Brunel and Bristol

This is an interesting audio-slide show from the BBC on the subject of Robert Howlett - remembered as the photographer of Isambard Kingdom Brunel and his achievements, many of which are evident around Bristol to this day.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7753000/7753202.stm

Well worth a look!

Richard III

This little lead, hand-painted figure is one given to my late father on the set, while father was making the film Richard III with Lawrence Olivier back in 1955. Filming was done in Spain and so some scenes show typical Spanish skies and olive trees, rather than the green countryside of England around Bosworth Field. Nevertheless the film, recently digitally remastered on DVD is an epic of its genre and has wonderful performances from the cast. My father took the part of the Duke of Norfolk and this little model is of him in his court costume. Presumably the artist presented models to other actors in the cast, but I have no further information. I will try to add photos from the film but at this moment have not copied any to my computer.

Now obtained! My father on left - Lawrence Olivier on the right.

England Expects...

One of the most interesting books in my library is a copy of the International Code of Signals published for the use of ships at sea by the British Board of Trade in 1899. I don’t know when or if later editions were published but there was, presumably not much further use of flag messaging after the invention of radio and signalling by morse code.
“Every schoolboy knows” that before the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 Admiral Nelson sent a message to his fleet using flag hoists which read “England expects that every man will do his duty”. My book has various sections, dealing with phrases, individual words, national flags, places around the world. The end papers contain fascinating advertisements of use to shipmasters such as “McInnes’s Anti-corrosive and Anti-fouling Compositions for Ships’ Bottoms. As used by Principal Companies at Home and Abroad. Contracts to the Admiralty. Sole Manufacturers: John McInnes & Son, 13 North Street, Liverpool. Another example: John Phillips & Co, 17 Anderston Quay, Glasgow, advertising cooking apparatus for use in steam ships.
Next time the Antiques Roadshow comes to Bristol I will try to take it for a valuation, hoping that it has increased from the fifteen shillings (£0.75) I originally paid for it, about 40 years ago!

From the three-letter codebook:-
KCQ – Crew have mutinied.
INP – I have been chased by disguised war vessel.
ETN – Do not approach the coast as it is mined!

Greetings from AEQC (Bristol)

The New President

I stayed up late last night watching the BBC's coverage of the US Presidential Election. Gripping stuff! Once it was a forgone conclusion that Barrack Obama was winning the race, I eventually went to bed. I now find that he has secured a landslide victory and general congratulation from most quarters. What a task confronts him though! Moving to see the joyful tears of Jesse Jackson, the excitement of young America of all colours, even the support and graciousness of those he defeated. Interesting times! Good luck America!
One more thought! - I will greatly miss the memorable gaffes and faux-pas of George W who was so worryingly ignorant about so much of the world.

Allt y Rhiw

http://www.struttandparker.com/property-for-sale/oswestry-shropshire/property_SBY080191.html

Update on the old homestead.
Mr & Mrs Whitthread, who bought my parent's property at auction three years ago have decided to sell it again. I gather that despite all the impr improvements to the home, that they are, sadly, planning to divorce and sell the house. The above link has all the details. It originally went on the market at £750,000 but I see that the price is now reduced to £695k. I am sure someone will snap it up before long.

The Wheelbarrow Graveyard

In September I booked myself onto a couse at a school of painting run by a cousin of mine who has been gaining a name for himself as a Welsh painter, sculptor and printmaker. He runs the courses from his old watermill on the banks of the River Banwy in Mid-Wales, in the old county of Montgomeryshire. Accommodation was in the cottage next to the mill, and three other students and I assembled for lessons and practical sessions which were enjoyed immednsly. David is very knowledgeable and was encouraging even going so far as to praise some of my efforts.

Down the gap between the old mill and one of the studios there is a patch of rough ground which fascinated me. In it, there are various bits of timber, roof slates pots, a mannequin's leg and other random discarded items, but most intriguing was the number of deceased wheelbarrows. Not just one or two but four or five in various stages of decay or overgrowth. There are three in the above photo but behind me there were more. I thought of the Time Team archaeologists in centuries to come, digging down to find so many of these strange objects in one place, and thought of sketching the yard myself but in the event only took photos. A few metres away from the graveyard was a pond and here many waterboatmen, curious litte insects that skim accross the surface of the water among the duckweed! Another photo opportunity!

