This is a picture my twin brother, Lawrence, took in 1972 of the chapel at the end of lock one in Two Locks Road, Cwmbran.
Look at the bush at the back of the chapel and note the face in it.
I assure you that the picture is untouched.
It was taken, as noted above, in 1972 with an old canon SLR 35mm
As an agnostic I see a face formed by weather conditions, the position of the sun and the time of day it was taken.
Believers may draw their own conclusions!
Far more interesting for me are the Morris dancers and a Ladies clog dancing team (sides unknown) below.
I took these pictures while at the Shrewsbury Folk Festival in 2006 when Loudon Wainwright topped the bill.
In and around the festival I came accross more Morris dancers than you could shake a stick at (or , indeed, wave a hankie at).
The joy and pleasure these dancers derived from their dancing was something that struck a chord in me and made me determine then and there to look up local sides with a view to dancing as soon as I got home.
and the ladies
This is a view of the river and suspension footbridge from the pub where I watched the above dancing.
You can just see the festival pavillions on the other side of the river.
I had a pint of Hobsons Best Bitter, this view, the dancing, home made Sausage and Mash and the sun pouring down like Southern Comfort on a winter's night.
Let us never forget how lucky we are and be ever mindful of the needs of others!!!
Below is a picture of the Isca Morris Men dancing the sun up at the Roman amphitheatre in caerleon
Mate Roger was asked for some ideas for the pages of this site: "A nice pair of tits are always popular" said he, so this ones for Roger:
Here is a picture of Oliver, Caitlin & self taken at Porthkerry Park, Barry Island's best kept secret.
Who needs the penny arcades when you have this natural cathedral less that a few hundred yards down the coast?
Berni and I 'neath the spreading towel tree, at Atlantique Tobogan in the Vendee 2006
Blaen Bran resevoir just up the mountain track from the Crow Valley Brewery, Upper Cwmbran.
A fabulous walk and a great pint!
Try some at the Bush Inn!
The Bush Inn
I danced the Morris here in September, 07.
Me at the FA Cup Final, Cardiff watching the Arsenel beat Man Utd on penalties after extra time!!!!!
Most fans never get to attend a cup final but, thanks to my older brother, I got to watch Man Utd get beaten in the final that United fans still Whinge, whine and bitch about!!!!!
"We had 90% of the play!!!" "Arsenal were rubbish!!!" "We deserved to win!!!" "That bloody ref should be suspended (from the goalposts)!!!" "If that goal had been allowed we would have won!!!!" "Those Arsenal fans are so partisan"
and my personal favourite:
"Yeah, well, it will only ever be known as the Penalty final"
I took the photo myself!!!
The fabulous jacket I am wearing was stolen shortly after from a pub.
It was my favourite jacket!!!
Ah, the great British music festival!! Glastonbury '05
I took this at the Eden Project. The flowers seemed to jump up and say "Take a picture of us!!!"
This is Berni who was daft enough to marry me and have our children
How lucky was that?
This is a picture of me getting a little green around the gills in a pod at the zenith of the London Eye.
I took the snap myself to remind me to never do this again.
I was petrified!!!
Hundreds of scary feet up in the air I think my eyes were actually shut when I took it!
These are some of the pictures I took at the folk festival of St. Gilles Croix de Vie in the Vendee 2007
This is a stick dance performed by the men
A mixed dance
Well, there's no point in leaving good Cidre Bouche in the bottle, is there?
This is apre la barbeque and (good tip) we are burning pine cones for the smell and to ward off airborne biting abominations.
We told ghost stories around the fire as it grew dark.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
I received an email from an old college chum who quoted me as saying, back in 1984, "I could never trust a man that wears bells on his knees"
That chum, Ross McCulloch, Recovering Journalist, wit, raconteur and cider glider was a source of merriment, laughter and support back in college and below is a photograph.
It is of Myself and Ross, on the right, at the college Telly Sherry party where we celebrated the arrival of the new TV for the communal lounge in style.
The old TV was thrown out of the (7th floor) window!!!
(It's a long but extremely amusing story that grows in the telling)
Withnail and I
To watch a video of Ross performing the world famous hand joke go here:
As well as the world famous hand joke you can also watch Ross perform the Totnes Shirt Trick recorded live in Swansfoot Cottage, Totnes, here:
Never again need you have your shirt come off when you slip your top over your head!!!
While I am stubbing my toe down memory lane I may as well throw this piccy from 1970 into the hat.
Billy Beament and self atop of the Hillman Minx we bought for £25.00 from "Honest" Ken's motors.
We sold it back to "Honest" Ken the following year for £20.00.
This is David Barrett Owen, as mentioned on the "Who am I" page, who I named my daughter after (Caitlin Barrett).
He died in his mid twenties after a diabetic episode.
Richard Nixon died in his eighties
God works in wonderous ways!
It was 1975 and we were playing football on Clapham Common prior to going visiting the Windmill for a lunchtime pint of Youngs Best Bitter (or eight!)
The above picture was cropped from this one.
I am on the far left.
I do not remember the names of the two chaps in the middle.
This is me in Ledbury on my way to a wedding in Malvern.
The pub is called the Prince of Wales.
Mid 70's