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Tuesday 29 October 2013

That Golden Glow - Thematic Photography

I'll start this week's golden glow theme with an interesting ball.


I didn't like the look of those spikes even when it uncurled.

Caterpillar
I'm not allowed to say how many years ago the next shot was taken. It fits the theme but didn't come out how I wanted at the time.

A Bathing Belle
The nearest I could get to a golden glow from autumn colours was this shot from last year.

A Golden Avenue
Finally there's a golden boy, although Americans would call him yellow.

Sam, a mellow yellow Labrador
To catch  the rest of that golden glow cross over to Carmi's Thematic-photographic-267.




Wednesday 23 October 2013

Sepia Saturday 200 - Connexions - Durham Ox to Daffodils

Friday, 17 December 2010

Sepia Saturday: Connexions - The Durham Ox to Daffodils




The Durham Ox was bred in 1796 by the pioneering shorthorn breeder, Charles Colling of Ketton Hall, Bafferton, Nr Darlington in the North East of England. The beast became know as the Ketton Ox when it was exhibited in Darlington in 1799. 

Colling Brothers

The Colling brothers and a man named Thomas Bates, who farmed at Kirklevington, have been given much credit for the development of the Durham Shorthorn breed of cattle.

Thomas Bates
The Kirklevington estate in what is now North Yorkshire has been owned over the centuries by such aristocratic and royal landowners as William the Conqueror, Robert de Brus, The Percys, Henry IV and Henry V. It was finally divided and sold by the Earl of Strathmore to two wealthy business men one of whom was Henry Hutchinson who was mayor of Stockton-on-Tees for a time. His nephew, John, bred shorthorns at Stockton and named one of his bulls “Kirklevington.”

In their childhood John and his brothers and sisters became wards of Henry Hutchinson. In their early childhood before they were orphaned the Hutchinsons had been friends and neighbours of the Wordsworth family at Penrith. Mary Hutchinson had been born at Stockton-on-Tees and went to school there when she was sent to live with her Uncle Henry.

At twenty-four Mary announced she was going to marry William Wordsworth. Her uncle did not approve; he considered Wordsworth had no profession – he had changed his mind by the time Wordsworth had become Poet Laureate.

William and Mary

 William and Mary were married in 1802. William wrote a poem about his wife in 1803.
‘She was a Phantom of delight
When first she gleamed upon my sight;
A lovely Apparition, sent
To be a moment's ornament;’

But it was Mary who is said to have composed the last two lines of Wordsworth’s often quoted poem; he may have ‘wandered lonely as a cloud’ to see ‘A host of golden daffodils;’ but its Mary’s words at the end:
‘And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.’

So why is this my Sepia Saturday post?

I live in the village of Kirklevington less than a mile from the house which was once Thomas Bates farm and from the churchyard where his gravestone stands. 



St Martin’s Church at Kirklevington also has a memorial window to him which incorporates a shorthorn beast.

Detail of memorial window

I happen to have been born in the village of Ketton in England’s smallest county of Rutland. Finally I may also be able to toast you all this Christmas in one of Yarm’s many pubs less than three miles away.

Which one?

The Ketton Ox, of course.

Tuesday 22 October 2013

Let's Get Dirty - Thematic Photography

My first thoughts when I saw this week's theme were that I haven't any dirty photographs and that I would never take one. One second thoughts I decided that perhaps it was just my mind.

When it comes to dirt, you may be sure that dogs will never let you down.

Maxie sulks
Although she crossed the Rainbow Bridge some years ago, there was a time when Maxie liked nothing better than to run through a black and sticky swamp. If that could be combined with a roll in lots of deer poo she was in her seventh heaven. In the photo Maxie had just had a bath after just such an excursion. Still wet she sulked and found a patch of garden in which to lie and get dirty again.

