A-Z Challenge 2021 - Photo Shoot: T - Transporter Bridge, Tees Barrage, Temenos, Turkey

 The iconic symbol of Middlesbrough can be seen from a long way away.

Transporter Bridge (from Saltholme Nature Reserve)

But in these days of public art it supposedly has a competitor.

Temenos (by Anish Kapoor)

I know which one I prefer.

 

Another feature of the River Tees is the barrage that now controls the river, rendering tideless upstream.

Tees Barrage controls the water released seawards

Down stream with the river in full flow

Somehow I wouldn't describe any of these structures as  - 

A turkey

A-Z Challenge 2018 - British Rivers: 'T' Tees

There are so many rivers beginning with 'T' - Tay, Tweed, Tyne, Tees, Trent,Thames, Test, Taw, Tamar - it's impossible to cover them all.

So I'll stick to the one I know best.

River Tees 'looping' round the town of Yarm

Here you can hardly miss the railway viaduct that appeared in my 'Theme Reveal' post.

Railway viaduct crossing the River Tees

That's it, together with the road bridge, at the left of the first photo.

Upstream of the viaduct the river looks very peaceful. A seal has been fishing there this week.

You can see the road bridge with the viaduct behind from this shot taken from down stream.

The name of Yarm is derived from the Anglo Saxon 'yarum' meaning 'fish pools'

The road bridge was built in 1400 by Walter Skirlaw, Bishop of Durham; now it is twice the width of that 1400 bridge, but original stonework still makes up part of the pillars you can see.

The first bridge over the Tees at Stockton, further downstream, was built in 1771. Until that time the port of Yarm had been the nearest place to the North Sea where River Tees could be crossed. As ships got bigger port facilities moved down river, first to Stockton, then and now to Middlesbrough.

When we first moved to Yarm in 1970 the Tees was a tidal river up to and beyond the town. It was not uncommon for the town to be flooded; high water heights are recorded on some buildings.

In the 1990s a tidal barrier was installed between Stockton and Middlesbrough. The Tees at Yarm is now no longer tidal with the water level controlled by the Tees Barrage.

Geese on the River Tees at Yarm

Raised floodgate on the Barrage

High Tide

Low Tide

Meanwhile back at Yarm the geese line up - 

For their turn in a gala on the River

We cannot leave the Tees without taking a look at some bridges further down river,

The Infinity Bridge at Stockton
(with the Tees Barrage in the background)

The Infinity Bridge was erected to celebrate the end of the 20th century.

You can walk alongside the River from the Infinity Bridge down past the Tees Barrage, alongside the Portrack Nature Reserve. Then if the mood takes you can cross over to the other side via - 

Newport Bridge

Designed as a lift bridge to allow ships to past, the road section is now fixed in place and only small craft pass to go up to the Barrage and through its lock to Stockton and beyond.

Along that stretch of the Tees you may, if the mood takes you, indulge some bird watching.

A curlew in the mud

Closer to the sea you come to Middlesbrough and the bridge that has become an icon for the town.

Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge in action

Row Your Boat - Sepia Saturday

There is an old nursery rhyme called  'Row, Row, Row Your Boat.' Before I could match the theme

I had to find me a boat by searching the house. This is what I found.

Boats a plenty - one one the left, a single rower?

Try as I might I can hardly claim a rowing boat in the next picture along.

Beached!

Looking for a model answer all I could come up with was 

A model yacht

I got quite excited when I enlarged the photo bomb.

Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge

So a old photo of the Transporter (and two tugs) has made it across to Michigan - but again not a rowing boat in sight.

I wonder whether I can claim a model rowing boat

Two oars - but a sail as well

In desperation I thought back to my time in Norway.

But the rower had abandoned ship!

I guess that's a hint for a landlubber like me to hand you over to other champion rowers at Sepia-saturday-193.

Cloudspotting -Thematic Photography

I looked out of my office window when I saw Carmi's cloudspotting theme and, of course, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. However I have managed to find a few photos containing clouds and as usual some are there by accident; in others the clouds 'make' the shot.

Cloudy Horizon - Traverse City, Michigan

Norwegian Fjord in Autumn

Air Monaco Helicopter coming in to land at Nice Airport

Just two clouds for company - good visibility all round.

Majorca - early morning clouds

Back home in England large clouds dwarf the bridges at Yarm.

Yarm Bridge and Viaduct (behind) from the Teesdale Way

From Saltholme Nature Reserve there is a good view of the Transporter Bridge under a cloudy sky/

Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge

And a close up with the clouds above.

Looking up

You can't have failed to spot the clouds.

The clouds cannot be reached this way.

Firefighters practising with a Simon Snorkel Ladder

The English county of Cornwall is also known as the Land of the Saints or Cornubia.

Cornubia - painted by John Miller

This picture hangs in Truro Cathedral. It was painted to celebrate the centenary of the Cathedral in 1980. I am glad the clouds did not block out the light.

Now it's time for you to follow the Rolling Stones' advice (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3F4GmbHl5g ) and cross over to other cloud spotters at Thematic-photographic-252.

Cloudy - Thematic Photographic

Except for late evening skies I don't think I've ever set out to photograph clouds and the effects they create. However I find I have lots of photos where the clouds have made a contribution to the success of the resulting shot.

Clouds over Mawgan Porth Beach, Cornwall 2011

Mawgan Porth

Closer to home this shot of Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge was taken from the RSPB's Saltholme nature reserve.

Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge 2009

While on the subject of birds here's one I caught on the wing.

Turkey Buzzard - Michigan 2009

The clouds also make an effective background in the shot of a UK fire brigade practising with an extending ladder.

Fire practice - Simon Snorkel ladder

To see other cloudy shots please drop in at Carmi's thematic-photographic-206

Edited Mawgan Porth

Following Paul's comment I have 'converted' one of the beach shot's to B&W

 

Screens - Thematic Photography

When I saw that the topic for this week's thematic photography was 'Screens' I decided I only needed one new shot,

Thematic Photography - picture archive

I just hope you can read the header. Other photos are a selection from my files.

Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge - Visitor Centre

Wall display plus small screen of bridge in action

The Tees Barrage is up-river from the Transporter and there I found a different type of screen, this time designed to keep people out.

Archimedes Screws at Tees Whitewater Rafting Centre

The four screws recycle water from the rafting course back to the start. Only the two centre screws were lifting water when this shot was taken.

There's a ghostly look to my next set of screens in use back in the early 1940s.

Mosquito Nets - Egypt - UK naval base

You may think my next picture does not include a screen but there is still a maritime connection.

Rudder on SS Great Britain in Bristol Dry Dock

I would claim that the glass cover to the dock screens out the sunlight at least..

In the next a glass screen in the form of a box encloses a model.

Truro Cathedral inside Truro Cathedral

The crowd has still to arrive in this basketball stadium in Lansing, Michigan and the screens are blank.

Graduation Day for Thomas Cooley Law School

And for the golfing fans.

Olazabal Takes A Putt

For a leisurely ride home there is nothing to beat the view through a windscreen like this.

Helicopter approaching Nice.

Here's two who are saying it's time to go.

You Drive

But before you go make sure have your sunscreen on when you visit Carmi's Written Inc. screens