View allAll Photos Tagged Mistake
"Mistakes" are unintentional exposures with some simple, arbitrary image processing applied, such as "I'm Feeling Lucky" in Picasa. The results are sometimes nice to look at in their own way.
"Mistakes" are unintentional exposures with some simple, arbitrary image processing applied, such as "I'm Feeling Lucky" in Picasa. The results are sometimes nice to look at in their own way.
"Mistakes" are unintentional exposures with some simple, arbitrary image processing applied, such as "I'm Feeling Lucky" in Picasa. The results are sometimes nice to look at in their own way.
"Mistakes" are unintentional exposures with some simple, arbitrary image processing applied, such as "I'm Feeling Lucky" in Picasa. The results are sometimes nice to look at in their own way.
"Mistakes" are unintentional exposures with some simple, arbitrary image processing applied, such as "I'm Feeling Lucky" in Picasa. The results are sometimes nice to look at in their own way.
"Mistakes" are unintentional exposures with some simple, arbitrary image processing applied, such as "I'm Feeling Lucky" in Picasa. The results are sometimes nice to look at in their own way.
A great typo or spelling mistake in this Metro caption. For my original blog post, see engineroomblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/freelancere.html
As my mom would say, I totally buggered this up. And since I was on a plane when I realized it, I couldn't start over, so I just decided to stitch mistake on it instead. I'll stitch my original design soon.
This is a big mistake.
I tried to take Pitan a shot, but I forgot to remove the lens cap. And the hood got some slits that made these yellow lights.
We decided to go for a city break rather than sun in Tenerife again this September. Other than a few days in the North East we haven’t been away since last March and wanted a change and hopefully some sun. The problem is getting flights from the north of England to the places we want to go to. We chose Valencia as we could fly from East Midlands – which was still a pain to get to as it involved the most notorious stretch of the M1 at five in the morning. In the end we had a fairly good journey, the new Ryanair business class pre-booked scheme worked quite well and bang on time as usual. It was dull when we landed with storms forecast all week, the sky was bright grey – the kiss of death to the photography I had in mind. I was full of cold and wishing I was at work. It did rain but it was overnight on our first night and didn't affect us. There has been a drought for eleven months apparently and it rained on our first day there! The forecast storms didn't materialise in Valencia but they got it elsewhere.
You May notice discrepancies in the spelling of some Spanish words or names, this is because Valencian is used on signs, in some guide books and maps. There are two languages in common use with distinct differences. There may also be genuine mistakes - it has been known!
Over the course of a Monday to Sunday week we covered 75 miles on foot and saw most of the best of Valencia – The City of Bell Towers. The Old City covers a pretty large area in a very confusing layout. There was a lot of referring to maps – even compass readings! – a first in a city for us. The problem with photography in Valencia is that most of the famous and attractive building are closely built around, some have poor quality housing built on to them. Most photographs have to be taken from an extreme angle looking up. There are no high points as it is pan flat, there are a small number of buildings where you can pay to go up on to the roof for a better view and we went up them – more than once!
The modern buildings of The City of Arts and Sciences – ( Ciutat de Las Arts I de les Ciencies ) are what the city has more recently become famous for, with tourists arriving by the coachload all day until late at night. They must be photographed millions of times a month. We went during the day and stayed till dark one evening, I gave it my best shot but a first time visit is always a compromise between ambition and realism, time dictates that we have to move on to the next destination. I travelled with a full size tripod – another first – I forgot to take it with me to TCoAaS! so It was time to wind up the ISO, again! Needless to say I never used the tripod.
On a day when rain was forecast but it stayed fine, albeit a bit dull, we went to the Bioparc north west of the city, a zoo by another name. There are many claims made for this place, were you can appear to walk alongside some very large animals, including, elephants, lions, giraffe, rhino, gorillas and many types of monkey to name a few. It is laid out in different geographical regions and there is very little between you and the animals, in some cases there is nothing, you enter the enclosure through a double door arrangement and the monkeys are around you. It gets rave reviews and we stayed for most of the day. The animals it has to be said gave the appearance of extreme boredom and frustration and I felt quite sorry for them.
The course of The River Turia was altered after a major flood in the 50’s. The new river runs west of the city flanked by a motorway. The old river, which is massive, deep and very wide between ancient walls, I can’t imagine how it flooded, has been turned into a park that is five miles long. There is an athletics track, football pitches, cycle paths, restaurants, numerous kids parks, ponds, fountains, loads of bridges, historic and modern. At the western end closest to the sea sits The City of Arts and Sciences – in the river bed. Where it meets the sea there is Valencia’s urban Formula One racetrack finishing in the massive marina built for The Americas Cup. The race track is in use as roadways complete with fully removable street furniture, kerbs, bollards, lights, islands and crossings, everything is just sat on the surface ready to be moved.
We found the beach almost by accident, we were desperate for food after putting in a lot of miles and the afternoon was ticking by. What a beach, 100’s of metres wide and stretching as far as the eye could see with a massive promenade. The hard thing was choosing, out of the dozens of restaurants, all next door to each other, all serving traditional Paella – rabbit and chicken – as well as seafood, we don’t eat seafood and it constituted 90% of the menu in most places. Every restaurant does a fixed price dish of the day, with a few choices, three courses and a drink. Some times this was our only meal besides making the most of the continental breakfast at the hotel. We had a fair few bar stops with the local wine being cheap and pleasant it would have been a shame not to, there would have been a one woman riot – or strike!
On our final day, a Sunday, we were out of bed and down for breakfast at 7.45 as usual, the place was deserted barring a waiter. We walked out of the door at 8.30 – in to the middle of a mass road race with many thousands of runners, one of a series that take place in Valencia – apparently! We struggled to find out the distance, possibly 10km. The finish was just around the corner so off we went with the camera gear, taking photos of random runners and groups. There was a TV crew filming it and some local celebrity (I think) commentating. Next we came across some sort of wandering religious and musical event. Some sort of ritual was played out over the course of Sunday morning in various locations, it involved catholic priests and religious buildings and another film crew. The Catholic tourists and locals were filling the (many) churches for Sunday mass. Amongst all of this we had seen men walking around in Arab style dress – the ones in black looked like the ones from ISIS currently beheading people – all carrying guns. A bit disconcerting. We assumed that there had been some sort of battle enactment. We were wrong, it hadn’t happened yet. A while later, about 11.30 we could hear banging, fireworks? No it was our friends with the guns. We were caught up in total mayhem, around 60 men randomly firing muskets with some sort of blank rounds, the noise, smoke and flames from the muzzles were incredible. We were about to climb the Torres de Serranos which is where, unbeknown to us, the grand, and deafening, finale was going to be. We could feel the blast in our faces on top of the tower. Yet again there was a film camera in attendance. I couldn’t get close ups but I got a good overview and shot my first video with the 5D, my first in 5 years of owning a DLSR with the capability. I usually use my phone ( I used my phone as well). Later in the day there was a bullfight taking place, the ring was almost next to our hotel, in the end we had other things to do and gave it a miss, it was certainly a busy Sunday in the city centre, whether it’s the norm or not I don’t know.
There is a tram system in Valencia but it goes from the port area into the newer part of the city on the north side, it wouldn’t be feasible to serve the historic old city really. A quick internet search told me that there are 55,000 university students in the city, a pretty big number. I think a lot of the campus is on the north side and served by the tram although there is a massive fleet of buses as well. There is a massive, very impressive market building , with 100’s of stalls that would make a photo project on its own, beautiful on the inside and out but very difficult to get decent photos of the exterior other than detail shots owing to the closeness of other buildings and the sheer size of it. Across town, another market has been beautifully renovated and is full of bars and restaurants and a bit of a destination in its own right.
