Blowing In The Wind

Due to me not taking any pictures today, I've been looking through my archives for a photo that I can pop on for today.  I came across this one, which I took last month in St Ives, Cornwall.

I actually took it whilst we were up at the little chapel on the hill for the renewal of our good friends Stewart and Julie's wedding vows. I've no idea who she was. She wasn't a guest, she was just sitting on the wall looking out to sea, or watching what we were doing. So of course I just had to take a candid shot or two.

This one came out the best, with her hair blowing madly in the breeze off the sea. I was going to say hello to her, but I was required for the group photos, and so by the time we had done, she had sadly gone.

Laid Out Like Lamb And Lettuce

Our little Oscar can always find somewhere to take it easy. And with this warm weather that we are currently getting, he obviously prefers to be outside.

So does Gail. And when I came home from work the other day, I found them both relaxing on the patio. Gail was sitting, eating an ice cream, while Oscar was stretched out on a large plastic box, where we store some of the garden tools.

He looked so comfortable and contented. So much so, that he didn't mind having his photo taken, yet again!

A Bird's Eye View

I'm sorry that I haven't blogged in nearly a week. It's just that I have been busy editing a load of photos that I've taken recently for a couple of people, who asked me to do some photography for them.

But normal service is being resumed.

So today I took my daily commute through Highfields as usual, when I noticed a bird standing on a bench and looking out towards the lake.

Now there's an interesting shot I thought. So I got off my bike, and gently crept towards the seat, so not as to frighten the bird, which I think is a young Canada goose.

I took a few shots, as I thought he might fly away at any time. But no, he just stood there, watching the other birds on the lake. So I inched a bit closer, then a bit closer still, until I was crouched down at the side of the bench, and took a few more shots.

I had my Pentacom vintage lens on my Olympus camera, so some of them didn't come out too well, but I like this one, as you can see him studying the action on the lake.

And before anyone quizzes me, no the bird didn't have one leg. He was just doing a Long John Silver impression. He had raised his other leg. Maybe resting it.

Midnight Mooring

Weymouth at night.

Quiet, still and calm. Even the water is static. Hardly any ripples, so you can see an almost perfect reflection of the boats, buildings and streetlights.

If only water was like that all the time.

A Prickly Customer

Following on from yesterday's rose photo, here's another plant that has thorns; the thistle.

This one isn't in Scotland, but growing in Highfields Park, and it has just about done with its flowing for the year.

I took this with another vintage lens that I have, and it's produced some quite nice bokeh.

A Rose Between Three Others

A rather nice group of roses. One in bloom and three other that are still in the budding stage.

Everyone loves roses, except for those devilish thorns that are always there, and with inevitably I prick my finger on.

Well Stacked

Another thing that was good about going to Kegworth, was that I managed to get a closer, and different view of the local Radcliffe on Soar power station and it's various towers.

It must have been a quiet time when I took the photo, as there's no clouds of steam being emmitted.

Landing Gear Down

Kegworth is an unassuming village on the Notts/Leicestershire border, but it became famous in a sad way when a plane crashed on the M1, near there in January 1989.

The Boeing 737 belonging to British Midland had to make an emergency landing, and aimed for the East Midlands Airport close by. Unfortunately Flight 92 never made it and so it landed by the motorway, with the loss of 47 lives, and only a short distance from one of the airport's runways.

We had stopped off in the village, as we were on a Sunday afternoon drive out into the country, and I managed to get this Jet 2 airliner from a hotel car park, as it was approaching the airport.

The British Midland airline is no longer around, as it disappeared a few years ago. It did become BMI Baby, and did some really good cheap flights. Gail & I went on one to Switzerland a few years ago.

Seaside Special

The Nottingham beach has returned to the Old Market Square for the summer, and today was the opening ceremony.

I was quite fortunate to be around to see it, as I had been busy at work, and wasn't sure at what time I would get my lunch break, let alone at what time it was the opening was to take place. A good case of Serendipity.

