#after Sambourne

[mysterious-secret-garden]

Edward Linley, after Sambourne - Illustration for 'The Water-Babies' by Charles Kingsley.

[garudabluffs]

A common earthworm, Lumbricus terrestris. The are more than 6,000 species of earthworms worldwide.

Earthworms aren’t the soil heroes you imagine

“Worms live everywhere in the world, except in Antarctica and the high Arctic, because no earthworm can survive under glaciers or in permafrost. The most recent glacial age in our part of the world ended about 12,000 years ago; by the time the first indigenous people arrived here, as the glaciers retreated, earthworms had been wiped out.

A large portion of the British Isles, however, was never glaciated. The English in the 1600s arrived here with that most humble hitchhiker, Lumbricus terrestris, in the roots of their plants and the ballast of their ships.

Worms radically changed the soil structure of both meadow and woodlands in this region. After the last glaciers had left, New England forests developed without worms, and leaf litter built up only slowly, decomposing through the action of fungi, insects, algae and microscopic life. Nutrients from the litter and duff went deep into the roots of trees, nourishing them more richly than today.

When earthworms arrived, they impoverished the forest soils, keeping many nutrients in the topmost soil layers and short-circuiting nutrient networks in the soil. At the same time, the newly introduced worms worked wonders to keep agricultural soils friable by aerating the soil, thus improving crop yields.

Northern forest soils do just fine without earthworms. In fact, they thrive without them.

READ MORE https://www.gazettenet.com/Earthworms-aren-t-the-soil-heroes-you-imagine-33791405

The Importance of Earthworms: Darwin’s Last Manuscript

In his final book, The Formation of Vegetable Mould, Through the Action of Worms (1881)L. Sambourne's satiric portrait of Darwin published in Punch, 1881., Darwin concluded, "It may be doubted if there are any other animals which have played such an important part in the history of the world as these lowly organized creatures." If the concept of evolution didn’t give Darwin enough grief from his contemporaries, this monograph on worms provoked even more ridicule. But Darwin had the last laugh: The book was a runaway best-seller. Although its title would never fly with today's publishers, the book nevertheless sold more copies than his earlier books, due largely to England's healthy obsession with gardening.

Before the plough, the earthworm was the earth’s best tiller, as it digested earth and munched on leaves, leaving behind a rich hummus layer. Vermiculture enthusiasts will agree that worm juice (or "compost tea") collected beneath their compost bins is a superior organic fertilizing agent for their gardens.

READ MORE https://www.nypl.org/blog/2012/04/19/earthworms-darwins-last-manuscript

[jakelambourn]

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Sunday 10 March Lent 1 Purple Alcester 9.00 am Minster Communion Refreshments will be served in Church House between the 9.00 am and 11.00 am services Alcester 11.00 am Minster Family Communion with optional prayer ministry after the service Church House 3.00 pm NO Baptism Preparation Monday 11 March Alcester – Church Green 11.00 am Commonwealth Day Flag Raising HAYLOFT @ Church House 7.30 pm Home Group Leaders’ Meeting Tuesday 12 March Coughton 9.15 am Prayer for Coughton & Sambourne Parish Sambourne 12.30 pm Soup Lunch with Thought for the Day Alcester Methodist Church 2.00 pm Lent Group (1st meeting) organised by ACT 2.00 pm NO Mothers’ Union Prayer Meeting Church House 2.30 pm Minster Safeguarding Officers’ Meeting Alcester 7.00 pm Holy Communion Alcester 7.30 pm St Nicholas Choir Practice Wednesday 13 March Alcester 10.00 am Holy Communion Sambourne 1.30 pm Keep Fit for over 65s Alcester Baptist Church 7.30 pm Lent Group (1st meeting) organised by ACT Church House 7.30 pm Alcester Minster Churches Council Meeting Thursday 14 March Church House 12.30 pm Alcester & Arrow Mothers’ Union Meeting Alcester 7.30 pm St Nicholas Bell-ringing Practice Friday 15 March Alcetser 10.00 am Little Stars Jubilee Fields 7.00 pm Chocolate Run for young people Saturday 16 March Alcester 9.30 am – 3.00 pm Preaching Course run by Coventry Diocese Alcester 7.30 pm Alcester Victoria Silver Band Concert (in aid of Alcester in Bloom) Sunday 17 March Lent 2 Purple Alcester 9.00 am Morning Prayer Coughton 9.00 am Morning Prayer Haselor 9.00 am Holy Communion Weethley 9.00 am Holy Eucharist Great Alne 11.00 am Family Service Alcester 11.00 am Sung Eucharist Alcester 6.00 pm Special Service focussing on worship with Roger Jones

[web-mobile-applications-blog]

Calls for CCTV after three cars are smashed along Sambourne Lane in Astwood Banks, with crime levels 'hitting a 33-year high'

VILLAGERS in Astwood Bank are being blighted by a spate of vandalism, with one angry resident demanding CCTV cameras are introduced after his car was smashed.

