Sepia Saturday at Rosenberg Verft

When I say Alan's picture this week it gave me the perfect chance to share some engineering construction shots with you.

In the early 1980s Rosenberg Verft in Stavanger, Norway had the the contact to build the deck structure for the Statfjord B platform and the mechanical outfitting contract for the gravity base structure which formed its storage cells and the concrete legs on which the deck structure sat.

The photos below are a mixture of mine and some I acquired from different sources. Not all are of 'good' quality.

The first truss of the deck structure on dummy legs at the Rosenberg yard.

The deck structure in a more advanced stage of construction with the accommodation module at the left.

The Balder heavy lift crane used to lift prefabricated module onto the deck.

To give you some idea of size the Balder's lifting hook looked like this in close-up:

The completed deck structure on its dummy legs

A prefabricated deck to be inserted in the concrete legs in the deep water site at Gandsfjord

A deck being lowered into position in one of the four concrete legs.

The complete platform prior to its departure for the North Sea.

Finally a sepia photo of the platform in position.

For more contributions please visit Sepia Saturday 68

Creative Blogging in the Spring

I had a pleasant surprise today when Deirdra Eden-Coppel over at A Story Book World.
gave me a Creative Blog Award.

To celebrate I have decided to share some photos of spring flowers in my garden with her and my other blog followers.

Hyacinth and dwarf daffodils












Dwarf daffodil and the blue chionodoxa

Primula

 

 

These photos were incorporated in my post Spring for Sunday Stamps in the video that did not work. Apologies for that, but enjoy them now.

Bridging - Sepia Saturday on Sunday

I had wanted to write about the centenary of Middlesbrough's Transporter Bridge  but had trouble with copyright issues on the old photos, so I'll post some of my 'modern' ones instead.

To see old photos of this iconic bridge  you can follow this link: Remember When.

You get some idea of how the Transporter can dominate the skyline from these shots taken from the RSPB reserve at Saltholme some distance from the northern bank of the River Tees.

 

While searching the web for suitable bridge shots I came across this from Boston, USA. I hope it's a first for 

Sepia Saturday

 

From Robert N Dennis Collection of Stereoscopic Views - New York Library

Sudbury River Conduit - View of Charles River Bridges.

March Madness - Thematic Photography

The madness theme this week has driven me crazy trying to find photos taken in March. I settled for these:

These ducks have appeared before but not on a thematic blog. There is a corner of a field miles away from lakes or rivers that has been 'flooded' for over two years, sometimes the water area is quite large, at others it's just mud. I'm not too sure what the drakes were up to here in March 2009, but it was springtime after all.

In my second photo it's the photographer who is mad. I waited for what seemed like hours to catch a great tit on the bird feeder, but it only ever had its back to me in March 2008.

Finally my son sent me this picture taken in Fowey, Cornwall also in March 2008. It must have been windy!

 

There's more madness to be seen at Carmi's March Madness

Spring for Sunday Stamps

As soon as I saw this week's theme I knew just what to post. These stamps were issued on 21 March 1979.

I also took these pictures in my garden to share as well.

Spring over  to Viridian's Postcard Blog for more stamps.

Morning Transition - Thematic Photography

It was that time of day when the morning mist was slowly giving way to the sun. The dew and mist had transformed the web.

Michigan -Late August 2009.

More transitions interpreted at thematic-photographic-138

Mooning Around

Like many people over the last two days I have tried to photograph the perigee moon without much success.

This is the best I could do:

Ireland - Sunday Stamps

Yesterday the Ireland rugby team beat England and prevented them from winning the Six Nations Championship

The stamps below are the whole of my Ireland collection; I even cheated and went out a bought a few in the local market.

Now I had heard of Oliver Goldsmith, but I must confess I didn't know he was Irish. I first came across his works when a local society put on 'She Stoops to Conquer.' 

I've looked up the 2.1/2 p stamp at the bottom and found that it was issued in 1948 (a 150th anniversary stamp) and contains the picture of Wolf Tone who with Lord Edward Fitzgerald established the United Irishmen in the 1770s. When the French tried to land a fleet in Ireland in 1798 Tone was captured on board one of their ships. He was sentenced to death by the English at a court marshall in Dublin and sentenced to death. His request to be shot was refused. He attempted suicide by slitting his own throat after being sentenced to hang.

Not a pretty topic for Sunday Stamps.

The 4p stamp at the bottom right tells of a different battle. CATH  AR OCRAS means, I believe, 'Battle Against Hunger.'

More Irish/green connections at Viridian's Postcard Blog - 11

A Mystery Tour? - Sepia Saturday

It may seem strange that a tour with a nautical flavour starts at a pub in the village where I was born.

The Railway Inn at Ketton, Rutland

Suitable refreshed our next stop is on the North Yorkshire Moors to get directions from a sailor who knew his way around the world.

Captain Cook's Monument

Before we go too far I want us to stop in the town of Fowey on Cornwall's south coast for a pint or two with the King of Prussia.

But we don't want to arrive on a day like this.

While we are there you may want to take a trip across the river to see the house in which Daphne du Maurier wrote her first novel, The Loving Spirit.

 

Ferryside

Look closely at the right-hand edge of the house, almost touching the trees. You should be able to see the figurehead  from the schooner Jane Slade; Daphne was inspired to write her book after discovering the wreck of the schooner in the nearby Pont Creek.

If you are inspired by figureheads then you might want to travel on to the Scilly Isles and check out the maritime museum in Tresco Abbey Gardens.