Lily is the latest youngster to take up the dirty challenge,

There's a tennis ball in here ..... somewhere.
I knew I'd find it.
Don't I deserve a treat?
My daily routine includes a walk to the local garage to pick up a newspaper. In filthy weather as it is at the moment you come across some interesting things,

A slug drying off
However I'm not sure my next shot is really on the theme.

Beech stump with fungus
But surely this qualifies.

Muddy entrance
The local airport is still called Teesside Airport by the locals. But a few years ago they changed it name to Durham Tees Valley, despite the fact that Durham is nowhere near. This also meant that the airport name was then too large for the road signs, This is how a sign near my local garage has ended up.

A67 Road sign in want of a clean
That concludes my let's get dirty post; for more check in at Carmi's Thematic-photographic-266.

Sunday 20 October 2013

Celebrate the Century - Sunday Stamps

As Viridian has given us a free choice this week here are four stamps that I acquired recently from the 'Celebrate the Century' series.

USA Celebrate the Century - 1920s
The reverse of all stamps in the series carries text that tells you about the stamp concerned. The reverse of these four, thanks to the demon scanner, is a mirror image but I an sure you can work it out when you see what it says.

About the stamps
Apologies for the damage to the Margaret Mead stamp. I also have to confess that I had not heard of her or Emily Post.

To see what others have chosen this week cross over to Viridian's Sunday-stamps-143.



Wednesday 16 October 2013

Life in the 'Wild'

Each year when we visit Michigan I try to get some wild life shots. Three dogs running around often makes this difficult. However I usually manage  to get a deer or two before they are frightened away.


Deer on watch
About to run
This chap stopped to pose.

Squirrel - where did it leave those nuts?
And one of the largest grasshoppers I've ever seen.

Grasshopper
The piece of metal to which is clinging is 3 inches deep.

Not much to show for three weeks - perhaps they were put off by the high temperatures at the time in September.

Tuesday 15 October 2013

Streetscapes - Thematic Photography

I never realised how few street scenes I take until Carmi's streetscape theme came up this week. Here are some from my archive dating back into the 1980s in Stavanger.

Gamle (Old) Stavanger, Norway
This was taken on a Sunday in the old part of the town. In contrast a shopping street is much busier on a weekday.

Stavanger shoppers
As part of her German course at Birmingham University my daughter spent a year at Freiburg University in Germany. We visited the city later, took some photos and asked her 'Wo ist das?'

Freiburg street market, 2002
Freiburg clock tower - but not a tram in sight.
But when you live in a village as small as ours, this is what you may see in Spring.

Forest Lane, Kirklevington - April 2010
Looking down the lane instead - it's still empty.

Forest Lane in bloom
These last two pictures have cheered me up a bit as it has been wet and windy all week.

For more street scenes just stroll over to /thematic-photographic-265.



Sunday 13 October 2013

Cars - British Auto Legends - Sunday Stamps

The set of British Auto Legends issued on 13 August this year are just right for this week's car theme.

Great Britain - British Auto Legends
These have not scanned very well with the names indistinct and the true colours not shown - the Lotus at the bottom right is red not orange; the Rolls at the top centre is not such a bright blue.

The cars are::

 Top row - first class stamps
  • Jaguar E-type 1961
  • Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow 1965
  • Aston Martin DB6 1963

Bottom row - £1.28

  • MG MGB 1962
  • Morgan Plus 8 1968
  • Lotus Esprit 1976
For more cars just drive over to Viridiand's Sunday-Stamps-142.

Friday 11 October 2013

SS Great Britain - Sepia Saturday

When launched by Prince Albert at Bristol on 19th July 1843 Isambard Kingdom Brunel's revolutionary ship became the world's first great ocean liner.

Launch of SS Great Britain, Bristol 1843
(Painting - Lordprice collection - CC BY-SA 2.5)
In 1845 New York was to greet the SS Great Britain when she completed her first Atlantic crossing, having left Liverpool 14 days and 21 hours earlier.

Disaster struck in 1846 when Captain James Hosken ran the ship aground in Dundrum Bay, Northern Ireland.

