Chris Bolton

Camino de Santiago. Puente de Reina to Estella. Apologies. I’m a bit delayed in posting the Where, What, Who and Why 4 a day picture blog. Yesterday was a bit longer than expected and very much warmer than either of us had hoped for. So, morale …

Camino de Santiago update.
Puente La Reina to Estella.
A longer and much hotter day in the gorgeous Spanish countryside than planned.
And why are the towns always on top of hills?
is.gd/9P1wLn

Camino Part 2. Pamplona onwards… 4 a day picture diary. A quick summary of What we are doing, Where it is happening, Who is involved and Why? 4 pictures and a bit of commentary to tell the story. What? We’ve come back for more. Stage 2 of the Camino de …

Back on the Camino de Santiago.
Was asked ‘why?’ last week.
This is a good reason

“The Camino breeds community: community that greets each other, that takes interest in how the walk is going for the other, that talks and shares with the other.”

Found it in my rucksack

is.gd/YsMlGx

Wooden box with Scythe Sharpening Kit written on it. A small axe is in the background.

Guess what I’ve been doing today?
A. Chilling out with the Grim Squeaker (aka Death of Rats).
B. On a traditional grass cutting skills course.
C. Listening to poetry in the woods?
It’s C.
But stumbling across the ‘Scythe Sharpening Kit’ convinced me that A or B were also possibilities.

If you shouldn’t call a Spade a Shovel, what is this? I absolutely love modified hand tools. The sort of things that someone has made or changed to do a very specific piece of work. So feast your eyes on this little beauty. Today I’ve enjoyed some tim…

I’ve been hanging around with sewer repair people today.
I’m particularly impressed by a handmade tool they have for breaking through hard ground in confined spaces.
Neither spade, shovel, pry-bar or chisel.
Something unique
Handmade
And beautiful…

whatsthepont.blog/2025/08/26/i...

Building a Polytunnel out of scrap Trampolines Here’s something I’ve been DOING / have done. Building a polytunnel out of recycled / scrap trampolines. I promised myself I would recover some things I’d previously shared on Twi…

I turned a few old trampolines into a polytunnel

whatsthepont.blog/2024/04/07/b...

A row of large bulk builders bags full of compost

It was never my intention…*
But I seem to have collected many building material bulk bags over recent years.
At last put to good use.
Storing compost for an upcoming project.
(*was always my intention, just not admitting to it)

Yellow colour bricks with GADLYS and ABERDARE manufacturers names on them

Bricks with manufacturers names. STAR NEWPORT. CWMBRAN BRICK Co and TILLEY

Some nice brick finds yesterday.
GADLYS and ABERDARE yellows
And some from the Gwent Valleys
CWMBRAN BRICK Co
Ubiquitous STAR NEWPORTs and
Yellow & red(ish) TILLERY
All from nowhere near to where they were manufactured.
A cracking day out at reclamation yards.

The Butterfly Effect, Crane Flies and the Spin of Cricket Balls I got quite excited about a poem recently. Part of it was along the lines of, “Crane Flies change the spin of a cricket ball at Lords, and get burnt in their thousands”. Woah I think, is this the c…

Can a Crane Fly alter the spin of a Cricket Ball?
Unlikely.
I was hoping this might be Cricket’s Butterfly Effect story.
Unfortunately not.
It’s their Leatherjacket grub stage causing ‘bald spots on the wicket’
For which they were incinerated.
A cautionary tale ⬇️
whatsthepont.blog/2025/07/25/t...

Horses wearing rainbow pattern sun protection coats

They don’t half dress up the race horses in Japan.
Haru Urara in a jaunty Pretty Kitty headgear.
Mind you, given the right weather in South Wales and the local horses go for a rainbow number.
/4

Haru Urara even got a mention in the Japanese Parliament.
During the 2004 recession
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said.
“I’d like to see Haru Urara win, even just once. The horse is a good example of not giving up in the face of defeat”
/3

Haru Urara
Was hugely popular during her racing ‘career’
Betting slips with her name and a guaranteed loss became a charm or symbol of good luck,
Particularly against traffic accidents or being made redundant.
/2

Picture of a horse on a pink background, Haru Urara, the shining star of losers everywhere.

Haru Urara
A Japanese racehorse that won zero out of 113 races and is loved for it…
‘the shining star of losers everywhere’
🧵 1/
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haru_Ur...

A well worn John Deere hat.

Threadbare holes worn through in a John Deere hat.

I think my John Deere hat is finished.
Happy to waive my ‘right to repair’ on this particular product.
At least there’s no tricky ‘dealer approved’ software on a hat.
However, when it comes to tractors it’s a different matter.
Explained here⬇️
whatsthepont.blog/2025/01/25/i...

Employee Ownership by the Numbers There are over 6,300 companies with an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) in the US. Collectively these plans hold over $1.8 trillion in assets.

Worker ownership is fostering inclusive prosperity.

Companies (like ESOPs) where workers own shares paid out over $150 billion to millions of workers in 2022.

More worker ownership means more equality in wealth and power, which is mandatory for genuine democracy.

Cooperatives Care… and why aren’t there any UK Cooperative University Business Schools? Robert Owen is from Wales. How come there isn’t a University Robert Owen Business School? This is a quick, partial reflection on the Cooperatives Wales session I attended last Sunday. Public, Priva…

Blimey, it’s all going on at LinkedIn
I posted this about Cooperatives and I’m having lots of good conversations about
-why UK Uni Business Schools don’t do more around Coops
- Why more Unis aren’t coops
- and the role of Coops in ‘Care’
We can talk too
A prompt ⬇️
whatsthepont.blog/2025/07/10/c...

