photography – Page 4 – Where is Phil now?

SWCP Walk Part 2, Day 2. Westleigh to Westward Ho!

Saturday 11 June 2016 -Westward Ho!, Devon.

I left the B and B in Westleigh at 9:30, after waiting for the rain to stop, and to let the monster breakfast go down, fuel for the day. My legs felt good after yesterday’s walk, which pleased me. I haven’t done a lot of walking; or much else this year, and had anticipated seizing up after a day on the road. I felt better than I had in weeks. Fresh air makes so much difference to how I feel.

I joined the SWCP and Tarka Trail where I left it yesterday, by the side of the River Torridge just outside Instow. The path follows the river all the way to Bideford passing under another huge road bridge. This one with added mermaid.

There were a few more old and rotting boats just outside Bideford. I think I could do an entire post on old boats. Which might be something to explore if I ever come down this way for a length of time, I am sure they have a history. Even if it is not that interesting at all.

At the defunct Bideford Station I said goodbye to the Tarka Trail as the coast path heads across the river and into Bideford. I will not say it was sad to say goodbye, we had fun while it lasted, but our time was up, I need some hills, mud and the smell of the sea.

I stopped for coffee and a brief rest before heading off again, I was trying to maintain a reasonable pace today as rain was forecast for late afternoon and though I was prepared for it, it did seem silly to get wet if it could be avoided. Now we were not joined with the old railway line that is the Tarka, the coast path was allowed to amber up and down small hills, through woods and fields and get all muddy – and a lot more fun.

At the top of the hill there was a nice view across the Torridge to where I started this morning in Westleigh.

This boat has definitely seen better days…

Though it looks like this old tug (is it a tug?) has someone living on board and is being renovated.

The path takes an inland route for a while to bypass a large dock site. I have heard that our councils have all been struggling with massively reduced budgets in these times of austerity, and it was obvious in this section of North Devon, an area particularly struggling that clearing paths was not on any sort of priority spending list.

I walk in shorts, I have not really been a long trouser walker, maybe if it gets cold I will put leggings on, I have always wondered why so many walkers in Britain walk in long trousers. Today I found out why. The nettles through here were pretty bad, I got stung on the stomach – through my shirt. Picking my way through to avoid the worst of the stingers slowed me right done, and meant I spent a lot of time looking at the ground.

I soon arrived in the lovely little village of Appledore, there were a number of pubs and cafes as I entered, and though it was lunch time I thought I would walk through town and find somewhere on the other side.

Which was sort of a mistake as there wasn’t anything on the other side to stop at. Eat when you can is my new motto. I liked Appledore. Especially this narrow cottage!

Popping out the other side of the village I could see Westward Ho!, my destination for the night just up the road, however I had to walk around the Northam Burrows Country Park first, an extra couple of miles I suspect. Not that I was complaining at all, the sun popped out for a while so I took a break, shoes off, muesli bar snack and some water and I enjoyed lying on the grass looking back at Instow for a while. I haven’t done that in ages.

Once the sun disappeared I took a glance towards Westward Ho! and saw that the threatened rain was looking to be a reality, so it was shoes and pack back on again and I dragged myself reluctantly back on to the path.

The Burrows is an area of significant scientific interest for its mix of salt marsh, grassy plain and pebble lined beach. It was an interesting place to stroll and if it wasn’t for those very dark clouds I would have taken a bit more time to explore.

The Burrows also contains the course of the Royal North Devon Golf Club, the oldest links club in England. What makes this course special to me is that there are horses on it. Grazing right next to a tee… Lovely !

At the tip of the park, after approximately eight hours of walking the South West Coast Path I finally hit the actual coast. Yay! It was great to hear waves hitting the beach, I really miss that sound.

The walk to town was made at a cracking pace, hoping to get there before the rain arrived on me, I could see it was pouring down in town, so I am not sure why I was rushing into it! What a great beach.

I was pretty lucky, I just caught the end of the shower, and though I had to put a coat and bag cover on I didn’t get too wet. By the time I had found a coffee shop to sit in the sun had come out again and it was a pleasant half an hour spent drinking coffee, a banana milkshake and noshing on a piece of cake. I stopped to take a photo of Lundy Island before heading up the hill to my room for the night. Why,oh why are they always at the top of the hill !!

I was staying in an Air B and B for the first time. I had found it really hard to get accommodation for this trip, I guess I left it a bit late and it is supposedly summer. So many places were booked out on the usual web sites I use to find places. I really enjoyed the Air B n B though. The walk up the hill was well worth it for the view. These clouds – Yum!!!

In an effort to avoid a constant stream of fish/burger and chips meals I went to a Thai restaurant back in town for dinner before heading back up the hill with heavy legs and a full stomach to watch England play Russia in England’s opening game of Euro 16. England were ‘disappointing’. As usual. To make it worse the England and Russian fans were a disgrace, which made for unpleasant news reading after the game.

This was partly made up for by that great view from the room, over the mouth of the Torridge and up the coast to where I walked last year.

It was another good day’s walking, a bit longer than yesterday, a few more lumps to walk over compared to all that flat walking previously. Tomorrow there will be more than a few lumps to cover, back to the coast path proper – I really cannot wait.

SWCP Walk Part 2, Day 1. Chivenor to Westleigh.

Friday 10 June 2016 – Westleigh, Devon.

I surprised myself by having a decent sleep in what was the probably the smallest single room I have ever had in a B and B, not that I need a lot of space. A good breakfast was had and I was out the door at 9:00, on a bus soon after and standing at the starting point of three days of walking before 9:30. Yeeha – it has finally arrived.

I am starting the South West Coast Path (SWCP) where I finished last July – at a bus stop!

To be perfectly honest it was not the same bus stop. I was going to start in Braunton, but the path crossed the road next to a bus stop in Chivendor and it just seemed like a good place to start, so start there I did.

I have three days of walking planned, the first two days will take me around the Rivers Taw and Torridge, and I won’t see the coast until the end of day two. The total distance over those two days is about 24 miles. I could probably walk the whole thing in a day, but it would have been a long day and to be honest I am not road fit at the moment and have been suffering from tight legs for weeks. There was no point in taking risks, and anyway I want to be feeling good for day three, a nice hilly walk from Westward Ho! To Clovelly, all on the coast.

Today’s walk is along a section of the SWCP that has merged with the Tarka Trail. The Tarka trail is named after the book ‘Tarka the Otter’, which was published in 1927, and describes the life of an otter living in the rivers Taw and Torridge. The section of the Tarka that I follow over the next day and half is about half tar-seal and half crushed stone. Not the ideal surface for walking with sore legs, but there were areas where I could walk on the grass verge. While not being wild and coastal, it is quite pretty in sections.

In a few hours time I will be walking along that stretch of shore on the other side of the Taw as well…

The path heads back to Barnstable, where I stayed last night and also where I stayed after finishing walking last summer. Rather than walk all the back into town I crossed over the new road bridge for the better view – and it was a bit shorter.

