Bradwell is a village in the Peak District of Derbyshire. We passed through it on our way to Castleton.

On the way back I stopped to photograph its War Memorial, a Celtic style cross on a stepped tapering square plinth. This face bears the dedication and names for the Great War:-

Side view. World War 2 dedication and names:-

The band’s first hit, no 3 in the UK in 1995. An objection to the female condition, the song’s lyric playing against lead singer Gwen Stefani’s appearance. Commercial imperatives, though.

No Doubt: Just a Girl

Lavery made his name when he was commissioned to paint the State Visit of Queen Victoria to the Glasgow International Exhibition 1888. For this he had individual sittings for the privileged invitees so that he could then incorporate accurate portarits of them into his final composition.

He painted many pictures of the International Exhibition including this one of the main building. Along with many other depictions of various International or National Exhibitions, plus the Festival of Britain, I have a copy of this hanging on my study wall:-

Lavery also painted A View from the Canal, Kelvingrove, showing one of the gondolas which plied the waters of the River Kelvin as an amusement attraction:-

And this one of the exhibit The Blue Hungarians:-

One of the features of the international Exhibition was an array of restaurants and café including The Dutch Cocoa House (as depicted by Lavery below) which dispensed Van Houten products.

The above for some reason reminds me of both Edwin Hopper’s Nighthawks and Edgar Degas’s The Absinthe Drinker.

Lavery exhibited this painting in the Art Gallery at the International Exhibition. Dawn after the Battle of Langside. Mary, Queen of Scots in the aftermath of the battle:-

Castleton War Memorial is in the form of a cross with inlaid carvings:-

Side view:-

Great War dedication and names:-

World War 2 dedication and names:-

Two cairns nearby surmounted by rectangular pillars contain the Roll of Honour of those from Castleton who served :-

For some reason the title the Scottish National Gallery has given to its exhibition featuring the painter John Lavery is “An Irish Impressionist.”

I had always considered Lavery to be a Scottish painter, even if he was born in Ireland. He moved to Scotland as a child and started his career in Glasgow.

The Exhibition is on till 27^th October.

Lavery’s early work resembles paintings by The Glasgow Boys. This is The Intruders, very reminiscent of a painting by James Guthrie:-

His style soon developed as he took to painting more impressionistic works such as these two of the Bridge at Grès (Grez-sur-Loing):-

Then we have Windy Day:-

and The Harbour of St Jean de Luz:-

There are two versions of On The Loing in the exhibition. This one was a study for the larger painting exhibited beside it.

Castleton is a village in the High Peak of Derbyshire. It lies near the mines where the mineral named Blue John can be found and below the site of Peveril Castle. We had intended to visit the latter but when we got there we found it is high up on a hill and didn’t really have the time to climb up to it.

Castle from village:-

From where we parked. The Castle lies behind a small group of trees. The quarry-like cliff below it is called the Devil’s Arse. I assume it leads into a cave since it is also called the Peak Cavern.

Hills above Castleton:-

At least two of the shops in the village were selling jewellery made from Blue John, a misleading name since it’s more of a purple colour. The stuff isn’t cheap.:-

Tor, 2020, 460 p, including 11 p Glossary of Persons, Places and Objects and 2 p Acknowledgements.

Mahit Dzmare has spent her young life on Lsel Station, an artificial habitat on the borders of known space. Though the Station is independent – and keen to remain so – Mahit has always been fascinated by the literature of the neighbouring Teixcalaan Empire. Her affinity with Teixcalaan culture and her match with Lsel’s Ambassador to the Empire, Yskandr Aghavn, sees her chosen to replace him. This is made easier by a piece of highly confidential Lsel technology, the imago machine, an implant which gives access to the memories of the donor. But Yskandr last came home fifteen years before and so, when the call comes for Mahit to travel to Teixcalaan, The Jewel of the World, to replace Yskandr, her implant’s memories are long out of date. Her mission is to try as far as possible to prevent Lsel’s absorption by the Empire.

