I wondered why no one had posted anything for a few days... consider it an April Fool!

A tiny piece of rock from the very top (or at least the highest point accessible by the public) of Vesuvius.

Another old sign actually surfaced locally (in London anyway) yesterday. Before 1964 these showed the height under bridges. Of course as a collector each different number counts as an extra one, and this is one I didn't have. They normally use 3 inch steps but have seen more exact ones as well.

Yesterday evening I travelled to the small town of Radstock in Somerset to see the 'Man Engine After Dark Show'. The Man Engine itself is the largest mechanical puppet ever constructed in the United Kingdom at 11.7m in height. It was initially constructed to celebrate Cornish tin mining and the miners and their families after the industry faded away over the last three or four decades. Saying that, it has now become something of a symbol for mining as a whole, whether that be tin, coal, tungsten or slate. Yesterday evening's show was the first for the Man Engine outside of the county of Cornwall in over two years and it is now embarking on a five day tour across Wales before heading north to the (former) mining areas in Yorkshire and County Durham.

It was a fabulous spectacle and, should any of you reading this find yourselves within travelling distance of one of the shows, I cannot recommend it highly enough!

Here's another image of the 'Man Engine' in action.

This is a view of the chapel in the small village of Rickford, North Somerset. The village, at the foot of the Mendip Hills, was part of the Wills tobacco estate for many years with the opulent Coombe Lodge a mile or so away being the family residence for a while. This unusual and eye-catching alpine style building was constructed in 1888 by W.H. Wills, originally serving as a Methodist chapel but is also marked on old local maps as the village hall. The church was closed in the 1960s and the chapel was taken over by the Forest of Mendip Masonic Lodge. Interestingly, the building remains marked as a church with a spire on recent Ordnance Survey maps.

Woods in Chorleywood. It's been raining or snowing most of the last month or more, and is currently.

A striking bird - the Common Shelduck, also known simply as the Shelduck, Tadorna tadorna

The Nikon D800

It's not the first I've found but bumped into this today in Hatch End which does also have its striped pole.

This is an image of what is, arguably, the most famous tank in the world... Tiger 131

This vehicle is the only fully operational, all original vehicle of its type in the world. It was captured by the British in North Africa during fighting there in April 1943. The vehicle had been hit by three anti-tank rounds which had damaged its optics, jammed the turret ring and wounded the driver. The crew bailed out and abandoned the vehicle also making it the first vehicle of its type to be captured.

Tiger 131 will be familiar to some as the tank that battled Brad Pitt in the recent (and quite appalling) war film 'Fury'. Tiger 131 makes just a small number of public appearances each year at Bovington Tank Museum in Dorset; two 'Tiger Days' which take place in April and September and at 'Tankfest' a festival of tanks that takes place at the end of June. I am attending 'Tiger Day IX' at the end of this month, close to the date of the 75th anniversary of 131's capture. As a childhood fan of the Tiger, to say that I am excited at seeing it in action, would be an understatement.

Now that the summer is fast approaching, the water sport events are starting to take off he on the English Riviera. Yesterday it was the turn of the Aqua-X Jet Ski championship series; four races in four categories from juniors up to european and world champions.

I was there all day and took over 840 images...

We're down to our last Routemaster route in London (and Britain altogether) but they are often hired for parties. This was spotted in Golders Green and not going from Ilford to Victoria as it says.

Here's another action shot from the weekend's watery activities. This is a young rider called Steven Combstock, race number 396, negotiating a high speed turn aboard his Kawasaki SXR800 sprint jet-ski.

Lovely picture there, I think only my SLR film camera could manage something like that.

New decorative hedges in Hampstead Garden Suburb.

Shops on Stanmore Broadway

Shops west along the road in Little Chalfont.

More of my local shops, this is Burnt Oak Broadway

The theme continues, a small parade in Stanmore.

I grew up in Hampstead Garden Suburb surrounded by cherry blossom at this time of year.

While returning south I'd already got one of these on the way north just along the road pointing left, and then spotted this hiding in the bushes pointing right. That's always a bonus.



Given a rub down and a coat of paint this would come up like new, but nature has almost covered it up.

A typical cottage in Hampstead Garden Suburb

An office block in the centre of Harrogate.

The window of the famous Betty's cake shop in Harrogate. I didn't have time to have tea as I had photos to take before it got dark but realised I could have picked something up to take home after I'd left.

A Leopard 2A4 MBT of the Royal Netherlands Army at Bovington Tank Museum on Saturday 28th April 2018.