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Wednesday, August 30, 2023

Madrid, Spain Air Museum for Weathervane Wednesday

 Today's weathervane was photographed at the Madrid Air Museum in Spain. 



The Madrid Air Museum, also known as the Museum of Aeronautics and Astronautics, is near Madrid at the Cuatro Vientos Air Base.  The museum was founded in 1975, and inaugurated in 1981.  There are over 200 aircraft on display with 7 hangars.  

My husband went to visit this museum with his cousin and took a photo of the weathervane atop one of the hangars.  It is an unusual two dimensional weathervane of two military aircraft in silhouette.  There are no cardinal points on the weathervane.  It is a very tiny weathervane, and difficult to see from the ground. 


For the truly curious:

Madrid Air Museum website in English:  https://ejercitodelaire.defensa.gob.es/EA/museodelaire/en.html   

Wikipedia article on the Madrid Air Museum:   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_Aeronautics_and_Astronautics_(Madrid)  

Click here to see 500 more Weathervane Wednesday posts:

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Madrid, Spain Air Museum for Weathervane Wednesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 30, 2023, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2023/08/madrid-spain-air-museum-for-weathervane.html: accessed [access date]). 

Wednesday, August 23, 2023

Angel Gabriel in Sturbridge, Massachusetts for Weathervane Wednesday

This weathervane was photographed at the Publick House, in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. 



The Publick House Historic Inn and Country Motor Lodge is located in Sturbridge, Massachusetts.  There are 128 guestrooms, two restaurants, and a coffee shop.  There is also conference and event space.  There are always weddings being held in the garden and inside, since it is such a popular destination. The original inn building dates from 1771, when it was built by Ebenezer Crafts on the Boston Post Road for weary travelers. 

The weathervane is the figure of the Angel Gabriel blowing his horn. This two dimensional cut metal weathervane is very primitive.  It is difficult to see the wing of the angel next to the post. The figure has a white patina, so it might be made of lead. The only cardinal points are East and West. 

In Judaism, Christianity and Islam, the archangel Gabriel announces God's messages to men.  For example, in the New Testament Gabriel announces the birth of Jesus to Mary, and in the Hebrew bible Gabriel appears to the prophet Daniel.  In Islam, Gabriel revealed the 96th chapter of the Quran to Muhammad.  The Angel Gabriel is a well known subject of many artists often showing him with a trumpet. 



For the truly curious:

The Publick House Historic Inn website:   https://www.hotelsone.com/sturbridge-hotels-us/publick-house-historic-inn-and-country-motor-lodge.html  

Click here to see 500 more weathervanes featured at Weathervane Wednesday:

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/search/label/Weathervane%20Wednesday   

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Angel Gabriel in Sturbridge, Massachusetts for Weathervane Wednesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 23, 2023, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2023/08/angel-gabriel-in-sturbridge.html: accessed [access date]). 

Wednesday, August 16, 2023

A Whale of a Car Wash! For Weathervane Wednesday

 This weathervane was photographed in Lunenburg, Massachusetts






The Whalom Wash is a car wash business located on Route 13 in Lunenburg, Massachusetts.  We have driven past this whale weathervane for many years, but this is the first time we stopped to take a photograph!  This is a two dimensional weathervane, the silhouette of a right whale above the cardinal points.  This business is near Lake Whalom, and across the street from the former "Whalom Park" (an amusement park that operated from 1893 to 2000).  The park lay abandoned for many years, but the last structures, including the huge Flying Comet rollercoaster was demolished in 2006. 

Whalom is pronounce WHALE-um, and the amusement park used a whale as its mascot. The TV advertising for the park had a jingle I still remember from my childhood "Whalom Paaaark...for a whale of a time!"  Lake Whalom covers 103 acres.  The Native Americans in this area called it Uncacchewalunk, which was shortened and corrupted to Walun or Whalom.  


For the truly curious:

Whalom Wash, 380 Electric Avenue, Lunenburg, Massachusetts:   https://whalomwash.mywashclub.com/portal/default.aspx  

Click here to see over 500 weathervanes featured at "Weathervane Wednesday":   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/search/label/Weathervane%20Wednesday   

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "A Whale of a Car Wash! For Weathervane Wednesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 16, 2023, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2023/08/a-whale-of-car-wash-for-weathervane.html: accessed [access date]). 

Wednesday, August 9, 2023

A Church in Madrid for Weathervane Wednesday

This church was photographed at 93 Calle de Bravo Murillo in Madrid, Spain.

