Me and Boo head for the Great North Run

After Elaine was kindly given her place in this years Great North Run by Sue Ryder (SR Wheatfields) things changed at Winterbourne Towers. Elaine started a savage training plan that would work right up to the week of the actual event. The training plan was a huge step for Elaine as running 5k and 10K was her normal target. I will never forget the day that we took that call, the call to say she had been offered a place in this years Great North Run. It was just sheer excitement. You can read all about Elaine’s experience on her blog “Boothie is doing the Great North Run” here.

So, what about my experience… well, As it don’t do running my contribution was only ever going to be through a lens. You know me by now, if I havent got a camera glued to my face something is seriously wrong. I wanted to take photographs of Elaine coming over the finish line but I knew this was a very remote possibility. For starters, actually catching her running over the line was going to be a chance in a million and that would depend on actually getting a spot anywhere near the finish never mind actually being able to obtain a photo.

If you have read the story on Elaine’s blog “Boothie is doing the Great North Run” then you will understand the reason behind the sponsorship and her attendance at the run. In return for Sue Ryder offering her a place at the event I decided to offer my services as a form of “my personal contribution” As you will probably have seen if you read my blog regularly, I am already familiar with offering my services to charity as my good freinds at Cancer Support Bradford & Airedale will tell you. Sue Ryder and the staff at Wheatfields were very happy with my offer and that the way it was left, right until a couple of weeks before the race. I had assumed that by offering my skills I might actually gain access to a number of prime locations, I was wrong. Fortunately, I found this out before the day and the very kind staff at Sue Ryder suggest I apply for press accreditation as I was actually representing them. I went on to the website of the race and filled in all the necessary fields, click, click and lo and behold the following morning guess what arrives in the post.

Well, what can I say… it would be rude not to, wouldn’t it? I mean, come on guys…front row and press access. This got me all giddy to be truthful. My vision was to get a shot of Mo Farah racing to the finish line…I started drifting away, dreaming of him posing for me with his signature “Mo-bot” at the finish line…woken by the telephone ringing I realised it was all in my dreams. Yes, just a dream. For the next two weeks I lived in hope, hope for the shots and opportunities and hopes for the weather. I guess that was really selfish of me to be truthful, after all the main reason I was going to the north-east was for Elaine. Moral support and all that.

Time flew by, the next ten days actually merged in to what felt like three days. Seemless days and nights that were only separated by a few dark hours. Those hours were spent sleeping and Elaine spent them wide awake like an owl, worrying and fretting about the Great North Run. In hindsight that was the difference really, I knew what I was doing and my confidence at taking photographs enables me to be put in any situation and have the ability to turn something out. Elaine on the other hand was on a whole new grounding. She had never been to Newcastle let alone the Great North Run and this showed the Friday before Sunday’s race. As much as people say they are not worried, I could tell she felt uncomfortable.

Bags were packed on Friday; this was to allow time for checking and double checking. I thought my process of checking camera equipment was thorough but it took on a whole new level when a runner is in the same trip. Clothes for travelling, clothes for going out in, clothes for pre-race, clothes for race, clothes for post race, clothes for travelling home in. That was just the start…knickers, socks, you name it. Every item for every weather possibility. I’ve got to give Elaine ten out of ten, she had it sussed. I went through my usual check list of batteries, cards, sensor cleaned, lenses cleaned etc etc…job done.!

Saturday came and we tried to stay in the same routine. Saturday breakfast is always a treat day and a quick visit to our local patisserie for some french pastries for breakfast. Elaine was working at lunchtime which meant she wouldn’t get home until at least 14:30. This was a good thing, the work would keep her mind off the impending run and stop the nerves getting to her. I think I was wrong. Elaine was never going to stop a customer coming in the shop and shouting on exit “Good luck tomorrow Elaine !”. This is the sheer consequence of putting up a poster asking for sponsorship; everyone now knows when the event is as they get a subtle reminder when ever they go for fish and chips. This made the whole thing so much worse for Elaine. I had spent all week trying to keep her calm and less than twenty-four hours prior to the race the nerves started to tingle. I spent Saturday lunchtime checking the camera gear, you know the routine…Camera 1 …check …Camera 2 check…and so on followed by a lengthy attempt at loading the car. It was quite hard to believe how much luggage was required for a twenty-four hour visit.

