A stroll around Ware, Hertfordshire.

[[Corblimy]]

Ware is my birthtown, a town I still call home despite not having lived there for thirty five years.

The countryside around was good Barley country, and with the Barley came Malt and Maltings. Ware was renowned for the malt that supplied the London breweries for an awful long time. Along with the malt came the Barge traffic, and the many riverside wharfs and warehouses that were tucked between the River Lea and the London to Cambridge coaching route or the A10.

Along this route, namely the high street, were the coaching inns and stables, along with three breweries and ...wait for it...over 120 public houses reputedly. Crib Street alone boasted ten pubs, not bad for a road less than a third of a mile long!

I was born just off Crib Street, in Princes street, a little road that still exists except for the lovely little 2 up and 2 down terraced houses with cellars, all demolished to make way for flats in 1967. Anyway, we start our stroll up the High Street and peek down the small narrow side entrances to the coaching yards, wharfs and stables, that ran down behind the large fronted shops and stores that line the high street.

Although these entrance seem to look alike, each is very different. note the granite wear paths for the coach and wagon wheels and also the cobbled paving. all very original features. I didnt use a flash purposely to keep the character of these dark entrances to the yards and wharfs.





The Town Hall, built on the site of the original town hall and doubled as a Corn Market. Later it became the 'Home & Colonial Stores', who else remembers them?

[[Geoff Slocock]]

Very nicely taken shots. Your camera can be pushed quite along way!

I think you have no manual focus; and that can be frustrating. But there are some workarounds for that let you get by in some instances.

I have been to Ware just the once and walked the navigation of the River Lea; but did not explore the town. I knew the history was there; and
there are similarities with Bishops Stortford in terms of grain being moved by barge and the coaching routes to and from Cambridge. Also, of
course, Bishops Stortford has magnificent coaching inns.

So your work is an inspiration for me to get back to Ware.


WOW. You've got some more of these excellent quality shots up. I'll come back and comment later.

[[Corblimy]]

Continued...





A malster, My brother is still a maltster and works in the last remaining malting in the area. I do remember my old dad using a shovel like this when he worked in the industry back in the early 1960's.



A peek up the back street as we knew it.



These were a common sight on the skyline of Ware a few years ago, now only a handful remain.



The Gazebo's
A familiar sight of the River Lea,







And the former flour mill, now apartments.

[Cerbera37]

Some great images, its lovely to see different parts of the UK and get an insight to the history of such buildings

[[Geoff Slocock]]

I have seen the gazebos on the river bank and they are picturesque.

The malting process is something I should look up, I guess. The grain has to be turned I should think and that would explain the oversized shovels. Also I don't yet understand the ventilation that is provided in those roof features. But a read on Wikipedia will sort me out. I would do that before going out on a photo shoot!

The coaching tracks are distinctive and they make nice subjects.

The Ware Flour Mills building is something I have seen.

It's nice to get a good mental map of where everything is!

[[Corblimy]]

Geoff, If you plan a visit let me know and I will gladly show you around providing its a weekend!.
Having read a lot about this Nikon, I have found it dislikes gloomy weather and poor light. I hope we get an end to this constant grey cloud that haunts me whenever i pick up the camera.
I have not post-processed any of the above shots, and none were taken using my tripod so they are not as crisp as I had hoped.

The cone shaped ventilators assisted with air flow for the actual kilns. These have been glazed to provide a light feature for the apartments now created inside the maltings.



From the Ware online website:

One of Ware's specialities in the
early years was brown malt - a malt which had been cured at a high
temperature over a wood-burning kiln - and this became the main
ingredient of 'porter' or 'entire', the main drink of London's labourers
during the 18th century. Brown malt earned Ware its superiority and its
own quoted price on the London Corn Exchange. There are many former
malthouses in the town, now converted to other uses, and the last
working malting, Paul's at Broadmeads, was a thoroughly modern,
computerised plant. However, that too closed, in January 1994, thus
bringing to an end the 600-year-old malting industry for which Ware was
once famous'.

There are a few long deserted examples left tucked away where you would least expect them.

[[Geoff Slocock]]

OK so the shovel is about turning the grain in the kiln floor, so that it is all "cooked" evenly.

I think I would like to take you up on your offer and on a Saturday I could get fairly close to where you are on the buses that I use. So, it's matter of spotting a good window of opportunity.

As far as I can see your camera is performing well.