There was a path up to the bridge on the side I started on but none back down on the far side. Rather than walk all the way up to the busy road and then back again, I jumped the fence and cut through the scrub. It seemed to be a popular route, but does not explain why there was not proper access.

Once out of Barnstable there was a long walk along side of some salt marshes, with dozens of little water ways and channels it was something interesting to look at. I expect if I ever came this way again it would all look totally different.

On the other side of the path was farm land.

I arrived at Fremington Quay after a couple of hours of walking and stopped for coffee and cake in the cafe. It was good to sit down. One thing I am not particular good at on my walks is sitting down and resting. I do stop a lot to take photos, but rarely take the time to rest properly, or just enjoy a view or a cup of coffee. I need to practice that more. In truth I need to practice that more all the time, not just while I am walking

As I was packing up my stuff to leave I had a phone call from my son in Australia, Dom. Though the news was not all good, it was great to chat with him for a while as I continued walking. The best thing about the conversation is that it took my thoughts away from work. I had spent the first couple of hours of my walk thinking about it, getting progressively angrier and angrier with myself for wasting my holiday and head space time focusing on the very thing I was trying to get away from. It did not enter my mind again.

I really enjoyed the walk from Fremington to Instow, in parts it was quite post-apocalyptic, old jetties and ruined boats, an old electricity sub-station and rusty relics from the railway. I was alone for a while and it felt like I was the last human alive. I was waiting for ‘walkers’ to find me.

As I was taking photos of the SS Boop, a woman walking her dog ambled by, and I realised the world had not ended in the previous couple of hours.

I stopped for lunch in Instow, it was nice, but pricey. I had earned my lunch and its accompanying pint over the morning, though I did not have much more walking to do. The renovated station house at Instow was a nicer reminder of the the old railway.

Instow is at the confluence of the Rivers Taw and Torridge, I could just see the coast in the distance, past Appledore on the far side. After following the Taw all morning, I was now following the Torridge and will do for most of tomorrow as well.

I was still on the SWCP and the Tarka trail as I headed out of Instow towards Bideford. This part of Devon is famous for its old lime kilns, there are hundreds of old kiln sites up and down the coast and on the edge of some of the estuaries. They were used to make quick-lime from lime stone in the region. There are a few ruins left here and there and I will pass a few of them over the couple of days.

I had booked a B and B in the small village of Westleigh, just south and slightly inland from Instow. As I was walking along the path I could see the road up to the village on the far side of a narrow swampy stream. I had visions of having to walk way way down the path to find a way across the swamp, but fortunately not too far ahead there was a pathway across. Phew.

There was another old fishing boat just up the river so I carried on going so I could take a look at it today, in case it was raining tomorrow. I was talking to a couple of men collecting sea weed from the rocks nearby and they told me the boat just appeared one day six months ago. They had no idea what it is doing there or how long it will remain. A further sign of a stricken fishing industry.

Naturally my B and B was right at the top of the longest hill of the day, it was a farmhouse on the other side of the village to the path I was walking. I have never stayed in a B and B with pillars out the front before.

Last night I stayed in the smallest room ever, and tonight I stayed in the largest. It was also very comfortable. I have been really fortunate with the weather so far, just after I arrived it poured with rain, lying on my bed in my room, I just did not care !

After the rain had passed I walked into the pub in Westleigh for dinner and the hope of being able to watch the opening game of Euro 16, however they did not have a TV in the pub. After eating I took a bottle of beer back to my room and watched the game on my own, it was pretty dire.

I really enjoyed today, once work had left my head and I had the space to think – and literally stop to smell the flowers it was a very relaxing day. My legs feel good after five or so hours of walking and it was just damn good to be outside again!

The amazing Orford Ness

Saturday 14 May 2016 – Orford Ness, Suffolk.

Wow, what a day today! It was so good I have had to make it a two post day. I love a day like this, and there should be/could be/would be more if I wasn’t so lazy or prone to prolonged bouts of procrastination. All I needed to do was to grab my camera and get out of the house, though it did help that I went somewhere amazing!

Last weekend I finally got around to buying a car. I have been pondering it for a while, but living and working London I have not had a desperate need to own one and if we did want to go away it is cheap enough to rent a car. However, there are always those things you need to do that require a car, and having to plan ahead to organise a rental, or book affordable train travel, meant we rarely did spontaneous trips out in to the country. Not having, or wanting to spend a vast amount of money on a car – I do hate them, I ended up buying a 2003 Lexus IS 300. With a three litre motor it is not the most economical or emissions friendly vehicle, but I wanted a car I could throw a mountain bike in the back of if I ever decided to do a riding trip. Thinking ahead, that is my motto 🙂

At the end of last year I bought a book about unusual ruins in the UK and there was mention of Orford Ness. The pictures in the book made it look interesting and as Suffolk is really easy to get to by car from NE London I decided to go and check it out.

Orford Ness is a 12 mile spit of land, pretty much entirely separated from the mainland by the River Alde and is accessed via a tiny ferry from the town of Orford. Orford is just under 100 miles from home, so a perfect distance for a first drive in a new car.

I left home pretty early, by my standards anyway, and made good time. Cruising down English country lanes shrouded in trees with dappled sunlight hitting the road has to be one of life’s real pleasures, I could have done this all day. I stopped once on the way to take a photo of a rape field. I think there is a law that requires all people who think of themselves as landscape photographers to stop and take a photo of a rape field at least once each year.

I arrived in Orford just after 10:00, when the ferry starts its regular run across to the Ness. Orford Ness, or at least this section of it, is managed by The National Trust, of which I am a member. They run a small ferry across the river and only allow 13 trips a day with a maximum of 12 people per trip. This reduces the impact of humans on the very fragile shingle environment.

In the 1920s and 1930s the site was used to test a wonderful new technology called radar, later, in the 1960s, it was a semi-secret location for atomic weapons research. Of course no bombs were tested there – these were all done in the US, but detonators and other components were designed and tested. Testing all these things like radar and detonators meant a heck of a lot of bombs were dropped here from the 1920s onwards. Wandering off the beaten track is not encouraged, and there are numerous signs warning of this.

It is also very popular with the birding community as there are a number of nesting sites across the marsh and shingle areas. Some of these areas are closed to the public at the moment while the birds are breeding, so only one of the three ‘walks’ is open today.

The boat ride over to the Ness only takes 5 minutes, there were seven of us on the boat, when I was leaving the ranger on the island told me there had been just over 80 people there all day, perfect numbers for me. My first photo on the Ness, flat, empty and big big clouds overhead. I was thinking that this was going to be a great day.

The first few hundred yards are past some swampy waterways, those more interested in birds than I am spent a bit of time here while I carried on going, heading for a bridge over a river and on to the shingly side. I stopped at the information centre for a look around, there was some interesting photos and history in there, I am assuming this warning sign is an old one!

There is a concentration of old buildings here and a few rusting, decaying pieces of machinery are reminders of when this place was busy with men doing manly things with bombs and technology. A lot of it is behind signs barring entry, though all the fences have been taken down so the restrictions are just based on trust. I liked that, and decided to not breach that trust.

