Jumping back to December for some more B&W Yashica Mat 124G images. I posted a couple of shots from this roll already (including a couple of pictures of woodland shelters), but the two shown today are of part of the bridge system that criss-crosses the Trans Penine Trail near Rother Valley Country Park.
It’s quite interesting to look at historic maps of the area and see the network of railway lines that served the coal mine that used to exist in the area. Wandering through the birch woodland that now covers a lot of the area, it’s quite easy to stumble over old track-beds and entire bridges surrounded by thick overgrowth.
This bridge crosses a narrow part of the boating lake in Queen’s Park, Mablethorpe. A sizeable population of ducks, geese, and swans make the lake their home for at least part of the year, and while I took this picture a number of them looked at me hopefully in case I might have some food.
Something good that happened today…
It’s quite difficult to find a good thing today. Our team was notified that a restructure is taking place which will remove around 70% of current roles. While I had some expectation that something like this was probably going to happen, I didn’t expect it to be so significant, or to happen so soon. Obviously the affected people are shocked, frightened, and unhappy about the situation.
I have some hope that my role may be spared, but won’t find out just yet so all I can do is hope for the best. While this is obviously better than hearing my job is definitely being removed, it’s still been a challenging day.
I’ve reached out to colleagues to give support. I know how difficult these situations are, having gone through it before, and I think knowing there are people in a similar situation who will listen and share is a beneficial thing and much better than feeling alone with your concerns. I’m anxious myself, but I hope that I’ve been able to make others feel a little better by lending them an ear.
Fujica GW690 & Kodak Plus-X (expired January 2008 and shot at 100asa). Adox Rodinal 1+50 13mins @ 20°
I thought I’d treat myself to one of those clickbait titles similar to the ones I see on YouTube from time to time. You know the ones, where the person titles their video “My final post” or “That’s it. I’m finished.” or something else that gives the impression that their video making days are at an end but, upon viewing, it turns out that it’s “My final post… of November!” or “That’s it. I’m finished… Putting together this year’s calendar which you can buy from my SquareSpace site.“.
So in the spirit of that annoying tradition, today’s post is just about what I found at the end of the road I drove down in Whitwell, Nottinghamshire one day. In this case it was Whitwell railway station. The station today is a pretty simple affair – a couple of platforms, a footbridge, and some shelters for passengers. There used to be a selection of buildings at the station, but these were removed when the line was closed to passenger traffic sixty years ago (although passenger services would resume in the 1990s). The buildings were not lost however and were rebuilt at Butterley on the Midland Railway – Butterley heritage line as they were almost identical to the buildings that had originally stood there.
As to why I drove to the end of the road, it was mostly to see if there was a good composition of the chimney at the nearby Steetley Dolomite works (you can see it just above the Whitwell railway sign to the right of the first picture). I think a longer lens might have led to a more dramatic photograph but, alas, a long lens the GW690 does not have. Instead it’s a shot of loads of things poking up into the sky. A bit mundane, but I kinda like it anyway.
The second picture was another reason I drove down here. The lamps on this footbridge are just about visible peeping over the bridge crossing the railway tracks that I’ve driven across on a number of occasions, and I’d wondered if there was a picture to be had of them. This was the picture I got, although I think there may be better ones to be found if I revisit the place, possibly (again) with a different focal length at my disposal.
Someone commented that this picture looked like the woman was fleeing from the small black car, like in a suspense movie of something, which I quite liked.
It wasn’t my intent to create such drama – I was simply photographing the large bridge and thought the jogger would add some interest. I probably just waited for her and the car to reach favourable positions in the scene before pressing the shutter button. A happy accident, I guess. 🙂
Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Kodak Gold. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
A quick post today, and it’s of a subject I’ve shot before (see here), but it’s the steps to the top of a railway bridge and, beside it, a particularly pointless cycle gate. It’s one of those mundane pictures that I nonetheless quite like.
The River Idle runs for 26 miles through Nottinghamshire, eventually discharging into the River Trent at West Stockwith. It’s source is a confluence of two smaller rivers, the Maun and the Meden near Markham Moor, just beside the busy A1 road.
While there are a number of suggested sources for the Idle’s name, the origin is not confirmed.
I took this photograph of the river where it flows through Retford, beneath the chesterfield canal, which crosses it on an aqueduct. On this day, the weather was very nice, and the light cast upon and through the waters, illuminating the riverbed and long streamers of gently twisting water weed.
Yashica Mat 124G & Fujifilm Pro 400H. Lab developed, home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro. Converted to B&W in Lightroom.
I’ve posted before, at least once, about revisiting locations and taking the same pictures I always do. The same subjects, and often the same compositions. Some scenes just catch the eye, like this view up the River Wye at Bakewell. Seen before here and here (and probably other times too)
A couple more bridges, to keep the trend going from yesterday (spoiler: there will be no bridges tomorrow).
These two are closer to home, the first is a derelict railway bridge crossing the main road into the village of Killamarsh, which is not too far from where I live. It was taken from another bridge (and another disused railway bridge at that) which carries the Trans Pennine Trail across the same road.
The second is a footbridge crossing the River Rother not far from where the first picture was taken.
The first part of this post detailed the walk from West Stockwith to Misterton. This part covers the walk though the rest of Misterton and back to my starting point.
I’ll begin with All Saint’s church, a Grade 1 listed building that dates back to the 13th century (although it was largely rebuilt in the mid-19th century. It was a little awkward trying to compose a shot of the church from the entrance to the grounds to the east (the perils of a fixed-lens camera), but a better view was possible from the west, albeit with the church partially obscured by a couple of evergreen trees.
I sometimes go inside churches if they are open, as there is usually something of interest to look at and photograph, but I didn’t have time on this trip. Instead I took the following picture of one of the stained glass windows from the outside. This is perhaps not the best way to appreciate stained glass, but I quite liked the patterns of the lead-work.
Leaving the church along Church Lane, I rejoined the main road through Misterton (the B1403). The road changes names from Church Street to Gringley Road near here and an old-style black and white fingerpost donates directions to various places. I think this one is ready for a lick of fresh paint.
Following Gringley Road south passes a variety of interesting old houses before reaching a bridge that crosses the Chesterfield Canal. It was here that I left the road to join the Cuckoo Way footpath that follows the canal all the way from its source in Chesterfield in Derbyshire.
The canal skirts the southern side of Misterton, passing beneath a few bridges, such as this one that carries Grovewood Road.
Further down the canal, it curves attractively past some houses where a man and two boys were fishing, before reaching a series of locks. One of the houses between these locks had a small boat moored beside it’s back garden
The canal then follows a straight route back towards West Stockwith. There were many narrow-boats moored along this stretch.
There’s a final bridge carrying the main road through West Stockwith before the canal enters Stockwith Basin, a marina that opens directly into the River Trent via locks.
The final stretch of the footpath route follows the flood-bank on the west side of the Trent. The Trent is the third longest river in the UK, flowing 185 miles from its source on Biddulph Moor in Staffordshire, to Trent Falls in Lincolnshire, where it discharges into the Humber Estuary. The river is navigable to Burton on Trent in Staffordshire.
Leaving the riverbank before the mouth of the River Idle, I crossed the bridge across the Idle and back to my start point in West Stockwith.
I enjoyed this walk. The weather was pleasant, the light was nice for photography, and there was plenty to see along the way.
Steel City Snapper photography 