Edgelands are defined as “the transitional, liminal areas of space to be found on the boundaries of country and town“. I’m not sure that the location in today’s photo is quite true to that description as, while it’s on the edge of an urban area, more recent development means that if merges quite quickly into further, newer, suburban developments long before it can merge into the countryside proper. It seems to be a feature of many industrial cities though that there is no defined boundary between countryside and town. Instead, as you reach closer to the boundaries, so patches of land where perhaps lost industry once stood, or where no development is possible due to natural features such as rivers and their flood-plains, become more commonplace, penned in by industrial estates or suburban housing.
I enjoy getting out into the countryside very much, but I do have an affinity for these semi-industrial / semi-urban areas too. I like the way that I can find relics of the coal-mining that used to be prevalent around here. Disused railway lines, bridges, and brickwork bereft of purpose can be located amongst bugeoning new-growth woodland like the remnants of some past civilisation.
Hidden in the soil Fragments of brick and metal Industry as was
A few days ago I said that there would be another version of the shot posted there to come. And here it is today. This one was made with the GW690 and on a snowy day to boot. I wasn’t sure if the minor parallax difference that would be present from using the rangefinder viewfinder would mess up my alignment of the pylons but it seems to have worked out fine.
Through the winter sky Cables of steel move power Over frozen ground
A familiar scene for anyone who’s followed my blog for a while – the Beighton Station signalbox. I think I’ve mentioned before that the signalbox is scheduled for demolition due to signalling and the level crossing now being controlled remotely. A local effort was made to try and save the signalbox but this appears to have fallen through with the proposed cost to move it to a new location being in the region of a quarter of a million pounds.
At the same time however, I’ve heard that plans to reopen Beighton Station are moving forward, the idea being (I believe) to have a tram-train service that runs between Sheffield and Chesterfield, with Beighton being one of the stops. I don’t expect that it will be much of a station in the traditional sense – most likely a couple of platforms, some bus-stop-style shelters, and a car-park to allow park-and-ride services for commuters. I think it will be a good thing to have though and can imagine it being especially popular in the warmer months if it used as a means for people in other parts of the city to get access to the nearby Rother Valley Country Park.
I’ll be sad to see the signalbox go though.
An old signalbox Its functionality gone To another place
Takeaways, a cafe, a tattoo parlour, and an empty salon make up this row of shops about a mile from home. This is probably a bit of a record shot really, but it’s the sort of thing that will mature with age as the shops change hands and purpose and the cars become old fashioned. I enjoy looking at photos depicting places how they used to be, and perhaps in a decade or two, this one will fit that bill too.
Time moves. Places change So dull contemporary Becomes nostalgic
We’ve had quite a lot of snow so far this winter. I mean that in terms of how much we normally get though, which is generally very little. I can’t remember it snowing at all last year – certainly not to settle on the ground. While other parts of the country see snow more often, and higher elevation areas not too far from us can be seen to be white-capped when everywhere else is bereft of the stuff, we don’t tend to see it often at home. Occasionally, every few years though (maybe a result of ripples of effect from El Nino or some other climate event elsewhere on the globe) we get more snow than usual.
It’s not often more than a couple of inches, but in 2018 we had a good foot of snowfall. Since Christmas, we’ve had three days where enough snow has fallen to coat the ground and roads, and two of those occasions provided enough for snowman building and sledging. I’ve heard rumblings on the news that there may be chance of a cold spell into next week too but, as a photographer, I know that weather forecaster’s predictions should be treat with some caution. Whatever the case, I wonder if 2021 will be a snowy year hereabouts?
We don’t get much snow Some years there’s barely a flake To fall on the ground
Today’s photo was made after the first of the three snow days we’ve had so far.
Christmas is over The decorations are down For another year
My haiku’s have made it to day two! I’m not sure exactly what topics I’ll cover with each – maybe an alignment with the rest of the day’s post but, more likely I suspect, as a kind of poetic journal refelecting something that has happened in my life or the world each day.
As you may guess from today’s, we took down our Christmas decorations this morning. This used to be a pretty depressing activity for me in the past as I would feel pretty down about the holiday period being officially over. In recent years though it seems to be affecting me less. I wonder if it’s because, as my children grow older, Christmas has changed. The magic of Father Christmas delivering presents is a thing of the past (at least until such a point as we become grandparents I suppose), and it doesn’t feel the same as when the boys were little. Plus, the way that time seems to fly by as a get older, it will be Christmas again in about five minutes …
Today’s photo is another made on the moors above Lady Canning’s Plantation next to a small cluster of rock outcrops known as The Ox Stones. I’m not sure where the name comes from, but there used to be an Inn known as Oxdale Lodge nearby, so perhaps livestock were grazed, or moved through the land by drovers?
