Hedgehog Awareness Week

When it was time for a new fence a couple of years ago we decided that we'd have a hedgehog hole put in as part of it. We hadn't had any hogs in the garden for a few years [as far as we knew], but we were in luck and our prickly visitors came and had babies. One called Celia was a late arrival and ended up being cared for by a wildlife hospital and was then released last year into my friend L's wildlife friendly garden in the countryside.

Unfortunately we didn't have a repeat performance last summer. The two things may not have been connected in any way, but our neighbours [who are very pleasant I hasten to add] had blocked up the hole because they had a small puppy...said hound is now fully grown and the hedgehog hole is open once more. I noticed some probable hog poo on our path early last week and when I inspected the back garden more closely it was with delight that I noticed that there were several little black messages left for me advertising our spiny friends' visitations. Since then I've seen it bumbling about on a couple of evenings and having spoken to my friend I'm now leaving fresh water out for it every evening. I have also bought a small packet of this [I chose this one as it doesn't have suet in and despite it making them poorly some hedgehog food brands still have it in]. I shall leave a little out for it a couple of times a week as a top up to its main varied wild diet. 

Now to see if it approves of this new addition to its food supply🦔😀 Coincidentally it's hedgehog awareness week and there's more info here for those who may want more details https://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/hedgehog-awareness-week-30th-april-6th-may-2023/#:~:text=Hedgehog%20Awareness%20Week%20is%20organised,how%20you%20can%20help%20them.

Arilx

Plastering over the problem.

 This amused me as I walked past the other day. It's not my car I hasten to add.

Have a fabulous weekend.

Arilx

Lunchbreak

When we were downing a spot of lunch we were rather surprised to look out of the garden window to see this Sparrowhawk doing exactly the same. I've never seen one at such close quarters.

 Arilx

Gloucester Reimagined

 In my head I planned to do a tour type post of our recent visit to Gloucester with photos of curios and accompanying details. There was a wealth of images to choose from yet as I scrolled through the images this is what leapt out at me....this set of modern stained glass windows in the cathedral completely took my breath away. They are the work of Thomas Denny and were made in 2014. The shards incorporated at the top are medieval. I've included the information boards for anyone who wants to read more about them. I can't top them so this is now my offering about this fabulous city which I believe is rather overlooked by many.

Arilx

And so it begins.....

'Tis only the start of the new dancing season today....the Morris Cat reliably informs me that he's ready and raring to go.....I have my doubts somehow!

So in typical Mythago fashion it might be St George's Day, but we're going rogue and dancing our Sussex Knucker Dragon story instead. We have nursed our original dragon through the last few seasons, but it's now in retirement and this is its fiery new replacement. Several members of the side [not me I hasten to add] collaborated and have created this fabulous beast to join us for the shenanigans.

Arilx

 

False Windows

 Sometimes I've seen that people have had fake windows painted into the gaps left behind by those wanting to avoid the infamous window tax. This example looked to be the same except it comes with that lovely little added detail of a moggie 😻. Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend.

Arilx

A Grand Day Out

The legend goes that two giants called Vincent and Goram created the Avon Gorge, whilst the ancient king Brennius founded Bristol. On this occasion the reality is rather more mundane, but it started out life as a small Saxon settlement and has now grown into the biggest city in the South West. I've shamelessly pinched Aardman Animation's film title as they and of course Banksy are two of its more modern exports. I've enclosed the one original Banksy [called well hung lover] we came across in situ as we didn't have enough time to go deliberately hunting them out and a rather, shall we say, curious depiction of Wallace and Gromit. This is just one lone example of the street art which is round every corner. I could do a week's worth of posts on them alone, but I'll spare you!

In our few hours there we managed to explore the cathedral, St Mary's in Redcliffe, the docklands and the M Shed museum. However, I'm not good at doing a sensible chronological description of all that we saw, so instead I shall dot about as is standard on the GBT blog and offer brief explanations to give a flavour of the place. 

This facade is what remains of the Brown's building which was built in 1872 and based on the Doge's Palace. It took a direct hit in the Blitz, but fortunately for us the frontage survived and the rest of it rebuilt. It's full of Victorian architectural confidence and is now Grade II listed.

'Paying on the nail' meaning paying instantly may well originate from these nails [there are 4 of them] which are outside the Corn Exchange. It's where merchants would do business and close the sale by putting the money on top.

If you glance above the Corn Exchange entrance this clock [dating from 1822] has two minute hands which are set ten minutes apart. This shows GMT and Bristol Local Time. People protested when the standardisation of time was introduced with the coming in of the railways.

Further along in Broad Street we managed to completely miss this stunning Art Nouveau building from 1900. The facade was designed by W J Neatby who was the chief designer for Doulton. It housed the Edward Everard printing works and all the type faces they did are represented in the details. The lady at the top symbolises light and truth. Nowadays it's a hotel, but how on earth did we not spot it you might well wonder?

Well Yours Truly was too busy gawping in astonishment at this curved glass entrance to the Palestine Museum opposite. It was raining and my photo doesn't do it justice. 

As is often the case this eyecatching mosaic was on the side of some random building up a side street. I saw the colours as we were passing purely by chance, so I'm afraid I can't credit the artist.

I'm a girl who likes a bit of modern style to be thrown in the mix once in a while. This is the new extension to the Old Vic. The rest of it is more traditional and it's the only theatre which has been continuously going since 1776 in England.

