Martin's Mag.

Despite a cold night, frog spawn in our pond! Hurrah! Not long now. The little fellas stand a better chance this year as Lucy is doing a reasonably good job keeping the garden free of cats.

A cold day in deep mid-Winter. The Severn Railway Bridge used to cross the Sharpness canal then the River Severn, ending on the west bank at Lydney, before it was damaged by a shipping accident in 1960 and dismantled a few years later (but not before Sal and her family sailed under it on one of their earlier boating holidays). This pier column is one of the few remains, standing between the canal and the river.

There is a “Ships’ Graveyard” here, on the east bank of the Severn near Purton, where the hulls of over sixty former working boats were scuppered, mostly in the 1960s. More details here.

A happy new year to all my readers! As this is a publically-accessible site, I have no idea how many or, more accurately I’m sure, how few you are. But, it’s not all about you! It’s about ME!

Christmas passed pleasantly and, happily, fairly uneventfully. It’s the way we like it. Saw Miles and Flo and various Wheelers, and a few friends. January is now well on it’s way and – one of my favourite quotes – “if Winter comes can Spring be far behind?” I’d assumed for years that this was Shakespearean, only recently discovering it was that Percy Bysshe Shelley bloke. So much for A-level English. And thank you, Google.

Winter views in Portishead…

A sad day. We have finally parted company with our faithful old camper van. We have had Freda for over eleven years, during which time she has carried us, uncomplainingly, to Spain twice (as far as Valencia and, later, Cadiz), Italy, Switzerland, France many times, Belgium and Netherlands many times, and all over the UK. Considering she was twenty-two years old she would still eat up the miles on a motorway. She has, though, gone to a good local home, so we may still see the old girl chugging around North Somerset.

Weston has lots of potential, and a huge amount has been spent in recent years on the general infrastructure. It’s very similar, architecturally, to northern French and Belgian seaside towns, but they just haven’t managed to get the catering right yet (i.e. mouthwatering lines of seafood restaurants, fishing boats, food markets and wine emporia). Never mind. There are some good beaches and a couple of piers. Give them time.

Looking down The Avon to the M5 bridge and Avonmouth.

Our nearest pub, opposite us on the marina, is The Hall and Woodhouse, made from shipping containers. (Using them for international trade is so pre-Brexit, darling!) And they have episodes of “Hancocks’ Half House” playing in the gents. Lucy and I walk past most evenings, but she’s in a hurry for her tea (and not a Hancock fan) so we rarely linger. It is in front of the slip where boats are lifted for maintenance and transport. The RNLB Lincolnshire Poacher is currently located outside.

We popped into the Grayson Perry exhibition at the Arnolfini Gallery. Interesting, witty social commentary from another Essex boy made good. Worth a second (and third?) visit.