Spring at Rye Meads

Lots of signs of Spring last Friday. The female Kestrel on the left comes off sitting on the eggs when the male calls her, accepts half a rat and flies away to eat it while the male does a short incubation stint. Lots of pairs of Gadwall and the Coots are as aggressive in defending territory as usual, here chasing off a Tufted duck. The Robin and Coot already have young families, very vocal in demanding food.

Kingfisher Preening

 We were lucky today at Rye Meads as the male Kingfisher after taking a large fish into the nest came to the closer branch to have a good wash and brush-up. The picture of him emerging from the water shows the problem of autofocus (picks up splashes rather than bird) and why people spend a lot of money to photograph kingfishers coming to plunge pools where the point of entry and exit can be reliably predicted. Like the way he manicures his feet first and works up with a final scratch of the ear.

Celebration of Cycling

Addenbrookes Arts asked for 10 images Celebrating Cycling leading up to the Tour de France, which visits Cambridge on the 7th July. I asked Michael Poole (website) to share the space with me (the five images displayed on the walls below - as yet without labels etc) as he has some great racing images. I supplied the more pictorial side though my first image (top left) was taken in London the last time the Tour visited the UK in 2007. 

The bicycle with rear wheel drive was introduced in the late 19^th century replacing the previously popular high-wheeler invented earlier in the century (penny farthing etc).This shifted their use from being a dangerous toy for sporting young men to being an everyday transport tool for men—and, importantly, women—of all ages.

In this Celebration of cycling , timed to coincide with the Tour de France visit to Cambridge on July 7^th 2014, we show both the sporting side of Cycling (images 1-6) and as a means of getting to work (image 7), rushing to lectures (image 8), transporting the dog (image 9) and lastly showing our respect for the bicycle as a much-loved friend (image 10)

Tamworth

 Tamworth began as a Saxon settlement; Offa built a palace at Tamworth and regarded Tamworth as the capital of Mercia. It was burned by the Danes in 874 and rebuilt in 913 by Ethelfleada with a forified building surrounded by a ditch and an earth rampart. The Normans built a castle at Tamworth, which has stood guard over the town ever since. The present castle has display rooms from many of the different times in the castle history and its famous inhabitants including Robert Peel whose statue stands in front of the Market Hall.

The church of St. Editha  also dates from the Saxon time  though most of the church is mid- to late-14th-century and 15th-century work with some 19th-century additions.

Ironworks at Blists Hill

The Ironworks at Blists Hill are not open generally to walk round but there are conducted tours during the day so I made sure we went on one as the colours in there are great - the steel blues  with all the earth colours of rust and discarded slag. I was handholding so the depth of field is very limited but for some of the shots it worked well.

Blist's Hill in Steam

 Blist's Hill was host to a number of small and large steam engines this weekend so there were steam enthusuasts to photograph along with the usual costumed persons.

John Lewis 150 Year Celebration

 As part of their 150 year celebration, John Lewis in Cambridge asked Cambridge Camera club to help run an Edwardian Photobooth in their store over the Bank holiday weekend, So this morning Ian, Terry and I set up an impressive Backdrop of Robert Sayle as the store was in 1930 ready for families and individuals to have their photo taken with this backdrop. (last photo courtesy of Ian Wilson).