Sunday Stamps Q3 - Great Britain

 The third time round in an A-Z 'Q' was bound to be a problem were it not for the longest serving monarch in British History celebrated by Australia in 2015.

Australia - 9 September 2015

Another Commonwealth country commemorated its 100th anniversary in 1967 also with the Queen.

Canada - 8 February 1967
Queen Elizabeth II and the Northern Lights

For other 'Q' related posts please check out the links at Sunday-stamps-q.

Sunday Stamps II A-Z 'Q' - Qatar and Queens

'Q' is a letter I thought I would have trouble with in my country stamp theme.

Then I found a former Emir of Qatar on my one and only stamp.

Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani - 15 January 1970

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He died aged 84 in 2016. He was Emir from 1972 to 1995 when he was deposed by his son.

Still in that part of the world,I was surprised to learn that the Queen of Sheba was a queen in Saba, which is located in the Yemen.

Queen of Sheba's visit to King Solomon - 1 December 1967

This has been an eventful week for heads of state. When Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe stepped down it left Queen Elizabeth II as the world's oldest reigning head of state. 

In 2015 Australia issued a stamp commemorating that she had become the longest reigning monarch in British History.

Australia - 9 July 2015

She must have appeared on more postage stamps than any other Queen as she appears on many stamps from around the world as well as those from Great Britain.

There must be many buildings which commemorate her name - like this one.

Queen's Hall - 24 September 1966

If its shape reminds you of an aircraft hangar then your eyes are not deceiving you.

This is a post for 'Q' related stamps. You can find more by visiting Sunday-Stamps-II-154 where you can start in Quebec City.

Stavanger and Ships in Norway - Sepia Saturday

This week's prompt of ships in Tønsberg harbour is ideal for me.

Tønsberg lies on the west coast of Oslofjord just over 100km south-south-west of Oslo near the fjord's mouth onto the Skagerrak.

Stavanger where I worked for most of the 1980s, long after the first two of my photos were taken, is on Norway's west coast.

Ships along the quayside - 1902

(This is my photo of one too big for my scanner - so excuse the 'fold' in the middle)

The town centre is to the right of the the shot where ten years earlier the quayside had the replica of a Viking ship tied up alongside.

'Viking' the replica of the Gokstad ship - 1893

The Gokstad ship was found in a burial mound at Gokstad farm in Sandar, Sandefjord in Norway's Vestfold county - the same county where Tønsberg is located. Dendrological dating suggest that the Gokstad ship was built around 880 AD

After visiting Stavanger the Viking sailed crossed the Atlantic to appear at Chicago World Fair of 1893.

In 1978 the opening of the Stavanger City Bridge connected the city to the islands in the borough of Hundvåg where Rosenberg shipyard is located.

Rosenberg Verft on Hundvåg

The structure on the dock at the bottom is the main support frame for Statfjord 'B'. The 'inlet' to the right of this is a dry dock where previously Rosenberg had been building LNG tankers.

RV's last LNG tanker (from the Stavanger City Bridge)

I had the opportunity to see the Royal Yacht Britannia pass by Rosenberg in May 1981 when the Queen and Prince paid Norway a state visit.

Britannia passing dummy platform legs at RV - May 1981

I acquired a number of posters of platforms under construction during my time in Stavanger. The legs of Gravity Base Structures and concrete storage cells were outfitted at Gandsfjord close to Stavanger. We travelled there by boat out under the City Bridge to teach the site.

Mechanical outfitting Statfjord 'C' - 1981-1983

The concrete legs are over 100m tall and the storage cells beneath around 80m. That bridge linking the top of the cells was an interesting place to walk!

Before a platform is towed out to its location in the North Sea the legs are ballasted, sunk down with the completed deck floated over the top and secured to the legs.

Gulfaks 'A' Platform (not at Stavanger)

When it comes to big passenger ships the visits I remember during my time in Stavanger included SS Norway and the QEII.

QEII passing Statfjord 'B' deck at Rosenberg in July 1980

SS Norway with RV assembly shop in background

I guess I'd better end this maritime rambling before anyone gets seasick.

However for more salty tales check out the links at Sepia-Saturday-264.

Childhood Memories - Thematic Photography

As I'm in my second childhood and my memory is not what it was, Carmi's theme this week has caused me some problems.

I've shown the house where I was born on more than one occasion.

100 High Street, Ketton

That stone wall didn't exist back then and there was another empty building behind it to the left, Our front had a double grey gate and a grey wooden fence; a rose-bedecked trellis lined the drive where box hedge is on the right. There where no hatched white lines on the road, just one line down the middle.

The traffic island didn't exist either; although this is main road from Stamford to Leicester, during the late 1940s it was safe enough to use it as a football field - with a tennis ball of course.

The oldest photo I have of me is aged 12 in Stamford School boxing team.

Stamford School Boxing Team, 1949

Just in case you cannot recognise me:-

My pastimes in my second childhood include watching and counting the birds in our garden and photographing them when I'm quick enough. Some just pose.

Wood Pigeon at the birdbath - 24 January 2015

even during the RSPB's Great Garden Bird Watch.

My wife says I'm playing when I'm out with my camera and uploading what I've taken to my computer. Here's one I took yesterday.

Two of five wind turbines - from Dent's Lane, Kirklevington

Not only do I play with Thematic Photography I also take part in Sepia Saturday. This week this involves me playing with some poster memories of my time in Stavanger.

QEII visiting Stavanger - July 1980

The structure on the left is the topside deck for the Statfjord 'B' platform under construction at Rosenberg Verft where I was working. I was too small to be seen in the photo and regret to this day never having a camera with me to take my own photos - not that I would have been allowed on the helicopter from which the shot was taken.

However my second childhood memory has been good enough to find the souvenir poster we were given.

For more childhood memories don't forget to look in on Carmi's childhood thematic-photographic-323.