Orange Beauty

Passing through St Mary's churchyard, I same across this big orange tulip enjoying the lunchtime sunshine.

Building Sight

The tram works are still continuing in Beeston, even though the line was meant to be completed by December last year.

When it is finally up and running, this space will be cleared and available for building on.

The council have issued a consultation document asking what people would like the space used for.  Some ideas have included a cinema, a swimming pool and just an open space. There are rumours that a hotel will be built there, but I can't see it being a very big one, or one that would be owned by a famous name like Hilton, or Holiday Inn.

So we will just have to see what the land is turned into. But it is all down to money. How much it would cost and what income would it earn. So I can't see it being turned into a park, as it wouldn't generate any money for the council who own the land.

V For Victory

The general election shocks and surprises of today has somewhat overshadowed the 70th anniversary celebrations of VE Day, when the fighting stopped in World War 2.

Some celebrations have taken place across the country. I saw on Facebook some photos that a friend took in Birmingham of a street party and they actually had a real Spitfire parked outside their new library.

But sadly there has been nothing similar in Nottingham. Some schools have done projects on the subject or dressed up in period costumes. They have lit a beacon in the Old Market Square, which I don't think was advertised very well.

So I've looked through my archive and selected this photo of "Churchill" that I took last year at the annual May Day Knees Up at the Brewhouse Yard Museum.

'X' Marks The Spot

Today the UK goes to the polls to vote for who is going to be their next MP, and which party will be in charge of the country for the next five years. We've had loads of promotional bumf through the letterbox over the last few weeks from all the parties that have put up candidates, telling us how wonderful their party is and what amazing things they are going to do to make the country better and richer.

I popped down to my polling station after work which used a local church hall for it's base to use my vote. It was actually quite a difficult decision to make. I had six candidates to choose from. I instantly ignored three of them, but it took some thought of who to pick from the remaining three, as I consider one candidate to be a friend, another I've met a few times, and the other represents the party I feel closer too.  So after some consideration I put my X in the box. Just have to wait until tomorrow to find out how everyone did, and whether my choice made it through.

I also had to vote for councillors to represent me on our local council. This was much easier, as I was allowed to vote for two people, so didn't take so much brain power.

Whiskey And Rye

For the past few years Beeston has been home to a great little bistro called Belle & Jerome. But it closed a couple of weeks ago, while some renovations took place.  The bar has also been renamed as 'Rye', named after part of Beeston called the Rylands, which is near the river.

They have also rebranded it as a bar & restaurant, but will be open from 8am for breakfast. It officially opens to the public tomorrow, but there was a special opening event tonight, which I got an invitation to.

The owners looked like they have invested a lot of money into the refurb. I have been following their Tweets over the past couple of weeks, and have found out that the new wooden floor that's been laid comes from a four hundred year old mill in Yorkshire.

The place was buzzing tonight and people seems genuinely impressed with the decor, choice of food and drink and general ambience of the place. It should do well, especially as the previous version always had such a loyal customer base.

Spirited Away

It's not everyday that you come across an empty pub, but sadly I did today.

The Cock & Hoop pub in the Lace Market closed last year, when the hotel that it's attached to also shut its doors.  There have been announcements that the hotel and pub will be reopened. But obviously this hasn't happened yet.

Singer In A Spotlight

One of the backing singers at last night's Simple Minds gig.

Alas I didn't catch her name.

Don't You Forget About Me

Gail and I travelled back to the 1980s tonight as we went to a Simple Minds gig at the Royal Concert Hall.

I had won some tickets in a competition through our local newspaper, the Nottingham Post, so it was a cheap night out. The seats were up in the gods, so we were quite some distance from the stage. Of course I had my camera with me, and had chosen to go with a telephoto lens, rather than a prime lens, just in case were weren't near the front. In fact we were so far away from the stage, that we were sitting next to one of the lighting guys.

The concert was a sell out, and everyone was having a good time singing, cheering and dancing along to the various songs that the band performed. I recognised some of the tunes, but I didn't buy any of their albums when they were big during the 1980s. But after hearing them tonight, I might go and buy one of their greatest hits albums.

