Victorian Village

The Victorian Village at The Shambles, Newent, which we visited with Barbara Dimmick. Click on pictures to enlarge.

Hazel's Party

Some pictures taken at Hazel Kember's party

Recently engaged couple Martin and Cathy

Ourselves. I am wearing a new panama hat delivered to me a few minutes earlier by Leila who had just returned from Ecuador.

There are more photos in my collection at Flickr, which you can access by clicking on

http://www.flickr.com/photos/80674038@N00/

Galapagos

Leila has just returned from the Galapagos, with a collection of amazing wildlife photos. A small sample of them follows:

Portland:

Chesil Beach and Portland Harbour

A great September day out at Portland...


Pictures of, and from, the lighthouse

Ice

Remember the days before global warming? I took these pictures in the late 1950s near my home in Bingley where the Leeds-Liverpool Canal crosses the River Aire over what was obviously a leaky aqueduct.

Portsmouth

HMS Warrior at Portsmouth is at home in the water, but what about the car? This photo was taken when we were visiting cousin Mary Thurlow in Southsea.

Wolferton

On a visit to Norfolk we had a look at Wolferton Station. No railway line runs there any more, but the station buildings have been beautifully preserved. This was where The Royal Family would alight on their way to Sandringham House in years gone by.

Ecuador

Leila is in Ecuador, before she heads for the Galapagos Islands. She sent us this postcard from the Equator Monument, a few miles north of Quito.

Church of St Essui, in the Black Mountains. This delightful little church, near Partrishowe, is in a remote location. I am standing here at the Preacher's Cross outside, from where it is believed the Third Crusade was preached in 1188.

The interior has many ancient wall-paintings. Wendy is looking at a picture of Old Father Time.

The impressive wooden rood-screen.

The entrance: Wendy with David Beech, who took us there.

The Warwick Bar Soundwalk

1. Birmingham Artsfest took place on 9 / 10 September. As a contribution to this David and Frances (son and daughter-in-law) created the Warwick Bar Soundwalk. We went there to experience it. Listening to a commentary on an MP3 player we were guided round a circular walk at the very end of the Grand Union Canal - a once bustling area which is now silent and tranquil, to experience the sounds as well as the sights of this inner-city space. Lots of other events were going on nearby too, including an Irish Music Festival at the Custard Factory redevelopment.

Warwick Bar and its surrounding buildings on the canal-bank are to be redeveloped, and David and Frances are lead-artists for the masterplan, focussing their initial attention on the soundscape of the area, which is as important as the landscape. More on this is on their website: www.liminal.org.uk

Scroll down the page to see photos, and click on them to enlarge.

2. The stop-locks at Warwick Bar can be seen here. These were to prevent water from the Digbeth Branch Canal (behind me) from escaping into the Grand Union Canal in the days when the companies were rivals.

3. Wendy is standing at the junction of the Grand Union Canal and the Digbeth Branch Canal

4. The Custard Factory Redevelopment includes an exraordinary huge sculpture

5. These Irish dancers are having the outlines of their hands drawn onto a glass window at the Custard Factory

Sunrise

The view from our bedroom window this morning at about 7.15 a.m. Doubtless this american-based blog-site will say it was 'posted' in the middle of the night! Click on picture to enlarge.

Corsham Court Lake

Our church

Priory Street Baptist Church, Corsham

On a recent visit to Norfolk we saw this lorry (+ trailer) being loaded with 1000 pigs and captured the event on camera. Click on picture to enlarge.

Geoffrey's new toy.

We visited cousins Margaret and Geoffrey just as they were having a new clavinova delivered. Great fun was had by all as we tried it out. This is Geoffrey at the keyboard.

Ady's New Bike

Ady has bought a new motorbike. Martin Donovan is in the background and Cathy (from Uganda) on pillion is Martin's fiancee.

Wendy's mum

A picture of Wendy with her mum and sister Jean

Neston Park

This is one of my favourite recent pictures: Neston Park, again near home. The tree is fascinating and is not as dead as it looks, apparently. Click on picture to enlarge it.

Sunflowers

I am starting this blog with a photo I took recently near home of a field of sunflowers. Click on the picture to enlarge it.
posted by Michael Prior at 6:42 AM