A downside was the all too typical shafting by the taxi drivers who use every trick in the book to side step the official tariffs and rob you. The taxi from the airport had a “broken” meter and on the way home we were driven 22 km instead of the nine that is the actual distance. Some of them seem to view tourists as cash cows to be robbed at all costs. I emailed the Marriot hotel as they ordered the taxi, needless to say no answer from Marriot – they’ve had their money. We didn’t get the rip off treatment in the bars etc. that we experienced in Rome, prices are very fair on most things, certainly considering the city location.
All in all we had a good trip and can highly recommend Valencia.
"Mistakes" are unintentional exposures with some simple, arbitrary image processing applied, such as "I'm Feeling Lucky" in Picasa. The results are sometimes nice to look at in their own way.
Shutter stuck open on Canon T70. Shot at F2.5, 1/15s. It did this for the first 3 shots on the roll (despite many test firings before loading film without any problems). However, after these first 3 shots it worked fine. Was this because it was stored in a basement crawl space unused for 30 years? I hope so. Even though it is a defective shot, I find it interesting.
"Mistakes" are unintentional exposures with some simple, arbitrary image processing applied, such as "I'm Feeling Lucky" in Picasa. The results are sometimes nice to look at in their own way.
More: The jungle murmurs
On our race to the best sunset's spot we came across this huge temple that is Htilominlo. We couldn't resist to visit it (quickly) and take a few shots. This is a huge temple of 3 floors. We actually managed to climb it a little bit, trying to find the hidden stairs that lead to the higher floors. Not easy.
This picture is taken as we were living the temple to the next one, and the colors were amazing. The clear blue sky was taking its deeper tone yet the temple was reflecting on all its bricks the colors of the sunset. It would have been a mistake of not stoping to shoot this vision.
I personally love this picture, I find it very deep and reflect very well what we were seeing.
Lovely
© All Rights Reserved Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission.
These puppets are from a story about Forgiveness in a land where people carry two bags with them all the time -- one for Grudges and one for Mistakes -- and how they learn to lay them down....it's called "Strong enough to let it go". We premiered it last month at our Playing with the Guidelines event at Kadampa Center, based on The 16 Guidelines for Life. See more at www.16guidelines.org and the new calendar at stores.lulu.com/florasabi.
Here's an early draft of a book based on the story that will be available soon I hope:
Ruminwel is a very old village where tradition is really important. People have a lot of respect for what has gone before. In this place things are going pretty well. This time of year there are fields full of grain, orchards full of apples, willow trees full of yellow leaves swaying in the clean autumn breeze, and wells full of clean water. All the basic things the people need.
Smoke curls up from a blacksmith shop, the scent of sweet bread rises from the bakery, sounds of children playing are everywhere, babies are growing into children growing into young people -- some getting married, some not getting married, some starting families, finding their professions, some working, and old people -- those lucky enough to be able to be old people before they die -- a whole range of life fills the village. Nothing really unusual except for one thing and this is the thing that a peddler noticed one day when she was coming into town...
She wheeled her cart into the marketplace. She had things hanging from her cart to sell yet she was quiet when she first came in. The villagers didn't notice her because they were arguing and complaining so loudly. What she noticed was each person there was wearing something she hadn't seen before: they all carried two tear-shaped bags. The babies had two tiny bags they wore on a cord around their necks. Older children had more things in their bags which hung from their waists. The adults each had two bags like back packs with more stuff in them. All the people moved kind of slowly because they were carrying all this weight.
The peddler listened in to see what all the yelling was about. One group was complaining about the mistakes they'd made, "Oh, if only I hadn't built my house so far from the orchard," one person was saying, and another added "Oh, I never do anything right! I built the walls crooked! I want to be perfect and I keep making mistakes." Another group was talking about grudges, "Oh she is so mean to me! It makes me angry with everyone!" or "He has ALWAYS been slow to pay his bill! He NEVER thinks of others" Generally there were these two kinds of complaints about either themselves or about what other people had done.
In one corner of the marketplace the peddler saw two children playing. One named Rina told the other one, "Jona, that's just stupid, you're an idiot!" which was of course a hurtful thing to say. Jona took a little something and put into one of the bags at her waist. The peddler looked closer and could see the bag said YOU in very small embroidered letters Y O U. Rina kept saying insults and Jona kept adding to the YOU bag until finally Jona started to cry and ran away. Rina sat down and began to look sad herself and then put something into the bag she carried called ME.
Then a little further on the peddler saw the blacksmith working away in his shop but he was grumbling "Oh I let the fires go cold and now it's not hot enough to bend the horseshoes and I'm not going to have them ready in time, how could I be so stupid?!" and he took something and put it into his bag labeled ME, a big bag on his back. The person came who was looking for the horseshoes and he yelled at the blacksmith, "how could you have done this, how could you have not planned well so the horseshoes were ready for me in time?" and the angry man put something in his bag labeled YOU. And the blacksmith looking angry as well also put something in his own bag labeled YOU.
Nearby the peddler saw a mother and a little daughter, and the daughter said, "Mommy, why do we have to carry these two bags all the time? I have to carry them to school, I have to carry them when I'm playing and when I'm at home... and I see you and daddy lay them down on the bed and then lay down and try to go to sleep on those and I know you don't sleep well on those. Why do we have to have these bags? and the mom said, "This is an important tradition here. Everyone in the village has these bags. It's how we know we are part of the village. It's what we have always done. And how would we know,
how would we keep track of these things, of who we are, if we didn't have these bags. Where would we put our mistakes and our grudges without the ME and YOU bags?"
The little girl looked down at the careful stitching on her own small bags, almost empty except for a few things she had inherited from her parents. She looked up and around and everywhere she saw everyone from the youngest to the oldest had ME and YOU, ME and YOU, ME and YOU, dividing up all these things that happened to them.
That's when the peddler heard a group of young people complaining about the bags themselves, "Oh, it's awful!" they complained , "It's just too much for me to bear all this! These bags are so heavy, I really hate this! The mistakes are so heavy I'm afraid to try anything new! It's terrible I can't sleep, can't work, I can't even play because these bags distract me so, ...but I'm afraid to let them go."
The peddler observed all this and she looked around and she thought what could be done? Everyone looked so sleepy. They had been thinking about their mistakes all night and probably woke up sleepy and made more mistakes the next day. She thought, "What can I do for them?"
Then she made a plan....she had noticed all the wells and the orchards and the fields surrounding the village so she had an idea. She started to shout, wheeling her cart and ringing her bell saying "Elixir for the well for sale, magic potion for the well!" As she called, the people looked up from their troubles and noticed her for the first time. What they noticed first about her was she wasn't carrying any bags, not on her back, not on her waist on her belt, not on a cord around her neck! They thought, "What's going on here? What happened to her bags? Did she lose them? How does she know who she is? How does she keep track of what's going on if she doesn't keep her mistakes and grudges?" Yet, she walked up tall and moved so freely, almost gliding along. So they decided to find out what this magic elixir was about. They said, "What is this magic elixir for the well that you're talking about?" and she started to answer, "well I have..." but a child interrupted, "Why don't you have any bags?" and all stood silently waiting for an answer.
"Well, I used to have some, but then I went to this magic well and there I looked down into the well and there I saw the face of this powerful person who told me how I could let go of my bags and travel light, unburdened, to walk more freely. First I had to perform a feat of strength. I had to be strong enough to let them go."