I have returned!!

Though I have been regularly checking for my e-mails by using the public access PCs at the local library in Filton, at long last and with the diligent help of Ibi during her recent visit, I am now back "Up and running" with a new Dell Inspiron laptop and good internet connection. I have been away from the blog too long and my typing, never good anyway, needs more practice. Please forgive any typos! I will publish more later and I would like to thank all my recent visitors who have looked for me here over the last three months but have found nothing new to look at. I'll do my best and try to have a few words and interesting pictures added on a regular basis. More later....

Quick Mesage!

My PC is sick! A virus is suspected, anyway I'm here in the local Library so I'm still mnore or less in contact with the world until my PC shop has sorted out the bugs. Back soon I hope!

Return of the Humpback

Good News for once from Nora Schultz in today's issue of New Scientist, though the comment from Thilo Maack of Greenpeace expecting Japan to call for a resumption of whaling operation is sad.

Four decades after their hunting was banned in 1966, the humpback whale seems to have finally swum clear of the danger zone.
On the newest compilation of the Red List of Threatened Species, humpbacks are no longer classed as "vulnerable" but have made the leap into the "least concern" category, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature announced on Tuesday. The reclassification is sure to encourage pro-whaling countries to lift the ban on commercial humpback whaling.
Randall Reeves, chair of the Cetacean Specialist Group of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, who led the assessment, says that the humpbacks' recovery is down to the ban on whaling.
"It's pretty clear-cut. Of all the large whales, humpbacks are maybe the best at responding to the availability of food and breeding habitat, so as long as you leave them alone, they have a strong capacity to bounce back."
Safe to hunt?
Greenpeace campaigner Thilo Maack says he fully expects Japan to call for a resumption of commercial whaling.
"But we must not forget that even if numbers have improved, they are still miles away from what they used to be before whaling started. Commercial hunting should definitely not be allowed."
Reeves says he hopes that the good news "will not be used to reverse the humpbacks' recovery. But if there was a concrete proposal for very precautionary, sustainable whaling on the table, then we have to talk about it."
The IUCN estimate that there are now at least 40,000 mature humpback whales, up from a total population of less than 1500 before the ban was introduced, but still significantly below the estimated 240,000 humpbacks in the pre-whaling days.
Disappearing dolphins
Along with the humpback whale, the Southern right whale has also made it into the "least concern" category. But the future does not look as rosy for many small cetaceans, which continue to be taken in large numbers as fisheries by-catch.
"It is frightening how quickly and quietly some dolphins and porpoises are disappearing," says Reeves. "There is no blood and gore and no whaling ships. They are just quietly dying entangled in fishing nets."

Small Tortoiseshell

Kettlewell, Yorkshire -September 2006

Antarctic Photo of the Day

Photo taken 22 November 2005 - Click to enlarge.

St Andrew's Bay - South Georgia

King Penguins with sleeping Elephant Seal in the background

Welcome boys!

Tibi, Norbi and Peti together with Ibi their English teacher, came to stay with me for five days. They flew into Bristol from Budapest on Monday 24th June. All were just about squeezed into my small flat and we all enjoyed (I hope) a packed itinerary of visits. On the first full day we visited Brandon Hill and its Grey Squirells. Expressing a desire to see a major football stadium, we failed to get into Bristol City's stadium as preparations were being made there for a concert by Bon Jovi but we had a look at the Suspension Bridge and Clifton before returning home. The football crazy boys were more satisfied the next day when we all took a coach to Birmingham, where we did manage to include a trip to Aston Villa's Doug Ellis Stadium and also experienced the Imax film about the prehistoric dinosaur T. Rex. We also visited Weston Super Mare where the boys visited the Aquarium and managed to get down to to the sandy beach for a few minuted with their toes in the Atlantic Ocean.

