Hobbies and Interests – Page 2 – musings while allatsea

Category: Hobbies and Interests

Musings and Mumbles

25/09/2018

Heritage, Hobbies and Interests, Personal, Photo Essay, Ships, Tewkesbury, United Kingdom

Having finished our sightseeing in Swansea, we now turned our bows to a distant point on the map called “Mumbles Pier“, which is situated at Google Earth co-ordinates: 51.568880°, -3.976965°. It just struck me that this is also the furtherest western point I have been to in the United Kingdom. The Mumbles lighthouse may be seen in the image below and the lattice like bridge is our destination.

You drive all along the bay to get there, and unfortunately stopping places are few and far between and the road is busy. I was hoping to spot the Cenotaph on the way, and eventually did see it which confirmed where it was, although it did not make a lot of sense having it on the beach front, but then things may have been very different way back when it was erected.

We managed to squeeze into a parking a bit further from the area above, and I grabbed a few pics looking towards Swansea before we carried on with our journey.

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The area was really nice, with small boats and picturesque houses, and people enjoying the stiff wind that was blowing.

A short drive further and we had arrived at Mumbles Pier.

Unfortunately the pier extension is closed off, presumably for repair. It was built in 1898 and is 835 feet long and is a Grade II listed structure. The building on the left is a lifeboat station and there is a gift shop too. Alas we would not be visiting those on this day.

The end of the land had a flight of stairs down to the beach, but you could also get a good view of the lighthouse and the other outcropping of land. The angle of that rock is amazing to see.

Standing on some rocks looking back at the pier and small beach I could not wonder what it must be like to stand here when the sea is raging.

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The area that Swansea Bay opens into is the Bristol Channel, and the Mumbles Lighthouse was built in 1794 to guide vessels along the coast and into Swansea Bay, past the hazards of the Mixon Shoal ½ mile to the South. The height of the tower is 17m, and the height of light above Mean High Water is 35 m. It was automated in 1934 and electrified in 1969. (https://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/lighthouses-and-lightvessels/mumbles-lighthouse).

A quick walk through the amusement arcade and we were once again outside. I was curious about what this building was supposed to be but there was no clue.

We drove up the very steep road, and good clutch control was needed because it was a killer of a hill. We were now heading for Oystermouth Castle which was not too far away, although we were really taking the long way to get to it. The Castle is situated at 51.577066°, -4.002761° although it was closed by the time we wound our way to it.

It is a Norman castle, the first iteration being built in 1106, and overlooks Swansea Bay on the east side of the Gower Peninsula near the village of the Mumbles. The castle fell in and out of use, but after the Middle Ages, it gradually fell into ruin, and was described in a survey of Gower made in 1650 as “[a]n old decayed castle of no use, but of a very pleasant situation.” It was restored in the 1840s while the castle was owned by the then Duke of Beaufort. He gave the castle to Swansea Corporation in 1927; and today the castle is maintained under the responsibility of the City and County of Swansea council. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oystermouth_Castle)

The weight of ages looms heavily over these ruins, and it is one of those buildings that has just managed to stay with us in spite of the ravages of war, politics, climate and time. The view from the castle over the village is good, although it looked very differently so many centuries ago. At least there was no air pollution from cooking fires.

It was time to head back home, a last pic of the pier, and we were on our way.

(1500 x 875)

On the drive back to Swansea I was determined to find the Cenotaph, and I saw it almost at the last moment and hurriedly snapped the pic below, hoping to fire off at least one more as we got closer. Unfortunately a local bus decided to insert itself into the space and as a result I only have this one pic of the Cenotaph. It is however, better than a picture of a bus.

The sun was low as we headed past Port Talbot and back to Tewkesbury, but the hills were still very impressive.

The moon was extremely large and bright and I attempted to grab some pics of it but had very little success due to the vibration and light; which is a pity because it was spectacular to see.

It had been a great day out, I had seen many things and added to my knowledge, I have been to Wales, and seen the Mumbles. It was one of those things to write home about.

Special thanks to Evert for the trip, I really enjoyed it.

Random Images

Swanning it in Swansea

25/09/2018

Churches and Cathedrals, Heritage, Hobbies and Interests, Photowalks, Ships, Transportation, United Kingdom

Twas one of those last minute things, a friend had to drop off a wallet in Swansea, and I got to go along; sure sounds good to me, especially seeing as the rain was no longer on the plain. Where is Swansea? I had to look it up myself, Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales and lies within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan and on the southwest coast. For the curious it is at Google Earth co-ordinates 51.621526°, -3.942860°. From Tewkesbury it is 131 km as the crow flies, although we would not be flying Crow Air Charters on this day. The weather had been rainy since the Saturday but it started to clear shortly before we got under way and by the time we hit the road the sun was coming out, although there was still a nip in the air.

I have no idea what the tunnel is called, but we reached the sign below about 6 minutes later. Out of curiosity, I discovered on our way back that Tewkesbury was 50 ft above sea level, So we were really heading downhill, but not by much.

And then we arrived.

First priority was meeting the person who needed his wallet, and we eventually managed to co-ordinate things that we met him in town. Fortunately he was not far from where we were and once the wallet had changed hands it was time for lunch.

Having tended to lunch I branched off from my friends as I wanted to go have a look at the waterfront in the hope that there was something interesting afloat. I more or less knew which direction the sea was and headed that way, eventually arriving at my destination. It was outstanding! the last time I had seen a beach like this was in Weymouth way back in 2013

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Oh drat, I had left my knotted hankie and bucket ‘n spade in the car. The tide was out and the beach was vast. Theoretically I was facing more or less South East when I took these 2 images for the pano above. Looking South West the view was equally good. I was hoping to spot the Cenotaph from where I was standing but at full zoom I could not really make out much detail in the distance.

