Severn side

...no, not a pair of fishnets, but a net barrow! This 10 ft long contraption was used for carrying full sized eel nets at Hempsted on the river Severn around 1920. Hooped and looped as it was, I had no choice but to make an arty shot of it!

Hempsted village, near Gloucester, was where I worked last year, and I get the feeling that there is an awful lot more of it to explore than I ever got round to. CleanSteve and I found the well last summer, but I've never managed to get all the way from the village to the river. The village has grown enormously in recent years with the creation of new houses, and more are in the process of being built. Yet at heart it remains a real villagey village, with an oak tree, St Swithun's church, and of course the school at its heart. There is no pub because the charity that once patronised the village wouldn't have one, but regular wine tastings and social events are held at the church hall, or the Gordon league rugby club.

Gloucester folk museum, which I visited today, is worth another visit or three. This is a quick backblip because Saturday ran away with me, and the roads were closed so the bus was delayed, and the sun shone and the rain fell in buckets, and we went to a party and didn't get back till midnight! I took this shot in the river Severn room, which I hope to persuade CleanSteve to visit too. The museum tea room re-opens on my birthday, so perhaps we can have a non-traditional celebration involving museum, tea, and cakes! Next to breakfast, afternoon tea is my favourite 'meal'.

If the rest of the shots are any good, I might post them in my blipfolio.