ABC Wednesday - F

F is for Fountain Fun

How irresistible is a fountain on a hot day. Escaping from the mad touristy centre of Colmar in France, here, on the outskirts, people were relaxing and having fun.


Of course some fountains are more impressive than others. These were supposed to be shooting up in the air but it was found that they did not cope too well with the wind, so were turned down. Who would expect wind in a town that is surrounded on three sides by the sea, obviously not the architects. No skateboarders weaving in and out of these although I have seen them attempt the various tricks on the seats and stairs round the corner. The odd Labrador finds the water quite refreshing. These fountains are outside Emlyn Hughes House which is named after the late, great Liverpool FC footballer who was a son of the town. (His statue is also in this photo but it is not too clear against the trees). The locals however call it Crazy Horse Corner because Crazy Horse was his nickname, and who can resist a bit of alliteration.

The first time I saw these turned on I thought there was a flood not realising they were supposed to be fountains.

In mitigation I was sat in the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel (picture courtesy of Barrow Day By Day) on one of those nice high bar chairs, having a beer and looking out of the window. This is a Grade 2 listed building built in 1871 when the town was rapidly expanding and known as the 'Chicago of the North'. It has just been given a £2M refurbishment after some years of decline. It also used to have some nice trees in front but the council in their wisdom felled them, for traffic safety reasons, although they had stood there for years with no problem. Famous people who have stayed there include Charlie Chaplin and Cary Grant, who in there time had a lot of fans and D H Lawrence who wrote lots of fiction but also some non fiction on Freudian psychoanalysis. I wonder if he came with his wife Frieda. He also wrote poetry, mainly about nature, but also some concerning fish such as the one verse which is 'Little Fish' which I had to quote because it also has the word fun in it.

The tiny fish enjoy themselves
in the sea.
Quick little splinters of life,
their little lives are fun to them
in the sea.

Follow the link to ABC Wednesday which will be full of more Fs