Coleridge was born in Devon in 1772, and was a friend of the Romantic poet Wordsworth - indeed they formed the Romantic movement together. One of ten children, Coleridge (the son of a vicar) was a precocious reader and by the age of 6 had already devoured Belisarius, Robinson Crusoe and Philip Quarll and taken great delight in the tales of the Arabian Nights.
Coleridge was considered a "giant amongst dwarfs" by his contemporaries for his superb intellect and his talent. Besides being a poet, he was also a philosopher, and had great knowledge of and interest in law, morals, politics, history and he was a renowned literary critic. Established in Highgate for the latter part of his life, he died there in 1834.
My husband and I (gosh, I sound just like the Queen now!) have an addiction to junk and antique shops (and auctions and car boot sales and . . . . you get my drift?) When we were driving through North Devon on Monday afternoon we spotted a Junk Shop next to an Antique Shop at the side of the road, and of course, we pulled in to check it out. The prices were downright silly in the Junk Shop - the price they had on Belfast sinks and built around surrounds seemed surreal - especially when we built our own support, shelving, doors etc, got a new Belfast sink at a reasonably sensible price from Jewsons, and recycled a wonderful Victorian teak drainer from another junk shop on the way to Brecon and all for less than £200 . . . Anyway, we had a wander round and outside (in the rain) to look at the architectural section at the back. Then into a nice little Aladdin's Cave of bits and bobs. The substantial horse-drawn plough above must have ploughed a few acres in its time.
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