Dr Sarah Whittingham FSA
@drfrond.bsky.social
Historian. Buildings, design, nature, landscape, gardens. Wrote ‘George Oatley: Architect of Bristol’, and ‘Fern Fever: The Story of Pteridomania’ among other books. Now writing social and cultural history of bracken in Cumbria. Mainly on Instagram.
Been trying to identify this brown -headed bird that keeps coming past our end of the river - possibly goosander? I’m sure you can tell from this excellent photo.
December 6, 2024 at 8:57 PM
Been trying to identify this brown -headed bird that keeps coming past our end of the river - possibly goosander? I’m sure you can tell from this excellent photo.
My first birthday since my Mum died in August. Strange feelings. Made all the stranger by the fact that somehow the little girl in the photo is now eligible for free prescriptions (but not a bus pass), and can buy a senior rail card. Anyway, greatly looking forward to a meal with friends tonight.
December 2, 2024 at 12:20 PM
My first birthday since my Mum died in August. Strange feelings. Made all the stranger by the fact that somehow the little girl in the photo is now eligible for free prescriptions (but not a bus pass), and can buy a senior rail card. Anyway, greatly looking forward to a meal with friends tonight.
One of my favourite paintings in the excellent #sheilafell exhibition at @tulliecarlisle So many to chose from though, we will be going back many times, I think. On until 16 March 2025.
November 27, 2024 at 5:22 PM
One of my favourite paintings in the excellent #sheilafell exhibition at @tulliecarlisle So many to chose from though, we will be going back many times, I think. On until 16 March 2025.
November 27, 2024 at 9:36 AM
Winter walk.
November 21, 2024 at 7:14 PM
Winter walk.
Exactly! They, and the one on the half-landing with an aquarium in it, feature in my book, 'Fern Fever'.
November 20, 2024 at 7:16 PM
Exactly! They, and the one on the half-landing with an aquarium in it, feature in my book, 'Fern Fever'.
Decorative Wardian Cases were freestanding, inside the rooms - like the ones in this ad. More functional ones were used to transport plants around the world.
November 20, 2024 at 7:16 PM
Decorative Wardian Cases were freestanding, inside the rooms - like the ones in this ad. More functional ones were used to transport plants around the world.
Yes, they did! To protect the ferns from pollution, and to screen unpleasant views from the rooms. The window projected beyond the original one in the wall plane, and the ferns were grown within the projecting case.
November 20, 2024 at 7:16 PM
Yes, they did! To protect the ferns from pollution, and to screen unpleasant views from the rooms. The window projected beyond the original one in the wall plane, and the ferns were grown within the projecting case.
In 2021 this photo of a rare survival of a once-common feature - a Victorian fern/window case in Bath - in a post in The Other Place, got over 2,000 likes. Somehow, I don't think that will happen again, but it shows the sort of thing featured in my books 'Fern Fever' and 'The Victorian Fern Craze'.
November 20, 2024 at 7:16 PM
In 2021 this photo of a rare survival of a once-common feature - a Victorian fern/window case in Bath - in a post in The Other Place, got over 2,000 likes. Somehow, I don't think that will happen again, but it shows the sort of thing featured in my books 'Fern Fever' and 'The Victorian Fern Craze'.
Is bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) the 'World's Worst Weed'? Or one of the most successful plants on the planet, that we should be appreciating, as we did in the past? Its spread may have been exaggerated because of a change in attitude: from a useful resource, to a pest.
November 20, 2024 at 7:16 PM
Is bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) the 'World's Worst Weed'? Or one of the most successful plants on the planet, that we should be appreciating, as we did in the past? Its spread may have been exaggerated because of a change in attitude: from a useful resource, to a pest.