Bluesday Tuesday - 8

I quickly noticed this strange looking bicycle in this shop window, situated in a part of town I rarely go. It took me a few seconds to realise that it was one of these upmarket, designer menswear shops. The sort of place where a pair of socks costs about the same as a small car!

I've not seen a bike in this style before, but I quite like it's shade of blue.

Mmm Cake

I passed a wedding shop the other day & saw this cake on display. I'm not sure whether it's real or just a mock up to show prospective brides what can be done.

For me cake has to to be chocolate, as I'm not a fan of fruit ckae & marzipan.

what's your favourite?

Numerical Sunday - 11

Everyone knows about pound shops these days, where you can buy all sorts of stuff for one golden coin. Most of what they sell is rubbish, but you can find the odd gem now and again.

To try and compete with the 3 shops we have in town, one is selling everything for 99p each. I think £1 is easier, as you don't have to carry all those extra pennies for change.

Reborn

This former grand looking building in the middle of the Lace Market was built during 1705 and is probably on of the oldest in the city. It has unfortunately stood empty and neglected for over 15 years now, even though the area has seen quite a bit of rejuvenation over the past few years, with empty factories being turned into flashy apartments.

The good news is that plans have been drawn up to convert it into offices and flats, at a cost of about £2million ($3.5 million). There is some controversy in the fact that the builders have asked the council for some money towards the work. The problem is that the building company is private & they would get all the profit, and the taxpayer loses out.

What A Pane!

They say that the eyes are the windows to the soul of a person, so I guess a window must be the eyes to the soul of a building. What happens then when the window itself has eyes? Do you see into the soul of a piece of glass?

City Life

What to show and write about for this weeks' Skywatch Friday? Most bloggers I think either live in towns or cities. So what better than showing some aspect of that city or town. Unfortunately I haven't got any new shots of the Nottingham skyline, so I'm showing a bit of the London townscape instead. Greenwich actually, and an action shot of their railway station. It's on the Jubilee Line, so is serviced by both the Docklands Light Railway and the normal rail routes to the suburbs.

I'm sorry that I didn't manage to visit as many SWF bloggers last week as I would have liked. I'll try harder this week. For a full list of participants, click here.

My First Car

Some of you, especially Jilly over in Monaco knows I like old cars. It probably stems from this picture of me as a little boy in the 1960's, standing next to my dad's car. A Morris, but not sure what model. This was originally a slide that I have converted to a JPG through my new toy, which can convert negatives & slides to digital pictures.

Bluesday Tuesday - 7

Today's offering belongs to the British Transport Police, who have a small station next door to the city's only railway station. They have the responsibility of patrolling the station and lines of our railway system, and arresting trouble makers, vandals and over enthusiastic trainspotters!

Wedding Day

The local parish church staged another wedding the other day, and of course I was there with my camera. These always seem to attract passing pedestrians, who stop to see what's happening, and what's the bride wearing. But for me, it's the bridesmaids in their green dresses that make the picture.

Numerical Sunday - 10

The 39th parking meter in Nottingham city centre. I don't know how many there are altogether. But they rake in a fair few pounds everyday for the council to waste.

Mini Bike

I couldn't help chuckle to myself at comic value of this sign in a local bike shop. I wondered if it started life as a 28" mountain bike, but somehow it had shrunk when it left the factory.

Have you seen any funny signs when you've been out and about?

The Car's The Star

Here's one final photo from the set of Dorian Gray. It's a Fiat, but don't know from what date. Probably around 1915.

To answer the various questions that have been posed this week; alas no I won't be turning up as an extra in the movie, as they weren't filming when I was there, or even recruiting for the day. I would love to be in a film or TV programme. Maybe one day.

I also didn't see any actors wandering around. I had no idea they were making the film. I just happen to be taking a stroll through the college grounds, and came across all the activity by accident. I know nothing at all about the film or who's in it. I have no idea who Ben Barnes is & would probably be more interested in the older character actors anyway and of course the actresses.

Skylight

It's that time of the week for our contribution to Sky Watch Friday. So here's mine. I took it from a moving train when I was coming back from London. It was somewhere in the Leicestershire countryside and I took several, because trees and powerlines kept getting in the way.

For more views of the global sky, please click here.

Props

Here are a group of props waiting to be used in the filming. Alas there wasn't any whilst I was there, but you can see that the film is set in the Victorian era. It would have been great to see people in costumes too, but alas there were only the crew roaming around.

Bluesday Tuesday - 6

I get to do a bit of traveling in my job now, and you've seen some of the places that I've been to through this page. Although I do enjoy going away, I can't say it's fun driving along motorways for a couple of hours.

When my trip is over and I'm driving back to Nottingham, I'm always happy to see this sign on the M1, as it shows that I'll soon be home and back with my beloved Gail.