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On the image above you can see it sticking out to the left of the middle of the image… the small white object sticking up. When I had arrived at the water the question I asked myself was whether to try reach the Cenotaph or try for the ships?

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The Cenotaph was roughly 1,5 km away whereas the ships were much less so they were the obvious choice, so I turned left at this point and clambered down the stairs onto the virtually deserted beach and headed towards the basin where ships should have been. From what I could see on Google Earth there were 3 vessels moored inside the small craft basin. The commercial harbour was much further on and I was not going to walk to it because it was probable that access would be closed off anyway.

There is some very expensive real estate along this beach front, but what a view these pads must have.

It was time to cut inland to look for that basin and I waved goodbye to the beach and swapped my knotted hankie for my ship watchers hat.

Actually I was a bit too far off in my reckoning and ended up at the wrong basin.

The statue reminded me a lot of Captain Haddock of Tintin fame. It is actually called “Captain Cat” By Robert Thomas.

My ships were in sight at last!

The 1954 built Canning is an oil-burning steam tug built by Cochrane & Sons of Selby for the Alexandra Towing Company and was based at Liverpool until being transferred to Swansea in 1966. She became the last steam tug to operate in the Bristol Channel, serving until 1974. She was retired to the Museum in 1975. (https://www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/register/4/canning)

In front of her is berthed the former Lightship 91, known as ‘Helwick’. She was built for the Corporation of Trinity House by Philip and Son Ltd. of Dartmouth in 1937, and deployed on various stations, her first being the Humber from 1937 to 1942. She moved to her final station, the Helwick, off the Worm’s Head, for the last six years of her sea-service from 1971 to 1977. Swansea Museum acquired LV 91 in 1977. (https://www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/register/137/light-vessel-91-humber) Unfortunately I was unable to get all of her into one image as the pontoon was closed and it prevented me from getting far away enough to get an overall image of her.

I felt happier now that I had seen ships, I just regret not being able to get a complete image of Helwick, she looks fascinating. I will do a complete page on both these ships at a later date.

It was time to head back towards town as there was a church I wanted to take a look at so I headed more or less in that direction, photographing as I walked.

Dylan Thomas Theatre

Dylan Thomas. 1914-1953
Sculptor: John Doubleday

The bell tower of St Mary, Central Swansea, stuck out above it’s surroundings, but the church was all but hidden by trees.

There appeared to be choir practise in progress when I was there but I was able to photograph it from outside the glass doors.

It was time to find a loo, the bane of my life. Fortunately I was in a mall now so there was bound to be one somewhere. My phone also rang and I arranged to meet my friend so that we could do more looking around. We then tried to get into the commercial harbour but decided that security would not let us in so I had to be satisfied with the upperworks of a ship (cargo of turbine blades),

And, hull down and half hidden by a fence and other detritus, the tug Christos XXIV (Built as Fairplay IX in 1971 by Schleppdampfsschiffs-Reederei, Bremerhaven). I would have loved to have been able to get a full hull image of this old classic.

It was time that we headed to our next destination: Mumbles Pier. And I will continue that over the page.

Edging back to Evesham

13/09/2018

Cemetery, Churches and Cathedrals, Collections and Museums, CWGC, Heritage, Hobbies and Interests, Memorials and Monuments, Military, United Kingdom, Worcestershire

While waiting for my new temp job to start I decided to do a morning trip back to Evesham to have a look at the Almonry Museum which had so far been closed each time I visited the Town.

I caught the bus just after 8.30 in Tewkesbury which left me about 30 minutes to kill in Evesham before the museum opened and I planned to pay a visit to Bengeworth Cemetery which is not too far from the museum. It opened in 1857 and there are 6 CWGC graves in it, 3 from WW1 and 3 from WW2. The weather was nice and sunny but you can feel the slight bite of winter in the air already, best get it done now while I could.

Crossing the Avon at the Workman Bridge I headed east along Port Street which then becomes Broadway Road after the roundabout. Before the roundabout was the Parish Church of St Peter which was really a typical church found in any number of towns in the UK. The churchyard is now a garden and unfortunately the church was closed. It was quite a difficult church to photograph though because of the big tree in the way.

And not too far away was the cemetery (52.089526°, -1.934438°), fronted by a small building which may have doubled as a chapel, office or store.

There was an interesting relic in the building which may have been used in the moving of coffins.

The cemetery is not a large one, and was not really a cemetery to die over, but somewhere in there were the graves I was after.

Of course the standard CWGC headstone is easy to spot, but three of the graves were private headstones so they needed a bit more legwork, however, all were found and after a few contextual shots I headed back the way I came.

Evesham is an old town and you can see it in the street leading up to the bridge. Lots of small shops with flats above them, no longer prime real estate and in a busy street that has limited parking.

I do like the town though, it has all the amenities and a good public transport system, but I have not explored it all yet.

Finally the museum.

This 14th Century building was once home to the Almoner of the Benedictine Abbey that was founded at Evesham in the 8th Century. An almoner is a chaplain or church officer who originally was in charge of distributing money to the deserving poor. Following the closure of the Abbey by Henry VIII, the Almonry became the personal home of the last Abbot, Philip Ballard, whilst the rest of the Abbey buildings were sold to Sir Philip Hoby who arranged for the quarrying of the stone.

The Almonry has had a varied career: ale house, offices, tea rooms, private home, until it was finally purchased by Evesham Borough Council in 1929, opening as a heritage centre in 1957. Today, the Almonry is still owned and funded by Evesham Town Council (http://www.almonryevesham.org/about-us/)

Inside it was a veritable treasure house of goodies laid out in the small pokey rooms with their creaking floorboards and low doorways. Its the sort of place that gives you a glimpse into a totally different way of life, but without the usual glitz and gadgetry of a modern museum.

