neil.baldwin – Page 20 – Neil Baldwin's blog : Warning contains walking, technology, photography, holidays.

Business trip to Poznan Poland

Strange hotel room at the Platinum Palace Poznan

A few of members of my team work out of our Poznan office, and although we manage to function as a team using email, phones and video conferencing there is nothing like meeting face to face. So the start of this week I will be spending my time in Poznan. The flights from Luton were a bit inconvenient, the flight there would be reasonable being at 0800 but the flight back would have meant a start at 0300 to catch the feeding flight of the 0800 out of Luton, I would prefer to avoid that. So I settled on flights from and to London Stansted, the flight out was at1235 then I would return late afternoon on the Wednesday.

i was in the office by 0730 to get two and a half hours in before having to leave for the airport. Unfortunately I could not get started straight away as there was a networking issue and I was the only person in to resolve it, I may have been better off working from home. The drive to the airport was pretty uneventful (around the M25 was clear) I did see a lorry on fire on the M11, there were flames and smoke and a driver stood well back on his mobile. I guess I may have been fortunate as there was the potential that the fire brigade would have shit the motorway due to the dark smoke.

I had pre book Mid-term parking which came with the fast track service through security, which was good but did not save me much time as the queues were quite short. Air side was very crowded so they clearly shift a lot of people through so the low queues suggest to me that the airport is well run. The signs and queuing at the gate were a bit confusing and one queue were told to face the other way as they were the end not the front of the queue. Boarding was pretty smooth even though only the front door was being used to board us passengers.

The flight was pretty straight forward I used the time to catch up with emails and type up a few documents. At the other end we were quickly through security. I got the impression that Poznan is not a busy airport as there were not many people about. The taxi driver had a sign with my name on it, which is the first time I have had that, it made me feel more important than I am. It was a short drive to the Platinum Palace Residence my abode for the next two nights. The name is interesting as I could imagine that a marketing department or brand management company did some brain storming and came up with the three works and just strung them together. Platinum a rare metal so think exclusive, Palace is where monarchy live in luxury, and Residence is what they call posh hotels. The hotel was modern and all shiny inside with a big light fitting that draped down in reception. My room was very different, the door was the only black one on the first floor, and when you entered there was a shiny purple wall in front of you, with a 1m corridor down each site to the far end of the room where the bed was under the window. So essentially the room had a room within it like a Russian doll. The internal room consisted of a shower cubicle with glass doors an a W.C. with a glass door, beyond the glass doors there was a mirrored wall. The corridor around the inner and outer room was about 1m wide.

The evenings are light so I took the opportunity to walk into the centre f the city, but not before catching up with my emails and reconciling a report. Walking into town took about 40 minutes the weather was sunny but I needed a light coat. I was heading for the old town but missed it and ended up at the river where not much happens so I turned around and headed towards to the old town using Google maps. The main square in the old town is full or bars/cafes/restaurants but there were also lots of stalls as a festival was going on. Complete with a singer and band on a stage.

I wandered around the square taking in the sites, and took the opportunity to take some hand held panorama sets, you may see the results here if they work out OK. I could not decide what are where to eat as Poland is not that vegetarian friendly, but then I spotted a restaurant that was selling Pizzas so I stopped for pizza and a beer. Suitable replete I walked back the hotel but took a different but parallel route so as to take I more of the sights.

I was in bed pretty early 09:00 I found I kept of getting woken up quite a bit as the hotel was near a main road and tram line and the trams are quite noisy as their solid steel wheels ground along the solid steel tracks. The room however although weird in its layout had air conditioning which worked so the temperature was just as I wanted it. I was up at 07:00 to give me time to have breakfast before the taxi arrived, to take me to the office in Rokietnica.

Views: Old Market Square II Poznan Poland Panorama by Neil Baldwin

It was the first time in Poland so I was paraded around the offices and introduced to everyone before I could get a chance for a coffee. Once that was over I got down to some work with the team, the aim was fact finding and to find out what good stuff they do which could be shared across out division and suggest some of the good stuff we do in GB and Ireland that might be appropriate in Poland. The factory is in a fairly rural location and the IT guys office looks out on to a wheat filed and a scrubby but f land, I was pleasantly surprised when I spotted a Marsh Harrier quartering the scrub. Things are very civilised in Poland I was well looked after, for example in the UK if I visit a site someone will usually arrange a sandwich for lunch, in Poland you get a menu and a hot meal is delivered, on the Tuesday I had salmon and potatoes with a salad and on the Wednesday I had grilled trout and potatoes and salad, all delivered by a local company.

