Facing the music

We had a nice e-mail from James and Hazel of nb Gabriel today which mentioned that they were finding that the folk scene where they are in Buckinghamshire is thriving. I don't suppose much of the music they perform in pubs and clubs is as old as the manuscript we saw today.

This is a page from a book of antiphons - short songs written for use in church services - dated to the 1400s.

For something produced 600 years ago and, presumably, intended for daily use it looks in remarkably good condition. That's vellum for you, I suppose. (Sad that vellum is no longer to be made in this country.) And non-fade ink.

Some words are recognisable, but others look like a series of ems, ens and so on all running together.

Muine? Nuune?

We had gone to Wymondham Abbey near where we live in Norfolk to look at a Christmas tree exhibition and discovered that two extensions had been built since our last visit. In one of these modern additions very high quality displays of artefacts from the abbey were available to casual visitors like us.

The most striking interior feature of Wymondham Abbey is the fabulous gold screen behind the altar.

It was installed in the 1920s as a memorial to Wymondham people who had died in the First World War.

Wymondham Abbey is a landmark for passengers on the train from London to Norwich; when you see its twin towers you know Norwich is ten miles away.

I saw our outside thermometer reading 15C today. As I walked to our carol service yesterday on Sunday I heard the summery sound of lawn mowing.

edited for a small correction