My main aim today was to test out a vintage Pentacom 30mm f3.5 lens that I'd bought yesterday from a charity shop for a few pounds, so was looking for somewhere to try it out.  And what better than Nottingham's own seaside.

Here's the sheriff and lord mayor of Nottingham posing for a photo that will be appearing in tomorrow's Post newspaper.

It's All In The Angle

Another day of random shooting, but this one has been a little different, as I have been using a manual fish eye lens.

A little bit harder too, as there's no auto focus. So it really is random, as there's no guarantee that anything is even going to be in focus.

But this one isn't too bad, as everything is in more or less focus. Three people on the corner of Angel Row and Market Street. And see how the specially designed lens distorts the building and pylon, but the people remain normal sized and not distorted.

What's On His Mind Then?

I decided to have a session of random snapping today.  This is where I just walk down a street and just click away, and having no idea what I've got until I download them onto my computer.

This is one from today, taken along a street called Cheapside, from only a couple that were useable. Even though the sky is totally burnt out.

But it's what the guy is looking at that intrigues me. Is he looking at his gorgeous girlfriend. Or is he thinking, "Mmm, pizza. I wouldn't mind some of that"?

Shooting The Shooter

Another view of the wicker Robin Hood, to the one that I published on July 12th, which is situated in the gardens at the castle.

I've also used a square format and one of the art filters that my Olympus camera comes with.

Tide's In

The beach in the Old Market Square makes a welcome return this week.

Workmen are busy putting together the last bits and pieces before the big opening later in the week.

Of course the first thing that was completed is the bar area, so that the operators can start earning some money from the public.

Apparently this year's attraction is sponsored by the take away delivery company Deliveroo, so I guess we'll be seeing lots of their logos around.

It's always a good attraction for the kids, as it gives them something to do whilst they are on their summer break from school.  The beach itself is always a big draw, as the youngsters can make sandcastles to their hears content, whilst its free for their parents. This is especially good, as Skegness is the nearest real beach, and that's some 70 miles away.

A Strange Coincidence?

I'm not really a believer in coincidence, but I came across something strange yesterday.

Whilst at Farnstock, I came across a folk singer, with a touch of punk called Paul Carbuncle. I've not heard of him before, but wouldn't mind again, as his songs were quite amusing. Especially the one about squirrels.

Anyway, when I got home, I logged on, and popped my SD card in, ready to start downloading the photos that I had just taken. While my Mac wad doing this, I caught up with Twitter and Facebook. On Twitter I came across a Tweet from someone that I follow, and guess what; they had mentioned Paul Carbuncle, as some of his songs were being played on a local folk radio station.

Then on Facebook, there was a comment from someone called Helene on the secret Beestonian magazine group page that I am a member of, as that's the local magazine that I write for. She mentioned that she has just met Matt, the chief writer and was keen to write for the magazine herself. She had written a bit about herself and had put in a link to her blog. So naturally I went to have a look, and yes, the first entry that appeared was about Paul, as Helene had seen him perform at recent Oxjam event, and had enjoyed his performance.

Now that is quite odd, don't you think? Three incidences concerning a perfect stranger. As Harry Hill used to say; "What are the chances of that happening?".

The Sky's The Limit

I spent several hours today in Farnsfield, taking photos at their Farnstock event at a local school. The eleventh one, held in the Nottinghamshire village.

It was well attended, and there was plenty to see and do. Pottery making, silent disco, eating, or just listening to musicians that were playing all afternoon.

It was the first time that I had been to the event, but I was asked to take the official photographs by one of the organisers, as he likes my style of photography.

I've yet to start going through and editing them. A bit of a daunting job, when I've taken over 700. It's going to take me a while to whittle them down to send the best ones off.

The weather has been a bit mixed all day. Cloudy. A little bit of rain and then some sunshine. When I was driving home through some of Nottingham's countryside, the sun had come fully out and was dazzling with its brightness, after being so dull for most of the day. 

