The Scottish Play

For those of a nervous and superstitious disposition, look away now, I went to see a live screening of the National Theatre Live performance of Macbeth at a local Cineworld cinema. Okay, you can look again now, that's the last time I'll mention Macbeth (whoops)*

The National Theatre Live have Macbeth playing at the Manchester International Festival from a unconsecrated church in Manchester itself.

I studied Macbeth for my English literature exam at school and have seen a number of productions on TV and on film and I do like it a lot. This tragic tale of treachery and ambition was a joy to watch with some remarkable performances from Sir Kenneth Brannagh as the eponymous villain, Alex Kingston as Lady Macbeth, Jimmy Yull as Banquo and Ray Fearon as Macduff.

The church floor was covered in mud and the fight scenes at the beginning took place with rain pouring from the rafters. The audience were warned not to wear their Sunday best for fear of getting splashed with mud and fake blood, several did.

This was a real full on version with minimal sets and props relying on the superb performances and that didn't disappoint. The atmosphere was electric and I was moved to tears by two scenes, the first when Macduff is told of the murder of his wife and children at the hands of Macbeth's henchmen and indeed again when the murderous Macbeth is told of the death of his wife Lady Macbeth and he begins his famous soliloquy masterfully and movingly delivered by Brannagh:

She should have died hereafter;
There would have been a time for such a word.
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

I love the idea of bringing the spectacle of the play to a bigger audience, the Manchester Festival play being sold out since February within 9 minutes of tickets going on sale so it was the only chance to go and see it, via the big screen.

Criticisms are few from me. The witches were beautifully and scarily made up but the lines were delivered in a screaming fashion with strange accentuation and therefore sadly undecipherable mostly which is a shame because they set the scene of the future upon which Macbeth bases his decisions.   

A privilege to see it with good friends Linda, Helen and Phil; an unforgettable experience.

Chat soon

Ta-ra.

* According to a theatrical superstition, called the Scottish curse, speaking the name Macbeth inside a theatre will cause disaster. A variation of the superstition forbids direct quotation of the play (except during rehearsals) while inside a theatre.

Heatwave

At last the UK seems to be having a summer. Long sunny spells day after day is pleasant and much needed. The flowers are looking very colourful, the grass is getting patchier and the animals are lethargic (as are some of the human beings.)

Smells of barbecues waft through the evening air as does the drifting 'fluff' from the plane trees. It is really good to see the butterflies abroad in the air and so many varieties, small and large.

However, there is always a down side and that's the vulnerable in our society who suffer from the heat. It's not often in the UK we talk about a heatwave. A couple of the tabloid national newspapers are obsessed with the weather and are always reporting extremes of weather that never actually arrive - you know who you are Daily Express (to name but one), but this time heatwave does have the necessary credentials to hit the headlines to protect people.

What is a heatwave? In the UK there are some thresholds for it to be declared a heatwave.  This is what the Met Office produce on their website

Threshold temperatures

Region	Day max (°C)	Night min (°C)
North East England	28	15
North West England	30	15
Yorkshire & Humber	29	15
East Midlands	30	15
West Midlands	30	15
East of England	30	15
South East England	31	16
London	32	18
South West England	30	15
Wales	30	15

These temperatures could have significant effect on health if reached on at least two consecutive days and the intervening night.

Here in Yorkshire and the Humber, we are fluctuating between a green and yellow alert.

A level one alert (green)  means

This is the minimum state of vigilance during the summer. During this time social and health care services will ensure that all awareness and background preparedness work is ongoing.

A level two alert (yellow) means

Triggered as soon as the risk is 60% or above for threshold temperatures being reached in one or more regions on at least two consecutive days and the intervening night. This is an important stage for social and health care services who will be working to ensure readiness and swift action to reduce harm from a potential heatwave.

A level three alert (amber) means

Triggered when the Met Office confirms threshold temperatures for one or more regions have been reached for one day and the following night, and the forecast for the next day is greater than 90% confidence that the day threshold will be met. This stage requires social and health care services to target specific actions at high-risk groups.

