Places for stage and screen.

11 Nov 2024 Leave a comment

by Carole Gardiner in 60 by 60 list, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Number 2 – Acta Community Theatre

Deep in the heart of Bedminster in South Bristol is the home of a thriving community theatre group that is nearly 40 years old. I have been going to this theatre for many years to watch fantastic and original productions on a regular basis as my youngest son, Jake, belongs to the group and has been since he was a young teenager.

The groups are not afraid to tackle controversial and challenging subjects with well written, directed and amazingly acted productions. Also putting on Christmas pantomimes and other light hearted plays to entertain the Bristol public. The groups are a mixing bowl full of different ages and abilities and everyone works so hard to keep putting on fabulous performances.

It wasn’t until I started planning this post that I noticed that the picture in the book had a photo of Jake on the wall, which I love.

Number 5 – Arnos Vale Cemetery

This cemetery near Temple Meads Station was first opened in 1839 and served the city of Bristol for many years for the burial and cremation of loved ones. A wander around the gravestones will reveal the final resting places of the great and the good of Bristol past, such as the survivors of the Charge of the Light Brigade.

In 2003 the city council took ownership creating a community hub with an event area and a café, regularly hosting weddings and other special occasions. The cemetery is a 45 acre haven for wildlife and if you look really closely at the foot of some of the trees you might find tiny doors for the fairies to come and go.

My son Jake and I found ourselves there last year to watch an outdoor showing of the 1980’s classic The Lost Boys, a very apt setting for a fabulous night with my lovely boy.

Number 14 – Bottle yard studio

Not far from my house and almost next door to my place of work lives the Bottle yard studios, this was formerly Harvey’s Bristol Cream where sherry was made and bottled for that traditional Christmas tipple. It is now the place where all sorts of TV and film productions are made. My absolute favourite coming out of these studios is Poldark starting the wonderful Aiden Turner, who I stood in line behind at a cashpoint in Bristol city centre, unfortunately he was chatting on his phone so I couldn’t say hello. I think Aiden dodged a bullet there and had a very lucky escape.

My experience of the studio was a few years ago when I got free tickets to be in the audience for Tipping Point – Lucky stars. Accompanied by my mum and my friend Deb, I joined a very long queue in the car park, mildly excited to watch some celebrities answering easy questions and dropping counters into a giant machine. We were almost at the final destination when an announcement was made to say there was no more room as the host, Ben Shepherd, had brought his family and they had taken up an entire section of the audience. So we never made it inside and went to a well known coffee shop chain for cake.

Number 52 – Goldney Hall Grotto

My bestie and I decided to be culture vultures and watch a production of my favourite Shakespeare play, Much ado about nothing, in the grounds of Goldney Hall. The backdrop for the performance was the beautiful orangery that started out as a rather posh greenhouse in 1714. The grotto was created by Goldney as he developed the gardens, the subterranean wonder is decorated with Bristol diamonds, iron rich quartz found around the city.

These days the orangery is used as an event venue, famously for Dr Watson’s wedding in the TV show Sherlock, where you’ll hear the best ever best man speech from the fabulous Benedict Cumberbach. On a more personal note it was also the venue for Jane’s daughter, Holly’s wedding, who joined us to watch the play. I didn’t visit the grotto on this occasion but I will return at some point to take a closer look.

Big birthday, big challenge.

11 Nov 2024 Leave a comment

by Carole Gardiner in 50 Fabulous things, 60 by 60 list Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Following the success of my 50 Fabulous things in a year to celebrate my 50th birthday, I have decided to mark the occasion of my big 60, (coming up in 2 1/2 years), by completing a list of 60 things. The 60 by 60 list is a mixture of new skills to learn, experiences I’ve yet to have and places I’ve been meaning to visit but haven’t got around to yet.

I made a start at the end of summer and I’ve already ticked off quite a few things, but before I start writing about my experiences so far I thought I’d share a few posts about the fair city I call home.

About a year ago I bought this book 111 places in Bristol that you shouldn’t miss. Having lived in Bristol for the majority of my life you would think that I had seen it all. But after an initial flick through the pages, I discovered there are quite a few places I either wasn’t aware of, or knew about and have never checked out.

