Robert Slack (UK) 🧬🌲
@ukrobertslack.bsky.social
[06/11/2024]: Let's take to the Bluesky!
Home city: 🏰Exeter (UK)
[📷]: River Teign near Castle Drogo (National Trust):
https://www.flickr.com/photos/robertslack/37809667436/
Home city: 🏰Exeter (UK)
[📷]: River Teign near Castle Drogo (National Trust):
https://www.flickr.com/photos/robertslack/37809667436/
Toffee apple on stalls were once common at fairgrounds but seem less so these days. I attended a festival at the Cannstatter Wasen, Stuttgart this year & was pleased/surprised to find a stall selling 'Candy-Apfel'.
My grandmother would make them and the word would get out and she'd do a good trade.
My grandmother would make them and the word would get out and she'd do a good trade.
November 4, 2025 at 10:56 AM
Toffee apple on stalls were once common at fairgrounds but seem less so these days. I attended a festival at the Cannstatter Wasen, Stuttgart this year & was pleased/surprised to find a stall selling 'Candy-Apfel'.
My grandmother would make them and the word would get out and she'd do a good trade.
My grandmother would make them and the word would get out and she'd do a good trade.
"Start 'em young," my parents would say. After a trike and a bike, both with solid rubber wheels, this bike with pneumatic tyres was a major step up.
Spot the 'I've got a tiger in my tank' sticker? Came with a furry tail. Who remembers this 60s advertising campaign from Esso? Too young!
Spot the 'I've got a tiger in my tank' sticker? Came with a furry tail. Who remembers this 60s advertising campaign from Esso? Too young!
October 28, 2025 at 8:47 PM
"Start 'em young," my parents would say. After a trike and a bike, both with solid rubber wheels, this bike with pneumatic tyres was a major step up.
Spot the 'I've got a tiger in my tank' sticker? Came with a furry tail. Who remembers this 60s advertising campaign from Esso? Too young!
Spot the 'I've got a tiger in my tank' sticker? Came with a furry tail. Who remembers this 60s advertising campaign from Esso? Too young!
🔗 brunomayor.com/GWR
GWR advertising campaign 2017-18 by Bruno Mayor combined old world style of the 30s and 40s with modern train. Pretty sure image in post inspired by this same location. Probably Dawlish.
GWR advertising campaign 2017-18 by Bruno Mayor combined old world style of the 30s and 40s with modern train. Pretty sure image in post inspired by this same location. Probably Dawlish.
October 26, 2025 at 9:00 PM
🔗 brunomayor.com/GWR
GWR advertising campaign 2017-18 by Bruno Mayor combined old world style of the 30s and 40s with modern train. Pretty sure image in post inspired by this same location. Probably Dawlish.
GWR advertising campaign 2017-18 by Bruno Mayor combined old world style of the 30s and 40s with modern train. Pretty sure image in post inspired by this same location. Probably Dawlish.
🎞️🎥👻🧛 We seem to have a theme running here today. Anyone for some gruesome entertainment?
![[Picture House - #Exeter]: Halloween season: Alien; The Thing; Psycho; The Exorcist. The makings of a fun night out.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:wesgabqkytcdfcdsgofzn4tf/bafkreifpwve3a7crmhxlqsccofvwxvpusbydmheirifa6cfhg25vziuzre@jpeg)
![[Picture House - #Exeter]: Halloween season: Alien; The Thing; Psycho; The Exorcist. The makings of a fun night out.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:wesgabqkytcdfcdsgofzn4tf/bafkreiajm6mqzx5vwvyzty2aqlqumohexbbn43pggbvvhpeocqircw5w3i@jpeg)
October 24, 2025 at 2:23 PM
🎞️🎥👻🧛 We seem to have a theme running here today. Anyone for some gruesome entertainment?
The cat is waiting for the cream to appear as the scones warm by the fire.
Girl appears to be sat by an open fire. Later in time that might become a closed range as in 📷 taken at Bicton Park Botanical Park & Countryside Museum (recommended!).
Appearance of the iron kettle much like that in drawing
Girl appears to be sat by an open fire. Later in time that might become a closed range as in 📷 taken at Bicton Park Botanical Park & Countryside Museum (recommended!).
