Bills Posts

Clippers, The ships that shaped the World by Daniel J Nolan

Given to me as a gift. I must admit, it’s not a book that I would normally buy. I understand the link though, living in Gosport, I have seen several tall ships come in to Portsmouth Harbour, and they are a magnificent sight, but they represent an era that is long gone (although we may see modern sailing ships in the future, plying commercial trade).

Clippers, as the title says is about the Clipper ships that plied trade around the world in the 19th Century. They were sleek and designed for speed, conveying cargo from China to the USA and Europe. They were renowned for delivering their cargos within record time.

I started reading the book last week just before my monthly magazines arrived, and resumed today. I’m only on Chapter one, the book is discussing the development of the Clipper Ship as a class. It is using many technical terms that I don’t understand, and am not bothering to look up as I don’t feel I need to have that level of understanding. The trouble is, how much will that detract from my enjoyment of the rest of the book? The story sounds interesting, but I’m not there yet.

That sounds like I’m on the verge of giving up on the book. Not quite. But it could be on the cards. I’m going to take it chapter by chapter, notwithstanding that Chapter one is a primer. I’ll report again on Chapter 2.

I was about to do this evenings post, and having written the title I suddenly thought that perhaps I should have a B&W picture lined up. This is one I took earlier today. It was a cold and misty day, as you can see with a fair bit of the Spinnaker missing. As I arrived at the waterfront, the Janee W, a smallish tanker used to refuel the Brittany Ferries, and other commercial ships. Refuelling is called Bunkering. It appears that the name of the process is a hangover from the days of the coal fired steamships, when the coal for the ships was stored at the harbour in Bunkers.

Anyhow, today’s post is supposed to be about the latest issue of the B+W Magazine, which I finished reading on Friday. I’ve noticed with both this months B+W and Country Walking Magazines there is a lot of talk of the pandemic and how it is affecting the contributors. That they are able to produce an entertaining and educational publication during these awkward times is a tribute to them.

A common theme amongst several of the articles of this months issue of B+W Photography (Issue No. 248) is the suggestion of having a plan or a project to encourage people to get their camera out (doesn’t matter what camera, the phone is very much an accepted tool amongst professionals). The idea is that getting people to indulge in something that they enjoy doing, with a bit of a challenge aids mental health especially at the moment. I get the logic of that. As it happens, I think I’m OK, but I must admit it would be interesting to try something like that. I’m thinking about it, and may come up with a plan.

Some of the suggestions, such as going on a photography workshop were slightly impractical, but worth bearing in mind for the future. In the meantime, it was once again, a very nice & interesting read. The photos especially are always enjoyable. I do like the B+W medium.

I went out for a walk today, not far only 4 miles. I went down to the GAFIRS station at Stokes Bay (Gosport And Fareham Inshore Rescue Service). The walk down was pleasant enough, along the cycle track. I always enjoy going this way, there are a couple of nice views along the route. Something for a change I think I’ll give you a few extra pictures, something I don’t normally (don’t know why, just habit I guess). The cycle track is the old railway. At a point, we go over a railway bridge, the old iron bridge. I always look to see what a couple of views are like from here;

whether or not I get a good reflection for these three houses. It’s rare that the water is still. But I think it’s always a nice picture. Pity about the cars though. Then, from the same spot;

St Mary’s Church, Alverstoke. I’ll be going past that on my way back. On then down to the sea front. I have to wait occasionally, there are a few people about and I don’t want to get too close to them, so I pause to let them pass. Eventually to arrive at GAFIRS;

No Lifeboat outside at the moment unfortunately. It’s a big rib, brought out on a tractor & trailer. On the way back, I had a couple of encounters with Nature. The Squirrel and what’s appears to be a gang fighter between about 10 magpies, spread over four trees all shouting at each other. Quite entertaining. A very pleasant walk.

The Dilemma, actually two of them. One resolved easily – which picture to use, the other settled. This post, rather than one of the other three or four which I now have lined up. Very happy with that.

My apologies for last nights whinge about writes block, and writing pressure. None of that tonight. I have two or three articles lined up.

I am not quite ready to do an article from the B&W magazine, although I do have an idea for one piece. That’s what’s driven this evenings picture. It’s either abstract or light & shadow, depending on your interpretation.

The thing is, should I have a goal or a project for my morning walks. Sometimes I have an idea about a particular picture I want to try and get. More often to not it doesn’t work. One good example is White Lion Walk here in Gosport. I’m not sure how you would describe is it a condominium? It would appear to match the description, a number independent dwellings, grouped in a single building. I’ve always thought of a condo as being an American tower block, perhaps not.

Anyhow, at three stories high, and just under 400 feet long I walk past it nearly every time I go out for a walk. I’m reasonably convinced that there is a good photo there. It’s going to be a combination of light, time of the day, colour or mono, light and shade. It’s almost like I need to see the building at different times of the day under different lighting from every angle. So, I don’t think I’m going to commit to that. It sounds a bit too much. But I think I will take the occasional walk around the building. I’ll let you know how I get on.

For a change, here’s a picture of the bird table. Not at it’s busiest today. Visits by the birds are definitely on the up. The Sparrows appear to bee getting a bit more confident about using the feeders. We’ve put a couple more up. So, we’ll see how they go.

We had a bird in the Garden today that I had never seen before. I had to get the wildlife book out. It was a wagtail; it had a long tail and it bobbed in the same way as a pied wagtail, but it was yellow. Turns out it’s a Yellow Wagtail (not surprisingly). Why have I never seen one before? It was very distinctive. It appears that we are also getting blue tits, which all together is absolutely lovely.

