Charlie Claws

Who can resist this cute little crab, smiling out from a window display of a children's clothes shop.

Their theme at the moment is 'the sea'. So there's a pirate ship there, some fishing nets, even a seahorse.

But I was drawn to little Charlie, with his happy face and smiling face.

Colours Of The Night

For a couple of years or so, Gail and I have been friends with a Welsh photographer called Robert.

Just on Facebook. We've never met or even spoken on the phone. We just comment on each others photos.

I sent Robert a message to say that I was coming to Cardiff, and wondered if he'd like to meet up sometime during the week. So this evening he popped into my hotel to say hello. We had a good chat about photography over dinner.

I said that I was planning to see the bay area of the city and to visit the Doctor Who exhibition that was situated there. Robert suggested he could take me tonight.

So after a short drive, we were down by the waterside. Boy was it cold.

Robert gave me a quick guided tour of the area. The various buildings and statues that are on offer in-between a short walk.

Bird Fever

Some nifty and artistic graffiti on the side of Hopkinson's, near the railway station.

I'm not exactly sure what the artist is saying. Possibly environmental, suggesting people are poisoning the seas, and mutant seagulls are waiting to eat what's floating in the water.

Glowing In The Dark

Felixstowe at night. And a great selection of things to see. The sea, a pier, beach huts, cranes from the docks, all lit up for the world to see.

Pushing The Boat Out

Day two in Suffolk and another trip down to the beach at Felixstowe.

Whilst walking along the beach taking some photographs this big ship appeared on the horizon.

Looking up the name on the Interweb, the Shoreway is a hopper dredger and was built in 2009.

It seemed to be travelling at some speed, as it headed towards the dock area at Felixstowe, so I had to quickly change the lens I was using, so I could get the whole ship in, as I couldn't really move back any further than I was able.

Review Of The Year - March & April

Most of March seemed to be a really snowy. Marmalade certainly knew the best place in the house to keep warm. It wasn't a very good one for me either, as I had to start a new job, after nearly 12 years in the old one

The bad weather had gone by April and Gail & I took a trip up to Whitby in Yorkshire to see the Steampunk and Goth festival that takes place there twice a year. There were certainly some interesting costumes, and Whitby is a very nice, old fashioned seaside town, with quite a picturesque harbour.

View Out To Sea

Things have been a little quiet on the photography front for the past couple of days, so here's a misty shot of the bay at Portmeirion in North Wales, which I took back in February when Gail & I went there for my 50th birthday.

To The Lighthouse

Well it's been a bit of a strange day today.

It was back to work today, after the bank holiday. Also it was the first day of the builder starting work in the house. We are having two rooms knocked into one, and today was the day that the wall was to come down.

It was not as dramatic as the one in Berlin, but it still meant that I had to have a half days leave, as the builder had found something in the ceiling that needed my attention. Fortunately it was nothing serious, and the rest of the bricks could come down. So I spent the rest of the afternoon collecting the bricks ready for a possible job in the future, or donation to my next door neighbour.

We then went to the local DIY superstore, to look at new lighting, as obviously they are presently different, being formally two rooms, and we were looking for something discrete, as the new room will be doubling up as a photographic studio, and we don't want big chandeliers getting in the way of the studio lights and backdrops.

So what does all this mean? Well quite simply, I didn't get the opportunity of taking any photos today, even though it has been lovely and sunny again. So it's been a quick trawl through the archive, and I pulled this picture out of the promenade at Whitby.

Sutcliffesque

Frank Meadow Sutcliffe was a Whitby based photographer, who in the late 19th and early 20th century recorded many images of fisherfolk, street scenes, buildings and ships in his adopted town.

The images he took are quite striking and make for excellent historical records of how the people lived and worked there over a hundred years ago.

Sadly we didn't get to see any of his original images at a local art gallery, but in recognition of his art, I have tried to emulate his style by using Lightroom on one of my photos that I took in Scarborough yesterday.

Seaside Ride

Whilst staying at Portmeirion, we took a little trip to Porthmadog, and ended up at the little seaside town of Criccieth.

We saw a castle on a hill, but drove round trying to find out how to get to it. We couldn't work it out, so parked opposite the lifeboat station and had a stroll on the very stoney beach, and took some photos from there.

While wandering about I came across this very rusty and decomposing child's bike. A great subject for a photograph I said to Gail. Something that Derek Jarman collected at Dungeness. So I took several, at various different angles. But I like this one the best.

Also on the beach were three girls. Probably friends, rather than sisters. They all wished me a 'Happy Birthday' as I was wearing a very large "I am 50" badge, which Gail gave me at breakfast. They were very cold, as they didn't seem to be dressed very well for the cold & windy weather.

We chatted to them for a while, and Gail took some photos of them jumping off some old rowing boats. We then watched them stroll off onto the pier for some very strong sea breezes.

Seeing The Sea

Well we did something that Patrick McGoohan's character didn't manage to do, and that was to leave the Village.

We were sad to leave Portmeirion, as it is a magical place, and the sun was shining again too. We wondered which bit of North Wales to visit. I suggested seeing the waterfalls at Betws-y-coed. So we checked out and popped the details in the sat-nav.

Unfortunately when we got there, we found that the gates to the attraction were closed. Possibly because it was early closing or they weren't open for the tourist season yet.  So we did what most people do, we went to the local pub for lunch and a drink.

Gail set the sat-nav with our home address and we set off. I was expecting to drive down the A5, instead it decided to send us up the A470 towards Llandudno. We then found ourselves on the A55; a major road that follows the coast. Gail was looking out the window and surprised to see how close we were to the coastline. She wondered if we could stop off somewhere.

I noticed a turning coming up ahead for a place called Llanddulas, so I turned off and headed for the seafront. It was a little disappointing, as there wasn't that much there. Only a stoney car park and a pebbled beach. Not even an ice cream van.

Here's a couple of shots from our short stay there. Whilst I was taking some photos, Gail got talking to a husband and wife who were there birdwatching. They had set up a spotting scope, and the husband had a camera with a big lens, with which he was trying to photograph the various species that were there.

They said that they came from Northampton and were on the lookout for a couple of particular birds. I said that we lived close to the Attenborough Nature Reserve, and that hundreds of 'twitchers' sometime go there if there is an unusual visitor. They said that they've been a few times. So we left them to look for some lesser spotted thingy, and went on our way.

A Home From Home

When we woke up, we noticed the sun shining through the curtains. Gail got out of bed and pulled back the drapes; and we saw the sea.

It was magical. Sunshine and the sea. What more could anyone want when they are on holiday?

As it was my birthday, Gail had bought some cards and a couple of presents with her for me to open. Which I did. In Gail's card was a big badge with '50' on it. Which I then pinned to my coat.

After breakfast we went for another walk around the village.  It had only just opened to the public, so there weren't that many people around.  I was wished a "happy birthday" from the people who saw my badge.

This shot shows the village hotel. It partly burnt down many years ago, but has been restored. The open air heated swimming pool was used in the original Brideshead Revisited, when the village stood in for Italy.