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Last month we enjoyed a day out at the Nene Valley Railway - nearly a year after my last visit. It was a beautiful sunny day and that, combined with the old school mode of transport, seemed to call out for a monochrome look.
Photos taken 17 August 2024
Back in late July we made our annual visit to the Festival of the Unexceptional at Grimshtorpe Castle, in Lincolnshire. This unusual classic car show features the more mundane side of automotive history, showing off the ordinary cars we grew up with rather than expensive exotica.
The concours is open to cars of a particular vintage - this year only vehicles from 1969 to 1999 were eligible. However, my Dad’s 2002 Citroen Xsara is getting close to being eligible (the dates shift forward each year) and we’re hoping to enter it in a few years time. For this year we contented ourselves with taking it along to be part of the ‘classic and unexceptional’ parking area. There was a time when Xsaras were a common sight on British roads, but today they’re a rarity - so much so that it was the only one on display that day!
Another attraction of this year’s FOTU was a live recording of the Smith and Sniff podcast, with Jonny Smith and Richard Porter. We’re both enthusiastic listeners to the podcast, and I was lucky enough to catch the two of them for a photo, standing by the Vauxhall Eagle Quest limousine they’ve recently bought together.
Podcasting in progress…
We spent most of the day wandering among the cars, marvelling at wonderfully restored examples of mundane cars we knew in our youth and I simply snapped whatever caught my eye - as usual a fairly eclectic mix of subjects.
A trio of steering wheels…
Car noses and tails.
A sunny Hillman Avenger
Photos taken 27 July 2024
St John’s Chapel is one of those places I tend to visit when I’m performing there, rather than simply as a visitor. Since I last played here, almost exactly a year ago, the chapel’s organ has finally been restored and returned to pride of place in the upstairs gallery. This milestone has been in the planning for decades, so with a free day to go into Chichester I just had to go and take a look. Sadly the door to the stairs was locked so I couldn’t take a closer look at the organ, but it certainly looks at home from ground level.
The chapel’s magnificent triple decker pulpit, which allowed the preacher to be seen by everyone, whether they sat in the gallery or on the ground floor.
Such elegant, curved handrails…
Every part of St John’s has such beautiful play of light.
The ornate, gilt ceiling rose.
Each pew has a number, carefully painted onto the end. Click on any image to see it enlarged.
I couldn’t resist this small puddle of light on a pew end.
Photos taken 9 September 2024
Over the last couple of weeks I’ve tried my best to get back into the habit of some daily exercise - either a trip to the gym or a brisk walk around our village. One day last week I walked a circuit through Alsa Woods, over the M11 and back through the village of Ugley, taking a small camera and single prime lens with me. I had no photographic agenda, other than looking for scenes which caught my eye and I came back with this random selection of images.
My route across the motorway beckons…
Photos taken 2 September 2024
After a successful outing with the Rolleiflex around the gardens of Duxford in July I decided to take it for another spin a few days later, this time focusing on the classic cars on show at Barrington in Cambridgeshire.
With lots of evening sun the only logical path was to shoot with colour film, so I used up some of my stash of out of date Kodak Ektar - the perfect film stock for such colourful subjects in these conditions!
Nose to nose…
Even classic tractors are welcome at Barrington!
Photos taken 2 August 2024
It’s always a pleasure to look after our neighbours’ cats when they’re away on holiday and I can never resist the opportunity for a quick photo session with Sookie and Cwtch at the same time. Sookie is a very nervous soul, but she’s got used to me over the years and now has no shame in sprawling around, showing me her tummy! In contrast, Cwtch is more confident, but a little more aloof when it comes to time in front of the camera…
Photos taken 29 July 2024
Most classic car shows take place at weekends, but Classics on the Common in Harpenden is no average show. Firstly, it takes place on a Wednesday, but it’s also tremendously popular, attracting hundreds of cars. With so many potential subjects to aim my camera at I decided to give myself a mini project. I went armed with just a single prime lens (and 85mm equivalent focal length) and I focused on details and shooting through things to try and create a sense of depth.
Photos taken 24 July 2024
While we were in Sussex back in July we also spent a day at the Historic Dockyard in Portsmouth, catching up on some of the sights we missed during our visit last December. Our first port of call was HMS Victory, which we last visited in 2007.
Over the last year or so they’ve begun a major restoration project, making sure she survives another few centuries, as the years sitting in dry dock haven’t been kind to her structure. This made sweeping photos of the exterior of Victory impossible as she’s now cloaked in a huge tent for protection while they work. Instead I focused on seeking out interesting small scenes around the interior, making the most of the historical details and the subdued lighting.
Inside Nelson's private quarters.
Click on any image to see it enlarged.
The spot where Nelson died, marked by a laurel wreath carved into the ship and a single lantern.
One new addition since we last visited was the opportunity to head down into the bowels of the dry dock and see Victory from beneath, including her huge copper lined rudder,
Looking out across the dockyard to one of the modern aircraft carriers.
After lunch we explored one of the more recent naval ships - HMS M33 - the sole survivor of the Galipoli campaign during the first world war.
It was roastingly hot inside (and no doubt freezing cold in the winter) but we had a fascinating glimpse of life aboard ship.
A behind the scenes view of the on-board bathing facilities!
Atmospheric shadows
Inside the Captain’s quarters.
Photos taken 11 July 2024
A glimpse of St John's from one of the village's prettiest gardens.
Back in July a free afternoon coincided with the Open Gardens weekend in Duxford, so I took the opportunity to go exploring. It was a lovely chance to see some corners of the village which are rarely open to the public and a spot of slowish photography seemed in order. Instead of going digital I took my Uncle’s Rolleiflex camera, loaded with Kodak Gold 200 film. Composing with this camera is always a challenge as the scene in the viewfinder is a mirror image of real life - a great way to slow me down as I figure out what should be placed where in each frame!
One of Duxford's many secluded footpaths...
Somewhere for two to relax in the vicarage garden
One of my favourite churches - St. John's.
Photos taken 20 July 2024
After my morning spent in the Sir Duncan Rice Library in Aberdeen I continued my architectural photography with a couple of hours at the Art Gallery in the centre of the city. Built in 188 by Alexander Marshall Mackenzie this elegant building has been extended and developed several times over the last century. I was particularly keen to see how the latest addition, a glass rooflight added within the last decade, fitted in.
Having never visited the Art Gallery before I had nothing to compare this modern edition to, but I love its clean lines and the way it effortlessly brings light into the quadrangle.
At the other end of the gallery I found a very different space - an octagonal room, also lit from above, but this time by a small cupola and a ring of lights which looked like a UFO from above!
I became quite obsessed with this space, finding many different points of view on its beautiful lines!
Photos taken 26 April 2024
