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robertleechestateagents · 9 months ago

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Amazing Facts About Reigate

We may all think that we know Reigate like the back of our hand but maybe not… here are a few interesting, if not surprising, facts about our beloved town.

On the Rocks

If you were a teenager in the 80’s, Reigate was the not the hub of excitement that it is today. There was no Mishiko’s or Joules but if you were in the know the place to go was On the Rocks, a subterranean nightclub in caves beneath the one-way system – where the Reigate Kebab Shop now stands. The entrance was to a small wine bar but it gave no clue to what was going on below. My own, vague, memory is watching a band while drinking Singapore Slings, it was dark and musty but quite an experience! The club later became Batchelors but sadly was shut down in 1994 due to health & safety reasons and it is believed that these particular caves had to be filled due the traffic going up to the M25.

Churchill Loved Reigate

Throughout history, Reigate and the North Downs have played an important part in the defence of Great Britain. Just 20 miles south of London, this stronghold has the strategic advantage of extensive views southwards, stone, chalk and sand quarries, underground tunnels and hidden byways disguised by plenty of tree cover. This was all familiar territory to Winston Churchill, who became Prime Minister soon after the start of World War II. Over several decades he visited the town, including the grand Georgian manor house on Church Street which is now home to Jack Wills and his signature can also be seen in the guest book of Reigate Priory. The Churchills were often weekend party guests at the Priory, then owned by the former Admiral of World War One, Earl Beatty and his wife.

After the war,m Winston left his legacy in the form of his pet blue & gold macaw Charlie, who rumour had it; lived in an aviary off Flanchford Road until the ripe old age of 105!

The Unusual Church on the Heath

The iconic windmill on Reigate Heath is actually a church. Part of At Mary’s Parish the windmill is thought to be the only one in England consecrated as a church. Regular monthly services are held in the Mill Church during the summer months on a Sunday evening, as well as occasional services throughout the year. The church also holds a popular afternoon Christmas Carol Service each December.

Reigate Heath’s Murky Past

Reigate Heath has had an eventful history; 200 years ago it was a wild unfriendly place, covered with gorse and heather. Woe betide the hapless traveller who ventured into the area on their way from Reigate to Dorking. Highwaymen and brigands lay in wait and it is rumoured that the chimney of a local tavern, ‘The Skimmington Castle’, was used as a look-out post by the robbers to spot their victims approach.

But anyone who was caught and convicted as a highwayman was guaranteed to meet their end on the Heath too. A gibbet was erected at a site now called ‘Galley Hill’, which was named after the gallows which once stood there. Local legend has it, a former landlord of the nearby Black Horse pub in West Street, was hung there after being convicted of highway robbery.

Reigate’s very own Natural History Museum

Behind a wall at the beginning of Croydon Road is one of the UK’s oldest natural history societies. Founded in 1857 the Holmesdale Natural History Club holds a fascinating collection of natural history, archaeology, local history and geology collections. Exhibits range from medieval drainpipes and giant fossil ammonites to an extensive collection of Victorian and Edwardian stuffed birds and locally produced Roman tiles – complete with the footprint of a local Roman dog.

For more information including opening times visit www.hnhc.org.uk

Reigate’s 13 Most Famous Residents

Dame Margot Fonteyn – prima donna ballerina, was born in Reigate in 1919

Spike Milligan – writer and comedian, used to live at Woodhatch in Orchard Way

Norman Cook – Superstar DJ raised in Reigate and attended Reigate Grammar School

David Walliams – TV personality, Author attended Reigate Grammar School

Guy and Howard Lawrence, together as a band known under the alias Disclosure, both born and live in Reigate

Newton Faulkner – English singer-songwriter and musician born in the town

George Best – Manchester United and Northern Ireland football player lived his last years near Reigate

Melvyn Hayes – aka Gloria in It Ain’t Half Hot Mum was a resident of Glovers Road

Cliff Mitchlemore – presenter of the BBC Holiday programme,

Jane Slaughter – Tracey the barmaid from Eastenders.

Phil Tuffnell – Cricketer lives near Reigate

Max Chiltern – British racing driver born and lived in Reigate

Ray Mears – English woodsman, author and TV presenter attended Reigate Grammar School

Want to find out more about how the Robert Leech Reigate team can help you with your property needs visit here.

