Souvenirs: Wristband, Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum, Millennium Point, Curzon Street, Birmingham, 30/04/15.

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Birmingham, Birmingham Science Museum, Brough Superior, Castle Bromwich, Millennium Point Birmingham, pangolin, Queen Victoria, Royal Train, Souvenirs, Spitfire, Spitfire Gallery, Ted, The Black Alpine Brough Superior, Thinktank, triceratops, wristband

On my way down to Bristol to visit my sister, I changed trains at Birmingham New Street and picked a leaflet with “New: Spitfire Gallery, Thinktank, Birmingham” written on it. Six days later, on breaking my journey at Birmingham New Street again, I rushed through the famous Bull Ring, across previously unexplored territory, to Millennium Point for the quickest of quick looks before continuing on my way.

I was completely unaware of Birmingham’s connection to the iconic Spitfire, so the Spitfire Gallery was very much an eye opener.  10,000 Spitfires, including the example suspended from the ceiling at Thinktank, were produced at the Castle Bromwich Aeroplane Factory. Unfortunately, I didn’t note down any of the interesting facts I came across that day, but I am left with a general impression that it was very good!

The notes I did scribble down describe a pangolin [“This armoured anteater uses its powerful claws to pull apart ant-hills and termite mounds“], the fossilised skeleton of a triceratops discovered in Montana in 1098, The Black Alpine Brough Superior motorcycle [“Top speed 85 miles an hour“] and an oil lamp from Queen Victoria’s Royal Train, so I must have been particularly taken with these exhibits. I’ll have to have a more leisurely look around the next time I’m in Birmingham.

If you’re interested in science and industry or the natural sciences, the Thinktank is well worth looking into.

Souvenirs: Leaflet, “The Horse With The Red Umbrella” Tea Rooms and Coffee House, 10 High West Street, Dorchester, 29/04/15.

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Dorchester, Dorset, Food and Drink, High West Street Dorchester, leaflet, Loyalty Theatre, Souvenirs, tea., Ted, The Horse With The Red Umbrella

https://www.facebook.com/TheHorseWithTheRedUmbrella. 

I only know three facts about “The Horse With The Red Umbrella” Tea Rooms and Coffee House and only one of them is mentioned in this souvenir.

Firstly: This spot on the High Street was once occupied by the Loyalty Theatre, between 1828 and 1843, before becoming a glass and china shop and then “The Horse With The Red Umbrella” in 1970 [named after the last play to be performed at the Loyalty Theatre, allegedly].

Secondly: I was made so welcome on my first visit “The Horse With The Red Umbrella” when I went in there for my elevenses I went back there for tea [or dinner as some people prefer to call it] on the same day!

Thirdly: My travelling companion, Mrs. W, never gets the name of the restaurant correct! It is usually the Umbrella that slips her mind and it is often replaced by another wet weather item, like wellies or galoshes! Not that that is problem, because we always remember The Horse.

Souvenirs: Stickers from The SeaCity Museum, Southampton, and The Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum, Bournemouth, 2012.

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Bournemouth, diary, Museums, Museums and Galleries, Russel-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum, SeaCity Museum, Sir Merton Russell-Cotes, Southampton, Souvenir, Souvenirs, Stickers, Ted, Titanic

Wearing a sticker, having gained admittance to a museum or gallery, must have been the in thing in 2012, but they are difficult souvenirs to keep. These two examples have survived because I must have peeled them off my coat, shirt or hat and stuck them to the back of my pocket diary for 2012.

The SeaCity Museum, which forms part of Southampton’s very striking Grade II listed civic centre, is home to a very interesting permanent exhibition about Southampton’s links to the Titanic. According to the museum’s website, “more than 500 households lost a family member“, when the ship sank on the 15th April 1912. I seem to remember that the Titanic arrived in Southampton during a peak in unemployment, so an unusually large proportion of Southampton’s residents went to sign on as members of the crew and service staff, but don’t quote me on that.

The Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum sits on top of East Cliff in Bournemouth and was the brain child of Sir Merton Russell-Cotes, owner of the Royal Bath Hotel, fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and Mayor of Bournemouth (1894 – 1895), who built the villa as a birthday present for his wife, Annie. The pair travelled widely, buying things they liked and filling the house with them, until 1907, when they announced they wonted to give the house and contents to the people of Bournemouth as the foundation of an art gallery and museum.

Souvenirs: Photograph, Certificate, Leaflet and Map, SS. Great Britain, 27/04/15.

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Bristol, Brunel, certificate, Go Aloft!, Great Western Dockyard, map, Museums, photograph, Ships, Souvenirs, SS Great Britain, Ticket

The photograph is probably the most conspicuous of the souvenirs I brought back from my last visit to Bristol and the SS. Great Britain. To quote from The Great Western Dockyard Companion, which served as my guide, “GO ALOFT! Head to the Weather Deck to climb the rigging for a unique and exhilarating view of Bristol“. I must admit I didn’t sign up straight away, but I spoke to a chap who seemed very relaxed about the whole thing and before I knew it I’d signed my life away and emptied my pockets. You might not be able to see, but as well as a helmet I’m wearing a harness and I was clipped to a rope or cable in at least two places at all times. The relaxed chap stood on the deck and watched my careful progress up the rigging to a platform, on which stood a young woman who seemed perfectly at home at such a great height. With some encouraging, I managed to edge my way out and I had my photograph taken; as you can see! My four year old nephew was very impressed when I showed him the photograph and the certificate that goes with it describes my “Character for ability in climbing the mast and rigging” as “Very Good“, which I am very pleased about!

The passenger ticket is rather interesting. It has four stamps, representing the four stages of the ship’s life and four sections of the Dockyard Museum; The Ocean Liner, The Emigrant Clipper, The Wind Jammer and The Grand Old Lady. At first I thought these were a bit of a novelty, but as came to the end of the exit of the museum, which leads onto the ship, I realised I was missing a stamp [I can’t remember which one] so I had to run back and find it! Perhaps more museums should operate a stamp system to insure that the visitors to not miss anything.

“The Great Western Dockyard Companion” contains a map of the dockyard, a plan of the three decks and the dry dock.

Souvenirs: Flyer and Receipt from Bea’s Vintage Tea Rooms, Bath, 28/04/15.

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Assembly Rooms, Assembly Rooms Bath, bath, Bea's Vintage Tea Rooms, cream tea, dippy eggs, flyer, Food and Drink, Saville Row Bath, soft boiled eggs, Souvenirs, tea., Vintage

My sister and I sat at the very table featured on this leaflet for Bea’s Vintage Rea Rooms; my sister was the cream tea and I was the boiled egg on the receipt [we had a difference of opinion regarding the time of day, as we arrived between breakfast and elevenses]. I sat where the lady on the left of the photograph is sitting and from there I could see the end of Saville Row, a glimpse of Bennett Street and the corner of the famous Georgian Assembly Rooms; you can see all the fashionable comings and goings.

I can’t say I’ve seen soft boiled eggs on the menu anywhere else I have called in at for tea and I really enjoyed it, so if you have walked up Saville Row and you feel like you are in desperate need of a dippy egg and tea in a vintage china cup call in at Bea’s.  

Souvenirs: Penny Black Pin Badge, Bath Postal Museum, Bath, 28/04/15.

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badges, bath, Bath Postal Museum, Green Street Bath, John Palmer, letters, mail, Museums, Northgate Street Bath, Penny Black, Penny Black pin badge, postage stamps, poster, Ralph Allen, Souvenirs, Stamps, Thomas Moore Musgrave

You will find the Bath Postal Museum, if you find it at all, below stairs at the Post Office on the corner of Northgate Street and Green Street. I have mentioned this fact first because, when my sister and I arrived, I made a casual remark about having to make an effort to find the museum to one of the volunteers on duty and her reply gave me the impression that I wasn’t the first person to say that.

