Gargoyles

Gargoyles from the church in Whiteladies Road that is now an auction house.

This one's based on Noddy Holder

St Werburgh's Church

St Werburgh's church from the train.










To read about St Werburgh's crazy goose-banishing antics, go to 10 July 2006 on this blog.

The Scrapyard by the Motorway

Today I went to the scrapyard by the motorway.
It's at the end of this road.


I think it's been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO,
but I may have got my facts wrong.




I like these cranes lifting things up.







The railway runs past it.






On the waste ground behind there is an abandoned
building that has been covered in graffiti by volunteers
from the local community.

Trooper's Hill

Trooper's Hill is an old industrial site, now a nature reserve.

Apparently one of the few acidic bits of land in Bristol and home to heather, etc.
and other plants that don't usually grow in this area.

A short walk away is Beeses Tea Gardens. I'd heard about it but never been. You have to be ferried across the river by boat. Surprised they were open today but they were. They have music on the last Sunday of the month 2 till 5 pm.

Purdown Tower

East Bristol is overlooked by this giant hill figure.



It's guarded by robots on poles.


You can sometimes sneak past by tying a sheep's
fleece to your back.





The sign on the gate says it's owned by BT.

I fooled the anti-spam robots

I've been given the all clear by the anti-spam robots, but this is what I really look like...



Fooled you!!!

A walk

A nice old wall and door, in the shadow of the motorway at Stapleton.



A bit of Bristol from afar.






Does anybody know who this bird is? It was attacking crows twice its size. Perhaps it had just cause, but what species is it?

PS I can't publish this yet because I've been identified as a "spam blog"! I have to wait until they look at it in person and decide that I'm not a spam blog. They will also delete blogs two weeks after they put this prohibition on if they don't hear from anyone. So, if you've got any dormant blogs you should check them.

It's not very good for people who go away for a few weeks or can't blog for another reason - say a computer problem which may take more than two weeks to fix. They come back to look at their blog and there it is - gone.

It's also not very good for anyone whose name is Spam Bloggs.

Writing a Blog

This picture is by Henry Holiday and is taken from The Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carroll. It reminded me of what I imagine writing a blog must be like.

Snowdrops

Doctor's Orders

My doctor thinks that blogging is the cause of my brain whistling and has told me to lay off for a while.
If you're stuck for idle amusement in the meantime, could I recommend these comedy shows from BBC Radio Four?

Click on each link and then click on Listen to The Latest Edition.

Each episode is only available for a week after its first airing and I think all these shows are coming to the end of their runs, so be quick.



Laura Solon New comedian with a range of voices and wacky characters.
I like the irascible old German lady in a care home.


Down The Line Spoof phone-in programme.
Sometimes very funny, but what is point?
Laughing at different accents,what is point?


Recorded for Training Purposes Comedy featuring the automatic voices that we hear all the time these days.

Warning: Comedy programmes can be unfunny as well as funny.

Hang on to your Pen Tops

Hang on to your pen tops - that's my motto. That's what I always say. You never know when you might need them.

I find that shouting at my pen tops helps relieve all my pen top anger.

Two Cans Short of a Pyramid

Great News! I've got a new hobby and it's called Collecting Tin Cans.
I've got thirteen so far and only need two more to complete a human pyramid.

When finished it will be the world's first human pyramid made entirely of tin cans.
If it's sucessful, then the potential labour-saving costs to the circus and acrobatic industry could be enormous.

You'll notice that the labels have all been removed. I've very particular about avoiding product placement.

I think it's important that people can trust this site to give frank and honest opinions, unsullied by commercial sponsorship deals.

I've accepted no payments from Heinz,for example, who do a nice can of vegetable soup for 65p (on offer at the moment at two for £1:18p)

The Dower House

The Dower House is a striking old house, very conspicuous from the M32 motorway. Some bits of it date from the 16th century, but most of it was built about 1760.



The House was rented to the Reverend Burden in 1908 for £150 a year for 21 years. Rev. Burden had just returned from missionary work in the backwoods of Canada, but he and his wife were keen on social work and used the house to set up a colony for "backward children". He must also have had a hand in the Burden Neurological Institute which was nearby for a long time. This whole area is big on hospitals, psychiatric institutes, asylums, etc.





Duchess Pond, below, is a recently made pond below the Dower House.
Here is a heron and some ducks. This area is about half an hour's walk from Easton, through Eastville Park and along the Frome valley.




A fallen log reflecting the trees.

Broadmead Six O'Clock

Night time views of the new development.



















The Big Wheel next to St Mary-le-Port church on
Castle Green.
































St Mary-le-Port lost its roof in the wartime
bombings. You can see inside, lit up by the
Wheel.

Tin Openers Ancient and Modern

Have you ever wondered how the tin opener has evolved over the years?

No?

Um...well...


Anyway, below is a typical World War Two tin opener of the sort used by noted chefs such as Mrs Beeton and Fanny Craddock. It is of robust design and could be used as a bayonet in the event of invasion by hostile forces. Nowadays they are banned under the Geneva Convention.





This is more of a Swinging Sixties tin opener. Compact, functional, but a bit rusty.




Finally we come to the modern tin opener. A stylish design classic, popular with the gadget-concious man about town and the perfect accessory for an I-Pod.




What does the future hold for tin openers?

I don't really know, I'm only writing this because I can't think of anything else to write about.


Tin Opener Fact of the Week: Did you know that the tin opener wasn't invented until fifty years after the tin can? They were a bit slow off the mark there.

Find out more interesting facts about tin openers here

Weighty Matters

This is the famous weighing machine on Temple Meads station, Bristol. Built in 1862 by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the machine is still going strong and attracting visitors from around the world.

The machine is very simple to use and shows weight to an accuracy of plus or minus 25%.

A word of warning if you're making a special journey to weigh yourself - not everybody is allowed to use the machine. Potential weighees should be neither excessively over or underweight, not unusually tall or short, smartly dressed with attractive features and should be able to speak fluent English with no trace of a regional accent.