Content source - https://www.robertleech.com/amazing-facts-about-reigate/

#Amazing Facts About Reigate #Facts of Reigate #House Sale Oxted #Sell My Home in Lingfield #Sell My Home in Oxted

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jaydeemedia · 1 year ago

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[ad_1] Ask me what the best things to do in the UK are and I’ll always answer the same: immerse yourself in our culture. Perhaps you’re wondering what that means, seeing as a fair few memes say it’s only beige food and bizarrely titled royals. But having lived abroad for a few years now, I think I can finally answer that question based on all the bits of home I miss. It’s proper pubs with banter, booze and slightly questionable carpets. It’s a cracking cultural scene that spans open-air theatres in the south to legendary live music and non-stop festivals in Edinburgh. It’s complaining about crappy countryside roads that squeeze through farmland before arriving at some of the world’s most spectacular coastal hikes. It’s wild camping on the outer Scottish islands where time stands still and stars dance, so you don’t mind the odd rain shower. And it’s lugging yourself into London on the train – while repeatedly complaining about the train prices to anyone who will listen – because there’s always another free museum to visit. Not that we only have one culture – we’re four proud nations bound by one (often debated) union. Even city to city, you’ll notice the differences in accents, what we call a bread roll, and our signature slang. So, while it’s highly subjective, these are my picks of the United Kingdom’s top things to do – the ones I always suggest friends do when they visit to get a flavour of the country from top to toe. Sure, it might not list every single ‘must-see’ place in England, Wales, Northern Ireland or Scotland, but these UK experiences will introduce you to the country’s history, nature, pomp and people. Tackle Wales’ Great Trails Most first-time visitors to the UK rarely make it to Wales, and they’re missing a trick. Given my Gran’s Welsh, making me a quarter so, I’m proud to fly my little part of the coolest dragon-adorned flag there is. But if you venture to the wonderful west of Great Britain, get beyond Cardiff and into the unadulterated nature. Summit Eryri (Snowdonia) for sweeping vistas of lush peaks and dramatic, cerulean-hued lakes. If you’re lucky, you’ll see as far as Pembrokeshire, arguably the most handsome part of the whole country. And it’s here, amongst the windswept, croissant-coloured beaches, that you’ll likely fall in love – especially if you come in spring when the Wales Coast Path is lined with fluttering vivid wildflowers. Whether it’s along the border-tracking Dyke Path or the craggy coastal trail, Wales’ Great Trails offer some of the UK’s best self-guided adventures on foot or bike. En route, I guarantee you’ll stumble upon so many beautiful off-the-beaten-path spots as you traverse across scrub, shores, moors and all-smiling remote villages that you might just forget about the other three nations. Fossil hunting on Charmouth beach is one of the UK’s best activities Fossil hunt on a South Coast road trip I might be biassed as this is my home region, but little can compare to the southwest of England, specifically the history-hiding Jurassic Coast. Not that it hides its history that much. You can actually hunt out fossils buried just below the surface of these gorgeous sands. One of my favourite things to do in the UK even now is to take a road trip along Dorset’s Jurassic Coast and search for ammonites and belemnites that are millions of years old. Pop into one of the museums along this 95-mile-long stretch of shore, and you’ll be stunned by some of the dinosaur fossils people have actually found and put on display for all to see. I’d love to tell you to book a little beach hut and Lyme Regis and chill out for a while. But these days, getting one of those aquamarine seaside huts is nearly as impossible as meeting one of the stegosaurus that were here long before sunbathers. Instead, rent a car and work your way down the coast from Dorset to Devon. Start in my hometown of Bournemouth, skate along to the dramatic rock arch of Durdle Door – don’t

miss the Man O’ War Beach next door, it’s the best – and then continue on to Charmouth to find your own piece of history. Along the way you’ll learn all about Mary Anning, one of our most prolific dinosaur fossil hunters, enjoy top-notch fish and chips in seaside pubs, and then cross into equally as handsome Devon for the final stretch. Summer might have the nicest weather, but it will also have half of London on the shores. Come in late spring or early autumn for the best experience. Paying a visit to the Roman Baths is one of the best experiences the UK has to offer Discover the UK’s Roman history It’s not that I don’t think Stonehenge — our most famous prehistoric megalith – is impressive or fascinating. But if you ask me what the UK’s top historical experiences is, I’m going to point you in another direction: Roman Britain. For me, the 350-odd years we were part of the Roman Empire is a far more interesting part of our country’s story. Even these days, we’re still discovering new parts of this historic chapter, such as the new London museum showing off a recently discovered part of a former Roman Wall at Vine Street or the well-preserved mosaic found near the Shard. But it gets even better than that. Start your history tracing in the city of Bath, at the impressive Roman bathing complex that has been in the heart of the city since 70 AD. Then, cross over into Kent to tour the Lullingstone Roman Villa (currently under renovation) and marvel at the well-preserved wall paintings and mosaics. Heading north, the Wroxeter Roman City is an open-air walk back in time, while Hadrian’s Wall, further still, is perhaps the best Roman sight of all to visit. Stretching across the width of the country, you can track the weathered Roman fortification wall across remains of forts and towns. Once, I was there for an epic evening when they illuminated the whole wall with torchlight, and it was incredible, though it apparently only happens once a decade. Regardless, it’s an excellent place to start your introduction to Roman history, before continuing on to bonnie Scotland. Why not sleep in Durham Castle to upgrade your UK experience? Sleep in a castle We may be the country of outdated pomp and funny royal titles, but that’s given us plenty of practice at perfecting castles. Sure, visiting Windsor or Edinburgh Castle are cool things to do, but if you’re looking for the best castle-related activity in the UK, it’s got to be sleeping in one. In fact, you might be surprised to learn that castles are apparently so commonplace in this old land that students even use them for dorms. Yes, really! I couldn’t believe it either when I was touring Durham Castle — a Harry Potter filming set — and I was told that the University students slept there. During the summer holidays, it becomes one of the UK’s most unique hotels. And it’s far from the only option. All across the land, you can splash out and splurge on a stay in a British castle, which has got to earn some kind of bragging rights – especially if you rent a private one for you and your travel crew. Why not go wild and rent out the 1,900 acre estate of Crom Castle in Northern Ireland, or 18th-century Birkhill Castle in Scotland. Or perhaps you’d prefer to while away some days in Wales’ haunted Craig-y-Nos Castle? Either way, a regal stay is in sight on our shores. From scenic rail to serene lochs, the Scottish Highlands have it all Ride and hide in Scotland’s highlands Call me a traitor to England all you want, but Scotland can’t be beaten. Yeah, the weather might be worse more often than down south, but any chance I got to be in Scotland, I took, whether it was bar work in Glasgow or spending the month of August working at the non-stop Edinburgh Festivals. After those late-night work trips, I’d always slip away into the Scottish highlands for some R&R, and I highly recommend you do the same on your Scotland road trip. Sure, take the “Harry Potter” Jacobite train, it really is spectacular,