Now it's time for us to go further afield and call at Copenhagen and see what sailors fantasised about.

The Little Mermaid

However it is Stavanger in  Norway that is our final port of call.

The Square in Stavanger in 1913 leading to the quayside (source - unknown)

Of course it looked different in the 1980s when SS Norway was in town.

Follow this link for more Sepia Saturday fanatics.

[King of Prussia photos by courtesy of  Ade; the rest excluding the sepia of Stavanger are down to me.]

Late - Thematic Photography

Late in the day at my home we occasionally get sunsets like these two shots taken on the same evening:

 Ever since I was young I have regarded Japan as the Land of the Rising Sun. I hope that Japan will recover from the current devastation and resume its prominence in the world. Our thoughts are with the Japanese people at this time.

See more Late entries at Carmi's Thematic Photographic 137

Carnival - Sunday Stamps

Morris Dancing is a traditional English form of folk dancing. It has been practiced for hundreds of years. The dances are usually performed at festivals such as May Day, Whitsun and Christmas.

The name may refer to the possibility of the form of dancing coming to England from the Moors of North Africa; or it may have been called 'Moor-ish' simply because the dancers sometimes painted their faces black.
The lively dancing is accompanied by an accordion player, a melodeon or fiddle player or a noisy band with a drum; also the dancers wear different clothes depending on the part of the country - often dressed in white with coloured baldrics (coloured belts) across their chests. Six or eight dancers are arranged in two lines or in a circle facing each other. The dancers may carry white handkerchiefs that they shake, or short sticks that they bang against each other as they dance. Some dancers have bell-pads tied at their knees, which make a loud and cheerful rhythm as they dance.

 

I wonder whether this Carnival stamp was posted on a cruise liner, otherwise I have nothing to add.

I expected to find some stamps from Brazil, but didn't have any relating to the theme. I chose Mexico instead.

Apparently in the Oaxaca Valley each village performs the Dance of the Feather (Danza de la Pluma) on their own Saint's Day.

More carnival stamps at Viridian's Sunday Stamps 10

A Cooperative Adventure - Sepia Saturday

I had to take a bit of a tour to come up with a match this week.

Starting in 1956 I decided I needed a car to help me on my way.

 As I've always wanted a Ferrari what better that this Ferrari 410 Super American which made its debut at the 1956 Turin Motor Show.

If that's not to your taste then how about joining me in a pink Cadillac:

1956 Cadillac Series 5-6019X (60 Special Sedan) at Sinsheim Auto & Technick Museum, Sinsheim/Germany - By Gamsbart (C C ASA 3.0 Unported License)

But how could I resist travelling in my first car, a Morris Minor like this:

By Charles01 - CC ASA 3.0 License

This Morris Minor is from March 1956 the year before it became the Morris Minor 1000. The original car had semaphore-style indicators, but the car in the picture has been modified to include flashing indicators.

If like me you are getting older and fear having to use a Zimmer frame, perhaps you would prefer this American made classic car:

Zimmer American made classic car - by Ammar Shaker

I don't know about you but by this time I'm in need of a drink so we'll stop off in Germany again:

Tempo Hanseat (1949 - 1956) in livery of Alt beer brewery UERIGE, Duesseldorf, Germany 

(By Detectandpressure - CC ASA 3.0 Unported  License)

Then we arrive back in England in a modern(?) car driving away from the Stroud Road Coop, the former Gloucester Cooperative Store:

(By David Stowell - geograph.org.uk - CC ASA 2.0 Generic License)

However we have to go Australia for our final stop:

Fisherman's Coop on Stanley Street, South Brisbane ca 1930. The Fisherman's Cooperative fish shop next to a butcher's shop and a hotel - ex John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland.

I hope they have spare rooms at the hotel to cope with all the sepia-saturday-65 guests.

Flea Market Postcards - Camp des jeunes

This card shows the youth camping site at Lourdes and is postmarked June 1973. I've found some recent photos on Flickr but none that I can use without infringing copyright. The site is more wooded now and the style of tent has definitely changed - they no longer look as if it is a scout or army camp.

Looking at the picture the style of shorts has changed as well.

Temenos

Temenos has been described as a giant net-stretched stocking, a trawler net in the sky and as a real jewel in the crown of the area, a signature of what Middlesbrough and the Tees Valley is about.

The 48m high sculpture is the first of the planned five Tees Valley Giants to be completed. It spans a corner of the dock at the Middlehaven site in Middlesbrough and was officially handed over to the town’s Mayor Ray Mallon in June 2010.

The 32m diameter circular ring weighing 56 tonnes is joined to a 28m x 16m elliptical, 24 tonne ring at the other by steel cabling. The supporting mast weighs in at 56 tonnes and the whole 110m long structure at 156 tonnes. While these dimensions are impressive so is the £2.7m cost of this public work of art.

Giant works of art are also intended as regeneration projects in each of the other for Tees Valley’s boroughs. It will be interesting to see if in the present economic times whether they are built to form the biggest public art project in the world.

Temenos is the result of cooperation between artist Anish Kapoor and engineer Cecil Balmond who are also to design and build the Arcelor Mittal Orbit tower at the 2012 Olympic Park. The pair has worked together on other large public works of art including the Cloud Gate in Chicago and the Sky Mirror in New York.

Temenos which in Greek means sacred ground or a place apart sits a stone’s throw from Middlesbrough’s Riverside football stadium and in sight of the iconic Transporter Bridge opened in 1911 for a cost of £84,000.

 Meanwhile the old dock clock tower stands guard.