The Biodiversity of Pasture Field, Toft , Cambridgeshire

These images of a pair of Buzzards and Redwing and Fieldfare (part of a flock of more than 100 birds) were taken from our bungalow window in Toft this week,  It is a wonderful habitat for wildlife. For several years now, it has been horse grazing land but these have been removed and it seems there is the possibility that planning may be put in for house building. This was tried some years ago but failed because it is outside the building line of the village, because of the lack of amenities in the village and because of its value to the ecosystem of the area. None of these objections have changed but Government has! As well as supporting a large population of birds, including Barn Owl, Little Owl, Tawny Owl, Buzzards, Pheasants and many species of small birds, we have found both crested newts and the rare Cave spider on our property. I have also recorded 2 species of Bats and 7 species of dragon/damselfly along with Hare, Muntjac and Fox.

Seaford Head Sussex

It was still frosty when I arrived on Seaford Head on Tuesday morning with a clear sky and lovely light conditions. I have done some quick conversions to b/w as I think it suits the subject but will need a bit more care to avoid halos etc. As well as taking the classical views, I enjoyed time on the beach with the groynes and pebbles.

Saltdean, Sussex. Lido and Seafront

On Tuesday, I continued my exploration of places in Sussex that I remember from my childhood and teenage years when, living in south east London, it was an area that we visited for holidays and later, when we had a car, day trips. My very first holiday was in the late 1940s to Saltdean. I remember parts of the holiday well as it was the first time I had been in a car and, although probably only three and a half at the time, I was allowed to go with my brother, 4 years older, to play in the quarry near our holiday bungalow. When I asked at the library the location Quarry Road, the lady said that there was no such road. However, she looked it up in a history of Saltdean and found it had been renamed Greenbank Avenue. I made her day she said!!
My memory is obviously not as accurate for the Saltdean Lido as I thought I remembered visiting it on that holiday. However, it was only open for 3 summers from 1938 when building finished and I certainly wasn't around then.

The lido was built to designs by the architect Richard Jones, and was hailed as the most innovative design of its type in Britain with its tea terrace, sun deck, café, perched on the flat roof and distinctive curved wings at either end,  In the war it was a Fire Service training station.  The fire service left in 1945, but the lido remained closed for another 19 years. In 1962 Brighton Council bought it and drew up extensive refurbishment plans including a library and community centre. In 1995 the lido closed after falling attendances and the need for more repairs. It opened in 1998 after a £2 million restoration. It is now being restored once more and hopes to reopen this summer 

http://www.saltdeanlidocampaign.org/

The 1938 image shows it at its zenith; the image from the 1990s is By Simon Carey

Below, other images from Saltdean and downs behind the town, trying out my Fuji system for various types of photography.

Olympic City, Stratford 3.End of the Day

Final images of the set from our visit to Stratford on Wednesday. Quite a contrast between the deserted paths of the Olympic Park and the busy Stratford Bus Station area. Fortunately we had gone by coach as all the trains were stopped for several hours because of an incident (we wondered what all the flashing lights and sirens were!)

Olympic Park Stratford. 2 Velodrome, Canal and Trees

We were fortunate to have at least a few cyclists trying out the track at the Velodrome. I decided to use my fish-eye  (first four images). Panning with this proved interesting (image two) as it is very difficult to keep the horizon straight. Also a few more images of the canal, boats and graffiti and a couple of arty silver birch images - the second a double exposure.