radio city 96.7

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 2 May 2024].}

I visited Liverpool from Sunday to Tuesday to support an event for my day job on Sunday and Monday.

I took advantage of my day off in lieu earned through that to stay an extra day in the city to see more of it.

The one time I visited the city for an extended period was on New Year's Eve 1999 for Cream 2000.

However, my time there during that visit was predominantly spent in a tent designed to accommodate 26,000 ravers, where the focus was music, dancing and welcoming in the new millennium, not the city itself.

I wrote a short piece about that visit on my Instagram earlier in the week when I posted a photo of Pier Head I took with my phone camera on Tuesday during my two-ish hour photo walk.

I snuck a short photowalk in on Sunday evening en route to get supplies from a supermarket. But, both that walk and the one on Tuesday predominantly focused on the waterfront area, with my walk on Tuesday extending into Matthew Street (where The Cavern Club is) and up to Lime Street, from where I caught the train back to London.

Unfortunately, due to the weight of my rucksack, I didn't manage to revisit places I'd passed that caught my eye en route to my accommodation on Sunday with my D700.

I could have left my bag behind reception in my accommodation after checkout and returned for it. But the hotel was about a 23-minute walk from the station, so it would have involved me walking there and back to retrieve it on top of my photo walk when my intended route took me close to the station anyway.

Liverpool is, understandably, littered with tributes to the Fab Four, The Beatles. And, while I have some photos from my visit that relate to them that I'm pleased with and will share in future, I wanted to avoid the Liverpool cliches for my first post of one of my D700 photos from the city.

So, instead, here's a music-related photograph of St Johns Beacon, the former revolving restaurant that became the home of Radio City 96.7 in July 2000.

Radio City's stations rebranded to Hits Radio on my birthday this year. Unfortunately, they've announced they'll rebrand the tower with their new logo, which I don't think will work as well on a structure of that era, so I'm glad I captured it when I did.

I hope to arrange to sit Sir Peter and his peacock friends in Delamere again for a longer stretch. If I can, I'll take advantage of the proximity to pop over to Liverpool again for a day or two or three to explore more of the city with my camera and to visit Tate Liverpool, the Open Eye Gallery, the various museums along the waterfront and more.

leo/poldo ii

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 19 April 2024].}

I captured these photographs of the equestrian statue of Leopold II in Place du Trône in Brussels during my visit to Belgium with my parents and then-partner, Kyle, in September 2014.

According to Wikipedia, Leopold II was the second King of the Belgians. Although he still holds the title of the longest-reigning Belgian monarch, by all accounts, Leopold II was a nasty piece of work.

See, in particular, his reign over the Congo Free State (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo).

I won't use the words 'founder' and 'owner', as we know there were already people there when he claimed those titles who had more right to claim ownership than he did.

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leo/poldo ii [place du trône, bruxelles, belgium, 2014]

I usually avoid capturing people in my photographs of monuments, architecture, street scenes, etc., but I quite like the moment I captured with these particular folks in the second image.

glasgow eyes

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 10 April 2024].}

For my final* trip courtesy of Avanti West Coast (AWC), I knew that, without a doubt, I wanted to return to Scotland. Because a) I wanted to return to Scotland after 13 years and b) I intended to get as much bang for my buck as possible with my complimentary tickets (because, of course).

I've visited Edinburgh three times, off the top of my head (I'm not counting passing through on my way to Arbroath in 2011). I attended the various festivals** in August 2000 and 2001 and returned to visit friends and revisit the festivals in August 2011.

However, I hadn't previously been to Glasgow.

Well, technically, I had. Dad's journal from my folks' visit to the UK in 2001 states, "Continued north on A737 through Dalry, Beith, and Johnstone on the M8 which is elevated for most of its way through Glasgow providing a good view over the city". That was late April, 23 years ago.

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untitled #209 [merchants house, glasgow, scotland, 2024]

At least one friend had told me I should visit the city, and they rated it above Edinburgh. Admittedly, that was back when said friend and I regularly frequented gigs and nightclubs, but I was still keen to visit Edinburgh's "ugly sister"***.

