During February Korina was over for a couple of weeks, basically as we had not seen each other since the start of the New Year, then it was well overdue. Obviously there was a bit of shopping to be squeezed into our schedule, and the obligatory tour of the local bars and restaurants. We also managed to make a shopping trip into Cardiff, and both of us were able to self indulge in two enjoyable musical evenings from either end of the spectrum, with one night at the theatre to see the rather flamboyant and fanciful My Fair Lady (Korina's choice obviously!), and on a more gritty and darker damp seventies style night of music we saw the precise re-enactment of the Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway Tour from 1975, by the Musical Box.

Welshback

The Birds...

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Jaws

Harbour ferry at Baltic Wharf with views to Clifton Wood and Poole's Wharf. The ferry service runs all year round providing links to all parts of the harbour
 

The memorial to merchant seamen at Welsh Back is one of the original quays in the port of Bristol, named from the thriving coastal trade with Wales. The memorial is a tribute to all merchant seamen who have sailed from Bristol through the ages
 

Over the past twenty years, Bristol's vast Floating Harbour docklands area has developed into one of the country's most exciting leisure, arts, water sports and entertainment centres

Here you will find:
SS Great Britain & Maritime Museum (0117 926 0680). See Brunel's masterpiece of ship design, the world's first ocean liner, in the dock where she was built in 1843

@ Bristol (0845 345 1235) - three leisure attractions on one site! Wildwalk has hundreds of live birds, beetles and other animals; the IMAX Theatre, at four storeys high, is marketed as the Biggest Cinema Screen In The West; and Explore is an exciting interactive science centre

Bristol Industrial Museum (0117 925 1470), detailing Bristol's rich industrial and maritime heritage;
Bristol Marina (0117 921 3198)

Two arts complexes: the renowned Arnolfini Arts Centre (0117 929 9191) was the original catalyst that set off the Bristol dock revival, and is one of Europe's leading centres for contemporary arts - visual arts, performance, dance and film. It has now been joined by the Watershed Media Centre (0117 927 6444), a centre for contemporary moving image media, films, digital media, exhibitions, courses and events. Both feature cafes and bars

St George's (0117 923 0359) is one of Britain's leading concert halls, famous for its acoustics - classical, opera, jazz and world music
 

Robert at the Granary

The Granary has a very famous place in Bristol's History. Although now it has been converted to house a number of expensive luxury harbourside apartments as well as the Loch Fyne Restaurant and Cyrano's Wine Bar, it was previously the Granary Club which hosted some of the worlds biggest musicians. Here is a list of some of the artists known to have played at the Granary Club from the first rock event on Monday 30th December 1968 to the last night on Saturday 27th August 1988:-

Queen, Genesis, ACDC, Black Sabbath, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Dire Straits, Marillion, Roxy Music, Sex Pistols, Status Quo, Thin Lizzy, and Travis to name but a few

The Granary is in an area of fine architecture, one-time merchants houses, a 17th century alms house with saw tooth gables, a Tudor public house where, it is said, young Jim Hawkins met a certain one-eyed, one legged sailor with a parrot on his right shoulder and Robert Louis Stevenson met a returning marooned sailor called Andrew Selkirk and then sat down to write 'Robinson Crusoe'. Both stories are regrettably untrue but they still get repeated time after time
And then there is the Granary. It is a remarkable building , the work of architects Ponton and Gough. It is recognised as their masterpiece and as the most striking monument of the high Victorian age in Bristol. Situated on Welsh Back and built in 1869 it is a hundred feet high with ten storeys. It was built for K.K.Wait, benefactor of the city's cathedral and for many years has been a listed building. It has been called the apotheosis of the Bristol Byzantine style, as potent a symbol of the city as St. Mary Redcliffe.
Nowadays it houses trendy apartments but in the late Sixties, after it had been empty for many years it became a jazz club under the guidance of Acker Bilk (hit recorder of 'Stranger on the Shore' and one of the greats of British jazz) and his brother Dave Bilk. It opened as a seven days a week jazz club on Tuesday 8th October 1968 with music supplied by the Avon Cities Jazz Band who regularly played there for the next 10 years (they also provided the music for the last night of jazz in 1978 as well). Acker Bilk appeared on Thursday 10th October 1968. Fridays became the Avon Cities regular night whilst the Bluenotes Jazz Band played every Wednesday, The Bluenotes clarinet player is well-known local radio broadcaster Roger Bennett, Over the first few years artists like Long John Baldry, Georgie Fame and Alan Price appeared, as well as international jazz names like Maynard Ferguson, Red Norvo, Joe Harriot and Muddy Waters. British traditional jazz bands like Chris Barber, Kenny Ball, Ken Kolyer, Humphrey Lyttleton, Terry Lightfoot, Sandy Brown and Alex Welsh were also featured. Although jazz in the UK was very popular at the time, the early part of the week was a bit quiet and the possibility of hiring it on a Monday attracted four local musicians.......Mike Tobin, Ed Newsom, Terry Brace and Al Read