The main display I was after was model of the former Abbey, I had seen pics of it and really wanted to see it up close and personal. I was not disappointed.

It is interesting to see how the two parish churches and existing bell tower fit into the abbey complex, and in the bottom left you can see the Almonry building that I was about to explore. I will add more images of the model to my post about the Abbey.

As you can see it is an eclectic mix of items, some themed to a particular trade or occupation. The metal object with all the holes in the right hand corner is a prisoners bed from Evesham Jail. I believe the jail was housed at the almonry at one point, and there was a bigger jail in town.

Outside the garden is on display with an interesting collection of odds and ends that originate from all ages. A close look at the buildings reveals that there are very few straight edges and parts of it lean at an odd angle; but then I would lean at an odd angle if I was that old too.

It is a very pretty spot, but somehow I got the feeling that it could be a very creepy spot too. Back inside I went into the World War 1 display which also had a section on the Battle of Evesham, and of course the effect of the war on the town and its people.

The display case above has a information about the two Victoria Cross holders with ties to the town:- Guardsman William Edgar Holmes VC. and Private William Jones VC.

There was also a mock up class room, complete with apples on desks (the fruit, not the gadget).

The wooden boxlike gadget in the upper right hand corner is a “Pedoscope“, also known as a shoe-fitting fluoroscope.

These have long been legislated out of use, but back in their day they were considered high tech devices.

A last glimpse into somebodies window… and I was finished for the day.

The museum is a gem, there is a lot to see and digest, and the World War 1 display had a lot of personal items relating to one of the casualties and to the Abbey Manor Auxilliary Hospital from 1914-1918. I need to process those and decide how I want to present what I saw.

I am glad I made the trip to see the museum, and would return there readily. I do recommend it as a place to experience, even if it is just to see what a 14th century building looks like. I spent an hour looking around town, popping into the Magpie Jewellers to look around again. It too is a wonderous place to behold.

On my way home we passed through those little villages again and I am still going to do a day to each of them when I can. Logistically it will be difficult because of the bus times, but I think it can be done. I have spotted three war memorials from the bus, although photographing them has been almost impossible. I am going to visit these villages soon, so have started on a blogpost to deal with what I see. I have done the navigation, but have not been able to get it done due to other commitments. But, that’s for another day, for now the Almonry Museum is in the bag!

Merchant Navy Day

03/09/2018

Heritage, Hobbies and Interests, Personal, Ships, Transportation, United Kingdom

Flying the Red Duster with pride and remembering the men and women of the Merchant Navy who serve and served their country at sea.

Tewkesbury Classic Vehicle Festival 2018

19/08/2018

Collections and Museums, Gloucestershire, Heritage, Hobbies and Interests, Personal, Tewkesbury, Transportation, United Kingdom

[ TCVF2016 ] [ TCVF 2017 ]

The Tewkesbury Classic Vehicle Festival is held around this time of the year pretty much longer than I have lived here. I missed the 2015 event as it was cancelled because of heavy rain, but this year, 2018, is probably the last time I will be attending the event. It is fascinating to walk through because so many of the vehicles are cars from my past, and my parents past too. It did not seem that there were as many vehicles on display this year, and of course the weather was grey and cloudy some of the time. But, it was still packed and cars were still arriving by the time I left just after 12 (and the sun was making token appearances too).

How to not repeat what I have posted before? duplication will creep in, and many of the cars on show were here in the previous years too, so unlike last time when i posted 4 pages, this time I am going to try to keep it at 1. I am really going to try post the odds and ends that interest me in this post instead of the usual vehicles.

There were 2 speed merchants to see this year, and it’s kind of hard to picture them hurtling along because they will just be blurs in the lens. The first was the Bloodhound SSC,a British supersonic vehicle currently in development. Its goal is to match or exceed 1,000 miles per hour (1,609 km/h), and achieving a new world land speed record. The pencil-shaped car is designed to reach 1,050 miles per hour (1,690 km/h).

The vehicle was supposed to be tested on the Hakskeen Pan in the Mier area of the Northern Cape, but it appears that the record attempt has been put off till 2019. Maybe one day we will hear that it happened, but this glimpse at the needle nosed speed merchant was a unique one,

Speed merchant number two was a dragster, and its the first one I have ever seen in real life before. Its an impressive beastie but seems almost fragile. I know nothing about these vehicles but the fastest competitors can reach speeds of up to 530 km/h and can cover the 1,000 foot (305 m) run in anything between 3.6 and 4 seconds (on a good day?).

Fortunately I prefer a more sedate drive and one of the many oldies I saw was a fabric bodied Austin 7 from 1928.

The British weather played havoc with the vehicles and I don’t think there are too many survivors around. The fabric used was called Rexine’, a cloth coated with a mixture of cellulose paint and castor oil and formerly used in the manufacturing of WW1 aircraft wings. I was quite fortunate to see this old lady and hear about the unique body. Truly a rare gem of a vehicle.

Two other oddities that tickled my fancy were a pair of milk floats in the Cotteswold Dairy livery. I cycle past the Dairy every morning and it never occurred to me that they would have operated floats too.

How many of us used to collect Matchbox cars as children? and how many were thrown away by our mothers? quite a lot of them end up in boxes like this one…

Spot the blue Mini… I almost had to have a dual with a munchkin over the contents of that box, and we both left satisfied and clutching our 50p toys in sweaty hands. Phew, these muchkins can play dirty though. On the subject of Mini’s, yes there were quite a few there, and I have probably seen most of the ones on display, naturally some caught my eye, although the pink one was kind of jarring. It was for sale too, but I had spent my last 50p so was skint.

