Last year I went to the outdoor show at Excel London, I enjoyed it so I thought I would repeat the trip this year. it is quite good value for money, the outdoor show is not that big but the ticket includes entry to the boat show and the bike [...]]]>

Boat show main sub-hall.

Last year I went to the outdoor show at Excel London, I enjoyed it so I thought I would repeat the trip this year. it is quite good value for money, the outdoor show is not that big but the ticket includes entry to the boat show and the bike show.

I purchased my ticket the night before, it’s £2 cheaper and saves queue on the day. I planned to get off early in the morning and have a look around the area with my cameras as the weather was predicted to be frosty and sunny.

I left the house at 0800 and headed round the M25, till the M11 took me into London Docklands and the Excel Exhibition Center. There is a lot of building work going on in that part of London with the Olympics imminent. The final turn of the sat nav was closed and the diversion poor. I ended up doing a circuit then a guess at where to go to reach my destination with instructions!

Big boats

By the time I was parked up (£15 for 6 hours) it was more or less 1000 so I went straight to the exhibition. The halls were just opening and they played a rousing tune over the tannoy, it was the one you hear at remembrance services. Not sure what the reason for it was perhaps to raise the spirits of the exhibitors.

I did a quick tour of all the halls before a more leisurely one to get an idea of what was about. The things that I enjoyed most are described below.

Velo Polo has a better ring than Bike Polo, was the one spectacle that I enjoyed the most. Three people to each team ride around on bikes with polo sticks. I figured most of rules out: a goal can only be scored using the small end of the head end, it can’t be pushed with the side of the hammer head. If you put your foot down you have to touch wall at the side centre of the court. Winner is first to 5 or highest score after 2 by 10 minute halves, when side do not swap ends. Sudden death if there is a draw at full time.

Arty shot of the docklands

The games is quite fast and the cyclists are very skilled. Most were on fixies. The teams were from Europe by invitation, France and Geneva were mentioned.

Go ape had a very long zip wire, but I could not be bothered to join the queue. Andy Rouse and Joe Cornish shared a stand selling their photo’s and books of photo’s.

I happened upon a stand where Stuart Conway was publicising his attempt at the cycle round the world record, which is now 96 days, which tens of days less that Mark Beaumont’s record set some years ago. Apparently there will be a few riders attempting it at the same time although not by the same route.

The boat show had the usual wares. Some of the boats were massive and only just fitted beneath the roof struts of the building. I looked around a couple there is a serious amount of luxury that gets built into them there boats. There were some demonstrations of rope work which I found interesting, the guys doing it make it look so easy.

I had lentil curry and rice for lunch from the Indian food retailer.

My parking was about to run out whilst I watched one of the Velo Polo semi-finals, so I had to go before the traffic warden got to my car. All in all it was a great day out, I will return next year.

We were up and about with plenty of time to spare, so we had a leisurely breakfast then headed off [...]]]> We are off to Snape, Suffolk, for the new year with friends, so we thought we would take to opportunity to drop in on an ageing relative in a nursing home near Southend on sea.

We were up and about with plenty of time to spare, so we had a leisurely breakfast then headed off at about 0900 and arrived in good time via the M25. We found the home easy enough as we had taken a peek on Street View the evening before. The home seemed to be well run and the staff were friendly and helpful. P seemed to be happy enough but it took some time before she figured out who we really we’re. We chatted for about an hour and got a few laughs out of her.

The Barge Inn, Battlesbridge

We then headed off in the direction of Snape but not before I gave Helen the official guided tour of Southend. She seemed very impressed. The highlights included Shoeburyness beach huts, St Mary’s church and school, and the infamous Priory park in Prittlewell. We tried toi spot the restaurant with the wooden revolving door that P loved so much but it seems to have gone.

We headed out via Rayleigh and stopped at The Barge Inn for some lunch, I had a Adnams Fish burger with chips and Helen had a Goats cheese salad with chips. Both were tasty and good value.

We got stuck in a jam on the A12 which meant we got an unexpected tour of Witham as we tried, in vain, to bypass the queue.

Arrived at Abbey Farm, just outside Snape at about 1620, after some confusion over which building we were in Helen called the owner who sorted us out and gave us the guided tour. Very nice property will serve us well for New Year.

