SteveTanham – writing, mysticism, photography, poetry, friends

Category: History

April 20, 2023 + #Silent Eye, #Silenti, Consciousness, English Lake District, enneagram types, esoteric psychology, History

Drowning not waving

by Steve Tanham

Stage Directions: Cue: Hamlet cigars advert music from the 60’s to the 90’s…. Video link below, if you weren’t there… YouTube video, late 1970s… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVecbh15dWU They were a very popular series of ads about heroic failures… All featuring the same theme music ‘Air on the G String’ by J. S. Bach. It is said that humour is divine. I often find it puts into … Read More Drowning not waving

April 4, 2023 + #Silenti, Ancient Landscapes, Celtic Christianity, Consciousness, English Lake District, History, Lake District, landscapes, Photography, Travel and Photography

Treachery and Morecambe Bay

by Steve Tanham

The treachery of Morecambe Bay has been well-documented throughout its history. Volatile, unpredictable and downright dangerous are words often used to describe it by those in the know. A ‘sister’ resort to Blackpool, forty miles to the South – Morecambe has managed to cling to a little of its former Victorian glamour partly due to such iconic buildings as the renowned Art Deco Midland … Read More Treachery and Morecambe Bay

January 5, 2023 + #Silenti, Consciousness, History

The Foundations of the Future

by Steve Tanham

We were driving back from Ilkley with a clip full of ‘winter Wharfedale’ photos, many of which were destined be spoiled by the falling light along the riverbank or too ambitious in the first place. In decades gone by, the pain wouldn’t only have been the attempt and failure, but the cost of paying to have them developed and copied to photo paper, only … Read More The Foundations of the Future

September 22, 2022 + #Silenti, Consciousness, Esoteric Meaning of Myth, esoteric psychology, History, Journey of the hero, Photographic techniques, Photography, Places and Prose, Psychology

Theatre of the Mind

by Steve Tanham

Once a month, on the evening of the third Sunday, the Silent Eye hosts a zoom-based get-together on the internet. People join us from across the world. The purpose is to share our (and others’) explorations of the mystically-oriented life; hence its name: SE-Explorations. In the comfort of our own homes, those who might be curious and those who seem to have been curious … Read More Theatre of the Mind

September 4, 2022 + #Silenti, English Lake District, History, landscapes, Photographic techniques, Photography

Survivor in a landscape?

by Steve Tanham

A complete accident this, though it looks like the figure in the right hand aperture was staged… I have no idea who she was. Kendal Castle; home to prominent members of the Parr family, whose daughter, Katherine Parr, remarkably survived the Tudor monster – Henry VIII. Perhaps that’s her ghost, smiling in the late summer sun, reminding us that even the darkest fates can, … Read More Survivor in a landscape?

August 2, 2022 + #Silenti, Ancient Landscapes, History, landscapes, Photography, Places and Prose

In the gardens of Coughton Court…

by Steve Tanham

Coughton Court in Warwickshire, fifteen miles from Stratford-on-Avon, is the ancestral home of the Throckmortons, one of the UK’s oldest catholic families and a place of great intrigue during the time of religious persecution. It still possesses some of the best concealed ‘priest holes’ in the country. It also boasts a beautiful walled garden, worth visiting in its own right… The name Coughton (pronounce … Read More In the gardens of Coughton Court…

March 24, 2022 + #Silenti, History, Lake District

Unsung Heroes: Hardwicke Drummond Rawnsley

by Steve Tanham

The man put down the copper piece. Its construction had taken months, each day a voyage of learning. The elderly and bearded tutor had been patient, his bright eyes – a contrast to the dark beard – had eagerly overseen the development of the shaping of the copper pieces, then the detailed carving of the flowers, followed by the refinements, and eventually, the final … Read More Unsung Heroes: Hardwicke Drummond Rawnsley

July 14, 2020 + History, humour, landscapes, Photography

Locked-down and Armed: one man’s struggle with entropy (6) – White Space and USOs

by Steve Tanham

So, now we’ve got to move swiftly! I see you’re willing and able, You have your faded work- jeans on and you can borrow my older safety helmet. It’s a bit squeaky, but perfectly functional. We have two hours to paint Salty Pete between squares 1 and 19. See the ‘Lucky Bag’ diagram, below . During the last hour before you arrived, I’ve been … Read More Locked-down and Armed: one man’s struggle with entropy (6) – White Space and USOs

July 7, 2020 + History, humour, landscapes, Photography

Locked-down and Armed: one man’s struggle with entropy (5) – The White Rabbit

by Steve Tanham

I didn’t explain about the three drills… I’ve written about the new one – a slinky DeWALT with a noise that makes you shiver with DIYlight. The other two are older versions by the same maker. Buying the new one was prompted by the failure of both my re-chargeable batteries, when I tried to use the drill after a year of idleness… So, technically, … Read More Locked-down and Armed: one man’s struggle with entropy (5) – The White Rabbit

June 30, 2020 + History, humour, landscapes, Photography

Locked-down and Armed: one man’s struggle with entropy (4) – Push and Twist

by Steve Tanham

I didn’t set out to have three drills… The posh one, a nice DIY model from DeWALT, was bought because both the batteries for my previous drill failed at the same time, after lying idle in their case for nearly a year… My fault. So, with lockdown looming, we dashed out to Wickes in Morecambe and got a new one. Portable drills have come … Read More Locked-down and Armed: one man’s struggle with entropy (4) – Push and Twist

June 23, 2020 + History, humour, landscapes, Photography

Locked-down and Armed: one man’s struggle with entropy (3) – Two Peters…

by Steve Tanham

(Continued from Part two) Everything was quiet… Several hours after I began swinging the sledgehammer, there was finally peace from the destruction. I pulled up a wooden box and sat on it, wiping the congealed sweat from my forehead onto my arm. The Lucky Bag ‘number square’ idea from the last post seems to have caught the imagination, so I’ve updated it, below, to … Read More Locked-down and Armed: one man’s struggle with entropy (3) – Two Peters…

June 16, 2020 + History, humour, landscapes, Photography

Locked-down and Armed: one man’s struggle with entropy (2) – ‘If I had a hammer..’

by Steve Tanham

“If I had a hammer…” The words rang out in my head. Peter, Paul and Mary giving it their all with one of the most memorable protest songs of the 1960’s. Now, I did have a hammer – a rather big one – and I was striding up the garden path towards an unsuspecting ‘Saltpetre’ with a hefty degree of intent… Bernie’s words rang … Read More Locked-down and Armed: one man’s struggle with entropy (2) – ‘If I had a hammer..’