Bath Daily Photo

One of Bath’s joys is its incredible stone. Containing just a bit of iron, the stone has a warm creamy color that positively glows at sunrise and sunset. Like Italy, almost the entire place is constructed with the same material, so the color surrounds the viewer and makes the whole rigorously ordered, individualistic, and finely executed pieces of architecture feel as if all part of one piece. As such, Bath is a World Heritage site, rightfully treated as one entity but this singularity on the wealth of Georgian architecture and its unique building material discriminates against the other materials of bath, such as the brick Gothic Cottage of Sion Hill and this engaging more or less modern timber structure, just off Prior Park. Rebel materials in this Bath stone town have enjoyed brief periods of popularity. For instance, when before the Kennet and Avon canal, brick (imported) was far more expensive than finely cut ashlar Bath stone! There is at least one example of a Bath stone house with a one brick thick front facade. I enjoy this house for the same reason, mainly its surrounding Bath stone wall, which you find throughout the city and countryside here. Besides, it has a great view!

“The sandwiches are packed,
The teas and the flow’rs,
There’s plenty of beer
And gooseberry tarts…”
-”Drivin’,” The Kinks

prepared by JosyC

Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire:
They let me ‘drive’ the “Winston Churchill” train. Not going to brag, but I was the best conductor in this train’s long illustrious history.

Choo-Choo!

It took a while but all the long years of training paid off.

Currently, I am experiencing some internet issues but I leave you with the most scenic view possible (selectively cropped) on this ugly little campus. Commonly called the University of Bath’s Duck Pond, it is not in fact a pond, nor even a lake. It’s not even an artificial pond or lake. It’s technically a fire-fighting reserve reservoir (for this concrete, steel and glass hilltop world). This is not just a title. Half of the reservoir’s “beach” is composed of concrete slopes and intrusive pipes. Farther left, there’s even a random thingamajig sticking out of the ground nearby covered with the ruins of an ancient column base, reflecting no doubt on the Uni’s ‘excellent’ ranking for its architecture department. Fibreglass in construction, I would have preferred a giant four foot gnome with a T-Square.

The lively ivy viney crawled up the water bridge
Deep into mortar grew its roots along the ridge
While trapped moisture and the sun fed its photosynthesis
But the resultant mortar loss means the bridge is now much missed

Bridge over the Kennet and Avon Canal, Claverton, Somerset

Lansdown Cemetery.

-posted by JosyC. I apologize for the lack of caption, but I couldn’t come up with something appropriately sincere.

Faster than a pair of machine shears!
More powerful than a charging bull!
Able to leap small knolls in a single bound!

Is it a shepherd? Is it a tractor?
No, it’s SUPERSHEEP!

Well, Ja.mes says he’ll be back soon, so hopefully there will be no need to put up with my cheesy captions for much longer. -JosyC