A Four Letter Word - Sepia Saturday

When I saw Alan's picture

my heart sank again. To me 'shop' is a four letter word.  So I am surprised to see that shops and shopping have been recurring themes on my blog here, here , and here.

The nearest I could get to a shop like Alan's was this one in that last post.

Dalton Bros Grocery Shop, c1910, Ipswich, Queensland

However I have some exterior shots in my archive - I'm not sure how old they are.

Robinson's Newsagents, Yarm

They wouldn't be allowed to show those smoking adverts today - if they still existed!

Last week I showed a picture of a clock in Yarm Hardware Shop (A Clock for Marilyn). I don't have a picture of that shop but 'fork' is another four letter word so sit back and enjoy

This is a more modern view on Yarm High Street.

Black Bull between Feet First and Strickland and Holt

Will that man keep his feet walking straight by the pub?

I couldn't walk on by this square in Copenhagen.

Copenhagen in the sun

That's the sort of shopping I like - sitting watching someone else have all the hassle.

Now it's your turn to hustle over for a wider shopping experience at sepia-saturday-143

Never! Never!

A-Z Challenge – ‘N’

Do you have an unrealistic dream about the future?

The ‘never-never land’ is a term often used dismissively when some one dreams unrealistically about a utopian future. I just might win the lottery today.

However the Never Never Land actually exists. The remote outback regions of Australia’s Northern Territory and Queensland are known by that name.

The Australian Henry Lawson wrote a poem called the Never-Never Country the second verse of which reads:

My home lies wide a thousand miles
In Never-Never Land.
It lies beyond the farming belt,
Wide wastes of scrub and plain,
A blazing desert in the drought,
A lake-land after rain;
To the skyline sweeps the waving grass,
Or whirls the scorching sand-
A phantom land, a mystic realm!
The Never-Never Land.

But it was Barrie’s Peter Pan that brought the term into every day language. When Wendy asked Peter where he lived, he replied, ‘With the lost boys. They are the children who fall out of their prams when the nurse is looking the other way. If they are not claimed in seven days they are sent far away to the Never Land.’

 Peter Pan Statue in Kensington Gardens, London (Photo by Sebjarod)

Millions of children live in a dream world, their Never-Never Land. They probably won’t have heard of the ‘never-never.’ Buying something on instalments was once described as, ‘you pay $80 down and more than you can afford for the rest of your life.’ Students’ tuition fees may fall into this category.

Never say die, never say never, never again, never been kissed are phrases that trip off the tongue. 

Just don’t ask young girls today have they heard of ‘Never Say Never’ and you will deafened by screams for Justin Bieber.

Me? I’ll settle down with the book ‘Never Let You Go’ by Kazuo Ishiguro.

A Cooperative Adventure - Sepia Saturday

I had to take a bit of a tour to come up with a match this week.

Starting in 1956 I decided I needed a car to help me on my way.

 As I've always wanted a Ferrari what better that this Ferrari 410 Super American which made its debut at the 1956 Turin Motor Show.

If that's not to your taste then how about joining me in a pink Cadillac:

1956 Cadillac Series 5-6019X (60 Special Sedan) at Sinsheim Auto & Technick Museum, Sinsheim/Germany - By Gamsbart (C C ASA 3.0 Unported License)

But how could I resist travelling in my first car, a Morris Minor like this:

By Charles01 - CC ASA 3.0 License

This Morris Minor is from March 1956 the year before it became the Morris Minor 1000. The original car had semaphore-style indicators, but the car in the picture has been modified to include flashing indicators.

If like me you are getting older and fear having to use a Zimmer frame, perhaps you would prefer this American made classic car:

Zimmer American made classic car - by Ammar Shaker

I don't know about you but by this time I'm in need of a drink so we'll stop off in Germany again:

Tempo Hanseat (1949 - 1956) in livery of Alt beer brewery UERIGE, Duesseldorf, Germany 

(By Detectandpressure - CC ASA 3.0 Unported  License)

Then we arrive back in England in a modern(?) car driving away from the Stroud Road Coop, the former Gloucester Cooperative Store:

(By David Stowell - geograph.org.uk - CC ASA 2.0 Generic License)

However we have to go Australia for our final stop:

Fisherman's Coop on Stanley Street, South Brisbane ca 1930. The Fisherman's Cooperative fish shop next to a butcher's shop and a hotel - ex John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland.

I hope they have spare rooms at the hotel to cope with all the sepia-saturday-65 guests.

My Favourite Bark - Sepia Saturday

Now pay attention while I tell you a story about my favourite 'Bark'

 Earl of Pembroke - painting by Thomas Lundy

It all began in 1768 when the collier the Earl of Pembroke left Whitby harbour in the North East of England. Later that year the ship was renamed the HM Bark Endeavour and under the command of Captain Cook it set out on its world famous voyage to Australia so that Cook could witness the transit of Venus.

In 1770  the ship was damaged in bad weather and was forced to stay for 7 weeks for repairs off the coast of what today is the territory of Queensland near the mouth of a river. When Cook left he gave the river the name Endeavour; the town that grew up there later became Cooktown.

 Cooktown has held a Captain Cook 1770 Festival annually for 18 years. this years event is scheduled for 21-22 May.

 Replica of HM Bark Endeavour in Cooktown harbour

Photo by John Hill

The Australia replica sailed the Cook's route back to Whitby in 2007. It has been berthed at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney:

By Saberwyn (CC-ASA 3.0 License)

The Endeavour replica is due to circumnavigate Australia in 2011-12.

Back at Whitby another replica of the Endeavour gives tourists trips out into the North Sea.

 HM Bark Endeavour approaches Whitby

Endeavour replica in Whitby harbour.

Meanwhile  Stockton-on-Tees has a full size replica of the Endeavour tied up at the riverside in the town.

This trip around the world with my favourite 'Bark' has tired us out so I'll leave it to Bernard to bring it to an end.

[Both dogs where photographed at Whitby in 2008]

Endeavour to check out more at: Sepia Saturday 63