I'm rather taken with Geoffrey, a friendly giraffe used to promote Toys R Us since 1965. I'm even more taken with his bench inside W H Smith in Chippenham. Prior to the chain's sale earlier this year, it was agreed that certain stores would also have a Toys R Us section within them. Geoffrey's bench marks the transition from one of our traditional High Street retailers into something more fun and entertaining, though sadly rather empty when I took this photo. At some point the name W H Smith will morph into its new owner's chosen rebrand name, T G Jones* - rather bland in my opinion which appears to have been made up, unlike the original name which refers to the company's original founder Henry Walton Smith and reaches back to the year 1792. * = it has already in nearby Malmesbury, though they have yet to erase the etched W H Smith from the glass doors. They seem to have retained the corporate blue colour on the shopfront too, for now at least. UPDATE - it tur...
Wow, what a stunning picture. I can really feel the autumn sunshine. It looks like a really lovely place - I think I could spend a few happy hours wandering around there.
ReplyDeleteHi CJ - wow indeed :) I visited Holt Farm two weeks in a row. The first was in the rain and there was still plenty of interest even then. I met a couple from Devon who open their garden to the public and were frantically taking photos. They agreed that a garden with plenty of interest in the rain is a rarity and should be treasured.
DeleteGorgeous photo!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteGreat photo VP on what looks like a glorious autumn day. Is the lake part of the property?
ReplyDeleteYes and no, Anna. The lake belongs to Bristol Water and it's Holt Farm (with all its happy Yeo Valley cows) itself rather than the garden which goes down to the lake. However, there are some events at the garden which include trout fishing on the lake and the garden team like to make use of the surrounding landscape as part of the garden.
DeleteIsn't that just lovely! I love how there's still so much to see at the moment - perennials having a last moment of glory before winter dieback and grasses slowly fading into their winter colours. Just glorious!
ReplyDeleteI'm really surprised at how green lots of the trees were last week Caro. I'm sure that's changing though...
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