All ship-shape and Bristol fashion . . .

Some do's and don'ts from a recent family weekend in Bristol:-

Do - look out for the works of Banksy as you wander around. The one above has since been graffitied again with a paintball gun.

Do - visit the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at the Bristol Museum ( until June 5th).

Do - visit @Bristol. It is very good.

Do - use your Tesco Clubcard vouchers to book free rooms at the Ramada Jarvis hotel. Only cost us £10,000 in groceries.

Do - visit the Arnolfini Gallery but only if you are VERY tall. Most of the sculptures and installations there went over the top of my head.

Do - enjoy the shops around Cabots Circus

Don't - eat a supposedly gluten free meal if it isn't and you are a Coeliac. I did, it wasn't and I am. I was very, very sick as a result..

Another Skid In The Wall

Vehicles often crash into walls and I often get to restore them. Usually the landowner knows the vehicle, but it can be interesting trying to deduce the make and model from bits found on the site. A registration plate can normally be pieced together from shards found amongst the stones.

Today there was no problem in identifying the responsible vehicle. I watched it happen. 30 yards from where I am rebuilding a wall from a previous accident. How grateful we must be for crumple zones and airbags, because the car hit the wall with some force, displacing 5 tonnes of stone with ease. And yet two thirds of the car appeared undamaged, and the driver, though shaken and taken by ambulance for a check-up, should be OK.

And all this happened on the sunniest, driest day of the year so far, with no other vehicles involved.