The other Mini that hurt my eyes was this orange 1970 Mini Clubman Estate (the turquoise one was quite nice too), I will post the new Mini’s in my famous Mini Minor with two flat tyres gallery at some point.

Another interesting find was this Ford Escort that did not come from the factory like this. It is a four seater, 3 sleeper motor caravan based on the Ford Escort 8 cwt deluxe van.

The odd love of camper vans was also evident from the many VW’s Kombi’s around in various states of quirkiness. I believe the windows in the roof were for viewing mountains with.

Next to this old lady was a Beetle Cabriolet from the 1970’s. I was not too keen on the bubble gum colour, but she was a nice vehicle and her own was justifiably proud of her.

And you can always enjoy your travels on 2 wheels if the need takes you, and there were some interesting bikes on display too. The show stopper however was this beaut. It was a seriously large bike, but I have no idea how the rider manages with it.

There were a few other vintage machines, the first one in this trio is a 1914 Triumph Roadster.

although I kind of liked this Lambretta step through scooter in spite of the colour.

Chrome was evident in many of the vehicles though, and that reminds me, have you seen my Figureheads and Hood Ornaments post yet? I started it way back in 2017 and was finally able to complete it in 2018.

Dream car? besides a Mini? there are a few that really make me ooh and aah, and right at the top of the list is the Morgan and this red example is perfect. Sadly I did not see any 3 wheel Morgans around this year.

There were not too many small commercial truck and van variants around, but there were two that made me smile.

I could probably waffle the whole day about the 400 images that I took, but I wont. Suffice to say I enjoyed this blast from the past. What I did find quite odd though was that there were a number of vehicles that are still in production on show (Golf’s and Mercs and Beemers), and I cannot quite class them as vintage or even classic. But if you look at it rationally, the VW Golf has been in production since 1974, and those 1974 models are now over 40 years old and technically are classics. What I do find hard to think about is that in 50 years time car enthusiasts may be looking at some of the plastic rubbish on our roads and discussing the merits of the internal combustion engine and a pre 2000 VW Golf, or the merits of a three wheel vehicle over a hoverspeeder.

And as usual I shall leave you with some random cars. In no particular order and with no favouritism anywhere.

And that was it for the Classic Vehicle Festival of 2018. It was fantastic and special thanks to all those who keep these oldies running and in such a great condition. I probably wont see you next year, but I have many memories to carry me forward of the event that I have seen this year and in 2016 and 2017.

[ TCVF2016 ] [ TCVF 2017 ]

Figureheads and Hood Ornaments

19/08/2018

Collections and Museums, Gloucestershire, Heritage, Hobbies and Interests, Photo Essay, Tewkesbury, Transportation, United Kingdom

The one item that seems to have disappeared from motor vehicles is the Figurehead aka “Hood Ornament”. In South Africa a hood is a bonnet and a trunk is a boot. Sound confusing enough? The age of plastic has left us somewhat poorer as can be seen by the examples that I photographed at the Tewkesbury Classic Vehicle Event. Somehow a badge just doesn’t cut it as much a a chrome bird or symbolic creature. I don’t know of too many modern vehicles that sport these anymore, I know Rolls Royce still sports the “Spirit of Ecstacy” and Mercedes Benz still have their gunsight up front. These images are purely for enjoyment, no captions are needed.

I never published this post way back in 2017 when I started it because there was more I wanted to add in but never did, this year around at the Classic Vehicle Festival (2018) I went looking for more of these but the odds are I saw the same ones. Anyway, I am going to post this in 2018 come hell or high water!

Tewkesbury Classic Vehicles 2018

Retrospectively Wading through Weymouth

12/08/2018

Heritage, Hobbies and Interests, Photo Essay, Photowalks, Retrospective, United Kingdom, War Memorial

This is another retrospective blogpost that I should have done way back in 2013, on returning from Weymouth for a job interview. The exif data puts the images at 19 June 2013.

Weymouth is a seaside town in Dorset, and I was hoping to really see what the Brits were like when they were on their summer hols. I on the other hand was burdened with a tie and my usual interview gear so could not get dirty or sweat stained, and I would have to make sure that I was on time for the interview. I even left my bucket and spade at home!

91500×498) I do like to be beside the seaside…

I also could not dally too long either as I had a train to catch back to Southampton.

The station was close to the beach, but I do recall stopping at a taxi service to get a business card just in case I needed to get a taxi in a hurry. Because it is a seaside town most of what I saw was centered around the beachfront, although I did make an excursion into the industrial area. Naturally war memorials were priorities to photograph, and any big ships too although Weymouth Harbour is really geared towards the fishing, pleasure craft and tourism industry.

It was not too crowded either, although that could be because I had arrived while everybody was having breakfast. I hoped that the much loved seaside landlady trope had not been perpetuated into our new century and I am sure many of the beachside “boarding houses” had been where so many of the typical seaside holiday stories had been written.

There were three War Memorials of note along this stretch of beachfront. The first was an ANZAC memorial for the First World War, I covered this memorial in allatsea

In the image above you can see the town War Memorial with a poppy field between them. It commemorated “The Citizens of the Borough who made the Supreme Sacrifice during the Second World War”. It also lists those lost during World War 1. (allatsea link)

Weymouth, being a port city was also defended by Fort Nothe which is situated at the end of the Nothe Peninsula on at the entrance to the harbour. I would have liked to have had a close look at it but did not have the time to do so.

This side of the harbour mouth was the home of one of those strange towers with a rotating doughnut on it, although it was not in operation by the looks of it. There was construction work going on in that area so I could not really see what I wanted to. You can see the tower sticking out in the image below.

