Letters and Numbers Around Us - Thematic Photography

My morning walk to collect a newspaper covers a distance of about two miles each way. As it was a sunny morning with the hard frost beginning to clear I took my camera, intent on getting shots to meet Carmi's theme of "Letters, numbers & other characters." I came back with 38 pictures, all of which seemed appropriate; obviously I can't show them all.

The local Shell garage is undergoing a refit and there was an environmental services wagon parked across the forecourt. I had to take this picture through a wire mesh fence.

Hazardous Material Warning Sign

Today was the day that household waste is collected and just down the road were three wheelie bins awaiting the refuse truck.

Wheelie Bins (Trash Cans)

The amount of roadside rubbish to be seen on the footpath, in the hedge bottoms and in a birch wood was appalling - discarded sandwich wrappings, coffee cups and soft drinks cans, enough to fill another wheelie bin I'm sure.

Discarded Energy Drink Can

Whoever left this obviously hadn't enough energy  to carry the empty can home.

The garage in our village does its bit to help the energy crisis as you can see.

Garage Sign

I've often glanced at the numbers of the lampposts in the village and just assumed that these were just for identifying individual posts. Then I found this.

Power Line Post

That plate at the top has hole-punched code which is alpha-numeric presumable for inspection and maintenance purposes.

If my pictures are driving you 'up the pole' just be careful which one you climb.

Danger Sign

Now what am I to do with 32 more photos? While I make up my mind perhaps you should head off to Carmi's Thematic-photographic-235. Please don't drop litter on the way or else you may become a member of the "Litterati".

Up the Pole - Sepia Saturday

Alan's image of ladies with banners made me think of the suffragettes at first but then I had other ideas as you will see. I used 'poles' as my theme.

In deference to the ladies this is the first I came across

Brisbane fete 1915 (by John F Shale)

Group of women behind the counter at the fete, Brisbane, 1915. The ladies are helping out at the Produce Store stall at the Rosalie-Milton Patriotic Fete. The stall is decorated with bunting and flags and has a large banner over the stall advertising Advance Australia Produce. (The pole is horizontal this time). [Held by the John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland]

In a gentle pursuit I discovered two ladies on a river with one fishing pole.[New York Public Library; Robert N Dennis collection of stereoscopic views]

One pole led to another but somehow I don't think the suffragettes would have approved of this:

Stripper on a pole

Perhaps I'd be on safer ground with an image of a maypole.

From a Little Pretty Pocket Book; 1767 Isaiah Thomas

I'm sure you will have noticed that all the ladies have disappeared. Now I switched to an even older theme - the hero of the Battle of Dettingen in 1723, one Thomas Brown.

Tom Brown House (sign)

You may read all about Tom's heroic exploits at The Valiant Dragoon. The sign remains in Yarm Town Hall, and has yet to to be erected on Tom's old house in the town. The colours he carries in the picture are those he recovered from the French at Dettingen.

Flags surround the statueof another local hero.

Andrew Mynarski VC, RCAF

Mynarski's statue stands outside the St George Hotel adjacent to the Durham, Tees Valley Airport. The hotel used to be the Officers' Mess at RAF Middleton St George. Mynarski was awarded a posthumous VC in October 1944. You may read his story at A Hero's Salute.

Don't forget to visit Sepia Saturday 95