and do a loop of gorgeous Skye – avoiding summer when over-tourism doesn’t even cover it – but then come back into the gorgeous glens (valleys), munro (high mountains), and legendary lochs (lakes) flanked by crumbling castles. Out here in the hypnotic highlands, time really does seem to slow down if you’ll let it. Sure, you can get busy summiting Ben Nevis, the UK’s highest mountain, or trying to spot the mythical Nessy Monster with your own eyes, but it’s also equally enchanting cycling through Glen Coe, made famous by 007, or wild camping alongside a wild-flower flanked lake. Not a fan of camping? Spending a few nights at Eagle Brae Cabins, one of Scotland’s unique stays, is my top tip of things to do in the UK for a proper bolthole escape. Especially as these homely log cabins with photogenic turf roofs are set on a private landscape with deep and adorable goats trotting around. Pour yourself a dram of whisky (without the e up here) from the Isle of Arran, sit out on your terrace, and be entranced by absolute bliss. Start a night in Manchester at Mackie Mayor for good grub before going until the early hours Make it an all-nighter There are a fair few jokes about British drinking culture (more on that later), which, I think, are mainly warranted. But if you really want to see the best of Britain, you’re gonna need to have at least one proper night out. Luckily, the best nightlife experiences in the UK span the whole country. From Belfast’s chummy and craic-filled Irish pubs soundtracked by traditional live music to the LGBTQ+ bars of free-spirited Brighton in the south of England, there really is a non-stop night out for all. Liverpool, with its legendary musical credentials courtesy of The Beatles, won’t let you go to bed early. Manchester is a cracking city for a night on the tiles, whether at the gay bars of Canal Street or raving to pumping Techno at The Warehouse Project. Up in Glasgow, a UNESCO City of Music, I’ve had some of the absolute best and wildest nights of my life – Scottish people are the best people to make drinking buddies with. And, of course, in London and Edinburgh, you’re just as spoilt for choice. After dark, we Brits somehow seem to be at our best – just apologies for any chundering, scraps and the state of some kebab shops! Ride vintage trams, play dress up, and visit recreations of Victorian kitchens at Beamish Go back in time at Beamish One thing the UK excels at is museums, and I’m not just talking about your average quick walk through some information boards. Take the Beamish Living Museum of the North in Durham, perhaps the best museum I’ve ever visited. Here, a whole set of interactive villages have been built to show what life was like at various stages throughout Britain’s history. From sweet shops to moving trams and photo studios to interactive classrooms, actors and the re-constructed properties literally transport you to times gone by – hopefully, they can open safely this summer. There are multiple museums like this in the UK, from the Cosmeston Medieval Village in Wales to the Blists Hill Victorian Town in Shropshire, and including one of these in your next British getaway will add another level of history to your UK experience. Have a proper fish and chip takeaway or get it down the pub to experience the UK’s boozers Pies, pints and fish and chips What’s a good night in the UK? Well, it might look something like this… It’s dropping clangers during a chinwag in a bee’s knees boozer that’s chockablock with sloshed chavs while complaining what a cock up things are to any geezer who will listen because it’s all gone pear-shaped. Then, it’s a cor blimey to the publican about how many quid a pint costs (he’s taking you for a mug) before noshing on a cheeky Nandos. But you’re cream crackered after, so you pinch one last fag and skip the knees up to leg it to your gaff for a kip so you’ll be full of beans tomorrow as you don’t want to make a dog’s dinner out of the Sunday roast, innit. Confused? You’ll have it nailed after a few nights down your temporary local!

