Bandstands

A good bandstand is great, isn't it? It cheers the soul and brightens the heart, especially when there's a band playing in it. Even empty ones have a joy of their own.

Some of the best bandstands I've seen were in Ostend, Belgium where there was a brass band playing on the bandstand in the market in the middle of town. Shoppers bought fruit and veg and oversized pants from the market stalls to the sounds of the band. 

And another Ostend bandstand in the beautiful Leopoldpark was the stage for commuity salsa dancing on a Friday night. Bandstands, they're magic.

Comments

Tvor said…
We have a lovely Victorian Public Gardens in Halifax with an nice old bandstand that you can just see in this pic http://www.flickr.com/photos/tvor/2891571635/in/set-72157601377948567/
9:40 PM
Marginalia said…
I so agree! In fact I think they're more magical when they're empty. It's as if something lovely's about to begin or has just ended.
4:50 AM
Annie said…
I grew up near Duthie Park in Aberdeen, home to this gorgeous bandstand.

I used to run up and into it and shout to hear myself echoing around it's roof!

Happy days.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/18030640@N06/4359580825/
6:47 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Clippy Mat Making at Beamish

Image
Researching for my novel Pearl of Pit Lane I spent the day at Beamish Museum on a clippy mat workshop. And if you're wondering what a clippy mat is, it's also known as a proggy mat or a rag rug. The BBC puts it like this: Proggy mats were a common sight in working-class homes in the North East of England until the mid-20th Century. Made from old sacks and recycled fabric they were an economical option to keep feet warm and toasty in an era before fitted carpets were the norm. I remember my grandma had proggy mats in her house and I also remember her making them, but I was never interested back then in learning how to make my own. As Ione of my characters in my novel makes proggy mats, I could have read about how to make them or even watched on YouTube, I wanted to discover for myself what the process felt like, smelt like, sounded like. And so I booked myself on to a workshop at Beamish Museum, a place I love to visit. There were six of us on the proggy mat workshop...
Read more