I took a few photos from the bird watching hide, none of birds of course! I wanted to visit the ‘pagodas’. Remnants from when this was under the control of Atomic Weapons Research establishment (AWRE) and I was really looking forward to getting to them. They are one of the reasons I wanted to visit. They, and a lot of the scene here, remind me of the old computer game Doom.

There are paths that have to be followed to get around, as I said earlier there is a lot unexploded munitions on and under the shingle, and caution needs be taken at all times. These gates were leading off to one of the paths that was closed today, as always I was intrigued as to what was there.

From 1982 until 2011 the BBC World Service was broadcast to Europe from Orford Ness, and the transmission towers can be clearly seen further up the spit, past those gates.

The shingle area is covered in vegetation, some of it quite rare, another reason this is a protected site. The mix of the muted greys and browns of the shingle and the brighter colours of the grasses and wild flowers made for an interesting sight and hopefully I will get some photos that make the most of that variety.

My first stop was the bomb ballistics building; built in 1933 it was fitted with state of the art equipment to monitor the flight of bombs to help with designing aiming tables. The view from the top was really interesting, it was the only place that provided enough height to look down on the shapes in the shingle

The view from the inside was good as well.

I followed the red shingle road towards the black beacon for a while before turning off and heading towards the lighthouse.

The shingle is constantly being moved around by the sea and the weather, it almost appears to be laid out in waves, with vegetation growing on its crest. It was quite arresting. I was very interested to know (and still don’t) what the small square concrete pads are, there are a hell of a lot of them seemingly randomly placed.

There is a lot of old metal and track lying around, but not many exploded bombs – this one was conveniently located right next to the path.

The PO has been to most parts of the country, but I was surprised to find they had laid cables here, I guess they go to the lighthouse ?

The lighthouse is not managed by the National Trust, it is owned by a small local trust, who have open days, today was not one of those days, so I was unable to get in and have a look, but I expect the view from there is stunning. The light house and its neighbouring coast guard house just feel so isolated, as a bird flies they are probably only a kilometre from Orford, but the shingle and marsh and the river have them cut off, it feel like another world.

The light house is in danger of falling down now, the trust are trying to raise funds to save it. When you get round the far side you can clearly see why, the ground is almost completely subsided, the only thing holding this section together is the sewer.

Next to the lighthouse is a derelict building that was used as a coast guard lookout up until 1951, and finally abandoned in the 1960s.

The trail goes along the edge of the North Sea for a couple of hundred yards before turning inland towards the Black Beacon, built in 1928 to house an experimental new beacon.

I had a walk around looking for somewhere sheltered from the strong and cold wind so I could sit down and eat some lunch, but there was not a lot of opportunity so I just carried on going I liked the football sitting in the window of this building along with a pile of rubbish washed up by the sea.

Finally the path took a turn towards the old AWRE area, which I was really looking forward to exploring. I loved this gate, ensuring no-one passes along that road. It is a shame there is no longer any fence 🙂

The security fence has mostly been taken down, there are occasional fence posts and light poles still standing, and I particularly liked this one with its broken light arm laying at its foot.

There are a couple of interesting buildings here, this one covered in shingle for instance, there was no entry point though, but I have visions of a vast network of tunnels underneath the shingle, joining all these low, almost hidden buildings together.

Sadly, and to my disappointment there was no access allowed to the pagoda area 😦 I was a bit gutted by that to be honest. I guess I could have strayed in there for a sneaky look, but there a number of rangers around and I did not want to annoy anyone, and I do want to come back!

I cannot quite work out what this last building is, but you could at least get in the doorway and peer through into its rather damaged centre.

This photo almost sums up the Ness for me, darkness, dankness and decay in the buildings, and an almost arid nothingness outside. Like a post-apocalyptic science fiction movie. Love it!

I stopped for lunch here, before turning round and walking back, mostly the way I came, to the ferry point. Stopping to give some grass and then take a photo of these lambs on the way.

While I waited for the ferry I had a chat with one of the National Trust volunteers. He told me about some organised photo tours that take place three times a year and explore some of the places closed to the general public. One of those tours is an over night visit in July and I managed to book myself on one of the final places once I got home. I am very excited about that!

Just before I left I took a photo of where I am heading next, once I am back on the mainland. Orford Castle.

I was on the Ness for about four hours. I took more photos there (as you can tell) than I have anywhere else in a very long time. It is a fascinating, interesting, glorious place. Make a visit !

For the first time in ages I took and used two lenses. I have got into a bad habit of just using the 16-35mm wide angle lens, and at the occasional gig the 50mm. Today I used the wide angle and a 70-200mm zoom, I really should use the 70-200 more, it is a brilliant, if very heavy lens and allowed me the chance to get different angles and views. I want to improve my photography, so I should use all the tools I have to hand.

What a fantastic day, and it was only mid afternoon!

Photos of Epping Forest.

Friday 22 April 2016, Epping Forest, London.

Ever since we got back from New Zealand and Hong Kong I have been suffering from a distinct lack of interest in actually doing anything, though if I am honest this malaise has been hanging over my head like a threatening rain cloud for a while. In the last couple of weeks I blamed the jet lag. Convenient. Yet wrong. Not that I have any other answer for it. Maybe it is just simply that I got lazy! I have had a couple of attempts at the gym since we got back and didn’t enjoy either of them, I feel unfit and slow, and at times a little miserable about it all.

Yesterday I read a post by Paul, a guy I follow on WordPress, about how getting outdoors and doing some exercise can make you feel a whole lot better. I know this, in fact I have known this for a long time, yet still I was doing very little about it. It is a great read, so check it out and it did make me determined to get up early this morning, get back to Epping Forest, take my camera and go for a good walk.

Then…… This morning. I had a poor sleep, again, second really bad night in a row. I was awake when El got up for work, and I planned on getting up and out the door before mid-morning. Once El had left, the malaise hit me again and all of a sudden I was planning on a day of reading and wasting time surfing the internet – doing anything but what I really needed to do. Shift my butt – and my head.

I was on my second cup of coffee, still in bed, reading Kiwi Trail Runner magazine when I came across another article about exercise and a healthy mind. This time I did make it out of bed. I am glad I did!

I took the bus to Chingford Station on the edge of Epping Forest. I had been thinking of walking home from Chingford using all the linked sections of forest that I use on mountain bike rides, but on the bus I changed my mind and decided to head into the forest and wander vacantly instead. Getting lost would be OK, it is not a vast forest and I sort of know my way about.

I started off walking up one of the many preformed paths, following a man walking a couple of small dogs at a much faster pace than I planned on mustering today.

I am trying to slow down a bit, I have always been a fast walker, and since being in London, I have got faster and more ‘aggressive’ in my walking, I have a rush hour head on all the time. I want to teach myself to relax, care more about the journey than the arriving. I think I did OK today. I noticed the smells of the forest, as soon as I was under the tree cover; the earthy smell of mould and rotting tree fall permeated the air, a healthy natural smell, not unpleasant. Just there and it felt good noticing it. Taking the time to listen and smell and really see was something I need do to more often.

