As my regular readers already know, our adventures always begin by me firing up Bucephalus, Mrs. C dialing a destination into the sat-nav and more often than not, we head up the A38, or as the creative minds at Devon Tourism like to call it, “The Devon Expressway”.
Anyways, Mrs. C and I were driving along said “Devon Expressway”, in the direction of Exeter, looking for somewhere to eat our picnic. About 30 mins into our journey and, whilst being a natural ambi-turner, I decided to Carpe Diem and turn left at an exit which said Buckfastleigh. We pass this particular exit on a regular basis and are usually in either too much of a rush, or simply can’t be bothered, to see what the pleasant market town of Buckfastleigh has to offer.
Mrs. C was on to Eugoogly like a flash and found that Buckfastleigh is famous for its abbey. On further investigation, said abbey appeared to be located just around the corner. Then Mrs. C shouted out the f-word, no not that one but my favorite f-word, exclaiming that it was “free” to park and “free” to enter! Yes that f -word. Hallelujah slice the dumpling! I am indeed my father’s son and I was already in my happy place and we hadn’t even arrived.
As we drove through the gate parking was indeed straightforward and I noticed that there was a distinct calmness and tranquility about this place, especially in the wallet department, probably due to there being no-one trying to trouser £25 a head for entry and parking!
Then I opened my camera bag and pulled out my Leica SL2 but realized that I still had the 135mm Apo Telyt F3.4 M lens manually attached. Normally this would not be a problem as it renders quite beautifully but I anticipated a few potential issues relating to light and with not having a wide enough field of view, when trying to capture an abbey. This monastic environment seem to be drawing me to the latin verse. This was definitely going to be a case of “Non Desistas Non Exieris”; for those of you who have let your colloquial latin slip a little it basically means never give up. So I was up for the artistic challenge.
Now for a bit of an explainer. Eugoogly reliably tells us that the abbey was established at Buckfast in 1018, originally for Benedictine monks, and later to become home to Cistercians.
Unfortunately, back in 1539 “Non Desistas Non Exieris” did not apply to our Cistercian friends. When Henry VIII finally dissolved the monastery and sequesrated its wealth and religious artifacts, the buildings gradually fell in to ruin. Any acts of non-compliance were literally treated as a pain in the neck, caused by a dirty great axe chopping off your head!
However, the abbey’s fortunes were revived in 1882 due to the arrival of a group of displaced french monks. Indeed using a plan of the ruins and a considerable degree of hard graft, they set about rebuilding the abbey, which was finally re-consecrated in 1932. This really was a remarkable feat and a remarkable story.
The interior of the church is quite magnificent combining medieval design features with relatively modern materials and building techniques.
As a photographer the thing that amazed me was how much light there was. Normally churches and cathedrals are almost pitch black and a real challenge to capture. Not so at Buckfast Abbey, although I did have to resort to the Leica photo app on my iPhone to capture the following shot along the length of the church.
I then switched my mind into 135mm mode and set about capturing some more intimate imagery.
Despite the fact that parking and entry is free, I gave a donation in order to help the monks with the upkeep, thereby ensuring continued unfettered access.
Outside of the church the abbey is set in beautiful grounds. We found a bench on the lawns and devoured our packed lunch before walking the Lavender and Physic gardens, where I managed a few more images, in a manner more suited to 135mm.
What a fabulous place and a note to self to definitely plan a return visit, to avail ourselves of the the rather tasty looking Grange Restaurant and also to spend some proper time exploring their “Monastic Way Exhibition”, an immersive presentation of Benedictine monastic life.
Buckfast is still a working abbey, being home to a community of Roman Catholic Benedictine monks, although I did not see any of the monks during our visit. However, these industrious Benedictines clearly take a libation or three as they produce a drink called Buckfast Tonic Wine.
Well, I am always partial to a glass of red and was keen to purchase a couple of bottles of the old Benedictine marching juice as I felt sure that it would meet the approval of La Tante Sarah, who regular readers will already know, as “Head of Family Hydration”, takes a drink or three herself. However, Mrs. C had been back on Eugoogly and upon further investigation found it to be a “tonic wine”. Fine I said, adopting my usual positive outlook, I can drink anything with tonic and I am particularly partial to wine.
Mrs. C patiently explained that Buckfast Tonic Wine could be used to fuel an F-16. It is a caffeinated alcoholic drink consisting of fortified wine with added caffeine. It is said that one bottle contains as much caffeine as 10 cans of cola…….then she took her foot off my neck!
Eugoogly had also explained that this “aviation fuel” has a very bad image in Scotland where, due to its high alcohol and caffeine content, is thought to be associated with and the cause of much violent and disorderly behavior! This I can well believe as I have walked down Glasgow’s Sauchiehall Street and I am able to verify that some of the locals have not exactly taken the pledge, even at 9 a.m. in the morning!
Although I am of independent mind and king of the Chivers Castle, I decided to forgo the Benedictine marching juice and instead, I shall be sticking to the relative safety of my regular tipple, a pint of Timothy Taylor’s Landlord at the Queens Head pub on the Barbican.
Of course, no day out would be complete without grabbing an image of the beautiful Mrs. C, in the Lavender Garden, looking serene on “The Bench of Contemplation”.
So the motto of todays blog is to always be spontaneous and when in doubt, turn left! Please stay tuned as there are many more adventures to come and we are still only half way through the year.
The weather in Plymouth is still set fair so if I may defer back to the latin, may I wish you all “bonum diem habeatis”; basically have a great day!
Warmest regards from Plymouth U.K.