We are half way through the summer and since my return from Hawaii I have spent a few days in Ipswich, Suffolk. I liked the town of Ipswich very much with it’s mixture of older buildings (including some nice traditional pubs), churches and the re-developed waterfront which is home to the University of Suffolk. I also took a day trip to Felixstowe where I visited Landsguard Fort and the surrounding coastal area – watching the Supertanker at the Port of Felixstowe being loaded with cargo.

Also in Birmingham we have the Great Bear Sleuth across the city centre and other locations across the city. This is a Public art trail of large fibreglass bears decorated by artists as well as community groups and local schools. Following on from the Big Hoot Trail last year which was Giant Owls – they are immensely popular with the public as people like to mark off seeing the bears as they travel across the city centre and further afield. My friend Stephen Earl Rogers was commissioned to do a bear for the Trail. He came up with “Marcus Bearilius” a bear in the style of a Roman Legionnaire. Attached as a couple of images of Marcus Bearilius, a bear in front of the Council House and from my trip to Suffolk

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