Nothing can beat the British pub for an evening out. I’ve been lucky enough to travel and live in so many countries now but the good old British Pub is an institution that can’t be rivaled (alright, Ireland, I’ll tip my hat to you, too). [ad_2] Source link

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foxounderscorecube · 2 years ago

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12, 13, 15, and 26 please!

12 - Do you know what your plans for the future are? Do you like them?

I think my plans for the future are basically to hang out. I don't really know what else I can do. It's a bit vague, but because I have to kind of work around my chronic illness, I have to be a bit flexible with it, you know? I'd rather have very specific goals, really, but it is what it is!

13 - Tell a secret.

Hmm, that's hard to answer. I suppose most people don't know that I have tried cat food before out of curiosity on multiple occasions. I'm not sure why.

15 - Do you get wanderlust? Where do you want to go?

Terribly!!! I want to go to the coasts on the south of the UK where you get fossils. In an Atomic Shrimp video, he went to a place called the Ammonite Pavement which is a stretch of rock you can walk to during low tide and there are.... SO many ammonites!!!

I want to go to Singapore and Hong Kong because my mum spoke about her life there so much when I was young and it'd be different now but still, I'd love to see it.

One dream of mine is to go to Heron Island in Australia. It has a big reef with lots of biodiversity and a manta ray migration path goes past it. So many fish <3

I visited Norway once and it was unbelieveably beautiful, but it was on a cruise, so obviously it's not the same as visiting visiting. I'd like to go there again and have more than one day seeing one specific part of a place.

Obviously, I want to visit Costa Rica, because I've never been. Not just because my dad's from there so it's relevant to me in that sense, but again, the biodiversity!!!! Imagine the animals I could see!!!

26 - What does your favorite tattoo mean to you? Or if you had to get a tattoo, what would it be? Why?

I love all my tattoos, but my favourite is probably my fox, Kyubey. I don't know if it means anything to me hugely per se, though. I just think it's beautiful. Part of why I wanted a fox was because it's the meaning of the name I chose for myself, though. I'm hoping to get a tattoo relevant to the name my mum gave me, too, in the same place on my other leg. That's probably as close to deep and powerful lore you could ever get for my tattoos!

#thank you!!!#ask #ask game

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uk-fossils · 5 days ago

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Rare Parkinsonia (Garantiana) longidens Fossil Ammonite – Inferior Oolite, Jurassic Coast, Burton Bradstock, Dorset, UK

This listing features a rare and beautifully preserved Parkinsonia (Garantiana) longidens fossil ammonite, sourced from the famous Inferior Oolite strata of the Jurassic Coast at Burton Bradstock, Dorset, UK. This stunning specimen is part of the world-renowned Jurassic ammonite fauna, offering a glimpse into marine life from approximately 174 to 170 million years ago.

The genus Parkinsonia, within the subgenus Garantiana, includes finely ribbed, evolute ammonites known for their elegant ornamentation. The species longidens is particularly scarce and sought-after due to its distinctive elongated spines and clear suture patterns.

Geological Unit: Inferior Oolite Group

Formation: Burton Bradstock Beds

Geological Period: Middle Jurassic

Stage: Bajocian Stage

Biozone (if applicable): Parkinsonia zone (suggested by genus)

Depositional Environment: Shallow marine shelf, rich in molluscan fauna

Order: Ammonitida

Superfamily: Stephanoceratoidea

Family: Parkinsoniidae

This particular fossil was discovered on 17 January 2025 by our expert field team, Alister and Alison, during a systematic survey of the Burton Bradstock coast. It has been meticulously cleaned and conserved by Alison to ensure both its scientific integrity and aesthetic appeal are preserved.

The specimen is presented in a natural matrix block with exceptional visibility of its morphological features. Please refer to the photos for full sizing details (scale cube = 1cm). The photo shows the exact fossil you will receive.

All of our Fossils are 100% Genuine Specimens & come with a Certificate of Authenticity.

This fossil is ideal for collectors, educators, or anyone fascinated by the ancient marine environments of the Jurassic. A fantastic piece of Britain’s rich palaeontological heritage.

#Parkinsonia longidens fossil #Garantiana ammonite #rare Jurassic fossil #Burton Bradstock fossil #Dorset ammonite #UK fossil ammonite #Jurassic Coast fossil #Inferior Oolite fossil #ammonite specimen #certified fossil #genuine fossil #fossil with authenticity #ammonite shell #Jurassic ammonite #ammonite collector specimen

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echinoid-fossils-on-the-rocks · 1 year ago

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Hi folks, i show you now these sliced fossils of my ammonites, these are larger then the previous others.