I finally reached the end of the path I was on and had a few choices of dirt single track to chose. I wanted to try and find a silver birch grove I have passed through on my rides, which had become a favourite part of the forest. I have not ridden here all year – part of my slackness. I was blaming the mud – but I rode last winter. I was sort of scoping out the mud today with a near future ride in mind. There was a lot less mud than winter, but still plenty about.

Carrying on in what was the general direction of where I thought I wanted to go, I saw loads of trees I wanted to take photos of. I am a bit of obsessed with trees and forests at the moment, a very long moment I guess. At the start of the walk I was looking for something different to take photos of, there is a lot of tree fall in the forest, short roots and light soil leave them exposed to the dangers from a high wind.

With spring well under way, there is a lot green about, fresh buds mixing with old winter growth. There is not a huge amount of colour around, but seeing the trees starting to embrace the spring and lead us towards summer is such a good thing.

The other thing I was looking to take some photos of was the small stream that runs through this section of the forest, it was my target for when I headed back towards the station. I like the way it twists and turns every few metres. Next time I hit the forest I will walk the stream from one edge to the other.

More by good fortune than good planning I found the area I was looking for, a gentle hill that heads up in the direction of High Beach. I love this grafittied (I think) beach tree. Some of the dates stretch back a few decades.

This part of the forest is just stunning, and that was before I hit the silver birch section. It is a time of the year I really like in the forest, just as the leaves are starting to reappear on the trees, there is more light, softer more delicate colour and the shapes made by the branches and trunks are still visible.

And then I went a bit camera mad. One of the wise decisions I made when I packed a bag last night, and I did think twice about this, was to bring a tripod. I brought a lighter weight one, which I did regret as it did not cope well with the weight of the 5d. Next time I will take the big one. But the tripod allowed me to take better photos.

I spent quite a long time wandering aimlessly around the silver birch grove. The great thing about Epping is it is so small you just cannot get seriously lost. I didn’t bother with trails up here, just moved between the trees to the next location that took my fancy. I found a nice open space at the top of the low rise, where I stopped for a drink of water, a snack and a sit down on a pile of dead trees.

There was another lovely little grove of silver birches on my way back towards the station; I really do love these trees and just could not help myself and took a few more photos.

I must admit to getting a bit mis-placed on my way back, thinking I was in one place and then finding out I was somewhere else, just like I do on my bike rides. I saw a couple of small deer in this section, I was not quick enough to get a photo, but it was pleasing to see them, maybe one day I will come back with a bigger lens and do a bit of deer stalking.

I eventually found the stream again, so I walked along it for a while, taking photos here and there. These little bridges are pretty cool, I am assuming for mountain bikers to cross the small streams. I just like the fact they are there and there is no path leading to or away from them.

Soon enough I was on one of the fixed paths heading back towards the station. Except I wasn’t, I was on a path heading away from the station… Not terribly away, not 180 degrees, now that would have been embarrassing! Once I worked out where I was it was a fairly short hike back to where I started.

I was out for 3 ½ hours. 3 ½ hours of relative peace – you can hear the road from many places in the forest, but fresh air, lovely trees and semi-solitude. It was what the soul needed and I felt so much better than I did when I woke up this morning and almost did not go out.

I have now bought a book on English trees, it is about time I could name more than just an oak tree.

In other news – let’s drift back in time a bit to last week. I quit my job. I don’t have another one to go to, but I have a three month notice period, which just made looking for another job seem impossible. I have taken the risk and hopefully it will pay off!

P.S A question a few days after posting.

I have just looked at this post on a different computer from the one I edited the photos on. The photos on that computer were, in my opinion, a bit too bright and almost over-exposed. Do you see over-bright photos or over-dark photos ? I am interested to know so I can make sure I edit on the right computer! Please let me know.

Bright lights, Big city.

Wednesday 06 April 2016 – Hong Kong.

We had a fabulous time in New Zealand, and leaving was tough. I really enjoyed seeing my family again and with such nice weather for most of our time there, being outside in the warm sun was very pleasant as well. But things end and it was time to move on. There will be no more lovely cool pinot gris for a while.

Rather than heading directly back to London we decided to break the trip and take a couple of days in Hong Kong. El had never been there, and I had an ill-fated work trip there back in 2007. Unknown to me I had been quite ill for a while with a bacterial abscess growing in my liver. It finally hit the day I arrived in Hong Kong for a five day work trip. I spent one day in the hotel and then eight days in hospital, where they made me well enough to fly home to New Zealand. I didn’t see much of the city at all. I was hoping for much better fortune this time around !

After almost 11 hours of flying we arrived in Hong Kong first thing on Wednesday morning, the flight was OK, I dozed a little bit but would hardly say I slept. We decided to get a cab to the hotel, we had pondered getting the train, but the cab was hardly more costly, and seemed a reasonable option for brain dead passengers. As we had an overnight flight and arrived at 7:30 am I had decided to book a hotel room for the previous night so we could go straight to the room rather than having to wait till mid-afternoon. This was a wise decision, it gave us a chance to change, have a shower, a coffee or two and a wee relax before heading out for the day.

The ride in from the hotel was less painful than I expected, and the view was similar to that from the airport, a heavy low sky resting on the top of high rises. Which is not really representative of what HK looks like, it is surprisingly green and lush and hilly! The pollution at first was terrible, I am hoping it cleared rather than we got used to it as I didn’t notice it at all later in the trip. Early in the ride from the airport my throat was sore and my eyes burnt. The smoggy fog did clear and stay gone later in the day.

I had booked a hotel right in the centre of the tourist section of Kowloon, on Knutsford Terrace, a pedestrian only street full of bars and restaurants. When I booked the room I didn’t know this. I was really nervous that we were going to have noisy nights as we were only on the fifth floor. Luckily I was very wrong, and we had two great nights. I could not say the same about the view from the room though!

I do love Asian scaffolding, Bamboo is immensely strong, but I am not sure I would be standing on that deck.

It was late morning before we headed out the door, we had no real plan in mind. Stroll down towards the harbour and see what happens and what we felt like doing was as planned as we got. It was only 21 degrees, cooler than New Zealand had been, and not particularly humid either. Perfect weather for strolling.

The museum section down at the waterfront was closed for renovation, which was a shame as quite a large area of harbour side was closed as well. I really liked this building though.

Above the hoardings around the closed museum and on the far side of the harbour, loomed the magnificent International Finance Centre tower (IFC).

The view on either side of Hong Kong harbour is magnificent, tall towers and steep hills make for a great sight.

We were down by the Star Ferry building and it seemed rude to not get a ferry over the harbour from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island.

The Sky 100 tower on Kowloon is equally magnificent !

We stopped for lunch in the mall in the IFC, sadly it was only on the 2^nd floor and not right up there with the big views.

From first observations, Hong Kong seems to be quite a new city, most of the buildings look to have been built in recent times, so it was quite nice to see an older and lower building deep in the shadows of the towers.

We walked through the central streets of down town Hong Kong and I have never seen so many high end brand shops, all the big names were there, more than once in some cases.

