ABOUT ME

I live in a camper van with a West Highland Terrier for company.
My passion is creating images but it is a work in progress.
I am always willing to share what knowledge I have and can be contacted through the comments on this post or e-mail ADRIAN
ALL IMAGES WILL ENLARGE WITH A LEFT CLICK

Thursday 28 February 2013

BACK TO NORMAL. (28/02/13)

I woke this morning to a waning moon and a sky full of stars. I should have put another couple of layers on prior to my trip to the shower block. Minus ever such a lot it was.  Clear skies and normal. Great!

I had medium to cool ablutions went back to the van, got the dogs harnessed up and with the chest harness toddled off to the sea with Bertha clattering around my knees.

30th January 2013 G12 003es_edited-1                                               This handsome chap is me with Bertha…Fill flash, soft box the works. I’m happy, I look pretty….. The shot was taken by KEITH a month ago whilst I was down advising on all matters ornithological. I told both he and Trevor if it has feathers it’s a bird. I’m not daft!

I arrived at the seaside and settled the dogs behind the fishing boat. Plenty of birds around, as usual, they were miles away but they would come closer.

_V0G5583_edited-1      As close as they got……..I suffered over half an hour of serious sunshine and brass monkey weather. Sunburn on my bald pate and my nether regions reduced to a fraction of their former glory. The boat people arrived.

_V0G5595_edited-1    I gave up and retraced my steps to feed the dogs and breakfast. Bertha takes a nice enough shot of boat folk. Just as well…. damn nigh cripples me carrying it. Ice under foot doesn’t help….were I to slip slidey over then not only would Bertha suffer but I could be crushed.

I decided to go and look at the biggest port on the Cumbrian coast, Cumbrian Riviera I meant. It was built ages ago. It is better than Millom but not by much.

_V0G5596_edited-1      This is Ravenglass station. The journey time to Whitehaven is about half an hour and the fare is £5.60p return on any train, the ticket is purchased on the train……no messing about…..dogs go free….Cheap. Why does it cost a hundred pounds or more Sheffield to London? Why don’t London trains go to airports? It only takes twice as long and a bit as this. I can only think it is MPs inflating their expenses yet again. It is cheaper for me to fly than go by train from the north of England to take advantage of cheap London flights. Probably would be here but neither Ravenglass nor Whitehaven have airports and anyway airlines can be funny about dogs. It is a wonderful system one tells the guard if you want to hop off at halts along the permanent way and he gives the driver the nod to stop. A proper service and the train was fullish so it is appreciated. Thank you Northern Rail. Alf was excited and stank the carriage out but all was well, I blamed his putrid flatulence on the Collie two seats in front.  His owner said Bob give up with the farting.! We’ll soon be there. Bob did not look happy.

_V0G5597_8_9_tonemapped_edited-1       It is a big port…..Built to provide a safe haven for fishing boats and for merchant vessels shifting coal. It’s massive but redundant.

_V0G5606_7_8_tonemapped_edited-1This is what the EEC used to spend money on….a posh bandstand.

_V0G5609_10_11_tonemapped_edited-1   This man does deserve a mention. John Paul Jones the only American to invade England. Here he is depicted spiking the battery gun in Whitehaven. They forgave him and gave him the freedom of the town. I suspect they put his behaviour down to a quaint colonial custom.

_V0G5612_edited-1 Another memorial. To the miners. The inscription reads ‘The End Of An Era’. Thanks Thatcher!  I doubt she will ever be forgiven. The sculpture is surrounded by street lights and notice boards so is difficult to snap. I missed the bright blue sign…..That just gives information on parking charges…..I thought the machine that gives tickets did that but what the hell! Signs are big business about the only business round here.

_V0G5615_6_7_fused_edited-1       The outer harbour.

_V0G5618_19_20_fused_edited-1           The inner harbour wall. It is a good place and worth a visit but like so much of the UK it needs to be seen on a sunny day.

That’s it for today……I’ll see what tomorrow brings. Like it or not so will you.

