Do you remember when Wilson and Byron went to a Steam Fair a few weeks ago, and they both declared that the Robin Reliant Halftrack was the Coolest Car in the World?
Well, Wilson has come across something he thinks is even cooler: this Royal Naval Air Service Armoured Car from WWI…
To me it looks like a giant biscuit tin with a camouflage paint job, and in this weather must feel like a microwave inside, but what do I know?
I suppose it does have a certain Retro Chic, although I'd still prefer something like a 2013 Morgan Super Aero 3-Wheeler 2.0 myself…
The Museum is so big that it's divided into four vast halls, and the first hall seems to be full of historic aircraft.
Wilson rushed over to one of the exhibits, a tenuous construction of cotton sheets, string and wood, and told me excitedly that this plane was almost exactly like the one his famous ancestor, The Blue Baron, flew in the Great Ant Wars of 1921.
Grasping a fragile wood and cloth part between his claws and waggling it about enthusiastically, he said, 'These are called the Flappers, because they flap about, and those triangular things under the wheels, they're called Chocks, because originally they used to use bars of chocolate – Toblerone, obviously, because of the shape!'
I have to admire W's utter certainty and confidence when he tells me stuff like this…
Hello, we are Polly and Billi the Bees, and this is our Guest Blog.
It’s a sad fact that some of you will only know about Manchester because of last year’s terrible bombing, when so many people – a lot of them children and young people – were killed or badly injured as they left a concert.
Manchester and its people will find it very difficult to get over this, but to try to make people happy a swarm of 100 Giant Bees and about 130 smaller (although still much bigger than us!) bees have landed in the City.
Because, after all, who can be sad when they’re surrounded by Giant 🐝Bees🐝?
They’ll be staying there until 23 September, so you’ve got plenty of time to go and see them – if you do, please tell them that Polly and Billi say “HI!”
Also, a Manchester poet called Mr Paul Jenkins has written a 100-line poem called BE(E) and visited all the Giant Bees to read a line of it in front of each of them!
We can’t find the words of the poem, but you can watch Mr Paul actually reading it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhdkQfy4yVM
IN OTHER NEWS:
We were all very relieved to find that Wilson, his toys and his New Dad had NOT, after all, been Abducted by Aliens. We expect they’re quite pleased too!
So anyway, we’ve been The Bees, and we’ll see you next month – until then, BEEEEEEEEEE GOOD!
#beeinthecity
By the time we reached our destination the rain had stopped and the sun had emerged!
This made the anorak I’d insisted on Wilson wearing a bit superfluous, but perhaps our holiday weather won’t be so bad after all.
W has a long family history of flying – his Great Great […] Grandfather, Alberto Victor Gutiérrez-López was the legendary Blue Baron in the Great Ant Wars of 1921, so he loves anything about planes, Ancient or Modern!
Unfortunately, though, it’s almost impossible to stop him touching (ie climbing on) the exhibits…
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Due to a longstanding agreement it’s The Bees’ turn to blog on Wednesday, so I’m afraid you’ll have to wait until Friday to see what’s inside this enormous museum…
Yesterday I carried Wilson, unconscious, from the Bar up to our room and popped him into bed.
This morning he awoke, staggered over to the window, parted the curtains a couple of inches and peeked cautiously out.
Gazing through the rain-spattered glass, he regarded a scene of wind-lashed trees and huddled pedestrians with umbrellas, in silence.
‘So,’ he said, turning towards me, ‘is that it? Is Summer over now? It’s not even August yet!’
Replying as cheerfully as I could, I said, ’No! Of course not! It’s just more like a traditional English Summer again – you know, Chilly and Damp with Occasional Sunny Periods!’
Anyway, the weather won’t trouble us today. I’ve found the ideal place to take W on a damp day – it’s indoors, and he’ll love it!