But in the last 57 years I have managed to cobble together a few experiences I think may be worth sharing with my merry band of followers and some of them overlap with the 60 by 60 theme. I have added the book to my list of 60 things to try and visit the remaining places in the book.

Veni vidi vici

28 Jan 2024 Leave a comment

by Carole Gardiner in London trips, UK Roman Amphitheatre Quest Tags: , , , , , , ,

My final three arena visits were solo trips. I travelled to the land of my grandfather for the two amphitheatres located in Wales. The Romans moved into this fabulous part of the UK around 48 ACE, but it wasn’t called Wales then, just a part of Britannia Major. My first port of call was Carmarthen in the South West of the country, known in Roman times as Movidurium, it’s possibly the arena that’s furthest west from Rome. Only half of the original structure is visible nowadays, but built in the 2nd century ACE it was an elliptical shape with the capacity for 4500 – 5000 spectators.

After a little wander around I made my way back east towards Newport to visit a little town called Caerleon, this was the home of the 2nd Augustan legion and 5000 soldiers were based there. The site named Isca Augusta had a very impressive amphitheatre, built around 90 ACE and big enough for 6000 spectators. I have to say up to that point it was the best preserved arena I had visited, there were lots of steps, tunnels and archways to explore, it’s the most complete amphitheatre in the UK. After a good look around I wandered down to the remains of the legionnaires barracks. There is a museum and remains of the Roman baths, unfortunately I left it too late to visit so I will definitely return for a proper look.

For the very last amphitheatre on my list I headed back to London where I based myself for my visit to St Albans. When I first planned my quest I wasn’t going to go there as the arena isn’t strictly an amphitheatre, as it has a stage at one end. But it is the only one of it’s kind in the UK so it’s very worthy of a visit. Just a 20 minute train journey from London the Roman town of Verulamium lies in the centre of beautiful St Albans. The arena was built around 140 ACE and it now lies in the Gorhambury Estate, so it was the only site I needed to pay to see, but it was worth the very small fee. It’s position is alongside the famous Watling Street that ran from Londinium to Deva Victrix, ( London to Chester), and it had a capacity of 7000 spectators. After a wander around I also checked out the hypocaust with a beautiful mosaic and a mooch around the museum with a group of very unruly school children and their harassed teachers.

So that is my UK Roman amphitheatre quest finished and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. I love how reading a random post can generate a planned trek around my country to discover the history but also incorporate it into mini breaks with friends and family.

Stay tuned to discover what my next quest will be …

Still in the footsteps of gladiators

25 Jan 2024 Leave a comment

by Carole Gardiner in London trips, UK Roman Amphitheatre Quest Tags: , , , , , , ,

I visited the next three amphitheatres on my hit list while enjoying mini breaks with family and friends.

On the way to the fabulous Dorset resort of Weymouth, a place full of many happy memories for me and my family, is Dorchester. A delightful town with lots to see and do, it’s roots date back to Roman times when it was known as Durnovaria. In the south of the town lie the Maumbury rings, a Neolithic henge. Around 60 ACE the Romans modified the rings to create an arena, the biggest in the UK, by digging out and flattening the inside and flooring it with chalk and sand. The banks were increased to the height they are as seen today. As my mum and my friend Deb waited in the car I had a bit of a mooch around the amphitheatre before we continued onto Weymouth for a few days in the sun.

Not long before the trip to London to celebrate the 60th birthdays of my friends Bev and Debbie, I read about the underground amphitheatre that was discovered in the Guildhall Yard in 1988 during an archaeological dig to prepare for the new Art Gallery building project. Initially when built in 70 ACE it was a simple wooden structure for the entertainment of the citizens of Londinium, but was upgraded to a more impressive stone arena with the capacity for 6000 people. Unusually it was built within the city walls, remains of the walls can still be visited around the area. We had a wander around the site in the morning before we went in our 1970’s finery to the Mamma Mia party at the O2.