Stranded in Dundrum Bay, County Down
(Science & Society Picture Library - Author unknown)
The great ship was not rescued for nearly a year and in 1850 the Great Western Steamship Company sold her to Gibbs, Bright & Company. Two years later she started her life as an emigrant steam clipper carrying people to a new life in Australia.

SS Great Britain, 1853
(Source Arthur J Maginnis (1900) - The Atlantic Ferry Men)
In the years between 1852 and 1875 the SS Great Britain carried around 14000 people to Australia, besides acting as a troop ship for the Crimea War (1856) and carrying troops needed in response to the Indian Mutiny.(1857). On a lighter note she carried the first English cricket team to Australia.

He role changed again in 1882 when her engine and funnel were removed and she was converted to carry cargo. She carried Welsh coal to San Francisco. She suffered bad storm damage off Cape Horn in 1886 and limped into the Falkland Islands. Bought by the Falkland Islands Company, she remained economic to run until 1933. By then she had become unsafe to even be used as a floating warehouse for coal and wool. In 1937 she was scuttled in Sparrow Cove, a remote shallow bay.

SS Great Britain at Sparrow Cove. 1968
Her masts were removed and on 19 July 1970, 127 years to the day after her launch the SS Great Britain returned home to Bristol. 

Restored to all her glory she was relaunched on her 162nd birthday in 2005. Today she can be seen in her original dock on Bristol's Historic Quayside.

SS Great Britain
This is a Sepia Saturday post inspired by another later launching.


I wonder whether any of our Australian Sepians can trace their roots back to Brunel's great ship.

For other flotations sail over to Sepia-Saturday-198.



Wednesday 9 October 2013

Feeling Reflective - Thematic Photography

I have tried several things this week without success, even experimenting with a reflective shower.

Shower cubicle
On second thoughts that has shown quite enough. 

Whereas on our recent visit to Detroit Zoo a lion was well worth a second look.

Detroit Lion
The glass enclosure produced a whiskery effect. It was difficult to get a clear shot that was not reflective in one way or another.

Pensive (reflective) lion
If you remember our recent 'Treaured' theme, perhaps he is pondering why the lioness had the best seat in the house.

On reflection perhaps reflective may take on a different approach. How does losing on a slot machine make you look?

Like this?
For more reflective moods cross over to the links at Carmi's Thematic-photographic-264.




Sunday 6 October 2013

Industry on Sunday Stamps

I'm staying in Europe for my stamps on an industrial theme.

Belgium - 50th Anniversary of the International Labour Organisation - issue 31 May 1969
Two stamps from the former Democratic Republic of Germany (East Germany)

DDR - Machinists, 1953
DDR - 1953
From Norway I found  a stamp commemorating the centenary of the handcraft man's society in 1986.

Norway
As I started my career in industry at a British steelworks I was pleased to find I had a steelworks stamp - not from Britain though.

Portugal - Iron & Steel Complex, issued 2 January 1980
For other industrial examples please cross over to the links at Viridian's Sunday-stamps-141




Tuesday 1 October 2013

Multiples - Thematic Photography

There is a watery connection running through my pictures this week for Carmi's 'multiple' theme.

Multiple boats and masts, and... at Fowey, Cornwall
On the Isles of Scilly my multiples have a maritime connection.

Ship Figureheads at the Valhalla, Maritime Museum in Tresco Abbey Gardens
Nature has multiples too. the first of which you may have seen before.

Ducks on the Clinton River alongside Rochester Park's Paint Creek Trail in Michigan
More bird multiples in Scotland.

Swans and their cygnets
Finally it's the turn of a magic basket.

Basket weave
There is even a water connection with this. Dirty clothes dropped into the magic basket magically reappear clean and bright in wardrobes and drawers after being washed, dried and ironed (where necessary).

For more multiple multiples you need to dash away with a smoothing iron to Carmi's Thematic-photographic-263.