BIG BANDS, PAINTINGS AND GORMLEY

A sort of interesting day not our usual mix at all really but very good to relax and take time out . We didn't dash off out too early, we had a good lay in bed and then got the DVD orders packed and round to the post office then to Knutsford, did the banking, paying in etc then took off in the direction  of Waterloo which basically takes you up to Seaforth Docks where I film, I never remembered i all those visits that it is so close to Waterloo where my adopted fathers family came from, I first visited in 1957. Anyway we are getting ahead of ourselves so rewind to looking for the cafe called Timberwolf Grind and Tap which was near the station which of course is Waterloo Station only the opposite end of the country to the station of similar name in the deep south. We were there to look at Jennie's art exhibition which really filled most of the cafe toilet included. Sometimes erring towards depression myself I couldn't live with the paintings of darker places but the lighter ones did attract and we nabbed no less than four, sent Jeannie feed back on Facebook, yes that's rarity for me venturing into the mess, oh to be back i the days of Friends Reunited or even pre social media.

After have a brew and cake we went down to the seafront end where the houses looked remarkably preserved and then to Thorndale Rd where my dad grew up and I visited on holiday twice and then once as a teenager, we've been back three times before but i'd never located or even tried to find the crown green bowling pitches where Gandad Prof played, this time I tracked it down, one green survives, had long chat with park keeper, it looks better in the summer when mown, looked very run down, he'd been there about 20 years it was out of use when he started. Nice to find it bringing back plenty of childhood memories much of which would be found in my autobiography' A Smudge on my lens', copies still available. Anyway here is a shot of the green, only a couple of hundred yards or so from the old family house, from one of Prof's siblings another branch of the Spencer family grew on a nearby road they lived next door to the Booth family of Cherie and Tony fame, we never even met them when I was young. Grandmother Daisy was such a dragon that the two branches of the family kept apart.

A photo can't convey that sense of belonging and history. Then we went up to Formby, parked up and saw Gormleys work for the first time only the tide was nearly in and the people we nearly engulfed in the sea so left the photo which would have looked naff in favour of the starlings which landed on our windscreen

A chap in the car next to use went out to feed them with crumbs from their scones.. We headed back to Manchester, Mandy had a spend up in Whitestuff , Christmas market in full swing, not our thing but on this chilly bright tea time it felt right. Then to the RNCM and dinner, much better than last weeks turkey braised beef and a sumptuous dessert. It was the Big Band concert, a sell out and ther was another performance in the concert theatre, two full houses what an achievement. Back home and caught up with the soaps. Next Bus Spot production is going to be Burnley a suitable project for a freezing day with strong winds!