View allAll Photos Tagged downsides
So many people are familiar with London's red buses, bus less familiar with the vehicles that reached the extremities of the network.
Today, there was a re-enactment of routes once undertaken by the RF class bus, a single decker from the 1950s that was only built for London Transport.
Despite its destination blind, this bus, RF429 is re-enacting route 215A at the Surrey village of Downside, quite detached from traditional red bus operations. London Transport also had green buses, serving towns that formed a ring around the capital. This route would have been more in keeping with that network, so in some ways it was a curiosity.
These days, the regular bus to Downside runs twice a day, Monday to Friday, a far cry from the hourly service I witnessed as a young boy.
Downside, Surrey
24th March 2019
20190324 2I8A 4261
The Summer butterfly populations are beginning to wane, but the Monarchs, Viceroys and Cabbage Whites are still in residence.
A downside of not being human is that Alistair never gets tan nor sunburn even if he wanted to (the former that is) which always leave him the odd one out in any crowd because he's unnaturally pale. Nevertheless, he still enjoys the great outdoor and embrace the Sun with a "BURN ON!" attitude.
Lies Baas 2010 I took this shot while laying on the ground with a fisheye lens. The lamp is almost like a candle in the wind(tunnel).
This is a transparent watercolor on white watercolor paper. I also used a fine point black pilot pen. I painted this watercolor myself. MAKE MUSIC, NOT WAR!
The only real downside to this very interesting photo trip in Spain was that, after almost three weeks on the road, we were just as shot as the churches we visited! Of course, we had planned in advance so as to not have to re-pack and move to a different hotel every single day, but that had not always been possible, and Spain is a large country: even though we only went through a part of it and the accommodations were, most of the time, top-notch (we will always remember our two-night stay at a “pilgrims’ inn” on the Path to Compostela, the wholesome, heartwarming food and the awfully nice people), we had driven around quite a lot, unpacked and re-packed quite a lot, shot a lot as well (and that does require some concentration!), and we were a bit tired.
Therefore, and as a gesture of self-congratulation, I booked us for three nights into the best ocean-view room of the nicest hotel in a small coastal resort in the Pays Basque, about two dozen kilometers from the French border. There, we recovered from the fatigue of the trip, ate local fish, slept late and drove around for the absolute minimum distances required to see the surrounding sights. Knowing me, you know I had to take a few photos, and here they are.
I hope you enjoy this “Goodbye to Spain!” series.
The three photos that I upload today bring the April 2024 Spanish trip to its conclusion. Many thanks to all of you who followed my stream over the past few months of uploads, and many thanks as well for all the appreciation you have been kind enough to show through your visits, your “faves” (as they are called) and your comments and private messages. Tomorrow, we will be back to France with photos from a trip to the Vendée province, also on the coast of the Atlantic. Hasta luego!
Another view of the walkway that leads to the island, which always gets its share of visitors at low tide.
Being the face of Chicago railroading for over 40 years can have its downsides--particularly when it comes to parting ways. With rebuilds and repaints coming in constant waves across the Metra system, the iconic Blue F40PHs are slowly but surely starting to drop in numbers. Thankfully, 2023 has been kind to the old blues as the railroad seems to keep at least one of these locomotives on almost every line. Here, locomotive 108 glides into its stop at Tinley Park 80th on the Rock Island District bound for Joliet.
I like it cropped like this- makes it look more like a panorama. I'd like to take credit for it, but actually I had a little help. (Thank you!)
The only real downside to this very interesting photo trip in Spain was that, after almost three weeks on the road, we were just as shot as the churches we visited! Of course, we had planned in advance so as to not have to re-pack and move to a different hotel every single day, but that had not always been possible, and Spain is a large country: even though we only went through a part of it and the accommodations were, most of the time, top-notch (we will always remember our two-night stay at a “pilgrims’ inn” on the Path to Compostela, the wholesome, heartwarming food and the awfully nice people), we had driven around quite a lot, unpacked and re-packed quite a lot, shot a lot as well (and that does require some concentration!), and we were a bit tired.
Therefore, and as a gesture of self-congratulation, I booked us for three nights into the best ocean-view room of the nicest hotel in a small coastal resort in the Pays Basque, about two dozen kilometers from the French border. There, we recovered from the fatigue of the trip, ate local fish, slept late and drove around for the absolute minimum distances required to see the surrounding sights. Knowing me, you know I had to take a few photos, and here they are.
I hope you enjoy this “Goodbye to Spain!” series.
Fishing boats in the harbor of Getaria, another small town not far from when we stayed.
Since Twitter might downside the full size shot, I'm going to upload to my Flickr gallery for the meantime. However when I complete my second photo merge I might remove the stock version.
Detail from a stained glass window in Downside Abbey, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Somerset, England
Wikipedia reports:-
The Basilica of St Gregory the Great at Downside, commonly known as Downside Abbey, is a Roman Catholic Benedictine monastery and the Senior House of the English Benedictine Congregation. One of its main apostolates is a school for children aged nine to eighteen. Its graduates are known as Old Gregorians.
Both monastery and school are located at Stratton-on-the-Fosse, southwest of the English city of Bath.
The building of Downside Abbey Church was begun in the 19th century, and ended with completion of the nave after World War I. The Abbey Church houses the relics of St Oliver Plunkett, an Irish martyr, who entrusted his body to the care of a Benedictine monk of the English Benedictine Congregation. The church is one of only three in the United Kingdom to be designated a minor basilica by the Roman Catholic Church, the others being St. Chad's Cathedral in Birmingham and Corpus Christi Priory, Manchester.
The church is built in the Gothic Revival style, and is designed to rival in size the medieval cathedrals of England that were lost to the Catholic Church through the Reformation. A magnificent ensemble of work is represented by a galaxy of architectural talent of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The earliest part is the richly decorated transepts by Archibald Matthias Dunn and Edward Joseph Hansom, dating from 1882. The choir is the masterpiece of Thomas Garner (who is buried there), dedicated in 1905. The soaring nave by Giles Gilbert Scott (c. 1923-25) remains unfinished, with its western wall in crude Lias stone standing bare and undecorated. The Lady Chapel is acknowledged as one of the most complete and successful schemes of Sir Ninian Comper, with a reredos and altar furnishings incorporating medieval fragments and a reliquary containing the skull of St Thomas de Cantilupe. The tower, completed in 1938, at 166 feet (55m), is the second highest in Somerset. The choir stalls are modelled on the famous stalls in Chester Cathedral.
Downside Abbey has been designated by English Heritage as a grade I listed building.[1] Sir Nikolaus Pevsner described the Abbey as "the most splendid demonstration of the renaissance of Roman Catholicism in England. If ever there was an excuse for building in period forms in the twentieth century, it is here".
The windows of the Lady Chapel of Downside Abbey church were installed by Sir Ninian Comper and spans a quarter of a century. The windows were donated in memory of pupils of Downside School who had died in the First World War. This depiction of St John the Evangelist, whose feast falls on 27 December, is particularly striking. It is an image of one of these boys, whose broken-hearted parents had had immortalised in stained glass.
Detail of Comper's alabaster statue of St Sebastian, who was martyred c. 283. He was shot with arrows by the Roman Emperor's soldiers and left for dead, but when the widow of St. Castulus went to recover his body, she found he was still alive and nursed him back to health. Soon after, Sebastian intercepted the Emperor, denounced him for his cruelty to Christians, and was beaten to death on the Emperor's orders. The remains of the saint are believed to be housed in Rome in the Basilica Apostolorum, built by Pope Damasus I in 367 on the Via Appia.
St Sebastian is patron saint of athletes because of his physical endurance and his energetic way of spreading and defending the Faith. Sebastian is also patron to all soldiers. He entered the Roman army under Emperor Carinus in 288 in order to defend the confessors and martyrs of his day without drawing attention to himself. His efforts kept the Faith of Marcus and Marcellian firm during their persecutions, right up to the time of their martyrdom. He was declared patron of plague sufferers of his reported cures of those afflicted with many diseases.
Another shot from one of the most spectacular shows I've ever seen (or photographed), by Kataklo (an athletic dance theatre group from Italy).
I was incredibly lucky to shoot this show as an "official" photographer. In actual fact, I photographed their last performance (at the 2006 Edinburgh Fringe) after being invited along by its producer Angella Kwon, who I met for the first time last year (after photographing two South Korean shows she was also producing).
Technology also helped, greatly. This is one of a number of shots I took at 3200 ISO with a shutter speed of 1/20 sec, hand held. Previously, I wouldn't have stood a chance of getting anything decent under these lighting conditions, but this was taken with my trusty Canon EOS-5D (which I'd only owned for three months at this point).
Some of my Kataklo pics feature on the new CD (called 'Hold in the Sun') by Crooked Mouth which is my friend Ken Campbell's group. You can also hear some samples of their music at the Crooked Mouth myspace website. 10% of the cover price of each CD goes to support the work of Sight Savers International.
In addition, some of my photos from this show are now being used on the official Kataklo website.
If you get the chance to see one of their shows, grab it with both hands.