Façades - Old and New.

Two contrasting shop fronts in Cardiff, 

where I enjoyed a short stay just before Christmas.

Early Saturday morning on the River Plym.

Young members of The Plymouth Amateur Rowing Club take advantage of a rare spell of calm water,

 before the next storm which is due to hit the city on Monday. 

Although the storm has passed overnight ....

..... there is still a bit of a swell along the waterfront on Friday morning.

"When I'm cleaning windows."

The window cleaners' anthem.

On your marks! Get set!

Let the SHOPPING SEASON begin!

The shopping season was already in full swing in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales, 

when I was there a day or two before Christmas.

Little and Large

in Cardiff City Centre.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Because there are almost no functioning chimneys nowadays,

Santa has to start his deliveries well before nightfall.

Emergency Exit?

Parkour

Running, Jumping, and Standing Still.

Close encounters of the third kind.

These two "alien craft"

 are reflections of lights in the room from within which I took this photo.

Will there be room at the Inn?

Seeping through the cracks.

Arches and Alleyways

in the Royal William Yard complex

Early on a cold, December morning, before many people are stirring. 

'Tis the season of goodwill,

and accelerated tooth decay.

A small corner of the window display in my favourite sweet shop in Saltash.

A Mondrian Maze

Viewed only from the inside, escaping from a maze can prove very difficult.

but seen from slightly higher ground a solution is often surprisingly straightforward.

"If winter comes,

can spring be far behind?"

                                                                                   Ode to the West Wind

                                                                                  Percy Bysshe Shelley

Walking the dogs.

at Stonehouse Creek.

Fake snow, polar bears and a snow globe.

As the old song says,

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas." 

Sunset

Another "Waterfront" village ......

...... is taking shape. 

This one is being built around a newly opened, 187 berth marina, in Millbay Dock.

The development is planned to provide, the now familiar mix of, high rise waterfront apartment blocks, 

sat on top of a range of bars, restaurants, boutiques and galleries at quayside level.

An Unusual Charity Collecting Box

This collecting box, for the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society is on the quayside in Sutton Harbour.

Curvilinear

Barely a straight line anywhere in an out of season, children's, bathing pool at the Mount Wise Lido.

Britain's Ocean City (3)

The view from The Devonport Tower to the east, 

over some of the newly completed regeneration projects which surround the Tower,

then to the taller buildings of City Centre, and on towards the mouth of the River Plym, 

which enters Plymouth Sound from the left hand side of the city.

Britain's Ocean City (2)

Looking out from the Devonport Column,
down onto the River Tamar where it flows into Plymouth Sound.

The 40 metre high mast, on the green hill of Mount Wise,
marks the spot on which was built The Mount Wise Redoubt ,
the guns of which could control all movement in and out of the River.

The grey, military-looking complex, just beyond the Redoubt, is The Royal William Yard ,
once the main victualling depot for the Royal Navy now redeveloped as a complex of apartments, restaurants, bars and boutiques.

Just beyond the Royal William Yard, in The Sound, is Drake's Island , which is just off Plymouth Hoe.

The small island on the horizon is The Mew Stone
which lies just beyond the eastern end of The Plymouth Breakwater  

Britain's Ocean City (1)

Plymouth calls itself "Britain's Ocean City" because everything about the city seems to face the sea.

Even the City Centre is on the extreme seaward edge, only a few yards from the waterfront.

This panorama, taken from the Devonport Column, (see yesterday's post), 

shows the River Tamar flowing into Plymouth Sound from the right hand side,

while the River Plym flows into the Sound from the left.

On a clear day ...

....... climbing the 137 steps to the viewing platform of the newly restored Devonport Column, 

offers a wonderful 360º vista of the city.

Come back tomorrow to share this elevated viewpoint.

Saturday afternoon by the river.

This is the walkway along the Plymouth bank of the River Tamar, at Mount Wise, 

heading towards  The Royal William Yard , (on the right of the picture)

the wonderful development of apartments, restaurants, bars, boutiques, galleries and studios, 

in what was once the main victualling depot for The Royal Navy.

Two Different Worlds

It is only about a 200 metre walk, through the Mount Wise Lido,
from the location of yesterday's post to The Mayflower Marina.

Although the two anchorages are so close in distance they are widely different in character.
(Take a look back at yesterday)