Tag: 1980s

The South Bank one Sunday morning.

David MLeave a comment

One from the archives taken early one Sunday morning on the South Bank of the River Thames in London, England in the early 1980s.

I was living and working in north London at the time, running a photo department during the week and shooting a variety of personal work at the weekends. Early one Sunday morning I headed down to Westminster with my tripod and camera bag.

There was a light mist over the River Thames which added to my decision to shoot black and white. Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament were partially obscured by the mist, adding to the atmosphere.

I used my Olympus OM1 loaded with Ilford FP4 which was my regular black and white film.

Early morning on the South Bank.

Old wall box.

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One from the archives taken in Cheshire in the 1980s. A wall box is a type of post box set into a wall.

This box was set into a sandstone wall on Bickerton Hill, Cheshire, England. Bickerton Hill is a low, red sandstone hill close to the southern end of a long-distance footpath known as The Sandstone Trail. The area was quarried in the past so the wall is probably built of locally sourced sandstone.

I did a selective colour treatment to leave the post box red with the rest of the image in monochrome.

Sometime after the photo was taken the post box was stolen. Removed from the wall in the dead of night I presume. Apparently there are people who collect old post boxes and obviously some aren’t concerned about obtaining them legally.

Selective colour treatment of an old post box.

European Goldfinch feeding on Teasel.

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Throwback Thursday travels back to Cheshire, England in the late 1980s.

This is a European Goldfinch feeding on seeds in a Teasel head. The seeds are a popular food source for the birds and the plant is grown to attract them by some people.

Teasel heads were used as a natural comb for the nap on wool in the past.

Goldfinch feeding on Teasel.

Raising steam.

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Throwback Thursday travels back to Cheshire, England in the 1980s. I visited the Crewe Steam Rally early on Sunday morning before there was many people about. The exhibitors with machinery were busy firing up the boilers or giving the brass work a final polish.

This traction engine has just had the firebox lit judging by the smoke coming out of the smokestack.

Raising steam.

 

Creepy crawlies.

David M9 Comments

This week’s Cosmic Photo Challenge is Creepy Crawlies.

First, let me say that I don’t regard these Common Rough Woodlice (Porcellio scaber) as creepy crawlies. The Woodlouse family is quite interesting, they’re Crustaceans, like Lobsters and Crabs, although most species live on land. They congregate in damp places to avoid drying out.

These Common Rough Woodlice were photographed in Cheshire, England in the 1980s. Rather bizarrely I remembered the scientific name for them, presumably from captioning the photos all those years ago. A couple of days ago I met someone I used to work with and I can’t remember their name.

Common Rough Woodlouse.

Feeding on Poppy seeds.

David M2 Comments

Throwback Thursday travels back to Cheshire in the 1980s. The juvenile Eurasian Blue Tit is feeding on a Poppy seed head.

The photo is interesting for a couple of reasons. The juvenile Blue Tit is ringed. I did some research and the closest ringing location I could find was three miles away in a straight line. Which means that this juvenile has already travelled some distance from where it was ringed. Being a juvenile it could have been ringed when it was still in the nestbox.

Also interesting is that the bird is feeding on Poppy seeds after pecking a hole in the seed head. I have seen adult Blue Tits feeding this way. So did the juvenile bird learn this behavior by watching an adult or is it instinctive behavior to peck open seed heads?

Eating Poppy seeds.

Hiding in the Pondweed.

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A Common Frog amongst Pondweed in a garden pond.

Throwback Thursday travels back to Cheshire, England in the late 1980s. The pond was constructed for wildlife and within a year Common Frogs were spawning in it and there was a variety of insects living on or in the water. Some of the Common Frogs got so used to people they would stay on the surface of the pond rather than diving under the water.

Hiding in the Pondweed.