Pre match v Orient at night

Slapped Arse!!!

Taken after the final whistle of the game against Arsenal at Ewood yesterday. Result ROVERS 4 - Arsenal 3.

The view is from the Ronnie Clayton Blackburn End looking towards the Darwen End.

Sad faced Arsenal fans are onthe right, with much happier Rovers fans on the left.

Ronnie Clayton Blackburn End

The newly named Blackburn End is now adorned with giant images of the former Rovers and England captain. 

These pictures were taken before the game against Arsenal yesterday.

A Short Video of The Singing Ringing Tree in a hurricane

Singing Ringing Tree Panopticon

This is the Panopticon for Burnley. It is situated on Crown Point high above the town. It is a tree made from steel pipes, some of which are hollow and tuned to various musical notes. The idea is that, as the wind blows over the open pipe ends, a haunting tune in produced.
I took the photograph during the tail end of Hurricane Katia, so there was plenty of wind around!

I will upload a short video (with sound) as soon as I work out how to do it.

The Atom Panopticon

Over the last few years a series of sculptures have appeared at various Lancashire locations. These sculptures are called Panopticons. This one is in Pendle at the Wycollar Country Park. The Background scenery is the moorland between Lancashire and Yorkshire which was the setting for Wuthering Heights from the book (or song) of the same name.

He Were A Great Baker Were Our Dad.......

From the old HOVIS bread TV advert of years ago, this is Haworth High Street. The commercial had a young delivery boy pushing his bicycle up this cobbled hill in a sepia image of yesteryear.

Temper Tantrums.....

This is the result of being crap at the XBox game 'Soul Calibur' and subsequently losing one's rag.

See if you can spot the point of impact of the console controller.......

The Biggest Pear Drop in the World

Oswaldtwistle Mills is the home to the biggest pear drop in the world. You used to have to pay to go and see it, but now it's free.

It's also a lot smaller, I think, than it once was. This is because after people had paid to go behind the curtain to have a look, you could hardly blame them for having a lick too.

Over the years this has, therefore, resulted in a bit of shrinkage.

It is now protected behind glass to prevent it from being sucked into oblivion (quite literally).

Filey Follies

The Coble Landing from the beach at Filey is not named after the cobblestones which make up the path from the beach, but after the fishing cobles which are launched from here.

The park which overlooks the bay at the top of the town contains a few, interesting, random ornaments. The Filey Fisherman is in a flowerbed and refers to the town's seafaring heritage, whilst a Plesiosaurus commemerates the finding of a full skeleton of one of these creatures locally.
The East Coast is rich in fossils, and a giant model of the type that can often be found on the beach is also on display.

The world's first flight was completed by Yorkshireman George Cawley, nearly 50 years before the Wright brothers strapped an engine on and stole all the glory. The beach sands of Filey Bay, however, were used as an aerodrome for the newly powered aeroplanes in the early part of the last century, and an example of the early types of aircraft used is represented in model form on the Southern part of the promenade.

Whitby Abbey

Taken from the other side of the wall as I'm a cheapskate and wouldn't pay to go in.

Jelly Fest!!

I'm not sure what went on here.
We walked along the southern part of Filey Bay one evening and the sands were, as usual, wide, empty and clear.
24 hours later they were the scene of total jellyfish carnage!
In between times the sea had been a bit lively, with breaking waves, but couldn't really be described as 'rough'. However, the tide had deposited hundreds, probably even thousands, of dead jelly fish.
They came in many different sizes, but seemed to fall within three colour groups; purple, blue or red.

More Lifeboats!

Continuing the collection of Lifeboats, these are from Bridlington (complete with launching tractor) and Filey. The tractor has a registration as it has to cross the road to reach the slipway to the beach.
The Filey boat has the red hull paint which is used to protect those Lifeboats which are normally kept at anchor. As Filey has a Lifeboat House, this may be a temporary replacement boat whilst the usual craft is being serviced/repaired.

Flamborough & North Landing

Flamborough Lighthouse.
A 2 mile walk along the cliff top to North landing, which is a small bay that is used to launch fishing cobles. They are put to sea by a combination of a small bulldozer, slightly modified for the purpose and a collection of ropes, pullies and logs.
The Lifeboat House (and, therefore, Lifeboat) isn't open to the public at North landing, but it does have a rather splendid slipway into the sea.
The walk takes you past the Flamborough Head Golf Course which itself occupies the site of a WWII radar station (part of the Chain Home system). Some leftovers from the war years can still be seen in the form of a couple of pill boxes one overgrown and both concreted closed.

