Skywatch Friday: Olympics at Screenfields

One of two giant screens in the city centre where you can sit and watch the Olympics for free. Nearby bars and restaurants will meet your culinary needs, there's badminton and table tennis for thw young and young at heart, or simply a deckchair for those of us who pootle along after a hard day at the office. I enjoyed some table tennis followed by basketball between Lithuania and Russia here the other evening. More Skywatch Friday posts.

My second guest post on my time at the London Olympics is now up at Smitten by Britain, and is titled Olympics for All!   

Timperley Thatch, a new Dickens creation?

A thatch-roofed house on the outskirts of Timperley. The title for my photo, Timperley Thatch, also sounds like a potential Charles Dickens' character to me. With 2012 being the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens' birth, it seems an appropriate little homage. Linked to the Rural Thursday blog.

Meanwhile, back in the modern world, my second guest post on my time at the London Olympics is now up at Smitten by Britain, and is titled Olympics for All!

ABC Wednesdays: D is for discussing directions

This team of brightly-attired individuals are Olympic ambassadors. They were helping point people towards Old Trafford yesterday for the last Manchester event in London's 2012 Olympics - the men's football semi-final between Brazil and South Korea. 

Today is  "D" in ABC Wednesdays .

Olympic football semi-finals at Old Trafford

The myriad of flags, banners and bunting in Manchester proclaiming "London 2012" seem a little incongruous to me but brighten up the Ship Canal  walkway. It's a short walk from here to where the Olympic football continues at Old Trafford today- the men's semi-final between South Korea and Brazil (kick off's at 1945 BST). It will do well to match the exciting women's semi-final at Old Trafford which saw Canada narrowly lose 3-4 to the USA last night.

For posts on my week in Olympic London see my guest posts at: Smitten by Britain. A second post on the Olympics is about to be published but meanwhile here's a reminder of last week's London Olympics...cycle road races.

Linking today to the Our World Tuesday blog.

Monday Murals: Dance 'til you break

An eclectic array of enthusiastic cartoon charcters on New Wakefield Street. Linked to Monday Murals at the Oakland Daily Photo blog .

A ticket to ride

A queue to buy train tickets in the booking hall at Victoria station.

Suburban summer sights

Another summer evening stroll around the salubrious southern suburbs.

Skywatch Friday: Lancashire man dies in London equestrian event

The statue on the left with pigeons at its feet is of Robert Peel, who was born into a wealthy cotton mill-owning family 1788 in Bury, Lancashire. After a privileged education at Harrow Public School and Christ Church College Oxford he twice became a Tory (Conservative) Prime Minister.

He is best remembered for setting up an organised police force in London in 1829, where the policemen (no women in those days, and I am unsure who the seated female statue is) became known as "Peelers". Peel fell to his death when riding a horse on London's Constitution Hill in July 1850.

More Skywatch Friday posts.

Office gold in the sun

As the sun floods into a high rise office amongst the usual paraphernalia of computers, files and photos, you can see a Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games statuette on the window sill. The clever design of the Commonwealth Games logo represented three athletes in gold, silver and bronze postions, who also form a letter "M" for  the host city of Manchester.

Collection of numbers (City Daily Photo Theme day & ABC Wednesdays)

The City Daily Photo theme day for August is numbers and today is also "C" in ABC Wednesdays .  The CDP portal link is in transition so please go to: http://cdpbthemeday.blogspot.com.au/ for August's Theme Day.

So, here is a collection of buildings' numbers (a lucky seven in total) from around the city centre. If you're local and want to follow my footsteps and findings, well, I started on Dickenson Street, then went up Portland Street, right onto Princess Street and left up Granby Row.