A different friend was surprised I chose Glasgow. He warned me that, when visiting, he found it was "kinda just a place to live"; not like Edinburgh, which he'd expected. And, in some ways, it is. It's far less "pretty" and touristy than Edinburgh, but it did not disappoint.

The rain was not ideal, but if you've been to Edinburgh in festival season, as I did three years (two in a row, both camping just south of the city), you know that even in the Summertime, Edinburgh has its fair share of the wet stuff too.

The Glasgow Necropolis alone was worth the 4.5 to 5-hour train journey each way (even with the 20-minute delay travelling up and the 50-minute delay returning). The inclement weather and strong gusts of wind the first day I visited drove me away before I'd finished my explorations, so I wandered the cemetery for two consecutive afternoons and covered most of its grounds.

I spent the remainder of my first full afternoon absorbing art to escape the rain. I aimed for the Gallery of Modern Art and perused their exhibitions, but they weren't my style. On the way there, I stumbled across Castle Fine Art and the works of Bob Dylan, Billy Connolly and Johnny Depp, among other artists with less celebrity.

A friend I made while completing my residency at Hospitalfield in Arbroath in April/May 2011, John Fairfield, popped over from Dundee for a chinwag, bringing the sunshine with him. I was glad to have thought to message him, as we chatted as though we last met up 13 days - not 13 years - ago.

I captured Glasgow with blue skies while waiting for him to arrive, but the clouds had drawn in again when I returned to the Necropolis. All my photographs from this trip have a blue cast due to "Winter's dull light" (despite now being Spring). I've tried to correct it in these photographs of the Merchants House, but the results are noticeably variable between the three. I hope you'll forgive me.

On my final day, knowing the rain would be even worse than on previous days, I had thought to visit Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, but I wasn't really in the right mood for it. And I felt it would be remiss not to even glimpse the River Clyde during my time in the city. So, I ventured out again with my camera and held my own with the rain until I could no longer. At which point, I popped into the oldest pub in Glasgow, The Scotia, for a cheeky pint before retiring to my accommodation.

As with Llandudno and Delamere, I took over 4GB of photographs and left inspired and pleased with my stay but aware I only scratched the city's surface.

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untitled #205 [merchants house, glasgow, scotland, 2024]

When I booked my trip in mid-January, I had to work around pet-sitting bookings and colleagues' annual leave. I was restricted to booking tickets released by AWC before the date my vouchers expired. Consequently, I'd booked from 2-5 April, which was literally the last possible dates available and meant I hadn't booked for the weekend, as I probably would have if they'd been available.

While others may have felt the current round of train strikes highly inconvenient, they worked in my favour. ASLEF strikes affected all AWC services on Friday, 5 April, when I was due to return to London, so I transferred my booking to a similar service the next day, allowing me an additional day in the city. It did cost me an extra £128 in accommodation for the night. But I considered it money well-spent as I kept my subsistence costs down for each of my three trips and took advantage of free accommodation in exchange for sitting Peter, Mercury and Bowie while exploring Delamere.

I enjoyed my solo travel on all three occasions, and while I occasionally thought, "X would love this", I rarely wished I were travelling with others. I didn't have to stress about what my body was doing because someone else wanted to get an early start. I didn't have to spend excess money on food and drink eating out (I did order in/get room service (at no additional cost) on two occasions - once in Llandudno, once in Glasgow). And, despite my initial nerves about taking my camera out while wandering solo in Glasgow, I felt at home quite quickly on my first full day, and that concern passed.

As much as I loved my travels, I'm happy to be home again for a little while (albeit relatively briefly!) And not to have any pet-sittings until next week.

But I'll be back pet-sitting Francois on Tuesday and Thursday. I'll be in Bromley, sitting my regulars, for at least two nights late in the month. And then off up to Liverpool for work and a day of TOIL exploring that city. Then, a busy month of pet-sitting in May.

No rest for the wicked, eh?

^{*As mentioned in my previous post about my free journeys, I booked this one second, but chronologically, it was my final free first-class trip.
**The Edinburgh International Film Festival took place in August 2000 and 2001. They moved it to June in 2008.
***My words, I don't know that anyone else refers to Glasgow that way. I say it fondly without malice.}

pay here

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 6 March 2024].}

painted gold

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 30 January 2024].}

This gold-painted Royal Mail post box caught my eye on the high street in Coedpoeth during a photo walk while sitting Meg and Mog in October 2021.

As the plaques say (in Welsh and English), Royal Mail painted it gold in celebration of Tom James, one of the British coxless four men's rowing team who took gold in the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Though he was born in Cardiff, he considers Coedpoeth his hometown, and he also has a post box painted gold in his honour in nearby Wrexham.

I did not know this was a thing. But, according to Wikipedia, All British gold medal winners at the 2012 Olympics were honoured with appearing on Royal Mail postage stamps, and having a post box in their home town painted gold. (I'm not sure why Tom got two, but Wikipedia cites the Wrexham one as his main one).

cambridge cycles

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 17 January 2024].}

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untitled #83 [cambridge, cambridgeshire, england, 2017]

looking up, going down

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 9 January 2024].}

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hotel la tour

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untitled #22 [hotel la tour, milton keynes, buckinghamshire, england, 2024]

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untitled #24 [hotel la tour, milton keynes, buckinghamshire, england, 2024]

a matter of opinion

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 28 December 2023].}

the old contemptibles

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 21 November 2023].}

the heart of the birmingham waterways

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 10 November 2023].}

Phil - my friend and fellow photographer - and I have been plotting and planning a photo walk along the Birmingham canals for the last two summers. For various reasons, we didn't manage it.

We came close in mid-June last year, but the day I'd booked a train to head up there, rain was forecast, so we cancelled the day before. The forecast showed heavy rain on the day, so we'd made a good call.

But last weekend, we finally made good on our plans.

We coordinated to meet on the train at Warwick Parkway at about 10:43. However, that meant me waking at 06:00, getting out of bed at 06:30 and leaving my flat at 07:30. I arrived at Marylebone Station at 08:10, about 50 minutes before my train was due to depart, which was even earlier than I'd been aiming for.

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the heart of the birmingham waterways

We set out from Birmingham Moor Street at about 11:20 and walked along the canals from Livery Street Bridge to Spaghetti Junction (the M6/A38 junction), finishing shooting under the bridges at about 15:00.

We walked back to Aston Station, arriving there in time to get out of the rain that had just started and to catch the train back to Birmingham New Street to seek out some food for Phil and a pint for me.

Despite the rain at the tail end of the walk, we had perfect weather and a pleasant and creative day. Phil had technical issues with his camera but managed to work around them to a large extent. I had a minor anxiety attack in the last half hour, heading back from Spaghetti Junction to Aston Station, but it was an otherwise stress-free day as far as my body was concerned.

I shared my iPhone photos from the day on my Instagram on the day and over the following days.

These are just two of the over 300 photographs I took with my D700 in Birmingham.

Thanks to Phil for suggesting the walk and the wide-ranging and engaging conversation throughout.

We'll return in the spring (hopefully!) with some other friends of Phil's to revisit Spaghetti Junction and complete the ambitious circuit he'd set out for us that we didn't manage on Sunday.

breathe in, breathe out

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 3 October 2023].}

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breathe out

drinking birds

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 26 September 2023].}

A semi-itinerant lifestyle has impacted my ability to keep my Patreon as regularly updated as I'd like, so thank you for sticking around.

I have one more sitting this month where I won't have access to a decent monitor to edit photos. But then I'll be down to much more irregular sittings until February, so I'll edit my heart out as much as possible while I'm more settled.

Since late March, I've barely been home.