Passing some fields, I noticed how light they were compared to the cloudy sky. So I just had to stop and take some photos. Luckily there was a pull in nearby, so I was able to get out of my car and take a couple of shots. I was quite lucky, in that the moon was in the right place to be included in the picture too.

A Fond Farewell

Social media has all kinds of uses for me. From keeping in touch with friends, to finding out what's going on in the area. Sometimes you come across something that can be upsetting, for whatever reason. And that's exactly what happened to me a couple of days ago.

I was reading some Tweets on Twitter, when I came across a message about a Douglas McDonald and that it was his funeral on Friday. Now strangely enough I know a Douglas McDonald, a photographer, so I sent the author a message, asking them about this man that shares the same name as this friend of mine.

I got a reply, and they mentioned a link to where there was a photo of him. So I went to have a look. And yes, sadly it was 'my' Douglas. I was also saddened, as I realised that I couldn't go to his funeral, as a couple of people in my team at work were on holiday. So that would just leave me to keep everything moving.

I met Douglas several years ago through photography. He often went to book signings and theatre shows, to take photos of the authors, celebrities and stars that visited Nottingham. And I would be there too. Unlike me, he got paid for his photography, as he worked for the local newspapers, and did some freelancing. But it was good to see him and his Nikon every so often. I sometimes used to call him Donald, rather than Douglas. But I guess he would be used to that, and didn't seem to mind.

I also used to see him sat at a table in Beeston Library most Saturday's, diary open, colour coding events that he had put in. More book signings, events and shows. We would spend a good hour or so chatting about celebrities that we had photographed, or were coming to town soon. We both enjoyed the music of Kate Rusby, and would see each other at her Christmas shows that she put on at the Playhouse. He would also show me the photos that he managed to get printed in the Nottingham Post, on their readers page. Photos of flowers, animals etc. Things that he'd noticed on his travels. Just like me with this blog. He had a chuckle sometimes, as they would use one of his photos, that wasn't even taken locally, but he had sent it in anyway. He also used to write quizzes for the local WEA (Workers' Education Association) branch that he belonged to. And the odd reference book would be on the table as well.

Despite using a digital camera, he didn't seem that confident with technology. Especially mobile phones. He was interested in Twitter, but didn't know how to get it installed on his phone. So I told him how to do it. He finally managed it, but didn't Tweet very often. Unlike me, who Tweets 50 times a day. He often asked who I was following, and wondered who the person with the most followers was. I suggested it was Lady Gaga or Madonna.

So this morning many of his friends and family said a fond farewell to him at Bramcote Crematorium. But I couldn't be there. Going to the library in Beeston won't be the same now, as I'll never see Douglas sitting there again going through his diary, or reading a book or the local paper.

Flower Power

I quite like this delicate little plant with its very pale purple flowers, that I came across in the grounds of the castle.

I think it is a member of the geranium family. But I'm no Percy Thrower, so not entirely sure that I am right.

Wishful Thinking

Gail and I went on a bit of a ten day road trip around Devon and Cornwall a few weeks ago, but I haven't got around to editing many of my photos yet, due to other commitments. So I have two weeks missing from the blog. But hope to start filling in the missing days from tomorrow.

So I thought I would make a bit of a start tonight, with a street scene from St Ives in Cornwall. With it's quaint little streets, and of course the harbour and beaches, meant that I took an awful lot of photos. Gail did too.

One of the highlights was to see our dear friends Stewart & Julie renew their wedding vows after ten years of marriage. Stewart is a photographer and blogger like me, while Julie's main passion is textiles.

A few months we received our invitation to join them in St Ives for their celebration, and as both gail and I have never visited the west country, we jumped at the chance.
It was a lovely sunny day, and everything seemed to go perfectly, right down to the pub meal afterwards.

Wish we were back there, as it's a fabulous place.

