m̌ ḫ's photos

A tor, which is also known by geomorphologists as either a castle koppie or kopje, is a large, free-standing rock outcrop that rises abruptly from the surrounding smooth and gentle slopes of a rounded hill summit or ridge crest. In the South West of England, the term is commonly also used for the hills themselves – particularly the high points of Dartmoor in Devon and Bodmin Moor in Cornwall. So this herd of horses just came freely to the rocks we've been visiting. I know very little about horses, but these whites were probably another breed than the usual Dartmoor pony, that are walking freely and help to give the area its unique character.

The Orava Beskids (Slovak: Oravské Beskydy, Polish: Beskidy Orawskie) is a range of mountains straddling the northern-Slovakia-southern-Poland border within the Outer Western Carpathians. They are the fifth highest mountain range in Slovakia and the second highest mountain range in Poland. Babia hora (pol. Babia Góra, 1,723 m) is the highest peak of the Orava Beskydy Mountains marking the Slovak-Polish border.

We liked the gardes very much, and appreciated we could see also such sculpture masterpieces. Two bronze sculptures by the sculptor Barbara Hepworth can be found set within the grounds of the Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh. The bronze sculptures include this 2,43m tall Rock Form (Porthcurno) made in 1964 and another 1.9m tall Form (Gloria) made in 1958. In typical Hepworth style, these are abstract works in natural shape forms. The bronzes had been on permanent loan to the gardens from the artist’s estate and displayed there since 1976, shortly after the death of Hepworth at age 72. Inverleith House, the gallery situated inside the Royal Botanic Gardens of Edinburgh, was originally the home of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art from 1960- 1984. Hepworth’s two sculptures were officially acquired by the National Galleries of Scotland in 2013 and remain in the gardens permanently. Photo by Libusa

Broadway Tower The Tower is an iconic landmark on top of the beautiful Cotswolds escarpment. It was the brainchild of the great 18thcentury landscape designer, “Capability Brown”. His vision was carried out for George William 6th Earl of Coventry with the help of renowned architect James Wyatt and completed in 1798. The location for the Tower was wisely chosen, a dramatic outlook on a pre-medieval trading route and beacon hill. James Wyatt designed his “Saxon Tower” as an eccentric amalgamation of architectural components ranging from turrets, battlements and gargoyles to balconies. broadwaytower.co.uk

Wicken Fen National Nature Reserve currently covers 785 hectares and has a number of important designations: National Nature Reserve, and Site of Special Scientific Interest; a Special Area of Conservation and a Ramsar Site (an international wetland designation). The straight, raised waterways that cross the area to the south of Wicken may be of Roman origin, used to transport goods to the River Cam and from there up to King's Lynn. The later medieval period saw some localised drainage at the fen edge that produced grazing land. In the seventeenth century the land was drained and transformed into intensively farmed countryside that continues today. Yet the area known as Wicken Fen always remained undrained and was used for peat digging and sedge harvesting by local villagers. It became popular from the mid-nineteenth century with Victorian naturalists. A young Charles Darwin collected beetles here in the 1820s, while the fathers of modern ecology and conservation, Cambridge botanists Sir Harry Godwin and Dr. Arthur Tansley, would later carry out their pioneering work here. In the 1890s when the peat and sedge economies collapsed, Charles Rothschild, of the banking dynasty, and a passionate entomologist, purchased 2 acres of the Fen for £10 and donated them to the National Trust. In 1999, the National Trust launched the “Wicken Fen Vision”, an ambitious 100-year, landscape-scale conservation project to extend the reserve from Wicken south towards the outskirts of Cambridge, covering an area of 5300 sq hectares. The aim is to create a mix of wetland habitats to include wet grasslands, reed beds, marsh, fen and shallow ponds and ditches, as well as establishing chalk grassland and woodlands. These new areas all help to protect the existing Wicken Fen National Nature Reserve, which is one of the most important in Europe. As it is not possible to manage newer areas of the reserve in such an intensive manner as the ancient heart of the fen, the restoration has three key elements. These are: natural regeneration of plants; reducing the loss of water through field drains and ditches, and the use of grazing animals. Grazing animals will help wetland and grassland plants to become established in new areas of the nature reserve. The introduction of grazing herds of Highland cattle originating in Scotland, and Eastern European Konik ponies, are helping to create these new habitats. These are hardy breeds, capable of thriving on fenland all year round, plus they have a placid nature. Their impact on vegetation will vary, with some areas grazed more heavily than others. Their introduction to the reserve will also attract new species of flora and fauna to the fen, through their well trodden paths in areas of long grass, dusty hollows where they roll and their dung. When horses graze they eat selected plants leaving short, cropped grass. Cattle tear at vegetation and leave a rougher landscape. These grazing styles complement each other for the long term management of Wicken’s new areas of nature reserve. www.wicken.org.uk

Wicken Fen, one of Europe's most important wetlands, supports an abundance of wildlife. There are more than 9000 species, including a spectacular array of plants, birds and dragonflies. The raised boardwalk and lush grass droves allow easy access to a lost landscape of flowering meadows, sedge and reedbeds, where you can encounter rarities such as hen harriers, water voles and bitterns. Wicken Fen Vision, an ambitious landscape-scale conservation project, is opening up new areas of land to explore. Our grazing herds of Highland cattle and Konik ponies are helping to create a diverse range of new habitats. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/wicken-fen-nature-reserve