"Who was this powerful person you saw?" they asked. She said, "I'm not allowed to tell. It will be different for each person anyway. You will have to look yourself, " she said.
"Where is this well?" they demanded. "Can you sell us a map?"
"Oh, there is no need to go that far because I have brought some of the waters from this well. If I put it into your deepest well here then you can use that well. You can look down into the waters and see the face of this powerful person that will tell you what you need to do to let go of your bags, your guilt, your mistakes, and your grudges. But...."
"But what? It costs a fortune, right? Is it going to cost a lot of money?" they wanted to know. She said, "No, it's not going to cost a lot of money. This was shared with me and I'm going to share it with you. All I need is some food for tonight and a place to stay. And we'll go at sunset and I'll put this elixir into the well. In the morning, you can come one by one perhaps at noon when the sun is high, if you are ready. Not everyone will be ready to let go of your bags, but if you're ready, you can pull up the bucket (it will be really hard to pull it up after I put the elixir in there) pull the bucket all the way up to the top and if you are strong enough then you can look in there and the face will tell you what to do to let go of your bags, so you can come one by one tomorrow when it's done "
So it was agreed. They gave her some dinner and then just as the sun was setting they took her to the deepest well, a round stone well outside of town. On one side of the well was a very old apple tree that had let go of its blossoms which now covered the ground. In their places tiny apples grew on the branches, silhouetted against the setting sun. On the other side grew a graceful, flexible willow with leaves nearly touching the ground. The peddler took out a small bottle and poured in the elixir. "Now we wait 'til tomorrow and be patient" she said and the people went home to try to get some sleep on their lumpy beds with their mistakes and their grudges.
Overnight all the people had time to think, "What would it be like? What would it be like if I could lay down all my mistakes so I wouldn't worry about those anymore and just look forward? Of course I would still try not to make those same mistakes but I wouldn't have to keep feeling badly about the past." Or "What would it be like if I laid down my grudges? I'm not really sure that person was trying to be mean to me, maybe they just made a mistake...because I'm not perfect either, I know because I've got this whole mistake bag I've been carrying around for years!"
The peddler woke early, but it was almost noon when the villagers got up because no one rested well on all of that stuff. By noon the sky was bright when the first person, the blacksmith, came to the well. He was strong and he thought surely I'll be able to pull the bucket all the way up to the top. "Are you ready, blacksmith?" the peddler asked. The blacksmith was ready. He felt he was ready to let go of the burdens he had carried for so long. He pulled up the bucket slowly, slowly. He said, "I am sick of carrying these bags. I'm tired of these worries and remembering all the things I did wrong, I want to just move on". When the bucket was finally at the top he carefully looked inside and there in the clear water he had his answer. He saw the face of the person who would give him permission to let go of his bags. He got a little smile on his face because knew this face, he knew this person.
He set the bucket on the edge of the well and carried his bags a short distance from the well to just beneath the willow tree that bent it's branches down almost as if to receive them. He tried laying down first one bag, the one with the mistakes, then the other one where he put his grudges and it felt good . He could stand a little taller and he walked back to the village almost gliding. It took a little while before he could straighten up completely. With a smile he walked slowly, purposefully, silently back to town.
A few others came early, including Rina and Jona. When they came to the well they each said, "Oh, yes I am ready to let go of these mistakes. I'm ready to let go of these grudges." They worked hard at the ropes, they were so strong, and when the bucket at last came up they each saw a different, clear, familiar reflection. And each one realized this is how I can let go of my guilt, my mistakes, my grudges. More people came and it wasn't long before a great mound of bags grew beneath the willow.
After each person left the peddler would put the bucket back down into the well and as each new person came she would ask then if they were ready to let go of their bags. And they said they were. They were really tired. They were also a little afraid because they weren't sure if they would be able tell who they were, if they would be safe if they let go of their bags. But they were ready to try. And some had seen the blacksmith come back smiling. The people that came back didn't say anything for a long time. Occasionally they would go over to someone to maybe apologize for a mistake they made but mostly they just had a little smile on their faces.
Not everyone came though, some people were too afraid. The mother of the young girl didn't come. Some were used to holding those bags, they were comfortable holding those bags, and they were not ready to let them go. So not everyone came but some came. And when they got to the well they would do the same as the blacksmith: they would pull up the heavy load, they had to be strong, and when they saw the face in there they knew what to do. They would walk over to the big willow tree and sit down and leave their bags and the pile of bags grew to a mountain.
Some children who were watching the peddler do all this began to gather stones to cover this big mountain of bags full of mistakes and grudges. "How did you know?" they asked the peddler. She said, "I came from another village, and in my village we didn't carry those bags all the time so I knew you didn't need to. You just needed to be strong enough to let them go....and she pulled up the pail one last time and took the stones out of the bottom where she had placed them, adding them to the pile of stones the children had started beneath the willow tree. She rolled her cart past the apple tree and on toward the next town.
The children went back to the village and along with those who had let go of their bags found that their muscles straightened out, and that night they slept, the best sleep of their lives as if there was no moon and no sound at all outside the shutters until the dawn of the next day.
by Denise Flora
all rights reserved.
"Mistakes" are unintentional exposures with some simple, arbitrary image processing applied, such as "I'm Feeling Lucky" in Picasa. The results are sometimes nice to look at in their own way.
"Mistakes" are unintentional exposures with some simple, arbitrary image processing applied, such as "I'm Feeling Lucky" in Picasa. The results are sometimes nice to look at in their own way.
By mistake I ended up in West Malling, but it was a good thing, as the village is chocolate box pretty, and the church very fine indeed. The only church I visited that had no wardens to welcome (I think, sorry if I have mis-remembered). Anyway, a fine church, amazing coat of arms, and glad I visited.
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A story of all's well that ends well. A Norman tower and thirteenth-century chancel are linked by a twentieth-century nave that had in its turn replaced one erected to replace its medieval predecessor in the eighteenth century! The west window and those in the south aisle are by C.E. Kempe and Co. Ltd, and of special note is the one depicting the Three Kings. On the south side of the chancel, backing on to a medieval lean-to vestry, is the splendid tomb of Sir Robert Brett (d. 1620), which has recently been restored. The colours are superb and show how churches must have looked when these monuments were new. In the north aisle is a large painting of the Last Supper by Francis Slater, the eighteenth-century artist who painted the ceilings of nearby Mereworth Castle. Hanging on the front of the west gallery are the outstanding Royal Arms of James II, of carved and painted wood. The twentieth-century rebuilding of the church was financed by the sale of an Elizabethan stoneware jug (now in the British Museum), the transaction being recorded on an inscribed stone in the north porch.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=West+Malling
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WESTWARD from East Malling lies the town and parish of West Malling, now most commonly called Town Malling.
It is written in Domesday, MALLENGETIS, and in the Textus Roffensis, MELLINGES. In many deeds after the conquest, it is stiled MILLINGES PARVA, to distinguish it from East Malling, then the larger and more noted village of the two.
The town and parish of West Malling, excepting the borough of St. Leonard, which is under the jurisdiction of the constables of the hundred of Larkfield, is under the jurisdiction of its own constables, of which there are two chosen yearly.