Our very good friends in Newcastle Stuart and Tracey had kindly offered to put us up for the evening. This meant a night out and a good catch up was in order. For weeks earlier Elaine and I had discussed her dietary requirements the night before the race. A curry at a local establishment was our friends request and who would refuse that…? Elaine did. Indian food was far from conducive to running the next morning, almost on a par with alcohol. After a few telephone calls to the restaurant Stuart managed to convince the chef that if Elaine brought her own food would he be willing to cook it. Well, that was one hell of an offer wasnt it? Afterall, the event the following day was in a good cause . So, the scene was set for a big reunion. We hadn’t seen our friends for a couple of years since they attended our daughter Aimee’s eighteenth birthday party so there was a lot to talk about.

After many checks that all relevant bags were loaded we were ready to depart. Separate bags had to be packed so Elaine could change at the race start and dispose of her clothing accordingly. All was going well northbound on the A1 until we saw a road sign that said Newcastle 46 miles. It was then that I turned to look at Elaine and realised she had turned fifty shades of white. She looked quite ill. She slowly turned to face me and it was then that it came to me, Elaine had just faced the reality of the situation and the next twenty-four hours raced before her eyes. Yes Elaine, you are running the Great North Run tomorrow morning.

We made a very impromptu stop at Washington Services for obvious reasons before heading back on to the northbound A1 for the remaining ten miles to Blaydon on Tyne. I think the last ten miles were the worst of all. Elaine’s nerves were jangling as more and more signs showing advertisements for the Great North Run began appearing. It got worse the nearer to the centre of Newcastle we got. until the grand finale …. a mile marker !! They think its all over…well it was now. I think by this time Elaine had gone beyond being nervous.

We had a great night out at a very nice restaurant called “The Spice Garden” in Winlaton (link here), We chatted and laughed with old friend and met new friends too, had a laugh, told tongue in cheek jokes and soaked up the “Geordie” humour. We headed back to our friends house before closing time feeling that an earlier night might be best considering a six o clock alarm call was planned the following morning. By the time you get back and sit and have a coffee time really ticks by and before you know it bed is calling. So it was goodnight and as much as we said we could make a stealth departure in the morning our hosts were not having any of it and insisted on getting up with us and even cooking us some breakfast. Something that my dearest wife had already planned and had brought with us from West Yorkshire. A cooked breakfast was okay for the photographer but the runner needed a slightly different menu…Porridge was the order of the day. Elaine loses out again.

Sue Ryder had asked me to cover the finish line and document finishers racing for the charity. This meant my departure for South Shields would be around 7am. My drive would be about twenty-five miles as there were no direct roads. Stuart had therefore agreed to drop Elaine off at the start as it was not too far away from where they live. As I woke I could hear that familiar sound of rain hitting windows and felt like closing my eyes believing it was all a dream. It wasn’t a dream; it was raining…heavy too. This was all I needed, I wasnt too fussed about getting wet but photography in the rain of sporting events is not ideal. Action photos need fast shutter speeds, and fast shutter speeds need light. Something there seemed to be a lack of this morning. Breakfast was eaten, and after a quick photo of Elaine we said our goodbyes with a promise to call back on the way home and I set off on my way.

My Sat-Nav was employed to direct me around unfamiliar territory avoiding the roads that were to be closed due to the race. The journey was totally event free and apart from a small jam just before the sea front at South Shields that delayed me about ten minutes I arrived in plenty of time. In hindsight it was probably a little too early but as the saying goes, better early than late. As I drove along the Sea Road the traffic slowed to a crawl and I asked one of the Car Park Marshalls where I could park…errrr he said, I decided to show him my Media Pass and he immediately waved me through the jam and directed me to the top car park nearest the start line. Joy I thought, things seem to be going ok here…having media access might have its plus points.