Field Study

Here's the wicker version of Robin Hood, which stands in the grounds of Nottingham Castle.

Arrested By The Rain

A friend at work told me today, that there would be some live archeology work going on at the castle today.

So being a fan of Time Team, I decided to pop up and take a look. Sadly there wasn't any activity at the dig. Possibly because it was lunchtime. Anyway there was no sign of life, so I took a walk up to the castle itself to see some more of the artworks on display.

There are two main exhibitions on at the moment, one of digital works by Gordon Cheung, and well drawn etching by famed painter Evelyn Gibbs.

I then went outside and noticed how dark and misty it was getting. There's a storm brewing. How right I was, as the heavens opened, and so I dived inside the castle again, as I didn't have a coat with me, as it was very warm.

Not missing a photo opportunity, I snapped this couple who were doing the same thing. They make nice silhouettes I think. The rain then stopped a bit, so I made my way down to the entrance, but had to stop there, as the clouds hadn't quite finished emptying their contents.

Feeling Fruity

At the Beeston Carnival yesterday there was something called the Human Fruit Machine.

Three ladies dressed as clowns picked up a piece of fruit, and if they picked up the same type, then you won a small prize.

It was all to help raise funds for the Canalside Heritage Trust, which is converting an derelict building by the canal into an exhibition, education and community centre.

It was quite amusing to see them pulling fruit out of the bowl, and then doing a little dance when they pulled three out the same.

Carnival Atmosphere

It was carnival time in Beeston today  I wasn't sure whether it was going to take place, as it had been raining since the early hours, and as a lot of it would be taking place at Broadgate Park, I wondered whether it would be cancelled, as the park might resemble Glastonbury.

But by lunchtime, the rain had stopped, but sadly no sun, and the carnival went ahead. There were lots of stalls on the park, then at 1pm, the carnival procession started at one end of the town and slowly made its way along the High Road until it reached Broadgate Park, where everyone dispersed into their own individual groups and went their separate ways.

I of course spent most of the time snapping away at the action. I was also taking photos for various groups that I'm involved with, or know that were appearing at the carnival.
Here's a few shots that I took during the day. The top one is one of the cast from the Beeston Musical Theatre Group that are putting on 'The Wedding Singer' later in the year. Then we have 'Mrs Mango' the mascot of Trent Barton buses, a stuffed toy for sale and finally, Stan Heptinstall, who was our mayor last year, who looked happy, as he had just won a couple of prizes in a tombola.

Smile!

There was a health and fitness fair in the Old Market Square today.

Some interesting stalls. I actually chose a small tub of fruit over a cream cake from one of the healthy eating stalls, which I thought was remarkable of me, as I love cake.

Then I saw these three ladies dressed as the Tooth Fairy, a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste, as they were promoting looking after your teeth So I just had to take a photo of them for the blog. They must have been friends, as they seemed to be enjoying the experience of dressing up and becoming another character.

I am always hopeful that I come across 'characters' when I visit such events, as taking photos of stalls isn't usually very exciting.

A Monk In Time

My pal at work who I meet up with at lunchtimes for a bit of photography bought an Olympus EM-1 yesterday, as he hasn't really got on with the camera that he bought earlier in the year, and it has affected his enthusiasm for taking pictures.

So he made the momentous and expensive decision to go and buy the model of camera that I use. He's been impressed with the camera's features and the customer service that Olympus provide, so he wanted to join the club. He's also pleased that I can offer help and advice on settings etc, as I've had mine almost since it came out.

So this lunchtime we decided to visit the castle, so that he could take some photos and I could give him a bit of training on how to get the best out of the camera.  Whilst we were walking around the grounds, we came across this 'monk' who was telling some visitors a tale about the history of the castle and its involvement in religion.

A good subject to photograph, as the actor was quite expressive and didn't mind being photographed. So we both took some photos, me with my 45mm lens and my pal with his 12-40mm. He was pleased with the results and the camera appears to have sparked his interest in photography again, which is brilliant.