And when I have been, I've been wrestling with flat-related shenanigans, life admin and such.

Please don't mention the scaffolding that has encased our building since late March and prevents me from opening my bedroom window more than four inches. Or the boxes of books occupying most of the space on one side of my bed since early August, as I can't yet replace them on the bookcase while we wait for a section of paint in the lounge to be retouched (it's located directly above the bookcase).

The prints I previously had hanging in the lounge have also reverted to an inconvenience, as the repainting required their hooks to be removed. I'm reluctant to replace them on the walls. For reasons I won't go into here.

I'm trying to locate appropriate wrapping to stow them safely in existing packaging in our lounge in a way that infringes less on our living space.

On a related note: if you know anyone who would like to purchase framed prints from my alternate worlds series or selected work from other series (largely self-portraiture), please send them my way...

In addition to the times I've been away from home with only my work laptop, I've had two periods of about two weeks in May and August without my iMac due to required repairs, which hasn't helped.

As much as I love the furry personalities I've been sitting so much this year, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to sleeping in my own bed for more than a few consecutive nights. To work at my own desk on a quality monitor with full access to my files.

In addition to the remaining sittings already booked for the next few months, I need to arrange other sittings and/or accommodation to take advantage of my rail vouchers, which will expire by mid-January.

But those will be trips with plenty of time for creativity, photography and being inspired.

I look forward to taking some proper annual leave after almost two years. (No, let's be honest, it will be four years in mid-November...)

But, on a positive note, I've been working on a new project inspired by a book a friend gifted me. And I've continued taking photos (not just of cats).

I look forward to sharing those with you soon!

an utter shambles

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 22 March 2023].}

Here's a selection of photographs I took in The Shambles - Shambles and Little Shambles - in York during a visit in 2012.

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untitled #36 [shambles, york, yorkshire, england, 2012]

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untitled #30 [shambles, york, yorkshire, england, 2012]

Though I've visited York multiple times, I didn't know where the name came from.

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untitled #27 [shambles, york, yorkshire, england, 2012]

As a vegetarian for almost 30 years, the revelation of where the name originated was interesting.

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untitled #35 [little shambles, york, yorkshire, england, 2012]

From Wikipedia: "Shambles" is an obsolete term for an open-air slaughterhouse and meat market. Streets of that name were so called from having been the sites on which butchers killed and dressed animals for consumption.

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untitled #28 [shambles, york, yorkshire, england, 2012]

As you can see, even in 2012, that name was no longer descriptive of the shops that populated the area. And on a quick search, the nearby market doesn't sell much meat either.

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untitled #29 [shambles, york, yorkshire, england, 2012]

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untitled #32 [shambles, york, yorkshire, england, 2012]

twelve

In the final hour of my twelfth Londonversary, here are twelve photos of my adopted city from the Sky Garden.

You can see three of my workplaces in these photographs and many of my favourite places, including St Dunstan in the East church garden and Tate Modern.

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untitled #7

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untitled #8

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scherpstellen, kleffe vingers

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 4 January 2023].}

basic (baby, you can drive my car)

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 4 November 2022].}

rue des mineurs

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 26 October 2022].}

neon chicks

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 23 June 2022].}

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chic to chic [budapest, hungary, europe, 2012]

rambo's

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 11 January 2022].}

At first glance, this is a pretty simple photograph and perhaps a bit dull to most.

But there's so much in this photograph to make me laugh and so many layers to the scene.

And the splashes of bold primary colours thrown in adds to it.

I was going to use a phrase from one of the many signs in the image as a title, but there were too many to choose from, and I thought it was more fun to let you discover them yourself.

Bonus points to the signwriter/s for the spelling mistakes and inappropriate apostrophe use.

eye on london

Today is my eleventh Londonversary!

To celebrate, here's a selection of photographs I took from the London Eye back in 2012 that I finally edited over the weekend.

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charing cross station

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untitled #19 [london, england, 2012]

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hungerford bridge

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untitled #42 [london, england, 2012]