Appearance of the iron kettle much like that in drawing
October 23, 2025 at 6:15 PM
The cat is waiting for the cream to appear as the scones warm by the fire.
Girl appears to be sat by an open fire. Later in time that might become a closed range as in 📷 taken at Bicton Park Botanical Park & Countryside Museum (recommended!).
Appearance of the iron kettle much like that in drawing
Girl appears to be sat by an open fire. Later in time that might become a closed range as in 📷 taken at Bicton Park Botanical Park & Countryside Museum (recommended!).
Appearance of the iron kettle much like that in drawing
🔗 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
🤭🛌 Oh dear!
🤭🛌 Oh dear!
October 23, 2025 at 12:55 PM
🔗 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
🤭🛌 Oh dear!
🤭🛌 Oh dear!
What better place than All Hallows at which to throw a 'Halloween at the Crypt' party.
October 22, 2025 at 7:50 AM
What better place than All Hallows at which to throw a 'Halloween at the Crypt' party.
Phase 1 certainly seems sound improvement & agree with feedback in your 'response guide' especially (see 📷). Currently all approaching this junction are uncertain how to proceed which makes it unsafe. A particular problem is any approach along Bedford St is blind to those on Southernhay West.
October 17, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Phase 1 certainly seems sound improvement & agree with feedback in your 'response guide' especially (see 📷). Currently all approaching this junction are uncertain how to proceed which makes it unsafe. A particular problem is any approach along Bedford St is blind to those on Southernhay West.
[Non-expert alert]: Asked Google AI if SpaceX's Starlink satellites were geostationary and this was response. Apparently now 7,000 in orbit (they suffer orbital decay so will fall out of orbit in 10 years). Would be my candidate. Noted for 'creating streaks in optical images'.
October 11, 2025 at 11:02 AM
[Non-expert alert]: Asked Google AI if SpaceX's Starlink satellites were geostationary and this was response. Apparently now 7,000 in orbit (they suffer orbital decay so will fall out of orbit in 10 years). Would be my candidate. Noted for 'creating streaks in optical images'.
🔗 www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-engl...
Attended interesting 'Explore Exeter Cathedral in the 1920s' event in the Cathedral Library & Archives Reading Room yesterday. In hall there's this fabulous model mock-up of the construction of a Roman Baths with cut-through showing hypocaust.
Attended interesting 'Explore Exeter Cathedral in the 1920s' event in the Cathedral Library & Archives Reading Room yesterday. In hall there's this fabulous model mock-up of the construction of a Roman Baths with cut-through showing hypocaust.
October 10, 2025 at 9:14 AM
🔗 www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-engl...
Attended interesting 'Explore Exeter Cathedral in the 1920s' event in the Cathedral Library & Archives Reading Room yesterday. In hall there's this fabulous model mock-up of the construction of a Roman Baths with cut-through showing hypocaust.
Attended interesting 'Explore Exeter Cathedral in the 1920s' event in the Cathedral Library & Archives Reading Room yesterday. In hall there's this fabulous model mock-up of the construction of a Roman Baths with cut-through showing hypocaust.
Yes, I think that's right, coloured bathroom suites arrived in the 1930s and I think this (📷1) would be close to the 'eau de nil' colour you refer to. I always seek out bathrooms in #NationalTrust/#EnglishHeritage properties. (📷2): Lanhydrock (NT), Cornwall, hints at future colours.
![[Lanhydrock]: 'The Master's Bathroom'](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:wesgabqkytcdfcdsgofzn4tf/bafkreia36w6pivrxcsv4ictvemer4cpvamo5o43fqfmaihesu5ani4ff4u@jpeg)
October 10, 2025 at 8:47 AM
Yes, I think that's right, coloured bathroom suites arrived in the 1930s and I think this (📷1) would be close to the 'eau de nil' colour you refer to. I always seek out bathrooms in #NationalTrust/#EnglishHeritage properties. (📷2): Lanhydrock (NT), Cornwall, hints at future colours.
Delighted that a toy ride-on horse had been gifted to me only to discover years later a photo of Mum riding that very same horse. It proved a lot of fun for me, as I suppose it had for Mum.
October 6, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Delighted that a toy ride-on horse had been gifted to me only to discover years later a photo of Mum riding that very same horse. It proved a lot of fun for me, as I suppose it had for Mum.
🔗 www.exetermemories.co.uk/em/_scrapboo...
Interesting photo showing post-war rebuild of South Street that began in 1955 at top of which St Peter & the Devil can be seen.
This is in fact the third position for this statue, the fourth and current being RAMM.
Interesting photo showing post-war rebuild of South Street that began in 1955 at top of which St Peter & the Devil can be seen.
This is in fact the third position for this statue, the fourth and current being RAMM.
![Rebuilding South Street did not start until 1955 when work commenced on the west side – photo right courtesy Express & Echo [Exeter Memories]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:wesgabqkytcdfcdsgofzn4tf/bafkreiekjmdtyreqve7kshajqmtsy2b6bgdese75mezja2dctwo5i5lnfq@jpeg)
October 1, 2025 at 10:37 AM
🔗 www.exetermemories.co.uk/em/_scrapboo...
Interesting photo showing post-war rebuild of South Street that began in 1955 at top of which St Peter & the Devil can be seen.
This is in fact the third position for this statue, the fourth and current being RAMM.
Interesting photo showing post-war rebuild of South Street that began in 1955 at top of which St Peter & the Devil can be seen.
This is in fact the third position for this statue, the fourth and current being RAMM.
🔗 www.heritageopendays.org.uk
Yesterday a 🚲 to Killerton. The Columbjohn chapel was open (1pm-3pm) for Heritage Open Days with experts available to talk history & about recent archaeological dig.
Access to Killerton House (NT) free to all today.
Walk route (follow Tudor rose):
🔗 tinyurl.com/2s3eepyp
Yesterday a 🚲 to Killerton. The Columbjohn chapel was open (1pm-3pm) for Heritage Open Days with experts available to talk history & about recent archaeological dig.
Access to Killerton House (NT) free to all today.
Walk route (follow Tudor rose):
🔗 tinyurl.com/2s3eepyp
![[Heritage Open Days - 2005]: Killerton House & Columbjohn. Follow the Tudor rose signs for walk route to Columbjohn.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:wesgabqkytcdfcdsgofzn4tf/bafkreiahkp7kgilvqzsvu4rglz5dl7lthzi2rr4fzqq753o5wkzhwdk4ey@jpeg)
![[Heritage Open Days - 2005]: Killerton House & Columbjohn. Follow the Tudor rose signs for walk route to Columbjohn. This stone arch of the gatehouse is all that remains of the late C16th former manor.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:wesgabqkytcdfcdsgofzn4tf/bafkreic6hokbmc4wdvgv5jmwzmmbpmrtnaio6qcw27zhvpwt7566cmymv4@jpeg)
![[Heritage Open Days - 2005]: Killerton House & Columbjohn. Follow the Tudor rose signs for walk route to Columbjohn. This is the interior of the chapel at Columbjohn. Very austere. Church services were once held here.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:wesgabqkytcdfcdsgofzn4tf/bafkreifkokcdvcyso5sixf3g2opbspjrmzrqdv5rrdyrh246h3iekkymm4@jpeg)
![[Heritage Open Days - 2005]: Killerton House & Columbjohn. Follow the Tudor rose signs for walk route to Columbjohn. The chapel at Columbjohn.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:wesgabqkytcdfcdsgofzn4tf/bafkreifpbddwdbknfgtxjprgxtlgxpnyliss42glbnjj5g5ob3ydi54thi@jpeg)
September 13, 2025 at 1:33 PM
🔗 www.heritageopendays.org.uk
Yesterday a 🚲 to Killerton. The Columbjohn chapel was open (1pm-3pm) for Heritage Open Days with experts available to talk history & about recent archaeological dig.
Access to Killerton House (NT) free to all today.
Walk route (follow Tudor rose):
🔗 tinyurl.com/2s3eepyp
Yesterday a 🚲 to Killerton. The Columbjohn chapel was open (1pm-3pm) for Heritage Open Days with experts available to talk history & about recent archaeological dig.
