Tag Archives: travel

Derelict Jetty

As you walk along the banks of the Avon heading towards the gorge, you are outside the locks that keep the water level up in the docks and in the tidal area. This used to be a popular location for boat to unload passengers and there are a number a jetties that have been built there. However, the traffic for these locations dried up a long time ago and they have fallen into disrepair over the years. The larger timber members are more resilient so you end up with these skeletal structures that are gradually collapsing. I wonder how many more years they shall survive or whether they will be deemed too dangerous and taken down before they can collapse.

Phantoms in Pieces

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When I was first into aviation, the Phantom was everywhere. It was operated by numerous air forces and the RAF had tons of them (including some that had cascaded from the Royal Navy). At all of my early air shows, there would be Phantoms on static and part of the flying display. While they had started their RAF career in the strike and ground attack role, by this time they were purely used for air defense.

With the end of the Cold War, the RAF reduced in size and the Phantoms were withdrawn from service far faster than had originally been anticipated. It wasn’t long before they were all gone. A bunch ended up in museums and the rest were cut up. As I was exploring Kemble’s airfield – Cotswold Airport to give it its proper name – I was surprised to come across a bunch of bits of Phantoms alongside the road. A pair of fuselages including one of a Boscombe test jet that I had a kit of as a kid, some wings, fins and tail planes. It was all just sitting there so I grabbed a few shots. I have heard since that the airport was pressuring the owners to cover it all properly and I think it all went under cover shortly after I was there. A lucky break for me, I guess.

St Nicolas Church

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Walk right to the end of the village of Longparish and you come to St Nicolas Church. You know you are going to find a church because the clue is in the name of the village and, besides, what village in the UK doesn’t have an old church in it? As you drive in to the village from the south, the church is the first thing you see and it looks pretty quintessentially English. Near the end of our stay, we did walk down to have a look inside. The churchyard was not too large and there is a newer graveyard across the road. Inside, it is a simple but pleasant little church. No idea how popular it is but it seemed in good shape. I did take a stroll down the lane to get a shot of it from the south, only to discover that the house in front of it tends to be more intrusive in the shot than appeared to be the case when driving along the road.

Repurposed Boats in Bristol Docks

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When you look around harbors, you will often come across some unusual boats that have found a second life. Just the other day, I saw a trimaran that had been modified with a new cabin which looked very out of keeping with the rest of the hull! Walking around the docks in Bristol, I was surprised to see a variety of boats that had clearly started life somewhere different.

One of them bore all the hallmarks of an Amsterdam tour boat. I don’t know whether the boats there still look like this, but they certainly did in years gone by. Plenty of window space for the tourists to get a good look at the city as they went along the canals. Another one fits into the category of what I remember things looking like but no idea whether they still do! That was an ex-Hoseasons boat from the Norfolk Broads. I remember having a boat just like this one for a vacation there when I was a teenager.

The type of boat that regularly finds a second life is a lifeboat. The ex-RNLI boats are popular, presumably because they are built very tough so will provide years of service and it probably doesn’t hurt that they are seaworthy in the worst of conditions. Modifying them to live on might change some of their characteristics but I suspect they are still better than average. There were a couple of these in the docks too. Keep your eyes peeled when walking amongst boats and see if you can spot anything unusual. When I was a small boy, Bembridge Harbour had a houseboat that was a converted Motor Torpedo Boat from the Second World War!

Anyone Leave a Submarine Here?

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Only when I was up on Mt Washington overlooking Pittsburgh did I see this old submarine moored on the Ohio River. It is part of the Carnegie Science Center and is the USS Requin – a Tench class submarine. She was built at the end of the Second World War and was activated just before hostilities ended. She then had a career in various roles before being struck from the fleet. Initially she was a museum piece in Florida but, after the organization preserving her folded, she eventually found her way to Pittsburgh and that is where she remains. If I go back, maybe I will get a chance to take a closer look.

Girl With the Pearl Earring – Banksy Style

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Banksy is an artist with international recognition, but it all started in Bristol and there are a few of his works around the center of the city. I have always liked his work and so was quite interested to see an original. Down in the harbour is his version of Girl With the Pearl Earring – with a fire alarm box being the earring. It is on the side of a building and there is a fence restricting access so it is reasonably well protected. The fence is a small obstacle to getting a photo of it but not a huge one. Photographing an artwork seems a little redundant!

Duquesne Incline

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At the end of my recent visit to Pittsburgh, I wrapped up my meetings and had lunch prior to heading to the airport. I did have about 90 minutes spare and was able to slot in a visit that I had thought about before going but that had slipped my mind for much of the visit when I was tied up with work stuff. This was to check out one of the incline railways that Pittsburgh has. Originally, there were twenty of these funicular railways on the hills surrounding Pittsburgh but now just two remain.

I chose to try the Duquesne Incline. My Uber driver told me that this was the better one as the view from the top covered the downtown better, but I won’t claim this was an informed choice on my part. However, I will take being lucky any time. The incline was built in the late 1800s to get workers from the industrial lands along the rivers to their homes up on the hills overlooking the city. There are two cars on individual tracks (not all funiculars are configured this way) with a cable connecting them after passing through the equipment room at the top of the hill. The weight of the cars counterbalances to a reasonable extent so the power required is only what is necessary to overcome any weight differential and the friction of the system.

At the top of the hill, you can walk down under the station to see the machinery at work. The sheaves reminded me of a visit many years ago to the Cable Car Barn in San Francisco. This is on a smaller scale, of course. Watching the cars heading up and down the grade was pretty cool and the viewing deck at the top provided a great view across the city. This is all part of the Pittsburgh transit system so you can use the Incline as a connection to your bus journey if you want. If you find yourself in Pittsburgh and have a little time, do check out either the Duquesne Incline or the Monongahela Incline. They are quite something.

Clifton Rocks Railway

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The area of Bristol known as Clifton sits on the top of the hill overlooking the Avon. To get from the water to Clifton is quite a climb. These days you would drive up there but, in the days, when vessels would be bringing passengers in by boat along the river, an alternative was required. The Clifton Rocks Railway was the solution. This was a funicular railway that ran in a tunnel from alongside the river up to near the suspension bridge.

Built in the 1890s, it operated until the 1930s when the decline in passenger numbers meant it was no longer viable. The tunnels were used as office space during the Second World War with the BBC being one of the tenants and they continued to use the space into the 1960s. There is now an effort to restore aspects of the tunnels although the railway will never operate again given the usage the tunnels have had since service ended. The station at the bottom is still visible but is now alongside a busy roadway so might easily be missed as you drive past.

Dancing Gull Looking for Food

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As we were walking through Brandon Park, we saw this gull on the grass by the path. I don’t know for sure what it was up to, but I wondered whether its steps were designed to sound like rain falling to worms beneath the surface to encourage them to come up and then get eaten. Maybe it is something else but, whatever it is, it was pretty funny to watch. Needless to say, I thought it was worth getting some video.

Downtown Pittsburgh on the Three Rivers

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I had to make a trip to Pittsburgh for a work conference. It has been nearly twenty years since I was last there, so I was keen to see how the city is. Pittsburgh has adapted to the post steel industry quite well and the downtown is not a bad place to visit. I did get out on my last day before I headed home and got some views of the area around the three rivers including shots from the convention center and some from the surrounding hills. Here are some of those shots.