The Road Trip

Not a Route 66 road trip I hasten to add. Nope, a good old fashioned M4 number. Honestly I've been up and down the M4 most of my life given I was born in South Wales, moved to Bristol, then London, back to Bristol (a brief few years at uni in Norwich), then London, Bristol, Aberystwyth (for a couple of years, miles away I know), Swansea, Bristol & London. Bonkers. My parents have now moved from Bristol to London, well Home Counties but north west London. Mr MDS's parents live in Bath and most of our family and friends are still deposited in Wales and Bristol. He is also a M4 shuffler , Cardiff, London, Bristol, London, Bristol & London - we were destined to do it together!

Reading service station is my favourite stop and failing that Leigh Delamare. I often do hand overs of petit garcon at Cheiveley services. I never stop at Membury unless desperate, nor any of the services on M4 in Wales as they are all off from the motorway. Yesterday I found myself on route for Swansea via Bath to drop the petit garcon off as I was going to a funeral to accompany my mother. It was her cousin who was 90 and therefore had lived a full and proper life. Her husband is still alive and he was an RAF pilot in the war, he was a splendid host at the wake and I actually had a lovely time listening to people talking about their lives. Also I got to see one of my cousins who was going off to see Rod Stewart at the Liberty stadium that evening. Which set me off on how much I hated 'We are Sailing' as a child. I loathed that song. My next biggest loathe was Mull of Kintyre. The petit garcon is following in my footsteps as his most loathed song last year was Katy Perry's California Gurls. A bit of gossip but my cousin used to go out with Keith Allen! Her father was furious as he had just come out of borstal. Years later I reunited them at the premier party for Twin Town. I'd never met Keith until then and it was also before Lily became famous. It was a film made before a lot of the acting crew were famous, i.e. Rhys Ifans and Dougray Scott to name two.

I had to drive back to Bath to stay the night and then set off from Bath to home this morning. Ah the joys of travelling up and down the M4.

Mrs MDS's place of birth, not the M4, nor junction 33 but Barry! The only people who appreciate this fact are Gavin & Stacey fans.

The Severn Crossing, an amazing bridge and feat of engineering. It is more impressive as you drive into Wales or seen from the train in or out of Newport.

Beautiful Bath

Mrs MDS's breakfast of choice on the road.

My willing accomplish (in part)

Lovely allotment produce courtesy of grandparents

Location, location nostalgia

Nostalgia is a bit like buses, you don't have one moment for ages then three come along at once!
Over the British bank holiday weekend, The MDS's decamped to Bristol and Bath to visit respective parents. Mine are moving from Bristol to near London on the Bucks side. While most would look for country living the elder MDS's are seeking the bright lights of down town.

I found myself wandering around Clifton village mainly in need of a cup of good coffee due to a slight hangover from dining at the restored Clifton Lido the night before. Even the meal at the old lido was a trip down memory lane. The old outdoor swimming pool has been shut for probably 15 years and a dedicated group of people have fought off development and worked tirelessly to preserve an outdoor oasis in a built up city area. It is now a beautiful swimming pool once again with a spa and restaurant along side. It says a lot about the 21st century and the fashion for preserving the old with a modern update.


I've spared you the school gates pic but couldn't resist a couple of shoots of my old dance school. Once run by Mrs Redgrave with an iron will, I think her daughter Felicity is in charge now. Countless girls and boys have had their backs straightened and legs turned to perfect their ballet pose. Mrs Redgrave was the debate of much speculation. Was she really a Mrs and was she really a Redgrave? Then there was Felicity and her gypsy like life to us young girls with her dance troupe travels across Europe and her swathe East European man friend! How we used to giggle - out of earshot.


Focus on the Past is a testament to survival and longevity through countless fashion trends and changes. Probably it is the only shop to have remained on Waterloo Road for decades and apart from a new lick of paint it is the same old shop front, same font, colour and name. Nothing about it has changed including the wares on the pavement. We used to find bizarre old clothes in there and great handbags and my favourite indulgence old champagne glasses which sadly I've broken over the years.

A much newer shop on the street is Skye a great card and art shop. I bought a fabulous Warhol print from this shop which I still have today
This has to be my favourite flower shop, Lisa Elliott Flowers. It started as half a shop and mostly due to her hard work and vision she's created a beautiful and expanded flower shop.



About Face is a handy shop for presents and all manner of things for the home.
Le petit garcon hangs about waiting for money to buy cakes with.
Give me cake!
This is what he spied in the Mall Deli and he got his blue cake which he then forgot to eat!
I did browse in the new clothing retail offerings in the Village, many boutiques have come and gone over the years and Maze plus 18 are the two most commercially successful. I did find some lovely Angel Jackson bags although my browse was spoilt by the pointless interjection of one of the shop assistants commenting on how lovely they were and how useful! Useful because they had a strap inside the clutch. I'm afraid I went for option B (Option A is a faux smile with bored looked and silence) and retorted with 'Useful! I'm afraid I'm with Carine Roitfeld, fashion is about being fabulous not useful and comfortable.' I rarely opt for option B i.e. a retort to whatever has been said; its usually a silent thought in my head with my face displaying option A to the world but on my old territory I had all the petulance of youth.

Every Autumn with out fail this family come from France to sell onions and garlic on the streets of Clifton Village. His grandfather is the first one I remember. I'm sure this scene for many years made me more of a Francophone than French fashion and wine.

We used to have these hanging in our kitchen and they really do last for the winter months.

I'm not sure if I'll ever do this again, as I'll have no need to visit which is why I took photos on my blackberry and fashioned a trail of nostalgia. It is funny but streets are like clothes, you have the new, the trends and a few old staples and friends.

Nostalgia

This little beauty of a hand dye basin resides in Central College St Martins on Charing Cross Road's female toilets. I took this picture on my blackberry of it a couple of weeks ago when I was hit with nostalgia. I once dyed some sheets for a fashion shoot to create a tie dye effect many moons ago in this basin. And when I popped into the library at Charing Cross I went to the toilet on my way out and thought I needed to capture this basin as it won't be there much longer. CSM is moving to a new purpose built college near Kings Cross soon and Holburn and Charing Cross will be no more.

I was also a bit cross the last person to use it hadn't cleaned it out properly and left the residue of dye in and on the basin, very naughty and selfish. I might sneak in a final hand dye .... the rack above the basin comes down to allow you to drip dry the dyed item.