The rain on the windscreen told the story of the pre race opportunities as a photographer…none ! My camera didn’t actually come out of my bag until 10:37am but there was lots to see and people to meet prior to this. I paid a visit to the charity village where Sue Ryder had a tent. I knew there would be a couple of familiar faces here and somewhere I could drop some of my bags before heading towards the finish line. Time was ticking by and I thought it might be best if I made my way to the finish.

I took a wander towards media area to discuss my position with the events staff and the security personnel. As I approached the media platform I was asked for some identification and duly allowed on the stage. I really don’t know what I was thinking but I assumed that the best vantage point would be at the slightly elevated section at the back. The next person on the platform showed me the error of my ways and very kindly pointed out to me that the best place would be at the front. Now he didn’t have to do that and I suppose been the first here he had nothing to lose. We chatted about the subject for a while and he impressed on me how valuable that position in the front corner would be. He insisted that under no circumstances give it away to anyone, be that the BBC or local newspapers. I took heed of his advice and moved my gear right in to the corner and took up my position for the next few hours.

Well, what a view it was too….looking straight down the finish line. Maybe there was now the faintest glimmer of hope, hope that I might actually get my shot of Mr Mo Farah after all. As I waited patiently in my prime slot at the front corner of the media platform I observed the comings and goings of everything from BBC staff, Police Officers and Medical Staff to people wearing A-Boards and cheeky girls with painted faces. You name it, it was there…as the crowd began to swell all the prime positions at the barriers for the finishing straight were filled. The tannoy kept me fully informed about what was going on at the start making me more nervous for poor Elaine.

We had been keeping in touch via text since about 7:30 but this was to have its downfall as I was to find out, much later the very same day. I rang Elaine about twenty minutes before the start gun. She informed me that earlier on she had been very very nervous but now, and once people started arriving she had started relaxing more and more. In fact I got the impression she was really looking forward to it. This was good…I was so proud of her and all she had done.

At 10:54 the first athletes appeared over the horizon looking straight down the finishing straight. This was it..time to get my thinking cap on and start shooting. I had put the Canon 580EXII flash on top of the camera as it would come in really useful when the athletes arrive at the finish line.  The weather hadn’t improved much over the last couple of hours but at least it had stopped raining. For the photographically minded amongst you the only way I could achieve decent shutter speeds for sports photography was to shoot at the following settings.  ISO640 F4/F5.6 1/400th sec. I am sure you can now see the challenge I was faced with.

This left me with very little depth of field and photographing a moving subject that was heading towards me presented its own problems, with the focussing set on AI-FOCUS I hoped the camera would do the hard work for me.

The first to appear was six times London Marathon winner Mr David Weir CBE charging down the finishing straight in and completing the Great North Run 2013 in 43 minutes 06 seconds. The finishing straight was lined with British soldiers either side of the roadway. The possibility for a great shot using these soldiers for perspective compression was wide open…oh yes this was it…my big moment I started snapping away, composing and re composing my image to get the best that was available. The sound of shutters firing right next to my left ear was quite intense, not quite like gunfire but in my mind somewhat similar. I kept on looking for a single acknowledgement from David as he approached the finish line, just hoping he would raise his arms and roll the final few metres. My expectancy was right, my judgement paid off…as he approached the line he raised his left hand and put pointing finger in the air to acknowledge his presence..That was it, I had got my shot.

He rolled straight past my podium, now it was time to move on to the next finisher. The kept coming and within twenty minutes the wheelchair event was over. I took a huge sign of relief as I took a very brief look at my images through the camera back. YESSSS! They were ok…the lighting conditions were still far from ideal but as any good photographer will know, you have to make the best of what you have got in these situations… The next few minutes saw me preparing myself for the arrival of the elite women. I was happier now and this gave me time to reflect on where Elaine was and whether she was actually moving yet. I would later find out that despite the masses race starting at 10:40 she wouldn’t actually cross the start line until 11:05.