He's not entirely sure what he is going to do with his other camera yet. He may trade it in, so he can buy some more lenses, or simply keep it for now, or pass it to his son.

Painting The Sky With Clouds

A terrific blue sky and whispy clouds over the Trent Building at the University of Nottingham.

I'm In His Sights

Most times that I cycle home through Highfields, I see this swan all on their lonesome. There are other swans on the lake, but he never seems to want to play with them in the water. Preferring to be alone, or just sitting with the odd duck or moorhen.

I don't know why he prefers his own company, and recently I have started to feel sorry for him, as I know what it is like to be alone.  So I have been buying some bags of wild bird seed for his tea.

He seems to enjoy it, and soon gobbles up the pile that I pour out of the bag. I know not to feed him bread, as it isn't very good for them, so I have been popping to the pound shop, and buying the largest bag that I could find, which usually lasts for two or three visits.

I think he has got used to my visits now, as tonight he started to waddle up to me as I was getting off my bike. He also gets quite eager to sample the goodies that I bring, as sometimes he tries to peck at the open bag as I'm pouring the contents out.

I took this photo with a vintage lens. A Hanimex 35mm f2.8, which I bought from a charity shop at the weekend. As it was sunny today, I thought I would give it a go. I wanted to get a different angle, so tried one pointing upwards. I had to guess whether I had the shot fully in focus, as I couldn't use the viewfinder. Instead I had to make do with the EM-1's back screen.

Not a bad effort, if I say so myself. There's also some interesting shaped bokeh, which makes for something different.

It's A Great Life On The Buses

Well I've now found the time to start blogging again. After coming back from Cornwall and catching up with things at home, I can hopefully get going with the blog again, and even write about the days that Gail and I were away on our road trip around what Thomas Hardy called Wessex.

Today's story also deals with the past, in the form of a trolleybus that has been missing from the streets of Nottingham since 1 July 1966, when it was taken out of service, as this method of transport had been phased out.

To commemorate this fact, a number of vintage buses were on display in the Old Market Square today, as all this happened 50 years ago. An AEC Regent belonging to West Bridgford UDC, An Atlantean city bus from the 1970s and one from the South Notts Bus Company were all parked up for everyone to see.

But the trolleybus was getting the most interest, as a lot of people had never seen one in the flesh so to speak. Even me. Especially the one that took that final trip all those years ago.

It has been subject to a lot of restoration work, as it wasn't in very good condition when it was sold off. But now it looks brand new, even though they haven't really bothered that much with the driver's cab. It all looks so primitive, compared to today's state of the art buses and coaches.

Ding, ding. All aboard!

Driving On The Wild Side

Another day, another car.

As far as I know, this American Plymouth wasn't involved in Friday's prom convoy, but I'm sure that it would have fitted in very well and would have turned a few heads.

I spotted it parked up on a side street when I came back from shopping in Beeston yesterday. So I just had to stop and take a photo. A shame that the modern car was parked behind, as I might have been able to turn it into a period photo. Still it's nice to see these old cars still being on the road.

Are You Redy?

From the classic elegance of yesterday's white Rolls Royce, we now see a modern Ferrari sports car, in the traditional sporting red.

I'm not really into modern cars that much, but one thing that does interest me about this car, is why it doesn't have a number plate?

Rolling Along

I have never been to a school prom before. Certainly such things didn't exist when I left school nearly forty years ago. You just left and that was that. Most pupils were happy to see the back of school life, I know I was. It didn't help changing schools at 14, as I was always treated like an outsider, so I was only too pleased to hear that final bell sound the end of team and the beginning of my working life.

Nowadays it seems that it's a big deal when the days of formative education comes to an end. It's party time. And the former pupils really go to town on outfits, make up and getting there. It's almost the same as a grown up one, but without the alcohol.

An Italian fashion designer whom I know, asked me if I could go and take some photos of a dress that he had created for his girlfriend's niece. I said sure, why not. Something different to shoot.

