A three-fold entry, going home, playing frisbee, and the Llandudno Victorian Extravaganza

This entry is a bit of a cluster-bomb of an update. Over the last week I’ve been back home and took a stroll with my camera over my old stomping grounds, I got back and had a few evenings out with friends in Bangor including a nice session playing frisbee, and this weekend is the 21^st Llandudno Victorian Extravaganza, so I’ve got a few photo’s of that too! In fact, as I write this entry, I can hear the drummers, and bagpipes, and traction engine whistles, and brass band, and old cars (model T Fords and the like) all going past my front window. It’s a shame the weather’s not as nice today as it was yesterday (when my photo’s were taken).

I took a Monday and Tuesday off work last week and spent a long weekend back in Stoke as my mum has been in hospital (she’s back at home now, safe and well). It was actually a nice break, and while I was there and it wasn’t visiting hours, I grabbed my camera and took a wander to some of my old play areas from when I was a kid. I never really noticed at the time, but I played in a rather a pretty area. I think I was a little pre-occupied with climbing trees, finding new ‘bases’ for our little gang, and generally getting muddy and running around. Getting back made me realise just how much change there has been in the village where I grew up in only my own life-time. Most of the shops on the high street have closed down, new housing estates keep springing into existance every time I go back, and the old Mill (for which Tean owes it’s very existance) is now being converted into housing, with a dirty great crane dominating the view of the village. Where once my road was somewhere you could play football or kerby, now it’s a sea of cars.

I’ve been out a couple of times in Bangor this week which was good. On Friday Heather, Ben and myself wandered off to the open hills at the top of Bangor to play frisbee and have a mess around with our cameras. Ben’s got a new compact camera (which I’m thinking of buying, for the very same ‘SLRs are no use for snap-shots in the pub’ reasons), and Heath’s treated herself to a new 400D. I was too busy playing frisbee whenever there was a chance so I’ve not got any shots of that, but at least there’s a couple of us chilling out.

Yesterday, today, and tomorrow is the Llandudno Victorian Extravagansa, as previously mentioned. I’m ashamed to say that I’ve missed the procession twice now! Yesterday I over-slept after having a very late night, and today I forgot they were doing another one and am sat here typing this instead. The weather yesterday was brilliant, as it has been for the past week or two, but today it’s clouded over and there’s a brisk wind whipping down the street - I don’t think I’ll get any decent shots today smiley icon: sad Tomorrow it’s given out a worse day, so it’s unlikely I’ll get any then either. The extravagansa itself is a long weekend where the main streets of Llandudno are closed off and a host of Victorian era steam-powered rides and other entertainment pariphanelia are set up, including big wheels and helter skelters. There are countless examples of very well kept traction engines, very early examples of motorcar, and the overall impression looking out of my window is that I could be 100+ years in the past, were it not for the street being lined with modern parked cars. There are even a substantial number of people dressed in Victorian clothing. I’ve not found any good reason for the Storm Troopers though.