Though we didn’t catch one, there were a lot of trams on the lower, flat streets of down town Hong Kong. Vast sections of both down town Hong Kong and Kowloon are reclaimed land, and there is still a huge amount of work reclaiming more land from the sea. I heard that the IFC tower has foundations 44 metres deep!

We walked past the headquarters of HSBC and the Bank of China, both with their theme on the lion.

The French mission building really stood out as we started to wind our way up the lower foothills, as did St John’s Cathedral behind it.

We were looking for the Peak Tram, a funicular that went from the lower foothills up to the top of Victoria Peak. Built in 1888 it has been ferrying tourists up a very steep incline to the peak. It is quite a piece of engineering and is larger and steeper than I imagined. It is also very popular and we were lucky on our ride up to not have to wait long at all. There were much bigger queues going up when we got back down again.

There is a further climb up a series of escalators once we were off the funicular, though the view out of the window was a taste of what we would see from the top.

There was a southern US shrimp restaurant at the top, bizarre. We are in Hong Kong, not Louisiana. It even sold Forrest Gump souvenirs.

The view from the Peak is amazing, we had an OK day, we could at least see some distance, and we could see all of HK and over to Kowloon. I took a lot of photos, living in a large but low rise city, I love all these big towers, not so sure I would like to live in the middle of them.

We were up the top for a while, and had a bit of a walk around before heading down. The viewing platform is a rather odd shaped building.

With no sleep last night and being quite a walk from the hotel we decided to catch the funicular back down again rather than walk. Back down at almost sea level we walked through a small park towards the main shopping area. There are a few little parks around, for all its masses and height it is quite a green place, pleasant in parts.

Back down at the harbour side we caught one of the old Star Ferries back over to Kowloon.

That tower is really big!

It was a 20 minute walk back up to the hotel.

After a brief rest we decided to head to the bar downstairs at street level and have a couple of drinks before heading back out again, purely for hydration of course.

We decided to do a harbour tour tonight, there is a light show at 8:00pm every night over the harbour, with a lot of the building owners on either side lighting up their buildings or shining lasers into the sky, the photos we saw before hand made it look very spectacular, and a trip on a harbour is always a good thing. The walk back down again was more interesting at night, there is a lot of neon here.

I really liked this guy’s variation of ‘guy floating in the air’ – especially dressed as a monk in front of a giant CK advert…

The light show was a bit of a flop really, very unexciting. I am going to blame the clouds that swept in over the harbour, obscuring some of the lights, and rendering the lazers pretty much useless. It was hard to see what, if anything was going on. I did take a load of photos though, a lot were deleted as these were all hand held.

The show was a bit too long, and surprisingly it got quite cold, something I really did not expect. I was not dressed for coldness and got a bit shivery on the boat. I was glad to get off and walk back up to the hotel. We didn’t fancy anything big for dinner so grabbed some bread and cheese from an M and S on our street (it is so British here). We retired to our room to eat and drink a glass of wine sitting on our bed watching a Japanese football team play a Chinese team in the Asia Cup.

It was a long old day, but really good and neither of us ended up in hospital.

Beer, canals and windmills. Day two in Brugge.

Sunday 02 August 2015 – Brugge, Belgium.

Yesterday was such a good day, so we were keen for a repeat today. Breakfast was not served in the hotel until quite late – by our standards, so with the sun shining and a busy day of walking planned we were up and out the door as soon as we were ready. Which wasn’t that early really, those massive nightcaps last night slowed the day down a wee bit. Almost straight out the front door we saw some of Brugge’s famous swans, swanning their way down the canal in the Rozenhoedkaai.

We had a brief walk immediately around the hotel looking for somewhere to eat and nothing seemed to open until 10:00am (they are missing a trick here) so we ended up going back to the hotel for a really nice breakfast, that came with a glass off bubbles… Yep, a good start to the day!

I had consulted the guidebook over breakfast and came up with a bit of a plan for the morning. There are lots of things to see in Brugge and I wanted to fit as much in as possible as we had a full day to do it. With tomorrow being a Monday I had in mind visiting some of the really popular touristy things then and avoiding them as much as possible today, so today was a walking day.

Our first stop was Sint Annakerk, which was up one of the ubiquitous canals. Walking along the canal was interesting enough as it was. It was made much more enjoyable as the only sounds were Sunday morning church bells, one was ringing ‘Ode to Joy’ and the occasional rumble of tyres on the cobblestones. It was very peaceful.

Excuse the lens flair. Not supposed to be photographically correct, but I do love a bit of flair!

Sint-Annekerk was built in 1624 and is quite lovely on a sunny Sunday morning.

The Jerusalem Church was my favourite in Brugge, and has the best story, as well as a wonderful wooden cupola at the top. The church was constructed in the mid 15^th century by the Adornes family, and is one of two privately owned churches in the city. The Adornes family came to Brugge after the father had been on a holy pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The church is modelled on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in that city and unlike most ancient churches is unchanged since it was first built. Most have been renovated and modified since their first construction. Anselm Adornes, who finished the church his father started, was murdered in Scotland while on a diplomatic mission and while he was buried in Scotland his heart was brought home and interred here. It is a lovely building and it was a shame we could not go inside – it being a Sunday.

I also liked the square outside. You can see how so few people make it this far from tourism central, they do get to miss out on some good things!

The church and square were just inside one the edges of the city, and on one of the main entry and exit points. Each of these are guarded by large gates, with bridges over the canal. This is the Kruispoort Gate and this version was constructed in 1400, after the first two had been destroyed in previous wars. This was the gate used by both the armies of Napoleon and Adolf Hitler when they first entered Brugge after invading Belgium. I really wish I had gone across the bridge to photograph it from the far side, but it was up to let some boats pass through.

One thing I remembered from my last visit to Brugge in 1987 was that there were windmills, and I wanted to see those again today. Luckily (it was actually down to good planning) the four remaining windmills are all located just up the canal from the gate.

The first windmill we came across was Bonne Chieremolen from 1844.

The second is the most famous of the windmills, the Sint-Janshuismolen built in 1770 and it is still working today.

The third was my favourite, De Nieuwe Pappegai which was rebuilt in 1970, 200 years after its neighbour!

And finally Koeleweimolen De Coelewey which was built in 1765, but moved from its original location.

I loved the windmills, a shame all 29 of the original mills are not here to be seen! They do make for great silhouettes on a sunny day. Just past the last windmill the main canal that runs up one side of Brugge connects with the Langerei canal which heads back into town. We followed this wonderful waterway, surrounded by some beautiful old buildings back into the centre of Brugge.

There are a lot more buildings with icons above entrances and on corners.

Closer to town we crossed over the canal and walked down a smaller, more residential canal – so reminiscent of Venice.

I wonder how long the buildings will last, like Venice and other canalside towns, the water erosion on these foundations and walls, that must be hundreds of years old, must be taking its toll.

I loved this apple tree growing in someone’s garden. A reminder that this is a living breathing town, where people live normal lives. It is not just a museum piece.