The party was taking place at a local hotel, and fortunately it was sunny with some early evening sun. When we got there, I just couldn't believe how many classic and modern cars had been especially hired for the occasion. One after the other kept appearing and dropping off the sixteen year olds. Some of whom looked a lot older and very grown up. No one turned up in their dad's Ford Fiesta or Honda Accord, I can tell you.  And you can't really beat making an entrance in a vintage Rolls Royce, can you.

The dress looked amazing on the niece. You'll just have to take my word for it, as I can't show you what it looks like, or how glamorous the niece looked. She could have been mistaken for a model.

Lucky That I'm A Pisces

Will this rain ever stop, and we get some sunshine and a proper summer, like it's meant to be? I feel that I'm turning into a fish, every time that I get wet. Which has been quite often this week.

It's rained practically every day for a over a week or so now, and there seems to be no let up to it. We are going away next week, so I hope the weather improves for our road trip down south.

There was a particularly heavy downpour at about half seven tonight. A real monsoon. Thunder and lightning too. Here's a bit of a grab shot that I took from the porch, which shows the heavy raindrops and a grate that just can't cope with the sudden influx of water.

Apparently there have been several reports on Facebook of localised flooding across many parts of Beeston. Which is expected, considering the amount of rain that fell in the space of about thirty minutes. It's a good job that we live on a slight hill, otherwise we may have experienced it too.

Abba-dabba-doo

We've not been to the Concert Hall in a while, but for a treat, I booked a couple of tickets to see the opening night of Mamma Mia, which is showing for the next couple of weeks.

It was of course a full house, to see what is now one of the worlds best loved musicals. The storyline is quite a simple one, a twenty year old girl who lives on a Greek island with her mother is about to get married. But one problem, she doesn't know who her dad is. There are three possible contenders, who have all been former lovers of her mum. So she invites them all to her wedding, in the hope that she can find out which man is her real father. This story is weaved around a number of Abba's most famous songs, culminating in of course the title track; Mamma Mia.

The stage setting was simple, but very effective. It was of course very colourful. Like you were watching it live in Technicolor. I could feel that the audience were dying to get up and dance and sing along to the tunes, just like they did a few weeks ago, when we went to see the Abba tribute band at Mansfield. But the audience were very well behaved, and just clapped along to some of the more lively Ulvaeus and Andersson tunes. I have always been an Abba fan, so knew a lot of the lyrics, which I quietly sang to Gail at opportune moments.

I thought there was something missing though. I couldn't really work out what it was, until Gail said that she really enjoyed it, but would have liked to have been closer to the stage. Then it clicked. it was a lack of connection with the artists. Being so far away, I couldn't really make out the actors' faces. The sound level was great, the singing and dancing top notch. I just couldn't see the cast moving their mouths at all. Nobody's fault of course, except mine maybe, being shortsighted. Perhaps I need to take a pair of binoculars next time.

Pretty In Pink

It looks like the Left Lion got a nice bit of attention from this girl, who was wearing some very brightly coloured clothes, as she is caressing his front paws.

Pink appears to be her favourite colour today. It's just a shame that she couldn't find a matching laptop case, as the black one she is carrying just looks so boring for her.

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.

Harry's Last Stand

I met a wonderful and inspirational 93 year old man tonight in the form of author and political commentator Harry Leslie Smith.

He was in Beeston to talk about his long and varied life, and how he worries about the sort of country Britain has become, and how it may end up.

Harry was born in Barnsley and experienced grinding poverty at an early age. Sadly his sister died because their parents couldn't afford any treatment. This was long before the creation of the NHS, where everyone can get treatment for free.

During 1941, Harry joined the RAF, and when the war was over, he fell in love and married a German girl from Hamburg. This was the basis for his book 'Love amongst the Ruins'.  But it is his most recent book 'Harry's Last Stand' that he has become well known for. That and his Twitter postings, where he makes sensible observations and comments about what's happening in the country. The latest being about the forthcoming Euro election.