A level four alert (red) means

Reached when a heatwave is so severe and/or prolonged that its effects extend outside the health and social care system. At this level, illness and death may occur among the fit and healthy, and not just in high-risk groups

So take sensible precautions, stay well and if you can, enjoy the warmth

Chat soon

ta-ra

Lavender's Blue, Dilly Dilly

Pink and purple miniature lavender

Congratulations to Andy Murray for his first Wimbledon championship win. Stunning performance. I've been listening to it on the radio with brilliant BBC Radio 5 live coverage whilst enjoying the sun in the garden.

Lavender with a pin hole effect on the camera

Summer and sun has finally arrived here in the north of the UK and today, I have managed to spend the whole day in the garden and I have only just come in to the house for tea. I planted some miniature lavender a month or so ago and they are in glorious full flower now and there a couple of pictures here to show you how these plants are going on. These are the only things I have planted this year.

I've had a busy few days. Yesterday (Saturday) I went to Leeds to the football stadium Elland Road, not to watch football, which is on its summer break but to go to a mind, body and spirit festival at their conference facility with friends, Linda, Helen and Phil which was very good and saw a couple of interesting free lectures and many interesting exhibitors. 

In the boatyard - seen better times

I also continued my exploration of the South Bank of the Humber in North Lincolnshire at a little town called Barton upon Humber. It's not so little now because a quick and cheap journey across the Humber Bridge makes this commuter land for Hull and Lincoln as well as Scunthorpe and Grimsby.

A rusting barge

Just to the east of the town and on the Humber Bank is the Haven area. It has a few ageing boats on it, a boat yard which has seen better days and lots of wildlife reserves including a lovely observation centre, Water's Edge which overlooks the Humber mud flats and open to visitors for bird watching. An ancient cemetery excavation lends evidence that the village was occupied in the late fifth to early sixth century AD however there is a possibility of a late Mesolithic settlement in the Barton area from between 6,000 and 4,000 BC.

Sunset under the Humber Bridge

There are plenty of safe designated walks with footpaths with stunning open views of the Humber. We saw a huge Heron float by and land in the reeds nearby.  I'm afraid my photography wasn't good enough to capture it. An old coastguard station lays empty now, a testament to busier days as a ferry point before it moved further down the river.
 

The late evening sun shining on the Humber mudflats at the entrance to the Haven

Today, the town has a population of just over 9,000 people and we were privileged to hear the church bells ringing in the distance as we were finishing this little walk at dusk, this was a throw back for me as I remember the church bells ringing on a Thursday night in Cottingham as a lad.

Today's blog title by the way comes from a traditional English folk song of the 17th century.

I hope you have a fabulous week.

Chat soon

Ta-ra

Belt Up

 

I'm not an art and crafts person. I love art and I draw and occasionally I'll paint , but I'm just not a craft person, perhaps I lack a bit of creative vision.

I've had a Chakra bracelet for a couple of years now and it has stones which represent the seven main Chakra points in the body. I used to wear this for my healing sessions, but the elastic snapped. Bracelets for men are not wide ranging in choice or variety although some of the tribal bracelets or wristlets are quite good and I have a couple of nice ones.

So today, I got into craft mode and repaired the bracelet having hunted high and low for a needle that is thin enough to pass through the tiny holes drilled in the quite small stones.  The second problem was threading the needle with the quite thick elastic. I did it, and without one of those threading gadgets my mother used to have. It's repaired quite nicely.

I have a brown leather belt made for me by a partner of a good friend, made of real leather - long lasting and utility. It was so good, I got a second one, the problem is that the brown was too tan to wear with formal clothing so I dyed one of them today with black leather dye and it didn't turn out half bad. 

So there we are, a creative day today which is just as well because it's been raining persistently here all day.

Chat soon

Ta-ra

Anyone for Tennis?

This is not a joke. A local hotel in Hull in Yorkshire have advertised their premises for Christmas events! I am not going to give them free advertising, save to say what on earth are they doing at the height of summer, in a recession advertising Christmas. Isn't their enough pressure on people?

I'm not a big tennis fan, I can take it or leave it although I have a mild interest in Mr Murray and his British colleagues doing well for the country. I don't watch it very often at all. However, whilst having tea tonight, I made the mistake of watching the highlights of a women's game at Wimbledon. 

To be honest, Maria Sharapova and Portuguese qualifier Michelle Larcher de Brito have finally put me off watching women's tennis for good. This pair of screaming orgasmic sounding banshees completely ruined my enjoyment of the game with their unnecessary squawking every time they serve or hit the ball. If they put as much energy into playing shots than they do making that God-awful noise, they would surely perform much better.

