Rogolone

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After climbing out of Menaggio on tight switchbacks up to Croce, high on the ridge, the road scoots along the floor of the Val Menaggio, passing Bene Lario and 3km later reaching the small, reedy Lago di Piano, protected as a nature reserve and breeding place for water birds. Drop into the little information office beside the lake, or ask the Menaggio tourist office for the route description of a pleasant, almost flat two-hour walk here that takes in woodlands and a fortified cluster of medieval houses on a peninsula in the lake, known as Castel San Pietro. Continue reading “Rogolone”

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Stations Of The Crossing

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This railway bridge on Wightman Road crosses the Gospel Oak to Barking Line just as it passes under the East Coast Main Line out of Finsbury Park. I regularly cross this bridge, either going to work or coming home and many times I just sit here in a queue of traffic, but the view is often mesmerising, especially when the sun is shining on these timeworn panels of blistered paint. Continue reading “Stations Of The Crossing”

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Villa Panza

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Villa Panza is a grand 18th century mansion in the hillside suburb of Biumo Superiore, overlooking the city of Varese. It was the home of Count Giuseppe Panza, art collector and a great champion of Minimalist and Conceptual Art. He bought his first painting in 1956, by Antoni Tàpies and in 1966 he began collecting work by Brice Marden, Richard Serra and James Turrell. In 1996 the house was donated to the nation and opened to the public after major restoration work in 2000. Continue reading “Villa Panza”

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Clejani Love Song

Taraf de Haïdouks are celebrating their 25th anniversary with a new album, Of Lovers, Gamblers and Parachute Skirts, released by Crammed Discs. They’re playing soon at Union Chapel, but it looks like I’ll miss the concert, so in compensation here’s a little video for a song off the album. I first saw them perform at the Royal Festival Hall in 1998 when they shared the stage with Kronos Quartet and made ecstatic music together. I’ve been a fan ever since. Yehudi Menuhin and Pina Bausch were also fans, as are Johnny Depp and Terry Gilliam. They’ve been called “the best Gypsy band in the world”. Yet despite all the international acclaim they still live in their home village of Clejani in Romania.

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Arboretum

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Ivon Hitchens, Oak Tree in Purple Woods, Southampton City Art Gallery

In 2013 St Barbe Museum in Lymington organised an exhibition entitled Under the Greenwood: Picturing British Trees (accompanied by an impressive book published by Sansom). The exhibition was curated by Tim Craven of Southampton Art Gallery, himself a painter. Continue reading “Arboretum”

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