Memories of New York City from the Empire State Building

Images taken from the Empire State Building.  It is one of the most famous skyscrapers in the world. Shreve, Lamb and Harmon was the architectural firm responsible for the design. Principal architects were William F. Lamb and Arthur Harmon. It is an Art Deco style completed in 1931.

A view of the Chrysler Building, completed in 1930, is renowned for its Art Deco design with a distinctive stainless steel crown and spire.  It was commissioned by Walter P. Chrysler and designed by architect William Van Alen.  Queensboro Bridge, also known as the 59th Street Bridge, can be seen spanning the  East River.  It connects Midtown Manhattan, near 59th Street, with Long Island City in Queens.

A sunset view looking south over Lower Manhattan in New York City. The tall, brightly lit building near the centre of the image, the tallest in the Western hemisphere.  The Hudson River on the right of the image separates Manhattan from New Jersey. The East River is further left, separating Manhattan from Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Bridge can be seen faintly visible to the left, spanning the East River. The Woolworth Building to the left of One Trade Centre, with its illuminated golden green Gothic crown.  The Statue of Liberty is barely visible in the harbour towards the far distance.

The night image below is a view of Lower Manhattan in New York City. One World Trade Centre (Freedom Tower) is the tallest building that can be seen with its illuminated spire, centre right. Woolworth Building, slightly left of One World Trade, with a golden-topped Gothic crown, glows at night. The New York Life Building is further left, with a distinctive golden pyramid roof.  The Municipal building is topped with a lit statue (Civic Fame).

The Hudson River on the far left, its lights stretching across the harbour. The New York harbour is in the distance with the Statue of Liberty faintly visible. 

Brooklyn Bridge is faintly visible to the right of the cluster, spanning the East River.  Manhattan Bridge, just north, is also visible. 
Verranzzano-Narrow Bridge is seen in the distance to the far left, its lights stretching across the harbour. 

This image looks east across Midtown Manhattan towards Queens. In the foreground is the MetLife Building, formerly the Pan Am Building, a tall, dark, rectangular tower, left of centre.

The Williamsburg Bridge, designed by American civil engineer Leffert L. Buck, features architectural details by Henry Hornbostel. Construction began in 1896, and the bridge officially opened in 1903. At the time, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world, surpassing the Brooklyn Bridge. In this image, it can be seen spanning the East River. and connecting the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the foreground, and the Williamsburg neighbourhood in Brooklyn in the background. 

The Hudson Yards development is on Manhattan's West Side, right along the Hudson River. These are some of the newest and most striking skyscrapers in New York City. The key buildings are 

• 30 Hudson Yards, centre left, architect: Kohn Pederson Fox (KPF). It features Home to the Edge skydeck, one of the highest outdoor observation decks in the Western Hemisphere. 
• 35 Hudson Yards (just to the right of 30 Hudson Yards) is rectangular. Height 1,009 ft (307 m)  provides residential, hotel and office spaces.
• 15 Hudson Yards (to the far left, with the curved top) Height 914 ft (279 m) Distinctive glass sail appearance.
• 55 Hudson Yards (not as tall, blocky dark tower, partially visible) Height 780 ft (238 m)
• The Spiral (66 Hudson Boulevard), far right with stepped setbacks, is under construction in some photos. Height 1,031 ft (314 m). Designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG). 

This area is the largest private real estate development in U.S history. Known for its modern design and attractions like the Vessel (a honeycomb-like sculpture and the Edge observation deck. 

Wrest Park - Part II

A few more images from Wrest Park.

 

Wrest Park

Wrest Park, in Silsoe, Bedfordshire, is a historic country estate made up of a Grade I listed mansion and its surrounding Grade I listed gardens. The house reflects centuries of architectural heritage, while the formal gardens, with their avenues and water features, showcase the grandeur of England’s historic landscapes.

The current house at Wrest Park was built between 1834 and 1839 by Thomas de Grey, 2nd Earl de Grey, who was both the owner and designer. An amateur architect and the first president of the Royal Institute of British Architects, De Grey took inspiration from French architecture he had studied during visits to Paris, particularly from works like Jacques-François Blondel’s Architecture Française (1752). On-site supervision was carried out by James Clephan, who managed the building works but did not design the house itself.

