London Bus Sculpture Trail V

The fifth bus I found is on Charing Cross Road just as it meets Trafalgar Square. This is London Skyline Bus by Kristjana S Williams, who also did Gull Graeni Straeto which I photographed earlier. It is decorated with images of London landmarks.

London Bus Sculpture Trail IV

Back on the bus trail and this is Busby. Also outside the London Transport Museum. Busby is also known as 'Queen's Conductor', I presume a play on bus conductor and the guardsman's uniform the bus is wearing. This one is by Oliver Dean an illustrator and artist from Essex, he has another bus on the trail. As this bus is wearing a bearskin hat (not real bearskin I hope) it was a bit warmer to sit on on a winters day than the others with metal roofs (or rooves if you're from parts of the country that use that).

I like this bus. It has the chin strap coming down and the markings from the uniform of one the guards regiments uniforms. On the side is the rose shoulder badge and at the front are the garter stars from the collar badge, though I thought they were eye's at first. It's the Coldstream Guards uniform, but it doesn't have the red plume in its bearskin.

Paddington Trail London III

The third Paddington I met. This one goes by the name of Paddington Jack, explains the coat. It does make him look very patriotic - for a Peruvian bear. It was designed by Davina McCall the television presenter. Paddington Jack is on Horse Guards Parade outside the Churchill War Rooms, which used to be The Cabinet War Rooms but I suppose tourists tend to recognise 'Churchill' more than 'Cabinet'. Unless they are furniture sellers, but they would be in for some disappointment if they visited thinking it would be about their work. Behind me (and Paddington) in the photograph are Clive Steps with a statue of Clive of India. You can also see part of The Foreign and Commonwealth Office building which was originally built as the India Office in the 1860's.

Paddington Trail London II

Another Paddington who wanted his photograph with me. This one is Little Bear Blue designed by Intel, the technology company. His colour is 'Intel Blue' and has 100 LED lights, you can see some in the photograph. Little Bear Blue is outside Framestore in Soho. Framestore is the CGI company involved in the new Paddington film.

Paddington Trail London

It's a busy time for trails in London. Aside from the Bus Sculpture Trail there is the Paddington Trail. The Paddington Trail is related to the release of the new Paddington Bear film. There are fifty statues around London each designed by an artist, designer or celebrity. The trail will raise money for the NSPCC.

This Paddington is Rainbow by Darcey Bussell, the ballerina. I expect his tutu and ballet shoes are inside his case. Rainbow Paddington is outside the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. So he is quite close to the London Transport Museum, not sure if he has a ride on the bus sculptures there.

London Bus Sculpture Trail III

I'm now at the start of the bus trail which is outside the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden. This bus is called Accessibus and is by Liliana Ortega. Accessibus is decorated using ideas from UCLs Accessibility Research Group, Liliana Ortgea is a Phd student at UCL. There's lots of words and phrases that come up in interviews all over the bus.

The windows on this bus are covered in blackboard paint. The idea is that people can give their thoughts using chalk. The quote from the website is "Accessibus is an ever-changing sculpture which will give helpful feedback on people's views on these topics." From my photo the feedback seems to be that buses should be driven by 'Mrs Dean' and 'Delia & John' should sit upstairs at the front. Which of the three 'people' are Delia and John I'm not sure. I look forward to all buses being driven by 'Mrs Dean', though how easy that will be to achieve I don't know.

London Bus Sculpture Trail II

This bus is close to the Buckingham Palace one in the previous post, just a few yards away. It's called Gull Graeni Straeto and is by Kristjana S Williams an artist born in Iceland. I guess the buses name means something in Icelandic then. It has a lot of London's landmarks painted on it, the other side is slightly different. The front has the London Orbit Tower on it, which was built for the Olympics, with the London Eye. You can just make it out in the photo. To the back of the bus I think is the Post Office Tower with a giant bird on it - would look better with a dragon instead.

London Bus Sculpture Trail

2014 is the 'Year of the Bus'. I don't know why it's the year of the bus nor who decided it was, I might decided to call 2015 the 'Year of Cute Little Red Dragons' and see who goes along with it. Anyway, as part of The Year of the Bus there are 60 model buses being placed around London to form trails. Lots of artists and designers have come up with designs for these buses, the basic model is the new Route Master, to showcase the role of Buses in London (you can tell I'm reading the publicity blurb as I'm not really sure what its all about).

This bus is inspired by Buckingham Palace. It is the work of Mandii Pope, an artist from New Zealand, and is outside Transport for London offices on Victoria Street. I resisted the urge to wear a big black wig and play guitar when I got on the top.

