We Paid The Ferryman

For a treat, I bought us tickets to see the legendary Bryan Ferry at an open air concert that took place at Burghley House, a stately home, near Stamford in Lincolnshire.

We have never been to an outdoor concert before, so wasn't sure what to expect. But we packed a picnic, got a couple of foldable garden chairs and a blanket and headed off. The weather has certainly changed for the worst, so we also took waterproofs and umbrellas, just in case we got caught in the middle of a downpour, because there would be nowhere to hide from it. This weekend also sees the annual 'Download' rock festival at Castle Donington, and we've seen photos on Facebook of the rain there, and the field looks like a swamp. In fact I saw one video, and a river appeared to be running past some tents.

We also had no idea of how many people would be turning up. Whether it would be a hundred, a thousand or ten thousand. We've watched concerts like Glastonbury on the TV, where the area just seemed to be awash with humanity. We parked up and made our way to the concert area. There must have been a couple of thousand people, sitting having their picnics, chatting or just waiting for Bryan to come on. There was a warm up act on when we arrived. A female singer and guitarist, but I've not been able to find out what her name is. I've certainly never seen her before, or recognised any of the songs she played.

We were quite some way away from the stage, and there was one of those big video screens to one side, but it was partially blocked by a large marquee, which the sound and lighting people were using. So I said to Gail, that I would take a walk to the front of the stage, to see what it was like. I made my way through slowly and made it to the stage area. I was getting some evil stares from people, who thought I was somehow gatecrashing into their own area. So I got some photos and went back to our pitch. I wondered what people would be like when Bryan came on.

When he did, I had another wander down to the stage area. There were some fencing around the front of the stage was, which were there to cordon off the stacks of speakers. The 'official' photographers were there, as well as the video people doing the live feed to the screen. I noticed that there was a gap in the fence, so snuck though and crouched alongside a tower of speakers, so the security man who was stood there didn't see me, and kept taking photos of the Roxy Music frontman. I stayed for a while before finding my way back to Gail, as it was getting dark, and I didn't want to have too much difficulty in finding her.

Last year I bought an Olympus 40-150mm f2.8 lens. It was very expensive, but I haven't really used it very much. In fact I don't think that I have used it at all this year. I took a couple of lenses with me, but these two photos were taken with this lens. I was considering selling it, but I might keep it now. The rain also kept off, so we both had a wonderful time. We left a song before Bryan had finished, as I thought it would be very difficult getting out, and may take a long time, with so many cars parked. So we drove away to the sounds of Do the Strand.

Birthday Boy

Gail and I went to a special 65th birthday party of a good friend of ours and fellow blogger. From the amusing cake decoration above and special knitted doll below; I wonder if you can guess who it is? Some regular bloggers and friends of ours may be able to deduce who it is from the clues in the two pictures.

Did you work it out? No? Well it's iMac, who writes a blog called 'Photos from the Minds Eye'. Here's the WEB-LINK to it.

We've known Stewart and his lovely wife Julie for about six years now. If fact we first met them at his 60th birthday celebration. In fact, I think he wore that very loud waistcoat then as well!

The party took place at the social club at Great Gonerby in Lincolnshire.

It was a good evening, and instead of wanting presents, he asked for donations to the Alzheimer's Association, as it's a cause that is close to his heart. At the end of the party it was announced that the grand sum had got to £750, which pleased Stewart a lot, as he was hoping to get £500.

Besides a very nice buffet, there was some entertainment in the form of a former member of the Searchers, Steve Carlisle, who sang and played through all sorts of classic pop tunes and a new band called Seabirds, who are made up from former members of the Red Shoe Diaries and one of the members just happens to be Stewart's son Rob.

Here's the Birthday boy with sweet Julie posing for my camera, while below he thanks his wife for putting up with him for the past few years.

A Flash Of Red

Nothing new to show you today, as not really very much happened. I managed not to get wet cycling to and from work. But the rain is certainly making up for it now. As it is pelting down now. The noise on the roof is almost deafening.

So here is a shot from Woodhall Spa. it is of a Porsche from the 1960s. Whilst we were looking around the grounds of the Petwood Hotel, we saw all these Porsche's lined up in the car park. Apparently they had been a road race of some kind, and they were using the car park as the finishing line.

