A Hancock Album

Hancock Village Mural, Hancock Inn

This week It is my turn to post an article on the New England Photography Guild Blog. This honor predictably rotates among the members, but I always fall into a panic when I suddenly realize that I must come up with two blogs for the week. Even after over 200 articles on my Getting it Right in the Digital Camera Blog, it is still a challenge to come up with just one topic every week. And now I need TWO! My usual approach is to try to find a single topic that can be dealt with in two different ways. This usually means picking a special location in New England, discussing its beautiful qualities in the New England Photographers a Guild Blog and then adding a supplemental album of pictures from the area in my Getting it Right in the digital Camera a Blog. These are photography blogs and I always like to make the articles about the images.  It is great to feel less constrained in the selection of the images.

Hancock NH, A New England Time Machine (NEPG Blog)

This week my twofer is about beautiful and historic Hancock New Hampshire. Hancock is located just north of Peterborough in the southern tier of New Hampshire. Although a bit out of the way, it is a active community with a busy village center, almost entirely populated with historic buildings, and with soft rolling countryside marked by lovely lakes, hills and tens of thousands of acres of conservation land. It is all very typical of our corner of New England.

Hancock was first settled in 1764 and was incorporated as a town separate from Peterborough in 1779. The town is filled with fascinating history, but I covered much of this in my NEPG Blog. So lets get to the pictures, starting with more of Hancock's quintessentially New England village center.

Town Meeting House / Congregational Church
The meeting house dates back to 1820 and features an original Paul Revere Bell from 1825:

Listen to the Ringing of the Paul Revere Bell in the Hancock Meeting House


The Hancock Inn
Since 1779 the Hancock Inn has provided New England warmth and hospitality to countless travelers and local residents. That tradition continues to this day.








 













 

Fiddleheads Cafe
Fiddleheads is a great place for a snack and especially nice place to view the work of local artists. Did I mention that I will be showing my New England photography at the Cafe from December 22 and continuing until January 19th, 2015. Just one more reason to visit:



 








Historic Village
Nearly all the structures in Hancock's village center are listed on the National Registry of Historic Places:


 



The Countryside in All Seasons










 







 



















Harris Center

Struggles Along the Trail

Though its school programs, research and land preservation efforts, The Harris Center is dedicated to environmental awareness and protection. It is also a great starting point to explore the center's extensive trail hiking system.

  






The National Radio Astronomy Observatory. 
What? Yes Hancock's nearly 10 story tall radio telescope is part of the "Very Long Baseline Array". The VLBA includes 10 radio telescope dishes stretching 5000 miles from Hawaii to the Caribbean and is the largest continuously operating astronomical instrument in the world. In Hancock and you can drive drive right up!

 




 
Whether strolling its historic Main Street or wandering its rural back roads,  Hancock is a great place for New England photography.  I'll see you out there.


Links
Hancock Photo Album

Hancock NH, A New England Time Machine (NEPG Blog)

The Hancock Inn

Fiddleheads Cafe and Catering
The Harris Center  

The Very Long Baseline Array National Radio Astronomy Observatory


Jeffrey Newcomer
Partridgebrookreflections.com