Watt On Earth

This has been rusting away on the side of a bridge for years.

I  have no idea  how long it has been attached to the wall, but these days it seems to have a new use as an ash tray.

Bridge Over Troubled Water

I came across a part of Highfields that I don't think that I've seen before for some reason. I noticed that there were some stumps of some saplings had been cut down, so perhaps the area had been hidden by trees.

I do know that the park has received some funding for improvements, so it will be interesting to see what ideas that they have come up with.

Health Service

Early this morning I had to go to the QMC hospital. No, fortunately there wass nothing wrong with me, I just had to take someone in who was scheduled to have a small operation. Thankfully nothing too serious, but it will mean that they will need to have around a month off work for their recovery time.

While they were in theatre, I took some photos of the views that I could see out of the ward windows. At the front of the photo you can see the new tram bridge, which I saw being put into place during September 2013. Then there is the main A52 road that takes vehicles towards Newark and Grantham.

There used to be a number of nurses' quarters where all those cars are parked. But they were knocked down a couple of years ago, to expand the existing car park, as the old multi-storey car park had to be knocked down due to crumbling concrete.

The hospital is meant to be building a new multi-storey car park that's going to have a helipad on the top. They just have to find all the money to build it.

There's been a lot written about the poor state of the NHS; the cuts in service, shortage of beds and overworked medical staff. But I have to say, the nurses and doctors that were involved this morning did a wonderful job, and the operation went well.

Review Of The Year - September & October

The night of September the 28th was quite monumental for Nottingham, as the new tram bridge was installed near the QMC hospital. The new tramline is quite controversial for several reasons, but people have admired the feat of engineering.

There was quite an audience standing around until the early hours whilst the bridge was finally put into place, millimetre by millimetre. And boy was it cold at 2am!

We were asked by a friend of ours if we would take some photos of her son Josh, as he has a desire to become a model. So we met up one Sunday in October and spent the afternoon getting him to pose in different positions, so future model scouts can see his potential.

Wishing I Had A Photograph

Does anyone remember a band from the early 1980s called a Flock of Seagulls? They were just about a one hit wonder with the song "Wishing I had a Photograph (of you)"

I bet you're wondering what they are doing now. Well here's a shot of them enjoying some sun by the canal.

Skyline

Here's a shot from the roof of the multi-storey car park near the railway station, which shows the new tram bridge over Queens Road.

In the background you can see the Newton Building belonging to Nottingham Trent University, the spire of the former church in the Lace Market which is now the Pitcher & Piano wine bar and of course the dome which is part of the Council House.

From Pillar To Post

Whilst we were shooting Josh, there was some activity going on in the nearby street, in that a big crane was lifting giant concrete posts onto the new bridge which goes over the road and is part of the new tram route into the city centre.

Bridging The Gap

For the last few months engineers have been building a giant steel bridge at the side of the Queens Medical Centre hospital. It has been designed to go over the very busy A52 and will carry the new tramline from the city centre to Beeston, which as I've been showing you lately, is a bit of a bombsite at the moment.

As Gail works at the hospital, she was told when the bridge was going to be moved. Of course the press got to know too, so there has been a bit of a buzz around the event which happened last night between 8pam and 6am this morning.

We both wanted to see the event, but sadly, it clashed with a long standing dinner invitation, and we couldn't let Rupert and Kay down, especially as they are the Disco Prophets.

So we stopped off enroute to see what was happening. A small audience had started to gather, but the A52 was still open. So we left and went off to Sherwood, where the Disco Prophets live.

We Returned to Dunkirk and the QMC and were shocked and disappointed that the bridge had been moved into place, but hadn't been lowered into position yet. All the engineers were looking at the position of the bridge in relation to its final resting place. Minute adjustments kept taking place.

The bridge had been transported on two giant remotely controlled platforms, each one having 96 wheels. Which you clearly need with the structure weighing in at a mighty 1000 tonnes.

The bridge had been raised on some sort of elevator contraption, which blocks of metal were slotted in as the lifting device (one at each corner) pushed the bridge up the 19 metres to meet the supports.

It was strange not seeing any cars going over the Dunkirk flyover. Instead people were walking, cycling and playing on the busy dual carriageway. Gail and I had a walk up to the top ourselves. Certainly got a different perspective of the surrounding area.

We stayed out till gone 3am. The bridge had finally been lowered into position. And the construction crew posed for a team photograph.

The giant loaders were then driven away very slowly. They looked like one of the vehicles that appeared in Thunderbirds. It seemed odd seeing them being driven like a radio controlled car, rather than a man sitting in a cab. I suppose it is done for safety. Just in case the load topples over or something.

I'm not an advocate of the tram for various reasons, but I have to admire the technical skills in building and placing the bridge. They just have to paint it now. Just to make it a little more pleasing to look at. Rather than the dull grey that it is at the moment.

TV Does A&E

My local hospital, and the one where Gail works has been the subject of a television programme for Sky News.

For the last 24 hours, a couple of reporters have been doing live broadcasts from the QMC Hospital's Accident & Emergency department. Following the patients as they arrive after receiving all sorts of different injuries. Besides all the usual cuts and bruises, one woman was kicked in the face by a horse. I've always thought horses were evil creatures and then a man appeared from a wedding party who had cut his hand somehow while cutting the wedding cake. Could he not tell the difference?

We had to go into Nottingham today, so on our travels back, we stopped off at the hospital to see if we could see any of the filming going on. Alas not, but I did capture the mobile studio, which was parked near the entrance.