 

This is the weathervane above the bell tower of the Parroquia Nuestra Señora de Los Ángeles (Our Lady of the Angels) in Madrid, Spain.  It is a short walk from Cuatro Caminos.  This church was built in 1892, and the interior has 8 chapels.  The weathervane is a banner style, very traditional, with a fancy scrolled finial shaped like a Christian cross. It looks like there is a grounding wire running from the top of the finial down to the church, making this also a lightning rod.  (Can anyone confirm this?)

For the truly curious:

Nuestra Señora de Los Ángeles: La historia parroquia de Cuatro Caminos, from the ABC Madrid newspaper website, published 19 March 2022:  https://www.abc.es/espana/madrid/abci-nuestra-senora-angeles-historica-parroquia-cuatro-caminos-202203190005_noticia.html  

Click here to see over 500 more weathervanes featured at "Weathervane Wednesday":  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/search/label/Weathervane%20Wednesday  

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "A Church in Madrid for Weathervane Wednesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 9, 2023, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2023/08/a-church-in-madrid-for-weathervane.html: accessed [access date]).  

Thursday, August 3, 2023

Londonderry Old Home Days August 16 - 19, 2023






The first Old Home Day was proclaimed by New Hampshire's Governor Frank Rollins in 1899 to bring family and friends back to New Hampshire.  The state had a declining population as people moved west, but Old Home Day was a time to visit the old homestead and old hometowns. 

Londonderry's Old Home Days stretch over several days and attracts about 12,000 people annually.  There is a concert and picnic for seniors on the 16th, Battle of the Bands on the 17th, fireworks and the Police vs Firefighters softball games on the 18th, and a Christian concert on Sunday the 20th, but the biggest day is Saturday August 19th with concerts, fireworks, parade, a 5K road race, children's games, food trucks, a fair on the common, beer festival, and a large historical encampment at the Londonderry Historical Society's museum complex a few yards down the road from the common. 

At the Morrison House on Saturday the 19th you will find a blacksmith, corn husk doll demonstrations, a colonial surgeon, a colonial washerwoman, a gunsmith, a horn smith (animal horns), a tinsmith, flax workers, spinners, weavers, country music, a genealogist (Sandy Dahlfred from the Historical Society), and cannon firings at 12, 1 and 2.  

If you have never seen the interior of the historic buildings at the Londonderry Historical Society Museum complex, they are all open to the public at Old Home Day including the Morrison House, the Parmenter Barn, the blacksmith shop and the carriage house.  





For the truly curious:

Londonderry Old Home Day at the town website:    https://www.londonderrynh.gov/londonderry-old-home-day  

Londonderry Old Home Day on Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/TownofLondonderryOldHomeDay/   

Derry News article "Old Home Day plans underway", July 13, 2023   https://www.derrynews.com/news/londonderry/old-home-day-plans-underway/article_c13e8a08-1f22-11ee-9153-8ba2e2a1df7b.html   

The Londonderry Historical Society website:  https://www.londonderryhistory.org/  

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Londonderry Old Home Days August 16 - 19, 2023", Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 3, 2023, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2023/08/londonderry-old-home-days-august-16-19.html: accessed [access date]). 

Wednesday, August 2, 2023

A Gas Station in Madrid, Spain for Weathervane Wednesday

 This gas station is located at 229 Calle de Bravo Murillo, Madrid, Spain




This little gas station is located on the corner of Calle de Lope de Haro and Calle de Bravo Murillo in Madrid, Spain. My husband spotted this while out walking in Madrid recently. The weathervane is not visible from Bravo Murillo, the main boulevard, but if you turn down Calle de Lope de Haro and then turn around and look back you will see this old weathervane.  It is a simple two dimensional silhouette of an old sedan, probably dating back decades to when there was a much smaller gas station on this corner. There are no cardinal points on this weathervanes, and no evidence that there ever were any on the post.  Now the big red canopy blocks the view of the weathervane from pedestrians. 

My mother-in-law and her family has lived in this neighborhood since the 1970s and there has always been a "gasolinera" on this corner.  

For the truly curious:

Galp    https://www.galp.com/corp/pt/  

Click here to see over 500 more weathervane photos!

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/search/label/Weathervane%20Wednesday  

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "A Gas Station in Madrid, Spain for Weathervane Wednesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 2, 2023, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2023/08/a-gas-station-in-madrid-spain-for.html: accessed [access date]).