'Twas the night before Christmas...

...and with nothing much on the telly I spent some time trying to take some arty shots of the tree. Father Christmas pops by to our house early on in the evening, so I was able to get a few shots of the tree complete with presents underneath.


The Christmas tree lights certainly create the right atmosphere - Merry Christmas everyone!

Garstang Victorian Christmas Market

It was a cold and dry winter's evening, perfect weather for a visit to Garstang's Victorian Christmas market. The market runs for two days every year with all the things you'd expect: Victorian costumes, a fairground organ, stilt walkers, mulled wine, plenty of hot food and a couple of visits from Father Christmas (curiously in a stylish 1920's open topped car, which wasn't my understanding of his normal method of transport at all - perhaps the sleigh was in for a pre-Christmas service?).

There were plenty of shops open and stalls selling a variety of things - home-made produce, Christmas decorations, scarves and woolly hats etc. Many of the shopkeepers were in Victorian costume and the local brass band played a selection of carols. All very festive!

We enjoyed a hog roast (you've got to eat, haven't you?) and came away with a selection of biscuits and other goodies which will be gone well before Christmas.

The only disappointment? - I didn't manage a single decent picture for my 100th blog post. The best I could do was this one of the brass band - and this only made it because of the comedy raindeer earmuffs:

A Christmas christening!

Carole and I had an enjoyable afternoon with Craig, Corrine and Caitlin together with all our friends whilst we celebrated baby Charles's christening.

It was nice to catch up with everyone again after the wedding last month, in good time to wish everyone a Merry Christmas too.

A Christmas Tree! A Christmas Tree!

A Christmas tree! A Christmas tree!
With dark green needled memories
Of childhood dreams and mysteries
Wrapped present-like in front of me.

A Christmas tree! A Christmas tree!
I glimpse a past wherein i see
The child that then grew into me
Not forward fast but haltingly.

A Christmas tree! A Christmas tree!
A time for being with family
A time that's gone so fleetingly
Yet lives for always deep in me.

A Christmas tree! A Christmas tree!
When twelfth night comes whole hauntingly
One lingered look and then i see
No Christmas tree where it would be.

A Christmas tree! A Christmas tree!
With feelings now felt longingly
No corner in my house to see
The magic of that Christmas tree.

David Keig

Sleepy Saturdays

Carole's been out for most of the day today Christmas shopping, so I've had the house to myself today with only Erin for company. It was one of those Saturdays where it was best to stay indoors rather than be outside and she has her favourite places to go for a snooze in the warmth. Whilst she was dozing she was happy to let me take her portrait for HSMSHS's SPS:


I couldn't leave it at just one picture - this shot also came out quite well:

A weekend in York

We've just returned from an enjoyable weekend away in York. Although the plan was for Christmas shopping, I did take my camera and a change of lens with me in the hope of getting some decent shots too.

However, Saturday was much too stressful with presents to buy, crowds of people in the way and too much fog, but by Sunday morning, with clear blue skies I had my chance...

Micklegate bar is a fine example of the city's gates, and because it faced south, it was arguably the most important. The upper parts of the tower date from the 1300s, but the lower section is from the 12th century. Several reigning monarchs have passed through this gate, and the severed heads of traitors were displayed above the gate, right up to the 1750s.

We were staying at a small hotel just up the road from Micklegate Bar and the walk into the centre was no more than 15 minutes or so. Despite the cold, the walk was pleasant enough, and it did allow us to spot a couple of places to eat in the evening.


This shot of York Minster was taken using my wide-angle lens and was partly inspired from an image on the front of a tourist's leaflet we'd picked up at the station. The picture on the leaflet was a collage of small photos which together made up an image of the Minster very much like the shot I'd captured.

The Minster is York's, if not the country's, most famous building. There's been a church on this site since 627AD, before the Vikings invaded, and the present building was constructed between 1220 and 1472. The Minster is in the Gothic style and dominates views across the city. It's size and beauty mean there's so much to photograph - I could happily have spent the afternoon there.





The Mansion House was built in the 1720s as a residence for the Lord Mayor fit for entertaining visiting dignatories. It was the first such building in the country, being ahead of London's Mansion House by 30 years.

The crowds of shoppers meant a clear view hadn't been easy all weekend, but before the light disappeared for good, I managed this shot of this impressive and distinguished building.

