Simon Knott
@simoninsuffolk.bsky.social
'dust in the air suspended,
marks the place where a story ended'
Find me at http://www.simonknott.co.uk
Also available on X/Twitter. All photos mine.
marks the place where a story ended'
Find me at http://www.simonknott.co.uk
Also available on X/Twitter. All photos mine.
During WWI, The ecclesiastical publishers Mowbrays produced a pro-forma for parishes to record the boys who wouldn't come back. Most were added to as the War progressed, though this one at Bruisyard, Suffolk, seems to have been filled in at the end of the War. #ArmisticeDay
November 11, 2025 at 9:36 AM
During WWI, The ecclesiastical publishers Mowbrays produced a pro-forma for parishes to record the boys who wouldn't come back. Most were added to as the War progressed, though this one at Bruisyard, Suffolk, seems to have been filled in at the end of the War. #ArmisticeDay
Today's the feast of St Martin, 4th Century Roman soldier and later Bishop of Tours born in what's now Hungary. His legend tells of him dividing his cloak to share with a beggar, who then comes to him in a vision as Christ and returns it. A panel of 13th Century glass in Musée de Cluny, Paris.
November 11, 2025 at 8:56 AM
Today's the feast of St Martin, 4th Century Roman soldier and later Bishop of Tours born in what's now Hungary. His legend tells of him dividing his cloak to share with a beggar, who then comes to him in a vision as Christ and returns it. A panel of 13th Century glass in Musée de Cluny, Paris.
Armistice Day. My daughter, on a train from Cologne to Hamburg, sends us a shot of how she's waking herself up at what is an early hour for her. Meanwhile, my son is on a flight to Baltimore, USA, to attend a wedding. I wonder what my great-grandparents generation would have thought of such things.
November 11, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Armistice Day. My daughter, on a train from Cologne to Hamburg, sends us a shot of how she's waking herself up at what is an early hour for her. Meanwhile, my son is on a flight to Baltimore, USA, to attend a wedding. I wonder what my great-grandparents generation would have thought of such things.
My great-grandfather wears four service stripes on his right forearm, one for each year of wartime service. Like most working class men, all four of my great-grandfathers were on the reserve, and could be called up at the start of the War. In the event, two were too old, two went off, one came back.
2/3 And the men came home. My great-grandfather Tom Reynolds, 1st Suffolks, and his family in a Cambridge photo studio in early 1919 after his return from Salonika. He would go back to his job as a drayman with the Star Brewery on Newmarket Road. His eldest daughter, my grandmother Win, sits centre.
November 11, 2025 at 8:10 AM
My great-grandfather wears four service stripes on his right forearm, one for each year of wartime service. Like most working class men, all four of my great-grandfathers were on the reserve, and could be called up at the start of the War. In the event, two were too old, two went off, one came back.
Today is Armistice Day. The First World War did not officially end until 28 June 1919, but it was at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month #OTD 11 November 1918 that the guns fell silent. Siegfried Sassoon remembered that moment in his poem 'Everyone Sang':
November 11, 2025 at 7:18 AM
Today is Armistice Day. The First World War did not officially end until 28 June 1919, but it was at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month #OTD 11 November 1918 that the guns fell silent. Siegfried Sassoon remembered that moment in his poem 'Everyone Sang':
The grand memorial to William Cecil, Lord Burghley, 1598 in St Martin, Stamford. He was the chief adviser to Elizabeth I, an enthusiastic protestant who convinced Elizabeth to order the execution of the Catholic Mary Queen of Scots a few miles from here at Fotheringhay.
November 10, 2025 at 2:44 PM
The grand memorial to William Cecil, Lord Burghley, 1598 in St Martin, Stamford. He was the chief adviser to Elizabeth I, an enthusiastic protestant who convinced Elizabeth to order the execution of the Catholic Mary Queen of Scots a few miles from here at Fotheringhay.
John Cecil, 5th Earl of Exeter, and his wife Ann atop their imposing 1704 memorial in St Martin, Stamford. They're dressed as wealthy Romans, and indeed their memorial was made in Rome by the sculptor Monnot. Pevsner
thought them 'comfortable and at ease'. 1/3
#MemorialsMonday #MonumentsMonday
thought them 'comfortable and at ease'. 1/3
#MemorialsMonday #MonumentsMonday
November 10, 2025 at 11:39 AM
John Cecil, 5th Earl of Exeter, and his wife Ann atop their imposing 1704 memorial in St Martin, Stamford. They're dressed as wealthy Romans, and indeed their memorial was made in Rome by the sculptor Monnot. Pevsner
thought them 'comfortable and at ease'. 1/3
#MemorialsMonday #MonumentsMonday
thought them 'comfortable and at ease'. 1/3
#MemorialsMonday #MonumentsMonday
The Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight, Merseyside, displays work beautifully. Here's 'Deidre', 1942 by Jacob Epstein, born #OTD 10 November 1880. She was the family's housekeeper, and Epstein made several portraits of her. Behind is 'Lingering Autumn', 1890, by John Everett Millais.