Stamford Bridge bridge!

We all know the story of 1066 & all that; William of Normandy and Harold's 'eyeful of arrow' which took place on 14th October of that year.
The warm up event, however, took place outside York some 300 miles to the north, a few weeks earlier, when an invading Viking army was defeated at Stamford Bridge. The village came later and was, rather obviously, named after the Main crossing point of the River Ouse.

This is a photo of that crossing!

Taken whilst leaning over the river edge and holding onto the branch of a tree...no idea who the people are on the riverbank but I suspect they were waiting for me to fall in.

Harold's army found it difficult to remove the Vikings from their dominant position and occupation of the strategic bridge.
So he sent some soldiers down the river in boats at night where they removed the enemy by sticking pikestaffs through wooden planks from under the bridge and setting fire to it.

He thus defeated the invading King Harald Hardraada (who, in the true spirit of sibling love, was supported by Harold's own brother, Tostig.....) on 25th September 1066.

This was after marching his army the length of Britain, so he must have been a bit dismayed to hear after the battle that Duke William of Normandy had just landed at Bexhill on the south coast and so he began the long walk back.

You Have Been Warned!!

A helpful sign for pedestrians on the Boulevard in Blackburn which indicates the correct path to take in order to reach Ewood Park.
It could, however, also be seen as a stark warning for Visiting supporters, who arrive by train, that they may meet the 'Blackburn Youth' hooligan firm around Ewood Park.
.....particularly if their train arrives in the mid 1980's.

Front of new phone!

I missed this photo from the previous set!!
I must admit that I wasn't totally convinced about the colour scheme at first. I think it has grown on me a little bit, but given a choice, I would prefer a darker/metallic look.
Other initial thoughts :
The white colour makes it appear to be cheap plastic. The rubber case doesn't fit very well and I think will become annoying over time. The touchscreen is too small for internet use, and the '2 finger pinch' doesn't create a very big zoom. In zoom mode, the text doesn't cut to the screen size, meaning I still have to scroll sideways.
Mobile internet pages, however, ARE rendered to fit the screen in full with no zoom option making them, for my old eyes, unreadable.
Also unreadable is the keyboard. In bright, or direct sunlight, the backlit keyboard turns the letters white so that texting is impossible in these conditions. (Rather cleverley, the letters turn dark when the blacklight dims).
It is probably more to do with my lack of prowess with touchscreens, but I tend to promote actions unintentionally. Wiping dust from the screen or changing grip whilst holding the phone causes windows to open, which is annoying.
So that seems a fairly poor phone, then.
But the good stuff is really good!
The keyboard is fantastic! Much better than on my old E71, which itself was, I thought, better than the Blackberries. Although small, the screen is a lot better resoloution, the text and images are sharp and clear.
The camera is really good. I'm from the 'point and click' school of photography, but the comparison between 3.2mp and 8mp can be seen in these pictures and, when I work out how to use it properly, will get better.
MP3 player works fine, and the 'shuffle' feature is easier to use than on the E71, with album art presented as a carousel on the touchscreen.
So far so good!

New Phone/Old Phone!

This is a bit of a camera test, with my old Nokia E71 being photographed by a new phone (which I am borrowing to see if I like), and then the new phone being photographed by the E71.
I am not convinced I can do 'touch screens' that easilly (fat fingers, no patience) so it i is good to have a try first before spending the money!

Scarborough Castle

Whitby Boat Action

The Lifeboat House in Whitby is now a museum which contains an old lifeboat on display. The actual lifeboat (14-14) is moored on the River on the opposite bank. The Harbour Pilot has a similar colour schemes to the RNLI. All a bit confusing.

North Marine Drive

...alternatively known as Scarborough Cricket Ground. One of the outgrounds for the Yorkshire County team. We managed a quick peek before the groundsman arrived as they'd left the gates open.

More Coastal Defence

More bits of the wartime defensive buildings at Cayton Bay. These pieces were previously attached to the part photographed earlier (on the top of the cliff). There are two pill boxes on the main stretch of the beach which now being used as Ladies and Gents toilets/changing rooms on the beach by surfers and swimmers.