THE PARISH of Town Malling, as it is usually called, is situated equally pleasant and healthy. It lies on high ground, and though dry is well watered, the soil of it being in the northern part a sand, the rest of it a loam, covering the quarry rock, which is very fertile, as has been frequently noticed before in the like situations. The high road from London through Wrotham to Maidstone, at the twenty-ninth mile stone leads along the northern boundaries of the parish, being called in king Edmund's grant of this place to the bishop of Rochester, the military way, no doubt from its having been used as such by the Romans, southward of it the ground gently rising; at less than a quarter of a mile's distance is the town of Malling, which is well built, having many genteel houses in it, the streets of a handsome width, and well paved. At the east end of it is the abbey, to which the approach is by a venerable antient gateway. Although the house itself was almost all of it pulled down and rebuilt by Mr. Honywood, yet many of the antient buildings and offices be longing to it are still remaining, and are made use of as such at present. A handsome tower of the church, the front of which is decorated with intersecting arches and zig-zag ornaments, similar to those on the west front of Rochester cathedral, built by the same founder, bishop Gundulph, is still remaining, as is an antient chapel or oratory, now made use of as a dwellinghouse.
From the foundations discovered in levelling the ground by Mr. Honywood, it appears, that this abbey consisted of two quadrangles or courts, with cloysters, and a spacious hall; and that the church had another tower, of the like size to that now standing. The burying-place seems to have been on the south side of the church, as in digging there, great quantities of human bones have been thrown up, and two stone coffins with skeletons in them, the lids of them had no inscriptions on them, but were ornamented each with a cross, having a quaterfoil pierced at the upper end, the stem of which was crossed more than once with foliage, several rings and trinkets, and some old coins have likewise been found at different times in cleaning away the rubbish.
Over the west end of the grand gateway, which stands at the entrance into the precinct of the abbey from the town, at the west end of the building, there is carved in stone, a heart distilling drops of blood, and on the other side, in a shield, Ermine, a crozier in bend sinister, on a chief three annulets.
In the meadows above the gardens, are large square excavations still visible, where the fish ponds of the aunnery formerly were.
The precinct of this monastery is washed by a rivulet of excellent clear water, which rising in the hamlet of St. Leonard, runs by the house, and through the gardens of it, whence gushing through the wall with a cascade, it crosses the road towards the Rev. Mr. Brooke's gardens. There is a view of this abbey in its present state published by Mr. Grose, in his Antiquities of England.
Near the abbey gate there is a good house, with a large garden, canal, and pleasure grounds, behind it, reaching down to the London road. It has been many years the residence of the Brooke's, from whom it passed by the will of Joseph Brooke, esq. who died in 1792, after the decease of his widow in 1796, to the Rev. John Kenward Shaw, brother of Sir John Gregory Shaw, bart. who has since, in pursuance of the above will, and by the king's licence, taken the name of Brooke, and now resides in it. A little further westward there is a very antient stone building, called the Old Gaol, having narrow gothic windows, and the walls of great thickness. It is reported to have been the prison belonging to the abbey, and is now used as an oast for the drying of hops. About the middle of the street stands the church, and a little distance from it a good house, late the residence of Benjamin Hubble, esq. whose family have been inhabitants of this town for some length of time, several of them lying buried in this church. He died in 1780, leaving his widow, sister of Richard Savage, esq. of Boughton Monchelsea, surviving, and two daughters, his coheirs, one of whom having married Thomas Augustus Douce, esq. he now resides in it; further southward is the hamlet of St. Leonard, now making part of the town, and called St. Leonard's-street, in which is an antient seat, some years ago the residence of Charles Stewart, esq. whose father admiral Stewart purchased it of judge Twisden. This district had once a cell in it, belonging to the abbey, with a chapel. It was given at the time the manor and church was to it, as has been already mentioned. The whole of it has been long since desecrated, and in ruins; the square tower of the chapel which stands in the next field south-west from the late Mr. Stewart's house, is all that remains of it. It was purchased by him some years ago, of Sir John Honywood, in exchange for other premises near the abbey, and is now made use of as a stowage for hops. Mr. Stewart died in 1780, and was buried near his father in this church, and he was succeeded here by the hon. admiral John Forbes, who lately died posfessed of it. A market is held in the principal highstreet every Saturday, which is plentifully supplied and well frequented. There are three fairs, which are held by the alteration of the stile on August 12, October 2, and November 17, yearly, for horses, cattle, toys, &c. The whole town is excellently well watered with fine springs, which having supplied the town and abbey, collect themselves into one stream, and passing northward through Mr. Brooke's grounds, cross the high Maidstone road, and runs from thence into the Addington brook, just above Leyborne mill.
About half a mile south-east from the abbey there is a good modern-built house, called New Barne, which formerly belonged to Mr. Alchin, from whom it passed to Graham, the present possessor, who resides in it.
Above St. Leonard's street is the high road from Teston over East-Malling-heath, and through this parish to Offham, southward of which this parish extends into the large tract of coppice woods which reach to West Peckham and Mereworth.
Dr. William Briggs, an eminent physician, resided at the latter end of the last century at Town Malling, where he died, Sept. 1704, æt. 64, and was buried in this church, He was a great traveller into foreign countries, and was greatly esteemed for his skill in his profession, as well as for his learning, of which the several writings he published are sufficient testimonies. He was physician in ordinary to king William, and to St. Thomas's hospital, and bore his arms, Gules, three bars gemelles, or, a canton sable. (fn. 1)
THIS PLACE was given, about the year 945, by Edmund, king of the Angles and of Mercia, to Burhric, bishop of Rochester, by the description of a small portion of his land, called Meallingas, containing three plough lands; and he granted it to him, for the good of his soul, in perpetual inheritance, in augmentation of the revenues of his monastery of St. Andrew, with all its rights, liberties, members, and appurtenances, and this he did with the consent of his nobles and princes, whose names were subscribed to it. After the names of king Edmund, Edred his brother, and Eadgife his mother, are those of the archbishops and bishops, and then that of Ælgifu, the king's concubine, Ego Ælgifu Concubina Regis affui, and after her the dukes, &c. The bounds of this land are thus described in Saxon, viz. from the south part of it to the king's plaine, and from thence to the bounds of the parish of Offaham, and thence to the military way, and so along the said way over Lilleburne to the bounds of the parish of Est Meallinges, and so directly southward from the east of the cross or gallows to the broad way towards the south, in a direct line along the said way to the king's plaine. To which the king added certain denberies for the pannage of hogs.
This land did not continue long in the possession of the church of Rochester, being wrested from it in the time of the Danish wars; and when William the Conqueror had attained the crown, he gave it to Odo, bishop of Baieux, his half brother, from whom it was recovered, together with the church of Mallinges, in the solemn assembly of the whole county held on this occasion, by the king's command, at Pinenden heath, in 1076, by archbishop Lanfrance, who afterward restored it to bishop Gundulph, and the church of St. Andrew; which gift was confirmed by archbishops Anselm and Boniface. (fn. 2)
In the survey of Domesday, taken about four years afterwards, this manor is thus described, under the general title of the bishop of Rochester's lands:
The same bishop (of Rochester) holds Mellingetes, it was taxed, in the time of king Edward the Confessor, at three sulings, and now at one and an half. The arable land is three carucates. In demesne there is one, and five villeins, with fix borderers, having two carucates. There is a church, and one mill of two shillings, wood for the pannage of twenty hogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, and afterwards, it was worth forty shillings, and now four pounds.
Bishop Gundulph, in the 4th year of the reign of king William Rufus, anno 1090, having founded an abbey of Benedictine nuns in this parish, to the honor of the Virgin Mary, gave this manor and church to it, with other possessions for the endowment of it; (fn. 3) and although it was, about one hundred years after its being first erected, with the adjoining village, destroyed by fire, yet it was again soon afterwards re-edified, and continued to increase in a flourishing state.
In the 7th year of king Edward I. anno 1278, the abbess of Malling claimed sundry liberties in this parish, by grant from king Henry III. and a market weekly throughout the year on a Saturday and Wednesday; and she claimed by grant from king John to have warren in all her lands at Malling, by grant from king Henry, from time beyond memory; and to have fairs in the parish on the eve, day, and morrow of St. Matthew the apostle, and the like on the eve, and day of St. Leonard, and the like on the eve, and day of St. Peter, ad vincula.
By which, and such like favours granted to it, this place, which at the first foundation of the monastery was plain fields, and almost without an inhabitant, became notwithstanding its former calamity mentioned before, exceedingly populous from the numbers who flocked to it from all parts, who building themselves houses here, increased the village to a large size, well suited for trade, to the no small emolument of the nuns; whence it soon lost its name of Malling Parva, which was for some time transferred to the neighbouring parish of East Malling, as appears by some grants, &c. of this time, and king Edward III. (fn. 4)
In the 15th year of king Edward I. the temporalities of the abbess of Malling in this parish and East Malling were valued at forty-five pounds.
There was an annual pension of ten pounds of wax, and one boar, paid by the abbess to the bishop of Rochester, as an acknowledgment of her subjection to that see.
In the year 1321, the bishop of Rochester, at the king's request, to whom the nuns had made a complaint, that their monastery was ruined by the bad management of their abbess, sister of Bartholomew de Badlesmere, visited it, and heard the complaints against her; in consequence of which she resigned, and the lady Agnes de Leyborne, was chosen in her room. Three years after which she died, and the bishop, at the unanimous request of the nuns, appointed Lora de Retling abbess here, though much against his will, knowing her to be very ignorant, and unfit for the office. However, he inhibited her giving a corredy to her maid servant, as had been the custom, and sequestered their common seal, inhibiting her from using it without his licence.
A great pestilence raging in the year 1348, the bishop made two abbesses here, who presently died; nor were there more than four nuns professed, and four not professed, remaining in this monastery; and he com mitted the custody of the spirituals and temporals to two of them, as there was not a proper person for the office of abbess.
In the year 1493, anno 9 Henry VII. Joane Moone was abbess of this monastery. (fn. 5)
This abbey was surrendered into the king's hands, with all its possessions, (fn. 6) among which were the manors of East and West Malling, with the precincts of Ewell and Parrock annexed to the latter, by Margaret Vernon, abbess, and the convent of it, in the 30th year of king Henry VIII. at which time it was valued at 245l. 10s. 2½d. annual rent, according to Speed, and 218l. 4s. 2½d. clear value, according to Dugdale, and there was granted to the abbess a pension of forty pounds yearly, and to eleven nuns from 31. 6s. 8d. down to 2l. 13s. 4d. yearly pensions, each for their lives.
After which that king, by his letters patent, in his 31st year, granted and sold, in exchange, among other premises, to Thomas Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury, the scite of the abbey, with the precinct and circuit of it, and the manors of West Malling, Ewell, and Parocke, and the parsonage of West Malling, late appropriate to it, excepting to the king all advowsons, presentations, &c. to hold by knight's service, at the yearly rent therein mentioned; and as the king was entitled to the tenths of these premises, he discharged the archbishop of them, and all other outgoings whatsoever, except the rent therein mentioned. Which grant was in consequence of an indenture made between the king and the archbishop, inrolled in the Augmentation-office.
These manors and premises were again exchanged with the crown in the beginning of the reign of queen Elizabeth, in the 12th year of which she granted them in lease to Sir Henry Brooke, alias Cobham, fifth son of Sir George Brooke, lord Cobham; after which they were held by the same possessors, as the manor of East Malling before described, till at length, after the death of Sir Robert Brett, anno 1621, king James granted the manor of West, alias Town Malling, with the precinct of Ewell annexed, the scite of the late monastery, with the house, buildings, and ground within the precinct of it with all their appurtenances, late parcel of the possessions of the late monastery, in fee, to John Rayney, esq. which was further confirmed to Sir John Rayney, his eldest son, in the 2d year of king Charles I. He was of Wrothamplace, in this neighbourhood, and was created a baronet of Nova Scotia, in 1641, and his son of the same name, about the time of the restoration, conveyed these premises to Isaac Honywood, gent. of Hampsted, Middlesex, who was the only son of Edward, third son of Sir Thomas Honywood, of Elmsted, ancestor likewise of the present Sir John Honywood, of Elmsted, baronet, and he continued to bear the same coat of arms; whose second son, Isaac Honywood, esq. of Hampsted, succeeded him in this manor and estate. Frazer Honywood, esq. of Hampsted and London, his only son and heir, rebuilt the abbey house of Malling in the antient gothic taste, at a very great expence, making it one of the seats of his residence, and having thus greatly improved it, he died possessed of this seat and manor, with the estate belonging to it, in 1764, leaving no issue by his wife, the daughter of Abraham Atkins, of Clapham. He gave them, as well as the rest of his estates here and elsewhere, by will, to his kinsman, Sir John Honywood, bart. of Elmsted, and his heirs male, with divers remainders over to the family of Honywood. Sir John Honywood, bart. is since deceased, and his grandson of the same name is the present owner of this manor, with the precinct of Ewell annexed, and the seat of Malling abbey, with the lands and appurtenances in this parish belonging to it, but Mr. Foote resides in it.
The family of Say antiently possessed THE MANOR of CLEMENTS IN EWELL, in this parish. Geoffry de Say held it in the 7th year of king Edward II. as half a knight's fee. His son, Geoffry de Say, paid aid for it in the 20th year of king Edward III. as half a knight's fee, which John at Forde held before in Ewell, in Malling, of the bishop of Rochester. This manor was afterwards in the name of Coveney, (fn. 7) and in the latter end of king Henry VIII. it was in the possession of Mr. William Fowle. Since which it has sunk into such obscurity, that neither the scite nor the owners of it can be traced out even by the most diligent enquiries.
CHARITIES.
THERE is a lecture founded in this church of a sermon every fortnight, on the Saturday; two of the preachers to be the ministers of East and West Malling, who are to be paid 10s. for every sermon they preach; the other preachers are appointed at the will of the trustees.
FRANCIS TRESSE, gent. of this town, who died in 1632, by his will gave a piece of land, and 40l. towards the building of a free school in this parish; and he charged one of his houses in Town Malling with the sum of 13s. 4d. per annum, for the keeping of it in repair; and appointed that four principal freeholders of this parish should be trustees for the execution of this part of his will for ever. This school was accordingly erected, and was made use of for the teaching of boys writing and arithmetic. The charity is veisted in the minister and tour substantial freehold inhabitants, and the estate out of which it is paid in Mr. Robert Sutton, of this parish, but there being no master, the school-house is at present let to the late master's widow at 2gs. perannum, which with the 13s. 4d. is applied towards the maintaining of the building. He also gave two silver cups for the use of the holy communion, and 6s. 8d. payable yearly out of a piece of land, called Cousin's Plat, now vested in Mary Brome, widow.
SIR ROBERT BRETT, by will in 1620, gave land sufficient to pay yearly 10s. per week, to be bestowed in bread and meat to twenty poor persons, or else to be distributed in money to them. His executors accordingly conveyed lands in Tewksbury, in Gloucestershire, for this purpose, which is now vested in lord Romney, and twenty-three others, trustees, of the annual produce of 26l. but of late years the annual produce has been but 19l. 14s.
TOWN MALLING is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURIDISCTION of the diocese of Rochester, and gives name to the deanry of Malling, in which it is situated.