A Comical Day

My Saturday morning is usually spent in Beeston shopping and having a look around the many charity shops that my town now has. A new one only opened this week. So that makes nine in total to look round and see what goodies I can find.

Besides the many other shops there is one that sells comic books, models and role playing games. It is called Chimera and I think that I have only been inside once before, and that was to see a friend of mine called Tim, who loves playing role playing games. I just happen to walk past and see a poster in the window advertising free comics, as it is apparently Free Comic Book Day, which is news to me, as I didn't such a thing existed.

So I popped inside to see what it was all about. The owner told me that once a year companies that print comic books give copies away to promote their work, and this has been an annual event for some years now. He showed me to a couple of tables that had piles of comics on them. He said have a look and just take any that you fancy, read and enjoy them.

So I picked up some and had a browse. Some didn't really appeal to me, but being a Doctor Who fan, I had to have that one and I was intrigued by the Steampunk version of Goldilocks and the modern take of Alice in Wonderland.

I will give these comics a go, but I can't see them becoming part of my life, as that is shared with photography.

Spin Around The City

The theme for this month's theme day is 'revolution'.

Nottingham has had a few revolutionaries down the years; the Luddites, Robin Hood, and played a part in the English Civil War.

But i've gone for something a little different, in the giant Ferris Wheel that appeared in the Old Market Square earlier in the year.

I used a fish eye lens, to give it and even more round look. Incidentally, I didn't go on it, as I am scared of heights.

Blue Head

Nothing quite like seeing a patch of bluebells. These are in Highfields.

Torn From History

Came across this display board the other day that looks like it has been used for years, and posters have been torn off to make room for others.

Most are for gigs, with some adverts for nightclubs with drink offers. I think it makes for an interesting collage and clearly shows how vibrant Nottingham's night life is.

Here's Looking At You Kid

Here's Marmalade looking out on the world from the safety of our garage.

The window is quite grimy, but I think it makes the photo more interesting, as it gives it a soft, cinematic look, rather than the bright and shiny Tecnicolor shots that we are more used to today.

Marmalade quite likes to have a snoop around in the garage. He's not really a mouser cat, but can often pick up their scent of where they have been.

Horse Power

As many of you may know, this horse is the emblem of Ferrari.

No, it's not mine. I just took it at the car show in the Old Market Square last week.

Rush Hour

Shoppers going and passing through the Broad Marsh shopping centre.

Brian

A bit of a fun photo today, as my Brian the Robot finally arrived.

I ordered him in March, when I bought some house insurance through Confused Dot Com, the online price checker.

It's a good toy as it has it can be posed, talks and moves through friction power.

We also have a couple of meerkats as well, that we got for other insurances through Compare The Market Dot Com.

Stigmata

Besides some expensive cars parked in the Old Market Square The Stig from Top Gear made an appearance.

Of course he didn't say anything, as The Stig never does. He just stood around posing for photos.

Where's George?

St George's Day and there was a big parade in the Old Market Square. As usual, the procession started at the Forest Recreation Ground and made it's way down to the city centre, led of course by St George and our very own Robin Hood.

I noticed that there seemed to be an awful lot of men in the parade, and while they were marching and singing, I thought I was at a football match.

It was lovely and warm today, and I think that everyone had a good time.

Here In My Car

A Maserati. I wish.

This and several other luxury cars were in the Old Market Square today, and were they attracting quite a crowd.

Besides the Maserati, there was a couple of Ferraris, a Bentley an Aston Martin and a McClaren.

As there were so many people wandering around looking and photographing the cars, I found it neigh impossible to take a decent shot of them, so instead I concentrated on the details, and dashboards, like this one.

New Moon On Tuesday

Whilst going out for a bit of late evening air, I noticed that there a new moon had appeared in the sky, as it was a clear sky.

So I decided to take a photo of it when I got back home, using the Olympus 70-300mm lens. And you can make out the craters etc on the surface.