ABC Wednesday:D is for Doubtful Sound

Doubtful Sound is in a remote corner of New Zealand. It is reached by taking first a ferry across Lake Manapouri to West Arm. There you transfer to a coach for the drive over the Wilmot Pass to Deep Cove.


At Deep Cove you leave the coach and board a catamaran for a cruise on Doubtful Sound. Although given its name in 1773 by James Cook, the fjord was unexplored until the Italian navigator Malaspina commanded a Spanish scientific expedition in 1793. His name is remembered in Malaspina Reach, the area between Hall Arm and Crooked Arm. It was here that we were joined by some bottlenosed dolphins who sailed with us and provided a spectacular show jumping out of the water and somersaulting back.


As you approach the Tasman Sea, there are clear views of the Nee islets, named after a Spanish botanist. On the southern entrance, beyond Febrero Point are two rocks known as the Hare's Ears.

You can read more of our 2001 journey to New Zealand on The Land of the Long White Cloud.

For more D posts visit ABC Wednesday.

A brief hiatus

My computer crashed yesterday and it will probably be the middle of next week before I get it back.

I don't have any scheduled posts ready so won't be updating or posting new photographs until my own computer is back up and running again.

Guess I'll have to read a few books and watch TV for a while.

Hope to back before too long.

Friday Bench (31):Tenerife 2006

Four years ago we escaped the beginning of February and went to the warm climes of Tenerife.

This bench was in one of the shopping plazas in Playa de Los Americas. I have to admit now that it was the cactus I was taking a photograph of and I've cropped it so you can see the bench and the plant. I did a different crop excluding the bench but including a shop window on the other side when I published the photo Shopping Plaza Cactus along with others on my account of Tenerife & La Gomera.

My favourite benches discovered recently include Inverness Daily Photo's on Ness Islands, Misfit's in Liberty, Daryl's in Battery Park City, Steffen's in Stuttgart and AB's in Saarland.

ABC Wednesday - C is for Cycling in Copenhagen

These are just a few of the cyclists we encountered when visiting Copenhagen in 2006.


Cycling is so popular in Copenhagen that there is a blog Copenhagen Chic specifically devoted to the activity.


For more C posts visit ABC Wednesday.

Shadow Shot Sunday:Another from Vernon Park

Another shot following on from last week's shadow from Vernon Park in Stockport.

For more shadow shots visit Hey Harriet.

In Memoriam: Eric Ratcliffe (1918 - 2009)

Eric Ratcliffe was born in Teddington on 18th August 1918. During the Second World War he served in India as an ammunition examiner. He was married in 1947 but divorced in 1960. He founded and edited Ore poetry magazine from 1954 to 1995.

I never personally met Eric but we corresponded for many years. After closing Ore he became a regular reviewer for NHI Review. When the review first went online he sent me his reviews typed and I had to scan or retype them. However after a few years he became computer competent and was able to email his reviews.

I suspect though that his main reason for going online was due to his interest in chess. I understood that he had played postal chess for a good number of years and the transition to computer chess made for a swifter return of moves.

As a reviewer one of his strengths was that he turned them round usually within a week. Of course, like all my reviewers, he ruffled a few feathers. He was a little pernickity about format and would criticise pamphlets that carried no pagination or failed to obtain a proper ISBN. He was critical too of sloppy proof-reading.

Four of Eric's many collections are reviewed on NHI Review.

Poetry Salzburg published two collections of his poetry as well as the anthology Veins of Gold: ORE 1954-1995 ed. Eric Ratcliffe & Wolfgang Görtschacher (ISBN 3-7052-0089-5, A5/perfect bound, 259pp).

As well as poetry and chess his interests included the Druid order. One of the photos found on his website shows him leading a Druid procession up Primrose Hill in 1968. I know very little about this side of his character.


I only discovered that Eric had died due to the return in December of my annual Xmas card marked "gone away". It wasn't until I spoke with Steve Sneyd who had correspondence returned marked "deceased" that I was certain. The local press in Stevenage where he lived do not appear to have carried an obituary. Sneyd, writing in Data Dump #144 (80p/$2 from 4 Nowell Place, Huddersfield HD5 8PB), says

vast indeed was ER's vision.