King George III was a frequent visitor to the town and he has a statue in it.

The king used to take a dip there because he had been advised to bathe in seawater to help with his Porphyria. Unlike today one did not just leap into the sea, and the much talked about “bathing machine” was taken out into the water, whereupon the person could have his paddle in private. Huzzah! they even have a bathing machine on display.

Staying with our beach theme, my experience of going to the seaside as a child was probably very different to that of a child in England, and there were some activities that we did not seem to have in common during my era. The first being the Punch ‘n Judy show:

Although I suspect Mr Punch has been sanitised and made more politically correct, and of course the seaside donkey ride.

Donkeys at the seaside in Weymouth

It was quite a strange feeling walking along this beachfront because so many odd memories kept on popping up and I had to resist the temptation to roll up me trouser legs, tied a knotted handkerchief around my head and go for a paddle in the sea. I now headed for the harbour as time was marching and the harbour was a good place to navigate from. A lifting bascule bridge joins the two sides of the harbour and allows access to the inner harbour.

I stopped at the church that you can see on the left and came away with one very poignant image. It is quite odd to think that he really lives on in this church while his “schoolfellows and friends” have all been lost to memory.

Shortly after my harbour visit I headed off to my interview in the industrial area. It was not a long walk, but it was becoming quite a hot day and I longed to dispose of that tie. I did not get the job though, and I suspect I was much too under qualified anyway. On my way back I paused at the local cemetery and church before arriving back in town. I had time to kill so headed off along the Esplanade. There was a church in the distance that I wanted to have a look at.

(1500×503) A church in the distance…

The esplanade is composed of converted Georgian terraces that serve as flats, shops, hotels and guest houses. Many were built between 1770 and 1855 and they form a long, continuous arc of buildings which face Weymouth Bay.

This iteration of the Royal Hotel hotel was opened in 1899 and is a Grade II listed building. During World War 2 it was requisitioned for use as the local headquarters of the United States military.

The Memorial in front of the building serves as a reminder of the part Weymouth played in the invasion of Normandie.

The inscription reads:

IN MEMORY OF AMERICAN SERVICEMEN 1939-1945. 1944-1945.

THE MAJOR PART OF THE AMERICAN ASSAULT FORCE WHICH

LANDED ON THE SHORES OF FRANCE 6 JUNE 1944 WAS LAUNCHED

FROM WEYMOUTH AND PORTLAND HARBORS. FROM 6 JUNE 1944 TO 7 MAY 1945, 517,816 TROOPS AND 144,093 VEHICLES EMBARKED

FROM THE HARBORS. MANY OF THE TROOPS LEFT FROM WEYMOUTH PIER. THE REMAINDER OF THE TROOPS AND ALL THE VEHICLES PASSED THROUGH/ WEYMOUTH EN ROUTE TO PORTLAND POINTS OF EMBARKATION.

PRESENTED BY THE 14TH MAJOR PORT, U.S. ARMY. (Added JUNE 1999:)

There is also an a reminder of the tragedy that befell man who were being trained for the assault at Lyme Bay:

28 APRIL 1944
LYME BAY
749 DIED DURING D-DAY
TRAINING EXERCISE ‘TIGER’
WHEN A CONVOY OF LSTS WAS ATTACKED BY E-BOATS
OFF PORTLAND
24 DECEMBER 1944.

The other landmark in this area is the Jubilee Clock Tower, built to commemorate Queen Victoria’s 50 years of reign in 1887.

My destination was in sight, although still quite a walk away. If only I had my bicycle back then.

I suppose I could have caught “the train”

Or hired a boat

Make no mistake, the sea was flat calm out there, and you would be able to wade out quite far too. In the bay was a sailing ship and I was able to zoom into her and later identified her as the 1971 built TS Royalist.

and then finally I was approaching St John’s Church.

The church stands out for me as it had what was probably the scariest angel I have ever seen on a church building.

And then it was time to turn around and head for the station.

The exif data says the image below was taken at 17H39, but that could be when I uploaded them. At any rate, my train is here, its time to go.

My trip to Weymouth would not be complete without random images…

(1500×423)

Back to Bristol (2)

05/08/2018

Bridges and Rivers, Bristol, Churches and Cathedrals, Collections and Museums, Gloucestershire, Heritage, Hobbies and Interests, Personal, Transportation, United Kingdom

I was now in the area around the cathedral, and while there was no sculpture to photograph there were a few other places of interest. The building below is labelled “Central Library”, with the former Abbott’s Gatehouse tacked onto the left hand side. The statue with it’s back to us is of Rajah Rammohun Roy, who died of meningitis on 27 September 1833 in Bristol.

I first encountered his name when I visited Arnos Vale way back in 2014, as his original tomb is still in the cemetery, although he is no longer buried there. From what I have read he was an enlightened scholar and philosopher and greatly respected. The statue was unveiled in 1997 and sculpted by Niranjan Pradhan

The choir school is also close to the cathedral and it is a fine building in it’s own right although I did not manage to get a decent photograph of it due to the sun position. I did however get a nice image of the cathedral which I was not able to get last time due to the closures of this area.

My next destination was Millennium Square. I had only picked up one sculpture last time (Oceans 1: Deep Blue) but there were 2 others in the area. The first I must have stood next to and missed, but it is more likely because the area was so crowded.

(21) A Grand Tribute. Designed by Nick Park (Millennium Square)

A fellow hunter also showed me where to find the next one too…

(20) The Wallace Collection. Painted by Rachel Bennett (Anchor Road)

I had completed this area now and decided to head back to where the Cenotaph was and see what I could find there, I was not confident of much success as that area was densely populated with buildings and shops so it would have been quite difficult to find anything. Still, I did have one destination in mind for there so off I went.

