Tagged: Gaelic
Have yourself a ScotsGaelic Christmas… unconventional advent calendar December 11th
Today’s unconventional adventure calendar is a little bit more seasonal than yesterday, celebrates lovely local museums, and I also have a go at a little bit of Gaelic.
I have been thinking about language and tradition in a cultural planning sense, our traditions and languages affect the culture of the area as stories and songs passed down generations will reflect the history of that area. Local dialect and local words are something which fascinate me. The picture above was actually not taken by me, but one of my family, and it is of the Scotland- England border at Berwick-upon-Tweed, a lovely border town which has a curious juxtaposition of Geordie, Northumbrian and Scots accents.
To learn some seasonal Scots Gaelic, have a look at this Engage for Education site. For some nice Northumbrian/Berwicker words, have a look at Northumbriana.
For previous unconventional advent calendar entries see this post.
Best address?
This is a little post about some of the interesting street signs and numbers I have observed on my travels.
One of my favourites of all time has to be “There and Back Again Lane” in Bristol. Genius. It is only a little street, so it is quite well named. I passed it on the way up to Brandon Hill and burst out laughing, much to the amusement of nearby residents who see it every day without passing comment. The power of the unfamiliar!
London is full of interesting street names and signs, but I particularly like the Camden Market one, and its neighbouring “Camden Lock” painted on the bridge. This may be something to do with my love of Madness and the fact that one of the first times I was ever in London this was one of the places I headed first (after the V and A and its amazing architecture court with mini models of famous buildings).
Brick Lane is a wonderful place to go, I was lucky enough to visit this area when there was a street festival on and the whole street was traffic free. People were literally dancing in the street and pop up markets were out in force. Delicious food and crazy art to see, and lovely architecture in this area and Spitalfields.
I like that Gaelic street signs and road signs have started appearing in many places all over Scotland, even in the cities and railway stations. I would like to learn a little more Gaelic, at the moment I could do some of the Colin and Cumberland BBC quizzes but they have hints to help you out. In Welsh I know “araf” as it is painted on the roads… it means slow (there must have been quite a few winding roads on the route I was on).
The idea for this post was prompted by my recent visit to Aberdeen where I was really quite amused to see the pointing street signs, they are all over the City and rather decorative. I also spotted a home which called itself “and a half”, something I have only ever seen in one other place which has truly the best address ever; I cannot find the photo I took when I was in York of 1 and 1/2 Whipmawopmagate… but here is the street on Google Maps 🙂
Crenellated Arts 