Oddities

  • Art up the Feeder

    Steve WoodsBristol, Oddities

    In recent years, Bristol has hosted two very successful public arts trails.

    Wow! Gorillas was a project sponsored by Bristol Zoo Gardens in 2011 that displayed 61 decorated life-sized fibreglass gorilla sculptures on the city’s streets. It coincided with the zoo’s 175th anniversary. At the end of the event the sculptures were auctioned off, raising £427,300 for gorilla conservation work and for local Bristol charity Wallace and Gromit’s Grand Appeal.

    2013 saw Gromit Unleashed take to the streets of Bristol. This saw 1.18 million people visiting the Gromit Unleashed trail and associated exhibition over the 10 weeks of the event last summer. Church Road at Lawrence Hill was one of the sites chosen for a Gromit; it hosted one named Lodekka (posts passim) after the fondly remembered Bristol double-decker bus commonly in use when I first moved to the city in the 1970s.

    After these events, the places where any remaining sculptures can be seen on public display can be counted on the fingers of one hand. One gorilla can be seen in North Street, Bedminster and one Gromit adorns the bows of one of the Bristol Ferry Boat Co.’s ferries plying the city docks.

    However, there’s one place where both a gorilla and a Gromit can be seen together – Feeder Road alongside the Feeder Canal, historically an area associated with grime and industry, not art of public view.

    If you look up a couple of hundred yards beyond the traffic lights, you see them.

    sculpture of the roof of Manor Scrap

    Both were bought at the respective charity auctions by Manor Scrap. According to their website, Manor also acquired another gorilla, but this cannot be viewed from the road from what I could see.

    Chatting to Pete, the boss of Manor Scrap recently, I understand that the next sculpture trail to be organised in the city will be based on another Aardman animated character – Sean the Sheep.

    Will Shawn end up down the Feeder too?

  • Bristol Post: England invests £168 in roads

    Steve WoodsBristol, Language, Media, Oddities, Politics

    Road works traffic signAccording to yesterday’s online edition of the Bristol Post, the Department of Transport is to invest the princely sum of £168 – the largest amount it has spent on tarmac for four decades – in England’s road network.

    Of this total, the amount earmarked for local authorities in the Bristol area swells magically to more than £2 mn., according to a this piece by an unidentified Post hack.

    The second paragraph of the report reads as follows:

    The handout from a £168 funding pot which will see more than £3 million potholes filled is part of what is being billed as “the biggest investment in roads since the 1970s”.

    For those who prefer their information unmangled by the illiterates of the local media, the original Department of Transport press release is available here.

  • Photo captions: out of focus

    Steve WoodsBristol, Media, Oddities

    There’s a certain art to captions for photographs used to illustrate news pieces; photographs provide additional interest to what could otherwise be a dull bit of prose.

    Today the Bristol Post features one story which seems to provide an element of unintentional comedy, as shown by the following pictures and their captions used in a slideshow in the piece in question.

    image of police car with wrong caption
    Foxtrot Oscar?
    image of dancers with police car caption
    Thank you for a lovely evening on the beat…

    The International Journalists Network has published guidance on writing photo captions. Its first paragraph states:

    Photo captions are often the first elements of a publication to be read. Writing photo captions is an essential part of the news photographer’s job. A photo caption should provide the reader basic information needed to understand a photograph and its relevance to the news. It should be written in a consistent, concise format that allows news organizations to move the photo to publication without delay.

    I’ll note quote the rest of the photo captions advice, but would recommend it be read – and acted upon – by the residents of Bristol’s Temple Way Ministry of Truth. 🙂

  • Avon (still) calling

    Steve WoodsBristol, Language, Oddities, Politics

    The Heath government’s Local Government Act of 1972 radically overhauled local government arrangements in England and Wales.

    In particular, it redrew the map of the shire counties, some of which had been in existence in some form since medieval or Saxon times.

    coat of arms of Avon County CouncilOne of the Act’s results was the creation of the County of Avon, a non-metropolitan county, which survived from its creation on 1st April 1974 until its abolition on 31st March 1996, when it was succeeded by the present unitary authorities of Bristol, South Gloucestershire, Bath & North East Somerset.

    Despite its abolition and its failure to engage popular support during its existence (it was widely derided at the time as a “cardboard county”. Ed.), Avon is proving harder to eradicate than a vampire. Its legacy can be found all over the West of England and the defunct county’s former administrative area.