November 10, 2025 at 9:51 AM
The Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight, Merseyside, displays work beautifully. Here's 'Deidre', 1942 by Jacob Epstein, born #OTD 10 November 1880. She was the family's housekeeper, and Epstein made several portraits of her. Behind is 'Lingering Autumn', 1890, by John Everett Millais.
The sculptor Jacob Epstein was born in New York #OTD 10 November 1880. His bust of the Ukraine-born, Leeds-based artist Jacob Kramer is in Leeds Art Gallery, which has a collection of Kramer's paintings, some of which are behind him in this photograph. 1/3
November 10, 2025 at 9:17 AM
The sculptor Jacob Epstein was born in New York #OTD 10 November 1880. His bust of the Ukraine-born, Leeds-based artist Jacob Kramer is in Leeds Art Gallery, which has a collection of Kramer's paintings, some of which are behind him in this photograph. 1/3
Teigh (pronounced 'tee'), Rutland, has what at first appears to be a war memorial. But in fact it is one of the 50-odd parishes dubbed 'Thankful Villages' by Arthur Mee in his 'The Enchanted Land', 1936, which got back all the people they sent to the First World War. 1/2
November 9, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Teigh (pronounced 'tee'), Rutland, has what at first appears to be a war memorial. But in fact it is one of the 50-odd parishes dubbed 'Thankful Villages' by Arthur Mee in his 'The Enchanted Land', 1936, which got back all the people they sent to the First World War. 1/2
Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, by Giles Gilbert Scott, born #OTD 9 November 1880. Scott was just 22 years old when he won the competition for its design, and controversially was a Catholic, too. Work began in 1904 and the cathedral was completed in 1978.
November 9, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, by Giles Gilbert Scott, born #OTD 9 November 1880. Scott was just 22 years old when he won the competition for its design, and controversially was a Catholic, too. Work began in 1904 and the cathedral was completed in 1978.
Arthur Page of the 2nd Suffolks, killed at Delville Wood, Somme, 20th July 1916. He was my great-grandfather.
'Early in the morning the Division made an attack on Delville Wood and village using 2nd Suffolks and 10th Royal Welsh Fusiliers. At 3.35 am the Suffolks advanced from the west...'
1/5
'Early in the morning the Division made an attack on Delville Wood and village using 2nd Suffolks and 10th Royal Welsh Fusiliers. At 3.35 am the Suffolks advanced from the west...'
1/5
November 9, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Arthur Page of the 2nd Suffolks, killed at Delville Wood, Somme, 20th July 1916. He was my great-grandfather.
'Early in the morning the Division made an attack on Delville Wood and village using 2nd Suffolks and 10th Royal Welsh Fusiliers. At 3.35 am the Suffolks advanced from the west...'
1/5
'Early in the morning the Division made an attack on Delville Wood and village using 2nd Suffolks and 10th Royal Welsh Fusiliers. At 3.35 am the Suffolks advanced from the west...'
1/5
Today's the feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica. The Gospel at Mass today is St John's account of Christ driving out the animal sellers and money changers. The old dispensation is uprooted and overturned. Glass by Carl Edwards, 1958, in Temple Church, London. 1/2
November 9, 2025 at 10:45 AM
Today's the feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica. The Gospel at Mass today is St John's account of Christ driving out the animal sellers and money changers. The old dispensation is uprooted and overturned. Glass by Carl Edwards, 1958, in Temple Church, London. 1/2
Moses strikes the rock and the water flows out, just one panel of a large collection of C15 glass at St Martin, Stamford. It was all donated by Brownlow Cecil, Earl of Exeter, and was installed in the church in 1759. Most of it came from Tattershall church. #StainedGlassSunday
November 9, 2025 at 8:09 AM
Moses strikes the rock and the water flows out, just one panel of a large collection of C15 glass at St Martin, Stamford. It was all donated by Brownlow Cecil, Earl of Exeter, and was installed in the church in 1759. Most of it came from Tattershall church. #StainedGlassSunday
Tonight is the 87th anniversary of Kristallnacht. I'm currently reading the latest volume of Frank McDonough's 'The Hitler years' sequence, 'Holocaust 1933-1945', published this week. As ever, his writing is calm, precise, dispassionate and relentless. Essential reading, perhaps now more than ever.
November 9, 2025 at 7:20 AM
Tonight is the 87th anniversary of Kristallnacht. I'm currently reading the latest volume of Frank McDonough's 'The Hitler years' sequence, 'Holocaust 1933-1945', published this week. As ever, his writing is calm, precise, dispassionate and relentless. Essential reading, perhaps now more than ever.