Up early it was cold outside, -1, frost everywhere. The plan was a trip to London, not for christmas shopping, but for a cultural visit taking two photography exhibitions, and possibly the Leonardo exhibition at the National Gallery. We felt smug as Christmas shopping was all but done, if [...]]]>

The Lego tree St Pancras

Up early it was cold outside, -1, frost everywhere. The plan was a trip to London, not for christmas shopping, but for a cultural visit taking two photography exhibitions, and possibly the Leonardo exhibition at the National Gallery. We felt smug as Christmas shopping was all but done, if not wrapped. The roads to Berkhamsted were icy but the temperature was now a balmy +2. We nabbed the last parking space near the station, and jumped on the 0900 train to Euston.

I remembered that I had seen a photo of a Lego Christmas tree at St Pancras, so we agreed to swing by. It turned to be not as impressive as I imagined it might be. It was big, green and covered in lights and baubles tree, and 100÷ Lego. I took a few pictures while Helen resisted the lure of the champagne bar, then headed out to get the 59 back to Euston and on to the Imperial War Museum. It had started to rain.

We had booked up to see the Don McCullin exhibition the night before. Don McCullin is a famous war photographer, I am sure you will have see his work in the sunday supplements between the 60′s and 90′s. The most famous one is the close up of shell shocked soldier with the thousand yard stare. The exhibition was good with plenty of articles that McCullin had donated, including the Nikon with the AK47 bullet hole. The was an interesting interview video of McCullin and his stories of how he got into with anecdotes of war, and his subsequent shift away from war photography and into Landscape photography. We thought about lunch at IWM but decide that something on the Southbank near our next port of call might offer a better choice than the cafe.

The Imperial War Museum panorama

We jumped back on the 59 bus and got off at Southbank, on Waterloo Bridge. The regular Slow Food market was on by the Haymarket, but although tempting it was too cold for al fresco eating. We even fore went buying some nice bread because we were travelling light and did not want any luggage.

Helen spotted a Pizza Express so we popped in for some fast food. It was  the same one we took the took the Australians to some years, it might even have made it on to the blog, just.

Suitably replete we headed to The National Theatre to take a look at the Landscape photographer of the year exhibition, and it was brilliant, all the photos where printed and well lit, a real inspiration to any photographer. A sign of the times hardly any of the pictures were taken on film. Many used the Canon 10-22mm EFS lens that I like own and like so much. We headed out and took some pictures and video of the north bank of the Thames which was looking glorious in the winter sun.

The National Gallery, London

Out final destination was the National Gallery se we jumped on the 159 over to Trafalgar Square. We asked at the desk they had tickets for 2030! Apparently people queue up at 0700 3 hours before the pace opens just to get tickets. We popped into Waterstones (waste of time) then jumped back on the 59 to Euston, where a fast train was waiting to take us back to Berkhamsted.

Some friendly French people sat in the seats near us, and after exchanging a few word in French they started asking me French grammar questions. is it Londonien or Londonienne? How should I know. We were back home by 17:00 for some left over soup from yesterday. All in all a great day out if a little cold.

The Video

It is the weekend of the London to Brighton vintage car run (#LBVCR) and as is traditional Helen and I are participating with a good friend Rory, who has a 1903 Humberette. I went over on Saturday to buff up the brass and polish the paint work before loading the car on [...]]]>

Car lamo

It is the weekend of the London to Brighton vintage car run (#LBVCR) and as is traditional Helen and I are participating with a good friend Rory, who has a 1903 Humberette. I went over on Saturday to buff up the brass and polish the paint work before loading the car on to the trailer and securing it for the journey to Hyde Park on the Sunday. As usual Rory & Rob were bickering over the lack of preparation on Rory’s behalf and the right way to do things.

We were in bed by 20:00 because we had to be round Rory’s at 05:00 to leave. Helen was up and 04:00 and I surfaced at 04:35 and we made it to Rory’s by 05:00. Whilst sorting out stuff at home we got a call from Helens mum she had decided to cadge a lift to near Brighton to visit a relative. We picked up Helen’s mum of the way after leaving only 5 minutes after the planned time. Strangely we ended up in front of the others despite not having overtaken them, turns out that had also picked someone up on the way. I let them overtake and followed them down to Hyde Park.