    In organisational terms, its name crops up in the following public and private bodies:

    In addition to the above, there’s still an Avon Coroner’s district, the Forest of Avon community forest project and one can by an Avonrider ticket on local bus services.

    Although it ceased to exist nearly two decades ago, many bodies still insist that Avon forms part of the postal address of places like Bristol in spite of the fact that the Royal Mail long since indicated that it was not necessary to include Avon as part of any address as Royal Mail itself had abandoned the use of postal counties in 1996.

    The inspiration for this post came from a conversation this morning on Twitter.

    Any further instances of the survival of Avon can be posted in the comments below.

  • Save Avonvale Road Victorian school

    Steve WoodsBristol, Oddities, Politics

    There seems to be a passion for demolishing what’s left (and unlisted) of Bristol’s 19th century buildings at present (posts passim).

    The latest potential victim is the Victorian era school in Avonvale Road in St George.

    image of Avonvale School
    Avonvale School. Picture credit: Mariateresa Bucciante

    Bristol City Council, those champions of preserving the city’s heritage of past centuries (as long as it fits in with their particular view of what constitutes heritage. Ed.), together with Redfield Educate Together (who’ll be running the school to be opened on the site) and the builders, PPP ‘experts’ Skanska, have submitted a planning application proposing the demolition of the old Victorian school buildings and the building of a box-like, bland, modern replacement.

    The existing building has apparently been declared unsuitable by the city council’s Children and Young People’s Service, the trendy, modern moniker for what used to be the Local Education Authority.

    A petition has been organised to try and avert its demolition and the information below comes from it.

    The Victorian school currently occupying the site was designed in 1898 by the acclaimed local architect, Herbert J Jones, and it is a candidate for local listing. It is a local landmark in St. George, an area with a strong character and the building, in excellent condition, was used by the council until recently (isn’t it curious how the same building can be used and then regarded as unsuitable by the same body? Ed.).

    The petitioners believe, as recommended by English Heritage advice on reusing Victorian schools, that the building should be saved and adapted for the new school. If not large enough, other school buildings are available, such as the other school in Avonvale Road in Barton Hill.

    The advice from English Heritage is strong: “Where re-use for educational purposes has been ruled out, every effort should be made to find a new use. The aim should be to obtain the best return for the taxpayer consistent with government policies for protecting the historic environment.”

    The replacement defeats Bristol City Council’s draft policy DM26 which states that, “Development should contribute positively to an area’s character and identity, creating or reinforcing local distinctiveness.”

    The petition, which is addressed to Bristol City Council, concludes as follows:

    We acknowledge the urgent and strong need for a new school in the area and we very much support the reuse of this building and the search for more suitable sites, and for a school which is truly inspiring for the future generations of Bristolians.

    We believe you should reconsider your plan, looking for the advice of English Heritage’s experts independent from the proposal of a single developer.

    Sign the petition.

  • Slade alive

    Steve WoodsBristol, Oddities

    Thursday morning’s post contained an unusual item for me: my invitation from my niece to attend the private view of her art degree show at the Slade School of Fine Art in London’s Bloomsbury.

    image of silk screen printed lining paper
    Silk screen printed lining paper by Katherine Midgley. Image courtesy of the artist.

    On Friday afternoon I hopped on the train from Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington and made my way to the Slade in Gower Street in time for the opening of the private view, entry to which was slightly delayed by a fire alarm. Coincidentally, news began to filter through at about this time of the disastrous fire at the Charles Rennie Mackintosh building at Glasgow School of Art.

    One of the degree show exhibits currently greets visitors as they enter the quadrangle of where the Slade stands – Ellen Yeon Kim’s The Shelter.

    Once inside the Slade, the degree exhibition is spread over 3 floors of the labyrinthine building, whose institutional white emulsion and grey gloss décor does nothing to detract from the students’ work and lets the latter not so much speak for itself, as declaim.

    Slade Degree Show posterAs an indulgent uncle, I was very impressed by my niece’s exhibits as I know full well how much hard work and effort she has put into it. However, there’s one part of her show I have yet to experience – the commentary to her video, but that’s in hand.

    As one would expect from one of the UK’s finest art schools, the standard of work on show was exceptionally high. If I could pick out a couple of highlights, these would be Danielle Tay and Ben Westley Clarke, not forgetting Lori Ho.

    The private view of the degree show is usually the opportunity for the students’ parents, family and friends to view their work. I do nevertheless wonder how many parents felt perplexed at their offspring’s output.

