Indian Summer (1)

Making the most of the wonderfully warm and dry weather of the last few days. 

Perhaps the last for some time to come.

It's me or the dog!

Mmmmm.  Tough call.

The house on the hill.

For anyone who has one too many drinks, it is obviously all downhill.

Another Battleground?

The disused tennis court, where the 3 cars are parked, is attracting much interest from potential developers, but there are fears that the extremely popular childrens' area will be swept away if a developer is allowed to acquire an area larger than the tennis court.

One for sorrow ........

Smile please.

My word, didn't they scrub up well.

Out of Town Shopping

Yesterday we went to track down a bargain at the Liskeard branch of the Trago Mills Group, which is about 25 miles from Plymouth.

This large complex, the first of the chain, was opened in 1961 by Mike Robertson, a larger than life entrepreneur with very strong political views. His densely typed, full page press adverts, were roughly half listings of the bargains of the week, and half strongly worded crticisms and/or jokes at the expense of his political opponents and the decisions of the local planning authorities.

Needless to say in the early days plans for expansion and development led to bitter battles with the planning authorities.

The chain is still owned by the family and is currently run by the son of the founder Bruce Robertson.

Your never too old for lycra.

But I wish I'd brought the bike because walking around in these shoes is killing me.

Through a glass darkly.

I took these shots through the heavily tinted windows of the Penthouse Bar on the top floor of the 

Holiday Inn, Plymouth, on the opening day of the America's Cup Regatta.

Rapunzel

Do my feet look big in these?

Safe in their hands.

The Esplanade enjoys probably the best waterfront position in the city. At the highest point on Plymouth Hoe, it commands uninterrupted panoramic views of Plymouth Sound and the surrounding countryside of Devon and Cornwall.

 Looked at from the sea, it starts at the right with this house.

and ends with this recent development at the left hand end.







 I read the City Planning Department's mission statement with great interest. It is good to know that this is all part of careful strategy for harmonious development which is in the capable hands of a team of experts who write.

"Urban design draws together many strands of place making; it looks at an area as a whole - the buildings, the spaces around and between the buildings, streets and landscaped areas so that what is created is a place with distinct identity but which also works seamlessly with its surroundings.

Urban design is about creating a vision for an area and through dialogue and negotiation, that vision is realised.

By analysing existing places and the complex relationships between the various parts we can learn to recreate the positive qualities and avoid the more negative aspects, so as to create a stimulating, rich and exciting new environment."

America's Cup - That's all folks!

Today is the last day of racing.

The circus moves on.

Tomorrow helicopters will no longer be swooping over Plymouth Sound because there will be no action to film, within a few days the boats will have been dismantled and loaded back on to the container ship, the TV communications centre and the big screen on the Hoe will  fall silent and the entire race village will have disappeared.

This was last chance to get up close to these beautiful craft.

The America's Cup - Watching from the shore.

You can always tell where the free hospitality bar is.



The view from The Hoe was great

but the Big Screen, with its coverage (in sound and vision) 

from the onboard cameras added  a whole new dimension to the experience

But some soon lost interest in the racing.

The America's Cup

This week Plymouth Sound is host to one of the most expensive sporting events in the world. The America's Cup Fleet has arrived from their last regatta in Portugal on this next leg of the world wide series of encounters leading up the the World championship in San Francisco next year.

There are nine, 45ft ft long, carbon fibre, wing sailed boats, each costing over £800,000. The operation travels on its own container ship, from which was unloaded not only the race boats but an entire tented race headquarters village together with a full-scale international sattelite TV communication centre.

Plymouth Sound is a natural amphitheatre and the racing has drawn large crowds who have seen spectacular capsizes in very high winds (Click here to check out Sunday's action) and highly skilled sailing when the crews have managed high speeds in light winds. These pictures were taken on Wednesday.

And at the line, the winner is.......

Me



The rain taster.

Are we nearly there yet?

The lonely lifeguard

What little summer we have had this year has definitely given way to autumn.

Yesterday this lone swimmer even had his wet suit on to keep out the cold

and, up on his perch, I suspect the lifeguard was wearing thermal underwear.

Another shoal of fish.

These wonderful fish are the work of Alick Sweet, the well known Australian sculptor and artist, whose work has been exhibited around the world, particularly in leading galleries in Australia and the US. Alick has strong links to the city of Plymouth because he was born here, and has revisited several times over the years.

Throughout his distinguished career Alick has worked in a wide range of materials, but for this series he continues to immerse himself in his lifelong passion for wood.

All his materials come from sustainable forests or are recycled pieces from wherever he can find them.

Take a look at some more of Alick's fish and some other animals here.
Read more of Alick's work here, scroll down to page 11.

Mum says fish should only smell of the sea.

A wall outside the National Marine Aquarium, Plymouth.

Wishful Thinking

There will be very little view of the park through this lot.

The Family

Portraits of the Artist.

This is the scene he was looking down on.