Bridgend - town of many bridges.

This is another of our sweet little towns - Pen-y-bont or Bridgend as we all call it. Outside the main council offices Stamps finds three large signs.
One is the Bridgend crest and the other two are the towns that we are twinned with. Langenau in Germany and Villenave D'ornon in France. We sometimes exchange students from schools and colleges; it is great fun. But as Stamps says, "that's two towns you are twinned with; surely that should be two towns you are tripletted with" LOL Stamps; you are a funny one.

Bridgend is also known as "little Venice." The river runs right through the center and in one mile of river there are 11 brdges of different kinds crossing it including one that runs the entire length of the river. Those little weirs don't stop the local canoe club from using it. The water level is usually much higher but we have been having lots of sunshine these last few weeks - lucky us hee hee.

Stamps in Wales

Hello Stamps and welcome to Wales. My word, you are the little traveller; look at all those badges you've earned so far! I've given you a little Welsh red dragon for your collection since he is the star of our country's flag.

Isn't Wales known as the "green, green grass of home?" Well, yes it is. And with good reason too. I live in the Llynfi Valley where the fields stretch out in all directions. Back when I was younger, many of these hills were black from the coal mining - St John's colliery was the last to close in 1985. But now we have lots of pretty countryside to walk in.

We are proud of our little Victorian town. This is the Town Hall "Neuadd y dref" in Welsh.
In other places the Town Hall is where the Mayor lives and works, but in Wales it is a much more important place. It was built by the coal miners and is the center of town life. The basement is a working market place and the upstairs is a huge concert hall. Many groups and clubs meet here and our local dramatic society put on plays, we even have touring groups to visit - Stereophonics even played here once.

Not one to be all upset about no coal mining anymore; many of our old buildings have been recycled. This is the Ironworks. This is the whole reason that our town was built here. No iron is smelted anymore but this huge venue is our Sports Centre.

20th May 2010

Last night Milo came home from school all in a tizzy..... he said that tomorrow his teachers friend was coming into school to sing some songs for them and he was in a band. It bugged him for a while because he couldn't remember the bands name and then it hit ,,,,,, his teachers friend was in a band called The Futureheads !!!!

I had a little chat with said teacher and she very kindly took a couple of pics of Milo and Stamps with Barry the lead singer .



The Futureheads do come from Sunderland and are possibly the second biggest thing to hail from here -- the first being Pyrex glassware ..

A big thank you to Miss A and to Barry .

17th May 2010

Continuing on from my last post I thought we'd keep with the theme of Sunderlands history - well a bit of it anyway , for the next couple of posts.

Sunderland has been building ships since at least 1346 and was once proclaimed to be “the greatest shipbuilding port in the world” . By 1840 there were 76 yards. During 1846-54 Wearside produced almost one-third of all ships built in the UK. The last wooden ship was built in 1880, and the last sailing ship in 1893. In the 1880s, steel replaced iron and cargo ships and tankers were the main type of vessel built in Sunderland. Many of these cargo ships and tankers were produced for overseas customers and during 1888-1913 around 22% of the ships built on the Wear each year were made for export.



The 20th century saw many changes to shipbuilding on the Wear. During the two World Wars, Sunderland’s main work was in the production of cargo ships to keep supply lines open and replace those ships lost at sea, although it also undertook a great deal of naval construction and repair work. Demand was so great that women were employed in the yards for the first time. In 1914-18 there were just 16 shipyards on the Wear: a result of the change to iron and then steel construction. In 1939 there were only 8 yards.



After the war, Sunderland continued to lead the way in shipbuilding however production increased worldwide and it became more difficult for British yards to compete. Throughout the 1950s and 60s more yards closed or merged. In 1977, the shipbuilding industry was nationalised and substantial job losses followed. In 1978, 7535 people worked in the yards: by 1984 this was reduced to 4337. The two remaining shipyard groups merged in 1980 but, despite strong opposition, Sunderland’s last remaining yards were closed on 7 December 1988.



Today the river is quiet in comparison but there are several statues and monuments which commemorate our shibuilding history.




Giant nuts and bolts are scattered along the St Peters walkway.





The metamorphosis of a shipyard crane into a steel tree stands on the base of a former crane with its giant shadow captured in the paving stretching towards the mouth of the River Wear.



I've probably battered your heads now with that history lesson so hope you can bear with me for just a tiny bit more.





This is a picture of the bridge from the 1930;s. The smaller bridge behind is the original railway bridge.



This is the view looking from the bridge to the river mouth and shows the path we walked on the left hand side going past part of the University and the Port of Sunderland and the Fish Quay on the right .





