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Baby Makers: A Novel

A troubled woman shows up at the home of David and Claire Landau with a toddler boy she claims is their grandson. When she takes off, leaving the boy behind, David and Claire work together to find out the truth about little Spencer. With their own marriage in decay, the couple must face past losses while searching for answers.

A troubled woman shows up at the home of David and Claire Landau with a toddler boy she claims is their grandson. When she takes off, leaving the boy behind, David and Claire work together to find out the truth about little Spencer. With their own marriage in decay, the couple must face past losses while searching for answers.

Clifton is perhaps the finest suburb in the kingdom and one of its charms is the way in which it has retained its old-world village atmosphere. The Albion, tucked away in a quiet backwater of Clifton, off Boyce’s Avenue, has all the character of a village inn, though a busy main road is just around the corner.

There is no definite record of the date of its erection but the connection with Boyce is inescapable. In 1763, Thomas Boyce acquired the land from Isaac Elton of Clifton and by June 20th 1772 he was ready to insert a notice in Felix Farley ‘s Journal ~ informing the public that he had completely fitted up 'three large and elegant lodging houses on Clifton Hill.'

The career of Thomas Boyce was typical of many speculative builders in Bristol at the end of the eighteenth century. He was earning a respectable living as a peruke-maker (wig maker) in King Street when he decided to speculate in the property market during the hey day of the Bristol Hotwell.

The opening up of the fashionable Hotwell Spa had created a demand for accommodation for the wealthy visitors who flocked there for the season, so Boyce spent some ?8,000 on these 'elegant lodging houses', to be known as Boyce’s Buildings.

Originally, the three double-fronted houses, almost certainly designed by Thomas Paty the Bristol architect and stone mason, formed a handsome and uniform range. Today they still stand to the right of the Albion, at the head of Regent Street. There are now shops over the original gardens but if you stop in Princess Victoria Street and view these houses from a distance you can appreciate their splendid design, with the monogram T.S.B. and the date on the tympanum of the pediment of the central house.

The whole range, at the time of writing, is being restored, though the extensive gardens have been lost forever. Boyce spent so much money on the original project that he went bankrupt and when the property came to be sold by auction in February 1773 it was described as being 'Three capital, substantial and commodious messuages, having a Terras or grand walk, extending the whole length of the Buildings; grass slopes, gravel, and grass slopes in Front, a Pavement walk and Pleasure Garden, 3 Summer Houses or Tea Rooms, 5 stables containing 74 stalls.'

Well, the terrace and grass slopes have gone but the Albion remains, a link with the heady days of the Hotwell Spa at its height. We have no actual record of the date of the erection of the inn but it is reasonable to suppose that it was built about this time, and by Boyce. The deeds throw up an interesting point about its construction.

When the Cordeux family sold the inn to Bristol United Breweries in 1901 there was some discussion about the height of the inn. Apparently when Boyce bought the land the Conveyance specified 'that he shall not build or erect any stable, coachhouse or other building on the backward part of any messuage which shall be built or erected thereon which shall exceed in height in the roof thereof of twelve feet.' Yet, 'the said Albion Tavern was erected in contravention of the said covenant and constituted a breach of the said covenant but no objections were ever raised.' It looks as though this early attempt to enforce a planned uniformity of building failed and we are left with this unique Albion.

The inn is approached by a short cobbled roadway, just nine feet wide, which widens towards a frontage that occupies the whole width of a cul-de-sac. In Summer, its Clifton patrons can sit outside this unique inn which has the only instance in Bristol of anything approaching an external courtyard. The level flagstones mark the extent of the original property and a small portion iif the old front wall remains.

On either side of the yard are stables which are not open to the public. The larger one has the original loft where servants wouid sleep and the old feed boxes and cobbled stone floor, complete with a channel for excess water, are still there. The stable is now used as a store room; travellers on horseback are something of a rarity in twentieth century Clifton.

Although the inn presents the same basic appearance externally as it did in the eighteenth century, there have been some inevitable 'improvements'. The sash windows have been cut away and vertical bars inserted. The lights to the public bar and doorway are also of a later date.

The inn was extensively renovated in 1956 when it was closed for five months. The licence however was held in abeyance, the first time that this had been allowed by the Bristol licensing justices.

The name, Albion, was probably given to the inn in honour of a local ship. There was a ship of two hundred tons owned by Davis and Protheroe built at the Bristol dockyards in 1778 called the Albion ~ and this could have been the origin of the inn’s name, which it has retained for over two hundred years.

The archway to the left of the inn leads to Victoria Square begun in 1837 and named after the new young Queen Victo

Thats one of my favorite Christmas Movies
Its so funny xD I also the Grinch with Jim Carrey

Look at silly ol' Jasper all happy pappy cuz I have a treat thats the only reason xD
So we went shopping today and I spent like 40 dollars on my babies
I got all their presents
Niko kept trying to take them x] He's such a silly trouble maker

I was so suprised by him today when we went to Petsmart today he actaully let people come up to him and pet him. He usually barks at them and hides behind me. He was wagging his tail and licking peoples hands. He even let men pet him. I was so proud of my little bugger. Of course he had a giant BoBo in his mouth cuz he always picks out a toy when hes in Petsmart xD I girl even took a picture of him for her friend whose Golden just passed away. She said that this will make her so happy. He was sooo good! We even put our tree up today
:D

Only 30 more days!

EXPLORE[D] :DThanks everyone!
Reach #90