Access to Killerton House (NT) free to all today.
Walk route (follow Tudor rose):
🔗 tinyurl.com/2s3eepyp
Seaside Bar, Lindau, Lake Constance (or Bodensee), Germany. With a little stretch of the imagination it would seem 'seasides' can sometimes occur in rather unexpected places.
June 10, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Seaside Bar, Lindau, Lake Constance (or Bodensee), Germany. With a little stretch of the imagination it would seem 'seasides' can sometimes occur in rather unexpected places.
🛳️ My g-grandfather, William Henry Rockett (b.1892), was due to sail from Southampton to America but was late arriving at the port (typical!), missed the sailing on 10th April 1912 and instead boarded a later sailing on the 13th.
The #Titanic sank on 15th April 1912.
#Genealogy #FamilyHistory
The #Titanic sank on 15th April 1912.
#Genealogy #FamilyHistory
April 15, 2025 at 1:12 PM
🛳️ My g-grandfather, William Henry Rockett (b.1892), was due to sail from Southampton to America but was late arriving at the port (typical!), missed the sailing on 10th April 1912 and instead boarded a later sailing on the 13th.
The #Titanic sank on 15th April 1912.
#Genealogy #FamilyHistory
The #Titanic sank on 15th April 1912.
#Genealogy #FamilyHistory
🔗 www.exetermemories.co.uk/em/_churches...
Late to this post. The double entrance would suggest school to me (boys/girls? - unsigned?).
There's a lovely orthodox church in #Exeter, St Anne's Chapel, which I was fortunate enough to visit on a recent heritage open day. Quite unusual for England.
Late to this post. The double entrance would suggest school to me (boys/girls? - unsigned?).
There's a lovely orthodox church in #Exeter, St Anne's Chapel, which I was fortunate enough to visit on a recent heritage open day. Quite unusual for England.
April 10, 2025 at 7:15 AM
🔗 www.exetermemories.co.uk/em/_churches...
Late to this post. The double entrance would suggest school to me (boys/girls? - unsigned?).
There's a lovely orthodox church in #Exeter, St Anne's Chapel, which I was fortunate enough to visit on a recent heritage open day. Quite unusual for England.
Late to this post. The double entrance would suggest school to me (boys/girls? - unsigned?).
There's a lovely orthodox church in #Exeter, St Anne's Chapel, which I was fortunate enough to visit on a recent heritage open day. Quite unusual for England.
Ah ha! here we see the classic Monsieur Hulot's pose made famous by Jacques Tati. Interesting to see exponents of the stance in Blackpool. It's a pose particularly favoured at the seaside.
📷Monsieur Hulot and my daughter Laura on a visit to Saint-Nazaire, France, in 2001. 📽️location.
📷Monsieur Hulot and my daughter Laura on a visit to Saint-Nazaire, France, in 2001. 📽️location.
April 9, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Ah ha! here we see the classic Monsieur Hulot's pose made famous by Jacques Tati. Interesting to see exponents of the stance in Blackpool. It's a pose particularly favoured at the seaside.
📷Monsieur Hulot and my daughter Laura on a visit to Saint-Nazaire, France, in 2001. 📽️location.
📷Monsieur Hulot and my daughter Laura on a visit to Saint-Nazaire, France, in 2001. 📽️location.
For comparison, this is the same scene on the River Exe, between Trews Weir and the suspension footbridge as visible here. 📷: December 2010
April 2, 2025 at 12:27 PM
For comparison, this is the same scene on the River Exe, between Trews Weir and the suspension footbridge as visible here. 📷: December 2010
Whilst on the subject (sort of) of Trews Weir, #Exeter, some 📷 I snapped Sep 2022. It had been a long hot/dry summer and the River Exe was running lower than I'd ever seen before. To some extent due to St James Weir having failed on the lower reaches. People were strolling around the river bed.
April 2, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Whilst on the subject (sort of) of Trews Weir, #Exeter, some 📷 I snapped Sep 2022. It had been a long hot/dry summer and the River Exe was running lower than I'd ever seen before. To some extent due to St James Weir having failed on the lower reaches. People were strolling around the river bed.