Chester is quite a long way from Bristol for a day out to check out an amphitheatre, but it’s a hop, skip and a jump from Liverpool and that’s where I was staying with my friends Deb and Selena for a couple of days. We had the most amazing time doing all things Beatles, Cilla and Liver birds. On the way home with stopped off at Chester, known as Deva Victrix in Roman times, to cross another arena off my list. It was one of the largest amphitheatres in Roman Britain with a capacity of 8000 – 12000, but only two fifths are now visible to view. It’s still an impressive sight and also there are the lovely Roman gardens to stroll around and admire the beautiful mosaics.

Next stop Movidurium, Isca Augusta and Verularnium … aka Carmarthen, Caerleon and St Albans.

In the footsteps of gladiators

23 Jan 2024 Leave a comment

by Carole Gardiner in UK Roman Amphitheatre Quest Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

As I have already alluded to with many posts in this blog, I am an classical history nut. I love nothing better than wandering ancient ruins and learning about the history. I was having a bit of a mooch around a well known search engine and discovered that there are 10 Roman amphitheatres in the UK according to Heritage Daily.com. Armed with my list, I did my research and made plans to visit each arena, last week I completed my quest.

But before I write about the sites I visited I thought I’d just say a few words about the amphitheatres I didn’t travel to. I live in Bristol in the Southwest so I needed to weigh up if the journey was going to be worth it, to that end I checked out the photos taken and posted by previous visitors.

In Chichester, it’s roman name Noriomagus Reginartum, there is nothing but a field with a gentle bank that outlines where the arena once stood.

Near Margate in Richborough, known in Roman Britain as Rutlipiae or Portus Ritupis, is also essentially a field but this time with a hollow marking the spot where the amphitheatre once was.

Much as I love a good day out, I figured it was a long way to travel to see a field when I had no other reason to visit, so I was content to look at the photos and read a bit more about them online.

My quest began by happenstance well before it was a conscious decision to do so. In January 2018 while on a family get together at my cousin Amelia’s house in Reading, we went on a bracing walk after Sunday lunch and had a wander around the amphitheatre at Silchester. It was built around 60 to 85 ACE when the town was called Callera Atrebatum and was one of the earliest arenas built in Roman Britain. It stood just outside the city walls of a large Roman town with the usual street grid format over 40 hectares. Although I have always been interested in ancient history I never really fully appreciated this look around which is reflected in the rubbish photos I took!

The next theatre that I visited by chance was at Cirencester. My mum and I had been on a lovely day out to Bourton on the Water and on the drive home I didn’t realise that I would be driving past the site. The arena was on my hit list but I hadn’t planned on checking it out on that day. I saw the sign for it and took my chance to cross another arena off the list. Built in the early 2nd century ACE it was one of the largest amphitheatres in Roman Britain. The city was known as Cornium and had a population of over 10000 inhabitants. The remains are massive earthworks but you can clearly see the size of the arena and imagine how it would have looked in it’s former glory.

Next stop Dorchester, London and Chester aka Durnovaria, Londinium and Deva Victrix….

Down memory lane

13 Jan 2024 Leave a comment

by Carole Gardiner in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

While volunteering at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games I decided to stay outside the city at Stourbridge, partly because I knew it would be very busy in Birmingham, but mostly because I love the Black country. My paternal grandparents and my dad came from this beautiful part of the world, we visited every year staying in Halesowen.

It’s not all work when volunteering in the games and there are a few days off. My first outing on an afternoon off was a hike around the Clent hills, as a child I spent a lot of time bombing around the country lanes in granddad’s mini clubman and running around the hills and woods for hours until it got dark.

On another day off I thought I’d try and find the big sandy area in the middle of Kinver woods, we went there a lot when I was little with a picnic and granddad’s calor gas stove to brew tea on. I decided to walk the two hour trail hoping that I would come across the sandy bit as I couldn’t actually remember exactly where it was. I didn’t find it but what I did discover was Kinver edge and the rock houses. These amazing little houses are dug out of the red sandstone and the earliest settlement dates back to 1777. In the 1861 census, eleven families were registered as living there. Managed now by the National Trust, it’s a fascinating step back in time with a lovely tea room for a pit stop with cake.

I stopped off at Kinver on the way back from Iron Bridge, this is a place I’d never been to and was keen to visit after reading about it. The world’s first cast iron bridge was built in 1779 over the river Severn in Shropshire. This amazing structure spans the Ironbridge gorge and looks spectacular from every angle especially from the riverside café with the most lovely tea cosies.