Construction work is continuing on the new tram line which includes a bridge through the hospital. Unfortunately it means the destruction of another bridge which links the main hospital block with the newer Treatment Centre.

I've never really studied this bridge before, as it's something that you think is going to be there forever, so as it's probably only got a few days of life left, I thought that I would do some close up shots. I think the outside has quite a sci fi look to it; like it is one of those airlock tubes that connect spaceships with space stations

Blurred

A slow shutter speed can blur moving objects into ghostly figures, like these two people walking across the bridge which spans the canal along Castle Boulevard.

Art For Art's Sake

Another shot from last night. This time some graffiti or street art sprayed onto the footings of the bridge which spans the canal, reflected in the water below.

Bridge Of Size

Yep, here's another fisheye photo. Have you had enough yet?

I took this whilst cycling home from work, as I was drawn to the late afternoon sun shining and reflecting off a building. So I thought I would stop and take a photo or two. Especially as the path makes for a good leading line to the bridge.

You may notice a little dusting of snow near the grass and trees.  Yes we did have another little session. I wonder if it will ever come to an end and we get some decent warm and dry weather.

Bridging The Gap

The construction works for the new tram lines is moving along slowly. Unfortunately this has meant the chopping down of even more mature trees. And they say that it's an environmentally friendly form of transport!

One big development has been the installation of a new bridge over Queens Road. It also runs over the railway station, and will eventually join up with the existing terminus.

I can't say that it looks particularly attractive, and I'm not sure that it is in keeping with the area. It will certainly stick out against the Edwardian majestic splendour of the station, with it's ornate brickwork and art nouveau motifs.

But things are designed these days to be as cheap and as easily built as possible, with hardly any thought into the aesthetics, or how it will look in relation to the other buildings around it.

The Bridge To Nowhere

It's the First of the month and it's theme day, the topic being bridges.

This photo shows all that is left of the viaduct that carried trains along the London, Midland, Scottish line. which closed during the Beeching cuts of the 1960's. The rest has been knocked down over years, as new structures appear across the city. This is likely to be demolished in the next year or so. I have also shown you other parts of this area, which is known as Narrow Marsh a few weeks ago.

Here are the links to the other sites that are participating:
Boston (MA), USA - San Diego (CA), USA - Stayton (OR), USA - New York City (NY), USA - Portland (OR), USA - Montego Bay, Jamaica - Inverness (IL), USA - Singapore, Singapore - Stockholm, Sweden - Setúbal, Portugal - Brussels, Belgium - Phoenix (AZ), USA - Seattle (WA), USA - Hyde, UK - Manila, Philippines - Fort Lauderdale (FL), USA - London, England - Austin (TX), USA - Toulouse, France - Weston (FL), USA - Sesimbra, Portugal - Selma (AL), USA - Silver Spring (MD), USA - Saarbrücken, Germany - Cleveland (OH), USA - Crystal Lake (IL), USA - American Fork (UT), USA - Seoul, South Korea - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Norwich (Norfolk), UK - North Bay (ON), Canada - Arradon, France - Paderborn, Germany - Durban, South Africa - Philadelphia (PA), USA - Cypress (TX), USA - Cottage Grove (MN), USA - Prague, Czech Republic - Portland (OR), USA - Greenville (SC), USA - Boston (MA), USA - Port Angeles (WA), USA - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Wichita (Ks), USA - Saint Paul (MN), USA - Petaling Jaya (Selangor), Malaysia - Grenoble, France - New York City (NY), USA - Nottingham, UK - Hobart (Tasmania), Australia - Arlington (VA), USA - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Miami (FL), USA - Cheltenham, UK - Albuquerque (NM), USA - Saratoga Spgs. (NY), USA - Las Vegas (NV), USA - Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina - Nashville (TN), USA - Toruń, Poland - New Orleans (LA), USA - Port Elizabeth, South Africa - Melbourne, Australia - Moscow, Russia - Trujillo, Peru - Château-Gontier, France - Quincy (MA), USA - Melbourne, Australia - Port Vila, Vanuatu - Joplin (MO), USA - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Brookville (OH), USA - Chateaubriant, France - Chandler (AZ), USA - Stavanger, Norway - Baziège, France - Auckland, New Zealand - Wellington, New Zealand - Ocean Township (NJ), USA - Subang Jaya (Selangor), Malaysia - Detroit (MI), USA - Riga, Latvia - Nelson, New Zealand - Budapest, Hungary - Cape Town, South Africa - Sydney, Australia - Dunedin (FL), USA - Sofia, Bulgaria - Radonvilliers, France - Turin, Italy - Montpellier, France - Kansas City (MO), USA - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Haninge, Sweden - Wailea (HI), USA - Lubbock (TX), USA - Rabaul, Papua New Guinea - Terrell (TX), USA - Mexico City, Mexico - Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation - Budapest, Hungary - Montréal (QC), Canada - Sharon (CT), USA - Le Guilvinec, France - Jefferson City (MO), USA - Saigon, Vietnam - London, UK - Crepy-en-Valois, France - Orlando (FL), USA - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - Paris, France - Mainz, Germany - Newcastle (NSW), Australia - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - Darmstadt, Germany - Naples (FL), USA - Torino, Italy - Saint Louis (MO), USA - Bogor, Indonesia - The Hague, Netherlands - Minneapolis (MN), USA

A Bridge Too Far

At the moment, the bridge on Carrington Street outside the railway station is being reinforced with lots of steel and concrete. The work is causing a fair amount of congestion for the traffic going over it. I took this photo while they were pumping concrete over the steel gridwork.