On Saturday we walked to Parkway Statiom and got the train to London where we "did" the major tourist sights: Westminster, Parliament, Buckingham Palace, St James Park, changing the guards at Horsegaurds Parade, Trafalgar Square and the London Eye. I was sad to see them go last Monday, they had been great company.

The Eskimo Curlew

The Eskimo Curlew – Numenius Borealis (Museum specimen)

The curlew and its distinctive call has always had special fascination for me. It was one of the sounds that I remember from a very early age, first hearing the wonderful plaintive call echoing around the Welsh hills, then seeing them flying between nearby feeding grounds. These were the European Curlew Numenius arquata the largest of European wading birds. However since reading “The Last of the Curlews” by Fred Bodsworth (London 1964) which is a sad and moving tale of the inevitable extinction of the Eskimo Curlew, I have regularly "Googled" for possible news of the species.

The following link is from the excellent Depasrtment of Ornitology at Cornell University in New York State: -
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/conservation/extinctions/eskimo_curlew
In the nineteenth century this Curlew was a common sight on migration between its summer breeding grounds in the tundra of Canada’s North West Territories and the pampas of Argentina. Between 1870 and 1890, unrestricted hunting rapidly reduced populations of these curlew. Considered very good to eat, the birds were killed by thousands of market hunters, just as the Passenger Pigeon had been years earlier. The curlew's lack of fear and habit of traveling in large flocks made it an easy target. Since reading their story and suspected demise, I have kept an eye open for news of the species, in the forlorn hope that perhaps a few might still survive; it seems not, but I found this from The Guardian newspaper from 2005:
In 1962 another rapidly declining North American species, the Eskimo curlew, was seen in Texas. In the four decades since, several other sightings have been claimed, but none has totally convinced the authorities whose job it is to pass judgment on records of rare birds.
With any species like these, on the brink of annihilation, there is a point at which we must finally admit that it has become extinct. Yet, it is human nature to hang on to the slim hope that a lost population may somehow, somewhere, survive.
So perhaps even now a flock of Eskimo curlews is migrating unseen across the crowded North American airspace, on the epic journey from their South American winter quarters to breed in the wilds of Alaska. With the resurrection of the ivory-billed woodpecker, this may not be quite as farfetched as it seems.
A close relative of the Eskimo curlew is now considered to be Europe's rarest bird. Once common, the slender-billed curlew underwent a rapid decline during the 20th century, and by the 1990s could only reliably be seen at a single site in northern Morocco. Gradually numbers there fell, until finally none remained.
But in May 1998, in a remarkable turn of events, a small curlew resembling this species was found at Druridge Bay in Northumberland, England. Though photographed and even captured briefly on video, the identification was doubted by some sceptics, who simply could not believe that such a rare bird could turn up in Britain.
Away from the well-watched regions of Europe and North America, it is much more likely that birds long considered extinct may yet be rediscovered. The last known Spix's macaw disappeared from its native forest in north-eastern Brazil some time towards the end of the last millennium.
But some species simply refuse to lie down and die. BirdLife recently revealed a possible sighting of the legendary pink-headed duck, the first since before the Second World War, in the remote region of northern Burma. Frustratingly, the bird was seen for just three minutes; and none of the observers had a camera to hand — making it yet another in the long line of "ones that got away." Which brings us to the $64,000 question. Is there any chance — however remote — that any of the three best known extinct birds in history could still be alive, awaiting rediscovery? In ascending order of notoriety, they are the passenger pigeon, whose flocks once darkened the skies over North America; the great auk, the last British example of which was killed by islanders who thought it was a witch; and finally the dodo, which fell victim to hungry sailors and the even hungrier dogs, cats and rats they brought with them.
Were any of these birds to be found again, it would be front-page news all over the world. Sadly, there is about as much chance of this happening as of Elvis being found alive. But then again, we can always dream ...
- Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005

Cook-out by the Körös

I am flying back to Bristol tonight and so last everning was my last with Ibi and family for a few weeks. As it is my birthday next week and by way of a little celebration, Ibi and Tünde, together with Tünde's friend Vera, we had a cook-out evening meal by the Körös river bank not far from Mezőberény. Ibi had bought a cauldron to hang over the fire and we had been given a bagful of wood by one of the boy's parents. The girls chopped wood while Ibi and I prepared food and soon a good fire was keeping mosquitos at bay and an excellent stew was on the boil!