The One in two sliced pieces in the shadows is an old fashioned cut.

Also the inprint one rock on the left. I suggest ist from the UK.

repost from previous Fossil Friday 05.04.24

A new Fossil Friday post today.

Hi folks, i show you now these sliced fossils of my ammonites, these are larger then the previous others.

The One in two sliced pieces in the shadows is an old fashioned cut.

Also the inprint one rock on the left.

#fossil collecting #fossil #rocks #geology #fossil friday #ammonite #fossilfriday #fossils #collecting rocks

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artofmaquenda · 2 years ago

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We found so many fossils today ;_; just seeing them in the original environment fills me with awe and a sense of peace. The segments on the spirals of the ammonites remind me that we are here for just a brief moment in time and that things came before us and will after us.

#fossils #ammonite #UK #nature #Runswick

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earthstory · 7 years ago

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Here's a small pyrite ammonite fossil I found a few weeks ago at Charmouth. As you can see, the edge was poking out of the clay shale and the ammonite was easy to remove with just an old (and very rusty) knife. A few more tides washing over these rocks and the ammonite would have been pulled out by the sea onto the beach. If a storm or two came through, it could have been broken up and lost. I'll post a picture of it cleaned up to show what these beautiful fossils can look like without the clay on.

#ammonite #clay #shale #geology #charmouth #uk #nature #fossil #fossils #fossilfriday #the earth story #instagram #sedimentary

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queermediastudies · 3 years ago

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Family Porn Night: A Movie Review

As the opening titles come on screen, we hear but don’t see the sound of water sloshing in a bucket, being wrung out of a rag, heavy breathing, scrubbing. The titles fade and we see a woman, on her hands and knees, cleaning the floor of what we eventually learn is the British Museum. We hear footsteps, the sharp bark of a man saying, “Move!” as he and several others, carrying a fossil on a stretcher, tramp across the floor she has just cleaned. On the fossil we see a handwritten tag that reads “Sea Lizard found by Miss Mary Anning Lyme Regis.” The man in charge harrumphs, pulls the tag off, and replaces it with a tag that says “ICHTHYOSAURUS LYME REGIS Presented by H. Hoste Henley Esquire.” He has written Mary Anning out of history.

Ammonite is writer/director Francis Lee’s attempt to write Mary Anning, and queerness, back into the world of 1840s Britain. The plot is a simple romantic drama with an enigmatic ending. Simply put, Mary Anning falls in love with Charlotte Murchison but chooses to remain alone rather than give up her career by moving with Charlotte to London. The complex beauty of the movie comes from Lee’s subversion of audience expectations as well as some traditional film-making procedures. But how well he succeeded is still up for debate. The movie flopped at the box office, grossing under $1,000,000 world wide, failing to recoup the $3,000,000 distribution rights, let alone the $13.4 million in production costs. Carson Timar of “Clapper” wrote, “This is a bland and empty feature that feels like an ancient fossil void of any passion or substantial emotion” (Timar, 2020). With movie darling Kate Winslet in the lead and rising-star Saoirse Ronan playing opposite her, the lackluster reception is surprising. Does Ammonite, like Moonlight, prove that queer films need to be sexless to be successful (Lodge, 2017), or can we ascribe Ammonite’s box office bomb to other causes? I believe the erotic scenes are only part of the answer. While I disagree with the Rotten Tomatoes reviewer who said, “Simply out [sic], Ammonite commits that cardinal sin of being truly boring” (Andrew L., Ammonite, 2022), the slow pace likely contributed to Ammonite’s poor, reception sealing Ammonite’s fate as a “perfectly respectable, eminently professional slice of prestige arthouse” (Clarke, 2021) doomed to accrue financial losses. The other variable is not lesbian eroticism per se but rather lesbian eroticism scripted by women for the female gaze. In other words, two of the components that Lee uses to queer cinema are the very things that make it a failure in the public sphere.

In Ways of Seeing (1972), John Berger writes, “Seeing comes before words…It is seeing which establishes our place in the surrounding world” (p. 7). Lee builds Mary Anning’s rocky world slowly, introducing the audience to her visually before any words are spoken. Although this is the well-trodden territory of a period romance, this is a romance that reimagines history. Mary Anning was a real person from Lyme Regis, UK, who sold fossils (called ‘relics’ in the movie) to the British Museum beginning at age 11. But there is no evidence of her having a love interest, gay or otherwise. Some of Anning’s descendants have questioned Lee’s manipulation of her story, which highlights the problems with “outing,” or ascribing queerness to public figures. Posthumously attributing identities to people may be a tempting way to queer the past by showing “the world that many widely admired and respected men and women are gay” (Duggan, 2006, p. 153), but it can be problematic to apply a modern understanding of queerness to people who cannot confirm or deny those identities and who may or may not have accepted our definitions. In other words, even if Anning had engaged in romantic liaisons with other women, she may not have seen those relationships as queer, either in the sense of their being gay or out of the ordinary. Lee attempts to “honor the complexity of [Anning’s] differences” (Duggan, 1991, p. 155) by building a rich and textured world that includes multiple ways of forming relationships. Even while I acknowledge that “outing” Anning may be problematic, I still find joy in the sapphic world Lee imagines.