The guys had agreed they would take me out and show me the sights in the evening and they picked me up from the hotel and took me to an Italian restaurant that also did contemporary Polish food. I had spinach for a starter with Parmesan, followed by steamed Perch-Pike with apple and cabbage and spinach dumplings which was very nice. For dessert I has proper baked cheese cake. The guys suggested a special beer for me which contained honey in the brewing process, it was very nice. After the meal they wanted to go and try traditional vodka but I was not keen as I find it is very easy to get hangovers so I really do limit my alcohol consumption. Instead they took me a walk showing me some of the sites unfortunately I had seen most of what they showed me, although it was great to know what it was I had seen the day before, and nice to know that by just following my nose I had managed to see a lot of the things worth seeing. They insisted that we at least have one more beer and we ended up in a pool hall where we had a couple of rounds of pool. We eventually left the establishment and I was back at my hotel before midnight (just). I hope this does not become a regular thing when I got to Poland as I am not good at staying up late on school nights especially in a hotel where trams trundle by in the night.

The next morning the taxi was early and I was ready so I ended up at the office in good time 08:15 (or 07:15 UK time), my flight was at 16:05 so would have to leave at 14:00, but that would give me a chance to meet up with a couple of people in Finance and finish going through the things we had on our list, and have my chosen lunch of grill trout. The queues at the airport were reasonable long but moved long, and they opened a third x-ray machine as I got to the front of the queue. I was right about Poznan not being a busy airport there were none of the crowds that I had encountered at Stansted, there was plenty of room for everyone. Looking at the departure board there was only one screen of flights (15) between 15:30 and 22:15 which is not many.

The flight departed on time, once at cruising altitude I got out the Polish looking custard like pasty I had purchased which was very once and quickly consumed, then I settled in to the flight reading some articles I had downloaded before I departed the office, and caught up with a few emails. We used the Stansted shuttle to get back to the terminal once landed, which was interesting the shuttles are line horizontal list they arrive the doors open you get in the doors close then open again when you get to the terminal all without a driver.

The drive home was about an hour so all in all the flying and travelling was not too bad.

Walk to HMS Bulwark from Rotherhithe

London seems to be a weekly commute for me at the moment. This Saturday I have managed to get tickets for a tour of the Navy ship, HMS Bulwark moored up in Greenwich for a few weeks. To make a day of it I thought I would walk from Rotherhithe which will complete the walk I started last weekend when I walked from Rotherhithe to Tower Bridge.

Waiting at Berkhamsted there were quite a few groups of people with picnic hampers clearly some outside event was on. The train was relatively busy but I got a seat with a table for the coffee I purchased on the platform. The train was running 7 minutes late.

I chose to tube it to Rotherhithe, then I kept to the Thames path as much as I could, it turned out to be quite a long walk and at Deptford high street I thought about getting a bus but the next one was in twenty minutes so I carried on walking. By the time I got to the Cutty Sark I was quite tired of walking. There was a sort of French market on and I bought A veggie quiche for lunch the whole transaction done in French. I followed that with a coffee and a pee at the Greenwich museum the cafe was a bar as well and brewed its own beer in the big atrium of a bar in big copper brewing things.

I joined the queue at about 1245 for the 1300 trip. I had a spare ticket and offered it to a guy carrying a camera, I don’t think he really understood what I was offering him, he said yes bit then disappeared. Luckily for a young lady in the queue near me I was able to offer her the spare one. She had registered but could not get the eTicket up on the screen of her blackberry.

Her name was Natalie and she was a bored commercial lawyer and was thinking of joining the Navy as a legal reserve? We were soon herded into a tent for 10 minutes of how great the Navy is and why we contribute taxes to the service which provides value for money. Then we were herded onto a jetty where our launch to take us to the Bulwark was waiting. Once on board I tagged onto one of the guided tours of he boat. We visited the control room where they play war games the helicopter deck where we were able to go into the cockpit of the helicopter parked there. In the control room I noticed they were still using Windows XP that probably explains why the government has agreed to pay Microsoft for patches post them making the OS end of life. We also went into the depths of the vessel where we got to see the landing craft which can be launched out of the back of the ship.

We were on board for about an hour and a half. Were were herded back to the pontoon to pick up the launch to take us back to land at the Cutty Sark. I was quite tired by this point so decided to take the most quick and direct route back possible. Google t0 the rescue, a Tube station was near by bit the line was closed further down the line so down 10 flights of steps on to DLR then off at the next stop up some steps, onto a bus that went all round the houses and eventually to another DLR station where I got a train to Bank, then the Northern line to Euston where I was two trains ahead of the Google suggestion.

At Berkhamsted I picked up Helen who was shopping for dinner then we went home for Pizza and salad for me at least an early night. A tiring but enjoyable day.

Emelina the luxury motor yacht

Luxury yacht Emilina moored on the Thames London

When I was in London the other day I took a picture of a large motor yacht or Gin Palace as they are sometimes called. Emelina was moored the seaward side of Tower bridge, when I got home I decided to do some investigating to see if I could find out a bit more. It turned out to be very easy possibly because of the unusual name, and the fact that it was a big yacht.

Emelina is 51 m (167 foot) long and was created by Codecasa boat builders in 2008, it can sleep up to 12 passengers, thats about 3 times the number of people I can comfortably sleep in my house. As well as the 12 passengers there is apparently accommodation for a crew of 10. The twin Catterpillar engines produce and impressive 9788hp and can help the yacht reach speeds of 17.5 kts. I guess this is probably not possible when full oaded with fuel (8o,000 litres) and water (20,000 litres). The fuel can possible allow for a range of 4,000 nm.

A few other facts about the yacht are : it has a Jacuzzi Spa but no helicopter landing pad, the interior was designed by Studio Dellarole and the hull is made of aluminium.

Google also also popped up a link to a site that allows you to see the location of lots of boats including Emelina you can see her current location at the Marine Traffic website (click on the “Show live map button”). When I looked on Sunday she was in Dagenham but now she is moored in Amsterdam.

I did a panorama photo from the riverside which is now on Google maps.

Views: Luxury cruiser Emelina moored on the Thames London UK by Neil Baldwin

The Brunel tunnel

Isambard Kingdom Brunel Rotherhithe Tunnel under the Thames London

Ian Visits came up trumps again the Brunel Tunnel under the Thames is open for the weekend due to a line upgrade to convert from four to five carriages per train. I got in quick and managed to get myself a ticket before that sold out less than an hour later.

I was up early and managed to get the 08:46 to London Euston from Berkhamsted, which unusually had no free seats. On arrival I used Google maps to find out how to get to the Brunel Museum at Rotherhithe. You may not be aware but Google recently announced it had all the public transport times so when you ask for directions not only does it know which trains and buses to use it knows when the next one is. This is a great improvement on trying to read the bus maps that have no road names and then work out the coded bus stop you need to be at. It suggested Victoria line then Jubilee but I fancied the bus so set the options for buses only. 68 then change at Waterloo bridge to the 381. The 68 arrived as I got to the bus stop.

It was still raining when I got off the bus at Waterloo bridge but there was some sun to the south in the distance which was good because I was lugging three cameras with me. The 381 took me past the Kirkcaldy museum of material testing which I had visited a few weeks before. The bus passed through some interesting areas where you could see that there had in the past been companies that manufactured goods. For example I saw a building with a painted sign for a company that made tin boxes. Further on there is evidence of shipping with old warehouses, pubs with nautical names (The Shipwrights) and even the London nautical school. By the time I got off the bus the sun was out.

Once alighted I followed the signs to the Brunel Museum and the staff there directed me to Rotherhithe station which was the correct place to congregate. I was early but they let me join the queue, but not before I stocked up on batteries for my flash. I would have to wait for the allotted time but thanks to my trusty insulated foam sheet was able to sit down while I waited, all the time the sky got bluer and the clouds more fluffy and white.

The 1100 tickets were called and we were guided into the closed station, and given blue surgical gloves to put on, then told to gather at the top of the escalators then we were taken down the steps to the platform of the station. First we had to have the obligatory Health and Safety briefing which explained why we had to wear gloves, dirt and weil’s disease so don’t touch stuff and then suck your thumb. We then stepped down on to the track and were led into the tunnel, our guides explained some of the history and features of the tunnel when we stopped every 30 metres. Eventually we came to the next station Wapping where we crossed over and went back up the other side to where we started. Then we left the station via the escalators not forgetting to throw the gloves away and disinfect our now sweaty palms.

