Category Archives: travel

More high places

Posted on April 10, 2020 by Sue Vincent

From the archives: The second day of our flying visit to Dorset in 2013… I would not want you to think we had been having a good time. No. Would we? Manfully (or, perhaps, hobbitfully in my case), we have … Continue reading →

Posted in Ancient sites, England, History, Landscape, Life, Love and Laughter, Photography, Sacred sites, Spirituality, travel | Tagged being, consciousness, England, history, landscape, Life, Photography, sacred sites, spirituality, travel | 18 Comments

St Albans – stained glass and mediaeval paint

Posted on April 5, 2020 by Sue Vincent

The sixth post on our visit to the Abbey of St Albans a few years ago. Parts One, Two, Three, Four and Five can be found by clicking the highlighted links. The very first time Stuart came down to visit, … Continue reading →

Posted in Churches, Photography, Spirituality, Stuart France and Sue Vincent, The Initiate, travel, writing | Tagged January holiday, medieval wall paintings, St Albans, stained glass, symbols | 4 Comments

St Albans Abbey – ‘and unto God’…

Posted on April 1, 2020 by Sue Vincent

The second post on our visit to the Abbey in St Albans a few years ago. The first post can be found here. Where do you start? If the fabric of the building is made of fifteen hundred years and … Continue reading →

Posted in Ancient sites, Books, Churches, Don and Wen, England, Photography, travel | Tagged January holiday, medieval wall paintings, Ninian Comper, St Alban, stained glass, The Initiate | 4 Comments

A Cistercian Abbey

Posted on January 18, 2020 by Sue Vincent

I spent much of my childhood within walking distance of the ruins of Kirkstall Abbey, a place where history and legends seem to meld into a story perfectly designed to capture the imagination of a child. The abbey sits amid … Continue reading →

Posted in Ancient sites, Churches, History, Photography, travel | Tagged Cistercian, Cranmer, ghosts, Henry VIII, Kirkstall Abbey, Kirkstall Forge, Leeds, legends, yorkshire | 23 Comments

Carved hills

Posted on January 17, 2020 by Sue Vincent

One of the most striking things you can see as you drive through the English countryside is the great white shape of a hill figure cut into the landscape. There are many to see, at least fifty known figures, ranging … Continue reading →

Posted in Ancient sites, earth, England, History, Photography, travel | Tagged carne abbas, chalk figures, geoglyphs, Uffington, White Horse, wilmington | 22 Comments

Avebury – songs in the stones

Posted on January 10, 2020 by Sue Vincent

With the June workshop at the site not too far distant, I spent the evening pondering archaeo-acoustics and how the old ones might have used sound at Avebury… and whether, in its current state, you would be able to test … Continue reading →

Posted in Ancient sites, England, History, Photography, Sacred sites, travel | Tagged avebury, faces in stone, henge monument, standing stone, stone circle, Wiltshire, world heritage site | 39 Comments

The Temple Church II: Talking heads…

Posted on November 14, 2018 by Sue Vincent

It is difficult to say what you see first when you step inside the church built by the Knights Templar in the middle of London, over eight hundred years ago. What you notice first, though, is a complete disparity in … Continue reading →

Posted in albion, alchemy, Churches, Spirituality, Stuart France and Sue Vincent, symbolism, Templars, travel | Tagged carved heads, Crusades, London., medieval, Norma, Pilgrims, Templar Head, Temple Church, treasure | 4 Comments

An Orcadian Diary (3): Maeshowe – near life, far life – Steve Tanham

Posted on June 14, 2018 by Sue Vincent

The strange feeling in my head began when the Historic Scotland guide said, “We can’t really call it a burial chamber as no bodies were ever found here…” It wasn’t a headache, more of a lightness…. almost a prompting, an … Continue reading →

Posted in travel | Tagged Meashowe, Neolithic Orkney, Orkney | 2 Comments

Clocking off?

Posted on May 22, 2018 by Sue Vincent

The road was calling me north and I couldn’t wait to finish work and give in to its blandishments. The sun was shining and warm, the forecast unusually good for England. The fields were ablaze with the brilliant yellow of … Continue reading →

Posted in Photography, The Silent Eye, transformation, travel | Tagged inner voice, Moors, sacred sites, spiritual path, spirituality, symbolism, The Silent Eye, the work, weekend workshop, workshop | 26 Comments

On the road again…

Posted on May 9, 2018 by Sue Vincent

How much can you really manage to do on a warm, sunny weekend? It is surprising how obliging time can be when it is limited. We do not rush, we are never hurried, but we do seem to manage to … Continue reading →