Lee’s femme-centered world doesn’t limit gender expression. Mary is a complex character, outwardly mirroring the coldness of her Lyme Regis beach but with a depth of feeling we catch in glimpses, most often through Winslet’s uncanny ability to convey emotion without speaking. Mary plays with gender performance, but retains her essential womanness, subverting early Hollywood’s “gender-inversion stereotype” (Bernshoff & Griffin, 2004, p. 7). She smokes and swears frequently, has dirty fingernails and armpit hair (appropriate for the time but not for Hollywood). When engaged to take care of Charlotte, who has “melancholia,” Mary says, “There looks to be fuck all wrong with you to me” (0:28:30). She genuinely loves finding and cleaning fossils. When Charlotte, who has recently lost a baby, asks Mary if she has children, Mary replies, “I have my work. I don’t need children as well” (00:51:38).

As the movie progresses, Lee reveals Mary’s tender (feminine) side, showing her caring for a sick Charlotte and, at one point, wearing a dress and perfume to attend a recital with Charlotte. After Charlotte returns to London, Mary receives a letter from her. Before opening it, Mary lifts it to her nose hoping to catch the perfume Charlotte wore.

Charlotte originally acts as a more traditionally feminine counterpoint to Mary’s masculinity. She wears bonnets and bows, black to show mourning, and delicate heeled shoes. She’s weak and pale from what her husband calls “melancholia” but which could more honestly be called depression, either from the loss of a baby or the pressure of passing as heterosexual. Her angst doesn’t last long. Within a few scenes, Charlotte sets aside her expensive clothing for rugged boots to better accompany Mary on her morning fossil huts. Color comes back into her cheeks, she laughs more frequently, and she fully engages in Mary's work. Charlotte’s awakening coincides with her temporary move from London to Lyme Regis while Mary simply is regardless of her location. This juxtaposition has been noted by Karl Schoonover and Rosalind Galt in Queer Cinema in the World (2016), “Some people have to travel to express their sexuality and/or gender, and others stay home” (p. 77).

Lee contrasts elements in order to show how the women grow closer while retaining their core identity. While lying in bed together, Charlotte says, “Say it again.” Mary then recites a limerick:

There was a young woman named Sally

Who loved the occasional dally.

She sat on the lap

Of a well-endowed chap

And she said, ‘Oh, you’re right up my alley” (1:15:45).

Charlotte smiles, having let go of some of her feminine-coded sensibilities, while Mary, nude and vulnerable, curls trustingly next to her.

In a similar contrasting scene, Mary wades into the white-cap waves, turns, and waits for Charlotte to join her. Charlotte slowly walks out, frightened. She reaches Mary, who grabs her around the waist and smiles. Charlotte clings to her, still afraid, but feeling safe in Mary’s arms. This scene is the only time we see Mary laugh, and her joy mirrors the bright sun and warm filter unusual in this movie. Here, Mary both protects and pushes Charlotte, never demanding Charlotte change but offering help if Charlotte chooses to take it.

Two intimate scenes in the movie show just how transformative Lee’s film-making is. Rather than hire an intimacy choreographer, Lee, Winslet, and Ronan scripted each sex scene by themselves, relying on open communication and the trust they had in each other. These aren’t the “throw her up against the wall with no foreplay” scenes so common in heterosexual sex scenes, nor are they the “soapy shower and giggling college girls” lesbian scenes meant for the male gaze. Instead, Ammonite’s “staging of sexuality, gendered embodiment, and nonheteronormative sex” (Schoonover & Galt, 2016, p. 11) successfully disrupt heteronormative ideas about how sex happens, who enjoys sex, and how they enjoy it.

“Don’t take no for an answer,” seems to be the mantra in many erotic heterosexual scenes, but the first erotic scene in Ammonite queers cinema by pausing the action mid-point. After Charlotte kisses her, Mary kneels in front of Charlotte. Before going further, she waits, staring up at Charlotte until Charlotte raises her own skirts in enthusiastic consent.

The final erotic scene queers cinema by subverting audience expectations. The night before Charlotte is to return to London, they lovingly caress each other’s faces. Noses touching, they gently kiss. As the scene progresses, they each guide the other’s hand, sometimes moving the hand to their own pudendum and sometimes away. Lee uses close camera angles, focusing on how the women’s bodies move together. The camera stays on each woman’s face as she climaxes. These are women showing each other how they want to be touched. Each woman confidently directs the actions of the other while asserting her own right to pleasure.

