Composite view of Liverpool

This postcard is a composite of four pictures that are all scenes you will come across to when doing the Liverpool Waterfront walk. The top left photo is that of a close-up of The Beatles Statue; top right is that of Edward VII Monument with the Port of Liverpool building in the background; bottom left is that of the stairway near the Museum of Liverpool with the 'Three Graces' in the foreground; bottom right is another view of The Beatles Statue.

We saw all these sights and attractions when we did the Liverpool Waterfront walking tour. We went to Liverpool on the penultimate day of our summer holiday in North Wales last 2023. It was only a little over an hour's drive from our holiday park. The highlight of our tour was the Liverpool Waterfront walk, where this picture of a boat docked with the famous 'Three Graces' in the background.

Liverpool

Liverpool is a maritime city in northwest England, where the River Mersey meets the Irish Sea. A key trade and migration port from the 18th to the early 20th centuries, it's also, famously, the hometown of The Beatles. Ferries cruise the waterfront, where the iconic mercantile buildings known as the "Three Graces" – Royal Liver Building, Cunard Building and Port of Liverpool Building – stand on the Pier Head. (Google)

We visited Liverpool on the penultimate day of our summer holiday in North Wales last 2023. It was only a little over an hour's drive from our holiday park. The highlight of our tour was the Liverpool Waterfront walk, where this picture of a boat docked with the famous 'Three Graces' in the background.

Isle of Anglesey, North Wales

A place of unparalleled beauty and amazing adventures, Anglesey is an historic island full of character. A place that inspires and appeals to all the senses. (Visit Wales)

The Isle of Anglesey was one of the places we visited during our summer holiday in North Wales in 2023. Our day tour was spent mostly in the picturesque Llanddwyn Island and then made brief stops to view the Menai Bridge and Llanfairpwll Station Sign (longest station name in Europe) before we ended up the day in Beaumaris. It was too late to visit the castle by then so we did a quick tour of the town including the pier before heading back to our holiday caravan in Presthaven.

Inside Plas Mawr, Conwy

Never was a building better named. Plas Mawr, or the Great Hall, is quite simply the finest surviving Elizabethan town house anywhere in Britain.

This was a golden age when fabulously wealthy merchants invested in mansions, rich fittings and lavish entertaining. Robert Wynn, third son of a local landowner, wanted a piece of the action.

He entered the service of Tudor diplomats and travelled to the most splendid royal courts of Europe. His fortune made, he bought a mansion house in Conwy for £200 and between 1576 and 1585 turned it into a celebration of his life, times and wealth. (Visit Wales)

Plas Mawr, Conwy

Plas Mawr is the best Elizabethan town house in Britain. Located in Conwy, home to one of Edward I’s castles, Conwy is the perfect place for history lovers. Robert Wynn bought the house in 1576, for the fee of £200; Wynn set about building the mansion to its current look.

Visitors can step back in time and experience what life was like in a Tudor home. Explore 17 rooms all decorated to their original taste, and imagine the conversations that must have been had during a very difficult period in British history. In addition, after four years of restoration the Elizabethan garden has been brought back to its previous, magnificent best. (Visit Conwy)

Conwy Castle, Conwy

This postcard view is of the impressive Conwy Castle as seen across the river Conwy. We went to the Castle and the town in summer of 2023 and the Castle is huge and imposing as you enter the town's bridge. We spent half a day touring the Castle and walking within the town walls.

Magnificent medieval fortress still towers over town after 700 years

Thanks to restored spiral staircases in its great towers you can walk a complete circuit around the battlements of Conwy Castle. We highly recommend it. This is one of the most magnificent medieval fortresses in Europe.

Conwy Castle, an artist's impression

Magnificent medieval fortress still towers over town after 700 years

Thanks to restored spiral staircases in its great towers you can walk a complete circuit around the battlements of Conwy Castle. We highly recommend it. This is one of the most magnificent medieval fortresses in Europe.

In the distance rise the craggy mountains of Snowdonia and spread out below you are the harbour and narrow streets of Conwy – still protected by an unbroken 1,400-yard (1.3km) ring of town walls.

