Three Wise Men?

These three guys spend most of the day terrifying shoppers down on The Moor. Once in a while they meet up to swap stories and argue which of them is the most saved. They seem quite cheerful and chatty, despite their conviction that the Day of Judgement will soon be upon us. Or is it *because* the DoJ will soon be upon us, hmm? Here they're allowing some Creationist types to practice preaching to the converted.

Crookes Valley Park

A study in infrared. The view from the high footpath over the boating lake. The big, brooding building in the background is the Royal Hallamshire Hospital. I really wanted a sunny day with puffy clouds to turn the sky black, but once again fickle fate gave me grey for dinner.

Another little object of desire

Stu came to work in his Daimler 2.5-V8 today. Here it is parked up in our garage. B-registration is 1964, which makes it the same age as me. Looking one hell of a lot better than me though!

In the shadow of the dish

Took part in the Macclesfield Bikethon today and cycled 26 miles to raise money for the local hospice. The half-way checkpoint was at Jodrell Bank radio telescope. Not a bad day for a bike ride around the Cheshire plain, though my legs are going to kill me in the morning for it. Because of perspective the telescope doesn't look too big in this photo - I can assure you it still ranks amongst the largest fully steerable telescopes in the world. That wee control building about halfway up the side is four stories high.

All in a row

Walking by the police station at Macclesfield I noticed that this row of police cars, almost (but not quite) parked in a neat line, was an arresting sight (hahaha). Not sure where all the coppers were - probably off on diversity training courses or something.

Camera Porn

This little beastie arrived from Hong Kong today. A Zero Image 6x9 multiformat handmade pinhole camera. Most people to whom I have shown it are quite impressed with the quality of it - I know I am. I can't wait to run some film through it to see what it will do. I am a bit nonplussed by the journey it took however. Using online tracking I could see it took 3 days to get from Kowloon to Rotherham and then 5 days to travel the remaining 7 miles across the M1 to Sheffield. I am not going to give ParcelForce a link because of that - especially not when they charged me 40p more to collect the VAT than the actual VAT they collected.

Home of Hendo's

I didn't get much of a break with the weather today; if I was busy working it was sunny, if I was free to take pictures it was grey. Those of you know where I work will also know I haven't traveled far for this picture. This is the Henderson's Relish factory, which produces a local sort of Worcester sauce condiment (only far superior, and vegetarian too). Its ingredients are strictly secret - if asked, Sheffielders will only remark the factory is directly across the road from the old Jessop Hospital, and then smile knowingly. It may not look much but people buy paintings of this place and hang them on their walls, much like the citizens of inferior cities might by paintings of St Pauls or the Eiffel Tower. It apparently illegal in South Yorkshire to be caught without a bottle of 'Hendos' in your kitchen cupboard - there's certainly one in mine.

You are here

I thought you might like to see what I have been bashing my head against for most of today. A very pretty version, but a brick wall nevertheless.

Colour in the heart of the Wicker

Today my dinnertime perambulations took me down towards the Wicker, a part of Sheffield that was badly affected by the floods in 2007 as it lies right besides the River Don. I happened to glance up past a locked gate and saw these colourful apartments hidden away in a private courtyard. Even thought I circled the block, there was no other evidence that they existed. It's hard to believe that at the time of the floods this area was probably the most run-down part of the city centre. I sometimes think it must be an ill wind...

Bye bye Hydra-Clarkson

My route to work for over a decade has been dominated by this massive cream-coloured tool factory. In the last couple of weeks it has become obvious that they're knocking it down. I have waited in vain for a nice evening to take a last photo before the front falls. I don't think I have very long to go, so grey drizzle or not, today I took this snap. I think it'll be gone by the end of the week.

Brunswick Hill

Bright and sunny start to Sunday, so nipped out with the infra-red filter to try and capture the new leaves on Brunswick Hill, Macclesfield. Not sure I am 100% happy with this, though the foliage has gone lovely and white due to the 'Wood Effect'. This is an 89B, very deep red as I was getting way too much flare from the 87 'black' filter.

Oooops!

Peter and Lesley arrived today to strip the wallpaper off mum's front bedroom, prior to redecorating, and to investigate a nasty crack caused by the electrician channeling out the wall in the bedroom behind. Turned out to be a VERY nasty crack, as all the plaster promptly departed the wall with the paper. Looks like the whole of the wall will have to be replastered before work can commence.

Apple Blossom Time

My dad's Lord Lambourne apple tree is in full blossom right now, so I thought I'd grab a quick snap. This is with the flash turned on and saturation cranked up to give it a kind of Martin Parr-ish feel, back from the days when he was shooting on Agfa Ultra.

A little sparkle(r)

Something slightly different on election day; this is a very close up of a firework sparkler stuck in a plant-pot on the patio. Of course the camera is behind a sheet of glass - I'd hardly put all those expensive electronics 4 inches away from a sparkler, now would I?

I agree with Nick

I heard Nick Clegg was holding an eve-of-the-election rally in front of City Hall this evening, so never having been to a political rally before in my life, I thought I'd pop along - after all, there might be a photo in it. Never seen so many students out of bed at one time either! This is probably the best snap I got of the man himself. Whilst everyone else is going "Oooh, there's Nick Clegg", I was craning my neck thinking "Hmm, is that Dan Chung, the photographer from The Guardian?"

Basking in the sun

Walking around at dinner time I spotted this cat in the front window of a house. (S)he was completely oblivious to the world, basking in the Spring sunshine with eyes tightly closed.

Sunshine and showers at Gawsworth Hall

I spent a couple of hours at the classic car show held at Gawsworth Hall today. The weather was decidedly mixed, which makes a change from the last few years, which all seem to have been as wet as an otter's pocket. This show gets bigger every year - all credit to the Richards family I guess.

Discussing Darth Vader

No1 Star Wars fan, Connor, shows his gran pictures of his meeting with Darth Vader at the shopping mall.

Are you lookin' at me?

Took a trip out to Redesmere in Cheshire today to with a couple of old film cameras (hopefully the results will appear in the Old Cameras 'n Stuff set in the near future). I took some stale bread for the ducks as well. This character was pretty fearless and could be hand-fed. He didn't seem that keen on me taking his picture though.