The church, which is a handsome building, with an elegant spire steeple, is dedicated to St. Mary.
At the latter end of the year 1778, some of the main pillars of the body of it giving way, the whole roof of it fell in, leaving only the steeple and chancel at the two extremities of it standing. It has since been repaired, and thoroughly finished by a brief, which was obtained for that purpose.
The church of West Malling was given, with the manor, to the church of Rochester, by king Edmund, in 945; and having afterwards been taken from it, was again restored by archbishop Lanfranc to bishop Gundulph, in the time of the Conqueror, who gave it to the monastery here, at his foundation of it, and this gift was confirmed by several succeeding kings, archbishops of Canterbury, bishops of Rochester, &c. as has been already mentioned.
It was appropriated to the abbess and convent by bishop Gundulph, at the time it was given to them; which appropriation was specially confirmed by Simon, archbishop of Canterbury, in the year 1351.
In the reign of king Edward III. great discutes arising between the abbess and nuns of this monastery, and Robert de Beulton, perpetual vicar of this church, especially concerning the receiving of the tithes of flax and hemp, and the payment of archidiaconal procurations, they were at last settled by Hamo, bishop of Rochester, who in the year 1339, decreed, that, saving the due and accustomed portion of the prebend of the great mass in the conventual church of Malling, and the portion of the vicar, as undermentioned, the religious should take all tithes of corn within the parish, and all oblations and obventions belonging to their conventual church, and the cell of St. Leonard; and that they should not be bound to pay to the vicar the tithes of their hay, woods, or mills. And whereas the bishop was informed, and it was allowed, that the above-mentioned prebendary, and other domestics, serving in the monastery, or in the houses of the prebendary, or perpetual chaplain, celebrating for the dead, as also the brothers and sisters, and other persons dwelling in the monastery, or house of the prebendary, who, when they were without the monastery and houses, were not housekeepers in the parish, were wont to receive the sacraments and sacramentals, in life and in death, and to be buried there, if they happened to die within the monastery or houses, unless by chance they chose to be buried elsewhere; in which case, the religious had the first mass for the body before them, in their monastery, and received all the oblations then and there made, so that no portion was left for the vicar of the parish church. And further, that the prebendary for the time being had been used to receive antiently, and to that time, in part of the portion due to him, all the great and small tithes of the demesne lands of the religious, and of the food of their cattle, and also the great tithes arising from many of the crofts of their tenants situated in the said parish, and also the small tithes of his house, and of the house and land of the perpetual chaplain aforesaid, and all the predial tithes arising from the houses or messuages, curtilages and gardens, late of Thomas atte Shoppe and William Cake, in the street, called Holirode-strete, of this parish of Malling, situated above the house of the prebendary; and of all the houses, messuages, curtilages, and gardens whatsoever, from thence towards the east and north in Holirode-street, and in the street, called Tan-street, as far as the end of the parish of Malling on that side; and that the religious and prebendary had possessed all and singular the premises aforesaid, in certain distinct portions, peaceably and without contradiction, from the time beyond memory. (fn. 8)
The bishop, therefore, that none of the premises should be altered, decreed, saving all and every matter as aforesaid, that the vicar should receive for his portion all other small tithes, oblations, obventions and profits belonging to the parish church more especially, viz. the tithe of herbage, silva cedua, apples, pears, flax, hemp, wool, milk, cheese, calves, lambs, pigs, pidgeons, geese, ducks, bees, eggs, merchandizings, fowlings, fishings, swans, pulse, and other fruits, and also of corn growing in orchards or gardens, as he had-been accustomed to receive them.
¶And that the vicar should also receive the personal tithes of the inhabitants of the houses or messuages of Thomas atte Shoppe and William Cake, and of others, inhabiting in the houses or messuages situated in the streets, called Holirode-strete and Tan-strete, and the oblations due and accustomed to the parish church, and should administer ecclesiastical rights to them, and should have the burial of them in the parish church; and that the vicar should have for his habitation, as assigned to him by the religious, the dwelling with its precinct, which the vicar then inhabited, and his predecessors used to inhabit, which he should repair at his own expence, and preserve in a decent state, and should pay the yearly rents and services, due and accustomed from thence; all which the bishop adjudged to be a sufficient portion for the vicar for the time being. And he further decreed, that the vicar should cause the books to be bound, the vestments to be washed; and the same, and the rest of the ornaments of the parish church, which belonged to the religious to find, as often as need should require, to be repaired, and should cause them to be safely and honestly kept; and that he should provide and find bread, wine, processional tapers, and other lights necessary and accustomed in the chancel, the necessary and accustomed ministers, rochets, surplices, napkins, unconsecrated vessels, basons, and also green rushes to strow the church, if they had been so accustomed, and did not belong to the parishioners to find; and that he should pay the dues to the bishop, and the archidiaconal procurations, and that the vicar should acknowledge and undergo, according to the rate of the taxation of his portion as under-mentioned, all ordinaries and extraordinaries, which, although it might amount to five marcs, being near the moiety of the value of the whole church, according to the estimation then had, he decreed should remain according to the antient taxation of it, as often as burthens of this kind were to be borne, and paid from small benefices. And he decreed, that the religious should acknowledge and undergo all and singular other burthens happening to the parish church, by reason of their portion, which he estimated at twelve marcs, according to the antient taxation of it, notwithstanding this assignation, which was made with the consent of both parties, and which by his episcopal authority, he corroborated and confirmed, &c. and that it might not be called in doubt in future times, or be litigated, he had caused it to be entered in his register, and to be reduced into three different writings, of which he decreed one to remain in the hands of the religious, another in the hands of the vicar, and the third in the hands of the prebendary aforesaid, to perpetuate the memory of it, and had caused it to be authenticated with his seal, &c.
This parsonage, prebend, and the advowson of the vicarage, were, on the dissolution of the abbey in the 30th year of king Henry VIII. surrendered into the king's hands. After which the king, next year, granted this parsonage, with the manor of West Malling, and other premises, to Thomas Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury, to hold by knight's service, at the yearly rent therein mentioned. After which it passed, with the manor of West Malling, in a like succession of ownership, down to Sir John Rayney, bart. who sold these premises, about the time of the restoration, to judge Twisden, and his descendant, Sir John Papillon Twisden, bart. is the present possessor of this parsonage, and the advowson of the vicarage of West or Town Malling.
The vicarage is valued in the king's books at ten pounds, and the yearly tenths at one pound.
"Mistakes" are unintentional exposures with some simple, arbitrary image processing applied, such as "I'm Feeling Lucky" in Picasa. The results are sometimes nice to look at in their own way.
"Mistakes" are unintentional exposures with some simple, arbitrary image processing applied, such as "I'm Feeling Lucky" in Picasa. The results are sometimes nice to look at in their own way.
"Mistakes" are unintentional exposures with some simple, arbitrary image processing applied, such as "I'm Feeling Lucky" in Picasa. The results are sometimes nice to look at in their own way.
A couple hundred activists and supporters converged in front of the White House Sunday, January 11, 2015, the 13th anniversary of the opening of the prison camp at Guantanamo, in a protest sponsored by; Amnesty International USA, the Blue Lantern Project, CCR, CloseGitmo.net, CodePink, Council on American-Islamic relations, NRCAT National Religious Coalition Against Torture, Witness Against Torture, World Can’t Wait and others.
Many activists were dressed in the orange jumpsuits and black hoods that the men at Guantanamo wear at Guantanamo and while being tortured. Some held signs saying: FORCED FEEDING, INDEFINITE DETENTION, while others carried a bouquet of carnations.
One group read the first letter from Shaker Aamer from Guantanamo in 2003. Shaker remains in prison even though he’s been cleared for release in 2007.
The PEACE POETS from the Bronx recited one of their poems with those dressed in orange jumpsuits and black hoods stood behind and in front; “We Want Justice!” “We are Powerful” “We are Together” then recited a poem called, “There is a Man under That Hood.”
Jeremy Varon from Witness Against Torture said, “The dream of closing Guantanamo may indeed become a reality. That hope is not based on some executive order or Presidential promise, or speech or vague confession that America drifted from it’s values.” “There’s nothing in the legal twisted machinery of Guantanamo that is responsible for these releases. No judge can compel the military to let men go, Congress has passed to no law saying, Set them Free, rather, every release has been in essence a political act meaning that at last the President is doing what we have long implored. Asserting his political will and exercising true leadership do what is right no matter how long over due.”
Debra Sweet emphasized that the opening of Guantanamo was not a mistake on the part of the Bush regime, but rather meant to send a message to the rest of the world - that while already illegitimately occupying Afghanistan, preparing to invade Iraq, and staging torture centers around the world, they could take anyone they wanted to, lock them up, and never release them.
After all the speakers were done the activists left the White House and marched over to the the Justice Dept. where 3 of the activists in orange jumpsuits and black hoods handed out the carnations to the crowd for them to offer it to the Dept. of Justice. Then the crowd made its way over to DC court central cell block where prisoners were below the ground of where the next set of speakers were standing. One of the Peace Poets led the crowd in a call & response, “We have the courage to see through the lies, ‘cause our hearts listen when the people cry.”
Ray McGovern, Andy Worthington (the British investigative journalist) and Debra Sweet of World Can’t Wait were all participants.
"Mistakes" are unintentional exposures with some simple, arbitrary image processing applied, such as "I'm Feeling Lucky" in Picasa. The results are sometimes nice to look at in their own way.
Un couloir éteint, juste la lumière de la pièce du fond allumée, laissant deviner une silhouette apparaissant dans un lieu délabré. Merci à mon assistant Julien qui a servi de cobaye pour cette photo !
N'hésitez pas à visiter ma Page Facebook !
"Mistakes" are unintentional exposures with some simple, arbitrary image processing applied, such as "I'm Feeling Lucky" in Picasa. The results are sometimes nice to look at in their own way.
What you wish you'd known before your job interview.
- Common nonverbal mistake made at a job interview
- Clothes
- Top 10 most common mistakes made at a job interview
- Most common tips about interviewing
- 5 questions most lkely to be asked
"Mistakes" are unintentional exposures with some simple, arbitrary image processing applied, such as "I'm Feeling Lucky" in Picasa. The results are sometimes nice to look at in their own way.
"Mistakes" are unintentional exposures with some simple, arbitrary image processing applied, such as "I'm Feeling Lucky" in Picasa. The results are sometimes nice to look at in their own way.
"Mistakes" are unintentional exposures with some simple, arbitrary image processing applied, such as "I'm Feeling Lucky" in Picasa. The results are sometimes nice to look at in their own way.
I started this thinking I was using watercolor pencils, bu found out when I put on the water that they were just ordinary color pencils.
We had our January break in Nice this year. This is our combined Christmas and Jayne’s birthday present, which suits me as I can ignore Christmas and no presents to buy. A good result all round. We knew that the weather was forecast to be bad for at least three days which was a bit depressing but there’s nothing you can do about it. We flew from Liverpool, a nice little airport, landed in heavy rain – and it rained almost non-stop for three days. South East France suffered flooding, landslips, airlifts – and deaths! Home from home. Despite having walking gear, waterproofs etc., I had to buy an umbrella. I have never seen as many people with umbrellas, even the young lads had them. They are obviously used to rain – but without the wind to rip the brolly to shreds.
Nice has a pebble beach, the sea was rough on arrival but what we realised later, was that the pebbles were three foot deep on top of the concrete bases that the hotels across the road have bars, settees and tables set up on. For a couple of days tracked Bobcats moved hundreds of tonnes on pebbles, later in the week there were carpets and immaculately laid tables set out on the beach every day, even in January. Every day people swam in the sea and in some cases sunbathed. The temperature peaked at 15C but with the lack of wind it was pleasant, at times though it was cold and snow appeared overnight on the distant mountains, the beginning of the Southern Alps I think.
We walked over 90 miles in seven days and for three days in pouring rain, weighing up the photo possibilities, with the intentions of going back when the weather picked up. On Monday, day four, things improved, on Tuesday and Wednesday it was gorgeous, Thursday was duller. If we had had better weather we would have visited Cannes and Monaco etc. but as it was we stayed within walking distance of Nice. We walked up Castle Hill ( Colline du Chateau) several times in different weather, likewise Mont Boron and Mont Alban. The views were stunning. A peninsula below us was Cap Ferrat and we had an epic day out there, over twenty miles including the 14 Km path around the entire peninsula – the second most expensive place in the world to buy a home apparently. The gates on the driveway would cost more than a small house in Huddersfield. A beautiful place though.
We went to the old Town (Vieux Nice), Cimiez, Villefranche-sur-Mer, the fantastic Russian Cathedral, Pretty much everywhere it was worth walking in the time we had. We walked from 8.30 am until 8.30 pm with barstops for a glass or two of French wine – got to keep it civilised! I had a pretty heavy backpack on with my camera gear and waterproofs etc.
All in all we had a great time but! I made a big mistake, I inadvertently put an 8 Gb CF card back in my camera, formatted it - without checking what was on it – and put another 250 photos on it. I realised when I got home that there was a problem. These photos were the best of the trip, Our second visit to the Russian Cathedral, it was closed the first time, in stunning light, and no crowds. I spotted a giant Cumulonimbus over the snow covered mountains, just as the sun was setting and turning it pink and orange. It was similar to the one I photographed at home recently, A photo of which was on the BBC weather coincidentally. I couldn’t believe my luck, the only way I could get a view of it was by taking a ride on the giant Ferris wheel nearby. We ran to it and they took us around five times, each time I fired away and got some fantastic photos – all gone! At the time I was extremely disappointed but you have to put these things in perspective – it’s nobody’s life. We were there for a break and a change of scenery and we got it, the photos make the trip for me but I still have a thousand great photos, there might have to be a next time though.
For more about Mark@jbschofieldandsons follow the link www.jbschofieldandsons.co.uk/
But sometimes
I still think of you
And I just wanted to
Just wanted you to know
My old friend...
I swear I never meant for this
I never meant...
Don't look at me that way
It was an honest mistake
“I get enraged with football but if I’ve got a basketball and I’m dribbling I find myself feeling calmer. I’m a volunteer peer advisor for a charity. I work with people coming out of the prison system. Helping them find jobs, homes and the right support. I was in the same situation these people were in a few years ago. I made mistakes. Everything hit me at the same time. My two mates died, and my longstanding girlfriend left me. I turned to alcohol. I was dependent for about a year. But I’ve managed to overcome all that.
Three years ago I started getting my life back on track. For those that engage with me, I’ll give them all the help I can. It’s the only way I’ve found to get through my own struggles. I just wanted to give back what was provided for me. I’m a lot happier person than I used to be. I can’t help everyone. Not everyone is ready. I can open the door, they’ve got to walk through it. But I honestly believe that anyone can change their life.”
"Mistakes" are unintentional exposures with some simple, arbitrary image processing applied, such as "I'm Feeling Lucky" in Picasa. The results are sometimes nice to look at in their own way.
I’ve been wanting to take a city break in summer, rather than in the cold months for a while, so rather than heading for the Lake District for a week of toil on the fells when Jayne could get a week off, we took off from Liverpool for Paris. Flight times were nice and sociable but it meant we were on the M62 car park at a busy time in both directions – it’s a shambles! I’ve stopped over in Paris a dozen times – on my way to cycling in the Etape du Tour in the Alps or Pyrenees – and had a few nights out there. Come to think about it and we’ve spent the day on the Champs Elysees watching the final day of the Tour de France with Mark Cavendish winning. We hadn’t been for a holiday there though and it was a bit of a spur of the moment decision. Six nights gave us five and a half days to explore Paris on foot. I had a good selection of (heavy) kit with me, not wanting to make the usual mistake of leaving something behind and regretting it. In the end I carried the kit in my backpack – an ordinary rucksack – to keep the weight down, for 103 miles, all recorded on the cycling Garmin – and took 3500 photos. The little Garmin is light and will do about 15 hours, it expired towards the end of a couple of 16 hour days but I had the info I wanted by then. This also keeps the phone battery free for research and route finding – I managed to flatten that once though.
What can I say – Paris was fantastic! The weather varied from OK to fantastic, windy for a few days, the dreaded grey white dullness for a while but I couldn’t complain really. We were out around 8.30 in shorts and tee shirt, which I would swap for a vest when it warmed up, hitting 30 degrees at times, we stayed out until around midnight most nights. It was a pretty full on trip. The security at some destinations could have been a problem as there is a bag size limit to save room in the lifts etc. I found the French to be very pragmatic about it, a bag search was a cursory glance, accepting that I was lugging camera gear, not bombs around, and they weren’t going to stop a paying customer from passing because his bag was a bit over size.
We didn’t have a plan, as usual we made it up as we went along, a loose itinerary for the day would always end up changing owing to discoveries along the way. Many times we would visit something a few times, weighing the crowds and light etc. up and deciding to come back later. I waited patiently to go up the Eiffel Tower, we arrived on Tuesday and finally went up on Friday evening. It was a late decision but the weather was good, the light was good and importantly I reckoned that we would get a sunset. Previous evenings the sun had just slid behind distant westerly clouds without any golden glory. It was a good choice. We went up the steps at 7.30 pm, short queue and cheaper – and just to say that we had. The steps are at an easy angle and were nowhere near as bad as expected, even with the heavy pack. We stayed up there, on a mad and busy Friday night, until 11.30, the light changed a lot and once we had stayed a couple of hours we decided to wait for the lights to come on. This was a downside to travelling at this time of year, to do any night photography we had to stay out late as it was light until 10.30. The Eiffel Tower is incredible and very well run, they are quite efficient at moving people around it from level to level. It was still buzzing at midnight with thousands of people around. The sunset on Saturday was probably better but we spent the evening around the base of the Tower, watching the light change, people watching and soaking the party atmosphere up.
Some days our first destination was five miles away, this is a lot of road junctions in a city, the roads in Paris are wide so you generally have to wait for the green man to cross. This made progress steady but when you are on holiday it doesn’t matter too much. Needless to say we walked through some dodgy places, with graffiti on anything that stays still long enough. We were ultra-cautious with our belongings having heard the pickpocket horror stories. At every Café/bar stop the bags were clipped to the table leg out of sight and never left alone. I carried the camera in my hand all day and everywhere I went, I only popped it in my bag to eat. I would guess that there were easier people to rob than us, some people were openly careless with phones and wallets.
We didn’t enter the big attractions, it was too nice to be in a museum or church and quite a few have a photography ban. These bans make me laugh, they are totally ignored by many ( Japanese particularly) people. Having travelled around the world to see something, no one is going to stop them getting their selfies. Selfies? Everywhere people pointed their cameras at their own face, walking around videoing – their self! I do like to have a few photos of us for posterity but these people are self-obsessed.
Paris has obviously got a problem with homeless (mostly) migrants. Walk a distance along the River Seine and you will find tented villages, there is a powerful smell of urine in every corner, with the no alcohol restrictions ignored, empty cans and bottles stacked around the bins as evidence. There are families, woman living on mattresses with as many as four small children, on the main boulevards. They beg by day and at midnight they are all huddled asleep on the pavement. The men in the tents seem to be selling plastic Eiffel Tower models to the tourists or bottled water – even bottles of wine. Love locks and selfy sticks were also top sellers. There must be millions of locks fastened to railings around the city, mostly brass, so removing them will be self-funding as brass is £2.20 a kilo.
As for the sights we saw, well if it was on the map we tried to walk to it. We crossed the Periphique ring road to get to the outer reaches of Paris. La Defense – the financial area with dozens of modern office blocks – was impressive, and still expanding. The Bois de Boulogne park, with the horse racing track and the Louis Vuitton Centre was part of a 20 mile loop that day. Another day saw us in the north east. We had the dome of the Sacre Couer to ourselves, with thousands of tourists wandering below us oblivious of the entrance and ticket office under the church. Again the light was fantastic for us. We read that Pere Lachaise Cemetery or Cimitiere du Pere Lachaise was one of the most visited destinations, a five mile walk but we went. It is massive, you need a map, but for me one massive tomb is much the same as another, it does have highlights but we didn’t stay long. Fortunately we were now closer to the Canal St Martin which would lead us to Parc de la Villette. This was a Sunday and everywhere was both buzzing and chilled at the same time. Where ever we went people were sat watching the world go by, socializing and picnicking, soaking the sun up. As ever I wanted to go up on the roof of anything I could as I love taking cityscapes. Most of these were expensive compared with many places we’ve been to before but up we went. The Tour Montparnasse, a single tower block with 59 floors, 690 foot high and extremely fast lifts has incredible views although it was a touch hazy on our ascent. The Arc de Triomphe was just up the road from our hotel, we went up it within hours of arriving, well worth the visit.
At the time of writing I have no idea how many images will make the cut but it will be a lot. If I have ten subtly different shots of something, I find it hard to consign nine to the dark depths of my hard drive never to be seen again – and I’m not very good at ruthless selection – so if the photo is OK it will get uploaded. My view is that it’s my photostream, I like to be able to browse my own work at my leisure at a later date, it’s more or less free and stats tell me these images will get looked at. I’m not aiming for single stunning shots, more of a comprehensive overview of an interesting place, presented to the best of my current capabilities. I am my own biggest critic, another reason for looking at my older stuff is to critique it and look to improve on previous mistakes. I do get regular requests from both individuals and organisations to use images and I’m obliging unless someone is taking the piss. I’m not bothered about work being published (with my permission) but it is reassuringly nice to be asked. The manipulation of Flickr favourites and views through adding thousands of contacts doesn’t interest me and I do sometimes question the whole point of the Flickr exercise. I do like having access to my own back catalogue though and it gives family and friends the chance to read about the trip and view the photos at their leisure so for the time being I’m sticking with it. I do have over 15 million views at the moment which is a far cry from showing a few people an album, let’s face it, there’s an oversupply of images, many of them superb but all being devalued by the sheer quantity available.
Don’t think that it was all walking and photography, we had a great break and spent plenty of time in pavement bistros having a glass of wine and people watching. I can certainly understand why Paris is top of the travellers list of destinations
"Mistakes" are unintentional exposures with some simple, arbitrary image processing applied, such as "I'm Feeling Lucky" in Picasa. The results are sometimes nice to look at in their own way.