Photography fact finding
mission to Aylesford Priory
The group
headed out of
on route to the Blackwall
Tunnel (our entrance to
We were driven
by a council driver known to us only as Steve,
an intrepid soul
who had great knowledge of our
planned route
and gave us a very
smooth journey.
The rain
was persisting down
as we left
base camp and all
weather forecasts that I`d
heard in the previous 24 hours hadn`t
promised any
respite. We were further upset to
hear that Brian
had had to visit a doctor and couldn`t make the journey with us.
He had
however managed to write a sheet
of suggestions for our
mission, Arthur handed us these papers as we boarded
the bus. I
remember thinking
as we drove through the rain and
mist that a
wretched time lay ahead. Why had
I come?.
As we
made our way
into
stopped by
the time we
arrived. After a few really viscous
road humps we got to the car
park.
We left the bus and headed off clutching
our cameras. I set off
towards the pottery with Arthur, a wise choice,
he had been there
before and knew the lie of the land. It was in the pottery that
I saw
a pestle & mortar I liked, don`t worry thinks I, it will
be there when I return..... it wasn`t. As we left the pottery a
strange thing
appeared in the
air..... yes
it was BLUE SKY
The sky
grew ever bluer as we moved through the grounds
towards the chapel.
The whole place
was really lovely,
smashing buildings and
gardens, and everywhere
a great
feeling of serenity and tranquillity .... yes I loved it.
Arthur and I headed off towards the chapel,
inside it was a mass
of colour
as the bright sun shone through
the brightly coloured
glass. It was
a triffik effect, at the place we stood bright
colour bathed us from three
sides.
We spent the next few hours exploring, with
the obligatory stops
at restaurant and gift
shop.
After leaving
the shops we headed for further exploration and
photographic work,
it was during these travels that we made our
first searching interview. We caught sight of a
monk relaxing in
the sun,
he agreed to letting us take his
photo, after which I
chatted to him,
We found
out that he was a Carmelite monk, an open order that
work with
the public as opposed
to closed orders that stay in
Monasteries. That the
priory had been taken from the order by
Henry VIII
(he took that personally I
thought) and only bought
back in
1949; hence the modern decoration and glass work in the
chapel. That he
had first visited
the Priory in the early
sixties on a 7/6d return from
about the Priory now and then. Although he never told us but we
think he
was Irish (probably his
accent),you have to keep your
wits about you in this game.
After that back to the
pottery and that pestle and mortar. It was
only Merle a charming lady that brought me
back from the edge of
despair as
I found that my chosen item had gone.
She posed for
photos and
we chatted but
best of all we traded cake info,
focusing on chocolate cake. A great end to a great day.
After surviving
the viscous road humps again, we drove through
some beautiful scenery
basking in the autumn sun.
Ralph (I did my best to
be serious) Edmunds