Did you know you can see live bands at the Flower Pot, Derby. Such as Midge Ure last week.

Last Friday, 21st of May we went to see Midge Ure play a solo acoustic set at the Flower Pot, Derby.
This was the first time I had been to a gig at this venue. I'm sure you know who Midge Ure is, if not then shame on you. Watch THIS video to see if it reminds you!
The Flower Pot has lots of live bands on through out the year.

For more info please visit there website :
http://www.rawpromo.co.uk/

Tickets also on here :
http://www.ents24.com/web/venue/Derby/Flower-Pot-2111.html

You can also get tickets direct from The Flower Pot, so why not go and have a beer in the beer garden at the same time.

The Flower Pot pub is located at 25 King Street, Derby,Derbyshire, DE1 3DZ.
Phone 01332 204955

View The Flower Pot Pub, Derby in a larger map

Have a look at my Google Streetview image of the Gig poster wall of the Flower Pot. As you can see Google Streetview must have driven past the Flower Pot in March 2008.

There is a rather handy multi-storey car park just a few feet away from this venue on Chapel Street which is open 24 hours a day and has 524 spaces so you should have no problem parking here. I have marked this car park in red in my map above. The Flower Pot pub is marked in Green.

More info on Midge Ure:
http://www.midgeure.com/

Midge Ure last played a gig in Derby on 29th April 2005 in the Darwin Suite of Derby Assembly Rooms.
If you are a fan of 80s music then perhaps you were there at "The Hitmakers Tour" on November 15th 2006 when ABC, Howard Jones and Toyah Wilcox played in the Great Hall.

Hope you found this blogpost of interest.
Cheers
Andy

Greyhound Pub, Friar Gate - A 360x180 degree VR photograph outside.

Following on from yesterdays post on the Greyhound pub reopening I thought I would make a 360x180 degree virtual Reality photograph so you can see what it looks like and its position on Friar Gate.

I have created an interactive 360 degree high resolution photograph in front of this pub so you can see exactly where it is located on Friargate and what it looks like, click the link and then use the mouse to look around and zoom in :
360 view of The Greyhound Pub, Friargate. <-- Click link for a great 360 view of The Greyhound pub.
It is like google streetview image, its an interactive 360 degree photograph that you control using the mouse.
To move the view around simply click with the mouse and drag the viewpoint to where you want to look. You can look in all directions including up and down. As well as the mouse, you can use the control buttons at the bottom of the viewer or even the keyboard cursor keys and +/- keys to zoom in/out.
Here is my VR photograph of the Greyhound Pub, Derby :


I photographed this at 06:52 on 21st May 2010, the day after it reopened.

If you like this VR photograph then you might like to view my High Resolution FullScreen version of it by clicking this link here (need broadband and fast pc) :
High Res/fullscreen VR photograph of Greyhound Pub.
This one has a button at the bottom that toggles the viewer so it fills the entire screen (same as youtube videos do, Hit esc to exit fullscreen mode or click the fullscreen button)


I hope you like it.
Andy

The Greyhound pub in Friar Gate, Derby re-opens tonight.

I have created an interactive 360 degree high resolution photograph in front of this pub so you can see exactly where it is located on Friargate and what it looks like, click the link and then use the mouse to look around and zoom in :
360 view of The Greyhound Pub, Friargate. <-- Click link for a great 360 view of The Greyhound pub.

The Greyhound dates back to 1734 and is at the heart of the "Derby Mile" pub crawl of which several pubs have been lost over recent years. Four years ago, it closed after falling victim to the recession, which has shaken the pub trade.
The pub will be opened by Dino and Pete from Ram FM at 8:30pm Thursday 20th May 2010, why not go along and show support for this newly reopend pub.

The Greyhound pub is located at 76 Friar Gate, Derby DE1 1FN.
You can see how the Greyhound looked in 2008 when the Google Streetview car captured it by clicking my link below :

The Greyhound Pub, Derby on Google Streetview.

iPhone Push Pin

If you have an iPhone and are viewing this blog with Safari, click the link below to get a drop pin placed on the Maps app which you can use for precise directions....

iPhone Maps drop pin.

I hope this pub does as well as the Brewery Tap on Derwent Street. There is also a VR photograph of the outside of this pub which I made, click the link to view my new blog post :

Greyhound pub, Derby VR photograph.

Andy

New local webcam - Broomfield Hall college Birdbox, watch the newly hatched birds live.

Another new live streming webcam has gone live for Derbyshire.
This webcam is located inside a nesting box at the Broomfield Hall campus of Derby College.

This webcam allows you to see the daily life of a new family of Bluetits. This webcam requires Java to work. This can be installed for free by visiting here : Java




If you would like to have a look at the newly hatched eggs then view this new webcam on my Derby and Derbyshire webcams page. On this page you will find many local webcams to view around the City and county.