Ghost walks are popular in York, as with most historic cities these days, but as this last picture of Stonegate shows, the ghosts in York aren't camera shy!

These last two pictures were taken with the aid of a monopod, supported by a lamp-post. Although they're not perfectly sharp, the monopod was a good compromise between a tripod and the need to travel light. This last shot used an exposure time of around 4 seconds to create the ghostly effect.

Scottish

'Scottish' was a prompt earlier in the week on HSMSHS and I'd looked everywhere for a suitable subject. Eventually an idea came together when I noticed that St Andrew's day was just around the corner - what could be more Scottish than that?

English

Following yesterday's posting my patriotic and cultural enthusiasm has been further stimulated today after seeing today's word on HSMSHS - English. So much so that it's pursuaded me to dip my toe so to speak in the pond of HSMSHS for the very first time and give it a wiggle.

Picking out the word from a book might be considered a cop-out, but at least I've picked it from the English dictionary, the idea of a dictionary itself being a peculiarly English creation.

The dictionary was old and the pages are yellowing, but this adds a little character to the shot for me. Hope you like it!

Lancashire Day

"Know ye that this day, November 27th in the year of our Lord 2008, the 57th year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Duke of Lancaster, is Lancashire Day.

Know ye also, and rejoice that, by virtue of Her Majesty's County Palatine of Lancaster, the citizens of the Hundreds of Lonsdale, North and South of the Sands, Amounderness, Leyland, Blackburn, Salford and West Derby are forever entitled to style themselves Lancastrians.

Throughout the County Palatine, from the Furness Fells to the River Mersey, from the Irish Sea to the Pennines, this day shall ever mark the people's pleasure in that excellent distinction – true Lancastrians, proud of the Red Rose and loyal to our Sovereign Duke.

God Bless Lancashire and God save the Queen, Duke of Lancaster."
Lancashire Day proclamation

The proclamation above is read out by town criers across the county palatine each year on 27th November to celebrate Lancashire Day. On this day in 1295 King Edward I summoned representatives from Lancashire to attend what became known as 'the model parliament' in Westminster.

The Queen, through the Duchy of Lancaster, still exercises the rights of the Crown across the county palatine, which means property of anyone dying intestate within the boundaries of the traditional county utimately becomes Crown property if no other legal ownership can be established. So isn't it daft to see 'Welcome to Lancashire' signs when travelling across the middle of the county?

The Friends of Real Lancashire are a well supported group who promotes the true identity of the county and publicises and promotes the use of the true county boundaries, especially in the media and public bodies. If you consider yourself a proud Lancastrian then why not lend them your support?

Rest & Recuperation

Twelve months ago I had to visit the hospital on dentist's orders to let them look at a tooth which was crooked and impacting against others. My dentist didn't fancy the job of taking it out but as it turned out neither were the hospital, who didn't seem to be all that interested one way or the other.

Fast forward twelve months to another appointment at the hospital to have it checked again. This time, not so lucky - the consensus was that it had to be removed, and after checking the x-ray, there was a wisdom tooth which needed to come out too. Great.

Then things started to happen quickly - I was booked in for a pre-op check the following weeek and the operation would happen as early as the week after. The days flew by and before I knew it I was sat in the waiting room at the day surgery.

Sparing the detail, it wasn't long before I was coming round after the op, lighter by two teeth. Since then it's been a diet of soup, soup and more soup coupled with sleep-inducing anti-inflammatories and painkillers. Hopefully the numb jaw will mend in a couple of days so that things can get back to normal.

In the meantime, I'm still waiting for the tooth fairy (who must have been affected by the credit crunch), but at least I have some company during the day as the picture shows.

Happy Birthday Jean

Jean celebrated her 65th on Friday having received a special message and kiss earlier in the week from Michael Ball, her biggest fan. Kevan had emailed Radio 2 and had arranged for Michael to make a special mention of Jean during his Sunday morning show. Honestly, it's like having a teenager in the family!

I've no pictures of Michael Ball (and aren't looking for any either), so instead here's a snap of Jean and daughter taken whilst out for Sunday lunch earlier today.

Happy birthday Jean!

