Support a good cause / smash the state (!!)

We all like to do our little bit to help others (don't we?!).

I think that what this couple have done is brilliant and, with a bit of imagination and the blind-eye turning of the State, we could all do something similar - I know I would if I wasn't so old!!

Sadly, North Devon Council want to evict this couple: see here.

To stop this, sign the petition (I have - URL link in the story) and let's hope it might make a little difference?!

Honestly...

I swear the world is populated by brainwashed idiots - I dunno what you call these people: conspiracy theorists, paranoid, or just Richard Craniums? Whatever or whoever they are, these two idiotic comments were found scrawled on the wall of an outbuilding at a disused factory / mill complex in Brimscombe, Stroud (not Ham Mills).

More photos of my exploits in the Stroud area, and in general, due on my Flickr over the winter months!

Bit of a mess...

Welcome to my world – Urban Exploring takes many forms, but I prefer to visit anything that's old, disused, abandoned, previously-broken-into, wrecked, unloved and generally forlorn, such as this former mechanics 'shop at a depot in Dudbridge, Stroud, Gloucestershire. Trashed, burnt & wrecked since my previous visit, debris- and graffiti-strewn this, to most, is not the kind of place they want to visit. For me, well, there's a weird kind of attraction, despite the obvious dangers from asbestos, yobs, homeless sorts, druggies, etc. But that's not going to stop me...

Devastation...

When we saw it on TV in June, we were all rightly shocked and appalled by the horrific fire that so rapidly engulfed London's 24-storey Grenfell Tower, claiming eighty-odd lives. But to see it in the 'flesh' is even more stunning, I feel. For starters, the building looks considerably bigger and taller. And the sheer brutality of the fire really hits home.

The whole area is now sealed off, a crime scene – with human remains needing to be preserved inside the charred shell of the structure. I believe efforts have begun to shroud the building in sheeting, though the scaffolding is barely off the ground.

I rarely show emotion – but I had a lump in my throat reading the hundreds of messages pinned to railings, fences and trees for hundreds of metres around – messages of support, messages of hate directed to Kensington and Chelsea Borough Council, messages of solidarity from total strangers or fire brigades in others counties. But most of all, the 'missing' messages – have you seen so-and-so, or such-and-such is still missing... Heart-rending and disturbing.

A needless tragedy, these stark photos are for posterity, not for any sense of anything else. Signs posted everywhere ask visitors not to photograph, or to do so with respect. Absolutely – insensitive I may be to many things, this is one disaster that really shook me!

This ain't no technological breakdown / Oh no, this is the road to hell...

Finally – found it!!! The Road to Hell (with apologies to Chris Rea)! Yes, the A666, here at its start in Irams o' th' Height, Manchester. And believe me, it was a Devil to cross...!

(Don't forget folks, my comments are usually tongue in cheek - plus I'm sure there are thousands of pics on the Net about this road...)

Black plaque

Information sought, please – a couple of these seemingly unofficial looking plaques have popped up on the walls of Bristol in recent weeks, commemorating / condemning the slave trade, which is still (!) a hugely controversial subject in the city! (sigh: move on, please – it'll ALWAYS be Colston Hall to me, thx!!!)

Can anyone shed any light on these, anything? As of 9.8.17, the Internet had no info at all, surprisingly! The plaque carries the English Heritage logo, though I doubt it has anything to do with them. Any info greatly received. This plaque was on the wall of the Galleries car park, Newgate. (12.9.2017: I have since discovered another on a factory wall on Coronation Road, at its jn with Clift House Rd.)

Update: Like anyone cares, but this might explain the phenomenon.

In the middle of nowhere...

Look carefully, but tucked away in this photo is a railway station and two Megabus coaches! Dwarfed by the immense cooling towers of Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottinghamshire, is East Midlands Parkway station, a remote, desolate spot on the East Midlands Trains franchise. One of the newer stations in the realm, it opened in January 2009, and lies very close to the borders of Leicestershire and Derbyshire (by all accounts), at SK4972829658.