a Strong Woman - # 100/2011

...........a "feminist" term that seems to be increasingly popular these days.  I've nothing whatsoever against "strong women", but I sometimes find the term a bit annoying.

Anyway, here's a good metaphor for a really "strong woman". It's a massive and immensely strong, traditionally built wooden "clinker hull" fishing boat; on the beach at Hastings, alongside the old bulldover used to push it down to the water and haul it out again when it comes home. 

Hastings is the home of a very large beach-launched traditional-style fishing fleet that works the English Channel and catches fish in a sustainable and ecologically sound way. That's also a popular term these days, but it certainly does not annoy me! 

End of the day - end of the line - # 99/2011

At the end of a long sunny day at Hastings I came to the west end of the beach where the town has petered out and things seem to get a bit less busy.  I found a few enthusiasts' fishing boats and this line of huts. (Heaven knows what the huge shed behind them is for - actually I never noticed it, I was so engrossed by the huts and the boats! Strange but true!).


I can't explain why I like this scene. I just do. It might have something to do with the quietness and the "end of the line" atmosphere. I don't know.

Little Venice - # 98/2011

Before the railway age great canals were built to carry goods from the industrial midlands and the farm lands into London.  The Grand Union canal entered the Thames at Brentford near Richmond, but a spur was built to travel around the northern edge (it is no longer "the edge") of London to connect with the docks and the canals serving the eastern side of England.  Here at "Little Venice", close to Paddington Station, in West London the Grand Union met the Regent's Canal and a Y shaped basin was created. This is a delightful spot in the Capital. It's a "must see" for any tourist or even resident.

On the mud at Margate - # 91/2011

The tide's going out and the fishing boat is resting on the mud at Margate Harbour.  As you can see the usual brisk north-easterly wind is livening things up.  These old seaside towns like Margate once had great charm, but air-travel and sunseeking abroad have brought them to their knees and they now struggle, and cope with dereliction, trying to find a way to revive themselves.

The skeleton - # 86/2011

A somewhat quirky image, and probably not your normal "City Daily Photo", but the shape and startling skeletal form of the broken wheel house on a derelict fishing vessel at Dungeness seemed worth a photo and some B&W treatment.  

Lurid Dungeness - # 84/2011

I think I overdid the tweak on the polarizing filter, but the startling effect on the sky doesn't spoil the atmosphere. We still get the essence of a typical Dungeness scene, with the derelict and the active, the old and the modern all functioning nicely together, and the wet and the terribly dry being baked under broad skies.

Dungeness derelict - # 81/2011

Dungeness: a huge desert of shingle on the south coast of England, so large it's clearly visible from space.  Look it up. It's a site of special scientific interest, a bird sanctuary, a Ministry of Defence live firing range, a strange community of artists and fishermen, the site of a nuclear power station and great for weird photography.  The day I went, the sun was hot, the sea breeze was strong and fresh......

Broad Blue - # 74/2011

A day out on the South Coast.  We are at Seaford looking due South across the English Channel. The con-trails, narrow and fresh, or wide and decaying are numerous and show that this is major crossing point for giant airliners flitting across the world. The wide angle lens does justice to the sense of fresh air and the concept of the wide, wide world across the sea.  The scene looks outward - a healthy state to be in.

Lunch time colour - # 70/2011

Enlarge it.  You can actually count the little half moon bites in the sandwich.

Saturated colour - # 69/2011

We're back in Richmond.  Who says the UK doesn't "do" colour?

The seat with a Grand Stand view - # 64/10

It's that time of year again when the high tides come and the banks are flooded.  Before long someone will (as usual) park his car, not bother to read the warning sign, and return to find the car waist-high in water, or even half submered and floating away.  This frequently happens to the bright spark who thinks that by parking really close to the river he can avoid the "No Parking" yellow line restrictions......an expensive way to avoid paying 50p.

Boating snaps - V - # 60/10

Isn't this just the subject for one of those "What is she saying?" contests?


This is the last of our series of happy boating scenes.  There seems to be little doubt that this outing is going well.

Boating snaps - IV - # 59/10

White water: dark glasses.  A bit fuzzy (the boat was moving fast), but I was immediately attracted to the contrast between the dark glasses and the bow wave.  I felt that everything came together to make a package that is "well cool" even "wicked". Doesn't the vernacular move fast!

Boating snaps - III - # 58/10

From ladies who chat to ladies who chat and smoke. The colour version actually has a nice blue plume visible but on balance I preferred the B&W version.

Boating snaps - II - # 57/10

From boating chaps to boating ladies all in one mighty bound!  Given the fashion for proposing enforced retirement at 70 rather than 60-65, one wonders where things will all end up.  As usual, the chaps are just "playing at being pilot and engineer", while the ladies just let them get on with it and focus on important things.

Boats for Hire - # 09/71

This week-end "the Season" begins in earnest. The Cricket, the Flat-Racing, the Tennis, the Open-Air Concerts, the Rowing Regattas, the Sailing, the Strawberries on the Lawn, the Broad-Brimmed Frilly Hats, "Sell in May and Go Away".

Boats ready and waiting down by Richmond Bridge, resting in the sunshine.

Getting ready for the Summer Season - # 08/66

Friday was brilliant......18 degrees, pure sunlight. Richmond was buzzing in town and along the riverside. The boatmen were hard at work getting ready for the season.

Anything down there? - # 08/15

As you can guess, I was focussing on the coot and the mud and the outboard engine.

The coot is having a happy time forageing. I was greatly enjoying the mud and the muddle and the muckiness. This muddle and muck is what makes these places so charming and interesting. (Sorry if you find spelling mistakes. The spell-checker has stopped working and I'm too lazy to get out the OED).