What a go.

Jane passed me over the selection of Joe Ruddy's slides last night for the show we will put on in January.

            The man himself - Joe Ruddy stands on the Corner near Chapel Hill

I set to this morning and put them into a PowerPoint show. Eightyfive slides sorted and set up ready for Jane to check the running order.

Took me a while but I realised I had to get them done. Otherwise with the work going forward to give me a wet-room and install a new kitchen I might run short of time.

           Back in the days when we used to have crowds on the seafront.

It worked out OK with a good selection of pix from the beach to the shop's and also activities in the town.

                                      The fire at Staddons' Yard

Some things that I had forgotten about he had captured. He was right on top of the action when I was working on the milk round.

                  What would happen if they shut off the triangle now-a-days?

I can just imagine this happening. When I was at St Andrews school we were always marched along on the 11th November if it was a schoolday. Heard the service and then had the rest of the day off. Also for Empire Day; I can just remember Col. Sturgess, Capt Dean, (Navy) and Col. Keen on the stand. The Pier master used to send the signal for 11 o'clock via a maroon let off on the beach. Two minutes and another went off to let all Clevedon know.

The way to do it.

So you have a river in the wrong place. You want to lose it underground. First you starve it of water, then you refrain from enforcing river cleaning.

After the stream becomes choked up with water cress plants you can say "This river is failing; the best thing is to culvert it."

Householders nearby will get around four or five feet added to their gardens. They won't object to that, so there will be no problem with them. 

Landowners who have already sold or are on the point of selling their fields for houses to be built on them certainly won't complain. So the Middle Yeo gets lost to Clevedonians and just quietly disappears. 

That but for the diligence of the Friends of the Land Yeo would be the fate of that river too, Water flow is being restricted because the sluice at Yearling Ditch is set too low. The environment agency does not harry Clevedon Council into cleaning the river in lower Stroud Road area. Last year the water could hardly flow the watercress had blocked the river so badly.

What will the next step be? When was the last time the river was slubbed out? 

Infra-red is easy.

First thing is to buy yourself a red filter, as deep a red as possible. You will find prices vary from around £6 to up to £30.

You will want an Infra-red one of around 700 to 800 strength.

Vary your exposure when you take by at least 50% up and down from the camera setting using Program and then after finding what time it suggests go to manual and increase and decrease accordingly.

Your pictures will come out a reddish pink colour. Image 1.

I use Paint Shop Pro 8 and have done for years, I normally improve the saturation using the (Enhance Photo) selection (Automatic Saturation Enhancement) Image 2.

Next is to turn it to grey scale. (Image files Greyscale) Image 3

This is a wee bit weak so I use (Enhance Photo) option (One Step Photofix)   Image 4

If you want a little more contrast and punch go back to (One Step Photofix) and select (Clarify) for Image 5   I used clarify 5 rather than 2.

That is all you need to do. Some folk like to add an air of mystery about taking infra-red but it’s quite easy really. 

This was taken from Lower Stroud Road looking down the river. What was an ordinary picture with masses of green is completely transformed here.

Mayflower for first time.

Went over to Keynsham for the "Cathedrals" run. Ex-LNER preserved loco Mayflower was running it. First time for me to see it in the area.

As it had worked so well with the Britannia at Yatton I decided to go for 3 sets.

1st was as it was coming into the station then at the mid-way point.

The 3rd was just as it was on its way out of the lens reach.

I was very surprised to find there was only about ten photographers there. I expect that Bath station was crowded. 

I had to manage with the Sony SLT A55 because the A77 is away at Jessops. I expect any day now I will be getting told an astronomical sum will be required to fix it.

While the A55 is OK it has a 24.3 pixel count like the A77 it doesn't have the higher speed taking ability. The best it can do is only 10 shots per second. Controls are placed differently too; makes it a job to search through to find them.

Still beggars can't be choosers can they.

I still haven't made up my mind about Trojan tomorrow. Will I go or not.

Bubble Bubble toil and trouble.

Why have my Gods afflicted me?

My camera has gone bust, for some unknown reason my faithful SLT A77 will not recognise when a lens is fitted. I have had it now for quite a few years and it is well over-due for a check.

I got on to Sony who suggested several things to try but to no avail. Didn't feel like driving in Bristol so caught the bus to Cribbs Causeway. Went in to Jessops shop and unloaded my trouble to a very helpful young lady. It cost me £25 - that will be deductible from the repair cost if I can afford it. So now I must patiently wait for a message as to just what it is gone wrong and what it is going to cost me.
Decided while I was there I might as well take a few pix. I had taken the SLT A55 with me with the Sony 18-55 mm lens. The Mall at Cribbs is a marvellous place with shops galore.

Jessops shop was on the lower floor. Trees are planted and grow right up to the skylight roof.
An ideal place for limitless shots of candid pictures.
Half of the people don't realise they are in shot.
On the next floor up you can look down on folk.

Completely un-aware they are having their pix taken.

There were a couple of Rozzers there being thanked by someone - probably trouble with shop-lifters? Someone caught red handed?
I did notice a little mob of what looked like schoolboys wandering around. 
I managed to catch the 12-06 bus back after a fleeting walk halfway along the top floor and got home just after 1.00. Altogether a successful day if not a very happy one.

Horsecastle farm crossing for a change.

I decided this week I would go to the farm crossing on Wemberham Lane for pix of Britannia.I managed to get out there in time to get a good place. A chap taking video was on the downside of the line. He had set up with a vid that was around 9 foot off the ground and had a little step ladder to get to work it. Blocked that gate and everyone that wanted to go into the field further down the lane had to climb over the gate because his tripod meant the gate couldn't be opened. Why didn't he set up on the line side of the gateway?

Decided I would try for a set of three.

1st was just coming round the corner as they pulled out from Yatton station.

2nd was half way.

3rd was just before it went out of the camera viewpoint.

In spite of taking part-way into the sun a successful mornings shooting I think.

Made up for the previous one at Claverham bridge that was a little damp.

A good puzzle picture

An Everything Clevedon group member posted a picture.
Is this Clevedon? they asked.

I copied it over to Paint Shop Pro 8 and enhanced it. It was a bit faded and so I clarified the corner to bring it up a bit as well.

The original had been published in the Clevedon Mercury back in 1884. The loco had pushed two carriages through the end of the railway station out into the top of Ken Road and part way up into the Triangle.

Checking it carefully the carriages matched but the buildings were hard to position. In 150 years a lot of things change.

Eventually I had to agree, it had been taken from the other side and the camera tripod had been set up in the middle of the road.  The corner of the house on the left side of the picture was the wall of the eventual Number 10 the triangle. The place where Stephens the inventor of the expanding car brake had his work shop.

That place had a story of its own to reveal.