Durrus Village: Strolling through the Place

Back walking through Durrus village in County Cork again, at the Pier at sundown (above) here.  Below are the crab/lobster boxes on the Pier:

Below, we are passing the Church of Ireland church just down the road from the Pier:

While below is the old leper colony building across the water from the Pier:

And, of course, there's a nice relaxing pace of life in Durrus (and most other Irish villages I've visited):

Next up, it's the Catholic church in Durrus:

The door was open here so I managed to get a couple of nice shots inside:

And finally, when we had reached the centre of the village itself, everything seemed to have stopped to make way for a game of road bowling:

Just love the pace of life in rural Ireland.

Arena: Some Great Tunes

Been aware of the British Prog band Arena (with the original Marillion drummer Mick Pointer) for a few years, but until recently I had unwisely skipped giving them a proper listen.

So now that I'm giving the band a sustained listen, which tunes are emerging as my favourites?  Well, I really like 'The Shattered Room'; 'Butterfly Man'; and 'The Visitor', all class tunes:

As for the (previous vocalist) Rob Sowden versus (current vocalist) Paul Manzi debate, for me, both guys have great voices. 

Really like 'The Shattered Room' and 'Butterfly Man', as both tunes remind me of Marillion around the time of their 'Script for a Jester's Tear' debut album (remember seeing Marillion in 1982 at Manchester Apollo).

UFO: 'Long Gone' and 'Couldn't Get It Right'

Another song that has been at the forefront of my mental jukebox over the years is 'Long Gone' by UFO.  First time I heard this was when I saw UFO at Manchester Apollo in early 1981, and I thought "Wow, what a great tune to come on with".

From 'The Wild, the Willing, and the Innocent' album, I also really like 'Couldn't Get It Right', which, if I remember correctly, I used to have as a 7-inch clear vinyl single:

For me, this is just a beautifully melodic tune which is why it has also remained at the forefront of my mental jukebox for going on 35 years or so.

Like most people, my favourite UFO tunes are from the 1973-1978 Michael Schenker years (some of the greatest music ever made), and I also really like the first two (pre-Schenker) psychaedelic albums, but sometimes it's easy to forget that some of the post-Schenker early 1980s stuff with Paul Chapman on guitar was genuinely good like the two tunes above.

Uriah Heep: 'The Hanging Tree'

One of my favourite Uriah Heep tunes here from the 1970s 'Firefly' album which my old mate Daz George used to play all the time.  Only seen Uriah Heep once, in the late 1980s, at Manchester Apollo.

An Old Green Postbox in Ireland

Been to Counties Cork and Kerry four times in recent years and Connemara and Galway back in the late 1990s, but it was only on the last day of my most recent visit to Ireland for New Year that I finally got to see an old green postbox (above).

UFO Concert Poster in Warsaw

Yeah, UFO will be playing Warsaw Stodoła on 4th March 2015.  Have a soft spot for UFO as they were the first band that I saw live in January 1980 at Manchester Apollo on the 'No Place To Run' tour.

Ramsbottom: Snow at Christmas

It was only a bit but I definitely did see a bit of snow (above) over the recent Christmas period in Ramsbottom.

Don't really have much time for my hometown of Bury in Lancashire, but have always liked the Ramsbottom area of the town, as it has a more old-worldly feel to it. 

Was also nice to see hikers with their backpacks on getting off the steam train at Ramsbottom to go hiking round the area (probably around the moors on Holcombe Hill):

Ramsbottom: Irwell Works Brewery Bar

Undoubtedly, the highlight of my Christmas trip to Bury was an evening at the Ramsbottom Irwell Works Brewery bar.  At ground level, as you go in the place, you can see the brewing equipment through a window (above).

During my evening at the brewery bar, the two drinks that stood out for me were the Renaissance porter and Tin Plate dark mild:

Usually prefer lighter-coloured real ales, but both the porter and dark mild at Irwell Works were crackers (absolutely fantastic).

Below is the full range of real ales on offer at the Irwell Works Brewery:

My friends confirmed that all the real ales on the board above are fantastic.

Delain (Battle Beast and Sabaton) Live at Warsaw Torwar 23rd January 2015

First gig of the year last night:  Delain; Sabaton and Battle Beast at Warsaw Torwar (very good value for money at 100 złoty, about 17 quid).

I went mainly to see Delain and wasn't disappointed, my favourite tunes of the night being 'Get The Devil Outta Me'; 'Army Of Dolls'; 'Not Enough'; 'Sleepwalkers Dream'; and 'We Are The Others'.  Had rather unwisely spurned a couple of previous opportunities to see Delain in Warsaw so it was nice to finally catch the band live last night.