Eric's web pages at http://homepage.ntlworld.com/chessmaster/eric/Page_1.html are presently still online. Visit them now before they disappear.

ABC Wednesday - B is for Brothers

It isn't often that Ian and Craig see each other these days, but just before Christmas they both turned up together so I took a quick photograph of them with my mobile phone.

Ian is still wearing the t-shirt we brought him back from Tenerife four years ago, while Craig is sporting his ManU shirt.

For more B posts visit ABC Wednesday.

Shadow Shot Sunday:Vernon Park, Stockport

Today's shot is a follow-up post to my Friday Bench post from Vernon Park in Stockport.

To see these shadows in the context of their surroundings visit Geograph.

For more shadows around the world visit Hey Harriet.

Friday Bench (30):Vernon Park, January 2010

One of the first benches I posted in this regular series was this one in Vernon Park, Stockport.

It was a return visit having featured it in January 2009.

Then it was a cold day and icy but there was greenery all around. When I visited this January there was snow on the ground, all deep and crisp and even.

My favourite benches discovered recently include Luna's in Barcelona, Janet's in Ferney-Voltaire, Per Stromjo's in Stockholm, Dina's at the Ein Gedi Nature Reserve and Joy's in South Cumbria

ABC Wednesday: A is for Astropoetry

2009 was the International Year of Astronomy and the Romanian Society for Meteors and Astronomy (SARM) have published a series of some 15 different pages on their Astropoetry site.

The page celebrating the 4th Quarter of the year has a whole host of photographs, cartoons and poetry including

MOON-JUPITER CONJUNCTION OVER TARGOVISTE
(2009.11.23)
astro-photo-poem by Valentin Grigore


The Moon and Jupiter gave again
a show in the evening sky,
a small present for those who
live in towns.

***

ICARUS ON LUNA
by Steve Sneyd

In crater deeps where
sun never reaches comet
head crashes dreams reflight

***

ACCELERATOR
by John Francis Haines

Particles hurtling towards one another
At the speed of light -
Just hope your planet isn't one of them.

***

COURTSHIP RITUAL
by Steve Sneyd

"Prove it" she said "bring
me from black hole's heart Hawking
radiation to
shine on my finger, show your
love", stroked Schrodinger's cat.

***

LAST ECLIPSE OF 2009
by Gerald England

five hours before
the end of the decade
above my window
the cold earth is eating
a piece of blue moon


PARTIAL LUNAR ECLIPSE OVER THE NORTH OF ROMANIA
photo by Constantin Psenitchi

In the Epilogue Andrei Dorian Gheorghe writes

If you daily watch the skies
and admire both
the people and the heavenly bodies,

if you respect and use sciences, techniques, arts and poetry
as means for enriching
knowledge, generosity, feelings and creativity,

and if for you
the celebration of astronomy
does never end,

then you are a
REAL SKY LOVER,
my dear friend!

For more A posts visit ABC Wednesday.

Shadow Shot Sunday:Dog with Snowman

After taking last week's Shadow Shot, I met a dog attacking the remnants of a snowman.

For a fuller picture of the dog and its owner (and his shadow) visit Hyde Daily Photo.

All this snow has gone now and the green grass shows through again but it is still very cold with patches of ice in places.

For more shadow shots visit Hey Harriet.

Photo of the Year 2009: Runner-up

The voting for Hyde DP Photo of the Year 2009 was very close this year.

At the end there was only 1 vote between the winner and the runner-up.

The winner with 177 votes was Market Street Chimney Pots.

With 176 votes the runner-up was Drystone Waller at Dunkirk Farm

You can see the winner on Hyde Daily Photo.

All twelve photographs, in full resolution, can be viewed on The Best of Hyde Daily 2009.

Many other daily blogs around the world have also participated in the special theme of Photo of the Year. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Here are the full results of the voting.

177 votes: Market Street Chimney Pots

I remember these skyline attractions well when I lived in Hyde some 40 years ago. As an avid photographer myself I also like the concept of photographing something from the past that may eventually only exist through photographs. Well done, even down to the authentic pigeon poo decorating the sides - for uniqueness of subject, quality - sharpness and color of photo - it makes me want to look at it more closely - it has atmosphere - speaks of hardworking city life, as it is still today and in days gone by. -it is aesthetically pleasing - unique to UK and not to the tropics - I always wanted one like those in my back garden to put a plant in - like the busy starlings.

176 votes: Drystone Waller at Dunkirk Farm

So much history and future in one image! - I've always liked stories about people living in the particular dp city/town - for the waller's expression.

120 votes: Winter Grazing

Those gorgeous horses - just love the romantic atmosphere of the shot - very appealing textures, tones - for the most unusual sight with horses - ever!

88 votes: Sunset on the Trail

I like the golden glow of the sun in this - for the best perspective and colors and the quintessential Hyde countryside.

80 votes: W.I. at Gee Cross Fete

It is colourful, clear and interesting - it is so typically British! - the women's stance, the items for sale, the intensity of involvement on their faces - the photographer has captured a moment in time that is absolutely authentic - quality, colors and movement - not a photo I would put on my wall, but a genuinely historical moment - atmosphere of the stall.

65 votes: Through My Wife's Eyes

It is unusual and original - outstanding reflection and a creative idea! - curious style - quirky perspective.

55 votes: Heron on the Peak Forest Canal

What a beautiful bird! - great capture.

49 votes: Green Lane Pool

The reflections of the sky and trees in the pond are wonderful - rich in nature, beautiful.

37 votes: Quiet Sunday

The Woolworths story sums up 2009 - wonderful composition - The girls are sat on one of Hydes 'Wishing Benches'... during the week you can see poor drunkards 'wishing' they had enough money to get into the local pubs.

32 votes: Hyde Park Bridge

Gorgeous! I'm jealous you have such lovely parks.

30 votes: Mottram Cricket Club

Sharp and clean shot, really captured the moment - for the English green

18 votes: Hare & Hounds at Mid-Summer

We had lunch there in May on a Monday and it was so busy. We loved the long light evenings, sadly it's something we don't have here in Queensland.

Many thanks to all who voted.

ABC Wednesday: Z is for Zero

Zero degrees Celsius is when water freezes.

We have had sub-zero temperatures for the beginning of the New Year and as the sun has come out to raise the temperature above zero, icicles have formed on the eaves.


We are now into a very slight thaw and the icicles have, for the moment, disappeared. The temperature however is still hovering around zero and we may not have seen the last of the snow.


For more Z posts visit ABC Wednesday.

Bonspiel by Sally Evans

Lake of Menteith, with Inchmahome centre distance, © Keith Salvesen and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

On Friday 8th January 2010 the Royal Caledonian Curling Club said that a proposed Grand Match on the Lake of Mentieth had been called off due to Health & Safety concerns.

Nonetheless some 24 curling matches did indeed take place and poet Sally Evans was there to watch.

BONSPIEL

Winter's black trail over the hill.
Snowy woods .Icy verges. Till
near Menteith, traffic cones
mark no-go zones.

Down, past the police cars, to a gate.
Curling teams spill everywhere, and yet
there's room to park.
Two hours since dark.

it's half past nine on Sunday morning.
People flock: wildlife has taken wing.
We step onto the ice,
solid, substantial space,

snow-carpeted expanse of loch,
on which we marvel, slide and walk,
where some skate.
It loves everyone's weight.

As teams sweep long rectangular runs
the click and rumble of unleashed stones begins.
The hotel's busy day
is under way.

Dogs, kids on sledges, locals, sail the breeze,
cross to the Abbey and ancient trees
one of which has collapsed
this winter past,

Abbey buildings melancholy and
two stone ruins on the small island
that cannot usually
be seen properly.

Watching again we buy burgers and tea
and pass the time of day with all and sundry
then drive away before
we freeze to the core,

sent on a one-way route round by Arnprior
bearing with us the polished life and fire
of the Bonspiel.
Stumble and try to tell.

SALLY EVANS

Sally Evans is the editor of Poetry Scotland

For a photograph of the event, visit the BBC News

Shadow Sunday: Swains Valley

I took this photograph last Sunday after overnight snow covered the Swains Valley.

You can see earlier snow on this Christmas Day (click link to view) shot which is looking from a position to the top left of this viewpoint across towards the entrance to Haughton Street which is at the top right.

The first snow of the winter came in mid-December (click link to view) in which photograph you can see the path leading from Garside Street to the TransPennine Trail. Here we are looking at right angles to that path now hidden under the snow.

Today on Hyde Daily Photo (click link to view) is another photograph taken in mid-December that shows the trees whose reflections dominate this current scene.

For more shadow shots visit Hey Harriet.

New Website for the Yorkshire Dialect Society

The Yorkshire Dialect Society now has a new website at http://www.yorkshiredialectsociety.org.uk/.

As I mentioned in my post of January 2008, I've been a Life member of the Yorkshire Dialect Society for about forty years now. Established in 1897, it is the world's oldest surviving dialect society. It holds four meetings a year around the county and publishes both an annual Transactions and a Summer Bulletin.

For examples of Yorkshire dialect haiku see that post and my post in January 2009.

Graeme Garvey is the new editor of Transactions, the latest issue of which includes a tribute by Peter French for Stanley Ellis (1926 - 2009) who held the society together for many years. His voice is etched into my brain and he is very sadly missed. Another long-serving member Arnold Kellett (1926 - 2009) is also remembered.

Stan an' Arnold
tha'll be missed tha knaws
bu' nivver fret
get aff an' see Fred Brown
chiding Euclid's childer.

Gerald England.

Friday Bench (29): Clarendon Place again

This is the same bench as the one I showed you last week but with a fresh layer of snow.

See the full view on Hyde Daily Photo.

My favourite benches discovered recently include Leatherdyke's in Queen's Park, Dimple's in Idaho, Maryanne's in Cairo, Inverness Daily Photo's at Foyers Hotel, Tony's in Richmond and Rune's in Bergen.

ABC Wednesday - Y is for Ye Old Nelson

Ye Olde Nelson on Chapel Street, Salford, an ornate building, one of the landmarks of the city, was built in 1899 on the site of a pub which had opened for business in 1805, the year Vice Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson died as his fleet defeated the French and Spanish. Buildings around it have already been demolished in what has become a development site.


A report in the Manchester Evening News on April 1st 2004 reported that "When it closed last year the pub still had many of its original fittings. Now business leaders and residents are heading a campaign to prevent it being bulldozed and turned into a block of flats."

A fire in 2004 gutted the inside of the building, but the outside survived. Reports in 2009 appear to confirm that it has been saved from demolition and will be incorporated into the redevelopment of the area.


These photographs were taken in September 2009 and from this angle Ye Old Nelson seems to tower above the Beetham Tower seen in the background.

For more Y posts visit ABC Wednesday.

Shadow Shot Sunday: Richmond Hill

I've been photographing more of the snow but with the sun absent I have no recent shadows to show you. So once again I've been back to my 2007 archives and present for your delight this autumn scene.

For other delightful shadows please visit Hey Harriet.

Friday Bench (28): Clarendon Place

In better weather this bench on Clarendon Place, Hyde is well used by shoppers waiting for the bus from Hattersley to Manchester; eating their take-away lunch; having a fag or simply resting.

See the bench in context on Hyde Daily Photo.

More interesting benches I've discovered recently include Rune's in Stølen, Michael's in St Kilda, D J Kirkby's in Berlin, Inverness Daily Photo's at Dochgarroch Locks, Suzanne's in Wooster Square, Jeremy's in Wellington, Blognote's in Arona, Leatherdyke's in Queen's Park and Kate's in St Paul.