Social history

[bunn]

It occurred to me that I tend to share photos of pretty landscapes and flowers and things, and that these things change surprisingly little over time.  So as the weather was a little gloomy yesterday, I thought I would try photographing some transient things:

This is the honesty-box veg shop in Albaston.  You work out what you owe, and put your money in the red box.  I bought some onions and eggs.  There are quite a few people who sell their surplus veg or eggs or pots of jam from a shelf by the gate, but this is a monster operation by comparison - as well as all the veg, they have shelves and shelves of garden plants and flower in pots behind where I'm standing to take this.   Excellent as long as you either have exactly the right money, or are prepared to take your change in carrots and leeks.



This is the architectural marvel that is the well-used Calstock Football Club.  Note the exciting use of bent corrugated roofing.   Occasionally at high tide, on days when the river is feeling overexcited, the smart brick paving is underwater, but it seems to be surviving this fairly well.  The football pitch is often what the unkind would call 'a bog'.



And here is the alley behind the Boot Inn in Calstock.  I like it because it's sort of quaint, but also very lived-in and utterly untidy and un-improved, what with the washing  and the bins and the plastic tricycle and the weeds and the telegraph pole and the way someone has somehow managed to jam a car into there (rather them than me, the roads of Calstock appear to be largely designed for donkeys, at the widest).  It reminds me of a painting by that old Oxford artist who painted slums and alleys.  What was his name?  I really should remember it, long ago I volunteer-curated an exhibition of his work - but no, it's gone...

Comments

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

Thank you for posting those. I especially like the last one.

[island-of-reil.livejournal.com]

A communal "honesty box" (that's a new name on me) is a great idea. Around these parts, some people put out boxes, tables, and shelves of produce in their driveways and on their lawns, and you're trusted to pay what they ask. For produce it's usually reasonable. For eggs, it varies.

Quite honestly I'm jealous that you can find fresh, homegrown produce in March. We don't start seeing anything until at least July.

[ningloreth.livejournal.com]

I do love the veggie stall. I wish we had one round here -- I bought a banana from Sainsbury's the other day and it wasn't ripe but it tasted musty. I can't imagine how they store them! And Abel and Cole's stuff isn't much better (and a lot more expensive). Being able to buy veggies that have just come out of the earth would be fantastic.

And I love the alleyway. I can't stand places that don't allow you to put your washing out, or make a fuss about you hiding your dustbins. Picturesque doesn't have to mean 'tidy' (or Midsummer Murders).

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure how much of this is homegrown,exactly - some of it is seasonal, like the leeks, caulis and onions, but I don't see how you can really be growing tomatoes and peppers at this time of year without at least a polytunnel, and probably lights as well. I think this might be the side-enterprise of the owner of some local market garden business, trying to sell direct and avoid supermarket markups.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Calstock is very picturesque, in the 'damn. someone has left their canoe in the way, I have fallen over a bicycle, and also a pig is raiding the binbags' kind of way.