26 Thursday Mar 2015
Posted in Out and About., Yorkshire.
Tags
Boats, Coot, names, Ouzel, Puffin, River Ouse, rivers, Rowing, Swallow, The Star in The City York, trees, West Esplanade York, York, York City Rowing Club, York Minster
Note, sandwiched between the “Ouzel” and the “Puffin’“, “The Star Inn the City“, which offers, “casual Brasserie-style dining“, but I’ve only been in there for a cup of tea. Above the “Ouzel” you can just see the three towers of York Minster, partially obscured by one of the Yorkshire Museum Garden’s wonderful trees.
10 Sunday Aug 2014
Posted in Out and About., Ship Shape and Bristol Fashion.
Tags
Boats, Bristol, Cranes, Fairbairn Steam Crane, Harbour, John King, M Shed, Merchant Navy, Museums, Prince's Wharf Bristol, Ships, Tall Ships, The Floating Harbour Bristol, The Matthew, tug, views
The M Shed, viewed from the other side of the Harbour.
The third floor of the M Shed, a museum dedicated to the story of Bristol and its “unique place in the world”, offers exceptional views of the Floating Harbour and various points of nautical interest. Here are some of the main points of interest; photographed on a remarkably sunny afternoon.
The Electric Cranes.
All four of the electric cranes lined on the harbour side.
40 cranes like these once worked the City Docks during Bristols 1950’s maritime hay day, but now only four remain. These cranes were a product of the Stothert & Pitt works in Bath.
Another view, featuring a tall ship on the other side of the Floating Harbour.
The Matthew.
The replica of The Matthew.
It is difficult to believe that this ship is not even as old as I am; the ship being commissioned in 1994. The Matthew, captained by John Cabot, set sail from Bristol and across the Atlantic to find a new sea route to Asia, but bumped into Newfoundland instead.
The Fairbairn Steam Crane.
To quote the M Shed’s website, “The striking banana-shaped crane is the Fairbairn Steam crane, now the oldest surviving exhibit of its type in Britain and a Scheduled Ancient Monument“. The steam crane is also a product of the Stothert & Pitt works in Bath and, according to a certain on line encyclopaedia, it weighs in at 35 tons. You can also see two trains from the M Shed’s collection and I believe the one on the left is “Henbury”, built by Bristol based locomotive manufacturers Peckett & Sons in 1937.
John King.
Below right.
The tug, John King, was built in 1935 to tow cargo ships from the City Docks to the mouth of the River Avon.
03 Thursday Jul 2014
Posted in Photo Archive.
Tags
Beach, beach huts, Boats, Dorset, King George III, London 2012 Olympics, Nothe Fort, Sea Views, Seaside., The Ship Inn Weymouth, Weymouth, Weymouth Harbour, Weymouth Jubilee Clock
Beach huts.
Weymouth is a lovely place and I had the pleasure of visiting the town in the run up to the 2012 London Olympics [Weymouth being the venue for the sailing events]. This photograph of some beach huts was my first on that day, but my dear friend Mr. W and I had started our walk much further up the seafront and we park the car either further away from the centre of Weymouth than that.
Bunting.
Our first sighting of celebratory bunting occurred a short walk further from the beach huts, on the front of some guest houses that must have boasted quite impressive views of the beach. Further up the promenade again, the bunting was joined by banners with messages like “Inspiring A Generation” (one of which I photograph next to Weymouth’s Jubilee clock).
Weymouth’s Jubilee Clock – erected in 1887 to mark 50th years of Queen Victoria’s reign.
Our walk along the promenade took a turn inland as I got distracted by a very impressive statue of King George III flanked by palm trees. I was delighted to find out that George III also enjoyed holidaying on the Dorset coast and showed a liking for Weymouth, to the extent that he bought a holiday home there! [You can read more about George III and Weymouth here]
Now distracted by a side street we headed into the hustle and bustle of the town.
Eventually we navigated our way to the harbour; passed “The Ship Inn” where I had a very enjoyable tea, or a late dinner, the year before.
King George III.
Don’t neglect the harbour in favour of the beach if you are visiting Weymouth this Summer. The harbour is a hive of activity, with the fishermen on one side, and a sense of fun, with pleasure craft of all sizes plying to and fro.
Here are some of my favourite photographs:
“The Ship Inn” – I recommend the fish.
WH.
A view from the bridge spanning the Harbour.
Crossing the Harbour in a rowing boat (note the Olympic bunting).
We walked along the harbour side and then along a pier dotted with anglers. After taking in the view (and resting our feet) we headed up to take in the view from the Nothe Fort, a Victorian coastal artillery position, which is open to the public. Naturally, the Nothe has the best views of both Weymouth on one side and Portland on the other and I do believe they used it during Olympics to observe the sailing events on the Weymouth .
A view of the harbour mouth.
After a Pint of bitter by the Harbour we headed back to the promenade and the beach, a voiding the narrow streets of the town this time.
We had a refreshing Pint in this pub on our walk back.
It was only then, after hours of walking on one of the sunniest days of that Summer, I realised I had failed to put any sun cream on the back of my legs and that they were red like lobsters! I still enjoyed the walk back along the beach though, despite this painful realisation. My last vivid memory of Weymouth is of a delightful helter-skelter, so I am going to leave you with a photograph of that. I hope if you visit Weymouth you enjoy it as much as I did.
Whenever the London 2012 Olympic Games are mentioned I always remember our medal winners, the Golds (medals, the post boxes and Luke Campbell’s gold telephone box) and… Weymouth.
“We all like to be beside the seaside”.
28 Wednesday May 2014
Posted in Photo Archive.
Skimming stones.
It is a rainy morning at home today, so it’s not surprising I’m thinking of sunny holidays elsewhere. Looking through my photographs of seaside holidays past I’ve noticed that visitors to Swanage, on the Dorset coast, seem to have a very special relationship with the sea. Only one of my photographs shows people sunbathing on the beach, sat in their deckchairs and eating their ice cream and the majority of captured moments have caught people (and one dog) relaxing by the waters edge. Here are five of my favourite photographs from that day:
Pushing off.
Woof.
Wellington boots are a must.
Bobbing along.
The Antics Roadshow blog 