Liz needed her car and Viv has lent me PUF again. I went to B'ham to pick it up and while there went to Gloucester, to see at performance of Measure for Measure that had two of Jodi's (Viv's lodger ) friends in it. I am always a bit wary of amateur productions but this one was very good and there were no weak members of the cast, to forget lines, stammer or fall over the props.
It is a very long time since I have been to Gloucester. The centre around the old cathedral remains pretty much the same but the docks have been done up, and the smart little shops and cafes reminded me very much of the place we had just come from, Birmingham. But turning old industrial and commercial canal basins into tourist traps is now commonplace and it is no surprise that they all look pretty much the same.
'Suburbs' and 'Spitfire' both words in M for M and noticed by Viv. Suburbs seems surprisingly modern but goes back to the 14th Cent, replacing the earlier word 'underburg".
Spitfire sounds, and is, old but the interesting thing is that it may well be a bowdlerised version of shitfire. I imagine that both versions existed alongside for many years during the Middle Ages, rather like china-string-cats. The respectable Smart family in the manor house preferring one end and the rough and bawdy McArdlles in their tumble-down shack the other. (I chose the names at random, of course)
Homeward and Badfort.
While on the subject of Spitfires...
I mentioned the Mitchell Theatre in Stoke on Trent in a previous post.
Originally built as a tribute to Reginald J Mitchell the designer of the Spitfire it has recently been renovated. Rather stupidly the website seems to say nothing about the history of the building, which must leave many people wondering why it looks like an aeroplane.
Nevertheless have a look, it's an interesting design.
http://www.mitchellartscentre.co.uk
It is a very long time since I have been to Gloucester. The centre around the old cathedral remains pretty much the same but the docks have been done up, and the smart little shops and cafes reminded me very much of the place we had just come from, Birmingham. But turning old industrial and commercial canal basins into tourist traps is now commonplace and it is no surprise that they all look pretty much the same.
'Suburbs' and 'Spitfire' both words in M for M and noticed by Viv. Suburbs seems surprisingly modern but goes back to the 14th Cent, replacing the earlier word 'underburg".
Spitfire sounds, and is, old but the interesting thing is that it may well be a bowdlerised version of shitfire. I imagine that both versions existed alongside for many years during the Middle Ages, rather like china-string-cats. The respectable Smart family in the manor house preferring one end and the rough and bawdy McArdlles in their tumble-down shack the other. (I chose the names at random, of course)
Homeward and Badfort.
While on the subject of Spitfires...
I mentioned the Mitchell Theatre in Stoke on Trent in a previous post.
Originally built as a tribute to Reginald J Mitchell the designer of the Spitfire it has recently been renovated. Rather stupidly the website seems to say nothing about the history of the building, which must leave many people wondering why it looks like an aeroplane.
Nevertheless have a look, it's an interesting design.
http://www.mitchellartscentre.co.uk