Actually my first real discovery was not a sculpture, but the façade of a doorway worthy of any Victorian cemetery. It was simply magnificent.

There were some very beautiful buildings around me, but the streets were narrow and I got distracted again. It was not the smell of pizza though, but the alleyway that had been created by construction.

Lo and behold.. I found a church close to it, hemmed in on all sides, with a tiny garden/possible former churchyard. Unfortunately it was closed, but by the looks of it was still an active church. Called St Stephens, it was just one of the many churches that are in the city, and it looks like it has been here for a very long time.

The smell around here was bad though so I headed towards a collectables market, pausing to grab another sculpture.

(16) Fangs McGraw. Painted by Ruth Broadway (Stanfords, Corn Str)

The market was fascinating, and there were a few items that make me ooh and aaah, but I did not buy anything and was frankly at somewhat of a loss as to where to head next. I went into another doorway which was one large market and it really reminded me a lot of South Africa. In fact there was even a South African shop! and I came out of a random doorway and found myself in a area that seemed familiar.

I had been here before…. but from the other side, and it was close to Castle Park which I wanted to explore too. I had a new destination! Full steam ahead.

While doing my reading following last months trip I had wanted to investigate the spire that seemingly hid behind a derelict building. Indeed the buildings were derelict but I had to walk all around them to find what was left of the church, and there was almost nothing. You could not even see the spire for all the trees.

The ruins were meaningless without being able to connect them to that ancient building, and I was not going to learn much new at all.

I turned my bows towards the other ruin in what is known as Castle Park. St Peter’s Church was a victim of the bombing in 24–25 November 1940 and was left as a memorial to those who perished in the bombing of the city.

It is strange to see these gardens surrounded by the skeletal remains of these churches, they do make for very effective memorials, but unfortunately this one was also closed off. A proper memorial is affixed to the wall of the church. I will cover the memorial properly at allatsea.

The park is a large one and one end of it had some very interesting structures so I headed in that direction because there were some more sculptures on my map close by.

Castle Park got its name because once a there was a castle here. The first record of it was from 1088, and it was probably a “motte and bailey” design.

The castle structures were mostly demolished in the 1650’s and redeveloped more in line with what a city of the time looked like. Houses sprung up and associated industry flourished, but the Blitz flattened this area too. Castle Park was developed during the 1970’s and there may still be foundations dating back to the castle underneath the grass. It is a pretty space, but an awkward one too.

Just past the park was a large shopping precinct which is not my favourite place to be in. I was starting to tire though and I needed to consider getting home. I could not find the one sculpture so headed for a grouping of three in that dreaded mass of shoppers and browsers. The first was found easily.

(37) Fromage McGraw. Designed by Peter Lord. (Quakers Friars)

I bumped into another group of hunters, and believe me there were a lot of people out there hunting these sculptures down, not to mention hordes trying to photograph themselves/their kids with them. The hunters told me where there were 3 more, and off I went. The first was at the House of Fraser, which I found by following the paw prints. It is probably one of my favourites too.

(40) Tropi-Canis. Designed by Maria Burns (House of Fraser)

And the next one was in the movie house foyer.

(39) Boss. Designed by Wes Anderson (Showcase Cinema de Lux)

That was as far as I was prepared to go. If I left immediately i could get the 12.47 train, and given my reduced speed I would just make it if I left now! I knew more or less which direction to go in, so headed back the way I came, pausing to pick up the last sculpture that I would get. It was also in a Marriott Hotel (which I had not found initially) and had a Minion theme.

(41) One in a minion. Designed by Illumination (Bristol Marriott City Centre)

I kind of liked that one, definitely shows promise 😉

And then I was off….

It was not too far to the station, but there were many distractions along the way. Including:

Another church (Pip N Jay Church)

This odd lookout tower and friendly lamppost ( have no idea…)

And some awesome street art

I was now at the Avon again, and needed to cross it but do not know yet which bridge this was. But the view of the ruins of St Peter’s was a good one. I had to crop the image tightly though because of the structure on the left which was very close to the church and which I did not want to include.

Had I followed the footpath at this point I would have come out at the Temple Bridge, but because I was on a tight schedule I was not prepared to risk possible detours or clocked off paths.

This huge building below fascinated me, the only markings I could see on it read: “Courage Accounting Centre”. Some kind of temple to bean counters? Actually it turns out that the building was once the Tramway Generating Station, built in the late 1890’s by William Curtis Green, the station delivered power for the Bristol trams until the bridge was bombed in April 1940 and the power cables cut. This proved to be the end of Bristol trams and the building was later taken over by the Courage Brewery. It is a grade II listed building and is part of the development going on around this area.

I recognised a spire in the distance and I just had to go confirm what I had read at the time “The other peculiarity about the building is that the tower leans by roughly 1,6 metres from the vertical, and the top was built so as to correct the lean, but it ended up looking somewhat odd as the lean increased. “

The station was close, although the same roadworks that had bedevilled my trip last month were still in full swing and I battled to cross the street, fortunately I made it to the station in time, arriving as my train did, although it was at a totally different platform that I had used before. But I didn’t care. I was just glad to be on my way home because I was flat.

It had been a very interesting morning, and I enjoyed “the hunt” and seeing more of this city. Bristol is big, and there is a lot to see in it, although the odds of ever seeing it all are nil. The context of a lot of the places has changed from when they were first in use, and of course demographics alter everything. The once grubby harbour area is now prime real estate, and the glorious buildings in the city centre have become supermarkets or banks. Listed status does mean that many buildings are stuck in time with nobody able to do anything to them. Urban decay is real, and Bristol is not immune, but it has retained a lot of history, and frankly that’s the part I enjoy.