Jam & Jerusalem - the result of the photo competition

The other big event of the weekend was the announcement of the result of the famous (or should that be infamous) photograph competition themed on 'Jam and Jerusalem'.

The competition was fierce, especially between Wibs and I, who each submitted something like twenty pictures that gradually became more tenuous as the deadline approached. As the ideas kept on coming, each one more abstract than the last, the big question was who would get the upper hand?

I tried to gain a late advantage by submitting a couple after the deadline (I did get permission!) and the 'no stock photos' rule was pushed to the limit. The tension rose as the results day, the eve of the wedding, loomed. But then Ruth and Ken, who had worked tirelessly on a 'Take Hart' style gallery for all the entries, suddenly found themselves in a jam of their own and the big announcement was postponed. All the main protaganists could do was finish the evening off in the billiard room where the beery eyes and wobbly cues proved a great leveller (you'll guess that I didn't win, which caused much mirth).

So we waited until breakfast on the morning after the wedding to find out who would walk away with the prize. Who would it be? Wibs, who'd initially taken some decent, if strangely abstract pictures of some strawberrys attacked in a frenzy of pins, but then in desperation had plumbed the depths of dressing his pet dog in jewish garb? Or me, with a number of intelligently considered, quality efforts as highlighted recently on this blog??

In the event, despite us both making the final shortlist of four, we were both upstaged by the distinctly non-photographic Steve, who in typical style waited until near the deadline, then submitted just the one photo, sat back and claimed the glory. The 'Calendar Girl' theme, where Claire was in all her glory too helped of course...

Being such a risque picture, I thought I'd better check first with the model before showing it here, so watch this space!

Update 2/12: Claire's obviously unaware of the vast readership of this blog and has consented, so here is the winning picture:

Fabulous fascinator

The theme for the wedding was dinner suits and fabulous fascinators (though not worn together at the same time by the same person).

In between snapping the guests, there was time for us to be snapped too - doesn't Carole look great?

Julie and Stewart

What a fantastic weekend at Armathwaite Hall! Congratulations to Julie and Stewart, who tied the knot in style!


I was honoured to be asked to take some 'semi-official' photos of the guests - hopefully I've done you both proud, it'll just take a while to go through all 300 of them.

In between snaps of the guests, I did find the time to take some shots of the bride and groom too...

Scrabbling for ideas...

The ideas for the Jam & Jerusalem competition are starting to dry up, but with Wibs still posting plenty of pictures I need to think creatively and carry on. The deadline's almost here, but there's time for one last effort, quite literally the words being the subject matter here:



To see all my entries, click this link to see my Iain's Flickr page.
Or to see the whole competition, click this link intead: Jam & Jerusalem competition

Dark satanic mills

My latest efforts on the Jam & Jerusalem theme for the competition have been around the well known hymn, which apparently (I didn't realise this) was originally a poem about an apocryphal story of Jesus coming to Britain whilst still a boy. He supposedly visited Glastonbury Tor (though I guess not for the festival), and this is the 'mountain' referred to in the opening lines: "And did those feet... ...walk upon England's mountains green?"

Anyway, the hymn gives rise to several potential Jerusalem-themed pictures, and here are a selection (some of these were taken whilst in the Lakes a couple of weeks ago):

"And did those feet in ancient time walk upon England's mountains green?":



"Among those dark satanic mills":



"In England's green and pleasant land":

Jam and Jerusalem on the map

I'm starting to think more laterally now for the Jam & Jerusalem competition. My latest entries are based on the places - Jerusalem is obvious, but my 'jam' is the caribbean island of Jamaica!

Here are the two locations on the map:



And this was a still life shot I took using some holiday brochures I picked up from some local travel agents:



So far so good... but I haven't finished yet!

Jam, jerusalem artichokes and a pack of modelling clay...

Sometimes things just become so bizarre it just gets silly.

In honour of Julie's wedding to Stewart, a photo competition has been organised amongst all their friends on the theme of... "Jam & Jerusalem" (apparently making jam has become a hobby of Stewart since they moved to their farm in the Lakes).

Hmmm, not easy. Not, that is until you start thinking laterally...

So here I am, camera primed on tripod, lights in position, taking photos of Jerusalem artichokes containing faces made out of plasticine in a variety of poses which tenuously relate to jam in some way.