Resident Nigel Joyce had the windows of his silver BMW smashed while it was parked overnight in a public car park by the playing fields on Sambourne Lane on Friday, June 30.

Two other cars also had their windows smashed on the same road, with Mr Joyce feeling these latest attacks - and other recent incidents - have put crime at a 33-year high.

He said: “I've lived here for 33 years and never known it so bad. All crimes have been reported to the police with disappointing response from them.

“We will be recommending as a deterrent that CCTV cameras are installed in an appropriate position to eradicate vandalism in the car park and adjoining playing field.

“Damage to children's play equipment has recently been reported too.

“Young mothers are telling me they will not use the park or visit because of the teenagers’ anti-social behaviour and vandalism within the park. It’s getting pretty bad.”

Conservative Councillor for Astwood Bank, Brandon Clayton, admitted anti-social behaviour has been an issue in the past due to drug taking, and said he will look into this latest issue.

He added: “We have had a spot of drug taking in the past but that has all been resolved now and it has been unusually quiet so I am surprised to hear this.”

Police are investigating two reports of vandalism to cars.

The first involved a BMW in a car park on Sambourne Lane between 3pm on June 30 and 10am on July 1, while the second involved a Jaguar on a driveway between 11pm and 8am.

A spokesman added: “The local Safer Neighbourhood Team have visited the victim to offer support, crime prevention tips and reassurance, and continue to appeal for any witnesses.”

Ref: http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/regional/15396905.Car_damage_leads_to_calls_for_CCTV_as_village_crime_hits__33_year_high_/

[londoncommonplacebook-blog]

Entry Eight

Thursday May 25th-Sunday May 28th

   We went over a variety of poems in class on Thursday. Two that caught my attention were East London and West London. The two sides of London are different and in the Victorian area were almost polar opposites. The East End had more impoverished individuals, while the West End was “the place to live”. I enjoyed the poems because even though they were about two different ends of London they were both about a poor person. It is interesting to see how the two ends of the city are compare when speaking about the same thing. Later in the weekend I went to Oxford Circus and saw a big sign over reading “The West End”. Funny enough the sign was right about the stores of Burberry, Tory Burch, and other very expensive stores and it made me think back to the poems we had read in class the previous day. 

Thursday afternoon we got to go to the Sambourne House and Leighton House. I really enjoyed both houses. I thought it was great to be able to see the Sambourne house and what a middle class family home would have looked like in the Victorian Era. The furniture, wallpaper, collectibles in the house were still all there which really made you get the feel of what it actually would have been like to live there. The Leighton house was extravagant and absolutely brilliant and breathtaking. I felt like every room took me too a different place. The art and detail was extraordinary. Leighton seemed like he was a very nice man and the tour guide pointed out how he opened his home to the public on Sundays so people could see the art which I thought was really cool.

Friday several of us made our way to Brighton. It was 75 degrees and there was not a cloud in the sky. It was amazing to travel an hour outside of London and feel as if I was in an entirely different country. We ate lunch, shopped, walked along the pier, and sat on the pebble beach. It was a very relaxing yet tiring day all combined. I adored the town and can definitely see why it is so popular.

Saturday we went to Covent Gardens and I found a pub that is called Punch and Judy. It reminded me of the popular puppet show in Old Curiosity Shop which maybe can go along with Nell’s pilgrimage to death.. The sign even had puppet like figures on it. After Covent Gardens we went to an amazing Italian restaurant and I think I may have had the best pasta I have ever had in my life!

Sunday Casey and I explored Kensington Place (no, we did not get to see William and Kate unfortunately). We did not go into the palace but we walked around the gardens. We also finally did the London Eye and it was worth every pound we spent and hour we waited. The view was absolutely spectacular. Seriously, nothing could beat it. I am so sad that we only have a week left in this city. I want to try to pack as much as I can in the next week so I do not regret anything I did not do!

[ivisitlondon]

iVisit.... 18 Stafford Terrace

From 1875, 18 Stafford Terrace was the home of Punch cartoonist Edward Linley Sambourne, his wife Marion, their two children and their live-in servants.

The house gives an insight into the personal lives of the Sambourne family, and also provides a rare example of what was known as an 'Aesthetic interior' or 'House Beautiful' style.

The Aesthetic Movement of the late nineteenth century advocated the use of foreign or 'exotic' influences in the decoration of the home. This can be seen by the various Japanese, Middle-Eastern and Chinese objects throughout the Sambournes' home.

After the deaths of Linley and Marion Sambourne, the house was preserved by their descendants.

In 1980 it was opened to the public by the Victorian Society. This organisation had been inaugurated at 18 Stafford Terrace in 1958 by the Sambourne's grand-daughter, Anne, 6th Countess of Rosse. In 1989, its ownership passed to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

[mysterious-secret-garden]

Edward Linley, after Sambourne - 'The Octopus of Romance and Reality'. Punch cartoon.