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February's Pictures
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It was an interesting day but the only picture I got was bad, Perhaps at some point I can go back to the places I saw today to capture the pictures I saw this morning.
Today started with a 20 mile bike ride. Denton->Manchester->Cheadle->Stokport->Denton. The sun was out and the traffic wasn't which was good. It was cold but it was one of those wintry sunny days where the sun spreads a gold hue on everything. The first missed picture was of the Islamic Academy on Upper Brook Street which is situated right next to a church that is crumbling or being knocked down. The image would have been good (I hope) with the sun passing through a stained glass window only because there was no roof on the church. Further down is a new building I haven't seen before which I assume is part of the hospital. It used to be a Happy Eater and sits on the angle between Upper Brook Street and Plymouth Grove. It wouldn't have been much of a pic without the sun glinting from the top of the building. Of course I was more bothered about peddling especially since I'd only completed 7 miles of the full 20 or 21.3 as I finally completed.
Later in the day this is where this picture came in. I have taken a picture of a police call box before which was at Crich's Tram Museum but I don't seem to have put it on here. It's a great day out and I would recommend it. There's so much to see and you don't have to be a train spotter to appreciate it which is similar to the Manchester Museum of Transport where you don't have to be a bus spotter to enjoy it. Anyway this police call box is at MOSI, whether it is a permanent fixture or not I don't know but we were off for the BodyWorlds exhibit which is Dr Gunther von Hagens exhibit of of corpses that have been put through his process of plastination in effect bodies that do not decay with their organs exposed to varying degrees supposedly to educate the layman about how the body works. To me they look too much like plasticine/plastic models of people. Perhaps it wasn't meant for me because there was nothing new here, the basic gist was smoking is bad, drinking is bad, disease does bad things to you and all three can kill you so all I can think is that's it's just pure Voyeurism or perhaps that's the wrong word, but there's a perverse interest to witness what feels like it shouldn't be witnessed which is a sliced up or open corpse, it's just been dressed up as education.
The other two interesting pictures today are of the Etape Hotel in Salford which is an weird block that looks part like a hospital and part like some strange mad European (Dutch I think) building with it's strange coloured outside panels of green blue and grey. Finally with all the building that's going on, on the East side of the Mancunian Way there's a University building in a state of part deconstruction which will probably be gone next time I have a chance to whip my camera out perhaps the reason why I like this is because you get a view into the building, able to see the rooms and offices as they were left, opened up in the same way as Dr Gunther von Hagens corpses perhaps, it's just that the buildings seem more interesting to me, maybe it's the fact that they describe more about people than their individual fragile selves.
| 2 comments have been left View Comments | 20:45 24 Feb 2008 | Tags: dr. who phonebox museum |
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Just down from Oldcastle is Oliver Plunkett's church. This isn't a picture or it but it's a picture just outside in the graveyard and the best picture of the bunch with the snowdrops in the foreground. We turned up to find the whole place closed until March which is strange for a ruin I thought. We then ran into a bloke mending a fence and had a chat. He was kind enough to allow us across the field to get to the church so long as we didn't stray into the gardens; which look like a nice place to go when the sun comes out. No doubt the other pictures will make an appearance on slow weekends.
| 0 comments have been left | 22:07 14 Feb 2008 | Tags: plunkett gravstone church ireland |
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Built in 1791 this mock lighthouse served as a viewing platform for the hunt or the races. It's a pity but there is no access the the public now, or at least when we went there. It appears to be a telecoms tower now which seems a waste. I'm sure there would be a cheaper and easier way to put a telecoms tower up on the outskirts of Oldcastle.
| 0 comments have been left | 16:21 13 Feb 2008 | Tags: lloyd ireland spire |
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After a long long drive to Bettystown to see the sea. We drove to Bettystown and saw the sea and it was cold and wet. There was little else to do apart from take a picture of this sculpture and have a go in the arcade which was surprisingly large despite the small size of the town. So 20EUR later we left the arcade and moved on.
| 0 comments have been left | 16:13 12 Feb 2008 | Tags: bettystown seaside kite statue ireland |
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Nothing special here. A trip to Athlone from Oldcastle was the plan to see what was there and to be honest there's nothing much. The river was nice and swollen but apart from that there's a closed castle a shopping centre and more churches than you can shake a stick at.
Despite not being a religious person I always find myself taking pictures of churches and today is no different. This is the church just near the main bridge. Nothing special there.
| 0 comments have been left | 15:34 11 Feb 2008 | Tags: church athlone ireland |
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I did take a picture this weekend but decided it really wasn't that good. Not that the intention was great photography. We had a few minutes to spare and lots of food from M&S but nowhere nice to nosh it. Without any idea of a decent place we decided on Alderley Edge and we sat like I have seen a few people in our car eating. I have often wondered why people do this because the view from where you park your car is rubbish. So I took a picture of the fantastic view which amounts to my steering wheel and a hedge. Even if the hedge were not there is nothing to see but a field after that. Munching over we left for my brother's house.
This picture is a picture of the front of Liverpool Cathedral. I wasn't too fond of it at the time, but it's better than a picture of a hedge in Alderley Edge.
| 0 comments have been left | 21:11 4 Feb 2008 | Tags: cathedral wigwam liverpool |
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