The city centre was heaving with people, after an hour of meandering slowly down the canal bank it was a shame to be back into the throng – inevitable, but still a shame. It was a good place to find a cafe for a much needed sit down, a cup of coffee and some gooey pastries. After the breakfast we had at the hotel we didn’t really need a big lunch!

On the way to the Beguinage we passed the entrance to the oldest alms houses in Brugge, we should have stopped in hindsight, but it was on a very busy shopping street and these things always make me want to run and hide. The entrance was lovely – and very old.

The Beguinage is entered through a gate built in 1776 and features the image of Elizabeth of Hungary who is the patron saint of Beguinages.

From Wikipedia – “The word béguinage is a French term that refers to a semi-monastic community of women called Beguines, religious women who sought to serve God without retiring from the world.” The beguinage in Brugge is named “The Vineyard”, as this was what the land was prior and it was started in 1244, perhaps by widows left when their husbands were killed during the crusades and they needed a place of safety and comfort. The buildings that make up this peaceful enclave were mainly built between the early 1500s and the 1700s. Given its location it was remarkably quiet and deserted across the bridge. It is now a Benedictine convent.

I initially thought the huts in the trees were places where people went to contemplate, or to live a particular vow. But when researching for information when I was writing this post I discovered they are an art installation by the Japanese artist Tadashi Kawamata and are part of the Brugge Triennial.

From the beguinage we popped out on to the edge of Love Lake, which was our final planned destination for the afternoon. We walked around the edge of the small lake and then popped into the run down bar on the far side for a drink and a relax.

Later in the afternoon, my football team, Arsenal are playing Chelsea in the Community Shield, a pre-season “friendly”, not that there is such a thing when we play Chelsea. I took this as a sign of good fortune. Not having the game on TV here, was probably a good thing. We did win it too, Yay

There are quite a few alms houses in Brugge, most of them extremely old.

We went back to the hotel for a rest, and another large glass of bubbles in the garden while we consulted the guide book for some ideas for the rest of the day.

We decided on a visit to the Groeninge Museum, which is an art gallery showing only Flemish painters and others who came to paint or resided in Brugge. The museum is not directly on the street so there were a few interesting things to see just to get to the museum itself.

The museum was interesting, it is in a lovely light and airy building and is nice and quiet. There are some really nice pieces from local artists like Jan Van Eyck and Gerard David. I mostly wanted to see a famous Hieronymus Bosch piece but it was not on display sadly. There was a very cool Rene Magritte – ‘The attendant’.

I also liked this piece from the Brugge town hall building from the late 1300’s.

After the museum we headed off to find a beer bar, Staminee de Garre, which had been recommended to us by some friends. We walked through the Burg, passed the lovely old town hall building, though none of my photos were post-worthy. I do love the letter boxes which I cut into the walls of the houses – or the town hall in this case.

After a bit of map reading we found de Garre, which is hidden away down a small alley way.

The place is small, and old and a bit rickety and seemed to be evenly populated with local regulars and tourists. All the tables were taken so we were about to head out when the barmaid moved a few people out of the way and found us a spot on a table with a couple of Americans and a local guy. We were given a very extensive beer menu to choose from. I was about to choose a trappist ale, when a Belgian guy at the next table told me to try the Garre, which was the beer brewed for the bar. A wise choice ! El is not a beer drinker at all, but tried one of the fruit flavoured beers – Raspberry in this case. She didn’t mind it, but I don’t think she will become a real ale drinker any time soon. After the Garre I tied a trappist ale from the Rochefort Abbey. Trappist beers are brewed in abbeys, there are 11 abbeys in Europe certified as trappist breweries. I thought the 6 was representative of the alcohol percentage – and this was the lowest in the range, but it wasn’t, this one was 7.5%. It was very nice too! One of the features of Belgian beer, is that they all have a special glass, shaped for the style of beer, with a few hundred beers on the menu, the glass selection must be massive. There was only one barmaid for this small but busy bar and she was like a machine, clearing tables, selecting glasses and bottles and pouring the correct way for the type of drink chosen. Made my life as a barman seem very easy !

We left soon after in the search for somewhere nice to eat dinner as we had not really eaten anything much since breakfast. After a while walking around we ended up in a bit of a tourist restaurant near the hotel. It was nice and not overly expensive but not as good as Est.

As we were wandering around looking for eating places we came across some salsa dancing in the old fish market. It was hugely popular with a lot of people watching on from the side.

And that was the end of day two. A lot of walking, a tiring but very enjoyable day out. Brugge just gets better the more I see of it, and we saw a lot today.

Bruges, glorious Bruges

Saturday 01 August 2015 – Brugge, Belgium.

Wahoo – I have almost four weeks off work, and loads of holiday plans to fill the time as well. The last week of work was not too stressful considering the things we had to do, it had its moments but I left yesterday feeling pretty relaxed about taking the time off. A good way to start a holiday, especially as this morning El and I are heading off early to catch a train to Bruges, or Brugge, in Belgium for an extended weekend away

As English speakers we use the French spelling and pronunciation of Bruges, though the local Flemish speaking Belgian’s use the Flemish Brugge. I will try and use that spelling throughout my posts about the city. I do not understand why we do not honour how the local people spell and pronounce the names of their countries and towns, and why we have to anglicise everything, and vice versa as well. I suppose I do understand, though I do not like it.

Brugge is an ancient place, probably named by an old Dutch word for bridge. It was first recorded in 840 though the location has been occupied since at least 1500 years BC, the earliest remains are from the Roman occupation from about 100 BC. It is a UNESCO heritage site and the buildings, mainly from the 14^th-17^th century, have been incredibly well preserved or renovated. Brugge is a canal town, it was a key trading centre for many decades and was the economic capital of Europe for a long time. Canals and rivers surround the entire old town, cutting it off from the rest of the city and leaving it relatively car free. It is just the sort of place I love to explore and I was really looking forward to returning after a day long visit as part of a tour of Europe way back in 1987.

As we were going somewhere photographically interesting I decided to take my big camera, a Canon 5d Mk1 rather than the smaller G16. Earlier in the week I got the camera out to charge batteries, give it a clean and all the other pre-trip things I do. I discovered my spare battery had totally died, so I contacted a friend who I knew shot Canon to see if he had a spare battery. He didn’t, but he very kindly offered me the use of his 5d MK3 instead. Wow, a dream camera for the weekend ! Thanks Andy.

As is our way we were up early and at St Pancras station well before time to check in. We decided to breakfast at the station so got there quite early. It is a very busy place on a Saturday morning.

As we were there early I went off for a quick explore of the station, I have been here a couple of times before, but have never seen ‘The meeting statue’, so was quite pleased to find it upstairs outside the Eurostar platforms.

It was a bit of a process getting through security and immigration control, as this is an international journey; it is like passing through airport security, with the usual lack of staff to manage the volume of passengers. I was glad to get through, and get a coffee and a muffin on the other side. The ~~flight~~ train left a bit late, but with enough time for me to get up to the front to take a photo, I love these high speed trains.

We did not have a great window seat unfortunately, but it was still good to be thundering through the Kent countryside, heading for the channel tunnel and out the out the other side into France. Though the landscape did not change much at all !