As the weather was bright I decided a walk along the Thames path would be nice and provide plenty of photo opps . I followed Jubilee walk which keeps you as close to the river as is possible and you get to see some interesting buildings, most of them dock related so lots of converted warehouses with cranes sticking out of them. Just as it looked like the next shower was due I came across the Design Museum and popped into the cafe for a sandwich and coffee it was pretty average and cost £8.50!

Tower bridge was nearby so I carried on and crossed the bridge and attempted a panorama set at the mid point. On the other side was St Catherine’s dock always a good place to take photos so had a wander around. There are old buildings, boats and bridges. From there I headed towards the tower of London, then consulted Google maps for an escape route. At the no. 15 bus stop I got chatting to a fellow photographer who had a spirit level bubble in his hot shoe. I have one but it is a sharp cube that stands proud he had one that was more or less flush. He said he got it from Amazon and with the power of the internet so did I got just £1.99 a bargain.

I alighted at Aldwych and walked over the road and jumped on the 68 to Euston. It was pouring down at Euston and I had 10 minutes to spare before the 14:54 to Northampton . I grabbed a coffee and a paper then headed home to process my photos.

Elvis Presleys false tooth and the WW2 Bunker

WW2 Paddock bunker in Neasden North London

I have mentioned the Ian Visits website before on this blog, well today we attended two events we we spotted there. Both events are a bit unusual and completely different. First we visited a rarely open WW2 bunker, then we went to a dentist surgery to have a look at Elvis Presley’s false tooth. The day started with a bit of a panic, when I realised that although we had got up at 07:00 to get to Neasden in good time I thought we had to be there at 09:30 but when I checked the ticket it said 09:00. Any how we left the house at 07:45 and the Sat Nav was suggesting that we would be there by 08:55 plenty of time we thought!

The Sat Nav it turns out take account of traffic it knows about but that is not all traffic so after following it to detour the traffic it did know we ended up in queues that it had not anticipated. At 08:55 we called Katy the organiser to let them know we were running a few minutes late. We finally go there at 09:20 and they kindly allowed us to tag along with the school kids on the 09:30 tour. The tour started by obviously going down some steps quite a few in fact, the tour guide was very good and explained how far down we were and the little amount history of the place. The Bunker was only ever used twice during the war then was locked up to hardly ever be opened again so no one really was aware of it presence and those that were had signed the official secrets act and could not divulge anything. For example they had contact with a person that whose duty it was check the phones worked every week but she could not tell them much about the place as she was only permitted to descend the steps walk along the corridor check the phones then exit they way she had come, blissfully unaware of the size of the complex.

The tour took about an hour and was very interesting, the place was very damp (because when they built some houses on top they breached the water proofing) dirty mouldy and there were stalactites on the ceiling. The Paddocks as the bunker is know is made available to be viewed by the public twice a year by the housing association that built the house on the research site which was above the bunker. This was a stipulation of the planning consent and although the stipulation as run out they sill keep the pumps going to get the water out and pay for the lighting.

Once the tour was finished I suggested we went to the RAF museum at Hendon for a cup of coffee at the cafe there. It turned out to be a popular idea and a cheap one at that the parking cost £3 but the entrance to the museum was free so we had a bit of a look around while we were there. I took the opportunity to take a few panorama sets of photos before we left for the highlight of the day Elvis Presley’s false tooth.

Again Ian Visits tipped me off that there was a once in a life time opportunity to see Elvis Presley’s false tooth (or crown as they say in dental clinics). I set the sat nav and after 30 minutes in London traffic we pulled up outside a house in an Victorian housing estate in Bounds Green which had been pebble dashed and converted into a dentist practice. There appeared to be nothing happening but on the door was a poster suggesting an Elvis tribute would be there between 1200 and 1400. On entering we entered into a strange situation, there was an Elvis impersonator singing songs whilst the practice staff milled about with fancy dress on. On the reception counter was a clear perspex box containing a tooth moulding and a bright white crown, the object of our mission.

There were a couple of press photographers taking photo’s, some Cancer Awareness representatives and Virgin Active sales people apart from that we seemed to be the only people there at that moment. A woman approached us and asked if we wanted a free mouth cancer check we said yes and filled out the forms. As we waited we made sure we got selfies with the tooth and were interviewed by the Mouth Cancer awareness people. We both declared clear so we left with our sugar coated cup cake!

