Winter sunlight casts the bark of this tree into wonderful relief.
Low winter sunshine
Special illumination
Such wonderful light
Yashica Mat 124G & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.
Taken on 1 February 2021
Trunk
Tag: TLR
Signage on the trail
The path beneath the bridge in the background of this photo leads to Rother Valley Country Park and the signs in the foreground identify the southern route along the Trans Pennine Trail. As the lockdown continues so I become ever more familiar with this area close to where I live. The next announcement about restrictions is scheduled for Monday when we may find out when some of them may start to be lifted. I’m not expecting a full return to freedom, or even an immediate losening of the rules, but it will be good to have more information at least.
Freedom to exercise
But no more than once a day
Like a gilded cage
Yashica Mat 124G & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.
Taken on 8 February 2021
Arches
These arches form part of the same bridge I showed in yesterday’s post, just to the south of the metal span. The ground dips down significantly below the arches and I believe that people use it (and the surrounding trails) for mountain biking.
Beneath the arches
Tracks and trails of bicycles
Muddy evidence
Yashica Mat 124G & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.
Taken on 1 February 2021
Below and besides an old bridge
Part of the network of disused and dismantled railway lines that used to run where the Trans Pennine Trail and Rother Valley now reside. This metal bridge is derelict with much of it’s bed missing and it’s brickwork coated with graffiti. It makes for interesting photographs though.
I’m unsure of when it was constructed but it appears to have been after 1910 and before 1945 from examining old maps of the area. While I suspect that, from an environmental angle, it left something to be desired, I expect it would have been an impressive and dramatic sight to behold steam locomotives about their business in the area.
Steam locomotives
Steam and smoke filling the air
Passed this way before
Yashica Mat 124G & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.
Taken on 1 February 2021
Stick structures
Over the past few years, when walking in wooded areas, I’ve noticed a number of structures appear. They appear to be rudimentary shelters made from branches, although they probably do little to keep the elements out. I’ve seen them in a number of different places, but have never seen anyone building them which lends them a slightly spooky Blair Witch Project air.
The branches used to build them, in my local area at least, seem to be from woodland management – lots of trees have been trimmed in the last year or so. In a lot of cases these cuttings are left piled up like lumber, perhaps to be collected at a later date, or maybe to form an environment suited to small mammals and invertebrates. Some of the cuttings go on to create these structures though.
I’m sure there’s a perfectly mundane reason for them, but I also kinda like the idea of a miniature Stonehenge / Easter Island type mystery about them.
Who might sleep inside
A home made of drafty sticks
Little pig maybe?
Yashica Mat 124G & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.
Taken on 1 February 2021
Even a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day
The clock depicted in today’s post used to hang on my office wall. There it would faithfully tell the time as I worked. I wear a wristwatch and have accurate clocks on my phoe and computer, but a big analogue clock on the wall is quick and easy to read. It was powered by batteries and had a steady tick which, while going unnoticed by myself, would sometimes be commented on by people on phonecalls (especially my old colleague Ken) who asked if I had a grandfather clock or something!
One day late last year I stretched up my arms while yawning and managed to accidentally nudge the clock off the hook from which it hung on the wall, sending it plummeting to the floor where it shattered into many peices. While the mechanism still worked, the plastic case was pretty much knackered. Amazingly, the glass front of the clock didn’t break.
When I took the clock outside to throw it in the bin I had the sudden bright idea of keeping it, leaving it to the elements besides the bins, where it would weather and mature into a possible future photo opportunity. There was life in it yet!
So, today’s pictures mark a few attempts at doing so. The clock has attained some level of dirt and grime which take away the sleek sheen of plastic that it had before. I don’t think these are the best photos I might achieve – they were a bit of a spur of the moment thing – but the clock isn’t going anywhere just yet and, like a fine wine, it will continue to mature with the passing of time (pun intended). 🙂
Tick-tock clock no more
Moved to a higher purpose
To be photographed
Yashica Mat 124G & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.
Taken on 1 February 2021
Bridge ends
A couple of photos today showing two ends of the same bridge. I’d like to say what these brick structures are officially called but Googling didn’t turn anything up other than “parapet” and that doesn’t feel right. The bridge in question is brick-built, but the edges of the deck are metal railings rather than a completely formed of bricks.
Whatever they might be called, I liked the way they looked in the light.
Names of things unknown
I know there must be a term
But it’s out of reach
Yashica Mat 124G & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.
Taken on 21 January 2021
Corrosion
This photo was taken atop one of the many disused railway bridges in the area. This particular bridge is a solid brick-built structure (with metal railings), but there a few around that are steel-built that have gradually decayed. Probably not to the extent that they’re likely to collapse (and I’m sure that they must be surveyed, if just for the safety of people walking nearby), but probably enough that I wouldn’t want to walk across them. One bridge (of which I have some, yet to be developed, photos ) has been fenced off to prevent people crossing it, but that one’s definitely in a poor state with most of it’s surface having long since disappeared.
Peeling cracked paint
Atop the old railway bridge
Looks like reptile skin
Yashica Mat 124G & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.
Taken on 21 January 2021
Pylon through the trees
A shot that might have been better in colour had I had the opportunity. I think the blue sky and the sunlit brown of the dead bracken at the bottom of the frame would have worked nicely together. I still quite like it in mono though. The branches frame the pylon well.
A gap in the trees
Framing a nearby pylon
Standing in the sun
Yashica Mat 124G & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.
Taken on 21 January 2021
Silver birch
While the lockdown continues and my movements are still restricted then I’m tending to fall back on some well used subject matter – trees.
Luckily, while I don’t have much in the way of forrests withing walking distance, there are planty of trees around Rother Valley. The variety feels somewhat limited, mostly being birches and other quick growing deciduous types, but there are more than enough shapes amongst them to make plenty of photos. And, as they say, beggars can’t be choosers.
Took a walk today
Along the Trans Pennine Trail
I made some photos
Yashica Mat 124G & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.
Taken on 21 January 2021
Steel City Snapper photography 