Reindeer, Gloucester Docks

...but how did they get there? By boat? Gloucester is Britain's most inland port, and exists thanks to the former importance of the Gloucester and Sharpness canal which linked the Severn estuary to Gloucester as a trading route. The Severn flows through Gloucester, and floods on a regular basis, but it has a great tidal range in places, so would be unsuitable for transporting, say, coal from the mouth of the river. From Gloucester the river IS navigable, so cargoes could continue to Worcester and then join the canal network linked to Birmingham.

The docks have been regenerated extensively, and the latest addition is the Quays, a retail 'outlet' shopping centre which sells discounted/ slightly second grade branded clothing and goods. It's my idea of hell, but I went there today because there was an outdoor market too, with the promise of reindeer.

At the foodie market I sampled cheeses, and loved one called Hereford Hop. I nearly bought a herbed Caerphilly for CS, but couldn't remember if he liked it. So I played safe and bought a bottle of Number Nine, a brandy based liqueur with apple and blackcurrant: hits all the right spots! Found a veggie samosa stall amongst the very meat-oriented snacks, and enjoyed the best onion bhaji I've ever tasted, possibly because it contained something similar to fennel seeds. Finally I remembered the reindeer...

They were in an enclosure, grazing on expensive lichen imported from Norway. Completely unphased by the people admiring them, but a bit camera shy. They were a pair of females, w quite small, and they've recently returned from a trip to the Scottish highlands where they had a hot date with a stag. The hope is that they will have female offspring, so that they can be kept for breeding. They live on a smallholding with some other rare breed animals, and eat only Norwegian lichen. There were all sorts of notices on the enclosure about how well looked after they are, and how the RSPCA approve of them. Children kept running up to the enclosure, shrieking with joy at seeing real reindeer, and I thought how fantastically impressed I would have been to see reindeer at Stillorgan Shopping centre in Dublin when I was a child! I have only seen reindeer once before, on a trip to Finland, which I wrote about in my Letters from Latvia blip of a few days ago.

I am going to add some more reindeer shots to my blipfolio, as this was not necessarily the best shot, but none of them were very good! It's an unusual sight, so CleanSteve thought I should blip it, because he says he has never seen a reindeer blip before. There'll probably be twenty tomorrow...

Other highlights of the day included a visit to the folk museum to see the traditional Mummers' play performed by costumed figures, and a brief trip to the awe inspiring Gloucester cathedral to take in a half-hour carol service, with the choir in attendance. The
'Congregation' clapped at the end! Shock, horror!

I also succeeded in getting 4 pence back from Tesco Express after they overcharged me for something! THey were reluctant to do it, because their tills would be 'out', and had to call a supervisor. It's a small amount, but if they overcharged every customer by 4 pence, and served 100 customers per hour ... what worried me was that there was no explanation, no apology, no assurance that the pricing mistake would be rectified. It has put me off going to Tesco, not that I was ever very keen!

The Christmas tree goes up tomorrow. That means I may have to tidy up first....

view their shaggy feet in large