I never tire of the West Midlands, not just because the claim it has my heart with childhood family memories, but also because there are so many fabulous places to discover and learn about in beautiful countryside.

Going it alone ..part 2

24 Nov 2023 Leave a comment

by Carole Gardiner in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Fuelled by the success of my roman adventure I decided to go it alone again, this time to a city I’ve been wanting to visit for a very long time. For someone who loves ancient history as much as I do, there is only one place to go to get my fix, Athens.

I couldn’t think of a better place to go on my own, I would have the time to go wherever I want and spend as long as I needed. I am that person who reads every bit of information at every site, so I can spend hours in one place learning as much as possible. When travelling with others who aren’t quite as fanatical about history I’m always conscious of staying in one place for far too long. I can also go for ages without eating or even needing a wee and I can walk for hours, so I guess it can be a bit frustrating for my companions at times and equally so for me when it’s necessary to stop more often then I’d like to. So the best solution is a solo trip.

Athens is a very walkable city, with interesting sites galore. I got started right away after buying a week’s supply of tomatoes, cucumber and feta and despite a very early flight I felt compelled to march up the Philopappos Hill as it was a short walk from my apartment. I read that the summit afforded an amazing view the acropolis and the rest of the city. It most certainly did and it was well worth the effort.

The most recognisable place in Athens is the Acropolis, so the next day I couldn’t wait to get there. Imagine my joy to discover that I could buy a ticket not only to this magnificent site, but also included in the price entrance to the Roman and Ancient agora, Hadrian’s library, Kerameikos, Aristotle’s school and Olympieion.

So for the next few days I worked my way around the city making the most of this ticket. But also visiting many other amazing places such as the temples of Zeus and Hephaestus and Herod Atticus Odeon,

Not content with scaling one large hill I decided to tackle Mount Lycabettus, but after a morning of walking many steps and a stop off at the glorious marble Panathenaic stadium, the thought of climbing up the winding path of the 908 feet high hill was a little too much for my screaming muscles and throbbing feet. So I thought I’d make use of the funicular to get to the summit and enjoy the stunning views and beautiful sunset with a chilled glass of wine.

On day 3 treated myself to an organised trip out of the city and found myself in a small minibus with 12 strangers and a very informative guide heading down the coast to the Cape of Sounion to visit the Temple of Poseidon. After a pit stop at the Vouliagmeni lake, where it’s said the water has healing powers and can relieve ailments such as arthritis, we ended up at the peninsula with the breath-taking temple standing tall over looking the beautiful turquoise sea. We had plenty of time to look around the site and surrounding area before getting in position to get the best photos of the sunset behind the temple. This excursion is not to be missed and I highly recommend it if you love capturing beautiful sunsets in stunning places.

On my last day I made use of the hop on hop off bus ticket that was included in the price of the trip to the Temple of Poseidon. I hopped on after paying a visit to the tomb of the unknown soldier and watching the guards doing their thing with style. I managed to cross a few more sites off using my multi-site ticket and checked out the church of Agios Elftherios and Athens Cathedral right next door, before the rain set in and the pavements that were slippery when dry became treacherous when wet. Anyone who knows me, knows about my tendency to fall and break limbs, so I decided to go back to my apartment for my own safety. I hoped that the rain would go off so I could get back out as there were a few more places I wanted to see, but it was set in for the rest of the day.

Then the miracle happened, in the form of an email from Easyjet, my flight had been delayed by 2 days. Unfortunately there was someone booked to replace me in my apartment so I needed to find another temporary home for the next night, but that was swiftly done on a well known booking site. The next morning, after dumping my bag at my new lodgings, I was off again to make the most of my extra time.

I couldn’t resist another visit to the Acropolis before exploring the other side of Philopappus Hill, where I found the tomb Socrates was incarcerated in before his trial in 399 BCE and the hill of the Pynx where the great orators Aristotle, Demosthenes, Pericles and Themistocles addresses assemblies in the 5th century BCE. After a meander down the hill and a nose around some beautiful churches I had a well earned late lunch on the Yiasemi staircase, lined with brightly decorated cafes where if you can’t find a table you just pull up a cushion and sit on the stairs.