Hampstead is the most beautiful part of London

Step into infinite space Tate presents a rare chance to experience two of Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirror Rooms. These immersive installations transport you into Kusama’s unique vision of endless reflections. Infinity Mirrored Room – Filled with the Brilliance of Life is one of Kusama’s largest installations to date and was made for her 2012 retrospective at Tate Modern. It is shown alongside Chandelier of Grief, a room which creates the illusion of a boundless universe of rotating crystal chandeliers. A small presentation of photographs and moving image – some on display for the first time – provides historical context for the global phenomenon that Kusama’s mirrored rooms have become today. Born in 1929 in Matsumoto, Japan, Kusama came to international attention in 1960s New York for a wide-ranging creative practice that has encompassed installation, painting, sculpture, fashion design and writing. Since the 1970s she has lived in Tokyo, where she continues to work prolifically and to international acclaim. www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/yayoi-kusama-infinity-mirror-rooms

The red post box is an iconic piece of British heritage, having been a familiar piece of the streets for nearly 180 years. There are around 155,500 post boxes across the UK, with a substantial portion of these situated in London. When it comes to post boxes, there are two main factors which distinguish them from each other – their design and the royal cypher. The roadside post box has existed since the reign of Queen Victoria, with every subsequent monarch’s cypher being immortalised on the front (e.g. here - VR - Victoria Regina). Prior to postal reform in 1840, mail was an expensive form of communication. The Uniform Penny Post was introduced, meaning the sender pre-paid the postal costs, rather than the recipient. The same year, the Penny Black adhesive stamp was released. It wasn’t until 12 years later, the first roadside Post Office pillar box was erected in St Helier, Jersey as a trial. In 1853, the first roadside pillar box was established in the mainland United Kingdom in Carlisle. In 1856, Richard Redgrave (1804-1888) from the Department of Science and Art came up with an ornate pillar box design to be used in London and other cities. From 1857, some post boxes were built into existing walls (as this one, located in Hampstead, North London). memoirsofametrogirl.com/2019/07/21/london-post-boxes-royal-mail-history-queen-victoria-queen-elizabeth-ii

Gottlieb Eliel Saarinen {1873 – 1950) was a Finnish-American architect known for his work with art nouveau buildings in the early years of the 20th century. In 1925 George Gough Booth asked him to design the campus of Cranbrook Educational Community, intended to be an American equivalent to the Bauhaus. Saarinen taught there and became president of the Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1932. In c. 1929–34, Eliel Saarinen was produced in product design for the Wilcox Silver Plate Co. / International Silver Company in Meriden, CT. His iconic tea urn (c. 1934) was first exhibited in 1934–35 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Over the years, the tea urn has been widely exhibited, including in St. Louis Modern (2015–16) at the St Louis Art Museum, Cranbrook Goes to the Movies: Films and Their Objects, 1925–1975 at the Cranbrook Art Museum (2014–15), and in 2005–07, in the touring exhibition Modernism in American Silver: In 1951–52, the tea urn was featured in the Eliel Saarinen Memorial Exhibition which travelled to multiple venues across the United States. In addition to Cranbrook, the Dallas Museum and the St Louis Museum, The British Museum in London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art also hold tea urn-related Eliel Saarinen designs.

Calfclose Bay is part of four waymarked walks starting from the Keswick Foreshore. The circular Lakeside Amble visits the Centenary Stone sculpture, and offers a great place for a picnic in summer, with undisturbed views across Derwentwater onto Catbells and down to the ‘Jaws of Borrowdale’.

There are many swans in Windsor. Swan Upping is an annual census of this bird's population of the River Thames. The ceremony takes place during the third week of July every year. The historic ceremony dates back to the 12th C a.d. when the Crown claimed ownership of all the mute swans. Today the Crown retains the right of ownership of all unmarked mute swans on certain stretches of the River Thames and its surrounding tributaries. While rowing by Windsor Castle, it’s tradition for the Uppers to toast to “Her Majesty the Queen, Seigneur of the Swans.” The Queen isn’t usually home to appreciate the gesture—she’s only attended one Swan Upping throughout her entire reign.

Banbury-based environmental sculptor David Gosling made a witch sculpture at the Rollright Stones - reflecting the folklore legends associated with the Stones.

Belas Knap is a particularly fine example of a Neolithic long barrow, with a false entrance and side chambers. Excavated in 1863 and 1865, the remains of 31 people were found in the chambers. It was probably constructed around 3000 BC and was used for successive burials over a period of years until eventually the burial chambers were deliberately blocked. Although Belas Knap seems in good condition, this is the result of several restorations. Romano-British pottery found inside one of the burial chambers show that it was open in Roman times. It was explored between 1863 and 1865 using the archaeological methods of the time, and some years later was restored by Mrs Emma Dent of Sudeley. In 1928–30 the site was excavated again, before being restored as we see it today. www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/belas-knap-long-barrow

Interestingly, using these old techniques, the houses even without air conditioning are more comfortable than the modern houses in Indian cities. In summer, such house has a temperature inside 10 degreees lower comparing to the outside. Nice example how the development in the modern architecture actually led us to a lower standard of living, which is needed to overcome by spending energy and further harming the environment.

Preparing forour night under the sky in the Rajasthani Thar desert. These men made us a fantastic and spicy dinner, and told us a quite absurd story of a Japanese tourist they've been guiding before. This unexperienced traveller went astray in desert while taking photos of a starry night, and he slept on a tree. On the contrary, our night was fantastic, under an open sky with a full moon shining.