Cranbrook

[poliphilo]

In times past quaint, little Cranbrook was an industrial centre. When Elizabeth I visited the town she processed along a carpet a mile long that had been made for the occasion by local weavers. The mill on the hill is early 19th century- and still in working order.

Comments

[mummm.livejournal.com]

I Googled Cranbrook, and then looked at Wikipedia, and finally I came to the conclusion that this is the one in Kent?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cranbrook

It's a lovely town!

A mile long carpet? Wow!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

That's right. I believe there's another one in Canada.

[mummm.livejournal.com]

If you check the link there are a LOT of them. I was surprised.
I always think of the Cranbrook art academy near Detroit.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I should imagine this one is probably the first.

[mummm.livejournal.com]

I'm sure you are correct.

[currawong.livejournal.com]

Pretty mill ... pretty town.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Working windmills are quite a rarity these days. I love how it dominates the town.

[currawong.livejournal.com]

When you say working, do you mean functional but just for tourism or does it actually mill something commercially??

[shewhomust.livejournal.com]

I thought Cranbrook sounded familiar, so I too googled it: it's the name of the hymn tune now best known with the words of Ilkley Moor (though we sing While Shepherds Watched to it). (More here).

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I didn't know that. I wonder how the Yorkshire county song came to be associated with a tune named after a town in Kent.

[shewhomust.livejournal.com]

Short version: it's a hymn tune written by a man from Kent, adopted later by Yorkshire. (there are more details here, but that's the gist of it).

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

It looks rather unusual for England, all white and with a windmill.
Quite pretty, though!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The windmill is very unusual. The houses, however, are typical of this part of Southern England. The cladding of a house in tightly fitting, overlapping planks is known as "weather-boarding".

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I love picking up new bits of information like that.
:)

[daisytells.livejournal.com]

Oh, how beautiful!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Almost too good to be true, isn't it?