Leeds 6th May 2012

Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England with a population of 798,800 it is the 24th-most populous city in the European Union. The county sign for Leeds is an owl and hence many can be found in the city centre.

The Civic Quarter is the area at the north of the city centre, roughly north of the Headrow. It is home to the Leeds Magistrates and Crown Courts. Leeds Town Hall is a prominent landmark which was completed in 1858 and opened by Queen Victoria.

The Shopping Quarter is the area which extends south from the Headrow to Boar Lane. Many of city's largest shops are found here. The Corn Exchange is now home to many independent shops, as well as a nice central restaurant. Off Briggate are several of Leeds' famous shopping arcades, such as the Thornton Arcade and the Victoria Quarter.

 

I don’t remember Jane Austin writing Horror books: 

 The Cultural Quarter is situated in the east of the city centre and where the Royal Armouries Museum (opened in 1996 when the collection was transferred north from its previous location, the Tower of London) can be found.  The building, designed by architect Derek Walker, was built at a cost of £42.5 million and completed in two years, and has since become one of the city's major tourist attractions

The night life for us was centred near the river and train station. There are several gay bars all clustered together that provide a range of entertainment. We found one that in particular got our attention lol

The Lady Gaga act out in the back:

 

Iron Bridge 27th April 2012

Ironbridge is a settlement on the River Severn, at the heart of Ironbridge Gorge, in Shropshire. Ironbridge developed beside, and takes its name from, the famous Iron Bridge, a 30 metre (100 ft) cast iron bridge that was built across the river there in 1779.

 Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust is an industrial heritage organisation which runs ten museums and manages 35 historic sites within the Ironbridge Gorge, a site widely considered as the birthplace of the Industrial revolution.

Blists Hill is an open air museum, operated by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, built on a former industrial complex located in the Madeley area of Telford. The museum attempts to recreate the sights, sounds and smells of a Victorian Shropshire town in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Dan gets called in by the actors to speak some Shakespeare to the crowd:

Blackpool trip – 17-19th Feb 2012

Blackpool is a borough and seaside town, in the area of Lancashire in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, 27 miles (43 km) north of Liverpool, and 40 Miles North-west of Manchester. 

Throughout the middle Ages and Early Modern period, Blackpool was a coastal hamlet in Lancashire's and remained such until the mid-18th century when it became fashionable in England to travel to the coast during summer to bathe in sea water to improve wellbeing. 

 

Blackpool rose to prominence as a major centre of tourism in England when a railway was built in the 1840s connecting it to the industrialised regions of northern England. The railway made it much easier and cheaper for visitors to reach Blackpool, triggering an influx of settlers. By 1901 the population of Blackpool was 47,000, by which time its place was cemented as "the archetypal British seaside resort".

Shifts in tastes and sensibilities, combined with opportunities for Britons to travel overseas, supplanted Blackpool's status as a leading resort during the late-20th century. Nevertheless, Blackpool's urban fabric and economy remains relatively undiversified, and firmly rooted in the tourism sector, and the borough's seafront continues to attract millions of visitors every year.

Blackpool tower opened in 1894; it has been a dominant landmark of the Blackpool skyline since that time. Inspired by the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, it is 518 feet & 9 inches (158 m) in height. Beneath the tower is a complex of leisure facilities, entertainment venues and restaurants, including the world famous Tower Ballroom.

North pier – The northernmost of Blackpool's three piers. It includes a small shopping arcade, a small tramway and the North Pier Theatre toward the end of the pier. The pier end also used to have a helicopter pad, but this was damaged in a Christmas storm in 1997 and collapsed into the sea.

Grand Theatre Blackpool - - Frank Matcham Theatre built in 1894, Offers an eclectic mix of drama, dance, opera, ballet and comedy including a yearly Pantomime

The Winter Gardens – is a large entertainment and conference venue in the town centre. It includes the Opera House (one of the largest theatres in Europe), Pavilion Theatre, Empress Ballroom, Spanish Hall, Arena and Olympia.

Coral Island on Blackpool's Promenade

Central Pier – The middle pier includes a large Ferris wheel and shops.

South Pier – The southernmost pier almost directly opposite the Pleasure Beach, it houses a theme park.

Pleasure Beach Blackpool – an amusement park with rides including the Pepsi Max Big One, which is the worlds fastest, and tallest circuit rollercoaster, and so other scary rides that Dan managed but was not so keen on J

 

Infusion:

The Tower Ballroom – The original ballroom, the Tower Pavilion opened in August 1894. It was smaller than the present ballroom and occupied the front of the tower complex. The Tower Ballroom was built between 1897 and 1898 to the designs of Frank Matcham who also designed Blackpool Grand Theatre and it opened in 1899.

 The ballroom floor is 120 ft (37 m) x 120 ft and is made up of 30,602 blocks of mahogany, oak and walnut.  Above the stage is the inscription, "Bid me discourse, I will enchant thine ear" from the poem Venus and Adonis by William Shakespeare. Each crystal chandelier in the ballroom can be lowered to the floor to be cleaned which takes over a week.