Korina & Robert at Loch Fyne and Cyrano's in The Granary

Edwin and Anne at the Granary

One other claim to fame for the Granary is that it was the backdrop for one of the greatest pieces of British Comedy ever... it was the scene for the Bistro in the Only Fools and Horses 'Yuppy Love' where Del Boy goes ass over tit when he fails to notice that the barman has opened the serving hatch!!!

It was also the scene of the 121 Club Casino in Fatal Extraction...

St Augustine's Parade

The Arnolfini arts complex situated on the harbourside runs a full programme of contemporary exhibitions, performance, film, dance, music, talks and events. There is also a bookshop and café/bar. It stands at the end of Prince Street in the very heart of the city's harbour complex

Millennium Square

The Millennium Square fountains prove popular in hot weather with a number of Bristolians cooling off, although as usual bathing is not officially encouraged. Certainly not a day for that today...

De Ja Vue... It's Cary Grant again

Archibald Alexander Leach (January 18, 1904 – November 29, 1986), better known by his screen name, Cary Grant, was a British-born American film actor. He was perhaps the foremost exemplar of the debonair leading man, not only handsome, but witty and charming

Archie Leach was born in Horfield, Bristol, England. He was an only child and had a confused and unhappy childhood. His mother, Elsie, was placed in a mental institution when Archie was only nine. His father never told him the truth, and he only learned twenty years later that his mother was still alive

His statue is located near the At-Bristol Orange Imaginarium. Which is an huge reflective sphere which dominates Millennium Square. At-Bristol is a unique experience, combining science, nature and art in a world-class setting on Bristol's historic Harbourside

Queens Square

Queen Square was conceived at the beginning of the 18th-century by the newly-prosperous Bristol corporation as a carefully planned extension of the medieval city into a gracious up-to-date residential development. In the 1940's the square was brutally divided by a dual carriageway but the conservation-conscious city council removed this in 1999 and restored the square to its original appearance. The focal point located in the centre of the square is the equestrian statue of William III by Rysbrack, 1735/6

O'Neill's  Irish bar Cardiff

Bred in Heaven

St Mary's Street Cardiff

The medieval church of St John in Cardiff City Centre has stood here for over 800 years. The original building was severely damaged during the revolt of Owain Glyndwr, and was replaced in 1443 by the current structure - a fine example of Perpendicular architecture. Nearby is Cardiff Market, as well as some of Cardiff's oldest shops and arcades

Focal Points

The City Centre signposts, the Millennium Stadium cantilever posts and Cardiff Castle Clock Tower

Robert & Korina at Cardiff Castle

Castle Heights

The castle is located in the city centre within the site used by both the Romans and the Normans for defensive purposes. The 12-sided Norman keep still sits on top of a small hill today, providing views over Cardiff

Viewfinder of Bristol

Bristol City Gate

Inside Out - Wills Memorial Tower at Bristol University

Fondly regarded by Bristolians simply as 'The University', the Wills Memorial Building is the centrepiece of the University Precinct. This imposing venue at the top of Park Street has a breath-taking entrance with a sweeping double stone staircase and carved stone vaulted ceiling. The magnificent Great Hall lies within, as do other grand rooms resplendent with carved wood panelling and feature windows, and built according to a monumental Perpendicular style. This extravagant structure has been called the last great Gothic building to be constructed in England

