A small, selfie me, trapped in one of the spherical water features in Sheffield’s Millennium Square.
Holga 120N & Kodak Tmax 400.
Taken on 10 January 2020
Category: Film photography
Wellington’s Monument
Stood right beside the twisty oak woodland that I featured yesterday stands Wellington’s Monument. This stone cross features the dedication: “Wellington, Born 1769, Died 1852. Erected 1866 by E.M. Wrench, late 34th Reg’ment” and commemorates Wellington’s victory at the Battle of Waterloo. The cross is visible atop the hillside from the A621 Sheffield Road which passes to the east at the bottom of the valley. Across the valley on Birchen Edge stands another monument, this one dedicated to Admiral Lord Nelson.
Olympus OM-1, F.Zuiko 50mm f/1.8 | Zuiko 28mm f/3.g & Ilford Delta 400.
Taken on 4 January 2020
Tangled
A maze of beautiful twisted oaks just below Wellington’s Monument on Baslow Edge. I don’t think I’ve got the best composition here – I’m not sure about the grassy area at lower left – but it’s a location not too far away, so plenty of chance for me to get a better shot in future.
Olympus OM-1, F.Zuiko 50mm f/1.8 & Ilford Delta 400.
Taken on 4 January 2020
Abandoned hay
Taken shortly before the photo of the cow that I posted a few days ago, this is farmland near Whiston, South Yorkshire, UK.
I liked the muddy field entrance leading into the shot and the brow of the hill giving the impression that the land goes on for miles (Spoiler alert! It doesn’t – there’s a motorway not far beyond the ridge – sorry to spoil the illusion :)).
There are a lot of farms with haystacks and haybales still in the fields this year, slowly rotting away through the autumn and winter. I can only assume that they were caught in rain before the farmers had chance to wrap them or get them into dry barns. I’ve seen some that have actually grown a fresh green grassy hairstyle!
Zeiss Mess-Ikonta 524/16 & Ilford HP5+.
Taken on 23 December 2019
The Anvil Stone
I present to you today a couple of pictures of the “Anvil Stone” which sits atop Baslow Edge overlooking the Derwent Valley. I’m not sure if it’s name is official, or one of those things that has just fallen into common usage but you can certainly see how it gets the name.
It was blowing a gale when I first arrived, the wind swooping up the valley sides and buffeting anything close to the edge, so I took care where I stood atop the crags. It’s not a sheer drop along most of the edge (although surely high enough to be potentially fatal in a number of places), but it wouldn’t take that big a fall to sprain an ankle or break a limb or two (or smash delicate cameras!) if you were not to take care.
I entitled this second shot “Jawas” on Flickr as I found the shape of the rock form this angle to be evocative of the Sandcrawler vehicles they use on Tattooine. 🙂
Olympus OM-1, F.Zuiko 50mm f/1.8 & Ilford Delta 400.
Taken on 4 January 2020
Looking down towards Sheffield
This is the view from the edge of Lady Canning’s Plantation looking back towards Sheffield city centre, which lies around 4.5 miles away. It’s a nice illustration of how close you are to rolling countryside just a hop and a skip from town. The large block of a building that sits to the left of the image is the Royal Hallamshire Hospital.
I think I botched the exposure somewhat as the shadowy area of the wall is showing significant grain. I love my OM-1, but it’s relatively simple metering can sometimes fool me into picking the wrong shutter speed / aperture combo.
Olympus OM-1, Zuiko 28mm f/3.5 & Ilford Delta 400.
Taken on 30 December 2019
Muddy cow
This was, I think, the last photograph I took before Christmas. It’s certianly the final shot from the roll of HP5 that I shot on the 23rd December. After making most of the pictures near Meadowhall and the nearby M1, I decided to drive home on a circuitous route to see if there was anything I could use the remaining few frames on. After taking a landscape shot of some haybales, I came across a farm I’ve never driven past before which had a wonderful (and very muddy) farmyard right beside the road, where a herd of cows were feeding and taking shelter. This photo is one of two I took.
The farm has a shop and I bought myself a very tasty black-pudding sausage roll for my lunch while I was there too.
Zeiss Mess-Ikonta 524/16 & Ilford HP5+.
Taken on 23 December 2019
The Sportsman Inn
Sheffield, as with many cities, towns and villages in the UK, has a significant number of closed pubs. Whereas pubs in residential areas and the city centre still survive (and thrive) – either due to footfall, location, or by adapting to changing tastes and becoming family orientated pub-restaurants – in places that were once centres of heavy industry, they haven’t fared so well.
The east-end of Sheffield was once carpeted with steel foundries, engineering firms, and manufacturing industry. While this is still the case to some extent, much of the heavy industry has gone and with it the huge numbers of workers keen to slake their thirst after their shifts came to an end.
The decline in this industry has also changed the residential makeup of the surrounding areas. Row upon row of terraced houses that used to house the workers and their families have now either been demolished, of are now inhabited by new generations less inclined to spend their leisure time in public houses. As a result of this, huge numbers of pubs in the area have been closed or re-purposed.
The picture today is of the Sportsman Inn, which is on Blackburn Road in Sheffield. The pub was acquired by Gilmours in 1906, so probably dates back earlier than that. The facade staes 1919, but that is apparently when the pub was rebuilt (perhaps after bomb damage during the first world war?). The pub probably closed sometime in the last five years as the WhatPub site last updated it’s page in 2016, when the pub appeared to be still trading.
Zeiss Mess-Ikonta 524/16 & Ilford HP5+.
Taken on 23 December 2019
Across and up
This is a footbridge across the M1 motorway just north of junction 34. I’ve driven beneath the bridge on many occasions, but have never walked across it before I took this photo. It’s quite a long way down when you get to the upper end, with traffic hurtling beneath.
I’ve thought about taking photos in this area on more than one occasion as I’ve driven past, and so I finally took the opportunity to do so just before Christmas. It’s hardly the most beautiful of places, but there are lots of interesting photos to be had.
Zeiss Mess-Ikonta 524/16 & Ilford HP5+.
Taken on 23 December 2019
Nineteen
A shot taken a couple of days before Christmas in typically wet UK December conditions. It was raining quite heavily when I took this so I perhaps rushed the shot a little. With hindsight I should have either gotten lower or angled the camera down to get more of the reflection in frame (and at the same time removing some of the somewhat uninteresting sky). I have thought about cropping it, but in the end decided not to.
I do like it though, and think it might be worth a re-visit if there are similar wet conditions (and an empty car park) again at some point.
Zeiss Mess-Ikonta 524/16 & Ilford HP5+.
Taken on 23 December 2019
