Five green men

Here I am again joining in with Amy's Five on Friday  - and this week really IS her anniversary. I was a bit premature last week with my congratulations.   As before, there's a link at the bottom of the page to take you to her site to see who else has taken part.

This week I'm on the Green Man. I'm very keen on spotting this ancient symbol of the spirit of the woods. He turns up a lot in churches - even though he predates christianity by a very long time - but as my five choices show, he's not just found among dusty old architecture.

I'll start with a modern one. You can find this on a wall in Glastonbury, Somerset. Now there's a place you'd expect to find the Green Man in abundance, and you wouldn't be disappointed. But this is one of my favourites.

From the modern to the very old. The parish church of St Michael with St Mary at Melbourne in Derbyshire. There's a church mentioned in the village's entry in the Domesday Book (1086), but the present building is believed to be a little younger. (1133!) It certainly has some obviously Norman features and this Green Man possibly dates back that far.

I found this one last year in Norwich, under an arch leading to the cathedral. Apparently there are several in the area, if you know where to look, including a lovely gilded one in the cloisters.

Of course, not all green men are men. This wonderful 'Green Lion' is in Sheffield, near the cathedral, though not on any church building. I think he's over the door of an insurance broker's.

And here is possibly the most unusual of all. He's called Barry Patterson, and he spends much of his time travelling around as the Green Man (and the wild man of the woods and Mr Beetle) teaching schoolchildren about the environment and how to protect it. (He plays a mean bodhran drum too!) For more on his work click here.