England

France

At some unknown point on the journey we crossed from France in to Belgium and changed trains in Brussels.

Three hours after leaving London we were arriving in Brugge, the station is just outside the old town and with the help of a guide book map and a printout from the internet with directions we headed off into the warm and sunny Belgian afternoon to find our hotel, which was very close to the centre of town.

Even though it was early afternoon on a Saturday in July, the outer layers of the old town were quite empty, something I have noted in other places I have been. It seems some visitors just like to see the key attractions, leaving the exploring to the likes of El and myself. Love it !

We stayed in the Pand Hotel, which was just lovely, very close to the centre of the action, but very quiet and comfortable, and a view of the window towards the Church of our Lady, which we visit on Monday.

After dumping our bags, and sun blocking up we were out the door and on to the streets, we didn’t have a plan this afternoon, just a wander around to see what we saw, and we did see a lot. The hotel is about 50 metres from the Rozenhoedkaai, one of the most popular – and photographed parts of Brugge. Over the next couple of days I took a few photos here myself !

We then headed off towards the Markt, the main square. I love it that, while there are cars around, Brugge is a cycling city, and bikes and pedestrians co-exist seemingly quite easily. The old market hall, and the back of the Belfry.

I also like it that most of the bikes are not low slung road ‘racing’ bikes and most of the cyclists are everyday folk and not the lycra clad road warriors that we see too much of in other countries.

A lot of the houses in the centre of Brugge are constructed in the ‘brick gothic’ style and were built from the 16^th and 17^th centuries, with major renovations being carried out in the late 19^th century when Brugge started to become popular as a tourist destination. Some of the houses had icons of Mary and the baby Jesus on them, I liked this – a lot, and took many photos of them over the three days.

The Markt is surrounded by lovely old buildings, the 12^th century, 83 metre high Belfry is particularly nice.

There was some weird mirror sculpture in the square, so El and I used them for some selfies.

We headed off for a bit more of a wander, and wonder at some of the things we were seeing, before finally stopping for a beer for me, and a wine for El as she does not like beer. Brugge is world famous for its beer, so I had to try some while I was here.

Brugge is also famous for it’s lace and there are a number of lace shops around the main tourist areas.

We finally ended up back at our hotel and decided to make our way to the small garden out the back for a glass of bubbles. Drinks in Brugge all come with small snacks: cheese, olives and small biscuits were the most common and was hugely appreciated. The champagne in the hotel came in massive flutes – also much appreciated !

On our afternoon walk we had reserved a table at Wijnbar Est, and after a wee rest we took a slow stroll there for an early dinner.

We had a great time, it is a lovely little restaurant, great vibe and really nice food. The main surprise for us was drinking a bottle of Belgian wine from the Landgoed Dorrebeek vineyard. I had no idea they made wine in Belgium, it was really really nice. A recommended place for a drink or a meal – and to try something different !

One of the many joys of using this great camera is the lowlight capabilities are so much better than my old version. While none of these are fantastic these are all hand held photos taken on a stroll around Brugge to walk off dinner. The Rozenhoedkaai at night.

Belgium is of course famous for its chocolate, so I had to take a photo of the chocolate boobs seen on the way to the Markt. .

The belfry and the 18^th century provincial court.

There was a free music festival on in the Burg square as we walked through, none of the music interested me at all, but it was full of families and young people having a good time and had a really nice vibe to it.

We strolled up the side of a canal for a while, crossing over a bridge before heading back towards the hotel.

The magnificent Church of our Lady at 133 metres is the tallest building in Brugge and the second tallest brick building in the world and was built from the 13^th to the 15^th centuries. It looks stunning at night.

We also had a quick peak at Sint-Salvator Cathedral, which we didn’t visit during the day. This was made the official cathedral of Brugge in 1834, soon after The Netherlands allowed Belgium to become an independent nation and a new bishop was installed in Brugge. The steeple was rebuilt in the 1830’s after the church as almost destroyed in a fire.

Back at our hotel we had an unexpectedly large night cap before finally putting our feet up after a long day of aimlessly strolling about one of the world’s loveliest cities. We were really looking forward to doing it all again tomorrow!

Life is about using the whole box of crayons.

Friday June 21 2013 – London.

To save having to repeat myself I should just refer you, dear reader, back to the opening paragraph of my last week wrap-up post which discusses the complete lack of progress on the job front… Oh well, good things come with time.

On Monday I signed myself up to Twitter, not that I can ever see myself tweeting, there is no way I can say anything in just one hundred and sixty characters! I signed up because it seems to be the best way to find out about things I am interested in, in the most expedient way. Hopefully from now on I will not miss so many good gigs and interesting exhibitions, plus of course football results when the season starts.

On Monday night El and I went to see Siouxsie Sioux and band perform at the Royal Festival Hall as part of the Yoko Ono curated Meltdown Festival. I had only heard about the gig quite late so by the time I got tickets we were in the third row from the back. There were so many great acts playing as part of the festival, I would have really liked to have seen Patti Smith and the Stooges – especially supported by Savages, a young English band who I really like.

What can I say about the gig ? I guess “Wow” sums it up pretty well. The sound and lights were amazing, Siouxsie looked amazing in a skin tight white vinyl body suit and her voice had not changed in thirty years, she sounded fantastic. The band was not the Banshees, but still good.

The bulk of the set was the album Kalaidoscope played from start to finish, with the opener ‘Happy house’ sending shivers up my spine – it sounded that good. It was a surprise as I really expected a greatest hits show, but it is a great album, so no complaints. There were a couple of encores, with a bunch of classics ‘Israel’, ‘Spellbound’ and ‘Arabian nights’ being the highlights. They did of course do the big hit ‘Prudence’, but meh, a Beatles track is never going to be a favourite of mine, though the rest of the crowd loved it ! Siouxsie did a few songs off a solo album I have never heard and none of them really got me going – average rock songs I thought. It was great show – hour and half long, awesome venue and she still has the voice and the moves. Siouxsie was supported by another old punk hero, Viv Albertine from The Slits, who performed some songs from her first album in twenty five years. She was pretty good too.

As the gig was just up the Southbank from my place we walked home. its not bad walk..

On Tuesday I walked back up to the Southbank again as I noticed some of the graffiti had changed at the skate park and I really liked this new one and thought I should photograph it before it was painted over.

I walked back home via the streets rather than the river side and found this little Space Invader under one of the arches for the train tracks to Blackfriars station.

I also found a wonderful photography exhibition from members of the Arena group at the Menier Gallery in Southwark. I was there for a good hour, which is pretty remarkable for me in a gallery. There was a good range of styles on display from a number of very good photographers. I loved it and would have liked to have shared it with El but it finished later in the week sadly.

In the evening I went over to Dartford to visit my uncle and to pick up my tri-pod -I must do some night photography sometime soon, no excuses now!

On Wednesday I had arranged to meet a friend for lunch in Shephards Bush so took the train over to Westbourne Grove and had walked over to SheBu and looked for some of the small patches of street art in the area – it is the Borough of Kensington and Chelsea so I was not expecting too much. There is an old Banksy at the far end of Portobello Rd though.