I have also updated my Derby webcam page detailing which webcams are compatible with the iPhone, some webcams use Adobe Flash which at the moment is NOT compatible with the Safari browser on iPhone.
What did surprise me when I was checking the webcams was that the Controllable viewpoint webcam at Broomfield college works on iPhone and you don't have to install a plugin. you can control the view by a single tap on the camera view.
I have removed the Kestrel webcam at Broomfield as thats no longer online.

I have removed the Carsington Reservoir webcam as that seems to have been removed after all these years online. I tried to find it again but looks like it really has gone completely, if you find it then please let me know so I can add it back in.

I also updated the Buxton streaming webcam as the URL had changed.
Keep an eye on the many webcams for Derby by visiting :
Derby and Derbyshire webcams.

Thanks
Andy

Reference Book- The Illustrated History of Derby's Pubs.

The Illustrated History of Derby's Pubs by Maxwell Craven is a great reference book for anyone who is interested in the history of Derby Inns. ISBN-10: 1859833306

It was published by Breedon Books Publishing in Sep 2002, this book is a an updated version of the 1992 book called Inns and Taverns of Derby which I also have in my Derby book collection. The orignal book has a yellow cover (ISBN 1 873626 21 5).

Inns and Taverns: The Illustrated History of Derby's Pubs is a book I often refer to as its seems to have pretty much every pub that has ever exisited in Derby along with lots of historical information on each.
Some pubs often change their names several times over the years so you may remember a pubs name as something different to what its called today.

Many pubs in Derby have closed down in recent times but also some have been restored such as The Brewery Tap on Derwent Street, formally The Royal standard. Another pub which is just about to reopen on Thursday 20th May ay 8:30pm is The Greyhound on Friar Gate both of these pubs have had new life brought into them thanks to http://www.derbybrewing.co.uk/

If you love Derby history and want a great reference book on Derby's pubs then this is the book for you:

Originally priced at £16.99 and hard to track down, If you have problems finding this book for sale then you may have to resort to ebay or car boots, happy hunting.
Andy

Lara Croft Way opens Tuesday 11th May, part of Derby inner ring road.

Lara Croft Way opens to traffic on Tuesday 11th May 2010, This new section of Derby Inner Ring Road was named Lara Croft Way after an online poll by Derby City Council. The decision was revealed by Derby City Council on Friday, February 26, 2010.

This section of the inner ring road is 942 foot (287meters) in length. and connects the top of Babington Lane, Green Lane, Normanton Road and Burton Road (via a new roundabout) and then travels though the former streets of Sacheveral Street and Wilmot Street and connects at an exisiting roundabout at Osmaston Road, Leopold Street, Bradshaw Way. Once Mercian Way opens later in the year it will connect with the Lara Croft Way roundabout at the top of Babington Lane.

Lara Croft Way is only open in one direction at the moment so its currently not possible to drive from the Osmaston Road roundabout to the Babington Lane Roundabout. The outbound section of Lara Croft Way  is due to open in two months. Charnwood Street will then become a cul-de-sac.

I was one of the first few to drive along Lara Croft Way on Tuesday morning at 7:10am, It felt strange being able to cut out the bit down Normanton Road and Leopold Street, It was about 3 minutes quicker than going the old route. At busy times it would probably save even more time than that. All we need now is for Mercian Way to open and that will help make it quicker still.

Here is a map showing the exact route of Lara Croft Way in Derby :

View Derby inner ring road - Lara Croft Way and Mercian Way. in a larger map

Mercian Way will be the next section to open up, looking at how its going I would imagine that the section from the top of Babington Lane down to Abbey Street will be the next to open to traffic.

Flash Forward TV series, FBI building location.

Are you a fan of the TV series Flashforward? I was wondering where that building is located that is used as the FBI building, it seems to be floating on water.
I have found the building, its actually The Department of Water and Power and is located at 111 North Hope Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012-2607.
You may remember episode 15 "Queen Sacrifice" where Marcy and Janis have a fight in the water around this building when they uncover her as a mole in the FBI.

Here is a map location of the building :


View Flash Forward TV Series - FBI Building location. in a larger map

You may also like this nice angled view of the building :
Flash Forward - FBI Building angled view.

If you have not seen Flashforward and are into Sci-fi stuff then try and check it out. The basic plot is..
A mysterious event causes nearly everyone on the planet to simultaneously lose consciousness for 137 seconds, during which people see what appear to be visions of their lives approximately six months in the future. This tells the story of those trying to uncover what happened, with very unpredicatable results.
The next episode is on Sunday 7:00pm 9 May 2010.




 Hope you find this of interest.
Andy