Travel
I'm lucky enough to travel a lot but I also aim to understand a place in some depth. So I like to find out about the local history, sociology, wildlife and local arts. I prepare for a trip by looking up photos of the famous sights, they're usually a good guide both about the local visual interest and also a warning of what has already been done or over-done.
I try to use the tools of modern photojournalism and photography to communicate how I feel about a place. You’ll see that I have used Portrait, Street, Interior, Historical, Abstract, Landscape, Historical, Wildlife, Phone-camera and Selfie genres at different times for specific effects.
Transporter bridge across the river Usk at Newport, Gwent, Wales. Designed by Ferdinand Arnodin, the Frenchman who patented the transporter bridge (or aerial tramway). Newport's bridge across the River Usk lilnked the town to the eastern docks. Newport transporter bridge was opened on 12th September 1906 and refurbished 1992-96.
My postcard of vehicles and views from Delft, Holland. University town criss-crossed with canals, with a large market square facing the main church. It's a city where no building seems to be straight or square when you really look at it.
As well as Delft Blue pottery, student life and tourism, there seemed to be a large number of French-style cafes and restaurants. Also plenty of architects' businesses and a variety of art studios.
This was our relaxing Sunday outing after yesterday’s cultural overload day at the Den Haag art museum and Amsterdam concert hall (Gemeentemuseum Den Haag and Het Concertgebouw, Amsterdam).
I travelled by fast train rather than flying as the high speed line is now open to Amsterdam. This was a much more pleasant travel experience overall than Heathrow and Schipol and I had a sound night’s sleep on arrival on Friday, The trains are more expensive than a cheap air fare and unfortunately the Thalys train still crawled through Belgium so next time I will consider just the express train from Den Haag to Brussels.
Note that Amsterdam is in North Holland whereas Rotterdam, Den Haag and Delft are in South Holland, both provinces of the kingdom of The Netherlands under the rule of the Dutch monarch, Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands.
Here's my postcard from a late winter trip to my family in Bristol. Dundry church with its magnificent North Somerset spires, the garden at my Mother's home and her cat. And the twin "cathedrals" at either end of Brunel's railway line between London Paddington and Bristol Temple Meads.
Postcard of a circuit around the borders between Wales and England. We drove from Ledbury down to Chepstow taking in the Forest of Dean and the rain-darkened ruins of Tintern Abbey in the Wye Valley before returning over the old Severn Bridge between Chepstow and Aust.
We took the new high speed train to Kent for the New Year weekend with friends in Canterbury; the high speed service runs from the London St Pancras station the same line as the Eurostar trains towards the Channel Tunnel and then branches off towards Canterbury and Margate. We got to visit Sandwich, Deal and the White Cliffs at Dover. Pretty cold out there at the coastline, the North wind more or less unbroken from the North Sea. Bleak...