We headed back via the super market and endured a very violent hail storm on the A41 and were back home to good time, after a bizarrely interesting day.

A testing time in London

Helen was booked up for the day so I had a day to indulge myself. I have recently getting back into taking panorama photos and submitting them as photospheres to Google, so I was keen to go somewhere to indulge my current interest. There is no point in doing panoramas of streets as Google has already got that converted you need to find views where the Google car can’t get to. I checked out the Ian visits website, which covers all things unusual happening in London. A things jumped out as interesting the Kirkcaldy museum of material testing (would be closing to move soon) and Sikh festival in Trafalgar square, that would give me something to start and time to stop and take photos.

After dropping Helen off at church I headed to Wendover to catch the 09:13 to Marylebone which would not be my station or route of choice but there was engineering works at Watford junction which ruled out the Euston service. The station cafe was closed so I would have to wait for my coffee but the train left on time.

I took the tube to Waterloo as I wanted to make sure that I was on the 11 o’clock tour as it happens the tour at eleven was more of a recommended time as there was I timetable just some enthusiastic people who were more than willing to tell pi all about the equipment. I tagged on top a part that was being show the exhibits by a volunteer who was probably an engineering student as she sounded like she knew what she was talking about.

All talks stopped when it was announced that the big machine was going to be demonstrated. The big machine was about the size of the steam engine in the science museum. The way the machine worked was that it used water to hydraulically stretch or compress the material that was being tested. In the demonstration they were stretching bars from the pavement grates outside the building which when they were replaced the museum salvaged them. The curators got everyone involved in the process pressing the button to switch it on and then winding the wheel to move the clamps in and out. The bar under test started to flake then eventually broke with a bang and the building shook a bit. After a look at the other demos I headed off towards Trafalgar Square.

It seemed everyone was out walking on the south bank of the Thames, but I noticed that the gates to the foreshore were open so I headed down to the beach and walked on the beach instead. there were only a few of us down there. Around the national theatre I headed up to the masses and found the reason for the crowds. There were lots of street food vendors one section for Malaysia and and another for Spain. I was tempted by the food but the queues put me off. I shot off a few panorama sets while I was there as I want to improve my handheld technique.

I crossed the foot bridge that has a railway bridge close by then walked through the station at the other side. I popped out near where Alpine sports used to be and went around the block to Trafalgar square. I had picked up a cheese sandwich at the station then realised my mistake the festival had food stalls and they were all vegetarian. I could not resist buying a samosa though. I had a look around and took a few pictures then headed north destination Foyles.

I thought I might be able to buy the BluRay for Untouchable a French film Helen and I want to see but on Love Film there are no sub-titles (OK for me but a bit tough for Helen). Strangely they only sell DVDs in Foyles so I grabbed a few travel writing books and headed towards Oxford Street to have a look there. My extra effort was wasted I could not find any shops that sold DVDs or BluRays, I guess they have all gone on-line or people just stream movies these days.

I jumped on the Tube back to Baker street and the walked to Marylebone Station. By that time I was glad of a sit down on the train I had been on my feet since 09:00.

Oxford on a sunny Spring day

Woke up to a sunny day which according to the weather man would be warm at 16 degrees C. A trip to Oxford was in order, a quick Google threw up a Cezanne exhibition at the Ashmolean and an exhibition about the Japan tsunami at the Pitt Rivers, then of course there is always a good browse around the great book shop called Blackwells.

After a leisurely breakfast we headed out to the Thornhill park and ride which is the best way to “do” Oxford from our side. A bus was waiting when we got there and we were soon treading the streets off the City Centre. We headed first to the Ashmolean as it was a paid for and timed entry, £20 lighter but having got some back from HMRC via gift aid we were viewing some rarely seen Cezanne’s. Helen would have liked more paintings , there were quire a few sketches, but was impressed by the Sisley river scape painting.

Next we headed towards the Natural History museum to seen the photo exhibition in the Pitt Rivers we stopped at an independent coffee shop and grabbed a falafel and humus sandwich coffee and cake which we ate on a bench outside the museum. Apart from being a great museum full of Natural history cabinets the building is very interesting. if you take a look from the outside the windows frames are all different, they have a similar overall design but some have more ornate edges than others. On the inside there are a series of columns that are part of the balcony that gives views over the ground floor, each one is made of a different UK rock variety.

