We have a lovely picture in our bedroom of Rochester Castle done around 1878. It was painted by one of my ancestors, John Hornby Maw, who was a close friend of William Hunt and J.M.W. Turner. The three of them often painted together. There are very similar paintings of the interior of Maw’s living room in Hastings done by them.
We visited Rochester a couple of years ago to see if we could identify where Maw sat to make the painting and compare it with how it looks now. We found the spot, near the Cathedral, but it was tricky to photograph because of a busy road, a car park and the sun straight in front of me! But we found it fascinating to see how little had really changed with the castle itself.
-
- Rochester Cathedral by John Hornby Maw ca 1878
-
- Rochester Castle in 2018
Part of the castle from inside and a view of Rochester Cathedral from inside the castle.
CROSSING CULTURES, FINDING FREEDOM 
My version of your idea i.e.a painting and a photo of it. Unfortunately the photo was not taken at sunset because we had to catch the ferry home at 7pm.
The painting was done by my great aunt and I inherited it from my aunt along with several others of Shetland. Great-Aunt Minnie and her sister had both married Shetlanders. The house is typical of that street and there are similar ones reaching right into the sea at Stromness in Orkney. Conveniently there was and still is a boat moored outside the door.
My aunt and her cousin went to Orkney to visit them. I don’t know when they died but possibly even before I was born as I only ever knew one of my grandparents.
On my walk today I was surrounded by ringlet butterflies. They are not the most eye-catching but there were huge numbers flying about in the long grass. They never seem to settle and so are impossible to photograph. Maybe the sun wasn’t bright enough for them to bask in it today.
Keep sending photographs. I like them but can’t be bothered to search for them. We have our very own castle here which we pass on one of our riverside walks. We used to bring the children here for a walk and to visit the castle. It has a dungeon which,of course, we would threaten to put naughty children in. Oliver Cromwell is reputed to have taken pot shots at it from across the river though just what he was doing up here I do not know.
Best Wishes from Helen
On Tue, 7 Jul 2020 at 22:54, CROSSING CULTURES, FINDING FREEDOM wrote:
> Margaret posted: “We have a lovely picture in our bedroom of Rochester > Castle done around 1878. It was painted by one of my ancestors, John Hornby > Maw, who was a close friend of William Hunt and J.M.W. Turner. The three of > them often painted together. There are very simila” >
LikeLike
Thank you, Helen. That’s very interesting. Did you try to attach some photos? None have appeared.
LikeLike