The weather is a bit grey today and I expected a thunderstorm as it felt quite sticky and plenty of black looking cloud this afternoon. But at least it stayed dry.

I participate in social media, this blog for example, Facebook and Twitter. I don't necessarily agree with the premise that if long lost friends were really friends, they would be in touch regularly either by phone, in person or by letter. Some are friends, some are acquaintances and I guess it depends on what you call 'friends.' 

I do find it useful as a source of information and intelligence on what's happening in the world and with people and news is pretty quick to break on the social media network.  I have fun on it and share lots of things of interest. It's a keep in touch method of communication without any expectations.

Now I know there are privacy issues, but frankly, if you are careful, it should be fine.

Chat soon

Ta-ra

Guilty as Charged

I sort of feel I need forgiveness today. My crime? To destroy a wasps nest. Now I guess in all honesty, they are all God's creatures and they must have a purpose although I am not sure what it is and perhaps there is a more humane way of getting rid of them, but I am terrified of them.

Put me in a strange haunted house in the dark in the middle of the night and it's a welcome challenge - spot a wasp at 300 yards and I'm gone!

So some proprietary wasp powder was purchased and I wore clothes that covered me up and some gloves to handle the powder tube. I set the camera on a tripod running and did the deed and retired post haste (from the 16th century - 'great speed').

Now in truth, for me to go anywhere near the nest as it is is a sort of a triumph and it's helped facing my fear by doing Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT  or tapping and talking) on myself. Anyway we'll see what happens, I might have to put more powder in tonight. Here's a one minute movie on You Tube of the event - thrilling stuff.

I did test myself by looking at the video of the wasps which would have normally set me on edge, but it was okay.

My good deed for the day was to help a friend by babysitting her flat while she was at work so a plumber could come and fix a toilet cistern and a tap that had developed faults. The bonus was that I watched a film while they did their work so that was a cool way to start the day.

As a treat for myself, I went to a local coffee house and treated myself to a cappuccino and a freshly made granola bar. As I was sat there, I put a few observations about the people in there on my Facebook, but thought you might like to read it here too: 

Just a few people observations while having my cappuccino and granola bar: tanned ex pro footballer, serious looking in quiet discussions with important looking older man, is there a deal being struck; younger man, his sandy hair missing tenderness of a comb, 'not at work today' he says to a passing lady; large group of young mums and toddlers bring brightness and pleasant noise with gurgling content offspring, 'giving housework a miss today' one says with a grin; retired couple with teacakes and latte, he trying to make conversation, she stares into the distance perhaps trying to imagine the future. Amazing what you see when you take time to look around.

I do them every now and then as an exercise in observation.

At home, I watched a DVD on EFT and I set about preparing for the psychic development class I run with Linda and did some student's notes on interpreting colour and symbols.

Busy and productive day. Weather dry but cold. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Chat soon

ta-ra.

Path of Least Resistance

The seedhead of the Marsh Marigold from the pond is as beautiful as the bright yellow spring flower that comes before it

Having water pouring through a light fitting hanging from the ceiling should be a deeply upsetting and worrying time. Trouble is, been there and got the t-shirt. It's happened before and we lost a ceiling the last time and had all the clearing up and the remedial work which lasted weeks. This time, the leak is confined to coming down through the light fitting as the water, as it always does finds the least path of resistance.

The nice man from the gas company who we have the insurance with was here within 45 minutes and determined that there isn't a pipe burst, but that the source is most likely the seal on the shower tray that's gone and as one of the lads was having a shower, the seal has leaked water. There's just a drip now every ten seconds as the last of the water soaks away from the void between the floors. Another visit tomorrow will determine the final cause and hopefully it will mean the cost of a tube of silicon sealer rather than hundreds of pounds of work.

The weather here is a little up and down with heavy showers, warm sunny weather, cold spells; we've had most kinds of weather this last week except snow, but perhaps shouldn't speak to soon.

Mr Chu's, our Diversity Master Class venue by night with the Humber to the right

Although I am taking a break from work, we held a Diversity Master Class at work at a popular local venue last week with guest speakers designed to help staff realise their potential, to help understand where we as individuals and the organisation can remove the blockages to our development.

