Bits and pieces

Some weeks ago I posted a photo here of one of our Queen Elizabeth post boxes. After that I spotted some earlier ones whilst away from home near Downham. Here is one with the simple GR initials that mark it as a king George V (1910-36) type. The PiP taken the day before is a slightly different type but this time it is a George VI (1936-1952). Since seeing these I have noticed quite a few GR VI boxes nearer to my home. Enjoy full screen and have a great day.

Happy and Glorious. ~ A day to be proud of being British! As crowds gather on The Mall in London for todays investiture at 11am, many villages and communities will be celebrating with a street party later today. See PiPs Enjoy the weekend.

Seen in the old town of Piombino; this fellow takes a rest with his electric scooter while he consults his phone. – looking just so Italian - I think! ……. And yes, a great place to visit. Essential full screen

A line-up of private house letterboxes makes todays wall. It nice that the colours are in harmony I think. Seen in the centre of Piombino. HWW, have a great day. The pip shows one of our post boxes.

“Hang-on to your hats, bags and money as you walk upside down on this sticky ceiling.” An amazing sight greets us with this large sheltered area here in the city of Marseilles. The roof ceiling is in fact most mirror-like and reflects the world below with little distortion. A tourist ‘must’ for selfies and Ipernity entries but soon one has a slight pain in the neck :) The pip shows the normal view Best full screen.

Looking like a fish has got caught in this net but in reality it is only an old leaf or maybe an insect caught in a spiders web. It has been raining and so there are lots of droplets around that shine like silver. Enjoy full screen.

Seen in the front garden of one of the old cottages along Minehead promenade. I presume he went fishing from the old harbour just across the road from here and he’s had a successful catch by the look of things! Enjoy the weekend.

Another funny character seen in Minehead a short time ago. Made from a gas cylinder and bits of pipe. He looks ready for today’s hike in HFF land! The PiP shows his friend down the street. Enjoy the weekend.

My idea of artificial intelligence here as we see this funny character made from real materials. Seen in Minehead, Somerset, a town where a lot of people have a sense of humour it seems. I think he is trying to send us a message. I have no idea what he/she was called nor what that message was about. He is around 1.5m high to the top of his antenna. Of course he is accompanied by a real fence gate too! Enjoy the weekend.

Seen on the end of a big old warehouse in the seaport city of St John, New Brunswick, Canada. I think It is showing the re-building of the town after the Great Urban Fire’ of 1877 that destroyed two-fifths of the city. Most of the wooden city by the water was gutted leaving only the brick buildings and making 13,000 people homeless. It destroyed 200 acres and 1612 structures HWW, have a great day.

Is does not take so much imagination here to understand this tear. All its leaves have died and dropped to the earth, it’s been a miserable year. It’s cold and then spring seems an awful long time away. Nearby a fellow tree is lying on the ground after being blown over in the ravages of May. But this tree hangs on, even though it’s frail, when a passer-by takes pity - with a touch, all it seems is not yet lost and hope again - prevails. To the people’s living in war torn parts of the World. Let there be more than just hope this Christmas!

Seen on our local walk on a very frost morning.

Seen whilst walking through this wonderful city, from the Citadel along Sackville St. Sorry, as much as I have tried, I cannot find anything at all about this. There seems to be a lot of murals here in the city and so this might be considered of little importance? HWW, have a great day.

An Icelandair Boeing 757-300 seen, I think not far from my home on one of our usual regular walks in the hills. This plane is quite old being being 19 years old when I took this in 2019. ***TF-ISX*** People who know me, will know that I have a love of aviation and so when I see something like this, with my camera, I often point up and shoot. Enjoy full screen.

Portland, Maine is the setting for this wonderful semi-open-air vintage railway carriage. Now a museum piece that is pulled by the small red diesel engine along this Narrow Gauge Railway track. PiP. A grand set of hard benches to watch the coastline go by. Track gauge= 2ft (610mm), 1.5miles (2.4km) long. Just near here too was the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum which we unfortunately did not have time to visit. Within, and sometimes outside too, pulling this carriage are seven locomotives, four of which are Steam including the famous Baldwin 0-4-4T and 2-4-4T models. It also has visiting locomotives. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maine_Narrow_Gauge_Railroad_Museum#Gallery HBM, enjoy the week.

Seen in a Normandy, France cottage garden. As the front tyre was flat ? I imagine this more of a garden showpiece than a practical ride to market. A very French ritual! Enjoy the day.

The date: April 5 2009, almost 25 years back to the day, at the edge of the Lancashire town of Clitheroe. A chance capture as I was taking photos of the mist and birds on the nearby River Ribble when I heard a rumble. I looked towards the cement works across the river and saw the chimney starting to topple. As the camera was in my hands and already in fast shoot mode (I was trying also to get some flying herons) I managed to catch this before it disappeared in a cloud of dust behind the buildings. It was made of concrete and 460 feet high (140m). A moment never to be relived here. BBC News: “One of the tallest industrial chimneys in Lancashire has been demolished. The chimney was part of the Hanson cement plant in Clitheroe and was connected to two kilns that were decommissioned two years ago. The fall of the chimney at the cement works, formerly called Castle Cement, was witnessed by onlookers as it dropped at 1000 BST on Sunday.” It was built in the 1960's out of reinforced concrete and was much hated by the local residents of Clitheroe because of smells and fumes (refuted). It was in fact surrounded in most parts by beautiful rural countryside. Enjoy full screen HAPPY EASTER

Seen at the edge of the tiny hamlet of Miller’s Dale on the River Wye in Derbyshire. “Corn mills once operated in profusion along the banks of the Wye, powered by the water from the river. There has probably been a mill at Millers Dale for over 900 years. Domesday Book indicates that a mill existed in this part of the valley at that time. “ HWW, enjoy the day