Thursday, June 30, 2011

Translate this to American English

See the sign?



Here it is closer. It's on part of a church.



Americans would not write all that. They would write one or two words.

This translates fine, only it might have been bottle caps instead of what it is:





So fine. A church and a bar in Bath. Now I'm going to sleep a while. Today I shopped and went to the extremely exciting suspension bridge here that was built 140 or 150 years ago, I don't know. http://www.cliftonbridge.org.uk/

Tomorrow, Stroud. I think I'm taking about 60 photos for every one I manage to actually get into this blog lately. Some are good, too. Not like the serviceable plain stuff in this post. Bummer you're missing them. :-) I added some links to the photos page linked up at the top of this page, if you do want to see lots of seemingly inexplicable bits of the UK.

"Holly Lynn Dodd is online," says my Skype, so I gotta go.

2 comments:

  1. The sign means that just because you are walking here, do not think you have a RIGHT to walk here :-)
    This has to do with ancient traditions and rules in the UK. If a path is used in a certain way for a certain amount of time, that usage then becomes a 'right of way', ie people no longer use it in that way as a privilege, but as a right. So it is important to clarify if it is something you choose to allow rather than have to allow. An interesting example: A few years ago now, near our lovely little village of Owslebury, there was a real furore over a path that was being used by horse riders (including ourselves). It turned out that this path was actually a footpath, not a bridleway, and that horse riders should therefore not be using it. But it was a great path for horseriders to use, because it kept everyone - on our case, ponies and young kids - off the narrow and rather busy road that one would otherwise have to use. A consultation resulted, with many meetings, during which it was established that horse riders had used this path for more than 20 years. There was a real sting in the tail with this evidence, because the way the horse riders showed that this was so was through reference to complaints from landowners in the area about horse riders riding on the path - these complaints went back at least 20 years!!! Anyway, the long and the short of this real teacup storm was that it was decided that the path would be rezoned as a bridleway - which it now is - to our delight. Maybe I will show it to you this weekend!
    Some of these footpaths and bridleways are very ancient indeed, and even though the land may have been parcelled up and sold, the right of access remains... as with the bridleway that runs alongside our property.... rather appropriately called 'water lane' (it turns into a muddy quagmire when it rains).
    I find the whole subject amusing and quite fascinating.

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  2. Thanks for the clarification. I thought it meant "Private" or "Keep out."

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Comments are joyously welcome!