A Shambles & Sea Air
July 2021 and I was in need of a trip away. Rather than bombard people with every last snap, I've decided to limit the highlights below to only ten images. This is easier said than done on my end, but helps immensley to isolate the better ones and not to bore you.
First up, before the trip really started I took a trip to Redbrook reservoir for a dip with a friend :) A quick snap turned into something that stood out to me.
On from Huddersfield to York and an early morning visit to the Shambles at 8am to miss the crowds.
The ancient street of the butchers of York, mentioned in the Doomsday Book of William the Conqueror. It takes its name from the word "Shamel", meaning the stalls or benches on which the meat was displayed - later versions of which can still be seen. It was rebuilt about 1400, when it assumed its present character.
Next one is still from York in the palatial York Minster. I really tried not to end up with something stereotypical of the building's frontage, a gargoyle, or the stained glass (which is still brilliant by the way).
Looking straight up at a light fitting, this is fairly abstract but I like the symmetry and the colour.
Moving on from York to stay in a glamping pod, I took a visit to the North Yorkshire Moors preserved steam railway in Pickering. I purposely steered away from a locomotive photo here, and we have the first black and white of this set.
After a pleasant few nights near pickering, flying model aeroplanes, cooking in a field, and Jim tipping water into my walking boots we moved on to Whitby. This next one is from a beach on the North Yorkshire coast just south of Whitby called Robin Hood's Bay.
An English ballad and legend tells a story of Robin Hood encountering French pirates who came to pillage the fishermen's boats. They apparently left a tyre there.
Back to colour now, and a very early start. I dragged myself out of bed just after 4am to catch the sunrise (5:08am) over Whitby west pier with no people around. Used a long exposure of 130 seconds here to blur the sea and sky.
Totally worth the bleary eyes and lack of sleep.
Next one the same day of Whitby Abbey. The Abbey and its possessions were confiscated by the crown under Henry VIII during the Dissolution of the Monasteries between 1536 and 1545.
This next one was taken on a somewhat dreary day in a place on the coast called Boggle Hole. I like to think this lady was trying to re-live her childhood frolics on the beach.
The last two photos were taken at the National Railway Museum in York (on the way home).
With these two photos I've tried to span a wide range of railway development. First we have a highly contrasted close-up of the Japanese Shinkansen (otherwise known as the Bullet Train). This is a modern high speed train and railway built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, to aid economic growth and development.
On the complete opposite end of history we have the remains of Stephenson's Rocket.
Rocket was built to compete in a public competition proposed by the directors of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, that promised prize money of £500 for the winner. This is approximately £52,000 in today’s money (or just over $64,000 for those of you over the pond).
The competition (which took place between the 8th and 14th of October 1829) was dubbed the Rainhill trials, and its purpose was to determine which locomotive would be used for the World’s first passenger carrying train.
and that's ten!
If you're interested in what these ten were whittled down from... go here.