The Tolkien Coming of Age Club 2

[davem]

The site was critical too—and Archer found the perfect one a short walk away from his client’s main house, where an 18th-century dry-laid wall ran through the property. “I thought, wouldn’t it be wonderful to build the structure into the wall?”

Not only did the wall anchor the cottage, but stones from another section were used in the cottages construction. “It literally grew out of the site,” Archer said.

So he dismantled part of an EIGHTEENTH CENTURY wall, something that a craftsman had built over two hundred years ago to knock up this mock tudor monstrosity?

I suppose its fortunate there wasn't an 18th Century cottage on the property, or I expect that stones from that would have been used in the construction too....

Reminds me of a pub in a 1970's sitcom, complete with stone cladding, plastic beams & Terry Scott leaning on the bar in his aran sweater, quaffing Watney's Red Barrel from a pewter tankard ...

[Boo Radley]

Just thought I'd drop by and say "Hi".
Announcements and Obituaries???
Egad, how old are some of you, eh?

[Child of the 7th Age]

...instead he made it look like a fake stone and concrete Disneyland ticket booth.

Appears I've stirred up some fuss and feathers with my casually thown out link.

Ah.... But frankly, there are times in life when a Disneyland ticket booth may be the best thing you've got going. Lal - you and davem are fortunate to have the real thing not too far from your doorstep.....genuine thatch, and wattle and daub....certainly better than what this builder has done. Some of us are not so lucky. Certainly, folk in Pennsylvania do not have access to such wonders. (You can find some great Amish barns still standing yonder--the "real thing" by local standards, but if your heart beats to another drum you've got problems.) And from my time living in that neck of the woods and knowing the work of local historical/restoration groups, my guess is that the 18th century wall was already disintegrating into a pile of barely usable rubble or was about to be obliterated by another builder. Local restoration is my thing. Right now I'm in one group that's battling to save one of the oldest theaters in the southwest, and another that's trying to uncover and restore cottages of the earliest freedmen who settled in Houston following the civil war. Unfortunately, neither group is having great success. A lone wall would probably find the going even tougher.

Kitschy this domicile may be, but it's got to be better than the same old, same old stuff that lines the streets of my own blah urban neighborhood. No wattle and daub in sight. No forays into modernism either. Very dull and conforming. For the past few days, our family's been dealing with some tough, tough decisons about a family member who can no longer live on her own. I could frankly use an hour or two sitting in that library and letting my brain unbend. It's got to be better than my cluttered kitchen table!

Nogrod -- As to the pricetag attached....of course you're right. My dad was a labor organizer; my grandfather a miner. I have definite sympathies in that direction. But neither of us can truly change the ways of the world or people's ultimate priorities. So I will keep poking about on the internet and searching out such architectural oddities. Whoever built that thing at least had to have one spark alive in his/her heart, not to be content with the "usual".

And now....another link. A soothing link with music, which will hopefully be an improvement over my last offering. Ted Nasmith has recently come out with a CD of Tolkien inspired music. Here's a sample of the thing concerning Queen Beruthiel: ADC There's also info on this in Nasmith's website. Just scroll down to The Hidden Door CD,

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Boo,

The first time I saw you on the site, I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate your name! I am a great admirer of Scout and Boo.

As to how ancient we are on this site and in this forum....well, I suppose that varies from one person to the next. I was a teenager in the early to mid-sixties when I first read Tolkien. I've been reading and collecting ever since in between the normal joys and headaches of life. I'm not sure if that qualifies me for an obituary in your eyes!

[davem]

I suppose we are lucky here, with 17-18th century cottages being fairly commonplace not too many miles away in Derbyshire - & axon churches are not too rare either - there was one in the village where I was born. There's even a Norman castle (Conisborough, which served as Sir Walter Scott's inspiration for Ivanhoe, not 20 miles away).

As to Ted Naismith, I've heard him perform some of his songs at Oxonmoot a few times (usually duetting with the dreaded Alex Lewis!).

[Mithalwen]

Actually ... apart from the gingery wood which I am phobic about, I rather like this one .... it looks rather like Tolkien's own pictures and there is an ancient tradition or reusing stone from disused walls ....which is why Hadrian's is incomplete ... also it is using proper materials .and proper craftsmen... It just needs weathering..... and that door painted green....and a few dwarf hood hanging in the hall.. and clutter ..far too tidy for a hobbit hole

AS for the socio-economic things ...well in a basically capitalist society as exists here and the states there are going to be people who are scraping by and those who have money for such follies .... but I would rather the rich spent their money on providing employment for true craftspeople than spent just as much if not more on some fibreglass floating-gin-palace yacht.

