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I was walking past Heeley baths the other day during one of my aimless meanders through our fine city. As I cast my eyes over its crumbling Victorian exterior I was instantly reminded of my old friend Charles Moore.
Charlie was just one of my many friends that took a keen interest in nature. His knowledge of this subject was exhaustive; I would have to say that his best loved animal was the Blue Whale. To be honest he seemed to know more about these animals than they did themselves.
What has this all got to do with Heeley baths I hear you say. Well, as we all know during the spring months the Blue Whale likes to migrate between the south and north poles. So during this same time Charlie would emulate this whale’s behavior at the baths. He’d swim under water on his back up and down the length of the pool. At about the half way point he’d ascend to the surface and blow a great jet of water out through his nose – he’d then take in a large mouthful of water and sink back down and continue on his way. It was indeed a majestic sight, probably more so than seeing the real thing from a sanitized viewing platform on a boat full of imbecilic tourists who are only interested in filling their photo albums with inane amateurish shots of gormless friends and relatives standing in front of whatever they pass by on their holidays.
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