The Old Granary, Welsh Back, Bristol, 27/04/15.

Tags

Acker Bilk, architecture, Bristol, Bristol Byzantine, Jazz, Music, rock, The Granary Club, The Old Granary Bristol, Victorian., Welsh Back Bristol

According to Looking at Buildings. org, this Grade II listed building is an example of Bristol Byzantine architecture, a style I’ve never heard of before, which is characterised by, amongst other things, “upper floors unified through either horizontal or vertical grouping of window openings“.

As well as being of architectural interest, it gained a place in music history, in its second life as The Granary Club. Between 1968 and 1988 it hosted Motorhead, Iron Maidan, Dire Straits, Status Quo, Def Leppard and many more big names [if you follow the link to the club’s tribute page you can see the full list of bands].

Despite the buildings rock credentials, it was initial opened, according to a certain on-line encyclopaedia, as a Jazz club by Ted Cowell, with the help of bowler hat wearing, clarinettist, Acker Bilk MBE.

I had no idea I was going to uncover any of those facts when I started to look into the history of this building; I love it when that happens.     

Furled Union Flag Hanging Over Gieves and Hawkes, 20 Old Bond Street, Bath, 28/04/15.

Tags

architecture, bath, British, flags, Gieves and Hawkes, Gieves and Hawkes Bath, Neo Classical Architecture, Neo-Classical, tayloring, taylors, Union Flag, Union Jack

The Tower of St. James’ Priory, Bristol, 27/04/15.

Tags

architecture, brickwork, Bristol, Church architecture, Church of England., Churches, St James' Priory Bristol, stonework

Thomas Hardy Related Blue Plaque, Barclays Bank, 10 South Street, Dorchester, 29/04/15.

Tags

architecture, blue plaques, brickwork, Dorchester, Dorset, English Literature, South Street Dorchester, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Thomas Hardy

“This house is reputed to have been lived in by…”.

To paraphrase my good friend and occasional travelling companion Mr. W, “Perhaps, one day, someone will write about us looking at this blue plaque and then they might put up a blue plaque to commemorate the fact we looked at it“. I didn’t mention it at the time, but I did think to myself, “Getting the fact we looked at this blue plaque in print and published, on the internet at least, might be easier than you think!” My travelling companions and I are not well versed in the works of Thomas Hardy, although we had all heard of his novel “The Mayor of Casterbridge” and you can’t visit Dorchester for long before you find out Hardy’s fictional Casterbridge was based on Dorchester, so the presence of a Thomas Hardy related plaque did not come as a surprise. The unusual wording of the plaque was quite a talking point though, because it seems to commemorate the occupation of the building by a fictional character, although I think the spirit of the message is meant to convey that Thomas Hardy’s description of the house in the novel was inspired by this rather grand building. Perhaps I should read more Hardy before I return to Dorchester in the Summer and then I might see the place very differently.

I used that cash machine.

So, in the hope of getting our pseudonyms on a blue plaque in Dorchester one day, I would like to put into writing that Mr. W [my advisor in all things relating to Dorset folklore, public houses and micro breweries], Mrs. W [my advisor in all things historical, knitted or baked] and myself, Mr.B, [flâneur, blogger, man of letters and amateur photographer] stood outside number 10 South Street, Dorchester, on the afternoon of the 29th April 2015.

Now, how long do we have to wait for a blue plaque?

pS. Speaking of knitting, have you seen the Dalek Mrs. W knitted for me? It’s quite something!  https://anticsroadshowblogspot.wordpress.com/2014/04/05/souvenirs-knitted-dalek-wimborne-minster-september-2011/

“Everything is Possible”, Former-Central Library, Paradise Forum, Chamberlain Square, Birmingham, 25/04/15.

Tags

architecture, birds, Birmingham, black and white, Brutalism, Brutalist architecture, Chamberlain Square Birmingham, concrete, Everything is possible, John Madin, libraries, library, Lucy Mclaunchlan, Quotes, textures, Todo es posible

The Central Library designed by Birmingham born architect John Madin.

I didn’t have time to find the relatively new Library of Birmingham, designed by Dutch architect Francine Houben, but I did rediscover the former-Central Library on my walk up to the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery on Chamberlain Square. As you can see, the ground floor has been largely boarded up, but you can still see the birds painted by Lucy McLaunchlan on the side of John Madin’s Brutalist construction.

Todo es posible or “Everything is possible”.

I don’t speak Spanish, in fact I don’t have a second language, so I photographed the motto “Todo es posible” with a view to looking up what it meant at a later date. A certain on-line encyclopaedia informs be that the library is due to be demolished in the July of this year, so the next time I visit Birmingham this heart warming message might well be a heap of rubble or a void where a building use to be, which is rather sad. Then again, “Everything is possible”…

Statue of Queen Victoria, Victoria Square, Birmingham, 25/04/15.

Tags

architecture, Birmingham, British Monarchy, Council House Birmingham, Flag of Birmingham, flags, public art, Queen Victoria, sculpture, statue, Victoria Square Birmingham, Victorian., Victoriana

Note the civic flag of the city of Birmingham flying over Council House.

Photo Archive: Percy Park, Tynemouth, c.2010.

Tags

architecture, bay windows, grass, North Shields, open space, Parks, Percy Park Tynemouth, Public houses, terraced houses, Tyne and Wear, Tynemouth, views

Photo Archive: Escalators, Canary Wharf Tube Station, Canary Wharf, London, 2013.

Tags

architecture, Canary Wharf, Canary Wharf Tube Station, escalators, London, London Underground, Public Transport, tube

Ornamental Detail, Sheffield Central Library, Sheffield, 19/03/15.

Tags

architecture, astronomy, library, Moon, ornamental detail, Portland stone, Sheffield, Sheffield Central Library, stars, stone carving, sun, telescope

Photo Archive: Ornamental details, Bury St. Edmunds Railway Station, 2013.

Tags

architecture, bricks, brickwork, Bury St Edmunds, Bury St Edmunds Railway Station, ornamental detail, Public Transport, Sancton Wood, stonework, tower, Train stations, Victorian., Victoriana

Designed by Sancton Wood and formally opened in November 1847.