At least when they have lost thier money the result will be left for us plebs to enjoy..... like these

[davem]

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

Actually ... apart from the gingery wood which I am phobic about, I rather like this one .... it looks rather like Tolkien's own pictures and there is an ancient tradition or reusing stone from disused walls ....which is why Hadrian's is incomplete ... also it is using proper materials .and proper craftsmen... It just needs weathering..... and that door painted green....and a few dwarf hood hanging in the hall.. and clutter ..far too tidy for a hobbit hole

Still find it bland & fake. Doesn't inspire me & the thought of living there gives me the heebie-jeebies. It actually strikes me as a 'mockery' of Tolkien's world, a secondary world which exists only in the mind.

We need a word for this elvish craft, but all the words that have been applied to it have been blurred and confused with other things. Magic is ready to hand, and I have used it above (p. 39), but I should not have done so: Magic should be reserved for the operations of the Magician. Art is the human process that produces by the way (it is not its only or ultimate object) Secondary Belief. Art of the same sort, if more skilled and effortless, the elves can also use, or so the reports seem to show; but the more potent and specially elvish craft I will, for lack of a less debatable word, call Enchantment. Enchantment produces a Secondary World into which both designer and spectator can enter, to the satisfaction of their senses while they are inside; but in its purity it is artistic in desire and purpose. Magic produces, or pretends to produce, an alteration in the Primary World. It does not matter by whom it is said to be practised, fay or mortal, it remains distinct from the other two; it is not an art but a technique; its desire is power in this world, domination of things and wills. To the elvish craft, Enchantment, Fantasy aspires, and when it is successful of all forms of human art most nearly approaches. At the heart of many man-made stories of the elves lies, open or concealed, pure or alloyed, the desire for a living, realized sub-creative art, which (however much it may outwardly resemble it) is inwardly wholly different from the greed for self-centred power which is the mark of the mere Magician. Of this desire the elves, in their better (but still perilous) part, are largely made; and it is from them that we may learn what is the central desire and aspiration of human Fantasy—even if the elves are, all the more in so far as they are, only a product of Fantasy itself. That creative desire is only cheated by counterfeits, whether the innocent but clumsy devices of the human dramatist, or the malevolent frauds of the magicians. In this world it is for men unsatisfiable, and so imperishable. Uncorrupted, it does not seek delusion nor bewitchment and domination; it seeks shared enrichment, partners in making and delight, not slaves. (OFS)

[Mithalwen]

Well it seems to have been done in the spirit of hommage ....as are the mockeries of Tolkien's world that I indulge in when I RPG ..... And it is far superior to just about all tolkien-inspired "art"....

[davem]

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

Well it seems to have been done in the spirit of hommage ....as are the mockeries of Tolkien's world that I indulge in when I RPG ..... And it is far superior to just about all tolkien-inspired "art"....

I'd say RPG's are still 'art' in the sense that Tolkien implies, because they remain 'imaginary' (part of a 'secondary world').

Of course, its a Folly. I still don't see the point of making the thing & it seems it exists because someone has more money than they know what to do with.....

[Boo Radley]

Originally Posted by Child of the 7th Age

Boo,

The first time I saw you on the site, I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate your name! I am a great admirer of Scout and Boo.

As to how ancient we are on this site and in this forum....well, I suppose that varies from one person to the next. I was a teenager in the early to mid-sixties when I first read Tolkien. I've been reading and collecting ever since in between the normal joys and headaches of life. I'm not sure if that qualifies me for an obituary in your eyes!

Not quite, for we are of about an age, I'm thinking.
I discovered Tolkien back in 1970, I believe. The Fellowship was checked out of the library, so I started with the Two towers.
Not the best start.
So, I took that back and waited for Fellowship to be returned, checked it out and have never looked back.

[Alphaelin]

Originally Posted by Boo Radley

Just thought I'd drop by and say "Hi".
Announcements and Obituaries???
Egad, how old are some of you, eh?

Not to worry, Boo! As far as I know, we're all on the near side of the grave

I'd like to add my vote of approval for your handle! Excellent book...excellent movie...and Robert Duvall is one of my all-time favorite actors.

-Alphaelin (or Alph)