I was lucky to snap this car when I did, as moments later, another, more modern porsche pulled up alongside and it would have ruined my shot.

Snapped!

This week marks Gail's first ever choice for the Headbanger Challenge, and she's gone for the really girly theme of 'BLING'.

So I've gone for the equally girly thing of shoes and handbags. Something that Gail has a lot of, and in about equal measures. Still she complains about my large book and video collection. So all's fair in love and storage space.

I got this photo whilst walking around the beauty show at the NEC in April. I was looking for interesting and unusual shots. Quirky ones that may come in handy for future headbanger challenges. Which this clearly has.

That is certainly a traffic stopping shoe. More crystals per square centimetre than the Swarovski factory. Any woman wearing them would be bound to get a lot of attention. Matched by the bag. A paparazzi's delight.

Do pop over to the rest of the teams' pages, including my DW's and enjoy this bit of music. Be warned, you may need sunglasses!

I've noticed that Stewart has posted a few photos of Gail and I whilst we were holidaying together in Woodhall Spa over the last couple of days. So today for a change, I thought I would get my own back and show you a shot of him.

When we returned to the town after visiting Tattershall Castle and seeing the Spitfire, we were astounded to see giant kangaroos leaping about in the middle of the road. Not real ones of course, but guys dressed in costumes and on stilts. As I was driving, I couldn't take any photos, but Stewart was snapping away. There was also a jazz band dressed as chefs and two comic policemen, also on stilts. They were also being very silly in the road and accosting pedestrians. Of which Stewart was one.

All Fire, No Spit!

For our last day in Woodhall Spa, we decided to visit Tattershall Castle, a National Trust property, about six miles from the small town.

The castle is quite amazing to look at and was restored during the early part of the 20th century. It originally dates from the 15th century.

It has six floors, and you get to see some great views of the Lincolnshire countryside from the battlements.

But what made it extra special today was that a Spitfire flew over the castle whilst we were there. The RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight is stationed at an airfield very close to the castle, and they all took off this afternoon to fly for an event in Lowestoft.

Besides the Spitfire, the Memorial Flight includes, a Lancaster bomber, a Hurricane and a Dakota. Unfortunately neither the Lancaster or Hurricane came out well, and it was an extra surprise to see the Dakota about fifteen minutes later.

Dambuster's March

In the centre of Woodhall Spa is a fitting monument to the airmen of the 617 squadron, who flew in Lancaster bombers over Germany to destroy the dams there.

They used a very unusual sort of bomb, in that it bounced on the water before hitting it's target. It didn't look like a bomb either; more of a giant beer barrel.

The monument is distinctive, with the names of all the RAF personnel involved in Operation Chastise, but didn't live to see its success, together with the emblem of the RAF and list of targets.

The most famous of all the airmen involved is that of Guy Gibson. He was played by Richard Todd in the 1955 film called The Dambusters.

During the war there were quite a number of airfields in Lincolnshire. Many have disappeared, but some remain, or have been turned into tourist attractions.

We're Off, We're Off, We're Off In A Motor Car

Gail and I are off on our jollies today. We're going to spend a long weekend in Woodhall Spa, a small town in deepest Lincolnshire.

We are going to be spending it with Stewart (iMac) and his DW Julie. It's Stewart's birthday tomorrow and it will be nice to share it with them both.

The journey down went OK. There is a new road that the Sat Nav didn't know about. So it was strange to see the little cartoon car driving on 'grass', with the road next to it.

Woodhall Spa is an old fashioned town, that hasn't seemed to have changed that much through the years. It has lots of small independent shops; your classic butcher, baker. Alas, no candlestick maker, but there is an amazing wedding and birthday cake creator there, called Dawn.

Her small shop called Sophisticake, had lots of unusual and clever designs on show, including this one of two rag dolls. They do not look like they are made from cake and icing at all. She and her assistant make everything themselves.

We watched her make a rose out of some small pieces of icing, which she moulded into petals. They were a deep red colour, which I believe is the same shade as someone's wedding dress.

Dawn of course has a website, where you can view some of her impressive and wonderful creations, and order one for your special occasion. Prince Charles did, when he married Camilla, a couple of years ago!