When will I see Bristol again? I was planning for December, but those plans are now in the balance. I will have to wait till October before I can decide.

Back to Bristol (1)

04/08/2018

Bristol, Churches and Cathedrals, Collections and Museums, Gloucestershire, Heritage Rail, Hobbies and Interests, Personal, United Kingdom

Since getting back from Bristol last month my mind was flooded with thoughts of places that I had not seen. And of course there were all of those Wallace and Gromit sculptures just waiting for my camera. I was also running out of time till the weather changes and the days get shorter, and some other bad news that I won’t dwell upon yet. I decided that today was suitable seeing as it seemed like a nice day to hit the town. I downloaded a map of where the sculptures were (amazing to see how many I had probably walked past) and plotted a rough course that would take in the Quaker Burial Ground, the harbour, Queen’s Square, College Green, The cenotaph area, and anything that caught my fancy along the way. A revisit to Bristol Cathedral was a must too, and I was hoping to get some decent pics of the building and the parts I had not been able to access on my last visit.

Right.. off we go!

Aschurch for Tewkesbury was gloomy and grey and when I arrived in Bristol it was gloomy and grey too, but it looked like it was going to clear. At Temple Meads I espied another of those thumping great Class 800 electro diesels and I was hoping to get a pic of either end or the middle bit. But as luck would have it, the one end was in a no go area of the platform while the middle bit was blocked off by a whole wodge of people having a conflab. Best I could do was…

I did not feel like walking to the opposite end of the train so decided to head off onto my destination instead, stocking up with a bacon buttie along the way. My first destination would take me past St Mary Redcliffe, and as usual I tried for a better photograph of the church, this time I may have gotten it right too! Unfortunately that white pole ruins the pics…

It is a beautiful building and worthy of being a cathedral. But it is awkward to photograph because of the 89 metre spire, which makes it the tallest building in Bristol. I visited the church way back in September 2015, and again last month and I always find something interesting in it.

The reason I was here was to photograph the Old Quaker Burial Ground close by. It was purchased by the Quakers in 165 and was used for burials until 1923 and was donated to the city of Bristol in 1950. It is also known as “Recliffe Pit” and enclosed within the site is a hermit’s cave which was established here in 1346 by Thomas Lord Berkeley.

The cave is really the only thing to see in the burial ground,

I get the impression that this is really somewhat of an awkward space, but I believe it is quite popular with residents in the area, but I deplore the way those headstone are stacked behind the gate.

My first objective completed I headed for the harbour to see how many of the sculptures I could get. I had been this way before so it was not all new territory. But it is a harbour, and that is enough for me, even though there are no real ships worth seeing in it. There are however a number of interesting bridges…

I was aiming for the opposite side of the harbour and crossed the Redcliffe Bridge. and walked along the quayside which is now a mooring place for pleasure craft as commercial activity ceased in Bristol Docks many years ago. I really wanted to cross to the other side at the Prince Street Swing Bridge which would take me to the Museum area where I wanted to be. But, I spotted a certain dog perched on the bow of one of the ferries.

And then I was at the bridge with the museum in sight, but it was closed, as it was only 8.30 in the morning! As to to be expected I was running very early, and the harbour was blissfully peaceful compared to the chaos of last month.

I had a look at the Mayflower, which is supposedly the world’s oldest steam tug and the oldest ship afloat in the harbour. She was built in 1861 and worked all her life on the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal. I have however yet to see her move. Outboard of her is the firefloat Pyronaut.

and there goes Gromit on his way to the Great Britain side of the harbour. It is possible to ride the ferry from the harbour entrance all the way to Temple Meads Station, and one day I am going to do it!

I had already photographed the one Gromit in the “M Shed Museum” so wasn’t concerned about the museum being closed (Gromitronic). My map however listed three in the immediate area of the the museum, and I found one of them next to the museum.

(29) Alex the Lion. Designed by DreamWorks

And, a short hop across the road and I had Space Oddi-tea in the bag too, although it was probably a tea bag.

(30) Space Oddi-tea. Designed by Cary’s Ink. (Wapping Wharf)

I was also pleased to see the small Avonside tank engine being prepped for the days run. If things went well maybe I could go for a trip on her.

It was time to move on and cross back to the other side of the harbour, although I really wanted a pic across the water of the Lloyds Amphitheatre. The people in front are upright paddle boarders, and it looks waaaay to unsteady for me (and slow..)

Back the way I came, and there were two reminders that people may overlook in the harbour. The first is a proper dockyard crane. These are becoming increasingly rare, and I am glad that some have survived in the harbour.

The second is probably missed by many people, but it is a reminder that the city of Bristol had a part to play in the slave trade.

The last time I had seen Prince Street Swing Bridge had been in October 2015 and it was in the process of renovation. It is such an important bridge that a temporary structure had to be fabricated to carry the load while renovations were happening.

You can see how the sky is starting to lighten up too. That was a good sign, although it would also mean that it was going to be a hot and sticky day. I had to turn left after I crossed the bridge to where my next sculpture was. I am not sure how I missed him last month though, considering I was standing almost next to it. The bronze is of the Venetian Navigator John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto; (1450 – 1500), who sailed with his ship Matthew to America in 1497.