Three historic Bath residents revolutionised the British postal service through some significant firsts:

• Ralph Allen (born. 1693), a Cornish man who moved to Bath to take up the position of Postmaster at the age of 19, came up with the radical idea that sending all letters via London, which was what happened when the postal service was in its infancy, was a waste of time and effort. The museum guide describes the services Allen invented as the cross and bye posts, which allowed letters to travel between addresses on more direct routes.
• John Palmer, who was a native “Bathonian“, to quote from the museum guide, made the postal service even quicker by arranging the first ever mail coach run in 1784.
• Thomas More Musgrove, who became Postmaster of Bath in 1833, is thought to have been the first person to affix a stamp to a letter, The Penny Black, on the 2nd May 1840, making him the first ever person to use a postage stamp (4 days before they were officially issued).

Did you know?

The museum’s hands on displays included a stamp perforating machine [yes, believe it or not, there was a time when you had to perforate your own postage stamps] and the “Potholes and Pitfalls” mail coach board game, both of which my sister and I thoroughly enjoyed. Other interesting exhibits included a wall of post boxes and stamp machines, an educational film about the history of written communications (narrated by the late Richard Briers) and an interesting audio display about different post horns.

If you’re in the area, do call in at the Bath Postal Museum at 27 Northgate Street  or have a look at the museum’s website: http://www.bathpostalmuseum.co.uk/.

Souvenirs: Label, Moroccan Mint Tisane, Betty’s Cafe Tea Rooms, Harrogate, 2010.

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Agatha Christie, Betty's Tea Rooms, Betty's Tea Rooms Harrogate, Betty's Tea Rooms York, Davygate York, Harrogate, Hercule Poirot, mint, Moroccan Mint Tisane, Souvenirs, tea., Ted, tisane

There haven’t been many occasions in my life that I’ve thought, “What would Hercule Poirot do in this situation?” Faced with an impressive list of caffeinated and decaffeinated beverages, I was inspired by Agatha Christie’s famous Belgian detective and ordered the tisane, having never tried one before. It was very refreshing and I felt very sophisticated! I can’t remember what this circle of paper was attached to, but I obviously managed to remove it and get it home without it getting crumpled or creased. Betty’s on York’s St. Helen’s Square is certainly iconic [queues of people waiting for tables, formed up along Davygate, are a regular sight on my walks around York] and I assume Betty’s in Harrogate has a similar reputation.

Souvenirs: Postcard, The Castle Hotel, 103 Castlegate, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Date Unknown.

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Berwick, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Castlegate Berwick-upon-Tweed, East Coast Mainline, hotels, Postcard, Souvenirs, Ted, The Castle Hotel, Tweed

I can’t remember how my mother came to book a room at The Castle in Berwick-upon-Tweed, in fact I have a distinct feeling that we just turned up on the day and took the last rooms available, definitely more than six years ago, probably more than ten years ago! I recall having a view of Castlegate from my room and my mother or possibly my sister having views of the train station and the East Coast mainline from their windows. I must have been over eighteen years old at the time, because I remember how busy the public bar was in the evening. I stood at the bar, I remember distinctly, because that was the only space available in the crowded room. I remember breakfast in the restaurant being a lot quieter than the bar had been the night before and all the other guests being birdwatchers who were heading down the Northumberland coast to somewhere of special ornithological interest. I wonder what The Castle is like now? I wonder why we were there at all!

Years later, in March 2014, I was travelling South, from Edinburgh along the East Coast mainline. I had my camera ready, because the Royal Border Bridge, which carries the railway over the River Tweed at Berwick-upon-Tweed, offers a view of the river mouth and the town and I wanted to try and photograph it whilst we were in motion. Then, from the station, before the bridge, I noticed “The Castle“; looking as if I checked out of it yesterday.

Souvenirs: Ticket for The Northern Ballet’s “The Great Gatsby”, Hull New Theatre, Hull, 04/04/13.

