Throwback Thursday… ‘Who Stole Bongo’s Trousers?’

John Cooper Clarke-20111021cJohn Cooper Clarke
Nikon D300, AF NIKKOR 85mm f/1.8D, 1/100s, f2.8, ISO 1600

What was I photographing on this day in previous years?

Ten years ago it was legendary performance poet John Cooper Clarke doing his stuff at The Flowerpot in Derby.

It was an absolutely fantastic evening of poetry, humour and anecdotes with the highlight for me being the poem (and preamble to) “Bongo’s Trousers”, the opening line of which forms the title of this post.

John Cooper Clarke-20111021j-bwJohn Cooper Clarke
Nikon D300, AF NIKKOR 85mm f/1.8D, 1/40s, f2.8, ISO 1600

Monochrome Monday… Waiting for the last train, November 2020

Waiting for the last train, November 2020Waiting for the last train, November 2020
Nikon FA, Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 Ai-S – Kodak T-Max P3200 rated at ISO 1600
Developed in Ilford DDX at 1:4, 9 mins at 20°c.

An image from a roll of film that’s been lurking in a camera for almost a year…

Matlock isn’t the worst railway station I’ve waited for the last train at, not by a long shot (I think that ‘honour’ falls to another Derbyshire station though… Langley Mill!)

Digitised using Nikon D5500 & AF-S Micro-NIKKOR 40mm f/2.8 and Nikon ES-2 Film Digitising Adapter with minimal cropping and tweaking in Lightroom Classic CC.

Throwback Thursday… SIR KEITH PARK… at Keighley

Southern Railway Battle of Britain class 4-6-2 34053 SIR KEITH PARKSouthern Railway Battle of Britain class 4-6-2 34053 SIR KEITH PARK
Nikon D600, AF-S NIKKOR 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G ED VR at 48mm, 1/125s, f8, ISO 2000

What was I photographing on this day in previous years?

Five years ago it was a steam gala at the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway (K&WVR).

Southern Railway (SR) Battle of Britain class 4-6-2 34053 SIR KEITH PARK was visiting from the Severn Valley Railway (SVR) but managed to wreak havoc with the day’s timetable thanks to defective sanding gear (something vital for the constant climb up to Oxenhope) and a leaking piston valve.

Built by the Southern Railway at Brighton Works in 1947 as 21C153 (designer Oliver Bulleid employed an idiosyncratic numbering system for his locomotives) and named after Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Rodney Park, GCB, KBE, MC & Bar, DFC, the First World War flying ace and Second World War Royal Air Force commander, the locomotive saw only 18 years service before being withdrawn in October 1965 but luckily preservation would beckon and 34053’s restoration was eventually completed in 2012.

Single frame… Weybourne Hope, October 2011

Weybourne Hope, October 2011Weybourne Hope, October 2011
Nikon D300, AF-S DX NIKKOR 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR at 80mm, 1/125s, f11, ISO 200

A quick pic from the (digital) archives today… it popped up while I was looking for something else and as it was taken ten years ago today I thought I’d include it!

Weybourne Hope is where the shingle spit of Blakeney Point meets the North Norfolk cliffs and there is an old saying that refers to the deep inshore water here that would allow ships to unload troops and stores here in the event of an invasion.

‘He who would all England win, should at Weybourne Hope begin’

Throwback Thursday… Mur-de-Barrez

Rue de la Pierre, Mur-de-BarrezRue de la Pierre, Mur-de-Barrez
Nikon D200, AF NIKKOR 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G ED-IF AF-S DX at 70mm, 1/125s, f8, ISO 400

What was I photographing on this day in previous years?

14 years ago it was the French commune of Mur-de-Barrez in the Aveyron department in southern France.

With a population of only 800 or so it was an incredibly peaceful little place to spend an afternoon, in fact we hardly saw a soul…

Rue de la Parro, Mur-de-BarrezRue de la Parro, Mur-de-Barrez
Nikon D200, AF NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4-5.6 D ED at 130mm, 1/500s, f8, ISO 400

Monochrome Monday… Willington Cooling Towers, January 2020

Willington Cooling Towers, January 2020Willington Cooling Towers, January 2020
Nikon FE, Zoom-Nikkor 43-86mm f/3.5 at 43mm, 1/125s, f8 – Kentmere 400
Developed in Ilford DDX at 1:4, 11½ mins at 20°c.

I can’t tell you why I find this image of the defunct cooling towers at Willington Power Station so appealing… I just do.

It’s also one of only half a dozen or so images (so far) taken with my Zoom-Nikkor 43-86mm f/3.5 Ai lens…

Nikon COOLSCAN IV ED scan with minimal cropping and tweaking in Lightroom Classic CC.

Monochrome Monday… TEK5, Tinsley, June 2021

TEK5, Tinsley, June 2021TEK5, Tinsley, June 2021
Nikon F3HP, NIKKOR 20mm f/3.5 Ai-S, 1/60s, f11; – Ilford FP4 Plus
Developed in Adox Rodinal at 1:25, 9 mins at 20°c.

Another image from June’s wander along the Sheffield & Tinsley Canal…

And yet more industrial grot! 😁

Digitised using Nikon D5500 & AF-S Micro-NIKKOR 40mm f/2.8, pixl-latr and Negative Lab Pro plugin with minimal cropping and tweaking in Lightroom Classic CC.

Throwback Thursday… The Forth Bridge

Forth Bridge, September 2005Forth Bridge, September 2005
Nikon D100, Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG APO Macro HSM at 70mm, 1/160s, f5.6, ISO 200

What was I photographing on this day in previous years?

Sixteen years ago it was the Forth (rail) Bridge on my first ever trip to Scotland.

Although I did photograph the bridge as a whole it’s these detail shots, complete with trains, that remind my of the hour or so spent at South Queensferry as the sun went down…

Forth Bridge and Inchgarvie, September 2005Forth Bridge and Inchgarvie, September 2005
Nikon D100, Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG APO Macro HSM at 125mm, 1/160s, f5.6, ISO 200

Throwback Thursday… Skipton’s canals

The Thanet Canal, SkiptonThe Thanet Canal, Skipton
Nikon FA, Nikkor 45mm f/2.8P, 1/125s, f8 – Agfa vista plus 200 rated at ISO 100

What was I photographing on this day in previous years?

Five years ago it was the picturesque Yorkshire town of Skipton and its canals.

The first section of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal opened between Bingley and Skipton in 1773 and is still a busy waterway today (albeit with pleasure boats). The Thanet Canal (pictured above) was a privately financed branch built to serve Lord Thanet’s limestone quarries near Skipton Castle and is usually home to narrowboats taking a break from the arduous journey across the Pennines.

Leeds and Liverpool Canal, SkiptonLeeds and Liverpool Canal, Skipton
Nikon FA, Kiron 28mm f/2, 1/125s, f8 – Agfa vista plus 200 rated at ISO 100

I mainly use NIKKOR lenses with my Nikon cameras but the above image was taken using a Kiron 28mm f/2 lens that I picked up from a brocante (flea market) in France a month or so earlier… for the amazing sum of €0.50!