(24) Honeydew. Designed by the Yogscast (Narrow Quay)

John Cabot Giovanni Caboto; (1450 – c. 1500)

Having visited this pair I now had to make a slight detour to Queens Square which was not too far away (fortunately), and where I would find (25) Bristol’s Own

(25) Bristol’s Own. Designed by Susan Webber (Queens Square)

Actually I enjoyed this slight detour because I was able to photograph some really interesting buildings. The pink building below is called the Merchant Venturers Almshouses, and it was built around 1696 by the Society of Merchant Venturers for convalescent and old sailors to see out their days, Today it is private accommodation

The building below is marked “Bristol Free Library” and it is now a Chinese Restaurant. The building dates from 1738–40.

And then there is the Bristol Old Vic, unfortunately it was undergoing some sort of construction or renovation so I could not get a better image of it.

Back on the trail I crossed Pero’s Bridge, it is the one with all the padlocks; where is my bolt cutter?? The bridge is named after Pero Jones, who lived from around 1753 to 1798, having arrived in Bristol probably from the Caribbean in 1783, as the slave of the merchant John Pinney.

There were two sculptures in the vicinity that I was after, and I managed to snag both, although one was in a window and was not really easy to photograph., and I have no idea how I managed to miss the other the previous time I was here.

(23) Feathertron 3000 Designed by JamFactory X Jimmy 2 Eggs (Bristol Energy Hub)

(17). Long John Wallace. Cascade Steps, Painted by Elaine Carr

Time was marching and I was now heading towards the College Green where the cathedral was. I really wanted to relook the cathedral as I had missed part of it last month, and I wanted to try for a better photograph of it. I am happy to report I succeeded in that endeavour.

I am not adding in images of the Cathedral here but will add them into the original Cathedral visit post.

My map said that there was another sculpture at the Mariott Royal Hotel, but I could not find it. A chance encounter with another hunter explained that the sculpture was inside the hotel and not outside. Now the hotel is really an outstanding building, situated on that fork in the road.

What I did not know at the time was that the building above is a later addition to the hotel, and the original hotel below celebrated its 150th anniversary in April 2018.

Built between 1863 – 1868, By WH Hawtin, it opened on 23 March 1868 and was named the Royal Hotel and it is a grade II listed building. The Sculpture is found by following a set of paw prints…. and what a find it was.

(18) Prima Featherina. Painted by Ruth Broadway. (Bristol Royal Marriott Hotel)

Feathers McGraw never looked this good.. or bad… The sculpture is on a turntable so it was quite an interesting one to view.

That really concludes this portion of the blogpost. Part 2 will carry on in the cathedral area before heading back towards Cabot Circus and Castle Park.

Wallace and Gromit in Bristol

23/07/2018

Gloucestershire, Hobbies and Interests, Personal, Photo Essay, Photowalks

From July 2^nd until September 2^nd, 67 sculptures of Nick Park’s Academy Award®-winning characters Wallace, Gromit and Feathers McGraw were scheduled to hit the streets of Bristol and the surrounding area to raise money for Bristol Children’s Hospital. (The images are in the order that I found them)

Once again I ended up making detours to grab pics of the large statues that were often festooned with fans of the Aardman characters. The giant sculptures are designed by high-profile artists, designers, innovators and local talent. Unfortunately I will never get to photograph them all, but its worth showing what I did get (10 out of 67).

(5) Stellar. Designed by Laura Hallett (Park Street)

(6) Feathers McGraw. Painted by Emily Ketteringham (Wills Memorial Building)

(15) Wallace. Painted by Emily Ketteringham. (The Cenotaph in Magpie Park)

(16) Fangs McGraw. Painted by Ruth Broadway (Stanfords, Corn Str)

(17). Long John Wallace. Cascade Steps, Painted by Elaine Carr

(18) Prima Featherina. Painted by Ruth Broadway. (Bristol Royal Marriott Hotel)

(19) Gnome Sweet Gnome. Painted by Katie Wallis (College Green)

(20) The Wallace Collection. Painted by Rachel Bennett (Anchor Road)

(21) A Grand Tribute. Designed by Nick Park (Millennium Square)

(22) Oceans 1: Deep Blue. Designed by the Faculty of Engineering at University of Bristol (We the Curious)

(23) Feathertron 3000 Designed by JamFactory X Jimmy 2 Eggs (Bristol Energy Hub)

(24) Honeydew. Designed by the Yogscast (Narrow Quay)

(25) Bristol’s Own. Designed by Susan Webber (Queens Square)

(26) Bristol in Bloom. Designed by Ella Masters. (St Mary Redcliffe)

(28) Gromitronic. Designed by Renishaw (M Shed)

(29) Alex the Lion. Designed by DreamWorks (Museum Square, M Shed)

(30) Space Oddi-tea. Designed by Cary’s Ink. (Wapping Wharf)

(31) Wallambard. Designed by Tim Miness. (SS Great Britain)

(37) Fromage McGraw. Designed by Peter Lord. (Quakers Friars)

(39) Boss. Designed by Wes Anderson (Showcase Cinema de Lux)

(40) Tropi-Canis. Designed by Maria Burns (House of Fraser)

(41) One in a minion. Designed by Illumination (Bristol Marriott City Centre)

(43) Gromit , designed by Nick Park. Location: Temple Quay

(44) Game of Cones. Painted by Rachel Bennett (Bristol Temple Meads Station)

There were two more sculptures that were mobile and more difficult to see, one was on a bus and the other on one of the ferries which I was fortunate enough to photograph when I arrived.

In 2015, while visiting the Clifton Suspension Bridge, I spotted some Shaun The Sheep statues, and they too were on the fund raising trail for the Bristol Children’s Hospital Charity. There were 120 of these statues and they were auctioned off for the charity.

A Sheep’s Eye View. Clifton Observatory

Isambaard (Clifton Suspension Bridge)

Wallace and Gromit, Shaun the Sheep are the work of Nick Park and Aardman Animation.

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musings while allatsea

Musings of a curious individual