Caerwent

I'm visiting Caerwent today. It's a village in Monmouthshire between Newport and Chepstow. The walls in the photographs are Roman. The Roman town was known as Venta Silurum and was the tribal capital of the Silures tribe . A lot of the Roman walls are still standing and some places the walls are over 15' high. The walls include some towers that were added towards the end of the Roman occupation. As they are now the walls have some handy niches for me to sit in and have my photograph taken. Maybe they were built that way to keep dragons happy by giving them somewhere to rest.

Around the village are remains of a number of Roman buildings. The Forum, Basilica, some temples and some houses have been found and you can walk around the foundations of these.

Tenby

My first visit to Tenby. It is a town on the Pembrokeshire coast and still has its medieval walls. You can see the 13th Century walls behind me, I don't think the car park sign is quite that old.

In Welsh Tenby is Dinbych y Pysgod - Little Town of Fishes. The Normans strengthened the castle next to the town. After it was attacked by Llewelyn The Great the town walls were built. This was done by William de Valence, Earl of Pembroke. At times it appears this period of history seems to consist of somebody called Llewlyn attacking somewhere and a Norman called William building a wall or castle.

Tenby is where Henry Tudor sheltered (I think that's polite for hid from people with swords) before leaving the country during the Wars of the Roses. When he returned and became Henry VII the town benefited from royal grants.

The town suffered a decline after the civil wars. It lost a lot of its population and became very run down. Then Napoleon came along and rescued it - sort of. As rich people could no longer visit fashionable parts of Europe they started looking for places in Britain to go. Sir William Paxton built a 'bathing establishment' then a hotel and cottages. This attracted lots of the tourists who could no longer go to Europe. The towns revival continued into Victorian times.

Tenby is now a very pretty town. A cliff top road gives lovely views into the harbour. The centre of town is full of narrow streets with brightly painted Victorian shops.

Big Pit - Blaenavon

I'm at Big Pit in Blaenavon, Wales. Big Pit is an old coal mine that is now a museum. You can even go down into the mine itself (bit like being home) where an ex-miner talks about mining, you can't take cameras or phones down there as there is still the risk of gas. Down in the mine there are still the stalls for the pit ponys.

Big Pit is an amalgamation of a number of mines, the oldest dating back to 1812. The main shaft at Big Pit was opened in 1860. It closed in 1980, though there is still plenty of coal down there. Above ground you can wander around and see the winch room for the lift, which is behind me in the photograph, and the miners baths. The baths were built in 1939, before that the miners had to go home to wash.

Blaenavon itself is a World Heritage Site due to it's role in the industrial revolution. Not far from Big Pit is the iron works.

Epping Forest

This is Epping Forest. I like coming here as its nice and peaceful. I often see rabbits and deer (yum yum) running around.This is a hilly part of the forest. Here I'm on a railing at the bottom of a hill, the path crosses a small stream then goes up another hill. Sometimes it's easier to fly, especially when it's muddy. There's a lot of mud in the forest at times and it gets stuck on my claws which I don't like. The other good thing about flying there is it startles the birds of prey, they aren't used to dragons.

Epping Forest stretches from east London to Epping in Essex. It's about 13 miles long with a mixture of open grassland and forest. So there's plenty of space for me to explore.

Chepstow Castle III

A couple more photos at Chepstow Castle. As the castle was built in stages along the river Wye it has an unusual shape. It is a series of terraces stretching along the cliff top.

During the civil war the castle was besieged twice, in 1645 and 1648. It was defended by the Royalists. The Parliamentarians captured it in 1648. After the war it was garrisoned and used as prison. When it stopped being used a castle it started falling in to decay. Its uses including a farmyard and a factory.

By the late 18th C the castle was a popular sight for tourists. Conservation work started in 1914 and in 1953 it was put in the care of the Ministry of Works. The castle has been used in the making of two films, the 1913 version of Ivanhoe and 1977's Jabberwocky. I think they would both have benefited from an appearance by a proper red dragon.

Chepstow Castle II

They must have been expecting me at the castle as this nice throne was ready for me, well it's what a Welsh dragon would expect when visiting a castle.

In the 1190's the castle was expanded by William Marshall (Normans were rather fond of 'William' as a name). He built the main gatehouse and strengthened other parts. After his death his sons (including a William!) continued building.

In 1270 the castle passed to Roger Bigod. He also expanded the castle. Adding new accommodation for his family, remodelling the Great Tower and building a new tower - Marten's Tower. He also built Chepstow town wall. I'm surprised the Normans had time for fighting as they must have been very busy building all these castles and walls.