I hope you enjoyed that . I think, in fact I know that because of Stamps visit I've learned more things about my city - it really is amazing what happens/happened on your own doorstep.

14th May 2010

It was near enough a year ago exactly that I heard about a little knitted hedgehog setting off on his travels around the world ,so of course I had to put our names down on the list in the hopes that he would come visit us in Sunderland.
He's already been to several places in America including Wisconsin, New York and Oregon. He has most recently been to Yorkshire and still has Scotland, Wales, France , Finland and Australia to visit - phew.
So I'd like you all to meet Stamps ... isn't he cute?



He hardly had any time to rest before he was whipped off for a day at school with Milo and his pals , unfortunately we weren't allowed to take any photos of the actual lessons but he was well quizzed by Milo's teacher and the school are now thinking of doing something similar by sending a little someone between other schools. Guess who's been asked to make the little traveller !!

Anyway , after a little rest we started Stamps tour of Sunderland with one of the oldest most historic sites in the world..... yep , I said world.





St Peters Church was built in A.D 674 and is one of the UK's first stone built churches. Parts of the original buildings survive today , the tower and west wall are original Saxon features and the church also has on display fragments of the oldest stained glass in the country, made by 7th Century European craftsmen. Unfortunately we were unable to get inside as it only opens at certain times and we were too early .



Stamps tried knocking and climbing in a window but we think the Vicar was still having his cup of morning tea.



Originally there were quite a few headstones in the grounds but only a few remain, most of the writing has faded with age but on this one we managed to make out the year 1799.




St Peters is the UK’s nomination for World Heritage Site status in 2011. Other World Heritage Sites regionally, nationally and internationally include Durham Castle and Cathedral, Stonehenge, the Grand Canyon, the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China and the Sydney Opera House. If it achieves World Heritage Site status, this incredible site and its inspirational story will receive the world-wide recognition, and protection for the future, that it richly deserves.

Fingers crossed x.

Stamps visit to North Yorkshire

Stamps arrived safely in Little Barugh, North Yorkshire after leaving Susan in New Jersey, USA.  He was feeling a bit tired and jet-lagged.  On his first Sunday with us we took him to Westow village to watch us play Petanque, he decided to get in on the action but couldn't throw the boule, I warned him not to kick it, but too late:

So on Monday morning he had to share my Physio appointment with me, Sally massaged his leg for him.  Afterwards we all went to the Hidden Monkey Cafe in Malton for a nice cup of tea and toasted teacakes, Stamps met one of the many resident monkeys there and had a nice chat with him.

                                                                                                     

    

                






On Tuesday we decided to take a train trip from Pickering to Whitby, but before our train left  we called in at the Station Cafe for coffee and Stamps met Alan Reynolds.     


                                   Leaving Pickering Station

Passing through Goathland (Heartbeat Aidensfield) with station cat watching, 'Heartbeat' is the TV series about a village policeman that was filmed in and around Goathland and Whitby, the steam train featured in it and Goathland station was the Aidensfield in the series.

Passing under Whitby Viaduct

Whitby Marina 

Stamps decided it was easier to slide down the rail than to climb the 199 steps to Whitby Abbey, we both had to think of our legs! 

Jim and Stamps relax on a bench on the harbour at Dock End, looking towards the East side of Whitby, across the River Esk.  It was in the graveyard of St. Mary's church up on the cliff, near Whitby Abbey, that Dracula was supposed to have made his first appearance in the form of a dog after the ship his coffin was on sank after hitting rocks. 

Stamps with Mike Mitchell our steam engine driver, on engine number 76079, just before we boarded the train to return to Pickering.

Watching the scenery on the way back to Pickering.

Stamps looking at our photo's on the Station Collage Poster - in our Santa and Mistress Holly Claus costumes

Stamps rested for a few days and enjoyed the views from our garden, and the sitting among the colourful primula flowers in the sunshine. 

He climbed our Poplar tree, with a little help, to watch the sheep with their newborn lambs in the field over the fence from our garden.

 and he also enjoyed sitting with our two boy cats in the hidden garden.  On the left he is sitting with Rappy, and on the right with Rappy and Jet.

Today, Saturday, we went to Malton Market and Stamps met up with the Market Manager Dave, and with two of the regulars there, Keith who has the Tea Wagon and Eleanor who has the yarn and jewellry stand.

While walking through the market a little spaniel pup became very excited on seeing Stamps and wanted to make friends, Jim patted her on the head and scratched under her chin but unfortunately her owner got rather annoyed with the pup and dragged her away shouting at the poor little dog. 

Jim and Stamps in the market place.

We have enjoyed having Stamps stay with us, and apart from his mishap trying to use the steel boule as a football, I think he has enjoyed his stay with us too.