A lovely Mezőberény orange birthday cake was also produced and eaten and a few glasses of wine consumed before returning home for a shower and an early night.

Canoe on the Kőrős

Another visit on Saturday to Szarvas. Ibi had happy memories of her student days paddling kayaks on the river here and had made enquieues as to the present facilities. We hired a Canadian style canoe and enjoyed the experience very much. I was certainly a very rusty canoeist, not having paddled my own canoe since my Outward Bound Mountain School at Eskdale in 1981! (photo below)

We saw much wildlife on the river, birds, insects, fish and freshwater turtles. A few photos are here.

Szarvasi Arborétum and Bodies Exhibition

Yesterday, Sunday was beautiful weather and we drove to the city of Szarvas, visited Tescos for supplies of food and drink then went over the river bridge to the Arbotertum. Photos - here. There were wonderful specimen trees from all over the world and some familiar trees laid out among well tended parkland with many birds including peacocks and meadows to enjoy the fresh air in beautiful surroundings. We almost got lost on the way back but eventually found the way back to the car park and the trusty Trabant. We had had a late picnic breakfast in the arboterum but followed this with a great lunch at the terrace restaurant by the river. We then returned home and I seem to have slept for many hours. Ibi has gone to school and Janos has gone to Budapest to take an exam. 5* Ibi took her exam on Saturday while I was visiting the Bodies exhibition. "Bodies" was well worth the entrance fee. It is an exhibition travelling the world with specialy disected and prepared real human bodies, respectfully displayed and labelled.

Birdsong

Once again I am back in the home of my dear Hungarian friends the Kalmans. I arriverd on Ryanair via Budapest on Wednesday night. All well here and I have amused myself on the first two mornings lying in my bed and trying to sort out the various participants in the dawn chorus coming through my window. Birdsong has been a conscious and recurring wake up call most of my life. Here the summer visitors have arrived and the swallows and house martins are feeding young under the eaves. Common once in Britain, but now increasingly rare, there are many House Sparrows busy with new families. Wood pigeons are giving their distinctive cooing which I remember from childhood sounded somethging like "Take two coos taffy! Heard too are the wingbeats of local White Storks that fly from thier lofty nests to ponds and streams to feed. The swallows and martins are constantly cheeping as they teurn with food for their young and I have heard, though not seen a local cuckoo as it overflies the house on the way to lay alien eggs in some poor Reedwarbler's nest I suspect. I am sure there will be more in my current bird list. Childhood memories of the Rookery in my grandfather's elm tree persist, but no rookery is closeby but I mayl add here others to the list as I identfy them.

Apropos of birdsong: - If you, dear reader have not yet read it, I thoroughly recommend Birdsong, a World War 1 novel by Sebasdtian Foulkes is one of the best novels of its genre in print today. ,

No celebrations here!

Yesterday April 23rd was St George's Day, though few people make any celebrations in the UK. He is patron saint not only of England but also of Aragon, Catalonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal, Germany and Greece; and of Moscow, Istanbul, Genoa and Venice (second to Saint Mark). He's also patron saint of soldiers, archers, cavalry and chivalry, farmers and field workers, Scouts, riders and saddlers, and he helps those suffering from leprosy, plague and syphilis!.

However, Travellers Beware! Sadly in recent years, flying St George's flag in England often signals an unwholesome and unwelcome brand of patriotism. I would like to warn anyone travelling to England, that if the St George's flag is displayed on a building, the owners are likely to hold xenophobic views, and be unwelcoming to any but white English people, maybe evem member of the facist BNP, the British National Party. I am sad that many pubs in England display this flag and any non-white, even a non English person who enters may encounter an unwelcoming attitude even hostility. All very sad really, I should be proud to display my National Flag and in fact I am proud to display the Red, white and blue Union Flag but it seems that the St George's flag has been misappropriated by many people who hold racist views and are best avoided.