As expected, the first of the Elite women over the horizon was Priscah Jeptoo….here we go again Mark..just do what you are good at I kept saying to myself. It has been quite a few years since I have taken anything at this level and despite me questioning my confidence every so often, I was far from nervous. It was more a case of missing that most valuable shot. It wasnt going to happen…I was clearly confident about that.

Jeptoo appeared and I started tapping away at the shutter to get the shot I wanted. I was hoping for some kind hand gesture similar to what David Weir had instigated but it wasnt happening.

I zoomed back out and aimed for the finish line shot of Jeptoo. The weather was slowly brightening up and giving me a little more light to play with. In my head I was saying to myself…come on Jeptoo I want some sort of facial expression as you cross the finish line. I didn’t get the facial expression but she raised her arms quite triumphantly just before hitting the finishing tape. Yes, I got the shot….things we going well. What could dampen this day?

Time ticked by and the Elite women came over the line one by one, my initial assignment had been to shoot the Sue Ryder runners but this felt like it would just over shadowed everything. Next was the Elite men which according to the huge screens around the finish area looked to be very close affair. In between the gaps I could feel my phone vibrating in my pocket, I took it out to reveal 20 plus messages from friends and family..most just reading a few words “JUST SEEN YOU ON TELLY” …oh no, but I supposed this was to be expected. One in particular was a picture message which is shown below. Two points if you can recognise the photographer below? And no, his name is not Samsung.

Okay, my secret was out..No, seriously, it was no secret. I was loving this, things were really looking up. The weather was brightening even more now and it was time for the bit I was really looking forward too. As Mo Farah and Kenenisa Bekele rounded the bend on to the final straight they were absolutely neck and neck. Nothing separated them. This was going to be a proper sprint to the finish between these two. 400mm on the camera was not quite enough to capture the full expression at a distance of 100m but as they came closer the fight for first place became more intense. The image I am going to show you below isn’t a finish line image, but just 10 metres from the finish. I personally think this tells the story of the elite mens race and shows so much emotion. Mo Farah’s face says so much as he stares defeat while Bekele’s wry smile looks quietly confident.

Well, the shots I took in that final few seconds of the race to the line I was ecstatically happy with. Not perfect in terms of lighting but they really showed what this day was about. The mens elite athletes assembled just in front of the press gantry as they recovered from the final sprint. Mo Farah talked briefly with Kenenisa Bekele and as he turned away I took the initiative to shout his name. MO !  MO ! I shouted…I then mimicked his notorious “Mo-bot” to which he then turned to face me and duly performed the same “Mobot” by return. This was it…this was THE shot that I wanted. I was so glad I had put that flash on the top of my camera now…at a distance of three metres was my BIG shot. Yes, I got it….and I was damned happy with it. In a sheer fit of excitement I took a photo of the camera back and uploaded it straight to my Facebook page. I know, I know..its a little soft, but so what. I was excited, I had just achieved something that I could have only dreamed and hoped about a few hours ago.

How could things get any better than this. Above is the “In-Camera” preview and below is my final edit of this shot. If only Mo had won the Great North Run then this shot could have been so much more iconic. The Red Arrows screamed overhead flying the length of the finishing straight and then splitting it in two with a fly by from the sea-side. The hairs stood up on the back of my neck, it looked fantastic. I was so glad I was here and to be part of this felt awesome.

It was quite difficult to motivate myself after that. I had got what I really wanted, anything else would feel just second best wouldn’t it. However, like I said earlier..I couldn’t forget the real reason I was here. My task was to capture the Sue Ryder runners. This was more difficult than as first expected. For starters, once the Elite Men had completed the race they altered the finish line and diverted the runners off to the side in to lanes to make the processing of the masses quicker. This in turn, rendered the vantage point I had so gratefully obtained in to nothing more than a viewing platform for the sea front. If I was going to get a photo of my lovely wife I would have to find another location.  Myself and a couple of the other photographers repositioned to a spot just beyond the line where ropes spanned the road and diverted the runners. This was a good spot and would hopefully allow me a good view of the Sue Ryder runners and of course my lovely wife Elaine.

