Sky King and the World of Tomorrow!


(A post from several years ago but I'm feeling nostaligic...)

Remember 1936? No? Well now you can - with this fantabulously lush, phat and most-wicked tricycle ever recreated. Walking past King Street Cycles (a great independent store) yesterday I had to stop and stare. Iconic design cues down to the last detail. Even I know we've had a retro-bike fad for a couple of years now - exemplified by such uber-rad machines such as the Schwinn Sting-Ray - but I had no idea trendy toddlers could live the cool-cat dream on a rockin' repro '36 Sky King. It's almost worth begging/borrowing/stealing a child just to have a reason to buy it... Almost.

No Peeking...



One of my favourite streets in the city, Orchard Street is one of several in the my area that have either botanical or biblical names such as Elm Street, Adam and Eve Street, Eden Street and Paradise Street. This is because they are all in an area that used to be the Garden of Eden allotments - small vegetable gardens and orchards grown by locals. This particular street is one of the prettiest in Cambridge in my opinion. The cottages here originally housed the servants of a very large house - the garden wall of which was directly opposite their front doors. You'll notice they have no upstairs windows at the front (there are two tiny rooms in each roof!) this was so the occupants could not look into the garden and see the gentlemen and ladies taking tea or enjoying an arboreal ambulation... Given the prices these places go for, even in a recession, you'd have to be a chambermaid of means to live here now...

Like Buses...




... there's never any when you need one and then 53 turn up at once. A Cambridge phenomenon - a nautical taxi rank. These are at the main Scudamores boatyard of an early evening when most tourists have gone to their hotels leaving the punts ready for the morrow's trips. But as you can see here, there are plenty of takers for part II of the punting day - the romantic journey on the sleek, sun-kissed Cam through the water meadows over to Grantchester followed by the moonlit return. It's a trip that's bound to kindle / re-kindle the flame of ardour. Mind you, memory fades over time. And it's been a long time...

Peak District



Ok, so it's one of the most photographed buildings in the UK but what Cambridge photoblog would be complete without a shot of King's College chapel? It is truly stunning from every angle. The foundation stone of the chapel was laid by Henry VI in 1446 but it wasn't finished until the reign (and death) of Henry VIII in 1547. Just in time for me to take this shot.

Shoot! Missed...





This shows the wall of Trinity College's Whewell's Court (built 1859 - 1869) facing you as you walk up to the end of Jesus Lane. Or scream along it in a German fighter plane releasing a hail of bullets before pulling up and heading off back home as one frustrated Luftwaffe pilot did in WWII. The results are still visible as you can see. The bicycle's injuries weren't fatal I understand...

Abbeyness



Just outside Cambridge is Anglesey Abbey. Dating from 1600 and built on the foundations of a 12th Century priory, it is now owned by the National Trust. It was for many years owned by Huttleston Broughton, 1st Lord Fairhaven and the wonderful interiors are a reflection of his taste. It's very interesting - especially the huge collection of paintings of Windsor Castle, spanning 350 years. I must admit though - culturally improving though that is, I simply prefer to wander with friends around the 100 acres of grounds and gardens. The views are stunning, the walks fascinating (not least the colonnade of Roman Emperor statuary) and there's a very picturesque watermill where you can buy your organic home-milled flour. Essential for all my home baking...

Gentlemen, please.



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This inscription graces the exterior of one of Cambridge's best pubs - The Champion of the Thames. I was passing today and had to recommend it to you. It's a real spit-and-sawdust boozer enjoyed by students and locals alike. The real ale is excellently kept, the atmosphere redolent of another age and the clientele range from chatty through stroppy all the way to 'clearly nuts'. A couple of hundred yards from the centre of town this is another hidden gem that successfully evades the tourist crowd. It's a must on any city pub crawl and the roaring log fire and cosy atmosphere make it a great place to pass a chilly British spring evening. Should you choose this wise course, please don't interrupt the chap in the corner reading his book. I get grumpy.

The Free Press is definitely on the tourist trail but it never gets rammed and they share the unfettered ambience with locals chatting, reading and doing the crosswords. The original non-smoking pub and now with a no-mobile-phones policy along with a singular lack of all music or fruit machines make this a real peaceful haven where people can actually talk. They have a great and varied wine selection and a genuine snug in which students regularly try to beat the record for occupants. Dicks.

Taken to Tusk




Cambridge is a stunning and multifaceted city full of secrets and hidden corners. This sculpture is in full view at head height on one of the busiest streets in the city and yet is rarely noticed. Placed c.1910 the mammoth has benignly watched whilst 'progress' has, in the last 50 years, claimed one of the most authentic, intriguing and atmospherically individual city centres in the country. As a kid I always thought the mammoth rocked; I guess I still do.

Comic Book Cover - 1st draft!



So progress is being made! This is the first treatment for the cover of The Doctor Onofrio, the first instalment of the graphic novel version of Innominato. The guy pictured is called The Mask - and he was spooking folk around 600 years before Jim Carrey got into the business! Anyway, I suspect few of you will be surprised to hear that ol' Onofrio doesn't live happily ever after...

And here's the cover of the actual book version. I think you'll agree that the complex multi-layered visual juxtaposition used lends itself neatly to the extra-dimensional array of levels the morality themes the book employs?

Yeah, whatever; we just like black.