From this angle, the stone has a face. A rock-face. 🙂
Looking further down the line I’m hoping for at least a partial return to normaility later in the year. As more of the population are vaccinated against Covid-19, so I hope that restrictions will be lifted and more freedom restored. Just the though of being able to hop in the car and drive somewhere without first having to check which tier it is in will be nice. Hell, just going to a restaurant even!
But at this immediate point in time that all still feels like some ways off. The restrictions remain, vaccinations have not really touched the majority of the population yet, and there’s likely to be an increase in cases and fatalities as we move into January. Brexit has happened, but the less said about that sorry state of affairs the better, I think . I’m also back at work next week and have a busy month ahead of me. This is a good thing, but despite a fortnight’s leave over Christmas, the strange circumstances in which we still reside mean that I don’t feel particularly rested.
Apart from some confectionery, the gifts I received for Christmas sit as yet untouched in a small pile on my office desk and, if previous years are anything to go by, it may be months before I actually find the time to enjoy them – mostly because ,when I do have some free time, I feel overwhelmed by all the things I’d like to do and then end up procrastinating about which to choose until I end up doing not much of anything! I feel I need another week of post-holiday leave or something to just do stuff.
As for photography, I still have pictures made in 2020 to develop and scan, but I’m not sure what will be the first thing I do photographically in 2021 as yet. I’m feeling a little uninspired if I’m honest. I’m sure the inspiration will return, and it’s not a winter thing – I know may photographers despair of the dull and, some might say, miserable conditions brought by a British winter, but I really don’t mind them. The conditions suit different types of photos is all. I will be making a second zine in the coming months though, so I need to put on my thinking cap to decide on the contents.
I don’t tend to make New Year’s resolutions as such, as they tend to fail more often than not, but this year I am going to attempt to not only lose some weight (something I know I can do), but also get fitter by doing C25K with one of my sons. Both should be positive activities I think (if not the easiest for me!).
Well, that’s a slightly gloomy post isn’t it? Please don’t let me bring anyone down. In order to lift things a little, I’ve decided that I will try to add a haiku to each day’s post this year. So here’s the first Please don’t judge my verse too harshly. 🙂
A new year is here I hope it’s better than last I’ll cross my fingers
And here’s another (slightly underexposed, but still quite nice) photo of the trees on the edge of Lady Canning’s Plantation. It is a photo blog after all.
Well, it says Freedom on the side anyway. Not sure if that’s unique to this van, or the name of the model. 🙂
I like how there’s a subtle drop off in depth of field in these two shots. They weren’t made with the aperture wide open either – I didn’t make a note, but think these might have been at f/5.6 as, while I’d intended to try and reduce the depth of field, the maximum shutter speed of 1/500 sec on the GW690 in combination with 400asa film and a bright day meant this wasn’t possible.
Today’s photos show the side of the Sheffield Hallam University building. The poem was added in 2007 as part of the “Off the Shelf” literary festival that took place. It was written by Andrew Motion, the British Poet Laureate from 1999 to 2009.
The poem is partially obscured in both these shots due to the trees and the temporary buildings, but the full piece reads as follows:
What If?
O travellers from somewhere else to here Rising from Sheffield Station and Sheaf Square To wander through the labyrinths of air,
Pause now, and let the sight of this sheer cliff Become a priming-place which lifts you off To speculate What if..? What if..? What if..?
Cloud shadows drag their hands across the white; Rain prints the sudden darkness of its weight; Sun falls and leaves the bleaching evidence of light.
Your thoughts are like this too: as fixed as words Set down to decorate a blank facade And yet, as words are too, all soon transferred
To greet and understand what lies ahead – The city where your dreamling is re-paid, The lives which wait unseen as yet, unread.
Dating back to the late 18th century, this octagonal building functioned as a toll house and inn when originally constructed, sitting on the Sheffield to Ashby-de-la-Zouch turnpike at Ringinglow on the outskirts of Sheffield. It has also served as a general store and tea room in other times.
If you’re curious as to what the building looks like inside, there is still a listing online from the last time it was on the market here.
Steel City Snapper photography 