The interiors include some of the earliest examples of Rococo Revival in England, with the Archer Pavilion and the Countess’s sitting room standing out as fine examples. Today, several reception rooms in the house are open to the public. 

The first image shows the Archer Pavilion, designed by Thomas Archer. Positioned at the end of the Long Water, it stands as one of Britain’s most important early Baroque garden buildings, once used as a banqueting or garden house. For me, it’s a highlight of the estate and one of my favourite features to photograph.

Wrest Park is home to an early 18th-century garden that stretches across 92 acres (37 hectares). The original design is thought to have been created by George London and Henry Wise for Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Kent. Later, the layout was reshaped for his granddaughter, Jemima, 2nd Marchioness Grey, with Lancelot “Capability” Brown introducing a more informal, naturalistic style between 1758 and 1760.

The garden is organised around a broad gravel walk, which extends into a long canal leading to a Baroque pavilion designed by Thomas Archer and completed in 1711. Inside the pavilion, visitors can see striking trompe-l’œil paintings of Ionic columns. Batty Langley, another prominent garden designer, was also employed at Wrest during the 1730s.

Brown’s contributions included softening the shapes of the boundary canals, adding a ring of woodland and water around the formal centre, and helping transition the landscape into a more picturesque setting. The layout of the gardens and ornamental buildings was recorded in 1735 by cartographer John Rocque. Over the following century, new features were added, such as an orangery, marble fountains, and the Bathhouse—an unusual structure sometimes described as a Roman bath, grotto, or hermitage—built between 1769 and 1772.

Wrest Park attracted attention from contemporaries. In 1736, Horace Walpole visited and noted the many monuments in the grounds, including tributes to the Duke of Kent’s children, who had all died young, and a monument to the Duke himself, still living at the time.

One particularly charming legacy is a Wellingtonia tree planted in 1856. In its early years, it was brought indoors each December to serve as a Christmas tree—making it one of the earliest surviving examples of the tradition in Britain, and it still exists today.

The Pavilion

Fenland - Upwell

St Peter’s Church in Upwell is a fascinating place, not least because of the roof angels. They’re thought to date from the early 15th century—perhaps even the first quarter of it. The wings you see now aren’t original, but the bodies and heads are, and they’ve watched over the congregation for centuries. Alongside them are demons from the same period, and they’re not the friendly kind either—sharp, unsettling faces that must have been enough to keep worshippers on the straight and narrow, or at the very least haunt their dreams.

I’ve always been drawn to those angels and demons, not just for their craftsmanship but for the imagination behind them. Where did those medieval woodcarvers get their ideas? Were they sketching from old folktales, from fevered dreams, or perhaps from their own fears? Whatever their source, they left behind figures that still have the power to fascinate—and to unsettle—six hundred years later.

The village of Upwell is shaped by water—quite literally. Well Creek runs right through the middle of it, and the houses and streets seem to cling to its banks. Back in medieval times, the creek wasn’t just a sleepy waterway but part of the River Nene itself. The Nene once met the Great Ouse before they spilled together into the Wash, and in those days, Wisbech, only five miles away, was actually a coastal port.

It’s hard to picture now, with Peterborough and London only a couple of hours apart by car, but when roads were slow, dangerous, and ruinously expensive, rivers were the lifeblood of trade. The Nene carried everything from produce to limestone from the Midlands out to sea, and then onwards to London.

All of that changed in the eighteenth century, when the river’s course was diverted between Peterborough and the coast, leaving Upwell—quite literally—on a backwater. Suddenly, its busy commercial days were behind it. But that earlier prosperity explains why such a modest village ended up with such an imposing church, one that still dominates the place today. 

After the Reformation, it became mandatory for churches to display the royal arms, a reminder that the monarch now stood supreme over the church. Upwell, however, refuses to be obscure. The church doesn’t just have one royal coat of arms, it has two—and both are carved rather than painted on boards, which makes them feel far more alive.

