Monday 29 June 2015

Bristol diary - part 6. Safe from harm

Did you know that lobsters can live for up to a hundred years in captivity? I learn this while admiring Patrick the Giant Lobster at Bristol Aquarium. He's fifty.

I love watching cute clownfish, very 'Finding Nemo', diligently attending to the tentacles of anemones (and that's not easy to say).  A group of schoolchildren are so excited that they beat out a rhythm with their feet on the wooden floor which could be mistaken for an African drum ensemble, and we watch delightful rays and wrasse get their lunch together.

It's an education... as are the exhibits in the waterside M Shed... dinosaur bones, a book bound in the skin of an executed man, posters, bus tickets, shoes, fossils...oh you know, loads of other stuff too... I forget now...all from this lovely city.  On one of many screens in the museum I watch TV news footage from the 1980 St Pauls Riot.

Later I ascend Christmas Steps, look in some unusual shop windows...


...then find the mysterious scarlet painted door that opens to The Red Lodge Museum, where portraits in the oak panelled rooms seem almost alive (they always make me feel funny, like you know their subjects personally).

I wander again, take some very random photos...

"Nice things in stock"... 

Yes





stop off at St Nicholas Market to absorb it all for one last time.

Records!

Unfortunately I don't make it to half the places I wanted to... I never get to Stokes Croft, or take a tour round the SS Great Britain (a queue earlier was too much).  And now it's my last night here.  I'm catching a bus to meet my friend and see the UWE art students' degree show at Bower Ashton tomorrow morning, and then getting the train home after lunch.  I'll just have to come again.

Same time, same place, next year?


11 comments:

  1. Is Pastimes a real shop? It looks amazing. I remember a couple of similar looking places in Walthamstow in the 1960's, just selling an odd selection of old random bits and pieces. The city looks so interesting. I say let's all head to Bristol next year for the inaugural Bloggers Anonymous Convention.
    In session for John Peel tonight, The Tentacles of Anemones.

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    1. Supported by the Wunderkammer Ukes

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    2. I think I have both those Peel sessions on a tape somewhere...

      Yes, Pastimes is real (see SB comment too) - what say we meet up there?!

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  2. Looks great from your pics, like cities used to be before they got sold off, homogenised and full of identikit buildings.

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    1. I thought so too, I only scratched the surface, and it just had a really good feel to it from my brief experience... very much a character of its own.

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  3. I recall the old Pastimes place. Used to hang out at a few interesting emporia that were once around there. I'm amazed it's still there. very often, 'back in the day', they would have lots of Nazi regalia on display. Weird. Clips of the riots? You probably saw my old childhood home! We'd long moved on by then. Your photos are making me homesick.

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    1. Oh yes I can imagine the Nazi regalia because in its other shop window there was mostly wartime stuff. I fell a little bit in love with an old greatcoat! I just love the sparseness of the display pictured, and also the crappy lettering!
      Sorry to have made you homesick... we will have to book you as our tour guide at the 'convention'!

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  4. Adam's right with his comment, it seems that those really interesting, quirky and sometimes just plain crap local outlets hardly exist anymore. Great photos. C. I don;t think I'll be able to make next year's convention at Pastimes, though.

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    1. I agree, they really are reminiscent of past times..

      All over to your place next year, then, george?

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  5. Enjoyed reading about your Bristol visit too, C. I'd say anything you want and anything you're interested in can be found in Bristol, and all within cycling (or walking) distance. I might be biased (as I'm a son of Bristol) but it's one of the best cities in England, in my opinion. Historically, culturally, politically, and alternatively. I'm glad you liked it. Your diary has actually made me want to go there again myself, and for me that's a relatively easy thing to do. Thank you.

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    1. Thanks John, just wanted to put my thoughts down as it was such an enjoyable and interesting trip. A few people I've met have said they would happily live in Bristol if they could - I can understand that now. I'm glad you're not so far away and can take yourself back quite easily some time... and maybe you can have fun trying to imagine it through the eyes of a visitor like me!

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