First of all the boring one - a still life of Jerusalem artichokes (not the most handsome of veg):

Then one said vegetable gained a character and found himself in a jam:

... and - even sillier - how about this: 'Jammin' Jerusalem:


Whatever next? (watch this space)...

Surprise 'hen afternoon' for Julie

Carole took the day off today to meet up with the rest of the girls, the plan being to surprise bride-to-be Julie with a fun afternoon of girly gossip and pink cakes & champagne (well that's about all I found out anyway).

The wedding is fast approaching now and Julie's excitement levels (or should that say stress levels) are nearing fever pitch... so she certainly appreciated the efforts of all her friends to make a fuss of her, and all in secret too!

All good things come to an end

It's the final day of our holiday and time to show where we've been staying. Thornthwaite is a little village just off the A66 near to the bottom end of Bassenthwaite Lake. This is good mountain country, with Skiddaw looking over the lake from the opposite bank, and plenty of exhilerating walks on the doorstep if only the weather could be guaranteed. Our guesthouse, Jenkins Hill, is small and friendly, serving good food (Carole says especially the puddings) and in a tranquil setting. Our room overlooked the front garden, where the birds seemed to be fed as well as we were.

The last day of our holiday was set to be the nicest day of the week, with lots of blue sky and sunshine. A few weeks before our holiday we'd arranged that on one of the better days, Mum and Dad would join us for a not-too-strenuous walk, so today was it!

We did the same thing last year when we took Mum and Dad to Grange in Borrowdale, where we strolled about 2½ miles around the broad flat valley near to the river and the lakeshore of Derwentwater. This time we'd planned to meet up in Grasmere (where there's plenty of teashops), and follow an oft-visited route around Grasmere lake then over to Rydal Water, about 3½ miles. This would be far enough to walk so the plan was to pick up the open-topped bus back to Grasmere village. See Grasmere and Rydal Water in my Walking Blog for details of the route.

Mum and Dad had brought friends Ian and Sue along too. Ian and Dad were both former scout leaders who had organised several summer camps in the Lakes in the past, one of which was just down the road from today's walk at High Close.

Ian points out the view over Grasmere

With the weather fair the view across both lakes were tremendous and ideal for photographs, meaning that progress was slow.

Eventally we made it to the far side of the lake, where an outcrop of rocks on the 'beach' made for an ideal spot for lunch and a group photograph.

After lunch we continued on to Rydal Water and eventually the main road. The open-topped bus service runs every 20 minutes throughout the summer and a bus soon arrived take us back to Grasmere the easy way. Unfortunately the fare isn't cheap (especially if you've forgotton your pass) and the experience of wind in the hair wasn't everyone's cup of tea.

Talking of cups of tea, that was of course our first stop once back in the village.

Walla fantastic walk!

What a difference a day makes! The weather was set to be much drier today, with just the chance of catching a heavy shower later on. Although by now my plans of tackling some of the bigger fells (Crinkle Crags and Bowfell) had been shelved, I did want to take advantage of the better conditions to at least bag one of the lesser fells, where the views would be no less stunning. The others had planned to have the day off from walking, but when Kevan heard I was heading for Walla Crag, he was persuaded to leave the ladies to their shopping and join me.

Walla Crag is a popular walk, being easily achievable from the centre of Keswick in half a day. The climb is by and large quite gentle and the route straightforward (see Walla Crag entry in my Walking Blog for full details). Before the main climb, a short diversion (which is only a ten minute walk from the Borrowdale Road) leads to Castlehead viewpoint, a magnificent panorama across Derwentwater and the Borrowdale valley. This is really quite spectacular and is something every visitor to Keswick should make the effort to see.

Walla Crag itself is a modest height (Wainwright says it's the easiest fell to remember the height of provided you can count to four (1234'), although modern maps quote a spot height which is slightly higher), but the views are even better than Castlehead, with more mountains in view across the lake, and Bassenthwaite and Skiddaw now completing the picture.

The popular route down from the top is very steep, and we preferred a longer option which took in a third iconic viewpoint: Ashness Bridge. This is the view which appears on postcards and packets of biscuits throughout the Lakes. From here we completed our descent down to the lake shore and headed back to Keswick.

The ups and downs of walking...

