Yesterday I said that today would be a landmark post and the reason for that is this is my 1,000th post.
I started my blog just over three years ago and while I haven't been able to post every single day I have done my best and I am really pleased that I have reached this milestone. I am also grateful that so many people have taken time to look at the pictures I share and from time to time the comments that you make.
I have had a tough time choosing pictures for today; should it be a grand landscape or a colourful flower? perhaps something abstract or a stunning macro image? or how about a street photo, something architectural or one of my favourite wildlife shots? I have so many to choose from. I thought about selecting a few of my favourite pictures from past posts but rather than do a retrospective I decided to select something new but with a nostalgic theme.
These three shots were taken during a recent visit to the National Waterways Boat Museum at Ellesmere Port where there is a row of cottages decorated and furnished to reflect the styles of different periods in history. One of the cottages really caught my attention because I recognised lots of the furnishings from my grandparents home, although they never had these flying ducks which are classic decor from post war living rooms up and down the country. Many years ago I bought some wooden ducks and similar flying hippos which were rather fun but not quite as classic as these.
I love the second picture, more precisely I love the glazed pots with their metallic shimmer contrasted against the pastel shade of the wall.
The third image is the interior of an old telephone box. In an age when just about everybody has a mobile phone there are lots of people who will wonder what this was all about. As a child we were lucky enough to have a telephone at home and I can still remember our number (Fareham 5970) and while our telephone was a bit more modern than the one in the picture my grandparents phone was just the same and I always liked the feel of it in my hands when making a call. I also remember my grandparents had a party line and how odd it would be to pick up the handset to make a call to find that somebody else was in the middle of a call.
Selecting these pictures has helped bring lots of nice memories, looking back can be fun but it should also serve to remind us about how far we have come and to value everything that we have.
I was really pleased to be able to get up close to this locomotive as it was building up a head of steam. There were lots of engines to see, in various states of decay and at different stages of repair and I think it must be very rewarding for the engineers to see the fruits of their labour when these marvelous engines are fully restored and running again. It was exciting for me and the other people who with me were enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of years gone by.
The first of today's pictures looks along the tracks towards a diesel locomotive which was also being prepared for the day's work, seen through the steam I think this makes a great image.
The second shot is a close up of the driving wheels and pistons that would soon be taking this engine down the tracks and give a good impression of power and precision.
The title of today's post refers to the steam bursting out and is taken from a Jethro Tull song from the 1971 album Aqualung (coincidentally Bursting Out is also the title of a Tull album) I have included a link to a 1982 performance of the song as that was the year I saw Jethro Tull at Nostell Priory with my dad. It was the first gig I ever attended and I bought my dad his ticket. So not only has this post been nostalgia for the era of the steam engine but also for my introduction to live music and a passion which is as strong today as it ever was.
It's well over 20 years since I lived in Lincolnshire but one of the things I still miss is the low flying fast jets from the many military bases around Lincolnshire and East Anglia. I was lucky enough to live for several years right on the coast near Freiston Shore, on the flight path for the bombing range at Wainfleet. Every day there would be a variety of British, European and American jets fly over and often I would head out onto the salt marsh with my brothers or friends to get a close look as they flew right over head. It was so exhilarating seeing them up close and feeling the roar and power of the engines and listening to the sound of the cannons and the practice bombs as they went off in the distance.
This past week I had to go visiting and took a little time to myself so I headed off to RAF Coningsby to see whether there was any action. Shortly after I arrived two USAF F-15's took two passes over the airfield and I was able to get a few shots before they flew off to complete whatever exercise they were on.
I'm quite happy with these images and tomorrow I will post some other shots of the Typhoons that are based at Coningsby.