He received a well deserved standing ovation when the night was over and I think the the whole audience of over a hundred wanted to say hello and have a selfie with him.

A Change Of Plan

Cycling through Highfields, as is my want these sunny afternoons, I came across some singers being filmed, while they stood near the large stone lions from China.

Stopping to watch, I wondered whether it was something that some university students were doing. Maybe from Trent, rather than Nottingham, as Trent runs the more arty courses. Nottingham is more academic.

So out popped my camera for a few shots. A little while later a guy came over and said that it was ok for me to take photos, as long as they didn't appear on social media. I asked what it was about, and he explained that they were filming for the new series of The Choir, and these were some of the competitors.
I've not see the show before, but apparently a choir is made up of gifted amateurs, and the well known conductor Gareth Malone turns them into a professional singing group.

So instead,  here's a very fine bonnet emblem for a Ford V8 Pilot car that I took on Sunday at Wollaton Park.

"Look, I'm Sure The Castle Is Around Here Somewhere?"

"Yes ladies, it's right behind you!"

I was out for a photography stroll with a workmate at lunchtime today, as he wanted to have a go with my Olympus EM-1, as he is thinking of getting one. He currently uses a Fuji X-10, but he says that he's not happy with it.

So we had spent some time in the Old Market Square, where he took various pictures and had a feel of how the camera feels in his hands. He was quite impressed. We had made our way to the castle area of town, when I saw these two ladies, standing with possibly the biggest map of Nottingham that I've ever seen. I know the city centre is quite big, but I don't think you would need a map that big to see where all the streets and attractions are. It is hardly London or New York.

Fortunately I had been given my camera back by the time we got to the castle, so I was able to capture this scene for today's blog post.

I wonder if they ever found what they were looking for?

Peace And Love

A glorious and sunny evening cycle ride home through Highfields.

Plenty of rowing boats still being enjoyed on the lake. The ice cream van still selling doing a roaring trade from hot students and visitors. Joggers still running, even with the bright sun shining down on them.

Getting towards the other end, I came across two female Asian students posing for photographs being taken by another Asian student. Not with a camera, but with a mobile phone.

So I thought that I would have a go myself. They found it amusing that I would want to take their picture. But we did a little photoshoot, and showed them the results. Which they seemed pleased with.

The girl with the handbag gave me her email address, so that I could send them on to her. Which I have done, as I think it is important to provide photos to people that you have taken their picture of.

I bet when they receive them, they will be excitedly emailing them home to their friends and relations, saying how great things are going in Nottingham and at the university, even if our studies are difficult.

You're Not Going Anywhere

A grand day, so I drove over to Wollaton Park to see the annual car show, that happens on the first weekend of June.

As it was such a lovely day, there seemed to be a thousand cars to look at, both old and new.  Some quite common like the Mini, to some really rare and valuable vehicles, that would set you back many thousands of pounds.

But me being me, I wanted to find something unusual to take. So what about a Dalek, strapped to an old American pick up truck? Now that's different. I have no idea about the what and why's, but it makes for an interesting photo, especially with Wayne Manor in the background.

Blue Beetle

Coming home from shopping in Beeston, I saw this vintage Volkswagen Beetle parked up on a road that I use to get home. It's quite a nice cornflower blue colour, and dates from 1970.

The bodywork seemed to be in good condition. So it has either been well looked after, or has had some restoration work done on it. Either way, it was nice to see it being driven around.

My dad had one when I was younger. A black one it was, and to give it a bit of identity, he got some thin strips of gold tape and put it around the doors. I'm not sure how long it lasted, but I do remember it beginning to peel after a while.  He then sold it and got a white Renault 5.

I hope to see a lot more old cars tomorrow, as it's the annual vintage car show at Wollaton Park. Just hope the weather keeps dry and sunny.