The weather forecast was much improved today: the rain would stop periodically instead of being incessant! OK, it wasn't quite so bad - we expected to stay dry until after lunch, when we might get caught in one or two showers. With this in mind, we decided to head down to the western shores of Lake Windermere to a part of the Lakes we'd not visited before. All things being well, we'd be in amongst the forested hillside above the lake by the time the rain came, and hopefully this would give us some shelter.

Today's walk (see Claife Heights and the Sawreys) started from the car park near the ferry crossing point, near to Far Sawrey and not far from Near Sawrey either. Near Sawrey is farther than Far Sawrey although by the time you saw Near Sawrey, Far Sawrey was farther and no longer nearer. Glad that's sorted out!

Near Sawrey is better known as the home of Beatrix Potter, and Hill Top farm is close to the road near the centre of the village. Even on an overcast day in October, there were still plenty of people wanting a closer look, and as the entance charge isn't cheap we decided not to bother.

The gentle climb from Near Sawrey took us to Moss Eccles Tarn, which is a picturesque spot for lunch, well it would have been if the rain has caught us up. And unfortunately there wasn't much shelter so we had to grin and bear it.

Eventually we made it to the woods, but although this sheltered us from the worst of the rain, unfortunately the rain made the rocky ground incredibly slippy (particularly for me and Kevan) and this, together with the overgrown trees and roots that were constantly in the way, made progress very slow. The three miles or so back to the start felt more like six, and the last stretch downhill to the car was both trecherous and very, very steep. On a nicer day I'm sure it would have been much easier, but on a poor day this turned out not to be one of our favourite walks.

Carlisle Cathedral

During a week in the Lakes, you can always expect some poor weather, but the forecast today couldn't be wetter and there's no fun being out on the fells in those conditions. So, instead we decided to head north-east to Carlisle to do some shopping and have a look round.

The Cathedral is worth a visit and for a pound they'll give you a permit to take photographs on a non-commercial basis (so don't send me any money for this post). The stained glass windows were worth a few shots, although judging the exposure is very tricky. Unfortunately I didn't have a tripod with me but even so I was happy with the results.

Looking up, the vaulted ceiling looked spectacular, and I managed to capture all of it through a wide-angle lens. Although these weren't the sort of pictures I'd expected to take during the week, the visit to the Cathedral proved a fascinating alternative.

A theft and a Sale

For our stay in the Lakes, we'd chosen a guest house in Thornthwaite, a small village close to Bassenthwaite Lake, about 4 miles outside of Keswick. The house was set in its own grounds in a quiet location and, as it only had two guest rooms, we had the place to ourselves.

Early indications on the food were very positive, and the couple who own the house were pleasant, both with a sense of humour. So much so, that when the phone rang during breakfast, we didn't take them seriously when they told us it was a neighbour. Unfortunately it quickly became apparent that the caller was Carole's parents' neighbour, ringing to tell us of a break-in in their shed. Could you believe it?

The only damage reported was to the lock, but although arrangements were initially made to get the lock repaired, Kevan was uneasy about leaving things like this and decided to go home to see to things for himself. That left the three of us to head for the hills decidedly downbeat.

We'd planned a walk to the top of Sale Fell, which overlooks the top of Bassenthwaite Lake and is a prominent landmark, particularly when heading from Cockermouth towards Keswick on the main road.

We had our waterproofs with us as the weather forecast was poor, and it wasn't long before the rain arrived. On a nice day, and in better circumstances, it would have been a nice walk, but the conditions turned against us and the breeze was picking up by the time we reached the top - but at least we made it.

The quickest way down was straight on down a steepish slope through ferns, which wasn't ideal, but before long we were back in the car, dry and ready for lunch.

By the time we got back to the B&B, Kevan was already back and able to report no serious damage, although a handful of gardening tools had unfortunately disappeared. Not the sort of day we'd planned but it turned out better than it could have done, and the unusual Dutch apple pudding we enjoyed for dessert helped to improve the spirits.

A week of walking in the Lakes...

After a rare gloriously sunny week, Carole and I headed to the Lake District where we would meet up with Carole's parents Jean and Kevan for a week's walking holiday, hoping that the weather would hold. The first day was promising and with warm sunshine on our backs, we decided to take a stroll around the picturesque Newlands valley (see the Newlands post on my walking blog for the route we took).

