Great Western Coffee Shop

Inspired by pictures posted of pullman dining elsewhere on this forum, I thought I would try my hand at food photography ...

http://www.wellho.net/pix/gurnarddish.jpg

http://www.wellho.net/pix/gurnardsupper.jpg

What has a post or series of posts on this site inspired you to try? ....

Not so much photos but information...

I have saved a fortune by learning about split tickets and the availability of rovers

I have made some good friends both on-line and face to face

I have explored places and areas I had not thought of until reading about them on the Coffee Shop

I have gained useful knowledge from staff and those more informed than me about how things work which help me understand why things happen the way they do

I have spent 68 days of the last three years browsing pages on here!!

Time very well spent!

Since seeing some of the picture quizzes, I now photo every where I visit and always have a camera of some kind with me.

Well, seeing that gurnard dish has inspired me to go for a fish main course next time I'm on the Pullman!

Can I ask grahame, where was that delicious looking supper had?

At "Chez Nous"  ;)

Well beats the supper I had tonight "where I live" hands down.

Bag of crisps and a bit of cheddar.  :D

That, too, has inspired me to take a camera with me wherever I go.  ;)

As an example - and with apologies for the relatively poor quality, due to being taken on my mobile phone while I was buffeted by a brisk winter wind on an exposed hillside:

(http://i.imgur.com/2bN5XFW.jpg?2)

I'm not posting it as a quiz picture, because it's so obvious - but I think it's an inspirational piece of design and construction, in its own relatively small way!  :D

Oh well if we are into bridges and viaducts - this is a favourite from my collection...  ;D
(so much so that I had it printed and professionally framed for my office wall)

(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/glen1104.jpg)

Where's that to then, bobm?  it's not the viaduct on the Mallaig to Fort William run is it? 

What inspires me?  Steam engines.  I could sit and stare at them all day.  Aaaah!

It is indeed Cynthia - Glenfinnan Viaduct.

Just for you here is another steam train - which passed over ten minutes after the first one, having crossed at the nearby station.  Not sure which I like more - the train or the sky!

(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/glen2.jpg)

While bobm's preferred viaduct is excellent in its way, it's built entirely of concrete: my own, more local, preference was built earlier, and in stone and brick - and has survived to this day, without very much in the way of maintenance.  ::) :P

Or the viaduct itself. Looks pretty spectacular whatever the sky, and with or without a train upon it.


Now, where is yours Chris? Believe it or not I'm struggling with the location.

Edit: No, hang on. Think I've got it. It's Pensford, yeah?  ;)

Oh!  :o

Perhaps I should have used it as a quiz picture, then?  ::)

Yes, it's Pensford Viaduct - about the only remaining structure on the whole Bristol to Radstock line which is still intact.  ;D

Ah!  Thank you, bobm!  Lovely!  One of my favourites steam journeys; magnificent scenery overlooking the Bonnie Prince Charlie monument.

CfN; I don't know where this Pensford viaduct is, but once I'm mobile again, will have to go and take a look, if you'll give us a clue as to where it is, please!  (Well, ok, so it's somewhere near Bristol - need another clue!)

(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/charl1204.jpg)

..as opposed to this one of brick and stone which has needed a bit more tender loving care!

(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/ribb1204.jpg)

The village of Pensford is on the A37 between Bristol and Shepton Mallet. One way to get there is by using the First Bus service 376 from Bristol Bus Station to Wells/Street. This service runs every half hour and calls at the foot of the station approach at Bristol Temple Meads. Combined through train and bus fares are available to Wells. For example, an Off Peak Day Return from Melksham to Wells Bus will cost you ^17.10 (^11.30 with a Railcard). The Anytime Day Return is just 10p (5p) more. You can use these tickets and stop short in Pensford.

Here is a real beauty of a viaduct - probable my favourite;  used to be GWR, but not FGW.

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/sob003.jpg)

I love the spectacular scenery, the closeness of nature and the ability to feel the bridge under your feet and the rumble of trains as they go over.  Must get back there this summer ..

Oh, I am loving all these photos!  grahame, is that viaduct (aquaduct?!) the one at Bideford?  Just a guess, and I'm not confident it's a good one...  If I'm right, it's very close to the road bridge.

bobm, thank you, more piccies of my favourite views-from-a-steam-train!  :-*  Trying to remember the name of the loch, at the head of which is the monument.  I could cheat, and look on my map.... ;D

BNM, thank you very much for your itinerary suggestion for visiting Pensford, which means I can do this without having to wait until I'm able to drive again, and I'm sure it's an excursion Echo would enjoy, too. 

Erm ... I'm sorry that I have to rein in your enthusiasm slightly, Cynthia, but please note that getting to the Pensford viaduct is not quite so simple.  ::)

Firstly, the structure itself is 'private property', with no public right of access.  Secondly, while the viaduct is at the far end of the old railway station in Pensford, that whole Station Approach is now a private housing development - and the residents are understandably a bit tetchy about ramblers apparently thinking they have the right to trample through gardens, trying to get a closer view of the viaduct.

Indeed, my own photo of the distant viaduct, featured earlier in this topic, was actually taken on private property.  :P

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pensford_Viaduct  ;)

For the avoidance of doubt Grahame's photo is Barmouth/Morfa Mawddach on the Cambrian Coast line

Following up for everyone  a reminder about safety and the law at forgotten relics

http://www.forgottenrelics.co.uk/safetyandthelaw/index.html

grahame, thanks for the timely reminder, and just as I thought I'd got rid of nightmares about falling into a sinkhole, I shall be having brand new ones about being stuck in a catchpit/caught in a tunnel collapse etc etc...... :o   Anyway, I have far too great a sense of self preservation to go taking risks in my quest for hidden bits of industrial archeology!

... and, with renewed apologies for the rather ropey quality of my previous picture, here are a couple of rather better photos of the Pensford Viaduct (taken today from a site on the public highway, this time!  ::) )

(http://i.imgur.com/QT2XAvb.jpg?1) (http://i.imgur.com/qpEzr8h.jpg?1)

I do think it's inspiring - not least because it's still there!  ;D

Yes... it could so easily have gone the way of this one (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VRuPDVz964); an object lesson in why it's always a good idea to stand back when people are demolishing things!

Very nice photograph, CfN, thanks for posting that.  Still prefer the Glenfinnan viaduct though!