Enigmatic graffiti explained

For the past six years, and I have been operating in the sort of split household that I suspect is far too common amongst academic couples. I live and work in Southampton during the week, and she lives and works in Bath. On weekends I travel to Bath (since she has weekend work commitments that tie her to Bath), so I’ve probably travelled on the little train that runs from Portsmouth to Cardiff about six or seven hundred times during that time.

Just outside Salisbury station (on the Bath side, and on your left hand side if you’re facing the direction of travel) is a large graffito on a wooden fence which reads CAST IRON SHORES (no photo, unfortunately). I’ve wondered what it was all about for some time, but the thought to check on the interweb for information has never stayed with me for long enough (certainly not for the rest of the journey) to actually do so. Until today, that is. Apparently, they’re a Salisbury-based rock band, which is such a mundane explanation that I feel rather cheated.

On the subject of graffiti, stencil graffiti is starting to appear in some areas of Bath (the first that I saw was what looks like Davy Jones of the Monkees in an alleyway between Upper Borough Walls and West Street). On Saturday I saw this gem, which pretty much summed up my feelings about Christmas shopping: