A story of survival

Today i attended an exhibition at the NEC on learning and development which was interesting enough but what really sparked my interest of course was this Routemaster bus! RML2300 is now owned (or operated) by a company who organise team building and the like but has had a long life of course like all surviving Routemasters, i found this photo of it on Flickr dated 1978.

Bank

The Eastbound platform of the Central Line at Bank station in London.

Towpath sparrow

A busy sparrow on the towpath of the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal in Erdington.

Coventry Basin

While ideally i'd like to walk every metre of a canal's towpath that isn't always possible (walking the entire Grand Union Canal would be a mean feat for example) but if i can visit both ends of a canal then i can cross it off in my imaginary abc spotters book of canals...

Today i visited Coventry Basin which is the ..er.. Coventry end of the Coventry Canal and as i've already visited the other end of that canal up at Fradley Junction that means i can cross off the Coventry too...

Though it is a bit complicated as a middle stretch of the Coventry is sometimes listed as being part of the Birmingham & Fazeley and the Coventry Canal officially consists of two separate canals. Well that is splitting hairs a bit, its a continuous waterway in reality so i'm crossing it off! You can see the photos i took here.

Pillars of Hercules, Soho

The Friday pub photo.

National Archives

The National Archives at Kew, scene of much of my research last year during my MA.

Honeywell building

Its real name i can't recall but to me its always been the Honeywell building as they owned it in the 1970s when i could see it from my bedroom window!

Dusk over the Irish Sea

Dusk falls over Aberystwyth promenade.

Acclaim

A Triumph Acclaim at Coventry Transport Museum, someone nearby still drives one of these lovely cars i occasionally see it on local streets.

The Windmill, York

The Friday pub photo.

Stratford grave stones

Grave stones in Stratford-upon-Avon Holy Trinity Church.

St Katharine's Docks

The entrance to St Katharine's Docks on the Thames in London.

Leeds College of Art

Lovely mosaic on the Leeds College of Art Vernon St building. Its still an important part of the college's visual identity.

1501

A brass numberplate like this on a steam locomotive signifies the GWR or Western Region of British Railways. This belongs to the 15XX class locomotive #1501 (as you probably guessed). A GWR designed pannier tank though built by the nationalised railway just after WW2.

The Nag's Head, Aberystwyth

The Friday pub photo.

End of the line

The end of the Severn Valley Railway in Bridgnorth can be seen here. Its possible that one day the SVR could be extended North though it would take a lot of investment as much of the original line is now blocked so at the moment is rather unlikely.

King's Norton Stop Lock

The only guillotine gate stop lock on the canal network, in the olden days when canals were owned by different companies they didn't want their rivals taking their water hence stop locks like this on the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal.

The new Metro

One of the new trains of the Midlands Metro being bought in now ahead of the extension to New Street which is under construction. I must get around to travelling on the Metro one of these days.

Bridge over River Blythe

A bridge over the River Blythe in Coleshill, Warwickshire.

The visit of the Silver King

Now i travel down from Birmingham to London quite often and have taken Chiltern Mainline's loco hauled train quite a few times too (its always my preference). However when i heard that one of these trains was to travel the Severn Valley Railway... well i just had to go and see.

So my third visit to the SVR in a short space of time, but the first time i've been all the way up to Bridgnorth. I travelled up on a steam train but travelled back down on the Chiltern (it was chartered for a rail tour but there were 2 trips along the line open to everyone). It was a very novel experience and most enjoyable. I think i do prefer a bit of Mark 1 coach thrash though but travelling the SVR with wifi just had to be done! You can see the photos i took here.

George Hotel

The Friday pub photo, the George Hotel in Bewdley.

Wandering Britain's Waterways

I've decided to rename my inland waterways blog to Wandering Britain's Waterways, as i do a lot of it. Actually maybe not quite as much as i used to when i used to work near the Tame Valley Canal so could go there every lunchtime. I really should walk the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal more often too considering i actually live opposite it!

But there is still quite a lot of wandering by me on Britain's waterways... the Oxford Canal in Banbury a few weeks ago and last weekend a bit of the River Severn in Bewdley for example. Sometimes i know where i am going too, but not always. The blog is much the same, a selection of my photos. Why not give it a visit...

Victoria Dock

Victoria Dock in East London, in the background can be seen the O2, Canary Wharf and the ExCeL.

A bridge in Oxford

A canal bridge in Oxford.

Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge at night.

Yarningale Common

On a proper Summer's day (i.e. last year) the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal passes through Yarningale Common.