Sheldon

February 19, 2026 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

The village of Sheldon stands a short distance from Magpie Mine. It’s a pretty and picturesque place, although these days slightly blighted by the number of cars parked on the streets, I think. But that’s progress, and the inhabitants have a need for transport.

Pictured below are the village pub, The Cock and Pullet, the village hall, a nativity scene including two tyre snowmen (it was just after Christmas when these pictures were taken), some cottages, and a wreath on the church gate.

Sheldon also has an interesting local story:

Sheldon has a curious tale in its history. In 1601 a duck was seen by a local resident to fly into a hollow tree and not to come out again. It gained the name from then on as the Duck Tree. Some three hundred years later when the tree was felled and sawn into planks, each plank contained the life-sized outline of a duck. The wood was reputedly used to make a mantelpiece for Greatbach Hall in Ashford.

Nikon F80, Tamron 28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD on Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°.

Taken on 27 December 2025

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Rural transport and the making of memories

May 5, 2020May 6, 2020 fishyfisharcade4 Comments

Yep, it’s a bus stop. It’s quite a nice stone-built one though, and it’s in a beautiful location.

This is one of those photos that I like without it being of a traditionally photogenic subject. A bus stop is mundane, but this one looks like some sort of miniature bothy sat on a wide grass verge beside a country road.

I like the way the telephone wires lead out of the scene to destinations unknown.

I like the white laundry blowing on the washing line as it reminds me of the freshness in the air on the day I made the photograph.

I sometimes wonder how much a photograph engages it’s creator because it triggers memories? For other people, the stories need to be created. For me it brings the day I visited this place back to the front of my mind, and reminds me of the other things that happened on the day: How I was cross that it was cloudy on the morning I left the house, despite the weather forecast promising otherwise; how my mood lightened as the sun began to break through the cloud cover; remembering a long-ago school trip to one of the villages I passed; thinking my little car might struggle to carry my weight up a very steep hill; how myself and another walker struggled to follow the footpath (and he climbed a dry-stone wall and nearly did himself an injury on some barbed wire; how a man videoing Magpie Mine asked me if I would let him record my thoughts (I did); waiting ten minutes for clouds to move across the sky and balance out one of my compositions…

Maybe not a thousand words, but it’s not the half of what this picture says to me either.

Canon Sure Shot Supreme & Ilford Delta 400.

Taken on 16 March 2020

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Developing, scanning and remembering a trip in the countryside

May 3, 2020 fishyfisharcade10 Comments

I’ve remained mostly housebound today, with the exception of a quick trip to the local shops for some food and other essentials – and as my wife was with me, that was in the car rather than walking it there as I usually do these days. I was amused to see that the car parked beside ours had been converted into an “RV”. I’ve seen plenty of vans that have been converted, but this was a family estate car that had a cooker, cupboard and fridge, along with electrical sockets fitted in the rear. It looked like a fairly professional job had been done, but I can only image the amount of back-twisting maneouvering that would be required to carry out tasks in a space maybe three feet wide by three feet high!

I spent the rest of the day doing some other film-related tasks.

Firstly, developing a roll of Delta 400 that I finished shooting about a week ago. The process went smoothly and the negatives look good (although I haven’t scanned them yet). Some of them do look like they have noticeable dust on them though, which hasn’t happened before, so I might have issues when I do get around to scanning them.

I also scanned a roll of Fomapan 100 that I shot during my trip to Magpie Mine a little while before the country entered lockdown. The shots on that roll look quite nice, and I will post some here later in the week. The camera I used for the roll, my Yashica Mat 124G, has developed some haze on the taking lens and is currently away for a service, but the shots on this roll aren’t, for the most part, showing any signs that they’ve been affected.

Today’s photo was taken on the same day as visiting the mine as I walked back to where I’d parked my car.

Canon Sure Shot Supreme & Ilford Delta 400.

Taken on 16 March 2020