Well, we're nearly a third of the way through the fixture list, and it would be a hard-hearted person indeed (or a Newcastle fan) who isn't hoping that Sunderland qualify for the Champions League.
November 8, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Well, we're nearly a third of the way through the fixture list, and it would be a hard-hearted person indeed (or a Newcastle fan) who isn't hoping that Sunderland qualify for the Champions League.
Two Israelites bring grapes from the Valley of Eshkol, by William Wailes, 1851 in Ely Cathedral. The nave aisle windows at Ely contain a cavalcade of C19 glass from 14 different workshops, all hoping for the commission for the great east window. In the end, William Wailes won the top prize.
November 8, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Two Israelites bring grapes from the Valley of Eshkol, by William Wailes, 1851 in Ely Cathedral. The nave aisle windows at Ely contain a cavalcade of C19 glass from 14 different workshops, all hoping for the commission for the great east window. In the end, William Wailes won the top prize.
Underneath the arches. St George's chapel in Sheffield Anglican Cathedral, glass by Christopher Webb in the Chapel of the Holy Spirit beyond.
November 8, 2025 at 10:41 AM
Underneath the arches. St George's chapel in Sheffield Anglican Cathedral, glass by Christopher Webb in the Chapel of the Holy Spirit beyond.
Eve spinning and Adam delving, in two details of glass by Christopher Whall, 1891 at St Mary, Stamford, Lincolnshire.
'When Adam delved, and Eve span,
Who was then the gentleman?'
John Ball, 1381
'When Adam delved, and Eve span,
Who was then the gentleman?'
John Ball, 1381
November 7, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Eve spinning and Adam delving, in two details of glass by Christopher Whall, 1891 at St Mary, Stamford, Lincolnshire.
'When Adam delved, and Eve span,
Who was then the gentleman?'
John Ball, 1381
'When Adam delved, and Eve span,
Who was then the gentleman?'
John Ball, 1381
The Ipswich Portal on the Corn Hill. You can step through it into the streets of Vilnius.
Not really. But we can see them, and they can see us. Give us a wave!
(I've reposted this, edited on a PC, because the one I edited on my phone got labelled as 'AI generated content'.
Not really. But we can see them, and they can see us. Give us a wave!
(I've reposted this, edited on a PC, because the one I edited on my phone got labelled as 'AI generated content'.
November 7, 2025 at 12:50 PM
The Ipswich Portal on the Corn Hill. You can step through it into the streets of Vilnius.
Not really. But we can see them, and they can see us. Give us a wave!
(I've reposted this, edited on a PC, because the one I edited on my phone got labelled as 'AI generated content'.
Not really. But we can see them, and they can see us. Give us a wave!
(I've reposted this, edited on a PC, because the one I edited on my phone got labelled as 'AI generated content'.
And here is St Mary, Stamford, just one of five substantial medieval churches in this remarkable little stone-built town.
November 7, 2025 at 8:02 AM
And here is St Mary, Stamford, just one of five substantial medieval churches in this remarkable little stone-built town.
'I am the Good Shepherd', a detail of glass by Edward Payne, 1963 at St Mary, Stamford, Lincolnshire.
November 7, 2025 at 7:12 AM
'I am the Good Shepherd', a detail of glass by Edward Payne, 1963 at St Mary, Stamford, Lincolnshire.
Alex Ferguson at Pittodrie, Aberdeen. Under his charge they beat Real Madrid to win the European Cup Winners Cup in 1983. His statue looks out across the North Sea to Europe. He also won three league championships and four Scottish cups. He became Manchester Utd's manager 39 years ago today.
November 6, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Alex Ferguson at Pittodrie, Aberdeen. Under his charge they beat Real Madrid to win the European Cup Winners Cup in 1983. His statue looks out across the North Sea to Europe. He also won three league championships and four Scottish cups. He became Manchester Utd's manager 39 years ago today.
Christ Church with St Ewen, Broad Street, Bristol, for #AdoorableThursday, complete with Jesus motorbike.
November 6, 2025 at 7:14 AM
Christ Church with St Ewen, Broad Street, Bristol, for #AdoorableThursday, complete with Jesus motorbike.
Today's the feast of St Leonard, by tradition a 6th Century hermit. He stands holding a chain between St Joan of Arc and St Louis of France in Christopher Whall's 1922 war memorial glass at Apethorpe, Northamptonshire. He's the patron saint of prisoners.
November 6, 2025 at 6:31 AM
Today's the feast of St Leonard, by tradition a 6th Century hermit. He stands holding a chain between St Joan of Arc and St Louis of France in Christopher Whall's 1922 war memorial glass at Apethorpe, Northamptonshire. He's the patron saint of prisoners.