The 'Trews Weir Repairs' project, as it appears in spreadsheet, is not showing as £1.9m investment that you speak of.
Trews Weir has become more exposed since failure of the downstream St James Weir which has resulted in lower river levels; is this a factor in the need for repairs to weir?
Trews Weir has become more exposed since failure of the downstream St James Weir which has resulted in lower river levels; is this a factor in the need for repairs to weir?
April 1, 2025 at 9:23 AM
The 'Trews Weir Repairs' project, as it appears in spreadsheet, is not showing as £1.9m investment that you speak of.
Trews Weir has become more exposed since failure of the downstream St James Weir which has resulted in lower river levels; is this a factor in the need for repairs to weir?
Trews Weir has become more exposed since failure of the downstream St James Weir which has resulted in lower river levels; is this a factor in the need for repairs to weir?
By the 1930s congestion from motor car traffic had become a problem for Exeter resulting in the need for an Exeter By-pass which was opened February 1938. There are lessons to be learned from history. 😉
March 24, 2025 at 1:41 PM
By the 1930s congestion from motor car traffic had become a problem for Exeter resulting in the need for an Exeter By-pass which was opened February 1938. There are lessons to be learned from history. 😉
This is Book Cycle (7 West Street, #Exeter). It is so charming/welcoming; can't believe this was my first visit. Single room on each floor; stairs to outer side; Book Cycle first two floors. So tiny it's hard to imagine as pub/boarding house of 1891. Terrific collection of books but no beer on offer
March 14, 2025 at 11:36 AM
This is Book Cycle (7 West Street, #Exeter). It is so charming/welcoming; can't believe this was my first visit. Single room on each floor; stairs to outer side; Book Cycle first two floors. So tiny it's hard to imagine as pub/boarding house of 1891. Terrific collection of books but no beer on offer
Two pictures to be found on display at Killerton:-
(1): Hon. Robert Curzon (British statesman)
(2): Clara Bow (American film actress)
There is, rather unexpectedly, a connection between these two people. What could that be?
[Hint]: Clara Bow starred in the film 'It' (1927)- the prototype 'It Girl'
(1): Hon. Robert Curzon (British statesman)
(2): Clara Bow (American film actress)
There is, rather unexpectedly, a connection between these two people. What could that be?
[Hint]: Clara Bow starred in the film 'It' (1927)- the prototype 'It Girl'
March 9, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Two pictures to be found on display at Killerton:-
(1): Hon. Robert Curzon (British statesman)
(2): Clara Bow (American film actress)
There is, rather unexpectedly, a connection between these two people. What could that be?
[Hint]: Clara Bow starred in the film 'It' (1927)- the prototype 'It Girl'
(1): Hon. Robert Curzon (British statesman)
(2): Clara Bow (American film actress)
There is, rather unexpectedly, a connection between these two people. What could that be?
[Hint]: Clara Bow starred in the film 'It' (1927)- the prototype 'It Girl'
🔗 tinyurl.com/2hd4t69s
Visited the #NationalTrust Unflappable 20s fashion exhibition at Killerton yesterday. It's quite extensive, well sourced and stylishly presented. References are made to this this being the early age of film going and motoring. Beach pyjamas (see 📷) were new to me!
Visited the #NationalTrust Unflappable 20s fashion exhibition at Killerton yesterday. It's quite extensive, well sourced and stylishly presented. References are made to this this being the early age of film going and motoring. Beach pyjamas (see 📷) were new to me!
March 9, 2025 at 11:42 AM
🔗 tinyurl.com/2hd4t69s
Visited the #NationalTrust Unflappable 20s fashion exhibition at Killerton yesterday. It's quite extensive, well sourced and stylishly presented. References are made to this this being the early age of film going and motoring. Beach pyjamas (see 📷) were new to me!
Visited the #NationalTrust Unflappable 20s fashion exhibition at Killerton yesterday. It's quite extensive, well sourced and stylishly presented. References are made to this this being the early age of film going and motoring. Beach pyjamas (see 📷) were new to me!