Interesting pix.

Put some old pictures from my PowerPoint "Shops of the lower town" slide show on Everything Clevedon this morning. Surprising the interest they produced.

Merrifield's shop in Old Church Road.

Started with Merrifield's shop in Old Church Road.

Then moved to Sonny Tippets in Old Street.

A shop I can remember just about.

I was taken there once many, many, years ago by my father.

I can remember we had to go down steps to go into the fish and chip shop

Tippets Cycle shop in Dales tenement that was.

Henry Lewis' pottery in Ken Road

How many people can you see in the picture above? five?

Puddling the clay to remove any particles of stone or quartz.

A sample of his work including an imperfect shot of the tree-trunk garden ornament 

I reckon the little busts of Kitchener are what made the legend of the busts on the Terra-Cotta tiles on the front of the house say Kitchener and Queen Victoria.

Apparently they were/are busts of Binding and his wife.

I remember I used to call in a house on Kensington Terrace opposite; where there was a white plant pot holder with a woman's face on it in the entry hall way. Very much like the ones at the top left and right. 

Went to Hangstone top this morning.

Still dark and I had to hang on to the fence posts on the steep bits of the pathway.

Managed a small sweep pic the required editing with Elements 6 to lighten up the very dark bits.

Took quite a time to get light because of the cloud along the top of Broadfield Down.

Both shots of Clevedon looked OK but no sky effects. Pity it was not brighter but I did see the mist along the moorland and got a couple of shots of them.

They needed a little tweek from Elements too.

A pity that the pathway is so steep in a couple of places. I gripped the fence to make sure that I didn't go for a Burton, on the way up. My balance and confidence has got worse since my fall last week. The fact that it was so dark didn't help either. 

Early morning.

Someone posted on Everything Clevedon when there was a picture without sunset and without the pier on it posted.

They asked if we could have a little rest from them. "How about Sunrise pix" they more or less suggested.

I sorted out some taken from Court lane and Manmoor Lane.

Had quite a good reception.

I put eight on altogether here are three of them

All of these are from the motorway bridge very early in the morning.

Where do they come from?

Came on some old negatives again the other day. Where do they come from? back in the mid 1960s. Why did they survive? Because they were not in the pile of negatives that got ruined by rain.

I was working on the Saturday and driving the oil van down Stroud Road when I saw some lads fishing.
I got off with the camera and started to talk to them. They were all concious of the camera but I took one pic anyway.

I then said "There's a dead one in there"

Camera was straight away forgotten. Anxious eyes and turning the jam jar around to see where the dead fish was. Camera could have been in Mars for all they cared.

I said "No it's not down the bottom it's floating up to the top dead fish always float"
Inspection of the jar got really serious. 
Who wants dead fish in a jam jar?


Camera was no longer there; as far as they were concerned I could have been in Mars as well.
Picture taken titled "Net Profits". Adox film 40R developed in Beutler developer extreme fine grain. Posted on www.morguefile.com where it has been downloaded approaching 400 times.

Twilight.

As I approach the twilight of my life my memories go back to the earlier years. I remember the days when I used to go out with a shotgun. When I had my first car, and then after that my first motorcycle sidecar out fit.

And when I graduated up to a newer model bike.

The Easter day when I went down to Riverside Farm in Kingston Seymour with friends to see the pups that Frank Maynard’s Labrador bitch Judy had produced.

The way that the three of them had immediately picked the pups thay wanted while the one I thought was the best had been un-chosen.

How I had pondered on it during the ride back and then when I had got back phoned Frank and told him I would have the last dog pup. A pup that grew into a dog I will never forget. A 50pence bargain that filled my heart with pleasure and whose death made me resolve never to own another dog again. For no other dog would or could, compare with him.

Of the white cat that had turned up in our shed one Christmas Eve and presented itself to me. Scared to death and frightened, ill at ease and rather untrusting yet let me feed it milk and some food. Then the following day came to me when I offered it another meal and permitted me to pick it up and soothe its fears. And how I was enabled to carry it down to the house and it adopted me.

When I was moved it too moved with me to Marson Road and used to know more people there than I did. Stretching himself along the brass doorstep and condescending to allow folk passing by to make a fuss of him.

I remember too the lady that remarked to her companion as they came back to the car park to her car; “I think that cat must be a stray, it always seems to be about here. I wondered whether or not to report it to the RSPCA”

I remarked as I was checking on the coal bunker outside the back door. “He is no stray he is mine. Or rather I am his; I don’t know what he thinks but he acts to me as though that is what is on his mind”

She laughed and said to me “That is what cats are like if you get a good one”

Is this what getting old does? When I can think back and remember more of those early days than I can of last week, and the week before?

What a go.

Jane passed me over the selection of Joe Ruddy's slides last night for the show we will put on in January.

            The man himself - Joe Ruddy stands on the Corner near Chapel Hill

I set to this morning and put them into a PowerPoint show. Eightyfive slides sorted and set up ready for Jane to check the running order.

Took me a while but I realised I had to get them done. Otherwise with the work going forward to give me a wet-room and install a new kitchen I might run short of time.

           Back in the days when we used to have crowds on the seafront.

It worked out OK with a good selection of pix from the beach to the shop's and also activities in the town.

                                      The fire at Staddons' Yard

Some things that I had forgotten about he had captured. He was right on top of the action when I was working on the milk round.

                  What would happen if they shut off the triangle now-a-days?

I can just imagine this happening. When I was at St Andrews school we were always marched along on the 11th November if it was a schoolday. Heard the service and then had the rest of the day off. Also for Empire Day; I can just remember Col. Sturgess, Capt Dean, (Navy) and Col. Keen on the stand. The Pier master used to send the signal for 11 o'clock via a maroon let off on the beach. Two minutes and another went off to let all Clevedon know.

The way to do it.

So you have a river in the wrong place. You want to lose it underground. First you starve it of water, then you refrain from enforcing river cleaning.

After the stream becomes choked up with water cress plants you can say "This river is failing; the best thing is to culvert it."

Householders nearby will get around four or five feet added to their gardens. They won't object to that, so there will be no problem with them. 

Landowners who have already sold or are on the point of selling their fields for houses to be built on them certainly won't complain. So the Middle Yeo gets lost to Clevedonians and just quietly disappears. 

That but for the diligence of the Friends of the Land Yeo would be the fate of that river too, Water flow is being restricted because the sluice at Yearling Ditch is set too low. The environment agency does not harry Clevedon Council into cleaning the river in lower Stroud Road area. Last year the water could hardly flow the watercress had blocked the river so badly.

What will the next step be? When was the last time the river was slubbed out?