Foxton Locks are many things: a tourist attraction; a nice walk in the country; a relic of bygone times and so on. What it was yesterday was a breath of early autumn fresh air whilst the builders continue to rework my home.
Over the past few days it really seems we are entering Autumn although that doesn’t officially start until the first of September.
It’s Sunday afternoon and I’ve got nothing to do so hay why not remastered some images from 2006 and 2009? Why not indeed.
Nearly 20 years on and so many new ways to make the image that I wanted in the first place. Of course I can’t really remember what I was think 20 minutes ago so I haven’t really got a clue about 20 years ago. Yet I still remember exactly where I was and what I was doing on each of these days. One other thing I realise is that these were all captured using the Mk 1 100 – 400 Canon zoom – an ‘interesting and characterful‘ lens. Still given the right circumstances still able to produce the goods.
Two posts in just over two hours? What is happening? Is the word about to end? Well as far as I’m aware the world IS NOT about to end – despite what you might have read on Twitter. No it is much more mundane. I’m having work done to the house and the weekend is the only time I have got to post (I was going to say think but I suspect that boat sailed long ago!)
So it is a warm pleasant summer’s afternoon. The light is way too bright (it is mid afternoon on a summers days so what would you expect?). What else is there to do than just learn on the field gate, enjoy the breeze and talk to the cows? No? Maybe not but it was a really lovely summer’s afternoon and it felt like a rural idyll.
It was almost like a Merchant Ivory movie about August 1914. Then to top it all off I found a working telephone box with a post box. Strange things lurk in the valleys of east Leicestershire.
Should any US citizen ever come to read this they would rightly ask the question ‘what the hell does a Brit know about US Politics?’ And they would be right – up to a point. That point I suspect is that I know about as much as an average Joe might know about American federal politics. With this disclaimer in mind let me set out what I believe the single biggest problem facing Donald Trump – the Age question. This was all he campaigned on, with good reason, against ‘Sleepy Joe’ and it was working. To help matters Joe Biden had his car crash of a debate with Trump and suddenly Trump was romping home.
Pressure grew on ‘Sleepy Joe’ and he (VERY RELUCTANTLY) withdrew and suddenly Donald Trump was having to answer the age question and to date he hasn’t been able to. Does this mean he won’t find an answer to the age question? No of course it doesn’t but as I write this he doesn’t seem anywhere near close to finding an answer and with everyday that passes the question becomes a bigger and bigger drag on his candidacy.
Of course elections should be about policy I hear you shout. Yes it should but it rarely is and it certainly isn’t with Donald Trump. Instead he campaigns around great nicknames – ‘Sleepy Joe’ or ‘Crooked Hillary’ which work because they resonate with the electorate. Joe Biden is too old to be reelected and Hillary Clinton – well there are certain questions she has not properly answered – let’s leave it at that. But now he has to campaign against the ‘none of the above’ proportion of the electorate. This was the majority in poll after poll who said they didn’t want Donald Trump or Joe Biden as their only choice. Now they have a new choice.
Things will change and possibly very quickly. Harris has momentum and age on her side. Trump has what? A lot of catching up to do but he can still do it. But what do I know?
The rest of the world is watching.
Sometimes you just have to go with the way your feelings take you…oh and the technology with a bit of experience and skill thrown in.
I don’t use Spotify and now I barely use Twitter, FaceBook Instagram etc. What does that make me? Well I suspect fairly unusual – better? I doubt that. One consequences of this digital hermit lifestyle is I don’t follow the latest whatever social media trend and I mostly sleep well at night. Am I disenfranchised? I don’t think so I just have too many other things going on in my life to really notice or care about the constant binary babble.
So what does any of this have to do with this image you might ask? In one sense nothing. But in a chronological sense it reflects the many changes in my life since it was captured in the early days of 2007. I have changed so much and so has the world. Back then I liked to keep abreast of the latest technological developments. Now I’m not that fussed. Getting old is a strange thing – it certainly changes your view of the world. I guess you see the emperor’s new clothes for what they are.
Of course not being on Twitter et al how would I know?
So in just over a month’s time it will never be possible to capture such an image again. Ratcliffe upon Trent power station, the final coal powered power station in Britain, will be slowly powered down and the fires steadily extinguished. Something that has, for much of my life, just been there will slowly disappear, perhaps not as suddenly as the collieries that once served her or her other sisters along the banks of the River Trent with an ending supply of coal. Yet it is now ending. I know and accept the clear arguments for moving to a more ecologically sustainable power supply. Yet I will miss her.
The nights are drawing in. This morning dawn wasn’t until just after 5 am. Shocking!
I was out and about capturing images from one of my favourite parts of the world – the Welland Valley. It doesn’t matter how many times I visit I always find there is something new to take in. Here endeth the promo for the Harborough District Council tourist board (I doubt such a thing exists.). I had been out and about on Friday with my good friend David but that was during the bright summer light. This morning it was mellow mists and radiant ironstone buildings.
Needless to say there was a different vibe.
On the road again in chocolate box country or should that be Jane Austen? This is what the early 19th century looked like – right?
In Austen’s time, as well as her literature, the Church of England was very rich. It had huge tithes coming in from the booming agriculture sector to pay for the upkeep of the church. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case in St. James’ Church, Horninghold. This once proud building is slowly rotting away.
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