Another of those little gems just tucked round a corner. Mr Gardiner was a surgeon for the Bristol Harbour Railway.

Now this one caught my attention because I was after the funny little carvings set above the windows [when am I not in pursuit of such things eh!] as seen below. Now I find 10 Guinea Street was built by Captain Edmund Saunders who, like many others in this time, made his fortune from the slavery  voyages. You may recognise it from the BBC series 'A House Through Time', but I was unaware of this when I saw it.

There is much of interest to see down at the docks, am I going to show you the replica of John Cabot's ship.....am I heck. No you're getting the houseboat with all the rubber ducks🦆😆

And yes believe it or not I am only showing the one photo from the cathedral...this intriguing non religious roof boss, showing, what I think is Mumming. I'm basing my supposition upon similar Medieval drawings I've seen.

Such an interesting city even if we barely scratched the surface. A long overdue post about Gloucester should be next.

Arilx

Donation Station

Gloucester Cathedral does a cracking line in original donation boxes...at best usually you get a rather earnest model of the cathedral or at worst a perspex box near the entrance. These ones are imaginative and dare I say it rather fun.

The 'Harry P' font is no coincidence....it's referencing the use of the stunning cloisters in the first Harry Potter film where they were used as the corridors in Hogwarts [the location was also used in the second film].

As for this gruesome twosome....did I feed them. Well of course I did....I couldn't let the gargoyles starve now could I!!

Arilx

Fishy

 I stumbled across this purely by a chance off a side road near the town. The simple fishy detail pleases me greatly. Hope you have a fabulous weekend.

Arilx

Art to make you stop and think.

The artist who created this very moving piece of sculpture in Bristol wished to remain anonymous. I feel it's important to share along with the link from Mind https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/guides-to-support-and-services/crisis-services/helplines-listening-services/

Arilx

PS The piece is called "Bear with me" and is by Getting Up To Stuff

When the Chipps are down

 This is classic me. Mr GBT and I were tossing ideas back and forth as to where we might stop for a cuppa on our outward journey for our recent trip away. I suggested Chippenham as we'd been before and liked it when we'd popped in years ago. "What's there?" himself asked [not too unreasonably] to which I listed several 'things of interest'. Turns out there were a couple of holes in my plan....for starters it was Chipping Campden we'd been before and some of my things to see were in Chippenham, but not the one in Wiltshire, but in Cambs😆 Ah well I was never one to let a couple of minor glitches get in the way of exploring and it did mean we ended up going somewhere completely new even if it wasn't quite what we had intended!!

As ever just a random series of shots from our wander around. It was a bit showery, but we managed to turn up some stuff.

Barber related topiary.... note I have resisted the temptation to use that combination of the words "bush" and "trim" in the same sentence 😈

The Buttercross dates from 1570 and gets its name from the time when dairy products would have been sold from beneath it.

The Yelde Hall [Guildhall] is another survivor from around that period. Those selling goods in the town's market would have set their stalls out in front of it in times gone by. It's open on Saturdays.

One of the local characters Chippenham is famous for is Maud Heath. Legend has it that she was one of the market traders who walked down from Wick Hill across the very boggy ground into the town to sell her eggs. In reality little is known of her save she was a wealthy widow who left a couple of properties which funded the building of a permanent causeway in 1474 which is still in use today. It's now maintained by the council. This plaque is in the free museum along with many other fascinating exhibits.

I am simply unable to resist the temptation of photograph anything which was probably Morris related in origin as below.

The beautifully embroidered gloves belonged the Royalist Sharington Talbot. He inherited Lacock Abbey, but because he backed the wrong side he ended up being imprisoned and his home was confiscated. Unlike many others he survived the Civil War and was able to buy it back again!

This tiny little sandal is a Roman oil lamp. It's survived in remarkable condition and if you look closely at the brass lock below it you'll notice that it's got a bird and a boot on it. Amazing as these details would never have been seen by anyone bar the locksmith who made them [it's possibly the work of Samuel Gale.]

We both agreed that this poster about raising fuel for the poor is very timely. It's sad that here we are all these years later still having the same conversations😢

This antique shop is right next to the parish church. It's not often you come across one called "The Hand of Glory." For anyone not familiar with what one of these is there's some information about the most infamous one in Whitby https://www.thewhitbyguide.co.uk/hand-of-glory/. It seemed a slightly more unusual placement.

Whilst we were there naturally we ventured into the church for a quick spin around. It was a bit of a shock to the system as it was midway through a baby and toddler session. I'm very out of practise with being around small kinderlings so we didn't stay long, but it's great to see the church being used by the community as they were meant to be. The grave stone below is to Clerk and his wife Alis founders of a chantry. It's most likely that this was John Clerk who was active during the reign of Edward III who reigned from 1327-77. It was removed from the church floor during renovations in 1847. I thought that the stained glass angels were rather stunning too. They were given to the church by the Wilson family after they had lost three sons in the Great War. It was designed by Christopher Whall.

If we've got enough time we do like to get ourselves away from the main thoroughfare and see if there's anything tucked away. This is how we came upon this rather thought provoking piece of art. One of my favourite things is to see old buildings having a new purpose. The former Methodist chapel housed the Spinkes Printworks until 1978. It is now a private house and if you think you recognise the red brick one, but can't think for the life of you why it's the one on the opening sequence of the "Antiques Roadshow"!

Not bad for a place we went to by accident!

Arilx