Soon it will be Barbecue weather!

Photo of the day! Taken at Ham Hill, Somerset, a few years ago!

Back Home

It's Sunday and I've had three days to recover from my most excellent second trip to Hungary. My knowledge of the Hungarian language has hardly improved, it really is a most impenetrable language! I can however do a fair vocal imitation of storks clattering their beaks together, which they do when greeting their partners!
So, many wonderful memories from this visit thanks to the wonderful family I stay with.
As forecast I have looked out of my window this morning to find a light dusting of snow - maybe 1cm, and it looks very cold outside. No doubt other areas of the UK will have had worse and the news will be full with wintry personal stories of accidents and traffic problems.

Storks around the Town

White Storks of Mezöberény

Some not in the best focus - will try for better next time :)

http://picasaweb.google.com/john0corners/Storks

Brone Age by the Willows

http://vesztomagor.cremona.fotoalbum.hu/viewpicture/pictureid/576802

Yesterday, Sunday was fine and warm, so up early to take advanzage of the Summer Time change of clocks, we took a picnic with us and drove to an important Bronze Age site not far from home. We had a delightful wander around the site though the museum part was still closed for the winter. There were many birds around among the willows and flowering hawthorn trees. I heard my first cuckoo of the year and Janos took many photos with my camera. The scenedry was great and even hot enough to bask in the sun for a while. While we were out, Tűmde won her latest handball match, so that was an improvement!

Photos HERE

Eggs and Buda, Hot Water and Storks

As "every schoolboy" knows, Budapest, the capital city of Hungary is Pest on the right (East) bank of the River Danube and Buda is the name of the old city on the West bank where some wonderful old buildings and monuments remain and there are great views down to the river below. On Thursday we took the train from Mezöbereny, picking up the school group with Janós en route. I was moved and honoured to be given two splendid traditional Hungarian Easter Eggs made specially for me by two of the girls,(see above photo)

The object of the day's trip was to explore the old city and go to the National Military Museum. From the main station, we went by Metro to the old city and climed the steep hill to the museum where the children made a beeline for the shop, but all were so well behaved and seemed interested in the exhibits. There are many fine views from the ramparts of the old city and we saw many fine buildings including the Presidential Palace.

The children stayed on to climb Gelert's hill but I rejoined Ibolya who had been at her tutorial all day and we returned on an earlier train.

Today, Saturday, we have been to see Mezőbereny's own hot spring - a stand pipe near the town swimming pool where several people were filling containers with the water. I tried it and found the taste quite acceptable. Then we drove to the river to take more photos. We were pleaded to see several storks today and a rabbit hopped by two metres away from where we sat and had our picnic lunch. We also visited an interesting small museum at the local pumping station.

While we picniced, we were visited by a rabbit who hopped by us with little concern On the way back we took some photos of a typical small farm, chickens, turkeys, a tractor on a hillock, a dovecote, rickerty barns, a spavined horse, rusting machinery and a traditional water pump, that reminded me of my grandfather's photos from India taken before World War I!

All our photos here

My Portrait!

I am TOLD this is good! It was drawn when we visited the Renaissance Festival at Gyula during my first Hungarian visit in February. What do you think? Please comment!

Another day, another Spa

http://www.gyoparosfurdo.hu/
Good Friday, Southern Hungary. Again combining a couple of work visits for Janos, Ibi and I went to the excellent spa at the town of Orosháza to the north of Szeged. A lovely morning tempted us to the outdoor pool where the thermal waters, jet sprays and people watching kept us amused and soaking in the tea coloured waters. After that we relaxed indoors and I was interviewed for a national Hungarian TV station - Did I like the spa? How do you like Hungary? - that sort of question! If I'm not edited out, maybe we can tape the interview to be shown next Monday - probably. It was my first ever interview wearing only swimming trunks!
We had brought a picnic lunch and after that we walked down to the lake.
As I write this evening we have returned from the school where we have watched a handball match involving Tűnde and her team up against a much stronger team from Bekescsaba. Her school played well and came away noit too displeased with the result which was I think 20 -30 or thereabouts.