Photos from walk on Thursday 14th November from West Ilsley

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The views

Starveall Farm. Starveall: a common nickname for poor land.

 

Farnborough field

 

I got over excited by the map marking when standing here, thinking it might mean burial site. But no, it’s just “visible earthworks” and I can’t find any more about it, or why it justifies a symbol on the map. There’s several heritage sites in Farnborough itself [Historic England; search for Farnborough, West Berks].

 

If this link works, it shows a LIDAR map of the area – you should be able to recognise Farnborough. You’ll need to zoom out a little., and then see a very distinct feature at the “earthworks” site to the south east of the village.

 

The Churches

All Saints, Farnborough

 

Situated in the highest village in Berkshire, the church has a marvellous view from the south door. Inside, see the John Piper window, a memorial to John Betjeman who once lived in The Old Rectory in Farnborough. The Church is a grade 1 listed building which has Flint with Bath stone dressings some render and ashlar tower; tiled roofs. [source]

 

Stained glass window at All Saints Church, Farnborough, featuring symbols of The Resurrection: fishes; tree of life; butterflies. Designed by John Piper (1903–1992) and made by Joseph Nuttgens (b.1964). Piper’s final stained glass commission … came in 1984, following the death of his close friend Sir John Betjeman, the poet, writer and broadcaster, who had shared his love of the British landscape. The collaboration for the Betjeman memorial window drew upon Piper’s four decades of experimentation in stained glass and his design showcases a masterful play of line, light, and colour. Piper made the cartoon {now on long-term loan to the River and Rowing Museum) in his barn studio at Fawley Bottom using his own marbled and brightly coloured papers, inks, and gouache. The painterly quality of his design was then interpreted by the stained glass artist Joseph Nuttgens, whose initial response was that the brilliant colours were theoretically impossible. However, Nuttgens set about plating (using a number of layers of glass, visible from the back of the window), etching, and staining to create the luminous effects of the abstract colour and line in Piper’s vision.[read more]

 

Tapestry of John Piper window hanging from the pulpit. No sign of who made it.

 

St Margaret’s, Catmore

 

St Margaret’s church is tucked away to the east of Catmore’s lane behind some farms. On the surface it appears to be a genuine Norman church but Pevsner unpicks that veracity and attributes most of these features to a restoration sometime prior to 1850. There are undoubted Norman features which are genuine but as Pevsner puts it it is “showy Norman” and down to the restorers. St Margaret’s is hidden from the road by a few farm buildings but a prominent gateway marks its entrance, a long tarred driveway giving access to a rather open and unrestricted graveyard making for easy photographic angles. [source]

 

Currently in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust, who provide the Guidebook

 

 

 

The bugs

 

Ladybird, with water droplets, and a buff-tailed bumble bee (thanks Ken) in Farnborough, and a tiny Sheetweb spider (tenuiphantes?) on my lunch-box at Catmore.

 

 

 

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We visited Farnborough in Feb 2024 and Catmore in December 2019 – before I started this website.

• Photos from walk on 15th February from Scutchamers Knob to Farnborough

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