Whilst there I took the opportunity to take a panorama of the main hall, which also has a very ornate steel roof with lots of glass panels in it. We then ventured in to the Pitt Rivers part where we had a look at a photographic exhibition of how a museum in Japan salvaged lots of museum pieces which were affected by the 2011 Tsunami. They really had their jobs cut out restoring photos and negatives which were water damaged.

In the Pitt Rivers main section with all its glass cabinets full of stuff, and the curators with wind up torches always ready to show you where the witch in a bottle is displayed, I got into a conversation with one regarding photography in such a dark place. I promised to post the photos on his Flickr group.

It was about 14:30 by the time we had finished, and we had had enough of walking around so we headed back to the bus stop via Blackwells the best book shop in Oxford followed by the covered market, and went home. All in all a lovely day out and the weather made all the difference.

London Revolution series at Lee Valley Velopark

The day has finally dawned. I booked tickets for the Revolution Series cycling event in what was the Olympic velodrome a long time ago and they have been sitting immense draw ever since, I magnet to get task side status because I booked early. A of A&C picked us up at 08:45 because C was under the weather and we got the 09:15 from Berkhamsted all four tickets were only £43 all the way to Stratford International, that seems like good value for money. The train was on time and we walked the back road to St Pancras where we noted that the new Crick Institute building looking like it will be finished soon, although it did have quite a few missing tiles on the face of the building.

At St Pancras we jumped on the Javelin train to Dover but got off at the first stop which is Stratford International which is right under Westfield shopping centre. We stopped for a coffee and something to eat at Westfield as we had plenty of time to spare, and had heard that the prices at the venue were inflated. Helen had the healthy option of fruit yoghurt and a couple of pastries which when it turned up did not seem quite so, I had scrambled eggs on a muffin with spinach and asparagus, A had veggie breakfast and the other A had some sort of toasted meat and cheese thing with a small portion of chips. Westfield is my idea of hell on earth it is a shopping centre and an expensive one at that all the designer brands are there as well as a load of other shops which I would never frequent. I guess they must cater for tourists as they run a service along the lines of if you can;t carry your shopping hand it in and we will arrange fore it to be delivered to your hotel.

Revolution Series 2014 Lee Valley Velopark Laura Trott

Suitably replete we headed to the Olympic Velodrome which is now call the Lee Valley Velopark, it is about a 10 minute walk from Stratford International train station. It was a shame that the whole park was not open as we could have had a look around as we had some time to spare. I turns out that it will be opening on the 9th April so a return trip would be in order, as Helen never got the opportunity to see the park during the 2012 Olympics. The Velopark is a nice looking building slightly raised on a mound, and clad in a wood panelling that has faded a bit in the two years since I saw it last. The doors did not open until 12:00 so we went and had a look at the Olympic rings on one of the hills, and took some pictures.

When the door did open we queued up and were soon at the entrance. Velodromes are usually a controlled environment and is kept very hot. Warm air is conducive to fast times not only because it helps keep the athletes’ muscles loose and flexible, but also because warm air is less dense than cooler air, decreasing the aerodynamic resistance the riders encounter. That explains why we had to go through and air lock at the entrance, i.e. they let some people into an area then close the outside doors before opening the internal doors.

We soon found our seats which because I had booked early were right on trackside this meant that the cyclist came close enough for use to reach out and touch them, which of course we did not. You could feel the slip stream they created as they shot past. We were at the event for three hours during which we saw a variety of events including some UCI counting events. My favourite was the Sprint which involves a certain amount a cat an mouse as the cyclist vie for position sometimes balancing on their bicycles to remain at a standstill waiting for the other competitor to make a move, it is better to come from behind in the slipstream than lead out an opponent.

The sun was still out when we left and reversed our journey home, stopping for a bite at St Pancras, then being messed about at Euston with the train being called on platform 11 then when everyine was on 11 waiting changed it to 13. We still managed to get seats together. We all agreed that it had been an enjoyable day and would love to do it again.

UK Photography show 2014

Helen is at work this morning I was unsure what to do with my self, I had thought about the UK Photography show at the Birmingham NEC but decided against on Saturday. However when I woke up I decided that seeing as I had to drop Helen off at work I may as well keep on driving up the M40 and have a look.