On the north gallery is the first, a striking piece. The unicorn here steals the show, sporting what can only be described as a sardonic grin.

The second arms are mounted at the west end of the church. This one carries the insignia and motto of the Order of the Garter at its centre. The lion and unicorn here are noticeably leaner, fiercer creatures than the plumper, more complacent pair opposite them. Between the two, you get the sense that the sculptors were having as much fun as they were following the rules.

Before the Reformation, Norfolk’s churches were alive with colour and presence. Angels, carved in wood and stone, stretched their wings across hammerbeam roofs and gazed down from screens, their forms gilded and painted to catch the candlelight. Stained glass poured jewel tones across walls and floors, while images of saints, apostles, and martyrs stood richly adorned at every altar.

The Reformation brought a sweeping change. Angels were broken or stripped away, their faces hacked from wood and stone. Windows were shattered or whitewashed, the saints erased, and painted screens dulled to bare timber. What had once been a vision of heaven on earth was reduced to plainness, a quiet echo of the splendour that was lost

This is a carved stone coat of arms plaque, likely from a church or manor house, judging by the weathered condition, lichen growth, and the architectural setting behind it. Let’s break down the key heraldic features:

1. Shield Division - The shield is divided per pale (down the middle into left and right halves).

Dexter (left side, as seen by the bearer; right side to the viewer): A long cross with decorative finials on each arm. This looks like a cross crosslet or a variant of a cross potent. Crosses in heraldry often represent Christian faith or crusader ancestry.

Sinister (right side, as seen by the bearer; left side to the viewer): Pattern of small ermine spots (stylised black tails on white background, although here carved in relief). Ermine represents purity, dignity, and high rank. There’s also a small central device that looks like a star or flower.

2. Crest - Above the shield is a helmet (a knight’s helm, typical in heraldry), facing forward.

3. Mantling - Flowing decorative foliage surrounds the shield—this is mantling, stylised cloth meant to protect the helm from the sun.

4. Motto - At the bottom is a scroll with Latin text. It appears to read:

“Cruz fixus… luxor mihi” (though the erosion and lichen make it hard to decipher).

A likely reconstruction is:

“Crucifixus heror mihi” or “Crux fixa lux mihi”

→ meaning something like “The fixed cross is my light” or “The crucified is my strength.”

5. Meaning - The cross emphasises Christian devotion

1403 Battle of Shrewsbury - Reeactment Part Two

In medieval battles, suspicions often played a pivotal role in shaping outcomes and alliances. Lords and commanders frequently doubted the loyalty of vassals, fearing betrayal or desertion mid-battle. Spies and informants were common, fueling paranoia and strategic deception. Accusations of treachery could lead to preemptive strikes or the execution of allies. Misinformation spread by enemy forces further eroded trust among ranks. The fog of war, combined with poor communication and shifting loyalties, made suspicion a constant undercurrent in medieval warfare—undermining unity and intensifying the brutal, chaotic nature of conflict during this era.

Medieval battles were often preceded by rituals that reflected the deeply religious and symbolic nature of the time. Common rituals included:

• Prayers and blessings: Soldiers and commanders sought divine favour, often receiving blessings from priests or bishops before combat.

• Mass: Attending a religious service, especially among Christian knights, was customary to confess sins and seek protection.

• Holy relics: Leaders might carry or touch sacred relics for luck and courage.

• Oaths and vows: Warriors sometimes made vows to saints or swore oaths of loyalty and valour.

• Battle speeches: Commanders gave stirring speeches to inspire courage and unity.

These rituals helped unify troops, boost morale, and frame the battle as a righteous cause.

Prince Hal is displayed in the first image, and King in the fifth image, dressing for battle. (A big thank you to Conar for explaining so much).

The English Free Company EFC of reenactors representing the late medieval and the War of the Roses periods of history. They have Archers, Gunners, Men at Arms and camp followers, all providing a glimpse into the medieval life and war. If you would like to try your hand at reenactment or would like to book them, email: englishfreecompanye@yahoo.co.co.uk