Chepstow Castle

I'm visiting Chepstow, it's a handy place to stop travelling from Cardiff to London. The Normans started building the castle in 1067, one year after the conquest of England. Making it the oldest non-Roman stone fort in Britain. It was built for William FitzOsbern, a relative of William the Conqueror. FitzOsbern was first given control of the Isle of Wight then made Earl of Hereford. This part of England wasn't under full Norman control and bordered Wales. The Welsh were independent of England back then, though the Anglo-Saxons had invaded Wales a few times, with King Harold being the most recent and successful before he became king. This castle will have helped impress and intimidate the Anglo-Saxons still fighting and the Welsh.

Nereid in Cardiff

Another visit to Cardiff. I met this Nereid, she wasn't doing any guided tours to the city - dragon or not. She seemed a bit occupied with that bird on her hand, so I sat on a fish and posed for the picture.

Nereids are sea nymphs from the Aegean Sea -this one's a bit lost. They are the fifty daughters of Nereus and Doris (sounds like they might really be from the East End). The Nereids would go to the aid of sailors in heavy storms. This one looks like she goes to the aid of birds as well. I didn't spot any of the other 49, nor Doris. Though she was probably having a knees up round the piano in some pub.

Horse Ride in London

I've found a dragons only ride in London. This is a night time excursion on a lovely white horse. It starts round the corner from Trafalgar Square, which is where this photograph was taken. The ride was only available for a short time and has stopped now. It was fun while it lasted.

The horse, Ethelred, gives a commentary as he trots along. All very informative. Ethelred was telling me that sometimes people try to climb on despite the signs telling them not to. He thinks its because humans can't read. I think its because they are silly, just nowhere near as sensible as dragons or even horses. He moves away when people try to get on, I said I would singe them with my flames, much more effective. Pity we're not allowed to eat people any more.

Soho Square

I often pass through Soho Square and have noticed this group before. This time I thought I'd stop and have a chat, though not sit on the ground which was damp and a bit muddy. Given their lack of clothing I didn't know quite where to look and didn't get round to asking where their clothes were. They were jolly enough, probably cold as well, and we had a pleasant chat.

Soho Square was built in the 1670's and called Kings Square after Charles II. A statue of him was placed in the middle of the square in 1681. It was removed in 1875 and replaced by the half timbered building in the background of the photo. The building is a tool shed, I think it would make a good dragon house. The statue of Charles II went to an island in a lake on an estate called Grime's Dyke. It stayed there until it came back to the square in 1938.

In a Tale of Two Cities Charles Dickens has Dr Manette living in a house on Soho Square.

Royal Leamington Spa II

Here I am in another part of Jepshon Gardens. Behind me is the Davis Clock Tower. It was built in 1925 and named after William Davis who was mayor of Leamington three times. The park was originally called Newbold Gardens in 1834, it became Jepshon Gardens twelve years later. They seem to like changing names in this town. I'm not sure what the metal pillars are for, maybe somebody put them here ready for small visiting dragons as a handy place to pose for a photo. In the gardens there are a number of memorials, one of these is for Dr Henry Jepshon. He was a local doctor who promoted the spa waters. Apparently an album by Ocean Colour Scene features the Jepshon Memorial on the front. Not sure what the connection is.

Royal Leamington Spa

My first visit to Leamington, it likes changing it's name. It's been Lamintone, Leamington Priors then Royal Leamington Spa but known as Leamington Spa or just Leamington. Could get confusing, but nobody has written a song on the subject yet.

This photo is in Jephson Gardens, a park on the banks of the River Leam. Apparently it has lots of colourful floral displays, think I picked the wrong day. The gardens were created in 1831 and have won a number of prizes in recent years. There's a glasshouse here with tropical plants and a goldfish pond. Sounds warmer than where I'm standing. A boating lake is here, not a good day for that either.

Also in Jephson Gardens is a Czech memorial fountain to honour members of the Czech Free Army which was based in Leamington. The fountain is in the shape of a parachute and engraved around the bowl are seven names. These are the men who were parachuted in to Czechoslovakia from Leamington to assassinate the Nazi Governor of Bohemia, Heydrich, in operation Anthropoid. They succeeded but were killed after.

Giant Doughnut in Brighton

Walking along Brighton seafront I spotted this giant doughnut and feeling peckish I flew over. I was very disappointed to discover it wasn't real. It turns out it's a piece of art called 'Afloat', not sure it would float as its made of bronze. Afloat is a globe with the poles pushed together, which is the hole. Not sure I understand it, much prefer a nice chocolate doughnut.