Unfortunately, I found it difficult as hell to get good shots of Charlotte Wessels and her bandmates on stage, so I've had to play about with editing the colouring to make some sense of them:

Below, the band are deservedly taking enthusiastic applause at the end of their nice melodic set:

Yeah, this is what I like about Delain, they are melodic, and, for me, this is what music is mainly about.

Also found Battle Beast (on before Delain), who I don't know that well, surprisingly melodic:

The crowd responded really well to Battle Beast which was especially appreciated by the drummer (below):
 

And then, finally, Sabaton, who, to be honest, I just don't get (understand).  Thus, they're just not my cup of tea, although the crowd last night mainly loved them.

Just find Sabaton a bit too 'Spinal Tapish', and the excessive chatting (including repeating several Polish phrases) between songs just didn't do it for me.

Having said this, me and my mate Oliver did find the way the drums had been set up like a tank amusing, and my few half-hearted shots of Sabaton seem to have turned out much better than the ones I'd put so much effort into getting of Delain:

But overall, a good first gig of the year.

Bantry Bay: The Strand at Sundown

Couple of mobile shots of The Strand, Bantry Bay, at sundown here.

Love going to The Strand at sundown when the waves start coming in fast; the water seems to turn a reddy-blue colour; and the mountains can still be faintly seen on the other side of Bantry Bay.

Manchester City Centre: Some More Pictures

Some more pictures of Manchester city centre from my recent Christmas visit, starting with Manchester Anglican Cathedral (above).

Had always wondered what the weird-looking glass building was below, and, during this trip, I discovered that it was the National Football Museum:

Next up, I had forgotten how beautiful the (old Victorian) Midland Hotel building was (below):

And in Piccadilly Square, underneath the Queen Victoria statue, a charity was giving out basic food and clothing to whoever wanted it:

Absolutely love the old Victorian building (below) which I took a shot of through looking down from Piccadillly train station:

Always liked passing this building when walking down to my first Rock concerts (UFO; Rush; Scorpions; Van Halen; Def Leppard/Magnum; Triumph; Motorhead; MSG etc.) at Manchester Apollo in 1980 (how time flies).

St. Anne's Church: My Favourite Nativity Scene of 2015

St.  Anne's is a beautiful, Georgian-type, Anglican church, not that far from Victoria train station in central Manchester.

This Christmas, I was very happy to see a Nativity Scene proudly standing outside this church for everybody to see:

I'm also happy to say that I saw quite a few such Nativity Scenes standing outside Lancashire churches this Christmas, but the one at St. Anne's was my favourite:

Rightly or wrongly, I take these Nativity Scenes to possibly be a sign of Christian civilisation attempting to fight back against the awful political 'correctness' that ensnares the West at the moment.

Manchester Town Hall's Surreal-Looking Father Christmas

Like Rochdale Town Hall (also in Lancashire), I've always thought that Manchester Town Hall wouldn't be out of place in Vienna, because, from every angle, it's an incredibly ornate building.

This last Christmas, it had a surreal-looking Father Christmas added to the front of the building:

Was glad to get a zoom-in close-up of the surreal-looking Father Christmas (below):

AC/DC Concert Poster in Warsaw

Should or shouldn't I go to the AC/DC gig at the National Stadium in Warsaw this summer, that is the question.

Only seen AC/DC once before at Castle Donington back in 1981 around the time of the 'Back in Black' album.  So, despite not being mad on AC/DC, a bit of nostalgia is pushing me towards possibly going to the summer Warsaw gig.

Manchester Piccadilly: The Big Wheel in the Rain

Was in Manchester over Christmas, where, of course, it was pouring down all the time.  However, this did allow me to take a couple of nice shots of the Big Wheel at Piccadilly:

The Old Leper Colony, Durrus Village, County Cork

A couple of eerie, watercolour-type, mobile shots of the old leper colony from Durrus Pier.

Had always wondered what the distant building across the water was, and during my recent trip to Ireland, my travelling companion, Dave Dealy, informed me that it was where the lepers had stayed years ago.

Ballybunion, County Kerry

A few shots from our whistle-stop visit to the Kerry coastal town of Ballybunion here.

Walking down to the seafront, I first noticed an important political memorial above me (below):

And, of course, Ballybunion is renowned the world over for golf:

But what caught my eye the most was the castle ruin at the seafront:

Here, the sea was quite rough and richly atmospheric:

And the beach was predictably almost deserted:

Although my good friend and travelling companion, Dave Dealy, told me that Ballybunion Beach is never badly crowded, even during summer.

Yeah, it was nice to quickly stop off at Ballybunion on New Year's Day 2015.