The Wills Memorial Building was described by the architectural historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner as “a tour de force in Gothic Revival, so convinced, so vast, and so competent that one cannot help feeling respect for it”. The most prominent feature of the building is Wills Tower, which standing at 215 feet (65.5m) provides breathtaking views of the City of Bristol beneath

Korina at Bristol University

Royal Fort University Walk

St Michael's Hill is reached from the old city by a walk up the Christmas Steps, it is an example of eighteenth century expansion beyond the original medieval city boundaries. It is seen a back road link between the City Centre and Bristol University
 

Korina at Colston's Almshouses

The Colston's Almshouses on St Michael's Hill were built in 1691 by Edward Colston

Cabot Tower and St Georges

The Cabot Tower stands on Brandon Hill. The foundation stone was laid in 1897 to commemorate the fourth centenary of John Cabot's voyage of discovery from Bristol to mainland America in 1497. Brandon Hill lays claim to being the oldest park in Bristol. During the Civil War of 1643-5 defences were erected here for some of the city's heaviest fighting and traces of the earthworks can still be seen
 

Queen Elizabeth Hospital

Park-street-life

Cattlemans and The Bristol Ram at the Berkeley

During Korina's two week stay in Bristol and our visit to Cardiff, a number of the local eateries and hostelries were sampled, including the following:- Seven Shed, Bella Italia, O'Neill's, Slug & Lettuce, Zeebar, Cyrano's, Riverside Oriental, The Hole In the Wall, Walkabout, That Mexican Place, Ellipse, Stonehouse, Pitcher & Piano, Que Pasa, Revolution, The Hophouse, Henry Africa's, Queens Square, Sublime, Cafe Mu Mu, Prince of Wales, The Rummer Tavern, Central Bar, Great Western, Old India, Hortes, Hogshead, El Puerto, Greenhouse, The Horn & Trumpet, The Old Fish Market, Le Monde, The Bristol Ram, Tootsies, Zerodegrees, Antix, BSB, The White Hart Inn, and The Bay Horse

A New apartment development just off park street... 10 Unity Street

With apartments ranging from £300,000 to £395,000 for a two bedroom!!!

The former Merchant Venturers College was built by the Merchant Venturers in 1865 as a school.
Its High Victorian Gothic style is particularly apt as it occupies the site of the medieval St Mark’s Priory.
In 1906 a fire caused the loss of the pitched roof structure and much of the interior detailing, including the ornate Great Hall
Following WW2, it was absorbed into Bristol Polytechnic and was finally closed by the University of the West of England in 1992. Since then the building has been empty, neglected and decaying for 12 years until its acquisition by Carrot in 2004

Making the most of the opportunities this wonderful building offered us, we’ve created large, light and airy apartments. Nowhere is this better demonstrated than in the 5 Triplexes with their soaring cathedral like windows flooding light onto a double mezzanine. Equally the three contemporary floors on top provide large light spaces, as true to the original building as they are different.
Our enthusiasm and attention to detail is perfectly demonstrated by the niches set into the wall of every bathroom and shower room (cut to full tile for a crisp finish) for soaps and shampoos.
At 10 Unity Street Carrot have crafted 49 Apartments, Duplexes, Triplexes and Penthouses that bring the best of 21st Century City Centre living to an historic Bristol building

The view from the Show Apartment at 10 Unity Street

Bristol Town Hall on College Green

Get you're skates on...

Queen Victoria and the Royal Marriott Hotel on College Green

St Nicholas Market and Church

Fork Me!