The car that sped past

Parking is never a problem at that time of the morning and we were soon over by the Serpentine, watching the pigeons lying round in a large flock. As predicted we were there far earlier than we needed to be, it was 06:15 and we had a 07:20 start so we went to the cafe that was doing a roaring trade and relaxed for a while. Back out at the start queue we chatted and took a few pictures then the 6 minute warning sign came round, the driver struggled to get the car started again  but a small drop of magic juice from a very old bottle with a nozzle seemed to do the trick, I didn’t ask what was in it sometimes it is best not to know.

We hurried back to may car and joined the 50 mile traffic jam to Brighton Madeira drive. It did not take too long to catch up with the old crock, I think it was around Purley. When we got to Streatham we had to be diverted off the usual route because the police had cordoned off the high street. Not a problem for my car but it involved a hill so some of the old crocks were slowed significantly. The Humberette just a about made it. Around Croydon we did a passenger change then we stopped again for a coffee and a swap over at around Merstham.

We were now into the usual routine and plodded on down to Crawley for the official coffee stop, where we all met up at the White Hart, for a beer. Rory had managed to upset a local taxi driver by nipping into a free parking space that the taxi driver had been waiting for. Even worse was to come as when we left Mark left his car in Crawley but not before swapping spaces with Rory’s car and again upsetting the locals. The traffic normally gets worse as you leave Crawley and everyone is now up and about, this year was no exception.

The keeper of the steam engine

The weather was holding out, i.e. it was not raining, but it was overcast so not really ideal for taking photo’s, never the less I had a go at the technique where you set a long shutter speak 30th/60th and follow the motion of a car in the hope of getting a blurred back ground and static subject, essentially giving the picture a sense of speed. You can see the best shot in the post.

We passed Pease Pottage, which I only mention because of the strange sounding name. Then we we over the big hills without a fuss. We dropped off Helen’s mum and then did a final meet up with the car at the slip round just before the Needles, then headed to the west of the railway to dump the car at the NCP near the Travelodge, interestingly we were spending more to accommodate the car for a night than we were on ourselves, the NCP was £25 for 24hours and the room was booked early for £23.50.

Down on Madeira drive we met up with the others, the hospitality was not up to the usual standard as they were clipping the passes if you asked for more than one portion, and they were serving only the participant tickets. After sting around in the cold for a while we sent the girls off back to the hotel while the men packed the car up on the trailer for transport back to base.

We met up in the hotel lobby at 19:00 and the veggies outnumbered the meat eaters so we went to Food for Friends a veggie restaurant we had been to a few years before. I had a Thai platter followed by a Haloumi massala both of which I would recommend. We retired at 22:00 for some well earned shut eye.

Bills veggie breakfast

On Monday we all met up at in reception and headed out to get some breakfast, as we had decided to splash out on a nice breakfast rather than the pretty basic fare at the Travelodge. It was really handy that The Independent on Saturday had a feature of the 50 best places to eat breakfast. There was one in Bright called Bills Placein and old bus depot. I must say that it is highly recommended, I had the veggie breakfast which was two slices of toast with Guacamole on one and Humus on the other topped with tomato’s, mushrooms and poached eggs, topped off with a sweet chilli sauce.

Suitably refreshed it was off round the shops of the lanes to see what we could find. I bought a pair of slippers and a print of a Treecreeper for the lounge wall. At around 13:00 we all met up said our good byes and headed home picking Helen’s mum on the way.

After an early night we were up relatively early, the rain the weatherman promised had descended. You could see sheets of rain rushing past the house up the valley. There was a bit of a swell and the waves were crashing on to the rocks off the beach.

After some [...]]]>

Penard in the middle

After an early night we were up relatively early, the rain the weatherman promised had descended. You could see sheets of rain rushing past the house up the valley. There was a bit of a swell and the waves were crashing on to the rocks off the beach.

After some breakfast we decided to do a drive about day and headed to Falmouth to have a look at the National Maritime Museum, which we had visited some years ago and remember being worth a look round. We took a detour to have a look at The Lizard, as we suspected it is a bit of a kiss me quick place, but it will be a welcome stop when we walk from the house when the weather is better.

Once parked up in the museum car park (£3.30 for 3 hours, but plenty of spaces!) we headed over to the museum entrance, we passed though the shops which included deli’s and a Rick Stein fish and chip shop. The museum was how we remembered it it was well worth a visit plenty of stuff for everyone you and old.

