Air show at RAF Leuchars

A while since I have updated but I have got some lovely pictures of aeroplanes to show. The last post I made here was also about planes from an air show, but this was a real air show and involved many many hours of driving to get there from Lancaster. The previous air show was just a freebie and whetted my apetite. On searching so late in the year Leuchars was the only real show left and I’m very glad we went, even if I have got sunburnt to a frazzle.

A few of the attractions canceled at the last minute, but it meant we got double helpings of some of the most entertaining, such as the Eurofighter Typhoon. I sadly didn’t manage to get a good photos of that but I did get some lovely picture of the Red Arrows who were displaying for the 4000th time ever.

The Battle of Britain memorial flight was lovely too. Interestingly back in Lancaster they have just flown around outside my window as well. some display in Morecambe apparently. A nice surprise! Back to the air show there was a flypast by a Nimrod from RAF Kinloss which was quite touching given the timing.

I’ve also added some more photos to the gallery in the mean time, but it’s not really any spectacular photography, just photos of my new Mac Pro computer. It’s very shiny.

Lancaster University building works, and Windermere air show

Just a little update because I haven’t added much to here for a while. I’ve posted a few photos of the university as it’s in the middle of building work – demolition of lots of old accommodation blocks and landscaping sections which used to be roads. I’m hoping to be able to collect together some photos from similar perspectives covering the three years I’ve been a student here, just to see how things have changed, but I’ll have to sit and sort through *every* photo of the university I have which…could take a while. For now these will do.

This is a picture of the new accommodation for Furness (in the foreground) and Fylde, with the corner of what was inner Fylde accommodation up until about three weeks ago. Its strange that it’s finally gone, they have been knocking it down ‘during the summer’ for the whole time I’ve been at uni, even getting as far as soft stripping the interior before realising they needed to house students in it the following year and having to put it all back in. What was more amusing was they let the previous occupants redecorate the whole building in whatever styles they wanted as part of a competition, so everything needed redoing, I bet it cost tonnes. All flat now though. Well almost.

The other pictures I have to talk about are ones from the annual air show in Windermere. I have to say I didn’t get any great pictures this year, we were constantly in the wrong place at the wrong time; behind trees, on a boat, on a train, in a pub. Some are interesting though, this one is off the Army parachute display team, the Red Devils who were amazing. I definately would not like to be falling from the sky attached to 3 other men.

On a side note, thank you for the comments – I didn’t realise I had comment moderation turned on and have only just noticed somewhat belatedly, but its nice to know people have been looking and that some of you have found it interesting. I’ll try to keep finding nice things to post.

Scary swimming pools

Well, I’ve added some pictures of the closed outdoor swimming pool on the sea front at Grange over Sands. Not amazingly good photos it has to be said, but it is a little difficult to get good shots of and it deserved to be somewhere on here. I have some other photos I shall have to dig out to go alongside, but these I took today. It was a very popular tourist attraction through the years but the council closed it in 1992 because they said it leaked. I have to ask, if it leaked so badly in 1992, why in 2006 is it sat there still with a full pool of water… I wouldn’t like to go swimming in that though.

I remember it being open, as I have said in the gallery infact. My memory is of sitting just to the left of the entrance (as we’re looking at it in these pictures) with my feet in a smaller pool made for sailing toy boats. I was fascinated by the turnstyles on the door, the old metal kind that fairgrounds used to have (and Chester Zoo if my memory serves me) and I really wanted to go inside and swim. I must have been about 7 years old. Its a very dim recollection. If only as a child I’d had the forethought to photograph everything. Or infact owned a camera.. Ah well. Here’s one of the only pictures of the Lido in its former glory I can find. I don’t know when, but it looks like a good day out.

I may try writing to the council to ask about going inside to make a proper record of what it was like, but I have a feeling they would say no. They are a sneaky council and would be suspicious of me. At least if I had tried to ask permission it might look less bad if they caught me having scaled the wall.

The cat of Bradshaw Street

Where my boyfriend lives there is a small cat which keeps appearing in the house. It isn’t his cat, nor is it his housemates, but it seems to have adopted the house and I am becoming quite used to finding it randomly. I put it outside again, but it always comes back. One time it even found its way up into the attic to say hello to us.

These pictures were taken this morning when we heard the bell on it’s collar and discovered it sat in the back yard quite obviously contemplating jumping through the kitchen window. Taking pictures was a distraction to stop it breaking in and it worked quite well.

I have to say, of all the cats I’ve tried to photograph, this one was the most well behaved. It has a very high opinion of itself and thats is very obvious from the photographs.

Summertime

Well, summer seems to have hit Lancaster rather suddenly, and it made me want to go outside and take some photos. Granted I left it a little too late, and a lot of the sun had gone, but animals and flowers seem summery anyway. There is a lot of wildlife on campus that you don’t really notice, it was nice to go and hunt it out for a while. It’s also interesting to see how campus is changing, with refurbishment projects all over the place, and new builds finally being finished. It’ll be like a different place come September.

I took some very nice pictures of bunny rabbits, even one of a rabbit lying down which you don’t see very often in the wild. Having a very lazy day I think it was. I also found some flowers, but could have done with more light to take good photographs. I’ve added the picture of the dandelion clock, but it is a little dark.

I’ve also added some pictures to urbex of an old mill, I don’t know what it was being used for before its roof was removed, but the signs in the loading bay are quite nice.

I shall have to try harder to take more nice photos, I’ve neglected this site a little. I’ll update more soon.

Some of my older photos – Oxenhope and Haworth

Firstly some pictures of an apparantly abandoned research facility on the Oxenhope moor in Yorkshire. It really is in the middle of nowhere. On a trip over to Haworth with family, we passed it and I demanded that we stop on the return journey. I couldn’t easily get close enough to really take pictures, especially with my parents watching – otherwise I would have been over the fence in an instant. The sign at the gate gives an indication what it was used for, Measuring raindrop sizes and the brightness of stars for the University of Bradford. I don’t know how long it’s been in this state for but the telephone number is pre-change. Seems a shame.. though at least it means I got to find and photograph it. Was a very unexpected thing looming on the horizon.

The second lot are just some photos I took whilst wandering around Haworth. Mostly shots around the graveyard where the Bronte family are buried. The village itself is lovely. I also discovered some old electrical equipment behind one row of houses. I put pictures in Miscelaneous because they had to be shown. I don’t think you’re meant to leave such things out to get wet, but never mind.

Theres also some random photos up, mostly from 2004 as thats the year I have sorted through so far. The picture to the right was taken at the war memorial in Grange Over Sands on a beautiful summers day. The rest cover topics and locations to far and wide to completely list here, but if you have a question regarding a particular photo in any set just leave a comment and I’ll try and remember. Oh for cameras with built in GPS !

Lancaster Moor Hospital, Lancaster

Some photos I took a little while ago. I guess this mental asylum doesn’t really class as ‘urban’ exploration, but it is definitely interesting.
I discovered it one evening coming home the back back way from university, and as I rounded the top of the hill it was just there in front of me. I had to pull in at the gates and have a look, but I didn’t have my camera with me at the time. I also had to wait until I had a better camera in order to get good shots of the building from the front, as the only place to stand is on the hill a good 3/4 of a mile away.

It’s difficult to get any closer pictures of the grounds than I managed here, because there is 24 hour security – you can see their little office in one of the pictures. What I did notice however, is that inside the door of their office are lots of photographs pinned to the wall and I’m sure they are of the asylum. Makes me wonder whether they give people permission sometimes to wander and take photos. I keep meaning to look into it.

The place is fantastic to walk around, I wish I’d been in Lancaster when it was still acting as A&E, actually seeing it trying to function as a modern NHS hospital would have been brilliant. Some parts of it still appear to be used – certain sections seem to have been taken over my NHS work men for storing equipment and vehicles. There’s also an active cricket club somewhere on the grounds, but I didn’t see a cricket pitch.

First entry – Beldam asbestos works, Bury

Beldam asbestos works.
Quite an interesting name for the place I thought. I’m not sure where it comes from, perhaps the owner’s name. I’ve walked past the place many times, it’s been closed for years. I remember an attempt to turn at least the front section into offices maybe 7 years ago now, but it failed. I can understand why, it’s not in a very glamorous location, stuck down behind the old railway lines practically underneath the dual carriageway. Also I’m not sure how anyone working in an office there could ignore the rest of the place crumbling and rusting away behind them.

I originally set off to photograph some of the old factories down by Bury Bridge, but I took a detour, and I’m glad I did because I’ve never been past the asbestos factory and found a gate open before, let alone one of the factory doors. The bigger of the two sheds is heavily boarded up and I could barely find a crack to look through, which is a shame because there appeared to be water flowing from inside somewhere and I could hear it gushing from by the door. I would have liked to know where from.
One of the doors further down was open slightly, and I managed a few rough photos through the gap – only one made it on here, the clock that had stopped at 5.06. There were some other bits and pieces inside, an old metal lathe and some ladders. I think this would have been a much more interesting place to look around inside but from the state of the roof I think rather more dangerous.

The pictures speak for themselves really. The fire damaged building I remember seeing smouldering about a year ago, I’d love to know what it was used for when the factory was active what with all the metal ducting attached to it. I guess I don’t know enough about asbestos making to even hazard a guess, other than perhaps some form of ventilation but it had enough contact with asbestos to warrant four warning signs.