Graffiti for a child

This is a curiously vibrant piece of graffiti for a rather unfrequented foot-tunnel.  It runs under the A50 at Blythe Marsh, more as a sort of rain run-off than anything else, as it goes to nowhere really.

But whoever sat here for those lonely hours creating these pictures seems to have wanted to imbue them with childlike fun.

Micro pub

A micro-pub is one that looks back to the very (very) old days - being more like a drinking parlour or beer-shop rather than the 'gastro-pub' so prevalent today. 
And, it's quite a new (if very old) concept...

The Crossways MicroPub in the centre of Blythe Bridge is, as you can see, pretty basic.  It's just an unadorned room, with no piped music - and with low prices (£2.80 a pint!).  The most exciting thing on offer, apart from the excellent (Peakstones Brewery) beer is ... card-games.

Will micro-pubs succeed?  The Crossways has only just opened, so it hasn't had to take on an English winter yet... but, yes, there is interest from the town.

Walking Dead in Blythe Bridge

Such is the fashion among teenagers for zombies and their ilk that this library decided a good way to get them in was by putting up a lurid Walking Dead books display.
It is very different to the displays that were in my library as a child - usually of something like 'women's costume in the seventeenth century' - which seem very dull by comparison...

Incidentally, Blythe Bridge Library is one of those being downgraded in the latest local authority cuts.  Very soon, there will be no librarian or paid staff on-site, though there might be a volunteer or two staffing the desk.

Naive nativity

I am not convinced that this shop in Blythe Bridge has actually seized the essence of the Nativity with its shop-window display. 
An over-sized doll in a cardboard carton, with no parents nearby, and soft-toy animals standing in for The Shepherds (at least, I suppose that's why they are trying to represent) doesn't appear to me to really sum up the message.

And yet, there is something charming in its naivety, which makes it much more interesting than hundred 'accurate' Nativity scenes.

New chips on the block

It's a mystery... but there are two types of businesses that seem to insist on having puns in their name - fish & chip shops and hairdressers.  In Staffordshire there are hundreds of them: The Codfather; Alias Quiff & Combs, Head-Turners; Our Plaice etc etc

This fish & chip takeaway in Blythe Bridge has managed to go further - and work two puns into its name of 'New Chips On The Block'. 
It is also a literal description, as the shop was taken over by new management recently.

This post was featured on the City Daily Portal Photo Blog

Nadolig Llawen

Nadolig Llawen is ‘Merry Christmas’ in Welsh.

But whatever your language is -  A Happy Christmas to You All!

(Why a Welsh sign in Staffordshre?
A number of Welsh people moved to Staffordshire – as did Geordies and Poles – seeking work in the local coal-mines.Some stayed, even when the last mines closed – as this Christmas light on the side of a house in Blythe Bridge shows.)