Bristol Harbour Railway, The M Shed, Bristol, 12/02/17.

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Bristol, Bristol Harbour Railway, Industrial Heritage, M Shed, Museums, Portbury, steam locomotive, steam railways

“Portbury“, built by the Avonside Engine Company in 1917, steaming along the Bristol Harbour Railway towards the M Shed museum. According to the “working exhibits” section of the M Shed’s website:

“Portbury had a reputation for great strength and in her hey-day it was said that she could ‘pull a town down’. She also had a tendency to move off when unattended – a common problem with steam locomotives with worn parts. Thus she was usually parked between other engines in the Avonmouth shed“.

Thankfully, it looked like Portbury was under control as the locomotive reversed!

 

Photo Archive: A Grand Day Out, Wallace and Gromit From the Drawing Board Exhibition, The M Shed, Bristol, 07/08/14.

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animation, Bristol, Film, films, Grand Day Out, M Shed, rocket, Wallace and Gromit, Wallace and Gromit from the drawing board, Wrong Trousers

Places and objects brought to me by the wonders of film and television do not always stand up to closer examination, but I always think of the day my sister took me to the M Shed’s “Wallace and Gromit from the drawing board” exhibition as the day I met Wallace and Gromit; the detail is incredible.

At the time I appeared to be more impressed with the view from the M Shed roof, which is or certainly was fully accessible at the time of my visit. I posted “The View from the M Shed Roof” back in 2014.

Photo Archive: “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”,Blackwells Bookshop, Park Street, Bristol, 27/04/15.

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Alice, Alice in Wonderland, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Book shops, Brillustration, Bristol, English Literature, flemingo, illustration, Lewis Carroll, Mad Hatter, Mad Hatter's tea party, Park Street Bristol, Pink, Queen of Hearts, tea party, tea., window, window shopping.

“It’s always time for tea“.

This depiction of the Hat Hatter’s tea party is by a Bristol based illustrator’s social group called Brillustration and I hope they are still cheering up the shop windows along Park Street, despite Blackwell’s Bookshop relocating since my last visit to Bristol [if this article in the Bristol Post is to be believed].

The Queen of Hearts – “OFF with their heads!”

I have never read “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll, but of course I’m aware of most of the key features of the plot and I have occasionally found myself, coincidently, following in the author’s footsteps [Lewis Carroll and I have the dodo from the Oxford University Museum of Natural History in common for example].

I suppose that is what makes something iconic – when you get recognition with the bare minimum of effort!

The View from The Georgian House Museum, 7 Great George Street, Bristol, 05/08/15.

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Bristol, City Hall Bristol, cityscape, E Vincent Harris, English Literature, Georgian Britain, Great George Street Bristol, John Pinney, Museums, Romantics, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, slavery, sugar, The Georgian House Museum Bristol, views, William Wordsworth

The view from The Georgian House Museum isn’t what it was, for better or worse; I don’t know the history of Bristol well enough to say. E Vincent Harris’ Bristol Council House, opened by The Queen in 1956 and renamed Bristol City Hall in 2012, dominates the centre of this cityscape; with Bristol Cathedral barely visible behind.

I would imagine that, in the 1790s, when John Pinney, sugar merchant and slave plantation owner, moved into the property he would have been able to see as far as College Green. The Georgian House Museum’s website suggests that John Pinney would have been able to see ships in the harbour from his bedroom window; you’d have hardly thought it looking at this view!

The Museum’s website also informs me that the Pinneys entertained the Romantic poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth at their Great George Street home. What would they have made of the view from this window, I wonder?

“The Rose of Denmark” Public House on a Thursday Evening, 6 Dowry Square, Bristol, 06/08/15.

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Alexandra of Denmark, Bristol, evening, light, Public houses, pubs, Royal Family, The Rose of Denmark, The Rose of Denmark Public House Bristol, Traffic lights

According to the Bristol Post the name “The Rose of Denmark”, is reference to “Alexandra, Edward VII’s Queen“. Alexandra of Denmark, according to a certain on-line encyclopaedia, gave her name to 67 road and streets in Greater London alone, the historic entertainment venue Alexandra Palace and the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps; as well as plenty of public houses across the United Kingdom.

Faint Traces of The Tradesmen’s Entrance, Berkeley Square, Bristol, 05/08/15.

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Berkeley Square Bristol, Bristol, entrance, Ghost Signs, signs, tradesmen, tradesmen's entrance

Cocktails, “Illusions” Magic Bar, 2 Byron Place, Bristol, 05/08/15.

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alcoholic beverage, Bristol, Byron Place Bristol, cocktails, illusions, Illusions Magic Bar Bristol, magic, mind blowing

Mind blowing… http://illusionsmagicbar.co.uk/

Swiss Cheese, Mark Lane, Bristol, 04/08/15.

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big ears, Bristol, cheese, freckles, hair, Mark Lane Bristol, Paper, paper and paste, side parted hair, Street Art, Swiss cheese

Tape Resembling Twiki from Science-Fiction Television Series “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century”, Clifton Suspension Bridge, Bristol, 04/08/15.

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Biddy, Biddy Biddy Biddy, black marker pen, Bristol, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Clifton, Clifton Suspension Bridge, robot, Science fiction, tape, Twiki

“Biddy… biddy… biddy”.

If “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century” passed you by, all you really need to know is that it featured a silver robot called Twiki, who started every sentence with “Biddy… biddy… biddy”. The silver tape is covering a tear in the tarpaulin currently covering scaffolding, which is completely shrouding the Clifton tower, that is to say, the tower on the Clifton side of the Avon Gorge, at the time of my visit.

2 for 1, “Stop The Bus” Cafe-Bar, Baldwin Street, Bristol, 04/08/15.

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2 for 1, Baldwin Street Bristol, Bristol, burger, chalk, Chalk board, Food and Drink, Stop The Bus, Stop The Bus Bristol

That looks like a tasty burger… http://www.startthebus.tv/