By the time we had had a good look round and some coffee and cakes, it had stopped raining, so we headed for a quick look round the town. The car park was now full and people were queuing for spaces! Much of the town was shut as it was Sunday, so we headed back to the hut taking in a detour to look at Gweek to recee the place in case we wanted to use it as a walking base later in the week.

Warm coat at the museum

The temperature was much higher as the rain had passed though, and we were on the tail end of the low pressure front. We went for a quick walk along the coastal path but it started to rain again. We saw plently of sea birds passing through some we recognised as gannets, others perhaps shearwaters. I also noticed that some opf the birds round here are rather trusting, in the village there are lots of jackdaw who let you get within two metres of them, then there was a couple dunnocks who were very trusting. Best of all there were some swallows gliding about 6 inches off the road surface up and down the hollow that the road made at the bottom of the village. The would glide towards you at about ankle height then steer away at the last moment.

We were back in time to watch the Canadian grand prix which looks like it will be wet, bring it on.

Decided a local trip was in order, so we invited Helen’s folks for a walk round College Lake. The weather was really sunny and hot, we got there at about 11ish so not the best time of day to see birds. The usual suspects were on the water and island adjacent to [...]]]>

Shady Horsetail

Decided a local trip was in order, so we invited Helen’s folks for a walk round College Lake. The weather was really sunny and hot, we got there at about 11ish so not the best time of day to see birds. The usual suspects were on the water and island adjacent to the entrance. We walked on round the side twards the far end.

In the wooded are just pas the sand martin nest area I spotted an unusual plant that looked very primitive as plants go. It was a long stalk (6 inches) with with 4 regular buds on evenly spaced up the stem, topped off with a blobby bit. It turned out to be a Shady Horsetail (Equisetum pratense).

We were soon down to the field where the shrubs are planted. I scanned the fences ofor birds and spotted what I thought mightbe a Cuckoo. IIt was distamt so I got a bit closer and was more convinced. When it flew closer onto another post there was not doubt, later on on we all heard it call one time. In the filed near the cuckoo were 4 Whetear.

We finished off the walk with Ice Cream for some and a soft drink for others.

The weather has been great all week, at work I have been doing timelapse videos of a new sewage treatment plant all week, but more of that later. I suggested that we go to Kew to see the place in all its spring glory. We decided to go and take the mother in law.

Woke [...]]]>

Frittilary

The weather has been great all week, at work I have been doing timelapse videos of a new sewage treatment plant all week, but more of that later. I suggested that we go to Kew to see the place in all its spring glory. We decided to go and take the mother in law.

Woke up this morning early the day looked like it would be blue skies and sun all day. We headed off just before 10am, picked up our guest and headed off towards the M25. The traffic was OK and we were soon round the M25 and onto the M4 heading towards London. We exited at J2 and picked up the road that crosses the Thames at Hammersmith Bridge. Just after the bridge if you take the first right and then follow the signs to the Kew car park, (tight and narrow left between two houses), we arrived just short of 11am and easily found a place to park. Parking ticket is £6 and if you like you can park for free on Kew road but it can be a bit tricky.

Entrance to the Gardens was quite steep at 10p short of £14. The car park is on the Thames side of the park and there were no queues. Any way £40 worse off and we were into the gardens. The river side of the gardens is not really on the main drag so we headed east towards the pagoda end and took in all the plants and trees. there were some fritillaries, which are a lovely flower they come in purple and white and look like bells hanging from a bent over stem. fritillaries are quite rare and declining, but are native to the Thames valley and Suffolk. Another highlight was two types of wild garlic, Ransomes and Few-flowered Garlic. I have come across Ransomes in our local woods but I have never see the Few-flowered ones, which were not as pungent as the Ransomes.

Tulips

There were lots of trees in bloom including Rhododendrons, Magnolias, and plenty of cherry like blossoms. After a trip up the treetop walkway, (Helen and her mum chickened out) we headed over to the most easterly green house. After looking round the green house the plan was to meander our way back towards the west end where we entered. We stopped off at the botanical art exhibition and I managed to miss the bit that connected the old building to the new building, so that pleasure will have to wait until next time.

After looking round the middle greenhouse I struck up a conversation with a lady who was taking a panorama shot using a panoramic attachement on a tripod. We exchanged tips and I passed on the name of the software I use Hugin (here is the link http://hugin.sourceforge.net/). I took a good look at the camera bracket she was using because my one made from B&Q angle irons is not up to the job. If you are reading this can you send me a picture of your bracket. She she was a member of the Muswell Hill Photographic Society, and had got a couple of pictures commended in the Kew gardens photo competition.

