Tradition

While Ben was at college this afternoon, I went to Sainsbury's and then had a walk round the nearby village of Ryhall, which is in the county of Rutland. Unfortunately the weather was cold and gloomy, but I shall return as there were a lot of good limestone buildings and walls, both photogenic and botanically interesting. As I wandered round the churchyard I noticed this old cottage which has a traditional Collyweston slate roof.

Collyweston slate is not a proper slate but a limestone found in narrow beds. The slates are quarried near the village of Collyweston in Northamptonshire, near Stamford and close to the borders of Lincolnshire and Rutland. It is considerably heavier than slate. Traditionally the mined stone was left outside for three winters until the frost revealed layers that could be broken into flat slates. You can always pick out a genuine Collyweston roof, because the tiles near the ridge are much narrower than those lower down the roof.



MonoMonday is one of the excellent traditions of Blipfoto, and it is such good news that it will be able to continue, under the benign leadership of Blipfuture. Well done to all concerned. And many thanks to osuzanna for hosting this weeks MonoMonday.