On arrival she finds herself precipitated into a crisis. Yskandr is dead, the Emperor is ageing, the succession uncertain and revolution astir. Despite the Teixcalaanli regarding implants as immoral (though they cover their faces with something called a cloudhook, which gives them two-way access to an internet-like network,) Yskandr had, in return for Lsel’s continuing independence, bargained with the Emperor to provide him with one as a means to give his consciousness immortality. But other influential Teixcalaanlitzim, especially those who seek his power, were and are working against this.

On inspecting Yskandr’s body (the Teixcalaanli have no problems with keeping bodies on ice for long periods but find Lsel’s funeral practices distasteful, non-Teixcalaanli are routinely referred to as barbarians,) Mahit’s imago machine ceases functioning and she has to cope with her new and increasingly dangerous environment with only her Teixcalaanli liaison, Three Seagrass, and her friend, Twelve Azalea, to help her.

The latters’ peculiar appellations are a feature of Teixcalaanli life. There is no explanation for this in the text (and why should there be?) but any Teixcalaanlitzim’s first name is a number – see Nineteen Adze, Thirty Larkspur, Eight Loop, and the Emperor, Six Direction, etc.

As the book progresses Mahit encounters various levels of Teixcalaanli society, all the while wondering if, why, and how Yskandr was murdered and whether her imago machine was deliberately sabotaged by someone back home.

The plot’s resolution is aided by Mahit’s knowledge that Lsel and the Empire are threatened by a species known as Ebrekti inhabiting space beyond the Station,

Teixcalaan society has echoes of the Aztecs – though without the ritual sacrifice – and words such as ezuazuacat and ixplanatlim seem to point to their language, Nahuatl. In this regard the Emperor’s final words “‘I am a spear in the hands of the sun’” seem particularly pointed.

Even though its action is restricted by and large to one planet A Memory Called Empire is Space Opera – of a sort – and is a good enough example of the form. Whether it was worth the Hugo Award it won in 2020 is another matter. At least one sequel (another Hugo winner – in 2022) awaits the reader who wants more.

Pedant’s corner:- “None of them were …” (none of them was… .) “‘How often does that happen,’” (is a question and ought to have a question mark, not a comma, before the end quotation mark. There were many more such examples.) “The jaws of the Empire opening up again, akimbo. Bloody-toothed” (akimbo? How on Earth can opened jaws be positioned on hips? Only arms can be akimbo,) “open maw” (how can a stomach be open?) “she had been Amnardbat’s choice of successors for Yskandr” (choice of successor,) “teeth on the maws of …. parasites” (stomachs don’t have teeth,) “wide jaws akimbo” (again; jaws cannot be placed on hips,) “there are a series” (one series, so: ‘there is a series’.) “One of the sunlit on the edge of the platoon detached themselves” (One …. detached itself.)

SPFL ,Tier 3, Galabank, 14/9/24.

On the face of it two dropped points here since we were one up after nine minutes through Jinky Hilton.

However, that keeper Brett Long was sent off on 18 minutes and Jinky was taken off for our sub keeper Luke Smallwood (a sixteen-year-old making his debut and who played well apparently) puts a different perspective on things.

Still, it’s a pity we couldn’t hold out for one more minute than we did.

Though unbeaten in the league we’re now second bottom. Unless we start getting wins – and the three points boost they give –  we’ll be looking at relegation again.

Hope is a village in the High Peak of Derbyshire. We passed through it on our trip down south last year.

Its War Memorial is in the form of a tapering square pillar. It was erected in gratitude to those who served in the Great War. The dedication includes the villages of Aston, Thornhill, Brough and Shatton along with the names of men who died. There is an additional cartouche for the Second World War dead:-

Names for Hope men who served in the Great War :-

Similarly, names for Aston, for Brough & Shatton and for Thornhill:-

Also lost to us last week was bass player Herbie Flowers. His CV is second to none.

Perhaps his most distinctive performance was his double bass line for Lou Reed’s Walk on the Wild Side but that could be matched by the innovation on David Essex’s Rock On.

Lou Reed: Walk on the Wild Side

David Essex: Rock On

Brian Keith (Herbie) Flowers: 19/5/1938 – 5/9/2024. So it goes.