The weather stayed in our favour for the rest of the day, but looking at the forecast for the rest of the week, we were going to need our waterproofs...

The ISTC at Eastwood Hall

The Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators isn't perhaps all that well known, neither is the profession of technical communicting, but it is, in a broad sense, related to what I do for a living and I was fortunate enough to be able to visit their conference this week in Nottingham.

Technical Communicators are the people who write instruction manuals or user guides for anything and everything: from cameras and mobile phones through to submarines and aircraft. They also write online help for software applications as well as procedure manuals for companies who want to document their processes.

The event was well organised and the venue was superb - the food was fantastic and the grounds looked like they belonged to an exclusive golf course.

I came away with lots of notes from the various presentations but also, unfortunately, a nasty cold too. Such is life.

Gaining a pound of flesh at the Octagon

Being cultured and all that, we sometimes venture out to the local theatre whenever one of their productions catches our eye. The Octagon in Bolton, which dates from the late 1960s, is a compact theatre whithout a stage as such, just an open space surrounded on three sides by the audience. Those on the front row are virtually part of the performance. We've seen a number of plays there over the years and always enjoy visiting.

We'd seen that the Octagon was hosting a production of Shakespeare's 'The Merchant of Venice', which was the play I'd read at school for my English Literature O-level. Despite several years passing since those days, I did recollect the main jist of the plot and was looking forward to seeing it live, something the school never arranged all those years ago.

Beforehand, we decided to try out the theatre restaurant, which served excellent food in big portions at reasonable prices. The lemon meringue pie in particular was absolutely enourmous!

This was my first visit to a Shakespeare play and I was immediately surprised by the bleakness of the set, which looked like slabs of stone. The production stayed with the original script, but added a modern twist with the cast wearing up to date clothes and communicating by mobile phone. Although this would have upset traditionalists, I felt it added an extra dimension to the play, as it helped illustrate that the key themes of the play are still relevant to our time.

Although the Jewish Shylock is portrayed and treated as the villain, by the end of the play you can't help having sympathy for him as he loses everything and even has his religion taken away from him, all because of his desire for his 'pound of flesh'.

If he'd eaten in the theatre restaurant beforehand he'd have gained his extra pound without any of the hassle!

Dad's birthday: R-1 and counting.

The family met up today for Sunday lunch to celebrate Dad's birthday. Not a particularly special birthday this time, although it is the one Lennon and McCartney sang about, which means the next one will be much more of an occasion!

The Horns Inn often puts up with us when we want to eat out and today was no exception - fine food once again at a highly recommended country pub.

Later we returned to Mum and Dads, where he got to blow out the candle on a special chocolate birthday cake Carole had made. It's just as well we didn't put the other 63 on!

Enjoy at the Lowry

Not content with a night out in Manchester on Friday, we returned to the metropolis again on Saturday to do a little shopping and then head for Salford to take in a play at the theatre.

Enjoy is a rarely performed Alan Bennett play set in the early '80s. Although the reviews were mixed, we thoroughly enjoyed the comedy even though Bennett mixes the laughter with a dark portrayal of society. Bennett's council surveillance officers share comparisons with modern day Big Brother, and he explores other topics such as slum clearance, the generation gap, community upheaval and even theme parks, together with porno magazines, cross dressing and the oldest profession, but all in a fairly inoffensive and humourous way. Alison Steadman and David Troughton were the two well-known names in the play, and both gave entertaining performances.

Above the Clouds...

Cocktails in Cloud 23 were the order of the day as we ventured out in the rain and wind for an evening out in Manchester last night.

The weather had been so bad we did wonder if we would actually be in the clouds, on the 23rd floor of the new(ish) Beetham Tower in the centre of town. As it turned out, the stormy skies brought their own touch of drama to the fascinating views.




Update 7/9

Okay, okay, I get the message. Just to prove I was there too, here's the same photo as taken by one of the waitresses, which includes yours truly.

The cocktail? Apparently it's their take on a marghuerita called 'The Hac', which pronounced the way I said it make it sound like a throat sweet. However any true Mancunian would have known that it was pronounced 'Hass', as in 'Hacienda'.

Still, what do I know?

Of course the view from the bar is the main reasons why people want to visit. Although the weather was lousy (it's Manchester after all), I was able to piece together this panorama looking North across the city centre.