Today's County in the Spotlight:Part 2

[bobins]

A question that I'm sure is on most people's lips - "Where was Europe's first reinforced concrete building built, and what was it ?"

Ponder no more - I can answer your question

It was <cue: drum roll> The Weaver Building by Swansea Docks and it was a flour mill.

Mrs Bobins hails from that neck of the woods and can remember the Weaver Building, as will most Swansea residents over a certain age. It was originally built in 1897 and was finally demolished in the early 1980s, long after most of the area around it had been 'redeveloped'. They flattened it to build a Sainsbury's

Weaver Building - South Wales Evening Post archives

Edwardian painting postcard

I a 'small world, but wouldn't want to paint it' scenario, it turns out a section of one of the supporting pillars was preserved at my local industrial museum at Amberley. I'd often wondered what that random bit of concrete in the undergrowth was doing up near the kilns.... now I know

[NewcastleFalcon]

Glamorgan looking forward, but knocked back on the original proposals for a Tidal Lagoon at Swansea Bay.

It does appear to be a project though for which there are regular rumours about revival.

Renewable energy: £1.7bn plan for Swansea led by Bridgend's DST (October 2021)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-590 ... %27s%20DST

Swansea tidal lagoon: 'Significant' steps for £1.7bn project (March 2022)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-607 ... %20project

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Brewery of the Day, and Pub of The Day for Glamorgan's day in the spotlight.

When in Cardiff, you will see "Brains" all over the place. So S.A. Brains are my Brewery of the day, est 1882, should know what they are doing by now.

https://www.sabrain.com/

... from the nostalgia point of view a Cardiff Pub in student land, where I probably had my first sample of Brains beers . Looks nostalgically uninviting too.



Regards Neil

[mickthemaverick]

I have just remembered an amusing tale from Glamorgan. When I were a lad my older sister went on a school geography trip to the Gower peninsular. She had a great week and came home full of stories and with a bag of fossils she had collected somewhere on the peninsular. We sat down in the garden and she took them out one by one. Each one had a story attached, sometimes about what it was and sometimes about how or where she had found it. I remember being intrigued at first but gradually my attention span faltered and I began to wander off the story she was relating. After she had produced around a dozen fossils and told their tales she laid them all out along the top of the concrete coal bunker we had alongside the yard to let the sun bleach them so they would not smell in her bedroom.

It was a late July evening and although the sun was still bright we were called in for our supper, a corned beef sandwich and tea, and then ushered off to bed. In the morning we went down for breakfast and straight after she went out to collect her fossils to write up the story of her holiday...............aaaarrgghhh!!! No fossils!!
Not a single one to be found - and so endeth the story of our bit of Glamorgan. We never found out what happened to them although I always suspected Dad knew!! He had expressed his distaste while she was telling us about them and it was he that came up with the idea that the cats or maybe a fox had taken them and buried them somewhere!! Much crying and howling from my sister while I smirked gently in the background!!

[bobins]

Brains S.A. Skull Attack as it used to be known

[NewcastleFalcon]

I like a wild pony or two. The Gower peninsula has a few roaming around to look out for.

Gower Ponies
Grazing near Pennard Pill, Three Cliffs Bay.

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Decent run through of Barry Scrapyard, and how unintentionally it helped to preserve many steam engines.



Regards Neil

[Rp0thejester]

A question that I'm sure is on most people's lips - "Where was Europe's first reinforced concrete building built, and what was it ?"

Ponder no more - I can answer your question

It was <cue: drum roll> The Weaver Building by Swansea Docks and it was a flour mill.

Mrs Bobins hails from that neck of the woods and can remember the Weaver Building, as will most Swansea residents over a certain age. It was originally built in 1897 and was finally demolished in the early 1980s, long after most of the area around it had been 'redeveloped'. They flattened it to build a Sainsbury's





I a 'small world, but wouldn't want to paint it' scenario, it turns out a section of one of the supporting pillars was preserved at my local industrial museum at Amberley. I'd often wondered what that random bit of concrete in the undergrowth was doing up near the kilns.... now I know

this reminds me of somewhere I've worked/demo. Another flour factory I believe it was Hovis

. This is in Silvertown opposite London City Airport.

[Rp0thejester]

If the leaning tower of Pisa counts surely that wins, it had bars in the bottom

[NewcastleFalcon]

Glamorgan Sausages

They are traditional, have been a thing for over 100 years, and are vegetarian.

Glamorgan Sausage (Welsh: Selsig Morgannwg) is a traditional Welsh vegetarian sausage for which the main ingredients are cheese (usually Caerphilly), leeks and breadcrumbs. It is named after the historic county of Glamorgan in Wales.

The earliest published mention of the dish is from the 1850s in the book Wild Wales by George Borrow, although earlier records in the Glamorgan Archives show a version which contains pork. The modern vegetarian version became popular during the Second World War when meat was harder to come by, and is now mass-produced by at least two companies. Variations include swapping the leeks for onions, as well as different herbs and spices, and various types of cheese.

Here's the recipe should you wish to be bold enough for an FCF first and try to make them,

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/glamorgan-sausages


Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

_________Glamorgan Done______________

What's Left The 20 here

New county for Wednesday
10..........County Down

REgards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Bit of Music. The Star of the County Down uses a traditional tune, which can be traced back many centuries, and to many locations and also used by Ralph Vaughan Williams in his "Five Variations of Dives and Lazarus" and in other works.



and Ralph Vaughan Williams' first incarnation of it in the Hymn tune "Kingsfold"



REgards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

More Music, but also glimpse to the County in the spotlight in pictures, sentimentality in spades.



Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Only 4 Vehicle Registration Area Codes for County Down, random,org has selected JZ for me to see if a suitable vehicle image can be found.

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

The main towns of County Down are:

Ballynahinch, Bangor, Banbridge, Carryduff, Comber
Donaghadee, Downpatrick (county town), Dromore, Dundonald
Holywood, Kilkeel , Newcastle, Newtownards, Warrenpoint

Selected but not at random from the list, I will probably have a delve into Newcastle

Regards Neil