Thanks to an evening flight the next day I was able to visit the presidential palace, the Byzantine museum and gardens, and the beautiful national botanic gardens. A visit to Aristotle’s school completed all of the sites on my acropolis ticket.

I’m so happy I decided to visit Athens for this fabulous trip and although I went on my own I was never far from familiar people. On my second day, in the chapel of Agios Giorgios on the top of Mount Lycabettus I met a couple wondering if they still held weddings there, I happened to know the answer to that question as I had read about it the previous day, so we had a bit of a chat. The following day they were also on the trip to the Temple of Poseidon, then the next day, while I was sat on the hop on hop off bus in a bit of a traffic jam, I saw them walking along the street so we had a catch up while the bus waited to move off.

Athens is the most amazing place to visit on a solo trip as I felt very safe at all times and there is so much to see and do that even if you stayed for a couple of months you wouldn’t see it all. So I will definitely return and maybe even bring a friend!

Going it alone – part one

12 Nov 2023 Leave a comment

by Carole Gardiner in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , ,

Much as I love travelling with family and friends, I really wanted to do some solo trips and thought that Europe was a good place to start.

For my first solo adventure I decided to go to Rome as I had visited many times before and knew my way around pretty well. That said I did make a conscious effort to visit places that I hadn’t seen before on previous trips, including the aqueduct park, the catacombs, Tiber Island, Trajan’s market and Circus Maximus. I went on a lovely boat trip and met the very cute resident coypu named Caterina. But also visited old favourites; the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Castel D’Angelo and St. Peter’s Square.

On all my previous visits to Rome I have gotten out of the city, I’ve been to Pompeii and Ostia Antica twice. Anyone who knows me or has read this blog will know what a history nut I am. So I hopped on the train to Naples to catch the little circumvesuviana train to Sorrento with a little pit stop at Ercolana to visit the ancient city of Herculaneum. I’ve wanted to see this site for many years and it didn’t disappoint. Just a little walk from the station down the main street of the small town is the most compact and perfectly formed roman city. The streets, houses, shops and port are so amazingly well preserved, partly to do with it’s position in relation to Mount Vesuvius, so it faired a little better than it’s neighbour Pompeii. I loved wandering around and looking at the fabulous murals on the walls, the colours still quite vibrant even after all these years.

Onwards on the most scenic train journey for another couple of hours I made my way to beautiful Sorrento, another place on my hit list for quite some time. Due to my stop off at Herculaneum I only had a couple of hours at this lovely coastal resort, but long enough to enjoy a bit of a walk around and some gnocchi and a glass wine while watching the glorious sunset.

Originally I had only planned to go to Herculaneum and back to Naples for a look around, but when I got off the train from Rome and walked to the station to get the next train it smelt so strongly of urine that I decided to go further down south to Sorrento. I’m sure it was a one off and Naples is a lovely place to visit, I just didn’t fancy it that day!

A short time before my holiday I had already been informed by Easy jet that my flight was delayed and I had an extra day in Rome, luckily my Air BnB hosts were able to put me up for one more night. What I didn’t know though was my cousin Amelia and her family, Ged and Sophia, were also going to be arriving in Rome on my last but one day. I found out when I posted online while sat on the tarmac at Bristol Airport, Amelia saw it and messaged me. So after a morning of mooching around the site of Nero’s Golden Palace and the Roman Forum, I met them at their hotel on the Via Nationale. After sharing a pizza and trying to catch up on a lot of family gossip, we made our way to have a look at the mighty Coliseum. We enjoyed a lovely evening together reminiscing about the last time we met up in Rome, another totally unplanned event when we both decided to come to Italy as a birthday treat quite a few years ago, my birthday is the day before Amelia’s. She was staying outside of Rome that time with my Uncle and Aunty and we all met at the Spanish steps.

The next day I managed to fit in the Trevi fountain, the Spanish steps and one last coffee with Amelia and co before making my way to the airport for my flight home. We decided that Rome was some kind of special place for us and I believe that is true, I really feel comfortable there and felt safe all the time, even when I was returning to my apartment late at night.