It’s not writers block tonight, it’s something else. For most of the last 146 days I’ve sat and done this and the 365 project between 7 & 8 in the evening whilst watching Ghost Whisperer, tonight is the first night that in combination of not being very good of thinking of something to write about, and also feeling a little bit pressured to write. I’ve never felt like that before. Strange. So, One of the strategies that I have for dealing with writers block is to write about it. Now, it may seem to be a bit waffly, but at least there are words on the screen and I can say I have written something. Which is good. Sorry if it isn’t up to my usual standard.

The only link between the picture and the topic is that a lot of birds and squirrels gather here. Once again, I find myself. Impressed by the iPhone 12.

We watched the bird table this morning, on it and around it, there must have been at least a dozen pigeons, not only that the table itself was heaving with starlings. Now, I don’t mind the starlings at all, and I suppose the pigeons have as much right to the food that I put out, but I would much prefer to feed the smaller birds.

The sparrows have found the feeder, but they are very nervous. I suppose it’s because it’s quite close to the back door. The squirrel has found it as well. I don’t mind that either. I am wondering if there are pigeon proof feeders, I think the hanging ones might do the job, so I’ve bought some off Amazon.

Enjoyed the walk again this morning. I arrived home a few minutes later than I usually do, but I’ve worked it out. Next time I go for a walk during the day, I must take some food for the squirrels at the back of Trinity Church.

Usually, in each of the magazines I subscribe to there will be an article that drives me to write a comment here. This month’s issue of Country Walking though, is not bland, as I have enjoyed reading it. There was one article about the Pennine Way that did pique my interest. To me it highlighted that there are many places in the UK that are there to be explored.

The closest I have been to the Peak District is a working visit to Derby, that lasted all of two hours. I certainly wouldn’t be able to do the 260 odd miles of the Pennine Way, but there are parts of it, such as the High Cup Canyon. I was thinking about it today, and the best I can compare it with is when we went on one of the Levada walks in Madeira, I think it was the walk of the 25 fountains. It started at the head of an enormous canyon on the north side of the island. The walk stuck in my mind because it was a superb demonstration of the differences of the north and south sides of the island.

The north side is wet and cold, and very, very green. Towards the end of the walk, we went through tunnel, drilled to convey water from the north to south side. At about 800m long, it was cold and damp. But, when we emerged on to the south side, we were back in to the hot, dry sunshine. A most memorable event.

The picture is one of the first ones I have taken with the iPhone 12 in night mode. There are two things about the picture that I want to comment on; Firstly, I am amazed at the number of stars the phone has caught. I am very eager to try a bit of astrophotography. The second thing is I love it, the phone that is. I am very, very pleased with the camera.

I changed my route this morning. I think I’ve extended my morning walk by about a mile. This morning, it took me an hour and 11 minutes to complete. That’s fine, one issue is I know roughly what time I arrive at the waterfront, in sync with my first main over on the the #Breakfastclub. I need to get my weather report set up in readiness. I wasn’t quite prepared with the tidal app this morning. Also, I can’t linger like I used to. But I still walked out to the end of the Haslar Marina Pier Wall.

Two nights on the trot, I have included the term “Clipper Ships” in the title. Last night I forgot to say what I wanted. That is, I’ve decided which book I am going to read next. Last Christmas, my father-in-law gave me a book about clipper ships. Fantastic sailing ships that were the mainstay of global trade before the advent of Steam. I won’t be commenting on it for a while though,

That’s because on Saturday, the next issue of Country Walking popped through the letterbox. I’m about halfway through reading that. Nothing yet has made me go “I need to comment upon that” yet, but I’m sure it will.

Once I finish CW, I’ll be picking up Black & White photography, which landed on the mat today. Looking forward to that. I’ll let you know when I get back to the clipper ships, I only managed to finish the intro before the magazines arrived.

The fort in the picture is one of four built between 1850 & 1880 to defend against a threat of invasion from France. The ‘blob’ centre right is a ship at anchor, probably waiting to come in to port, probably to be unloaded. The two columns extreme right are navigation aids .

It wasn’t particularly early that I went out for a walk. On any walk, especially if you know the route, you encounter decision points, do I go this way or that? Apart from the decision of which way to go from the front door, I encountered two main decision points;

On the route, I reach what I call “The Iron Bridge”. At that point, I could have retraced partially to head down a route around a large park area, or I could head on to Clayhall lane. At which it was mainly a left or right decision. Right would take me towards Alverstoke, left down toward Haslar Hospital. I headed to ward Haslar, As usual, when I that area, I feel a need to visit the Sea Wall, from where I took this evenings picture.

At around four miles, not a particularly long walk, but it really was very nice to get out.

I’ve finished the book now. It didn’t take that long, considering how slowly I read a book. The consisted of example of renowned street photographers from around the world. I think that it is reasonable to say that there were as many different reasons for the subjects of the book as there were subjects.

It naturally raises the questions of why am I interested in the genre? Given that with people I didn’t know I tend to be a bit shy, I’m surprised that I find this topic sufficiently interesting that I want to have a go at it. The off-putting part of it is the potential for confrontation. It was interesting to read that whilst street photography in Japan isn’t illegal if a picture of a person is published and they feel their privacy is violated, they can sue, and they will win. The photographer who featured in the book only took pictures that didn’t show their faces.

My thought is that for me, the purpose of street photography is to document today’s life. For that to happen I need to have the opportunity to photograph people, especially doing things in the normal way of life. not much chance of that at the moment. But, there will be future opportunities.