    The BA/BFA degree shows are open to the public until Thursday 29 May, weekdays 10am – 8pm, weekends 10am -5pm, whilst the MA/MFA Show will be open from Thursday 12 – Wednesday 18 June, weekdays 10am – 8pm, weekends 10am -5pm.

  • Staffordshire oatcake to get protected status?

    Steve WoodsOddities, Politics

    Will the Staffordshire oatcake be joining Melton Mowbray pork pies, the Cornish pasty and Newcastle Brown Ale by having its status protected by the European Union?

    Filled Staffordshire oatcakes
    Filled Staffordshire oatcakes. Picture courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

    The BBC reports that the the West Midlands Labour group of MEPs is promising to apply to get it protected by the European Union if re-elected.

    One of the candidates, Sion Simon, is reported as saying: “They’re part of our heritage and culture in the West Midlands and they should be protected in the same way other European countries protect their food products.”

    Conservative and Liberal Democrat candidates are also said to be broadly supportive of the proposal, although UKIP are being curmudgeonly and refusing to support the move (another reason not to vote for Nigel’s Little Englanders? Ed.).

    However, I cannot help wondering if this proposal is a local Labour response to the rise of UKIP, particularly amongst Labour’s long-term core voters – the traditional white working class – the people it has taken for granted for far too long.

    It is unclear from the BBC’s article which type of protection – PDO (Protected Designation of Origin), PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) or TSG (Traditional Speciality Guaranteed) – will be sought, although my feeling is that it should be one of the first two.

    I hope this is not just another manifesto promise from Labour that, like so many others, will be quietly dropped after the election when they have served their purpose.

  • Another variant on the HMRC fake email

    Steve WoodsLanguage, Oddities, Tech

    This morning I discovered the fake HMRC email below in one of my inboxes.

    I’m disappointed to note that the senders of this one are only offering me a refund of £830.99; the previous bunch of scammers were offering £1,400.

    TAX RETURN FOR THE YEAR 2014
    RECALCULATION OF YOUR TAX REFUND
    HMRC 2010-2011
    LOCAL OFFICE No. 3819
    TAX CREDIT OFFICER: Jarrett Horn
    TAX REFUND ID NUMBER: 9896077
    REFUND AMOUNT: 830.99 GBP

    Dear Applicant,

    The contents of this email and any attachments are confidential and as applicable, copyright in these is reserved to HM Revenue & Customs.

    Unless expressly authorised by us, any further dissemination or distribution of this email or its attachments is prohibited.

    If you are not the intended recipient of this email, please reply to inform us that you have received this email in error and then delete it without retaining any copy.

    I am sending this email to announce: After the last annual calculation of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of 830.99 GBP

    You have attached the tax return form with the TAX REFUND NUMBER ID: 9896077, complete the tax return form attached to this message.

    After completing the form, please submit the form by clicking the SUBMIT button on form and allow us 5-9 business days in order to process it.

    Our head office address can be found on our web site at HM Revenue & Customs: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk

    Sincerely,

    Jarrett Horn
    HMRC Tax Credit Office
    Preston<br /.
    TAX REFUND ID: UK9896077-HMRC

    This email was delivered from a Korea Telecom server and came with an attachment -Refund-Form-ID_9896077.zip (the number in the zip file varies).

    Some of the language used – e.g. ‘fiscal activity‘ – is also a clue to its bogus nature. HMRC is supposed to use simpler English than that. Furthermore, note that the title seems to suggest the tax return concerned is for 2014, but the refund relates to 2011-2012. Not even HMRC is that slow in refunding money.

    If you’re on a Windows machine, opening that zip file is fraught with danger as the archive contains a Trojan which, when run, attempts to drop cryptolocker, ransomware and loads of other malware on your computer.

    As stated in an earlier post, HMRC never sends notifications of a tax rebate by email or asks taxpayers to disclose personal or payment information by email.

    As before, if you receive one of these emails, you are advised to forward it to phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk and then delete it.

    Once again, consult HMRC’s website for comprehensive advice on phishing and bogus emails.

  • An inappropriate juxtaposition

    Steve WoodsBristol, Media, Oddities

    The screenshot below comes from the Bristol Post website early this morning and shows 2 news items in succession about Nick Gargan, the Chief Constable of Avon & Police.

    image of 2 news items on Nick Gargan

    Is being suspended for ‘inappropriate behaviour’ part of a typical light-hearted day for Avon & Somerset’s finest?

    Answers in the comments below, Bristol Post hacks and sub-editors. 🙂

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