Didn't start off too well with a near-rage incident in the entrance to the car park at the Freshwater co-op, within living memory Freshwater Station. The parson standing behind me in the queue for the hole-in-the-wall made a soothing noise but declined to get involved, despite being on duty to the extent of having his dog collar on.
Got better at the bookshop in one end of the Lodge. He could not do any more Kraszewski, although we did decide that Count Brühl was perhaps the next stop, so I settled for a 'Napoléon Intime' by Arthur-Lévy from Nelson. Interesting enough, but slow going so far.
Into the Lodge proper to start with tea and a very decent slice of cake. Then to the ticket desk to hear how awful it was that Brading Roman Villa (see reference 2) had gobbled up all the grant and lottery money on the island, leaving them with pretty much nothing with which to celebrate the bicentenary at the Lodge, the home of her most famous period. Back home we learned that the V&A had risen to the occasion at reference 3, offering a special from 28th November. Hopefully we shall make it.
Notwithstanding, there were some Cameron photographs on view, including the 'Kiss of Peace', which the caption told us was, inter alia, a 'representation of the intimacy of female relationships, created by a shared experiences in a society where relationships with men were strictly circumscribed', which I would not have thought was a fair description of what Cameron managed in her own life. Perhaps someone from the 'Guardian' was on holiday in the area when they were writing the captions. Surpised to find that most if not all of the Cameron photographs were actually copies of originals held by the National Media Museum in Bradford, not a place we are likely to visit any time soon. The copies presumably reflecting the fact that the Dimbola Lodge connection to Cameron has only recently been re-hatched, having disappeared from view for a good many years and with all the stuff which might once have been there having been dispersed. Also that old photographs are fragile and need careful display if they are to survive, care which might have been hard to provide at the Lodge, at least without a generous slice of the missing lottery dosh.
The show somewhat damaged by a party of loud Surrey people who liked to dominate whatever space they were in, both in physical terms and in the loudness of their conversation. Fortunately there was enough space to get away from them.
I rather liked the camera illustrated, a fine piece of Victorian work in brass & wood, a gelatin dry plate camera which they use for courses with collodion wet plate. To go with it, there were some interesting explanations of how photographs were developed at the time, some of it involving the whites of lots of eggs. Let's hope that the Cameron household was fond enough of lemon curd to use up all the resultant yolks.
Another near-rage incident on exit, involving a taxi driver blocking the exit while being very attentive to his Japanese customers, who I think had hired him for the day, to take in all the sights on the island before they caught the ferry back to the mainland.
Short swim in Freshwater Bay, a steep stony beach, good for swimming when the tide is right.
Back home along the spine of the island, being pleased to come across the friendly sight of a coach in the handsome claret & cream livery of Epsom Coaches, just west of the sea mark. Sadly, I read today that the new owners of Epsom Coaches have decided to go for a new livery. Don't they know not to fix wot ain't broke? But amused to be reminded that this fine example of Anglo-Saxon private enterprise is now owned by a French national enterprise. See reference 4.
Reference 1: http://psmv2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/photography.html.
Reference 2: http://psmv2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/roman-villa.html.
Reference 3: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/julia-margaret-cameron/.
Reference 4: https://www.ratpdev.com/.
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