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ballet, dance, F Scott Fitzgerald, Hull, Hull City of Culture 2017, Hull New Theatre, J Gatsby, Northern Ballet, Souvenirs, Ted, The Great Gatsby, The Great Gatsby film, The Great Gatsby novel, Ticket

This weekend the Classic Serial on BBC Radio 4 has been Robert Forrest’s two part adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby“, which got me thinking about the various adaptations of the work I’ve come across over the years and how they all remind me of different chapters or themes in the original novel.

The 1974 film, starring Robert Redford as Gatsby, for example, reminds me of the way in which Gatsby tries to hang on to this character he’s created for himself [the Oxford man with the medal from Montenegro], someone who thinks they can turn back time to produce what should have happened. More recently, whilst watching the 2013 film version, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Gatsby, the character seems to take on a dual role as a genuinely romantic figure, pining for a lost love, but also someone we can project our prejudices and fears onto, because we don’t really know anything about him [is he a bootlegger, a spy, a murderer or just a bit vulgar?] until he reveals all and the curtain of ignorance is lifted.

The Northern Ballet production of “The Great Gatsby” had an old and a young Gatsby, and an old and young Daisy, so we see the story of Gatsby’s past unfold on the stage before our eyes, parallel to the present.

According to my souvenir programme, Javier Torres played the older Gatsby and his name always stands out for me in subsequent programmes, so his performance must have been quite something, but my memory has failed me regarding the particulars [this is one of those moments in which, if I had a time machine, I would go back and tell myself, “You better write some notes about this now, because you’re going to write a blog in two years time!”]. I would see Mr. Torres later in 2013 as The Ghost of Christmas Present, in the Northern Ballet’s “A Christmas Carol” at the Lyceum Theatre in Sheffield and as Julius Caesar in “Cleopatra” as the same theatre, but those are different stories all together.

A chap called Matthew Topliss played the young Gatsby and it’s his performance that comes immediately to mind when I think of “The Great Gatsby“. The J. Gatsby who came back from the war with nothing but the khaki uniform he stood up in, was surrounded by shady characters and becomes the front for their criminal activities, initially motivated by near starvation, rather than any grand scheme to win back Daisy’s heart. This is seen in sharp contrast to all the other elements of the production.

It is also worth saying that Isaac Lee-Baker played a very good part as garage owner George Wilson. It was a part very well written and very well performed.

Souvenirs: Badges, The Lowry, Salford Quays, Manchester, c.2002.

Tags

Art, Art Galleries., badges, Greater Manchester, LS Lowry, Public Transport, Salford, Salford Quays, Souvenirs, Ted, The Imperial War Museum North, The Lowry, Trams

I purchased these badges back when I thought my memory would be infallible for ever I’d never have to commit anything to writing, consequently this won’t be a very detailed description of my visit to The Lowry, but these souvenirs do bring back memories.

I arrived at Salford Quays on the tram, which was a first, despite being a regular visitor to Manchester. The trams were something of a mystery to me up to that point, so it was very exciting to see Manchester from a relatively comfortable seat, letting the tram take the strain rather!

I remember Salford looking very new and having something of a buzz about it. The Imperial War Museum’s newest branch, The Imperial War Museum North, in a shiny me building designed by architect Daniel Libeskind had recent opened opposite The Quays in Stratford for example and The Lowry had only been open two years at this point.

Most importantly, it reminds me of the works of LS Lowry, although time has left me with only a general impression of the gallery. The matchstick men plodding across urban, industrial, landscapes are there, but I also recall the landscapes, seascapes and portraits that I hadn’t seen before; his 1936 landscape “A Landmark” was a particular revelation. I seem to recall finding his 1949 work “The Cripples” rather distressing at the time, but I have subsequently come to view it as quite a striking portrayal of people who have traditionally been under-represented in art, but that’s youth for you. When I was seventeen it was relatively easy to see myself plodding across across some of Lowry’s other works, but it would take me another decade to see “The Cripples” in a different light.