On the evening time, the formal work setting was replaced by inviting many people who represent the diverse community to a meet us at a relaxed event with many varieties of ethnic food and entertainment with a view to breaking down some barriers and open up communications and improve relationships. This was a huge success and very well supported.  There were dancers, musicians and comics to entertain for a few hours.

I reviewed the papers today (Sunday) for the local BBC Radio Humberside on their Sunday Brunch programme hosted by the incomparable consummate professional, senior broadcast journalist Andy Comfort. I get there about an hour before the programme is to start to read the papers and lovely producer, the knowledgeable Steve Redgrave makes superb tea. I try not to pick too many serious stories for a Sunday morning; I try to think of myself at home and what I would want to hear so I take a mix of topics bearing in mind the Sunday papers are quite heavy going. 

Today's stories included the Leveson Enquiry into press standards where only a fraction of the issue of phone hacking was examined leading some to the conclusion it was designed solely to attack the media; the Charles Saatchi domestic violence case which some say puts the cause of combating domestic violence back to the dark ages by giving Saatchi a formal caution (rather than prosecution) for alleged domestic violence perpetration; whistle blowing at the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in covering up bad practise and weather forecasting and the detrimental effect on tourism in the UK by forecasting a bad summer. The final light hearted story was about being '...as old as you look or as young as you feel.'    

I answered five questions on the weeks news which I hear for the first time live on the programme and today for the first time ever, I got five out of five right! Whooppee!

Mr Cheesy - pruned, repotted and tied up (Monstera deliciosa)

Finally for today, I've just repotted a rescue plant which had been misbehaving (a long story) from a good friend and it's looking a little better, mind you, the rains have now come and I hope it copes okay.  

I've also learned a little about myself today which is never a bad thing (in this case) about some conditioning from the past which affects me today and which I need to address.

Have a great week ahead

Chat soon

Ta-ra.

Where Does Your Guidance Come From?

I hope the day finds you well?

The air is a little fresher here in sunny East Yorkshire today following some torrential overnight rain. Good for the garden undoubtedly, some of the pots in the garden were very dry.  The good thing is because the season seems a little slow, about a month behind roughly because of the exceptionally long winter, we still have lots of late spring flowers out. 

I read quite a bit when I get the time, but it tends to be in snatches because mainly I don't have time to sit for a quality couple of hours to get a decent amount of a book read in one go, hence why I have about four books on the go at any one time. I have started my part time working hours now so with two days a week extra off, I am hoping to get some good reading done. I guess I can achieve more of a balance between not being seen to be lazy by her indoors yet doing what I want to do and that's to continue my education in a broad range of spiritual and eclectic subjects. My time is also going to be devoted to increasing the amount of healing and psychic and spiritual work. 

One publication I read is 'Two Worlds,' a monthly magazine founded in 1887 and now edited by Tony Ortzen. This is a spiritualists magazine with a nice mix of views, opinions, articles, reviews and revealing interviews. There are a lot of adverts, but then this keeps the cost down.

There is a regular article in which the 'teachings' of a spirit guide called Silver Birch are written. Briefly, Silver Birch appeared and spoke through a trance medium called Maurice Barbanell who died in 1981. Barbanell was an influential commentator on spiritual matters in the mid 20th century and a series of books were published which contains the 'teachings' of this spirit. I put teachings in inverted commas because I guess they are observations and opinions which in most people's eyes could be contrived, made up or provide a basis to make money through publishing books. 

My view is that they are legitimate spiritual teachings. His observations are wise, very interesting and very inspiring; he calls God the Great Spirit. He appeared as a native American Indian (who, as a race were very spiritual and very close to the earth and spirit) during seances but lived on the earth many millenia ago worshipping many gods but realised of course that there is only one true 'Great Spirit.'

The seances were recorded in writing and reproduced and the article of great interest to me this month is about talking to the dead. Now my wife, who is  a Jehovah's Witness believes this is a dreadful thing to do.  Of course like all Jehovah's Witnesses, they can quote relevant passages from the Bible and like many subjects, there are a few quotes that seemingly makes talking to the dead a taboo practice. 