It’s enough to take the breath away. Especially when you consider that King Edward I and his architect Master James of St George built both castle and walls in a barely believable four years between 1283 and 1287. (Visit Wales)

'Hafod Eryri', Snowdon summit building

The current building, Hafod Eryri, on the summit of Snowdon first opened in June 2009. The name derives from the Welsh word for a summer dwelling on the mountain. It welcomes over six hundred thousand visitors a year and it’s not hard to see why, on a clear day the views can stretch as far as Ireland.

On arrival at Hafod Eryri you are welcomed into a modern, contemporary environment where you can relax and take in the incredible views to the valleys below. During your 30-minute stopover, you can venture up to the cairn which, at 1085m above sea level, is the highest point in Wales and England!!

Within the building is a café area serving a selection of ‘grab and go’ food and beverages to enjoy whilst taking in the panoramic views. Hafod Eryri is the UK’s highest re-fuelling station! Our gift shop stocks a range of unique souvenirs, clothing, and local produce; you can even send a postcard from the summit post box! (Snowdon Mountain Railway)

Sunset from Snowdon summit

The picture of this postcard (front) shows the summit visitor centre with a spectacular sunset behind it taken from midway up the stairs as you climb towards the summit of Mount Snowdon.

The current building, Hafod Eryri, on the summit of Snowdon first opened in June 2009. The name derives from the Welsh word for a summer dwelling on the mountain. It welcomes over six hundred thousand visitors a year and it’s not hard to see why, on a clear day the views can stretch as far as Ireland. (Snowdon Mountain Railway)

The back of the postcard shows a small photo of one of the heritage steam carriages that regularly goes up to the summit of Snowdon. However, the one we rode in when we had our annual summer holiday in North Wales in 2023 was a traditional diesel train. It took us an hour with lots of amazing views to see as our train slowly ran up to the summit visitor centre. Then we had 30 minutes to admire the summit before going down again for another hour.

Red poppy

Yellow #1

Canopy

 

St Francis of Assisi exhibition at the National Gallery

The first major art exhibition in the UK to explore the life and legacy of Saint Francis of Assisi (1182–1226), one of history’s most inspirational and revered figures, will be staged at the National Gallery next spring.

The exhibition presents the art and imagery of Saint Francis from the 13th century to today and examines how his spiritual radicalism, his commitment to the poor, his love of God and nature, as well as his striving for peace between enemies and openness to dialogue with other religions, make him a figure of enormous relevance to our times...

Kingfisher

Story

Graffiti under the bridge: Gallery

Story

If you have not read the story of these graffiti I found under bridge during my regular walks in Thorpe Meadows please go here or click the link above.

As a regular in Thorpe Meadows where we do our walks and cycling I always find this place a nice contrast, the once drab industrial walls transformed by colourful graffiti, juxtaposed with the natural surrounding of trees, grasses and the river nearby. After all, this site is part of Thorpe Meadows, one of the smaller parks that comprise the Ferry Meadows Country Park.

All photos were taken with an Android phone, Google Pixel 6 (https://amzn.to/3XDYCWr)

Nothing but a shadow of myself

Graffiti under the bridge

Gallery

Underneath the Nene Parkway - Longthorpe Flyover in Orton Mere is a hidden gem, a legal graffiti site that is a beauty to behold. Located in Thorpe Meadows where you will find Nene Park’s purpose-built rowing lake, nice riverside walks and a public sculpture collection, these graffiti walls are a very welcome sight to regular walkers and cyclists who have seen this part of the bridge once littered with ugly graffiti by vandals.

I think the reason this place was touched up was because it became a venue for outdoor dance events by a company called Mixology. They held their first dance event in this area in summer of 2021 and I seem to recall passing by this site while out cycling with my wife. I think they were about to start back then as we saw young people walking towards this site, which was fenced off and had a few burly security staff directing them to the venue.

The Worker's Maypole

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Sunflowers (1888) by Vincent van Gogh

Our family visited the National Gallery in London one Sunday afternoon in early June 2023. It can be overwhelming to look at the vast collection of art masterpieces on display in the gallery but it is really amazing to see up close. One of the more popular artwork on display basing from the many visitors looking and taking 'selfies' or 'groupies' of it when we were there is the Sunflowers, a painting created in 1988 by the famous Dutch Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh.

According to the National Gallery:

This is one of five versions of Sunflowers on display in museums and galleries across the world. Van Gogh made the paintings to decorate his house in Arles in readiness for a visit from his friend and fellow artist, Paul Gauguin.

An Old Woman

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