Tag: landscape

35mm · Film photography · Photography

West Burton A power station

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West Burton power station, or rather stations (as there are two on the site – West Burton A and B), sit alongside the River Trent in Nottinghamshire. West Burton A was a coal-fired station, one of only three remaining in the UK in 2022 when it was due to be decommissioned. Due to energy uncertainty caused by the Ukraine War, the station was kept open a further year, before decommissioning took place in 2023.

Demolition of the site has commenced in 2024 and is planned to be complete by 2028.

Living by a power station

While I’m glad that we are moving away from environmentally unfriendly coal-fired power stations, I shall be sad to see the structure go. The station can be seen on the horizon from many tens of miles away, including the hills of Sheffield, my home city, and also the Lincolnshire Wolds to the east and it a feature of the landscape that has been present my entire life. It also serves as a visual marker for the River Trent which I always counted as the midway point on trips to my favourite seaside town, Mablethorpe (it’s actually closer to Sheffield than Mablethorpe, but let’s not split hairs… 🙂 ). It will be strange when it has gone.

West Burton A

There have been attempts to preserve the cooling towers as part on the nation’s industrial heritage, but I believe these have been unsuccessful. While West Burton A will go, West Burton B – a gas-fired station – will continue to operate, and the West Burton A site has been announced as the proposed location for the UK’s first nuclear fusion plant.

Powerstream

I hope to visit the site whenever I get the chance to get more photographs before it disappears (or changes) permanently.

The way across

Olympus XA3 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°

Taken on 18 February 2024

35mm · Film photography · Photography

A line of trees

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Another shot made possible by having the XA3 in my coat pocket. I did have my Fujica GW690 with me on the day, but that had already greedily eaten all my 120 film in it’s limited eight-shot stomach. So the XA3 came to the rescue for any other pictures I spotted.

I honestly didn’t know if this would be a nothing shot at the time I took it. I spent a bit of effort to make sure the trees all had separation (as much as possible, at least – there’s a background tree hiding behind one of the foreground ones), but the scene didn’t look all that inspiring to the naked eye. However, seeing it appear in black and white, I realise what it was that had caught my eye, and it’s one of the best pictures from the day. There’s something about the way a camera renders a scene that can make it different, and more interesting, than what was seen with the naked eye. The opposite can be true as well, of course, but in this case the camera captured it better.

A line of trees

Olympus XA3 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°

Taken on 27 January 2024

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Fence posts and pylons

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This landscape shot, taken on a walk along the Cuckoo Way a couple of months back, turned out pretty nicely, I think. The pylons and the concrete fence posts (no actual fence though) belie the area’s industrial heritage, but that’s fine. I think the concrete posts work as well as weathered wooden ones would, and I’ve always got room in a photo for a pylon or two. 🙂

Fence posts and pylons

Olympus XA3 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°

Taken on 27 January 2024

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Gateway to Ladybower

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I quite like this picture. It has a lot of layers, from the gate in the foreground right through to Ladybower reservoir and the hills beyond. I did wonder at the time I took the photo whether it would be successful given the limited control over focus possible with the XA3 but, again, it proved itself more than up to the task.

Gateway to Ladybower

Olympus XA3 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°

Taken on 9 January 2024

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Derwent reservoir

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After sharing some photos of the dam itself, here are a couple of pictures of the reservoir it forms behind it.

The first picture was taken from the footpath that skirts the edge of the water, while the second was taken from up on the hillside above the reservoir. You can just make out some small figures in the shot – those people are close to where I made the first photo.

Derwent reservoir
Derwent reservoir from halfway up a hill

Olympus XA3 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°

Taken on 9 January 2024

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Trans Pennine Trail and the Cuckoo Way

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A few weeks back I decided to go for a walk on the Trans Pennine Trail. I’ve walked the stretch close to where I live before, reaching as far as Renishaw a few miles to the south, but I’ve never followed it any further than that.

So, on the day in question, I decided that I would see what was down there, walking the stretch between Renishaw and Staveley and then following the Cuckoo Way on the return journey.

Over the fields to Mastin Moor
Looking east from the Trans-Pennine Trail towards the village of Mastin Moor. The Cuckoo Way meanders its way north over near where those pylons stand.

