Stained Glass, Streat Church, East Sussex

A mixed day today. We went to the Garden Centre at Ditchling, but the journey took over an hour to get there. Not wishing to moan about cyclists on the road, there was clearly a race on that involved going over Ditchling Beacon which I knew nothing about. The cars following the riders and servicing them totally jammed up the already difficult road system to get there. We left home at about 11.30am and did not get there until nearly 1.00! In an overcrowded country with too much traffic at the best of times, a cycle race is bad news. It would have been better to close the roads involved as they have in other races than try to run one with normal traffic, and it would have been safer.

Anyway after lunch we stopped at Streat, which was very quiet and peaceful on a ridge overlooking the South Downs. This church has no dedication and although much restored, contains plenty of interest. As I'm reading a book about stained glass, I thought I would blip part of the east window made in 1931 by the firm of James Powell & Sons.

The image shows Mary Magdalene who is my favourite saint (if you're allowed to have one!!). Usually shown with the ointment jar, in this picture that is not present. The cloak has interesting patterns on it, the white undergown can be seen with a rich deep red top gown with embroidered edges and loose sleeves. The pointed shoes poke out from under the skirts in a very traditional representation which this firm created. The long hair and the halo convinced me that this was who was depicted and on checking at home, I was found to be correct. The face does have a slight angular look about it which occurs on 1930's stained glass. At some stage, I will blip a full window of this date to show what I mean. Stained glass is fun to photograph and the results can either be very good or very poor, depending on the light outside.