Lions

It's a rite of passage for every child born in Sunderland to sit on one of the stone lions at the end of the terraces in Mowbray Park. Ask anyone in the town and they will all say they have had their photo taken on one of the lions at some point, me included!!

These cream-coloured lions replaced the original grey stone ones during the Park's renovations a few years ago. I showed this picture to my group of senior learners and they said this lion did not look right, the others were much better.

Raindrops Keep Falling on my Lens

More from my outing to Mowbray Park. Despite the grey, rainy day, I think this shot came out rather well with the bright green of the railings, the verdigris of Candlish's statue and the yellow of the Scouts Centenary floral display in the background. Click on it to enlarge it and you will see what I mean.

The silvery orbs on the right are raindrops.

Keep The Pavement Dry?

Chance would be a fine thing in this weather

Rainy Day in the Park

Another rainy view from inside Mowbray Park. Leaves are just beginning to fall and are stuck to the ground. The grass was wet and my shoes were soggy when I got back into the car.

View from Building Hill

Building Hill is one of the few high vantage points in Sunderland and is now part of Mowbray Park. For one of the lessons I teach to some older learners, I decided to do a history of the Park and went out with my camera to provide material to illustrate the subject. It was a bit of a last minute thing, starting to get dark and raining to boot.

This shot was taken at about 5.30 on a miserable, drizzly October evening. The church in the background is St Ignatius and if it had been a clear day, the sea would have been visible in the distance.

Trafalgar Square pt2

Another view showing the front of the Alms Houses in Trafalgar Square, Sunderland.

Trafalgar Square, Sunderland

A view of the back of the houses at Trafalgar Square in Sunderland. These little houses provide homes for retired sailors or their dependants.

Boys Orphan Asylum

The Boys Orphan Asylum was opened in the 1860s to provide education for the sons of deceased mariners. The boys were trained to be sailors - to follow in the footsteps of the very profession that killed their fathers. The Asylum had a training ship within its grounds with masts and rigging for the boys to practice on.

Part of the building is now used by a Community Organisation, the rest of it is rapidly falling into disrepair.

Multi Storey Car Park

The Bridges multi-storey car park in the town centre.

I can't elaborate on this really, except to say that there are some nice chaps in there who will wash and valet your car for you while you shop.

Inscription on Monument to Jack Crawford

This one accompanies the previous photo.

Jack Crawford's Grave

This is the monument on the grave of Jack Crawford, a local man who became a hero at the Battle of Camperdown in 1797.

During the battle, the colours were shot away from the top of the ship's mast by the the Dutch fleet. To other ships this would have signalled a surrender to the enemy. In the heat of battle, Crawford climbed up and nailed the colours back onto the mast using the butt of a gun as a hammer to show that HMS Venerable had no intention of surrendering.

Churchyard of St Mary the Less, Durham

It seems to be the practice in my area to clear old gravestones from their original position and to stack them up around the edges of the churchyard. They can still be read but no longer mark the position of graves.

Someone told me a few years ago that here in Sunderland, our local council had cleared one of the older cemeteries and the headstones were stacked up in the public works depot along with other salvage and building materials. The public works depot moved to new premises more than 10 years ago and I guess the old headstones were broken up for rubble or hardcore.

Other blogs taking part in this month's theme day are:

St. Louis (MO), USA - San Diego (CA), USA - Cleveland (OH), USA - New York City (NY), USA - Boston (MA), USA - Mainz, Germany - Hyde, UK - Arlington (VA), USA - Cape Town, South Africa - Saint Paul (MN), USA - Toulouse, France - Arradon, France - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - Montego Bay, Jamaica - Ampang (Selangor), Malaysia - Joplin (MO), USA - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Mexico (DF), Mexico - Seattle (WA), USA - Baziège, France - Baltimore (MD), USA - Chandler (AZ), USA - Sequim (WA), USA - Stayton (OR), USA - Stockholm, Sweden - Austin (TX), USA - Singapore, Singapore - Anderson (SC), USA - Orlando (FL), USA - Greenville (SC), USA - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Nashville (TN), USA - Tenerife, Spain - Manila, Philippines - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Jacksonville (FL), USA - River Falls (WI), USA - Chateaubriant, France - Quincy (MA), USA - Rabaul, Papua New Guinea - Buenos Aires, Argentina - Crystal Lake (IL), USA - Inverness (IL), usa - Lubbock (TX), USA - Phoenix (AZ), USA - Moscow, Russia - Norwich (Norfolk), UK - Crepy-en-Valois, France - Minneapolis (MN), USA - New Orleans (LA), USA - Montréal (QC), Canada - West Sacramento (CA), USA - Toruń, Poland - Philadelphia (PA), USA - Christchurch, New Zealand - London, England - Paderborn, Germany - The Hague, Netherlands - Selma (AL), USA - Sunderland, UK - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Stavanger, Norway - Fort Lauderdale (FL), USA - Weston (FL), USA - Portland (OR), USA - Forks (WA), USA - Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - Boston (MA), USA - Sydney, Australia - Wellington, New Zealand - Montpellier, France - Jackson (MS), USA - Wailea (HI), USA - Petaling Jaya (Selangor), Malaysia - Evry, France - Saarbrücken, Germany - New York City (NY), USA - Santa Fe (NM), USA - North Bay (ON), Canada - Melbourne, Australia - Port Vila, Vanuatu - Cypress (TX), USA - Saint Louis (MO), USA - Paris, France - San Diego (CA), USA - Wichita (Ks), USA - Haninge, Sweden - Prague, Czech Republic - Zurich, Switzerland - Budapest, Hungary - Paris, France - Saigon, Vietnam - Grenoble, France - Zurich, Switzerland - Port Angeles (WA), USA - Naples (FL), USA - Toronto (ON), Canada - Sequim (WA), USA - Chicago (IL), USA