Silly Rules, Improvementitis and a Bonfire of the Regulators. Lets start with some definitions, official and unofficial. Silly Rules. “outdated or unhelpful rules, policies, and procedures within healthcare settings that hinder efficient and effective c…

Silly Rules
There’s an initiative in the Heath Sector about staff and patients identifying ‘Silly Rules’.
So ‘someone’ can get around to fixing them.
All well and good, but,
I can’t help thinking…
How did we get to this place?
Here’s some detail ⬇️
whatsthepont.blog/2025/07/05/s...

For context, I wrote a blog from around 2006-2012 and then some occasional posts since. It’s all here if anyone wants a time capsule to early 00s Cardiff food culture cardiffbites.blogspot.com?m=1

It is indeed.
Eating tea last night and it came back vividly.
Thank you for setting me on the road.
I make a half decent Caesar Salad nowadays

All Hail Caesar (Salad) I’ve just made tea. A fairly tidy Caesar Salad with Anchovies. Delicious. Unfortunately there’s no picture, because it’s all gone. I’ll update it next time. In the meantime here’s the best I could …

All hail Caesar (Salad)
Here’s the first blog post I ever wrote, back in 2011.
A review of Caesar Salad options around Cardiff.
I’m no foodie, but I do like a Caesar Salad.
Thanks to Nicki @cardiffbites.bsky.social who allowed me to be a guest blogger.

whatsthepont.blog/2025/07/02/a...

Mushrooms growing on a doormat

Mushrooms growing on a doormat

After 48 hours of drizzle
(In this bit of Old South Wales)
Some mushrooms have grown on the back doormat.
I expect they will be desiccated in the heat tomorrow.
Tough life being a mushroom.

Pamplona Cathedral Cloisters. Graffiti carved in a stone column from 1988

Graffiti carved on a stone column at Pamplona Cathedral

St Jean Pied de Port town walls. Graffiti from Bertrand 1881

More graffiti on the St Jean Pied de Port town walls.

In a thinly disguised link to the fact I’ve been walking a bit of the Camino de Santiago (have I mentioned it) here’s some more vintage graffiti / tagging.
St Jean Pied de Port and Pamplona.

I’m a bit stunned by DJs efforts.
The text / folklore suggests he did this on his last days before retirement.
It’s pretty unique leaving card / exit interview.
Also interesting you get to retire, not booted out, for what might be considers vandalism.
But it was the 1980s I suppose. ⬇️

Photograph of a Scottish hillside with the letters DJ visible.

Text from the Forest Memories website explaining that the letters DJ were carved by a plough operator Duncan Jamieson. Possibly in the 1980s

2025 Google maps picture of the site with DJ still visible.

Writing your name or initials (tagging), often on someone else’s property, is one of those basic human things people do.
Don’t ask me why.
But it’s everywhere.
This one from North Scotland has to be a top 10 contender.
Apparently done by DJ driving a 15m plough in the 1980s
Still visible now. 🧵⬇️

Camino Curiosities Here’s a few things that appear along the Camino that made me pause. Nothing particularly deep and meaningful here. Mostly just weird stuff that appeals to my sense of curiosity. Be Quiet! Listen. …

What’s the first rule of Fight Club?
You Don’t Talk About Fight Club
What’s the first rule of Chris’s Camino Club?
You Don’t Shut Up About The Camino (according to my wife/walking companion)
But we are going back in October.
Tidy.
More curiosities to follow
⬇️
whatsthepont.blog/2025/06/15/c...

Stained Glass windows, St Issui’s Church, Patrishow, Black Mountains

#StainedGlassSunday
Small but beautifully formed. St Issui’s, Patrishow in the Black Mountains, Wales.
Amazing place.

www.nationalchurchestrust.org/church/st-is...

Venn diagram with Bono in the left circle, an oboe in the right, and a bonobo in the centre.

Venn diagram

Post and wire fence held together with blue baler twine

Blue baler twine closing a fence

White baler twine around a fence post

Artistry in Baler Twine
I’ve made a promise to myself that I won’t be taking any more pictures of baler twine,
Being used for other things than bales.
Enjoy these from the Pyrenees.

Desire Paths, Caminitos de Deseo or, Paths of Necessity. When does a Desire Path become a path of necessity? Not just something you choose for convenience. An earth path in the shade of the trees, between the ‘real’ footpaths. This is a thinly disguised …

Desire Paths / Caminitos de Deseo
When does a desire path become a path of necessity?
When you choose safety over convenience?
A few thoughts on an interesting bit of path between Zubiri and Pamplona.
We chose mud over the paved path.
A blog ⬇️
Camino de Santiago
whatsthepont.blog/2025/06/20/d...

BBC One - Boom Town: How Merthyr Made the World The incredible story of how Merthyr Tydfil became the heart of the Industrial Revolution.

“Boom town: How Merthyr made the world”
And yes it really did!

Caught it today. Cracking programme
If you like your welsh / industrial history. @SteffanPowell 👍👍

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m....

Sticker on a drain pipe saying LIVE A GREAT STORY

Camino Curiosities
There’s some weird and wonderful graffiti, stickers and other paraphernalia along the Camino de Santiago.
It fills me with an urge to know more…
Why ‘Vive la Croquettes!
Does ‘English Ivy Kill Trees’?
I’ve started to photograph them ⬇️

whatsthepont.blog/2025/06/15/c...