A troupe of five cherubs are nestled in one of the garden paths at Middleton Place.
Musical Cherubs Statue
You first see it down a straight shrub-lined path, which draws you in.
Musical Cherubs Statue
Last week when I was there some late Camellias were in bloom.
Musical Cherubs Statue
A closer look of the Cherubs; it looks like the statue has recently been cleaned, which rather highlights their imperfections.
Musical Cherubs Statue
Years ago Ted called this statue “Freaky Babies” so of course that is what I think every time I pass it. He a nice B&W version from a visit in February which in a post he aptly named Freaky Babies.
Seen through a Camellia hedge across the great lawn, the South Flanker at Middleton Place
Middleton Place, House Museum, South Flanker
March 24, 2021
Prior to the Civil War the main house was flanked by the North Flanker and the South Flanker, which was built in 1755 as gentlemen’s guest quarters and a business office.
From the Middleton Place website:
Both flankers, along with the main house, were burned by Union troops in February, 1865, just two months before the end of the Civil War. The South Flanker was the least damaged of the three buildings and repairs to it began in 1869 and included a new roof, Dutch gable ends and an entry hall leading from the Greensward. Thus strengthened, the South Flanker survived Charleston’s Great Earthquake in 1886 that brought down the gutted walls of the other residential buildings. By 1870 the Middletons had returned to live again at Middleton Place and the South Flanker continued to serve subsequent generations until becoming a House Museum in 1975.
middletonplace.org
Rice field trunks play a big role in controlling water movement in many of the South Carolina areas I explore. Once used for growing rice, private land owners and the SC Department of Natural Resources currently manage thousands of acres of wetlands using this time-tested method. Dikes separate what was a rice field from a major body of water and the trunk is used to move water back and forth.
Last week the water had been let out of the Magnolia Plantation & Gardens boat pond, so named because they give nature tours by boat around the pond. To give you an idea of the size, the perimeter of the pond is about 1.75 miles (3 KM). The pond is a mixture of open water and cat tails / reed clumps. Two years ago the boat channel was dredged and the water seen in the first image is in that channel.
With the low water I was able to get some images of the trunk parts that are normally under water.
Boat Pond, Water Out, Tour Boats Sitting On the Mud
There is a wooden box creating a culvert under the dike (think cereal box laying on its side). I have read that these are called trunks because in colonial times hollowed tree trunks were used to conduct the water.
The lower paddle ends of the flaps, which pivot at the top, are adjusted to manage the water flow.
Rice Field Trunk, Great Blue Heron in the Water, Ashely River on the other side
The Ashley River is tidal, so with both ends of the trunk wide open at low tide the water drains out of the pond. Then with at least one end of the trunk closed as the tide turns the water in the pond will remain low. The seals on either end are not tight and there is always some water movement.
Leaving the trunks ends open will refill the pond as the tide raises the water level in the river. Sometimes they are left open for days to wash out the pond or change the salinity level.
Rice Field Trunk, Ashely River On The Other Side of the Dike
The bonus to all this for the nature photographer is that wading and shore birds are attracted to the lower water. Fish are concentrated in a smaller volume making hunting easier and they can poke around in the mud.
At the end of an afternoon walk around Magnolia Plantation and Gardens I passed the river side of the Plantation House. The dropping sun played with the Spanish Moss.
Magnolia Plantation House, Ashley River Side
The top of the cupola was pierced by a jet’s contrail; the rooster didn’t seem to mind.
I took these pictures and wrote this post last summer, but was never satisfied with my text. Tonight, as a curfew has been imposed by our county and there is unrest all around us, it seems appropriate to remember these leaders.
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The Williamsburg County Courthouse in Kingstree, SC was built on a Revolutionary War era parade ground. In addition to the courthouse, which was built in 1823, and various war memorials, there are monuments commemorating Justice Thurgood Marshall and Dr. Martin Luther King.
Williamsburg County Courthouse Memorials
A civil rights attorney, Thurgood Marshall succeeded in having the US Supreme Court declare segregated public schools unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) and in 1967 became the first black Justice on that Court.
“I did the best I could with what I had.”
Williamsburg County Courthouse Memorial: Justice Thurgood Marshall
Dr. Martin Luther King spoke locally on Mother’s Day, 1966, advocating the power of voting.
Williamsburg County Courthouse Memorial: Dr. Martin Luther King
“Unless we learn to live together as brothers Surely we will die apart as fools.”
At one time a wide lawn leading up to the Ashley River side of Magnolia Plantation would have been the welcome to visitors who had journeyed via boat from Charleston. Now that expanse has narrowed with trees and there is no clear view of the whole house from the river bank.
Magnolia Plantation House Weather Vane
I was ready for wildlife photography with my 100-400 MM lens attached, but the impending storm made a cool sky so I took some images between the trees at 100 MM.
Magnolia Plantation House Cupola and Weather Vane
If you are zooming in to see the weather vane details you’ll see spots. At first I thought my lens might be dirty but after comparing the images I’m pretty sure those are rain drops.