I caught up with my cousin for a beer in Soho in the late afternoon which was great, I have been very slack with catching up with family and for that I do apologise !!

I have been thinking about getting a pushbike for a while now and on Friday I decided to start having a serious look around, I found a couple of bike shops on the internet that were reasonably local and went for a walk to see if I could find something. Sadly one place no longer existed and the second did not have anything I wanted – basically a single speed with raised mountain bike style bars. I am not in a particular rush but it would mean I could roam a bit further without having to use public transport – plus I want to be able to ride to work if I can, when I get the elusive job!

I found out on Twitter (only time it has been useful so far! ) that it was world skate day today so I waited to late in the afternoon and then grabbed my big camera and zoom lens for a change and went out to have a look see. There were a lot of skaters there and a couple of them were pretty good. I watched from the wings for a while, snapped a few photos and then started the walk back home.

It was great to be out with the big camera and long lens and I took quite few other photos around and from South bank. It was all good fun.

The skyline of London is slowly changing, especially over the ‘city’. The tall building in the middle is known as the cheese grater. It is designed like this so that it does not sit in the sightline of St Pauls – the council allows that no building should spoil some designated clear sights of St Pauls, which I think is pretty cool, especially when I get shots like the one below.

Outside the Tate Modern some buskers were bubble blowing massive bubbles to the delight of a lot of children – and one or two adults as well.

Further along the Thames at Bankside I found these young buskers playing cellos which sounded amazing in the tunnel of the arches.

It was a pretty good week, I didn’t achieve much on the work front but I saw some good stuff, heard some great music and spent some time with some great people!

Southbank Skate park

On Monday I finally did something I never thought I would do and signed up to Twitter. It seems a lot of activities that I am interested in like gigs and exhibitions are now promoted on Twitter first. Today I saw a tweet about go skateboarding day being held today and thought I should head back along to Southbank to see what was happening.

For a change I took the big camera with the big lens as I hardly ever use it and it seemed like the best option for shooting skaters. The skate park at Southbank is covered and a little dim for flash free photography, so a reasonably tough shoot. There were a couple of quite good skaters there, along with a couple of photographers and some guys shooting video so I kind of stayed out of the way.

As I mentioned on this post there is a proposal to move the skate park and re-use the location for retail outlets and frankly this sucks….

More here http://www.longlivesouthbank.com/

Here is what I got.

Shakespeare country

Sunday 24 February 2013 – Stratford-upon-Avon

I am blaming the bard for causing an almost complete mental block and now I am stuck on how to go about starting this post. If I only I had a small jot of his ability to string phrases together it would all be so much easier.

In true tragic-comedic fashion, now that I am committed to leaving London in less than two weeks time I have met a woman I like and naturally she is unable to travel in the immediate future. We have been hanging out a bit over the past few weeks and have had some good times. For reasons I will not go into I have agreed to not post a picture of El, but she has an impeccable taste in music, likes to read books, has a wicked sense of humour and I think she is very nice.

Anyway, we decided to do something different and went to Stratford upon Avon for the weekend, the birth and burial place of the bard himself – William Shakespeare. I am reading the fabulous Bill Bryson book on Shakespeare and it really highlights how few actual facts there are about old Bill, his name has been recorded as – Shakspeare, Shagsper, Shackspere and another twenty plus variations – a number of those variations were in his own signature.

We caught the train up from Marylebone Station in London on a bitterly cold Friday evening and arrived in our hotel in time for a late dinner in a bar packed with middle aged men in tuxedos – I felt a wee bit out of place in my jeans and boots – Stratford is not London!

On Saturday we took a walk around town, it was quite cold outside so numerous visits to historical houses were made. If you have lived in England over a winter you will know all about the bitter wind that howls down from the Siberian Steppes, it does not bring rain or snow but it cuts through as many layers of clothing as you can possibly wear and even my ‘windproof’ leather gloves were no match. Having said that, there was a constant very light fall of massive snow flakes all day. I was possibly the only person praying for a massive snow fall…

Stratford itself was sort of disappointing, due to my own ignorance I was expecting a cute wee village rather than a proper ‘town’ so the lovely old buildings were scattered and a bit incoherent. Not that there were not beautiful in their own right, just in between were the normal English high street chain store blights like Starbucks, Currys and the soon to be gone HMV. I imagine in not such a long time we will all be looking back at high street shopping as quaint and old fashioned.

First stop was a quick look at the Royal Shakespeare Company theatre on the far side of the River Avon. It was great to see a wee bit of Olympic legacy with the number of keen rowers out on a cold morning.

We were looking for breakfast and coffee and were momentarily tempted by three inches of pure dairy fat in the middle of this scone. Jam and cream scones as part of an “English cream tea” are very common, but I have never seen this much cream – ever. I was not tempted through the shop door (OK I was, but I did not dare!)

There are very few real facts about Shakespeare and his life, no paintings of him were made during his life time and no copies of any of his work exists in his own hand writing, most of what we know comes from other accounts of his life. Due to reasonably good record keeping in the UK from a very early time we do know where (not exactly when) he was born, got married, had children and died. Our first stop post breakfast was the house where he was born and lived when he was a child.

It is a museum now and frankly a wee bit odd. I guess the flow of the museum is really designed to cater for the masses of visitors that would come through on an English summer day. As you can see he was not born into poverty, though his family were hardly rich, just well off…

It was a wee walk through town to our next stop.

I really liked these old alms houses from the mid sixteenth century, partially renovated in the 1980’s and now lived in, the look lovely. What really impressed me with this street and outside our next stop at Halls Croft was the fact there was no parking out the front – finally an opportunity to see these wonderful buildings without cars and vans parked in front. Well done Stratford !

Halls Croft is the house where Shakespeare daughter lived once she was married, it is quite ramshackle and I loved in a partially renovated way and I loved it, especially how the floor boards squeaked so loudly as we walked around.

I loved this little croft house nearby, and really regret not getting some close ups of the wood of the door.

England’s most visited parish church, Holy Trinity is the burial place of Shakespeare and his family. It was an interesting visit, I am used to visiting the big old cathedrals but this is a lovely old building with some very nice stained glass windows as well as the Shakespeare burial site.

From the church we completed the loop walking back along the side of the Avon and past the Royal Shakespeare Co theatre.

The building did not impress me at all from the outside, however we went to see a play in the evening and the inside is totally different to the out. The theatre is lovely, a horse shoe shape with steep galleries around the stage. We saw “The winters tale” it was my first live Shakespeare, and the first theatre I have been to in decades. I was very unsure on whether I would enjoy it or not and at three hours long it could have been a long and uncomfortable evening ! However, I surprised myself by really enjoying it, not that I understood half of what was being said. The cast was excellent and really allowed the story to work without needing to understand all the dialogue.

It was a good night that followed a really nice day. Though I slightly criticised the town at the start of this post, it was a lovely place to wander through, with some great things to see. Winter is a great time of year to visit !