Berries by the Banwell

Wonderful Worle is where today’s walk starts from.  However, a word of warning for anyone expecting to find the toilets at The Maltings open for business – they are closed awaiting refurbishment by Weston Town Council !

 

When I did this walk earlier in the year it was a joy to see Magnolia Cottage living up to it’s name:  

The next 15 minutes of walking is less than exciting being through residential areas & passing the crematorium - but it is a necessity in order to gain access to the path which runs beside the River Banwell between Ebdon and St. George’s.

Gardens are like orchards at this time of year, full of trees laden down with rosy red apples.

The river is a favourite place for doggies in the height of summer and I saw several jumping in and enjoying the cool water.  The banks are lush with berry bushes – does this mean a harsh winter ahead?

 

A butterfly plays amongst the thistle flowers

Whilst sparrows and starlings fluff their feathers and relax amongst the brambles

At St. George’s it was a matter of finding my way through The Badgers and The Pastures before coming out on Queen’s Way and heading back home -

via Sainsbury’s which was the ONLY comfort stop en route.

Weston-super-Mare - Above the Cove

In Victorian times Weston was a booming seaside resort.  An area on “Flagstaff Hill” was landscaped and turned into beautiful gardens with a rest pavilion enjoying stunning views.   

The gardens were named Prince Consort Gardens in memory of Prince Albert.  In 2013, due to tireless efforts by a small group of volunteers, the gardens were designated a Town Green meaning the area is safe from development.

It is a delight to walk through the gardens in the early morning sunshine with hardly a soul to be seen.  Just a mile along The Prom. the beach is packed with holidaymakers but here all is peaceful.  The only sound is water trickling from a fountain in the lily pond.  But a sense of sadness overwhelms me - the Victorian Rest Pavilion is boarded up and looks decidedly neglected – a police warning notice adorns it’s once beautiful windows.

The map at the entrance to the gardens shows two small rectangles marked with the letters PC – these are just to one side of the lily pond.  What could these letters stand for?  Well, I reckon there is a fair chance that they once referred to a Public Convenience.  On looking around I see nothing that resembles a toilet block – but wait a minute, what is behind that very high hedge?  Further inspection reveals a padlocked gate but I can just see what appears to be a small building inside.  No doubt, these were the conveniences of days long ago but perhaps the area is now used by those who maintain the beautiful borders.

In 1867 Birnbeck Pier was built at the foot of the cliff joining a small island with the mainland.  In the 21^st. century the view from the gardens is still as spectacular as it was in Victorian times but regrettably Birnbeck Pier is now a crumbling old lady.  

What fun she must have seen in the past – what a bustling place it must have been.  Now, even the RNLI have had to retreat as more and more planks fall to the sands below.  Even in it’s state of disrepair – or perhaps because of it’s dilapidated state - it is a location which draws me back over and over again.  How I wish I could get a little nearer to photograph it’s crumbling structure close up.

In January 1868 just a few months after the pier had been opened a couple of fishermen were walking across when they heard a loud snorting beneath their feet.  Thinking it was a tipsy man they made their way onto the beach to investigate.  To their surprise they found it was a large seal left “high & dry” on the pebbles.  Do we still get seals in Weston?  I can only provide a photo of one from New Zealand.

Riversdale, Wairarapa, New Zealand

At one time the Pier Master was a respected and well known member of the community.  Henry Alfred Cole had moved to Weston as a child in the 1870s.  He spent a career working for the Pier Company first as “Collector of Tolls” then as Pier Master.  He died in the Toll-house on 5 June 1937 and was buried in the Milton Road Cemetery a few days later.  

Walking along from Prince Consort Gardens - at the top of the steps which lead down to Cove Café (another of my favourite watering holes) - I come across another set of boarded up loos.  Apparently these were closed in 2009.

Never mind – because a little further around the Marine Lake path can be found The Cove Restaurant & Bar and that does have a toilet block to one side?  Well – it used to have a Ladies and Gents to one side!!  In 2014 the Ladies has been boarded up and what used to be the Gents is now a pay-to-enter Unisex facility.  There is a queue a mile long -

so I just have to wait until I get home 

Bristol - Nipper the HMV Dog

This is one dog who is famous throughout the world.  Even those too young to remember the old wind-up gramophones will have seen the image of this little dog trademarked by HMV.  

The puppy was born in Bristol in 1884 and adopted by Mark Henry Barraud, a scenery designer employed at the Princes Theatre in Park Row.  He was named Nipper because of his tendency to nip at the heels of those passing by.  In 1887 his owner died but he had the good fortune to be taken to Liverpool to live with Mark’s brother, Francis, who was an artist.  Francis would play music on the phonograph which fascinated Nipper.  He would sit with his head cocked to one side listening intentively as the notes floated out. 

Nipper died in 1895 by which time his owner had moved south to Kingston-upon-Thames.  It is said that Nipper was buried in a park surrounded by magnolia trees.  It was a few years after Nipper’s death that Francis painted the picture “Dog looking at and listening to Phonograph”.  The Royal Academy turned it down and it seemed no-one else was interested in the painting either.  Then a friend suggested that Francis change the black horn on the painting for a nice shiny brass one – perhaps this would grab peoples attention.  So Francis went along to a small phonograph manufacturer, The Gramophone Company, and asked if he could borrow a nice shiny horn.  The manager liked the painting and offered to buy it IF Francis would change the phonograph in the picture for one of the new Berliner gramophones.  Francis did just that and later the modified picture became the trademark of Victor & RCA Records and later HMV Records.

Many years later a branch of Lloyds TSB was built on the site of the park where Nipper had been buried and a brass plaque was added commemorating the famous terrier who lies beneath the building.  In 2010 a small road in Kingston upon Thames was named Nipper Alley in commemoration of the dog.

But back to Bristol where in the year 2000 Nipper was honoured with his very own Blue Plaque on Merchant Venturers Building.  

His statue looks down from the plinth above the doorway – but did you know he was there?

A little further down the road I found Nipper in yet another incarnation – in the window of a Violin shop.

After the search for Nipper I wandered down to one of my favourite rest stops in Bristol – the Cathedral Coffee Shop.  To my surprise at the main entrance I was stopped by two burly security guys.  They were both wearing ear pieces and looked quite menacing.  What had I stumbled in on?  Was some head of state visiting?  Did I look like an assassin?  Nothing so exciting – apparently the Cathedral was closed for graduation ceremonies.  “But I was hoping to visit the coffee shop” says I looking down at the sign which clearly stated that the Coffee Shop was open !  I was courteously directed to the back entrance where I was able to walk through the cloisters to the watering hole.

The café also provides a very good loo stop if you are in the area – but better still is the enchanting garden in the churchyard.  The headstones hide beneath luxuriant shrubs and flowers

and the seagull I met TODAY was much better behaved and just wanted to pose for my camera.