This is Wikipedia’s infographic summarising the Monmouthpedia project.
Tag Archives: monmouth
Monmouth becomes first Wikipedia Town
On 19 May 2012, Monmouth became the world’s first “Wikipedia Town”, a project using free WiFi and QR codes on plaques distributed around the town which link smartphone users to Wikipedia articles about places of interest in the visitor’s language.
The Bridge
It’s a very old bridge. Over the River Monnow. In Monmouth.
View from the Kymin
This was the view this morning from the Kymin, the big hill behind Monmouth, looking towards Abergavenny, the Blorange and the Skirrid. I’ve never seen it so clear.
Hypocrisy on the Pavement?
I think cycling is a good thing: healthy, environmentally sound, cheap etc. Cyclists rightly complain that roads are not designed to accommodate their needs and risk their lives daily by peddling unprotected among tons of high speed metal objects, that is to say cars and lorries.
But then they spoil it by cycling on the pavement and expecting pedestrians to get out of their way!
This has come to my attention recently on the Wye Bridge in Monmouth where cyclists regularly push past me on the pavement (for American readers, the sidewalk) heading into the town centre. These aren’t just kids who should know better either: these are foursomes of hard core übercyclists with their fancy skin tight shirts and helmets, decked out in the proper gear for a day out on their bikes.
If you are one of those cyclist who doesn’t bother to obey the Highway Code and get off your bike when on the pavement you shouldn’t be surprised if you begin to lose the respect of other road users.
Mouth of the Monnow
The confluence of the Monnow and Wye Rivers: the mouth of the Monnow. Whence presumably comes the name of the town, Monmouth, nearby.
Monmouth from Buckholt Woods
Went for a walk here today as I hadn’t seen the countryside on this side of town. Picture is taken with my mobile phone so very wide angle too much foreground!) and panorama stitching a bit iffy.
The Council excepts no liability…
A sign in one of Monmouth’s main car parks states that Monmouthshire County Council “excepts no liability” for loss or damage to property. So if it excepts no liability does that mean that it accepts all liabilities?
Technorati Tags: Monmouth, Monmouthshire, Wales, English, signs, spelling, typo, language
Welsh, Waxed Jackets and Close Harmony
Autumn is here. I know this because I have started wearing my waxed jacket and turning on the heating in the car during the morning drive to work. Oh, and I suppose nature is sending the obvious signals too, like turning leaves a different colour. I expect the Wye Valley will be glorious in a week or two. I don’t resent the onset of Autumn with its leaden skies and winds as I used to: the landscape around here is still beautiful.
K and I have signed up for a thirty-week course of evening classes in Welsh, on Friday nights (yes, Fridays!). Not sure why my lovely wife is doing it: probably to humour me. I’m doing it a) to get me out of the house b) to stimulate the little grey cells and c) (this is the really pretentious one) because I’m trying to make a connection with the language that used to be spoken in these islands before the Saxons arrived. My colleagues and elder daughter think I’m mad, but I insist I’m not trying to be pretentious. A possible d) might be because, as an immigrant to Wales (by quarter of a mile or so) and as a sometime linguist, I think it’s only polite to try learn the language of the country one inhabits.
Oh, and I’ve started a course in barbershop/acapella singing with a local male chorus on Tuesday nights. I am singing “bom, bo-bum-bum bom bum” so much around the house that little A. thinks that particular phrase is one she should add to her vocabulary. The latter, incidentally, has now, at K’s reckoning, about a hundred words. Little A. will soon start putting them together in two’s! Most charming is the way Little A. says “goodbye” which varies with the person concerned. “Goodbye Daddy” is “Da-da-da-da-da-da Daddy”, while “Goodbye Granny” is “Na-na-na-na-na-na-nanny”. “Finished” is “finith” and “Here, take this” has become “fankoo”.
We are looking for a place to buy in Monmouth. Hard work as we don’t want to compromise and Monmouth is pricey. British houses are so small and overpriced! If you ever visit us and you come from another country, yes, small houses with low ceilings and tiny front lawns are the norm and no, we don’t like it either.
Monnow Man 