The Old Testament is full of wrath and damnation and there are several quotes about 'mediums' in Leviticus, Deutoronomy and Chronicles  which frankly is not supportive of the practice (to put it mildly). Mediums and mediumship is conspicuous by its absence in the New Testament, it more relying on the teachings of Christ to guide us and listening to the teachings of Christ is of course perfectly right. But He is not the only teacher or provider or observer of divine wisdom. 

Most Biblical commentators and theorists agree that the speaking to dead people is real but is the work of Satan, sent to deceive and give us all false hope. There is a very unhelpful and confusing episode with King Saul and the Witch of Endor, contained in Samuel if you want to read it, where God brought back Samuel in spirit.

Back to the point. Silver Birch makes this very interesting observation about talking to the dead. His first recorded comment is about the Bible itself. He says that the Bible has been subject to the manipulation of man throughout the years, consisting of mis-translations, omissions (lots of them) and today's Bible is a "copy of a copy of a copy." He says there are lots of accounts in the Old Testament of "...deception, villainy, murder and violence that nobody can possibly regard as being a divine revelation." God cannot, he says have possibly acted in such a way like no tyrant on earth would even have acted. 

The Spirit accepts wholly that it is written that we should not communicate with the dead but then comes the conflict, one which I have always recognised but not until now has it really hit me when Silver Birch articulates it like this: 

"Why then in the New Testament does the Nazarene (Jesus) and three of his disciples have a seance on the mountain where there appeared to them Moses and Elias and communicate, although they had been dead for a long time?"

He says that the call came from Moses in the first place that you shall not talk to the dead and yet he was the one to return and talk. 

Of course there is the premise that some believe that the Bible (and many other religious and Holy writs) is definitive and authoritative and yet this man created object (first translated into English in the 7th century), like religions, contains no evidence of a divine authority other than our personal faith. 

This is not and must not be seen as a commentary on any beliefs you may have. If you have faith and part of a religion, good on you, you make a choice to do that using your free will.  Many religious people (and some readers of this blog are committed to their religion) are good people in their heart and do great things for their fellow man.

God is in your heart, is in my heart, is all around us, we don't need buildings to worship or talk to the 'Great Spirit' as Silver Birch refers to him. Use the Bible as a reference for your own exploration of the truth by all means if that's what you want because there is good in it - be that of no doubt. Does it give us good guidance for the 21st century? It gives us a basis, but to be so inflexible and rigid and unforgiving for any deviation from it is madness and takes no account of how man has evolved from the times of ignorance to a more enlightened and complex society than is referred to centuries and millenia ago.

The Bible or any other religious reference work cannot be used as a tool to 'control' mankind, society and communities any more. We should work with it where it helps us move forward and where there is no modern context for its guidance - ignore it.

Just be spiritual - in the broadest sense and that doesn't mean talking to the dead at all. Be good, be a good citizen, be kind, be thoughtful of others, don't accept horrible people and bad manners - smile and do a good deed without being asked.  

Why do I talk to the dead? Because it gives me hope and I have experienced so much unconditional love and compassion and care and positive guidance (with independent evidence) and I have seen it change people's lives for the better - much better - mine included.

I hope this hasn't put you off reading this blog, I don't push this subject in your face on a day to day basis because it is only a small part of the bigger picture of my life and what goes on in the world, but it does drive me passionately about understanding why the world is changing and what we can and should do about changing along side it to protect ourselves from an uncertain future both as individuals and our to protect our fragile environment. If we are to survive, we need to see and feel God in ourselves. If we don't recognise the need to adapt and change, we will fall by the wayside.  

I'm not an academic (as you can clearly tell), and this isn't an academic piece. I just give you my very personal point of view (isn't that the point of a blog), you are very welcome to comment, but don't drive a coach and horses through my arguments, I can do that for myself thanks.

Take a breath, enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Chat soon

Ta-ra.

Playing Field Memories

King George V Playing Field Cottingham East Yorkshire, a side entrance view

When King George V died in 1936, the mayor of London at the time thought rather than having statues of the King made, he would rather have one statue just for London but leave a more appropriate lasting memorial to him across the UK.  So he and others formed a foundation with the aim of:

"To promote and to assist in the establishment throughout the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland of playing fields for the use and enjoyment of the people."

