James Clay Stuff

August 2, 2019

A treasure of retail ephemeral

Most people throw away their packaging (well hopefully today they recycle it) but at Oakham Treasures in North Somerset there is a treasure trove of retail ephemeral showcasing a snapshot of grocery history that would probably otherwise have disappeared.

It reminded me if similar displays at the Castle Museum in York.

The reconstructed shops at St Fagans near Cardiff also have collections of old grocery packaging.

Do we keep todays rubbish for future generations? Will they reminisce over the stuff they use to buy? Will they be shocked at the enormous use of single use plastic? Who is going to be the guardian of today’s unwanted stuff, that will be the exhibits of the museums of tomorrow.

July 29, 2019

Tiny Bristol

Here’s Bristol in miniature, well kind of….

“Experience the world famous sights and events of Bristol, carefully crafted to give the illusion of smallness!”

July 25, 2019February 5, 2024

Remembering the Bristol Temple Way Flyover

I moved to Bristol in the 1990s and living in Southville and working at Ashley Down meant that driving home I had the fun that was driving over the Temple Way flyover.

I remember the first time I did it, thinking, what is this, is this a real road? I would often decide to drive over it even if it wasn’t quite the best way to get where I was going.

It was never for the faint hearted, though I never heard of a car driving off the side of it.

The flyover was taken down in 1998 as part of road changes in that area.

I believe it was actually sold to another council.

Of course today there are ongoing roadworks in that area in order to improve traffic flows.

July 24, 2019

View from the Cheesegrater Bridge

The view from Mead Reach Bridge looking towards Valentine Bridge in Bristol.

Photograph was taken with an iPhone 8 and then edited in the Snapseed app.

The bridge was closed on September 18th in 2017 after a lorry tried to cross it. After 20 months it was re-opened in May 2019.

June 24, 2019July 22, 2019

Ten more amazing sand sculptures

After last week’s ten sculptures, here are another ten.

For over ten years now, there has been an exhibition of sand sculptures on the beach at Weston-super-Mare. To call them sandcastles is a bit of a misnomer as these are truly remarkable sculptures and the artists have spent hours and days carving the compacted sand.

We have been most years and I bring my camera to capture the sculptures, here are some photographs of this year’s carvings.

June 17, 2019

Ten Amazing Sand Sculptures

We have been most years and I bring my camera to capture the sculptures, here are some photographs of this year’s carvings.

The theme this year was “What if?”.

What if Rome had never fallen?

What if mermaids were real and were suffering due to the pollution and plastic waste in the sea.

June 15, 2019

Small HSTs

In 1976 when they were first introduced I always wanted to ride the new British Rail HSTs. I eventually got the chance in 1979 on a school trip to York.

I guess I must have ridden them a few times in the last few decades, but over the last few years I have been a frequent passenger on the Western main line between Bristol Temple Meads and Paddington. First on my regular commute to Oxford and then on my frequent visits to our London office.

On May 18th 2019 they were withdrawn from the main line, however though many were sent off to Scotland, GWR did shorten some for use on commuter routes in and around Bristol and South Wales.

These trains are being converted so that the original slam doors are replaced with automatic sliding doors and the toilets will now be contained rather than flushing straight onto the track. They are also being painted in new GWR green,

June 8, 2019

Camping in the Vosges in 1929

Going through some old photographs I found this one of my grandfather camping in the forests in Vosges in Eastern France in 1929.

I had no idea he did this, it must have been interesting to travel in Europe at this time. Just driving around in his car, parking up, pitching the tent and camping overnight.

This is the only photo I have of that trip.

June 7, 2019July 24, 2019

Certainly interesting, but….

One of the things I learnt when I visited Hastings Castle in Sussex, was that this was the site of the first Norman castle, where the building pretty much started after the initial Norman invasion. Everyone has probably heard of the Battle of Hastings in 1066, though the actual battle was some miles away, as was the initial landing of Normal soldiers.

We took the West Hill Lift to get to the castle. There are two “lifts” in Hastings, the East Hill Lift is the steepest funicular railway in the UK.

If you are interested in the history of Hastings, then Hastings Castle has a lot to offer in their video presentation on the history of the castle. The remains of the castle are only some ruins, most of which have not just fallen down, but due to a combination of sea erosion and demolition, most of the castle ground are “missing”.

The video presentation does provide a lot of context about the castle and after watching it is worthwhile to walk around the ruins as you can see them in a wider context. I found it fascinating that after the castle fell into disrepair it was pretty much buried in soil and undergrowth, and forgotten about until Victorian times.

Some of the castle material were used to build a church which comprises most of the remaining ruins.

The main walls were used to protect the castle, but most of them have either fallen into the sea, or were inadvertently (or was it deliberately) knocked down in the Victorian era.

Compared to the view form the inside of the castle, you can see the ruins from the neighbouring hill, but you don’t really get a full feel for the place.

So why is the blog title, Certainly interesting, but…. well the castle is certainly an interesting place to visit, but the price of entrance, to me seemed rather steep. At £15.80 for a family four.

May 2, 2019