from the last century, there is an atmosphere of deep calm and tranquility. Deeper into the woods… …there is a hidden delight… …a little glade… …with a statue of the Virgin Mary. It is an extraordinary place.

Église st Jean Baptiste - Moulins-Engilbert

For a small, sleepy place…Moulins-Engilbert… …has a very large church. It is… …rather… …lovely… …with lots to see… …beautiful… …carving… …and lovely old wooden pews. And as well… …as these lovely faces… …there are… …some glorious statues in the crypt. However, what most spoke to me was the war memorial… …including my hostˋs grandfather.

Corbigny past and present

Itˋs still too damn hot, but I managed a trip out to Corbigny, where there is a lovely toy shop… …interesting mediaeval bits and pieces… …fun shop signs… …a great place to drink coffee and watch the world go by… …suitably mad French cars… …and baffling street furniture… …and a chilling reminder that not that long ago, people like you and me were taken away and annihilated. Remember them, never forget, never again.

Traves Tangents

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