31 comments:

  1. Hi Adrian...You have got to give up those cigarettes if your going to carry Bertha around that thing will kill you if the smokes don't first ; )!!
    My good lord man that is a huge Canon, much like the canon in your photos ..perhaps a wooden wheeled wagon would help you out!!
    Some great shot's love the first port photo!!
    I want a train ride ..not many to be had around these days...if I do I will be looking for you, and Alf if I smell something putrid! ; )
    Grace
    PS you look better with a beard! : )

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    1. Grace, Bertha won't kill me and I have smoked all my life. It's not big and clever but I enjoy it. If I need treatment for it then fags are taxed at about 200% so i have paid for the treatment. Rather than go for help from the health service I would rather die. the daft buggers spend fortunes keeping folk alive in misery.
      Train rides and bus rides are always good.
      I always have a beard it just varies in lenght. I'll get a new AVATOR sorted.

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  2. I’m worried about your nether regions if you insist on going out in brass monkey weather.

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    1. Friko, I go out no matter the weather.
      My nether regions are back to normal. it only takes a nubile lass to climb on the train.

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  3. Looking at that first picture, I'm getting serious lens envy; or something.
    Good to know that I'm not the only one with a flatulence problem; but I can't blame it on trains.
    I like that last shot.

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  4. That's a pretty camera. I hope there are warmer days ahead, for both of us! Here we are still buried in snow.

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  5. A waning gibbous moon no less. It's so long since I was in Ravenglass that it was still a mining port. I used to travel on the train from Llangollen to Corwen and get off at the stop at Glyndyfrdwy. It was a steam train. I'm not sure I ever saw anyone else on it. Beeching put an end to it. It's my morning for imparting irrelevant information.

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    1. Graham, it is now a marina....such a waste really.

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  6. Wonderful to see Adrian... I go to Cumbria all the time to climb the hills but don't know the coast apart from Maryport to Silloth. Must do a few more visits.

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    1. It is not the best stretch of coast in the UK Andrew.

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  7. Wow, that big Bertha is real big. I didn't think it was as big as it is. I'm amazed it is only 400mm. The main thing is that it does the job you want it to. I can tell you one thing, with big Bertha around your neck, you look like one heck of a pro photographer. Have fun, you should get a back pack for big Bertha. Will make it a little easier on your neck.

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    1. Horst, It is a monster. If I am going any distance then I put it in a rucksack.

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  8. One of these days we're going to see bird pictures from big Berth. The train ride and harbor tour are interesting. It's funny they left an old harbor like this.

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    1. Red, When they closed the coal mines there was no use for the harbour.

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  9. I've noted on several posts about birds being to far away, something we all suffer, but if thats the 400mm f2,8 you can bolt on either a 1.4 or x2 converter and not suffer any real drop in image quality. Whats going on with the boat in the last image?

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    1. Douglas, I have a 2x Converter. I'll take it out next time.

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  10. Love the first picture Adrian, and one that wouldn't be lost on the front cover of Playgirl! You have a good life, do you need a gardener by any chance?

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    1. Not so much as a window box here Gary....I sometimes have a herb pot on the go.

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  11. The first pic is noticable, the gentleman with a camera and a fag hanging from his gob. Nice one Keith. The rest of them are really great, the station, down by the seaside and two miners, great photos.

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  12. In the 1st photo.............Thats what i call being well hung.



    peter

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    1. Peter frightened me to death. I had to go and check that my wardrobe hadn't malfunctioned.

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  13. Gosh, I wouldn't be able to stand upright with that thing around my neck, not to mention trying to take photos with it... I've got enough trouble just balancing my own head! :) Better keep to my pocket-size camera! You got some nice shots here though!

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    1. Monica, it is a weight....Two or three miles is plenty far enough to lug it.

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  14. I would feel ever so self concious walking around with a dangler as big as Bertha.

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    1. John, what is this walking? Staggering and crawling bets describes my progress.

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  15. That's one serious lens Adrian!! That gear is serious business. The cig just adds character:) How do you carry something like this without breaking your back?? Gorgeous lens! I can only imagine the shutterspeed!

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  16. Chris, it is a 400mm f2.8. It is heavy but manageable for a mile or two. Any further then I put it in a rucksack and take a tripod as well

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  17. Nice shots of Whitehaven Harbour, they've done it up in recent years, compensates for the rest of the town centre. I agree with you with Northern Rail, it works like northerners !, however there can't be many trains to choose from to do a day return.

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  18. Jay, there is an hourly service but not on Sunday. Sunday is nuclear day on the railway.

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