Thank you for being a friend

07 Nov 2023 Leave a comment

by Carole Gardiner in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , ,

Friendship is very important to me and I’m very lucky to have core groups of fabulous friends. And what is better than fabulous friends? ….. Weekends away with those friends!!

In the past year I have been fortunate enough to partake in quite a few jollies with my gals.

The BMT drinking club is made up of 6 paediatric oncology/haematology nurses who became friends in the 90’s, working on the bone marrow transplant unit in Bristol Children’s Hospital. We had our annual weekend jaunt to New Quay in beautiful West Wales. We are lucky to have the use of a fabulous house overlooking the sea. I always feel both energised and rested by these weekends. We spent quality time walking, chatting and laughing so much, especially when playing Cards against humanity!

The Class of 83 are a group of friends who met at senior school at the age of 11. Our friendship group became stronger following a school reunion a few years ago and we have tried to meet up regularly ever since. We discovered a lovely cottage in Draycott, near Cheddar in Somerset in November last year and decided to return again in May. Whenever we get together we all laugh so much and this was especially so on our second visit to the cottage when we found the dressing up box! Very clearly provided for the children but that didn’t stop us trying to squeeze into the outfits and making it work!

The New year new challenge club is made up of 3 adrenaline junkies, well actually just me and 2 friends that get dragged along to stuff that terrifies them, like zip wiring! We are the 3 amigos namely Arrr Carole, Arrr Debb and Arrr Selena who met working in the paediatric oncology/haematology research team. When we are not doing death defying challenges, we go on weekends away. This year we took ourselves off to Liverpool to do all things Beatles, Cilla and Liver birds!

A weekend away in the Big Smoke was in order for 2 fabulous friends, Bev and Deb, who turned 60 this year. From our temporary home on Bankside, on the first night we had cocktails in the Shard with most amazing views. Then the following day, dressed in our 70’s chick best we headed to the O2 for the Mamma Mia party night. It was a fabulous weekend in old London town filled with laughs, dancing and singing all things Abba.

Last but definitely not least, not really a weekend away, but a lovely night’s stay in our own city of Bristol. My bestest bestie Jane and I went to see an outside performance of Much ado about nothing at the Orangery at Godley Hall in Hotwells. It is a very special place for Jane and her family as her daughter got married there a couple of years ago and we met up there with the happy couple, Holly and Jonny, to watch the play. As copious amounts of fizz was consumed we needed a hotel room in walking distance to stagger to, but we were bright eyed and bushy tailed the morning after for a spot of breakfast and a really good catch up and laughing till we cried session at the Clifton Lido.

Time with treasured friends is never wasted time, to maintain friendship takes effort and mutual respect, and should never be taken for granted. I value every minute I spend with all my close friends and really hope those relationships continue for many years to come.

Friends will be friends.

05 Nov 2023 Leave a comment

by Carole Gardiner in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , ,

I have not written in my blog for 14 months. I have not long completed my module to be an independent nurse prescriber and that took up most of my time between January and July, the need to write clinically and critically would have been hampered by any kind of creative writing. I’m not exactly sure though what prevented me from writing posts for the first half of the blog writing freeze. But I haven’t been loitering around, I’ve been on lots of adventures so I have plenty to write about now I have the opportunity.

For this post I’m going to pick up where I left off 14 months ago. In a long queue, slowly snaking through London on the way to see a much loved queen lying in state, 7 strangers became friends and the 2 am club was born. 2 am was the time we predicted we would get into Westminster Palace when we formed our WhatsApp group. After we had paid our respects to her majesty we vowed to try and keep in touch and meet up whenever we could.

In September on the anniversary of that day, 3 of the members of the 2 am club were able to meet up. Sharon, Amy and myself met in a very sunny Covent Garden and had a lovely lunch in the Ivy, mooched around and generally catching up on a years worth of gossip and news. Then ended with cocktails in Piccadilly before Amy and Sharon headed home and I retired to my hotel for the night. It was such a fabulous afternoon and hopefully in the new year we’ll be able to get a date that we can all make.

Friends can be made in the most unexpected places, I’m sure many other friendship groups like ours were created in the queue during that week and I hope they are able to get together as well.

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