The Spotted Cow (Bell Lane, Bury, Lancashire): Caught in a Magical Time Trap

When I'm thinking about places caught in a time trap, 'The Spotted Cow' on Bell Lane in my hometown of Bury, Lancashire, immediately springs to mind.  For me, this place doesn't seem to have changed in any way at all since the early/mid-1970s (my earliest memories of the place as a young schoolboy).

Yes, long gone are Bensons Toffee Works (for me, the heart of the East Ward community died when this was closed down); the Co-op across the road (where my late mother used to work), and 'Sally's Pie/Cake Shop' just round the corner, while the 'Horse & Jockey' is now 'The Old Crow', and many other Bell Lane pubs ('The Fleece'; 'The Grapes'; 'The New Inn'; 'The Brewers' etc.) have long disappeared.

However, caught in its own magical time trap, 'The Spotted Cow' just trundles along, seemingly never running out of energy, just effortlessly providing the pints for local punters. 

To be honest, I've only ever been in 'The Spotted Cow' a handful of times in my life, but would be genuinely sad if it were ever pulled down.  But why?  Just pure nostalgia, I guess, as the pub is one of the last standing cultural symbols of the old East Ward area of Bury where I lived as a child in the 1970s.

Randy Crawford Live at Warsaw Sała Kongresowa 8th November 2013

Was at Warsaw Sała Kongresowa to see Randy Crawford last night.  The last time I was here was about 5-6 years ago to see PJ Harvey, while I've also seen Yes; Kraftwerk; Tracy Chapman and the Gotan Project here over the years.

As can be seen in the picture above, the Sała Kongresowa is a gorgeous, Classical-type building.  However, the place can be a touch pompous, for example, last night, I was ordered to leave my light jacket in a cloakroom before I could enter the theatre.

Anyway, Randy Crawford (just about visible on the right below) was fantastic doing her most famous tunes:  'Rainy Night in Georgia'; 'One Day I'll Fly Away'; 'Street Life'; and 'Almaz'.  However, as 'Almaz' was the first encore, I had to sacrifice half of it so that I could retrieve my coat (just didn't fancy battling it out with 2,500+ others after the show).

Besides the more famous tunes, I was happy to see that I recognised quite a few of the more Jazzy songs from the 2011 'Leverkusener' concert video:

As for the Joe Sample trio, well, in the absence of Joe himself, I've got to say that son Niklas Sample is one hell of a bassist, while both the drummer and pianist are also top notch:

Another word about the Sała Kongresowa and it's not a bad one:  the sound is really good there (still find the ambience of the place difficult to like, though)

Also really like the incredible alcoves and ceiling at the Kongresowa:

And the last word about Randy Crawford?  Well, she's got such a beautifully soft and yet measured, and, in its own way, powerful voice, and she makes it all look so effortless.  Thus, she has a great God-given talent.

Bury, Lancashire: Park Chapel (on the Way To Ramsbottom/Stubbins from Bury)

For years, I kept passing this old chapel (called Park Chapel), just before you turn left into Ramsbottom - near Stubbins, and it was really black, almost dilapidated-looking, so I feared that it was going to get pulled down.  However, during my last trip to Bury in late May this year, I was really pleased to see that the building had been done up, and it even looked like it was still functioning as a chapel.  In particular, I find the front window (below) really eye-catching:

Of course, a big well done to whoever has taken care of this place, as we need to keep on preserving such aesthetically pleasing buildings.

Bury, Lancashire: A Slated Wall

When I lived in my hometown of Bury, Lancashire many moons ago, I would simply walk past something like the slated, rear-end wall above, which is near the top of Walmersley Road, without thinking about it.  However, when I go back to Bury now, having moved away from the place about 17 years ago, such distinct features as the slated roof above now stick out, as I now more recognise the uniqueness of my hometown, and start to value the place where I was brought up a little bit more.  Having said this, I'm not trying to say that Bury is a great place to have been brought up.

Warsaw Zoo: Early November 2013

Had a thoroughly enjoyable time at Warsaw Zoo on Saturday afternoon, although I never got to see some of the animals, such as the rhinos above (on a picture at the zoo entrance), because it was either too cold for them, or they had already retired sleepily for the day.  Indeed, somebody explained to me today that it's much better to visit a zoo in the morning when all the animals are more likely to be up and active, and I guess that this stands to reason. 

Anyway, the first thing you see as you enter the zoo are the pink flamingos:

After this colourful start, if you turn right, there is the exotic-bird section, where you can see quite a few different kinds of large 'parrot-type' birds (you can see that I'm no expert on birds):

Only caught glimpses of the monkeys; elephants;  and giraffes from a distance, and never got to see any of the big cats, but did manage to see several small kangaroos/wallabies, like the one in the picture below:

Also got a nice shot of the zebras as it started to get dark after 4pm, which was weird, almost safari-like, photographing such creatures in the dark:

Managed to get a nice shot of these storks in the darkness as well:

The storks are a celebrated bird in Poland, as in spring/summer, they fly in from Africa to resettle in their huge nests, which have usually been built on top of such things as telegraph poles.

However, the small (red) panda, advertised in the picture below, was the creature that really gave me the runaround, and no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get a decent picture of the thing, so I guess that I'll just have to try again some time:

Anyway, there was a happy ending as I did manage to get some decent shots of the small sloth below, seeing this animal being the highlight of my visit to the zoo for me:

Up there, happy and comfortable on his perch, the small sloth reminded me of a wise little Buddah, as it was amazing how human he looked.

The Sloth at Warsaw Zoo

Spent a very pleasant late autumnal afternoon at Warsaw Zoo today, where I met my good friend, the sloth.  As expected, he was very tired and a little bit shy, but also very friendly towards all his visitors.  Of course, as usual, he was more than happy to keep still and pose for people's pictures:

Yes, must say that the sloth looks very wise in the picture above, giving people the really wise message to take things easy and not get stressed out.

Warsaw Powązki Cemetery on All Saints Day 2013

For the first time in a few years, I went for a walk round Warsaw Powącki Cemetery on All Saints Day this evening.  I would guess that the cannon-type grave above is that of an important soldier.  Love the Polish (Catholic) tradition of putting candles on the graves of the dead on All Saints Day.  Masses of people walk around the cemeteries remembering their dead relatives in a far from morbid way.

The grave above caught my eye, because the cross is very realistically carved like a tree.  In contrast, I was interested in the grave below, because breaking away from general Polish tradition, it's really colourful, so I guess that it must be the grave of an artist.