Merry Christmas

As its Christmas I thought I would dig out an old photo. Many years ago I was flying along and three men with beards started following me on camels. I flew for miles but they wouldn't leave. In the end I asked some shepherds where I could hide from these men. They panicked at first but after I said I wasn't going to eat them or their sheep, well maybe a little nibble, they calmed down and suggested a stable nearby. They said I could get something to eat there as well. So I flew off and found the place. I landed and found some people with a baby and thought it would be nice to give them some gold from my hoard as they obviously had no money. Then who should burst in but the men on their camels followed by the shepherds. One of the bearded men didn't have anything with him so gave the baby my gold I had already given him, cheek! They claimed to be wise men, didn't seem that wise to me following a dragon and then pretending my gold was his. I had a camera with me and got one of the shepherds to take a photo of us. Obviously back then we didn't have digital cameras so I've scanned this in from a print I had done later in Rome on the way back to Wales.

Clifford's Tower in York

I'm standing in front of Clifford's Tower. Its part of what's left of York Castle. Originally built by William the Conqueror the castle has been changed over the years. The original wooden tower was burnt down in 1190 and rebuilt. In the middle of 13th C Henry III decided to knock it down and build an entirely stone tower. Wooden castles aren't really that useful, especially against us dragons. For people that can't fly (I don't know how they manage) there are steps going up to the tower. The path used to wind round the mound up to the tower, which sounds more fun than the straight steps there now. Nobody knows why its called Clifford's Tower - they could tell you that before making you climb all those steps to read the information inside the tower.

York Tyburn

I'm at the site of York gallows in Knavesmire, know as York Tyburn. Knavesmire is about a mile from York Castle and is a marshy area. Executions used to attract large crowds who would gather in nearby pubs and get drunk before going to watch the hangings. The gallows were here until 1801 and is now home to York race course, so it still does attract large crowds who get drunk before the entertainment. The most famous person executed here was Dick Turpin in 1739.

Shaun the Sheep - Bristol IV

From Dusk 'til Shaun. A nocturnal Shaun with a sunset colour scheme. I like this one, very colourful. He is in Brandon Hill Nature Park. Hill is the important bit there. It's quite steep. Nice park, but steep. In the background is Cabot Tower, built in 1897 to commemorate the voyage of John Cabot from Bristol to Newfoundland (they thought long and hard over naming that). It's 100 feet high and you can climb to the top using the staircase inside if the climb up the hill wasn't enough for you, or you can fly if you have wings.

Shaun in the City - Bristol III

Shaun on the Cob, Shaun the Sheep crossed with a corn on the cob. In a shopping centre, just outside a fairly well known shop. Having met this Shaun I started feeling peckish, not that dragons eat vegetables but they do eat - better not say it around Shaun -. Which probably explains why I kept fancying a snack.

Shaun in the City - Bristol II

This Shaun is Cecilia. Cecilia is covered with Laura Ashley designs and is in one of the shopping centres in Bristol - there's a few of those and you can't always tell one ends and another begins. Cecilia was very nice, only trouble is he looked like a duvet so I kept thinking it was bed time. The noise in the shopping centre would have kept me awake and it was a bit bright, I prefer my nice dark caves.

Shaun in the City - Bristol I

Off to Bristol for more Shauns. Bristol is the home of Shaun the Sheep and is a rather nice city, it's also close to Wales which makes it even nicer, but not as nice as if it was in Wales. Anyway, this Shaun is Bagpuss Shaun in Cabot Circus. I know who Bagpuss is, but I don't get the frog on his head. Still he seemed a nice enough frog, not keen on the banjo though. I was hoping to find Jessica Fletcher but Shaun and the Frog didn't know who I was talking about. I guess they had only lived in Cabot Circus for a couple of days so didn't know everybody yet.