Both erotic scenes are enigmas in the movie industry: female pleasure for a female gaze. Per Schoonover & Galt, cinema is “an apparatus of desire, endlessly reconstituting what Jacqueline Rose called sexuality in the field of vision” (2016, p. 11). Eroticism scripted by women, focusing on how women experience pleasure, queers film in a uniquely feminist way; it uses “the potential of the erotic to remake the cinematic desire machine” (Schoonover & Galt, 2016, p. 11) reflecting the sapphic world Lee has created. I argue that the initial sex scene with a focus on enthusiastic consent and cunnilingus is a “counterpublic logic of visibility” that queers media by “extending representation beyond mainstream fantasies about white femme lesbians” which is “achieved in and through sex acts” (Schoonover & Galt, 2016, p. 12). Both erotic scenes, as well as other hinted-at but not seen moments, occur in Mary's home or on Mary's beach, "locating lesbian desire in a domestic setting and turning to familial intimacies as a place where women might find fulfillment beyond the strictures of marriage" (Schoonover & Galt, 2016, p. 19). Once the women are in London, in Charlotte's male-owned home, the intimacy (physical and emotional) falters and dies.

Gender expansiveness and eager consent are not the only way Lee queers cinema. We learn that Mary had a relationship with another woman in her town, Elizabeth Philpot (played by Fiona Shaw), which ended when Mary’s father died. Elizabeth acts as an oracle, guiding Mary in her relationship with Charlotte and foreshadowing the end of that same relationship. When Mary’s mother, Molly (played by Gemma Jones), dies, Elizabeth visits Mary and says, speaking of their past romance, “I wasn’t sure I could live up to you. Or your expectations of me…You seemed to do everything you could to be distant…It seems your Mrs. Murchison has been able to unlock something in you I couldn’t…” (1:34:16). Here, Elizabeth references the softness Lee showed in the limerick and beach scenes. It’s also vital to note that neither woman seems to have faced ridicule because of their relationship, nor do they seem to have kept it particularly quiet. I appreciate seeing a lesbian relationship that doesn’t double as a morality play.

Mary follows Elizabeth’s advice and accepts an invitation to visit Charlotte in London. From this point on, Lee relies more heavily on language and sound to convey how small and out-of-place Mary is. This sudden cinematic shift undermines the queer worlding I found so lovely in the first two-thirds of the movie.

At London port, bodies (all of them male except hers) are in constant motion. They press around her while they yell to and at each other. We’ve lost the cool tones of Lyme and found harsh sunlight. Lee’s feminism is not subtle. If "(queer) film theory is always a feminist project" (Schoonover & Galt, 2016, p. 11), Lee hits the brief, but he does so with a sledgehammer.

At Charlotte’s house, Mary opens a curio cabinet containing fossils she helped Roderick Murchison (played by James McArdle) find. The tag on one of the fossils reads, “Cornu Ammonis. Dorset Coast. Miss Mary Anning.” Taking it out, Mary notices the last line has been pasted on top of the original line. Pulling it back, Mary reads, “Mr. Murchison Esq.” Lee doesn’t just allude to his correction of the historical record, he screams it.

The breakup scene between the two women is similarly heavy-handed. Charlotte shows Mary to a room she has decorated for her “so we can be together always.” Winslet does an excellent job conveying a parade of emotions, but the ensuing dialogue lacks finesse and undermines the acting prowess of both Winslet and Ronan.

Mary doesn’t directly answer Charlotte, instead saying, “I really shouldn’t…I wanted to see my relic in the British Museum today….”

When Charlotte expresses dismay and repeats her offer to provide Mary with a new home, Mary says, “You presumed I’d just be fitted into your life here, like one of my relics in your fine glass case…Will you label me, too?” (1:47:45). Charlotte insists, “I want this to be different. Our different…I don’t want to go back to the life I had before you” (1:48:07). The unnatural, forced dialogue breaks Lee's “show, don’t tell” rule and makes it hard to access the emotion Lee wants us to feel.

Mary rushes out of the house, and we next see her in front of her ‘relic’ at the British Museum. She notices the tag, the first time she’s seen it, and, looking up, sees Charlotte gazing at her across the glass-encased fossil. The camera pans out in one of the few long-shots of the film and we see the women, faces covered by bonnets, caged fossil in the middle. Men in top hats circulate around them.

As if afraid that he wasn’t clear enough, in the last scene Lee reminds the viewer of his intentions. Mary walks through a portrait gallery showing the men who helped create and run the British Museum. The very last image is Mary, facing back toward the gallery, framed.