The Trans-Pennine Trail follows the path of an old railway along this stretch of it’s route and is relatively straight as a result. It’s also flat and doesn’t tend to get muddy at all. The Cuckoo Way, on the other hand, follows the route of the Chesterfield Canal and can be hiked all the way from Chesterfield to the River Trent – about forty five miles away as the route takes you.

Beside the Cuckoo Way
Looking west from the Cuckoo Way. The Trans Pennine Way is where the row of trees is on the horizon. The houses are on the outskirts of Staveley.

The Cuckoo Way is easy to walk in many places, particularly sections where the canal still exists, but this stretch just winds through fields, sometimes with little sign of where the waterway once flowed. This particular stretch was quite muddy. Not wet sloppy mud, but the thick stuff like you find on a playing field after a game of football has been played when the ground isn’t dry. It quickly clogged up the soles of my hiking boots with it’s thick clay-like weight and took quite some time to wash off when I got back home.

Wood and steel
Heading back north and following the former route of the canal. Teh Cuckoo Way is just off-camera to the right.

Fujica GW690 & Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°

Taken on 27 January 2024

35mm · Film photography · Photography

By the lake on a frosty morning

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Rother Valley Country Park lies within walking distance of my home. It can be quite photogenic but familiarity has bred, if not contempt, then a certain boredom towards it’s possibilities. Like most man made lakes and reservoirs (the lake used to be an open cast coal mine) there’s a certain artificial feel to the place. I guess that over time this will lessen and the place will feel more an more part of a natural landscape (although it’s now been over forty years since the park first opened).

Curly tree

Despite my lack of inspiration, it’s still a great place to go if the conditions are good, especially mist or ice, as it gives it a distinct atmosphere and look that isn’t present at other times.

The two shots published here were taken on a frosty morning in late November last year just as the sun was rising, and I stood stepping between feet to keep warm while I waited for the sun to rise and start to cast light on the scenery. It was worth my time though, I think.

The second shot has been cropped. The top of the frame featured the lines of the cable-powered waterski circuit that occupies this end of the lake.

Out on the lake

Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Kodak Gold. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted using Negative Lab Pro.

Taken 25 November 2023.

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Scenes from an autumn walk part 3

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I wasn’t going to include these pictures as part of this sequence of autumn walk posts but, given they were shot on the same outing and also depict autumnal conditions, it seemed a bit silly not to.

These were among the first pictures from a roll of Kodak Portra 160 and were shot in Padley Gorge, which is right next to the Longshaw Estate where the earlier photos were taken.

Gritstone oak leaf

They’re not the best pictures I’ve made at this location, but they’re not horrible either, and I do like the one with the leaf on the boulder quite a lot.

Cascade

Getting down to the side of Burbage Brook which runs through the gorge can be tricky. The sides are steep and laced with slippery roots, unstable topsoil, and a large volume of rocks – some slippery with moss, some unstable underfoot. Without care, it would be quite easy to gain an injury, potentially a serious one. Beside the brook is where the best photos are to be had though.

By Burbage Brook

Still, I managed my descent safely – something made simpler when I spotted another photographer taking a much easier route. Even better, I was able to escape again afterwards!

On the edge in autumn

Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE / Zenzanon 150mm f/3.5 MC & Kodak Portra 160. Lab developed, home scanned & converted with Negative Lab Pro.

Taken 11 November 2023.

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Scenes from an autumn walk part 1

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Blessed with fine weather and on a day where I could take advantage of it, I headed out to the area around Padley Gorge and the Longshaw Estate one Saturday morning in early November with the hopes of catching some autumnal scenes.

The pictures posted today are ones I shot on a roll of Lomography Color Negative 400 with my Bronica ETRSi. Tomorrow I’ll post another, smaller set, that I shot on Fujifilm Pro 160NS.

Autumn colour at Longshaw
Autumn colour at Longshaw pond
Autumn light
Millstone
Two corvids
Stump

Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE / Zenzanon 150mm f/3.5 MC & Lomography Color Negative 400. Lab developed, home scanned & converted with Negative Lab Pro.

Taken 11 November 2023.