Lights, Camera, Action

As I mentioned the other day, I was in Greenwich on Thursday. Whilst walking around the former naval college, I stumbled upon various clues to realise that the grounds had now become a film set. They are remaking the Dorian Grey story, which is about this man who has a portrait of himself which ages, while he doesn't. Even though he leads a life of debauchery.

Think we could all do with one of those. A picture or a debauched life!

Numerical Sunday - 9

This rowing boat with its number 9 reminds me of another very old joke. I know loads!
It concerns some rowers who were out in boats on a lake. The man in charge looked at his watch and then shouted out to the rowers "Come in number nine, your time's up". His assistant looked at him, shook his head and said "But we've only got eight boats". The boss looked out on the water again and yelled; "Are you in trouble number six?"!

Ring Dem Bells

I visited some more heritage open days this morning. A couple of them were just showing old photos of the area, which were quite interesting. I also went up the bell tower at my local parish church again. I was a bit disappointed that they weren't letting anybody go up to the roof like last year. I was really looking forward to taking some more aerial shots of Beeston. The good old health & safety bods strike again!

So here is a shot of the 10 bells that ring out when there is a wedding; like this afternoon (Monday's photo) and during the evening when the campanologists do their practicing.

In Memory

It is heritage weekend once again, where buildings that are usually closed to the public, are opened and special tours are laid on.
I went on such a visit today. My destination; the Chilwell Army Depot, otherwise known as Chetwynd Barracks.
It began life in 1915 as a bomb making site, then moved into military stores, including vehicles. Nowadays it has been drastically reduced in size, but still serves an important role in the British Army.

Back in 1918 a terrible explosion happened in one of the bomb making buildings. Over 150 people were killed. No one really knows what happened. Some think enemy agents, saboteurs or disgruntled employees. It just might have been an accident. My photo today is the memorial that was built in their honour.

Peek-a-Boo

I went down to Greenwich on business today & had a most enjoyable time. I wondered what I could put on for SWF this week, as my introduction last week seemed to go down well with you all.

How can I follow it? Well I thought I'd put the O2 Dome on peeking behind some flats & houses.

Not a very sunny day today, but click here to see some blue skies from across the globe.

What On Earth?

I bet you're all scratching your heads trying to work out what this is?
Safety feature?
Warning device?
Work of art?

Shall I keep you in suspense, and make you wait until tomorrow, or shall I be kind and tell you now?

Go on then. It's actually part of a large storage silo, on the site of some new buildings. I have no idea why they've made it the way it is, and as it's still fenced off I can't investigate.

Bluesday Tuesday - 5

This building under wraps used to be part of a nunnery called Nazareth House. For some reason it closed down a couple of years ago & they've now built new houses on the land. But this building remained, and has been covered in blue plastic ever since.
I wonder when it will be unwrapped?

Work Of Art

On the way in to the Nottingham Science Park is this sculpture made up from odds and ends. As you can see there is a clock at the top, but I don't think it's worked in years.

The science park contains several small IT type companies, in buildings that are named after famous scientists, like Faraday, Einstein and Lee.

Numerical Sunday - 8

Big Wok is a Chinese local restaurant where it's all you can eat for a set price. The team that I work with are always going there. They have a good selection of dishes on offer, and it's just a case of filling your plate, eating & then going up for more; whether it's seconds, thirds, fourths or fifths!

Table 31 was where I sat the last time we all went.

There's Sheep On Them There Hills

As predicted, it's rained virtually all day today, so no new shots. So, to misquote Blue Peter; "Here's one that I took earlier". Thursday evening actually in Daventry, opposite the hotel we were all staying in.

Driving Home

I've just got back from a 2 day conference in Daventry, hence my late posting. I was stuck in a traffic jam on the M1 for a while, and as I always have my camera handy, I took a few shots of the wet road and grey sky, which look even more depressing in black & white.

Today is Sky Watch Friday, where there are hundreds of skies on offer. Please take a look as most of them will be blue.

Humorous Nameplate

I thought this was quite an amusing name for a local software company. And I thought of using the other one as my entry for Sky Watch Friday.

Omm Pa Omm Pa, Stick It Up Your Jumper

A childhood rhyme introduces today's picture. Another local band that got the audience of shoppers singing along to some standard easy listening songs. Ones that most people are familiar with, even if they don't know all the words.

Bluesday Tuesday - 4

Very close to the castle is this sort of monument to a couple of overseers. I'm not sure who they were or why they should be remembered. I do know that an overseer is a person that is in charge of a group of workers, usually in the clothing industry and as Nottingham was famous for lace, I would deduce that Sam Parr and his friends were some sort of managers of a lace company. But whatever happened to them in 1869, remains to be discovered.

Three White Bottles Standing On The Path

A new interpretation on the old song. Don't know why these 3 bottles were left so neatly on the pavement. Maybe there had a very tidy party, or perhaps it's some secret sign left by international diamond thieves.