Yesterday I made the most of the great weather by going for a walk in the morning . I did the walk I blogged here but I bit off more than I could chew when after I got back I had an offer from N for a walk from Nrothchurch to Ashridge NT Cafe. So that afternoon N&M walked from Northchurch to the monument at Ashridge. Trouble is by the time we got to the cafe my knees were complaining so rather than walking back I got a lift back to Northchurch with P and left the other two to walk back.

However I digress this is a post about the UK Photography show at the Birmingham NEC. I left Aylesbury just after 08:00 after dropping Helen off, then headed to Bicester to pick up the M40, and I stopped at the first services for a coffee as I had not had time for one earlier. The motorway was pretty quiet I noticed that spring was on the way as I say lots of rooks flying about in pairs as wells as quite a few common buzzards often being harassed by the rooks. I made good time and arrived at the exhibition center just before 10:00 and was soon on the shuttle bus from the car park to the exhibition halls.

The entrance fee was £10 which when added to the £10 for parking is quite steep. I need to figure out how to get trade entry to all these things, as well as saving money you get access to all areas. The exhibition was fairly busy and all the usual suspects were there i.e. Canon, Nikon, Panasonic, as well as a lot of the major camera shops.

A few things attracted my attention. First was a Chinese guy selling sensor cleaners that are basically a cude of gel on the end of a plastic stick, they were no cheap at £30 but they clearly work from the demo he gave cleaning someones camera. Trouble is I thought I would go back before I left to buy one but could not figure out where he was when I went back. I took my time to have a look at the Wacom Intuos tablets which replace the mouse with a tablet and pen. Helen asked to to look for a birthday present I think I may have found it. There were lots of stalls selling camera rucksacks which I could do with replacing but I just could not be bothered to fight the crowds to take a good look.

Amongst the other exhibitors there were plenty of people selling ways to print and display photo’s and plenty of tripods to look at . The current trend in tripods are ones where the legs folder right up in the opposite direction from which they are used, this ensures that the head is between the legs when it is folded up and it results n a very compact package. Trouble is the good ones are circa £250.

After about three hours wandering around I had had enough especially after all the walking on Saturday, so I left and headed south. I picked up the ingredient to make a Thai style coleslaw for tea and picked Helen up in Aylesbury.

Beyond the Watford Gap

My brother lives in the grim land north of the Watford gap and we are off to visit him this Saturday. We would normally drive up on a Friday but were glad we decided to leave it till Saturday morning as the weather on Friday was driving rain.

We were up a a reasonable 07:00 and left the house at about 08:40. The usual route was taken over to Milton Keynes then up the A5 for a few miles before joining the M1. The weather was really great the sun was low and bright in the sky so the views from the motorway were stunning. We saw quite a few buzzards, and two very large flock one of wood pigeon and the other lapwing. I have been doing photo of the day on facebook and decided a stop at Watford Gap services to grab a coffee and take a picture were the order of the day. The services have a sign out the front a bit like the one at lands end but with only two arms, ones points to the south and the other the north.

We made good time on the motorway and the driving was a breeze. I may have mentioned before the cruise control on the VW golf that I have, it allows you to set no only the speed you want but the distance you want to be from the car in front then the card maintains the speed as best it can, but always keeps you a certain distance from the car in front. It means that you hardly ever need to touch the accelerator and so all you need to do is keep your eyes. The road and steer the car in the right direction. We did the journey in roughly the time the sag nav had suggested at the beginning of the journey.

The weather took a turn for the worse after we had had some home made courgette soup for lunch. So we chilled out with my nephews for the rest the day. Kev made a foret noire gateau, and prepared a Chinese feast for us to eat in the evening. The feast included springs rolls, steamed buns, and steamed and deep fried dim sung. We also watched France trounce England in the six nations rugby match.

Sunday we lounged around for a few hours in the morning drinking coffee and playing on the Wii, then we had some cake and headed off to the Yorkshire Sculpture park for some fresh air and exercise whilst taking in some culture. If you are ever in the area the YSP is well worth a visit, it is a large open park land with lots of works of art scattered here and there, as well as one off temporary exhibitions. We saw an unusual installation Roger Hiorns: Seizure, which was a metal crate which had had copper sulphate crystals grown within it some of them very big, it was very dark and very blue inside. We then went for a walk around the ground where we spotted quite a few birds including cracking views of a nuthatch despite no binoculars.

We went our separate ways Kev back home and us back down the M1 home but not before stopping on the other side of the Watford Gap services.