It isn’t just the shift to London or the sudden heavy-handed cinematography that jars the viewer. The final 20 minutes of the film tackles class issues but ignores broader themes of imperialism and racism.

Classism is seen best in Mary’s interactions with Charlotte’s housekeeper. When the housekeeper answers Mary’s knock, she assumes from Mary’s rough clothing that she’s a hired worker. The housekeeper says, “Tradesman’s entrance is around the side. Go all the way back” (1:41:29). After explaining who she is, Mary is shown to the drawing room and Charlotte greets her with a passionate kiss. Mary glances at the housekeeper, but Charlotte says, “Oh, that’s just the maid,”(1:44:23) at which point the housekeeper side-eyes the women and shuts the drawing room door. Class bias goes unchallenged by any of the characters even in light of Charlotte’s relationship with poor, rural, crass Mary. Additionally, there are no Black, Indian, or Egyptian people. At the height of British imperialism, there should be several non-white people, especially once the action moves to London.

Ammonite does not employ “an anti-imperialist stance that de-privileges the Western queer film canon” (Schoonover & Galt, 2016, p. 15) in part because it fails to address Britain’s imperialism and in part because it, too, uses Western imperialist structures to (unsuccessfully) promote itself. Originally available only in theaters and on Amazon, viewers can now access it through other streaming services such as Hulu and Vudu. All subscription based. All part of the cinema industrial complex.

I enjoyed Ammonite. At least, I enjoyed it the second time. The first time, thinking it would be similar to the 2019 movie Wild Nights With Emily, I convinced my husband and my two daughters, aged 18 and 15, to watch it with me. As a heterosexual-passing pan woman who has been in love with Winslet since the 1995 remake of Sense and Sensibility, I had looked forward to seeing her in a role that more accurately represented me. However, sitting with two of my children I felt my face turn red. In a brilliant parenting moment /s I tried to cover up my embarrassment by saying, “This is important. People with vaginas experience sexual pleasure differently than the movies make it seem. As people with vaginas, we have to advocate for our own pleasure,” at which point my 15 year old ran out of the room, eyes closed, hands over her ears. The 18 year old stayed, but mostly to ridicule my parenting. Two years later, when my daughters feel particularly spicy, they’ll say, “Hey, mom! Remember when you made us watch lesbian porn?”

They echo criticism from the public. One reviewer said, “Serious concerns that a famous lady has been wronged by the Lesbian storyline. Proof/truth? As for the soft porn. Why? Nothing more than eroticism for a very small segment of the population” (Alastair G, Ammonite, 2022). Even though I disagree that the movie is soft porn, and I disagree that we're a "very small segment of the population," I think Alastair hits (unwittingly) on the reason the movie failed. A combination of the slow pace and sex by and for women, two of the aspects that queer the movie, result in an insurmountable barrier for a public that is trained to prefer action and rough-and-ready sex created for the male gaze.

References

Benshoff, H., & Griffin, S. (2010). In Queer Cinema the film reader (pp. 1–15). essay, Routledge. Taylor & Francis Group.

Berger, J. BBC and Penguin. (1972). chapter 1. In Ways of seeing (pp. 7–34).

Canning, I., Sherman, E., O’Reilly F.C. (Producers), & Lee, F. (Director). (2020). The Ammonite [Motion picture]. United Kingdom: Lionsgate.

Clarke, D. (2021, March 26). Ammonite: Even the saoirse ronan-kate winslet sex scenes are too respectable. The Irish Times. Retrieved October 10, 2022, from https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/ammonite-even-the-saoirse-ronan-kate-winslet-sex-scenes-are-too-respectable-1.4517920

Duggan, L., & Hunter, N. D. (2006). Chapter 12: Making it perfectly queer. In Sex wars: Sexual dissent and political culture (pp. 149–163). essay, Routledge.

Lodge, G. (2017, January 5). Does Moonlight show gay cinema has to be sexless to succeed? The Guardian. Retrieved October 10, 2022, from https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jan/05/does-moonlight-prove-that-gay-cinema-has-to-be-sexless-to-succeed

Na. (n.d.). Ammonite. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 10, 2022, from https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ammonite

Schoonover, K., & Galt, R. (2016). Introduction Queer, World, Cinema. In Queer Cinema in the world (pp. 1–34). Duke University Press.

Schoonover, K., & Galt, R. (2016). Figures in the World: The Geopolitics of the Transcultural Queer. In Queer Cinema in the world (pp. 35-78).

Timar, C. (2020, December 6). Ammonite. CLAPPER. Retrieved October 10, 2022, from https://www.clapperltd.co.uk/home/ammonite

by Bryn Brody

#queermedia #Ammonite #AmmoniteMovie #Saoirse Ronan #Kate Winslet #Lesbian Film #Francis Lee #Movie Review #Mary Anning #Lyme Regis #romance movies

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