Pond panorama

We had lunch at the Pavilion, where there was lots of nice food on offer including plenty of veggie options. As it was only 12 we opted for a lighter lunch of sandwiches, followed buy the obligatory day out cake. Once refreshed we headed over to the last of the greenhouses the Princess of Wales conservatory, where all the tropical stuff is housed. Helen did not like the humid atmosphere she claims it makes her hair curl so she looks like Bonnie Langford!

Turns out there was another green house to look round, the one with the giant lilly pads. Today however they were not giant, they had obviously had a clear out and started again as the pad were only up to a foot across. I tried taking a panorama shot here as I thought it would be a bit like the St Pancras one with roof offering an interesting pattern. If it works you may see the results here, but at time of writing it needed a bit of tweaking to get the handrails to line up correctly. Sometimes you wish you had the tripod and pano head with you, but when you set out you just can’t be bothered to lug all the gear around.

Boule do neige

We stopped for Tea/Coffee before a look round the obligatory shop, then headed back to the car with a brief stop to look at the river and eat and ice cream. The drive back was a breeze and we stopped of in Tring to get some tea (salad and stuff) and to place a bet on the Grand National, I choose the favourite and a rank outsider. The favourite came in 3rd so I might get some money back but not as much as I bet, there is probably a life lesson there, a £10 in the hand is better than one passed over the betting shop counter.

All in all a great day out with great weather, Oh and I forgot to mention we added a bird to the life list, Ringed-necked Parakeet, Helen’s mum spotted it at first I thought it was a sparrow hawk, it was travelling fast and had hawk like wing silhouette, but the give away was the slim pointed tail. When it circled round you could clearly see it was a bright green bird so there was no doubt, about the identification.

I have yet to speak to them and ask them whether they can remember the encounter with the strange car.

Google street view

There has been [...]]]> I was tracing my route to work on street view, doesn’t everyone? I came across someone I know, and to boot their face had not been blurred out.

I have yet to speak to them and ask them whether they can remember the encounter with the strange car.

Google street view

There has been a lot of fuss over street view in Germany where there are all sort of worries over privacy. For example Google agreed that they would also blur buildings if the people living there requested it. Trouble is with some apartments there were people who asked for the building to be blurred but them other people who lived there then complained that they did not want it blurred.

Google has also had to, in some countries, publish the time and places that the car will be going to an area. If only they did that here in the UK, we could all go out there and stage funny/peculiar things for the car to photo!

The menu had [...]]]> back at Christmas we booked up tickets for the new Aylesbury theatre to see the Chinese State Circus, and today was the day to go and see it. I walked home from work and we decided to go to the Wendover Peking for dinner then off to Aylesbury for the 20:00 showing.

The menu had changed at the restaurant they now have quite a few veggie dishes on the back page. I had hot and sour soup Helen had cashew wanton  for starters, then we had a selection of dishes as a main, Chinese leaves in schezwan sauce, faux sweet and sour wheat balls, with chow main and egg fried rice on the side.

We paid the bill then popped into Tesco for some supplies and parked up in town near the theatre. The theatre is a relatively new addition to the town and we had not been before. Its is in a very imposing position and when the canal basin developement goes through it will take pride of place. Its is inspired by the chilterns, the outside is all wood stone and glass then inside there are lots of random sized wood panels.

We had paid for the expensive seats in the lower circle, the show was not sold out. I wonder whether there is really a credit crunch on, the circle seats were full but the seats on the ground floor were only two thirds full. Any way I digress what was the show like you ask? I would sax mixed.

There were good bits the girls on the on the unicycles were definitely the best bits, the tumbles and pot jugglers were good, the fighting monks were not that impressive, and the strange monkey and “new york taxi driver” characters were bizarre.

Certainly my favourite bit was the unicycles, the performers were all on 10-12 foot unicycles and came on and did some formation cycling, not so impressive, but then all stopped and with one foot kept the unicycle going and with the other they flipped metal bowls on theirs and their fellow performers heads. On a couple occasions they would flip multiple quantities, facing top to bottom, which would all land stacked on their heads.

All in all the show was OK, but there were a couple of acts that made the whole thing worth watching. The theatre has fairly comfortable seats and is well worth a visit.