Cardiff Bay: Pink hut

It's a strange little building, looks completely out of place where it sits, yet those two factors, and its bright pink colour, make the Pink hut one of the most recognisable buildings in Cardiff Bay.

According to the Cardiff Harbour website, the hut, which looks rather precarious on its thin stilt-like legs, was intended for use by 'local yacht clubs and other event organisers to start and control races in the estuary'. 

To be honest, that sounds very odd. Although the hut sits near the end of the eastern breakwater of the Barrage, the extreme tidal range of the Bristol Channel means that, at low tide, there is a large expanse of mud below the building, rather than water. 

And, in fact, I've read that the Pink hut has never been used for its intended purpose so now it's something of a pink elephant. Perhaps that's where the idea for its paint colour came from. 

An article on the Wales Online website, dated 6 October 2020, says the building had recently been set up as a personal gym, with a punch bag, bench, bar and weights, after being rented out to one of the Habour Authority employees. I don't know if that's still the case.

Weymouth: maypole plaque

Today is May Day and, in the few places around the UK where they still exist, maypoles will feature in the celebrations. The origin of the custom of dancing around a maypole seems still to be much debated, with various theories posited, mostly surrounding the worship of trees and/or tree spirits, the phallic symbolism of the pole and its relevance to fertility rituals, and the importance of the return of warm weather for agricultural production. 

There once was a maypole in Weymouth but it was removed many years ago, and its former location is now marked by this plaque at the intersection of St Mary Street and Bond Street. Though the pole is long gone, I was delighted to find a video on YouTube of two performances of maypole dancing at this location, from 2004 and 2005, by the children of Weymouth's Conifers Primary School.

Weymouth: ANZAC memorial

Today is Anzac Day in New Zealand, the day New Zealanders and Australians remember, acknowledge and honour all those who have served and died in wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations around the world, the Antipodean equivalent of Britain's Remembrance Sunday and the USA's Veterans Day.

I was a little surprised when I noticed this memorial to the ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps) forces on the front in Weymouth but I should have realised that troops from all participating nations would have passed through many of the seaside towns and ports along the south coast of England, and so it was in Weymouth. As the inscriptions on the pillar explain:

'A. I. F. [Australian Imperial Force]
In memory of the ANZAC volunteer troops who after action at Gallipoli in 1915 passed through hospitals and training camps in Dorset'

And

'N. Z. E. F. [New Zealand Expeditionary Force]
These ANZAC troops later moved from Dorset to action in Palestine and the Western Front'

And, not shown here, the road side of the pillar reads:

'ANZAC memorial
We will remember them'

Plus, on a lower step of the platform

'They came from afar
in the cause of freedom'

Sponsored by members of the Weymouth and Portland Residents' Association, Weymouth and Portland Borough Council, individuals and local businesses, the memorial was dedicated on 1 June 2005 and commemorates the involvement of ANZAC soldiers in World War One and the presence of those troops in camps in the local area during that time. 

The Virtual War Memorial Australia website provides additional information:

Weymouth was the depot for the Anzacs Gallipoli casualties sent to UK hospitals for
treatment and then discharged as convalescent. The depot opened in May 1915 and was the joint Australian and New Zealand depot until the NZ depot opened at Hornchurch in Essex in April 1916. Weymouth then became AIF Command Depot No.2 which accommodated those men not expected to be fit for duty within six months, therefore, most of the Diggers repatriated as a result of wounds or sickness passed through Weymouth. During the years 1915-1919 over 120,000 Australian and New Zealand troops passed through Weymouth.
The Hotel Prince Regent opposite the ANZAC Memorial was previously known as Hotel Burdon and was one of nine military hospitals in Weymouth during World war One.