Bolton Abbey with (no) Social Distancing

Looking for something to do back in the summer hols, we headed out to Bolton Abbey, near Skipton.  As with everywhere these days, you need to book in advance of course, but it seemed like being a nice day weather-wise, and we thought we could do a bit of a walk and a picnic.

Rather than the Abbey ruins themselves, we headed for the walk up the river- the paths are marked one-way for the most part, up the western bank of the river...

to the aqueduct then back down the eastern bank of the river.

Alarm bells were ringing when we arrived though, and the Disney-style looped queuing system for the toilets, that a fair few people were ignoring.

Without wishing to sound too negative or end on a bad note, it stopped being a pleasant experience about mid-morning.  We'd booked to go early and it wasn't too bad when it was fairly quiet.  But by about 11am, it was more crowded.  This wouldn't be an issue were people following the rules for the paths, but when families and couples with massive dogs (off the lead of course) are charging at you, ignoring the one-way signs, then getting angry you're in their way, it stops being fun.  Especially on the narrow paths with the steep drops off the side, that was terrific.

By the time we reached the bridge near the loos, Social Distancing was itself a distant memory.  Just try to suggest someone was about to be a rude arse and force you into a river to get out of their way, or be told you were a Sheeple for wanting people to stand away from you in the loo queue... I don't know if it was something about the visiting demographic by the middle of the day, but I hadn't heard so many conspiracy theories about the virus in one place before.  We gave up on the Abbey and went home, and haven't been back since.  It was much nicer in Wales... 

 

On safari for a Welsh Pony

Much to our surprise, we managed two escapes to Wales this year; it looked like the Welsh were going to keep the border closed altogether for the whole duration.  Anyway, amongst the many things on the to-do list was for me (Ben) to try and get some pictures of "Welsh Pony".  This loco is probably my favourite engine full stop, having spent a lot of time during holiday visits to Porthmadog in the 1980's and 1990's scrambling all over it whilst it was plinthed outside the station.

Despite it being pretty much knackered (after being run mechanically into the ground in the 1940's, then exposed to sea air for the next several decades) the surprise decision was taken to restore it to traffic.  It didn't look like it would be all that useful being a smaller locomotive compared to much of the fleet, but then the Coronavirus Crisis hit, and the loco went from being tested to an essential working loco pretty much overnight.  Short trains of vintage stock running regularly from Porthmadog to Tanybwlch and back are the order of the post-Covid day, and "Welsh Pony" (running as plain old no.5 in a plain old livery, until a 'formal' naming event in the Autumn) became something I really wanted to photograph. 

With the loco running twice a day, nearly every day, there were plenty of opportunities to see the loco but the weather was the complicating factor.  Photographing a dark-coloured steam loco in a forest in dull light isn't easy.

A lot of logging has been taking place since the last time we were up around Tanybwlch, which has somwhat spoilt some of my regular locations up here.  Still, with the station cafe open it makes for some nice walks in the woods, and somewhere to go for a brew afterwards.

We took a ride on the train whilst we were up in Wales too- I like to try and support the railways I photograph wherever possible, particularly in these difficult times, even if it's just buying lunch from the cafe or trips to the gift shop.

"Linda" running-round at Tanybwlch, one of the most scenic stations on any preserved line.

Up in the hills again, and some nice colours in amongst the greenery.

"Prince" in a rare patch of sun.  Well I say rare; it was quite sunny on the second visit to Wales, but when you've been cooped up in the house for 5 months, and there's a choice between a walk in the woods on a sunny day or a trip to the beach, you go to the beach...

Platform shelter at Minfford; might make a nice prototype to try doing on the laser cutter at some point.

"Welsh Pony" itself, approaching Tanybwlch .  Nice to be able to see the loco, shame about the dull weather.

And the last train picture I took during the holiday, "Welsh Pony" at Penrhyndeudraeth.

The last photo I took on the first visit, and a rare patch of sun and nice weather.  This is the bridge over the road near Tanybwlch, and a shot I've wanted to take for years.  We'd been hoping, lockdown permitting, that we could get back up to the railway for the weekend when the loco is formally launched back into traffic.  That looks bloody unlikely now, so a goal for next year perhaps...

Plas Newydd

Back in August... we were running out of places to go whilst we were in Wales given a lot of stuff hadn't opened up post-Lockdown, but we had managed to book some tickets for the National Trust gardens at Plas Newwydd on Anglesey.

We arrived early, so drove down the estuary a bit to have a drink and some choccy overlooking the Menai Strait.

Back up to the Gardens (the house was shut) for opening time, and a stroll around.

