Cranes

I've spent most of the last five days sitting in my rocking chair writing two very dull 3000 word essays, watching the clouds speeding past and straining to hear the quiet jazz over the torrent of sleet and hail battering against the window. This photo was taken on the day of the tornado in London, that far-away readers may not have heard about as they were out sunning it on beaches and balconies.

So, I thought this week I'd publish some pictures I've taken over recent weeks of the cranes and roadwork's for the redevelopment of Bristol city centre, which I regularly have to negotiate my way past on the way to and from work or uni. In fact, all of these photos were taken from my driving seat when waiting at a red light, which is probably highly illegal but I figure that as long as you scout for coppers first it's fine. In any case, there's only been one occasion that I've looked back after taking a photo to discover that there's 20 metres of empty road in front of me.

Right, well these first two were taken from the Old Market roundabout direction, after coming up through the underpass...





This one was taken on the new road that winds up to the M32, looking back towards town. In fact, I think that's the Holiday Inn on James Barton roundabout in the bottom right corner...



The next two were taken from the bottom of the M32. You can see the corner of Office World in the left of the second shot...





Finally, I managed to get these snaps yesterday morning on the way to hand in my essays. The first is from the Old Market roundabout looking towards Easton where the car park used to be, and the second is off the Counterslip road...





I was very chuffed with that last one, especially as I'd managed to take it while stuck in a traffic jam, as it would probably get some good reviews at an art display. I say that, because there's something about the curves and angles that are visually pleasing. No doubt the amount of parallel lines has something to do with that, but to be honest I've never really understood why that sort of arty shot always gets good acclaim at exhibitions, as I'd much rather look at the slightly unparallel lines of a row of trees any day of the week...