When the King George's Fields Foundation was dissolved in 1965 there were well over  450 playing fields across the UK. There is one where I live today and one in my childhood village of Cottingham in the East Riding of Yorkshire which I visited today. They are now run by the National Playing Fields Association and maintained mostly by the local authorities.

Part of the boundary woodland walk

The playing field to the north of Cottingham on the edge of the countryside holds many many happy memories as you would imagine playing fields would. The heady sunny days of summer spent kicking a ball about, games of cricket, hanging around with my mates (never getting into trouble), playing on the slide (long gone - it was huge and had a polished brass bit you slid down) and paying a few pence at the keepers hut for a game of pitch and putt.

When I was very small, my grandfather took me there once for  a picnic and to fly a kite; I took a bottle of water and dropped a few liquorice sticks in it to turn the water to a colour to look like coca cola. It tasted disgusting, but it looked grown up.


I played real team cricket there as a teenager and an adult and spent too many hours trying to find opponents cricket balls hit into the ditch on the edge of the boundary.

There was a brick built pavilion where footballers got changed and where I went with my father when he played football for Cottingham and the pervading smell of soil (off the boots), damp boot laces, liniment rubbing oils and sweat in the changing rooms is a unique smell never to be forgotten. That has long been demolished and a new modern pavilion with gym and community facilities has been built in its place.  

A view to the north through a gap in the woodland  boundary walk

The tennis courts have gone - now a five aside football pitch and the long wall me and my mates played slam football against has also been demolished. The parkies (park-keepers) hut has gone and the ice cream kiosk has been gone these last fifty years or so.

A sculptured squirrel

The park is surrounded by gorgeous mature trees through which you can walk and the wildlife is lovely to see. Today I heard a song thrush. It was truly amazing to hear its tunes. I came across some lovely wooden sculptures today situated on the woodland walk and have taken a couple of pictures for you. Nettle, mallow, dock, fern, and a white flower which I used to know as goat's beard I think but can't find the name of (you can see some behind the squirrel). The perfume of all these flowers combined are unique and beautiful. 

Historically, Cottingham once boasted that it had every species of European tree planted within its parish boundary because of its connection with the university's botanical gardens and the variety of trees in this park today is still staggering. 

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A sculptured woodpecker

Fortunately, today in the light of disappearing sports facilities in the UK as councils are selling off land used for sport because they can't afford to maintain it and desperately need money in the light of Government austerity,  there are strict covenants and conditions that ensure that the public will continue to benefit from these open play areas popularly known today as 'King George Fifth' or 'rec' when i was a kid.

Hope you enjoyed your weekend

Chat soon

Ta-ra

In the Dock

The old Humber entrance to Victoria Dock with just a tiny fraction of the housing on the left

My new beginners psychic development class which I run with my good friend Linda takes place on Victoria Dock in the east of Hull on the north bank of the River Humber. Not in the dock thankfully, but as docks go, this is one of the prettiest you'll see - mainly because it's a working dock no longer.

Today this is a smart riverside community with a huge array of mixed hosing, its own lovely community centre where we hold the class, its own school, church, playing facilities, shop and public house of course. You can walk along the riverside and get panoramic views across the river toward northern Lincolnshire.

The Village Hall, sympathetically designed

My son did his dissertation on the old citadel a huge triangular fort which stood on some of what was Victoria Dock in the 17th century. It was built on the orders of King Charles ll to repel any foreign invasion.

The building of the Victoria Dock was finished in 1850, just two years after the military use of the citadel finished. I knew this dock as the 'timber dock'  - the storage and import of wood was its prime function although some shipbuilding did take place there.This was the first of Hull's many docks to be built outside of the traditional city centre docks complex and the first of four east Hull docks.

When I started work in Hull in 1973, the dock had already closed some three years earlier and remained derelict for many years before Victoria Dock Village started its construction in the late 1980s. The entrance basin into the dock from the Humber has been preserved, the lock gates sealed and is now a pleasant water feature among the housing, a picture of it is above.

The last remaining evidence of the citadel - a watchtower

Today, a watchtower stands guard over the entrance to the Victoria Dock Village from Citadel Road, the last remaining piece of the original citadel carefully preserved and returned to the dock in 1990.

I thought you might be interested in how a Victorian working dock gets turned into a green and pleasant environment leaving industrial work to its bigger more modern brothers to the east.

Chat soon

Ta-ra