It was very odd lighting- nice blue sky, but little sun.

Playing around a bit with zooms and long exposures.

Rather taken with these steps, shame we have such a small, flat garden back home.

Shame we also don't have anywhere with a tree that could justify one of these.

Another nice morning out, though we look forward to being able to do the house and the second-hand bookshop.  Maybe next year.

 

Bodnant in August

As summer fades and the grim winter sets in, here's some more pictures of flowers and wildlife from Bodnant back in August.  Even going to Bodnant feels like a lifetime ago now, as more travel restrictions kick in...

Hopefully readers will find them nice and calming :)

 

A bit more Bridge 11

Just a short post today- I've had a lot to do with Bridge 11 on the KWVR lately.  It's been a regular haunt for photography generally, and until the recent rebuilding work it was one of the spots lesser-visited by other photographers, so I tended to have it to myself.  Anyway, the protracted replacement (caused by good old Lockdown) of the structure has finally come to an end.

Anyway, I was in the right place at the right time (in sunlight, huzzah!) to catch the first southbound run of a steam loco on one of the 'ghost trains' testing out the timetable ready for reopening, got a couple of shots, and sent them off to the mags on the off chance.

Steam Railway bit, and in fact used four of my shots for an article they wrote in the September issue.  The shot of "Royal Scot" was taken in 2019.

They used a shot from when I was attached for the day to the Civils team, getting some photographs for the railway in-house mag...

...and another shot I took more recently on a Boris-ercise walk with The Childs.

 

Get Carter- exhibiting in Sunny Scunny.

Despite the Lockdown, and the Local Lockdown, and the Rule of Six or whatever the hell it is now that stops us going out, and the general feeling that These Are The End Times, we've managed to get involved with an open-call exhibition over in Sunny Scunny.

Amy showed a piece (origami map birds) at an open call there a couple of years ago.  Anyway we saw the ad a little late in these summer hols for another show, on the theme of the novel "Jack's Return Home", later retitled "Get Carter" after the film of the book.

For those that don't know it- the story (by the author Ted Lewis, native of Lincolnshire) follows a Northern gangster who's moved to London, but who returns home to investigate the strange death of his brother, starting a dark, escalating series of revenge attacks.  It's gritty, grim, and was turned into a really rather bleak but brilliant film starring Michael Caine.  Amy's dad used to live in Newcastle and gave her the grand tour of the filming locations, and in turn she did the same for me (Ben) when most of those locations were still standing in our Uni days.  So yeah, we're fans, so wanted to get involved with it.

The call was to design a new cover for the novel (either with the original or post-film title).  Amy went with stills from the film as a starting point of inspiration, then doing digitally-treated versions to create abstracts based on them, like the above.

Her design, a re-worked version of a scene from the end of the story.

I (Ben) naturally made a rod for my back, and did something a bit more involved that left me working right up to the deadline.  I had an image in my head, and after having taken a self-imposed break from model making for the last few weeks of the summer holiday, I found I wanted to do some work with miniatures.

A few years ago I made this scenic diorama, for the Artist Health and Safety/Observe to Preserve project.  With a different figure, I reckoned the view under the arch would frame a suitable picture of Newcastle nicely for a cover.

The figure I ended up using was a 1/32nd Britains farmer figure- not exactly Michael Caine, but with a bit of a repaint I think it works.

The problem is, it's been a while since we've been to Newcastle, so the only photographs I had to hand were from an inappropriately sunny and cheerful day a few years ago.  Also, given the city looks pretty run-down in the grim old days of the film, and that is not the image of central Newcastle today, I couldn't use almost all the shots as a backdrop.  Stupid economic recovery.

This view is a bit better, but not quite right for the angle I needed.

I ended up looking around elsewhere; this is Langley Green in the West Midlands, and though it looks like 1973 it's actually about 4 years ago...  If anything it looked better than this whilst I was growing up here in the 80's.

My first attempt- to start with I'd gone out at ungodly-early-o'clock in the morning to get a shot with it all, but even Keighley looked unsuitably pretty with all the greenery in the sunrise.  Eventually I settled on the slightly disreputable-looking road alongside the railway, but I couldn't get the focussing quite right.  In the end I shot some pics with it all except the figure, that I added in later- it at least allowed me to colour him and have the rest in moody monochrome.  I struggled a bit with the font- very 70's, but looks a bit cheesy.

Version two, with tower blocks in Keighley, and a rather better font in a less jolly colour.

Anyway, not that anyone who reads this is going to get chance to go to the show, as by the time it opens we'll probably be confined to sitting still in a kitchen cupboard for the duration of the plague, but for what it's worth, here's the thing: