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.

Large Structures - Thematic Photography

When working at Rosenberg Verft in Stavanger. Norway in the 1980s I was involved with the construction of a large structure which was to become the Statfjord B platform in the North Sea. The topside structure was built on dummy concrete leg supports at the Rosenberg yard.

Statfjord B Deck

To give you an idea of scale, the white living quarters at the right is 7 stories high.

The height of the deck from the concrete legs to the top of the drilling derrick in the centre of the picture below was 171m, if my memory is correct.

Statfjord B Deck

The concrete storage cells and the four concrete legs were slip formed and subsequently outfitted at Gandsfjord also in Stavanger.

Statfjord B Gravity Base Structure

The storage cell (effectively below the water line in this shot) are 23m in diameter and 64m high; four of the 24 cells are extended by the  111m high legs.

The deck structure was mated with legs at a deep water site at Vats, before the completed platform seen below was towed out to its position in the Norwegian North Sea. The concrete cells sit on the sea bed with most of the four legs also submerged..

By comparison the barrage across the River Tees at Stockton is a much more modest affair, but impressive nevertheless.

Tees Barrage with the river in flood.

You have seen shots of the next structure before but as it's from my local town I'll show it again.

Yarm Viaduct

For more large structures you need to check out the links at Carmi's Thematic-photographic-262.

Overalls all over - Sepia Saturday

During my working days I wore overalls of various sorts and colours but not the bib and brace design depicted in Alan's prompt.

Bib and brace overalls were considered hazardous as there was a risk of protrusions getting caught on the shoulder straps. I was disappointed to find that I had no shots of me in green or orange overalls that fitted my form. In fact in the only shot I have of me I am not wearing overalls at all.

Statfjord B Topsides ready to sail away from Rosenberg Verft

You can see that the photographer had not focussed on me on 28 March1981 when the Statfjord B deck left Stavanger to be mated with the Gravity Base Stucture (GBS) legs.

I do have a shot of work going on showing a number of men in overalls watching a deck being lowered inside a leg of the GBS during construction and outfitting.

Statfjord B GBS - equipment deck being lowered.

 

To give you some idea of scale, the inside diameter of the leg at this point was 23metres. The eventual height of each of the four legs was 175 metres. As a leg narrowed and became a conical shape higher up, decks had to be lowered in halves and  lifted over 100 metres before lowering could begin,

Had overalls not been free issue perhaps I would have had to visit a place like this.

Old Advertising Sign - York Rise, Bellgate Mews, NW5

If you strain your eyes a bit you will find it reads, I think: K&M Larn, Fancy Works, Overalls, Blouses etc.

I would be unlucky now if I visited a Coventry purveyor of overalls, footwear for working and walking.

Lynes Stores, Well Street, Coventry - 2009

Lynes Stores are a bit overshadowed by that huge office block. Lynes and the other building in the foreground have been demolished.

I even found a building in Belfast showing off blue overalls.

Mosaic - Transport House, Belfast - 2009

But back in 1939, Albert T Palmer was wearing 'bib & brace' while welding.

Welder making boilers for a ship

Combustion Engineering Co., Chattanooga, Tennessee

Now I've retired I guess it's time I burnt all my overalls just like Tara Oram

And for you go over to see all the others at sepia-saturday-155

Attributions

• Old Advertising Sign - by Mike Quinn: CC BY-SA 2.0; ex geograph.org.uk; Geograph Project
• Lynes Stores - by E Gammie: CC BY-SA 2.0; ex geograph.org.uk; Geograph Project
• Transport House, Belfast - by Mike Quinn: CC BY-SA 2.0; ex geograph.org.uk; Geograph Project
• Welder - Library of Congress

At an Angle - Thematic Photography.

Angles creep into shots without you always being aware. I have several to meet Carmi's 'At an Angle' theme this week. I may have shown some of these before so let's see how many you can recognise.

Tall Ships - Hartlepool 2010

I'm sure that the angle of of this plane was not intended - did someone let go of the tail?

Nosedive - Mediterranean WWII

Cables on the Clifton side of Brunel's famous suspension bridge are at an angle too it seems.

Clifton Suspension Bridge - 2010

This big beast needs to have its jib at an angle when lifting heavy loads.

Balder - Heavy Lift Crane

The picture was taken during the construction of the Statfjord 'B' deck at Rosenberg Verft, Stavanger in the 1980s

This anchor is at an angle on the quayside in Copenhagen,

Anchor - Nyhavn, Copenhagen

Also at an angle because it was built that way is this Condeep test leg in Stavanger.

Troll test leg - 1980s.

Finally a picture that's out of this world.

Aurora on Jupiter  taken by the Hubble Telescope

Now that's an 'at an angle' shot that I would have loved to have taken.

For more angular momentum, please visit Carmi's blog at Thematic-photographic-212

All A Glow - Thematic Photography

As I had used up all my sunsets, sunrise and rainbow shots before, I had to search my archive to come up with these. Otherwise my face would be red, or aglow if you prefer.

A Facebook friend of mine posted this sometime ago with his permission to use it if we wished.

Bonfire Glow

(courtesy of Jack Owen)

And here's a glow I picked up on my travels.

Montelbaan Tower, Amsterdam

I know we've just done after dark but nevertheless this construction site positively glows.

Statfjord 'B' at Rosenberg Verft, Stavanger

My final picture came from astronomy research which I can only cannot trace from the photo caption and which shows a sunrise at an ancient site.

Chankillo Sunrise

Now I guess I shall have to find out about Chankillo again while you visit other folks and places that glow at 

Carmi's thematic-photographic-179

After Dark - Thematic Photography

Carmi's theme this week was after dark. I had to search my archive for these shots. The first one is a cheat as I'll admit it's a postcard from Stavanger.

Stavanger - View of harbour area Vågen by night

Staying in Stavanger I have two shots of Rosenberg Verft at night, I don't know who took these photos.

Statfjord 'B' Deck under construction 

Much closer to home, just before 'after dark' is this sunset from 2002.

Kirklevington sunset

And finally a moonshot.

Mooning in Kirklevington

Fore more dark shots don't forget to visit Written Inc. 178

Parallels - Thematic Photography.

This week's theme set by Carmi is Parallel which if you are not careful could be confused with last week's Vertical.


I've elected to concentrate on animals this time - well on dogs and a hamster named Deirdre, an escapologist of some renown.

Lily, a Border Collie, takes the parallel bars at speed.

I wonder whether she could take the parallels of the background fence as well.

Deirdre was a childrens' pet some thirty years ago. It didn't matter to her whether parallel bars were vertical or horizontal, they were there to be gnawed or climbed on the way out of her cage.

Deirdre inside her cage for once.

 Labradors like to be inside the house but are equally at home sunning themselves on the deck but not on the parallel planks, their beds are more comfortable.

Sam and Maxie take it easy.

An engineering structure has parallels too as shown by the main support frame for the Statfjord B platform under construction at Rosenberg Verft. Stavanger in the 1980s.

Statfjord B MSF at Rosenberg Verft

You may draw other parallels by visiting Carmi's thematic photographic 153 parallel

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