Broadmead Shopping Centre

Centre Pubs

Robert & Korina

St Stephen's Church

Located smack in the centre of Bristol just behind my flat, it is the finest of Bristol's late medieval churches, and was heavily restored in 1875
 

Colston Tower

Korina and I went to see My Fair Lady at the West's Premiere Venue, the Bristol Hippodrome on Thursday 16th February

Hailed by the Daily Mail as “The revival against which all others will be measured”, and the Daily Telegraph as “Probably the greatest musical of all time” this landmark production of Lerner & Loewe’s “My Fair Lady” came to the Bristol Hippodrome

Amy Nuttall and Lisa O’Hare both played the role of ‘Eliza Doolittle’ in Cameron Mackintosh and the National Theatre’s landmark production of Lerner & Loewe’s “MY FAIR LADY“ at The Bristol Hippodrome, which was staged from Tuesday 24 January – Saturday 18 February 2006

Due to Amy’s ongoing recording commitments for her forthcoming solo album she w shared the vocally demanding role of ‘Eliza’ with Lisa O’Hare

Amy Nuttall is probably best known for her role as ‘Chloe Atkinson’ in “Emmerdale”. However, she first worked for Cameron when she understudied and played ‘Christine’ in the national tour of ‘The Phantom of the Opera’. Lisa O’Hare comes direct to “My Fair Lady” from understudying and playing the title role in Cameron and Disney’s West End production of “Mary Poppins”. Her other West End credits include ‘Anything Goes’. Amy and Lisa joined Christopher Cazenove as ‘Professor Higgins’, Russ Abbott as ‘Alfred P Doolittle’ (until 4 February), Hannah Gordon as ‘Mrs Higgins’ and Stephen Moore as ‘Colonel Hugh Pickering’. Russ Abbott, Hannah Gordon and Stephen Moore returned to the roles they played to critical acclaim at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London

On Saturday 25th February we went to see The Musical Box perform Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway at The Colston Hall in Bristol

Since 1993, The Musical Box has been restaging Genesis concerts with Peter Gabriel:
Foxtrot, Selling England by the Pound and The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

The inspiration and mandate of The Musical Box is to recapture the magic of those concerts and give people the impression of being at an original Genesis show

The reconstruction of this ambitious project was based on hundreds of photos and slides of the original concerts, videos, amateur films, articles from papers and magazines, as well as information offered by numerous people who either worked on or attended the Genesis shows between 1972 and 1975. All these sources allowed for the masks, costumes, make-up, accessories, sets, lighting design, special effects, choreography and musical presentation to be meticulously duplicated

To do justice to the intensity of Genesis' music, the songs reproduction was based on their studio versions. Also, it became necessary to acquire the instruments that characterized the Genesis sound, instruments that nowadays are considered as vintage or collectable items: among others, the Mellotron sounds, Hammond Organ, Arp Pro-soloist, Rickenbacker guitars, bass pedals, Leslie cabinets, etc

The Musical Box has been performing in North America and in the UK to an audience of more than 250,000 people and is the only band who ever obtained a licence to perform ‘The lamb Lies Down on Broadway’ from Genesis and Peter Gabriel. In the Spring 2002, Peter Gabriel and Mike Rutherford attended some shows and Steve Hackett played an encore with The Musical Box at the London Royal Albert Hall
 

It was in Chicago, USA, on November 20th, 1974, that Genesis began the tour of their new concept album, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. The album was released two days later, on November 22nd. It was an imposing concert filled with an intense musical atmosphere, surrealist visual effects and strange characters
 

After more than 100 concerts, Genesis presented their last performance of the tour in Besancon, France, in May 1975. Peter Gabriel’s last testimony with Genesis was never filmed, and The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway would, without a doubt, become the most mysterious and fascinating work of Genesis
 

On October 11th, 2000, The Musical Box presented their first re-creation of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway at the Montreal Spectrum in Canada. They are the only band to have ever been granted a licence by Genesis and Peter Gabriel for this show
 

The Original Tour

The stage was dark and sombre and included four different shaped risers, one for each musician, and two additional risers for Peter to sing from. Peter had a small percussion set at the rear of the stage to the right. A formation of four rocks at the centre-back of the stage completed the set

1124 slides illustrating the entire story were back-projected on 3 screens behind the musicians during the show. Most of the images were created by Geoffrey Shaw and Theo Botschuyver under the close supervision of Peter Gabriel

The song list of the show consisted of the entire The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway album plus “The Musical Box”. “Watcher of the Skies” was played as an encore, replaced for a few shows with “The Knife”

All photographs were taken in Bristol & Cardiff - England & Wales from the 10th to 26th February 2006.