On the Buses

For the photo today I've chosen one of the many buses that frequent the city centre. This is one that most people would like to catch, as it takes you to the Nottingham East Midlands Airport and the start of a holiday. From the airport you can fly to many European destinations, and normally at a bargain price. Last year we flew to Crete from there.

Let's do Lunch - The Return

My photo from April 29 showed the deserted outdoor area of Iguana's Restaurant. What a difference a bit of sunshine can make to a street cafe. Today as you can see, it's fairly busy, but Sinatra's opposite is really bustling. This has probably something to do with them being on the sunny side of the street. The whole area was re-developed a few years ago. An old ABC cinema dating from the 1930's stood there, together with a row of small shops. One of which was my favourite Nottingham record shop; Arcade Records. A record colletors' dream, as they sold allsorts of weird and wonderful music. A great loss.

Poet's Corner

Just around the corner from Nottingham Castle stands some terraced houses, and on the side of the building this plaque proclaims that Lord Bryon lived here. This was before he moved to Newstead Abbey, which is some miles away. Obviously poetry paid quite well then!

Time is on my Side

Back to the Victoria Shopping Centre today, and the clock that everyone meets by. It was designed by Roland Emett, who made Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The clock's full title is Aqua Horological Tintinnabulator, and every half hour, on the hour, parts move and music is heard.

Dinner in the Dark

Following on from yesterday's picture of the Sydney Tower, this is the view that will greet you as you wine and dine the night away. The view here shows the Star City casino & hotel to the left, Cockle Bay and the Pyrmont Bridge to the right. Sydney is a wonderful, exciting city and is well worth a visit, either as a backpacker or luxury tourist, as there is something for everyone.

The Tower of Gold

After a washout of a weekend, I thought the blue skies of Sydney may remind people that sunny days do exist; even in this country. The blue sky of this photo shows off the Sydney Tower to great effect. The top part is a resturant that slowly turns 360 degrees. You get to see the whole of the Sydney skyline whilst eating your favourite food from the buffet.

All the World's a Stage

Nottingham's Theatre Royal is one of the city's major entertainment venues. It was built in 1865, and in the early 1980's the Concert Hall was added, with the first act to appear being Elton John. Both venues are now known as the Royal Centre. The last show I saw there was the musical Miss Saigon, which was excellent.

Sun's Up!

Summer must be on its way by the look of this department store window display. The shop is John Lewis and was formally known as Jessops. It is situated in the Victoria Centre, which is the other large shopping mall in Nottingham. Wouldn't you just like to be relaxing in one of the loungers sipping a cold drink or having a barbecue with friends?

Did Poe Drink Here?

As it's a Bank Holiday again, today's photo is of another city centre based pub. This one is called The Pit and the Pendulum. From its name, you can imagine that it has a gothic interior and is only open during the night. Only kidding! The pub does have regular opening hours.

Let's do Lunch

The owners of Iguanas Resturant were rather optimistic earlier in the week, as they had set out their outdoor dining area, ready for the warmer weather. It obviously did the trick, as although it had been very overcast, the sun has been shining quite well since Wednesday. Hopefully it will continue over the Bank Holiday period.

The Martians Have Landed!

Last Thursday, Gail and I went to the Nottingham Arena to se the stage version of Jeff Wayne's musical version of HG Wells' War of the Worlds. It was a fantastic show with a live 48 piece orchestra, a rock band and live performaces from Justin Hayward and Russel Watson, who has taken over as the parson from the late, great Phil Lynott. Together with a computer animation film, a talking Richard Burton head and a 40ft high working model of a tripod. The show is currently touring the UK, and I throughly recommend it for a great night out.

Read All About It

I know it's not a traditional Easter photo, but a lot of people will be visiting their local, or not so local pub today for Sunday lunch & a pint. This particular hostelry is located at the London Road end of Canal Street. I have never drunk there yet, and I don't know how it got it's name, as the Nottingham Evening Post's offices before it's move, was located a couple of miles away. It may not be around in the near future, as the whole area surrounding the pub is due for redevelopment.

The Sign of Life

Following on from yesterday's photo of Manly Beach, here is a snap of the information board about the resort. It tells you about the development of the area, together with a photo of how it looked in the 1920's.

Sunshine on a Rainy Day

As it's been very cloudy & rainy this past week, the opportunity of taking some reasonable photos has been somewhat reduced. So to cheer my visitors up, I thought I would show a photo of Manly Beach in Sydney that I took in February, to remind everyone that sunny, warm days do exist, and that hopefully it won't be too long before we get some here.

Pie and a Pint

This round building used to be part of the old General Hospital site, which dominated the area close to the Castle. A lot of it was demolished 20 odd years ago, and new office blocks or apartments built in its place. But there are many parts of it that still remain and have been converted for other uses. This one is a bar resturant, where they now serve the other kind of pint!

Life's Taxing

Todays photo is of the Inland Revenue building, which is located off Castle Boulevard. It was built on the site of some old railway lines, which can be seen in the film 'Saturday Night, Sunday Morning' with Albert Finney. Talking of films, the building featured in Dennis Potter's final TV film 'Cold Lazarus', which was made in 1996; and also starred Albert Finney!

One for the Road

Walking past my office on Friday, I noticed these two cars parked closeby, obviously enjoying a pint or two in the spring sunshine. Hopefully they didn't take to the roads afterwards, as everyboy knows you shouldn't drink and drive.

BT Phone Home

The sight of red telephone boxes on our streets may be a thing of the past soon, with BT's recent decision to phase them out, due to people not really using them anymore as everyone has a mobile phone now. I think this is a shame, as it is a reasuring feature of Britain, and one that tourists look for. This one is tucked away on Lenton Road, close to the Castle.

Down Town

I live in Beeston, which is a suburb of Nottingham. I try and take a photo everyday of something that catches my eye, be it a building or object. The photo here is of the city centre with St Mary's Church in the background. It was taken from the castle, which isn't really a castle, it's more like a stately home. If you're lucky, I may add a photo of it here someday soon!

The Joke's on You

Some of you may think that I took this photo in Switzerland or some similar European ski resort during the winter months. Can you guess its location?



I actually took this inside a shopping centre in Dubai. 'Ski Dubai' opened late last year in a new mall not far from Jumariah Beach. Besides all the designer named shops, including Harvey Nicks, they have a ski slope on the top floor. The locals have nick-named it the "pan-handle", due to the unusual shape of the roof.