Things were not as clear-cut, the five or six lanes to the finish line were doing their job very well as there were no queues, however standing by lane six (the furthest away if you were a runner and the longest route to the finish) had its drawbacks. Simply put, very few of the runners were using it and in a bizarre twist every time they opened the far lane the Sue Ryder runners happened to appear. This left me with very little if any at all chance of getting a decent photo. Time moved on and the two-hour fifteen mark arrived since the 10:40 start….I was scanning the finish for my Elaine but no sign. Having never run the Great North Run before Elaine could only estimate her time and a two-hour fifteen was her guess.

It was another twenty minutes before I saw my lovely wife. She saw me too and turned and waved with a beaming smile. It was then that it hit me, the whole emotion of the day, the whole reason why she was doing this and the fact that we rarely spend three hours apart just came over me all in one split second.

She had done it ! Elaine had completed her mission to finish the Great North Run…she finished a little slower than expected but the sheer wet drenched her feet and subsequently gave her blisters, something she couldn’t have prepared for. Two Hours Thirty One Minutes and Seventeen Seconds of sheer hard work and I was so proud. So proud that I have the honesty to admit that I shed a tear at that very moment as emotion got the better of me.

I packed up my things and made my way down to the finish area which was way beyond the line. The weather had improved slightly but black clouds on the horizon looked quite threatening. I stood waiting for Elaine for what seemed like thirty minutes. My phone was almost out of battery but I decided to make the call. Afterall, she had no idea where my car was, she had no idea where I was so how on earth could we possibly meet up again. I spoke briefly with her and told her I would wait at the very end of the finish line where the St Johns Ambulance staff were. Thats ok, she said. I’ve just got to collect my rucksack from the baggage buses and I will come and meet you.

Nearly an hour and a half later and I was still stood there, by this time the rain was pouring down and my umbrella which had been conveniently stored along the back of my camera kit bag came in to use. One of the things that is probably a golden rule when arranging to meet up with someone is to never leave the place you agree. The chances are you will miss each other. Guess what? I decided to move. My phone had now switched off due to lack of power and I was left with two choices. Do I head for the car at the bottom of the hill and charge my phone or do I head for the Sue Ryder tent and wait there. I tried to think what Elaine would do, It was a no brainer really as she didn’t know where the car was. So I headed for the Sue Ryder tent.

It wasnt actually too far from where I had been stood. Once there It was nice to see familiar faces and sit down to shelter from the rain and have hot tea and biscuits. Time ticked by and I explained my predicament to the Sue Ryder staff…I was offered the use of a mobile phone and I tried ringing Elaine. Her phone must have run out of battery too….or to coin a phrase “died” as my grandson reliably informs me. As the rain continued to pour down as much as I was incredibly comfortable I began to wonder what had happened to Elaine. She had quite an area to cover if she was looking for me as the whole venue was a good five or six square kilometres. I will sit tight I thought. Within seconds of me contemplating a familiar face popped through the closed flap on the marquee. The words echoed out “Where the hell have you been?” I know….maybe I should have waited but nearly two hours had gone by since that phone call. The instant rage soon turned to cuddles, kisses and even a few tears. It was an emotional time.

We sat and had a cup of tea, chatted about what we had both seen and since the rain had stopped we headed for the car and hopefully a bite to eat. By the time we got back to the car we were still exchanging experiences and happenings of the days events. The best sight of all had to be the Burger Van on the sea front. We both looked at each other, nodded and agreed…Food! We sat in the car and changed out of our wet clothes, the preparation was worth it in the end. After collecting our food we sat back in the car in comfort. It was then that an image unfolded in front of my eyes. It was one of those moments that should my camera be in my hand I would have rattled off twenty to thirty images. In front of my eyes was an image that really epitomised the whole day. Two young children were chasing on the beach with two discarded foil capes from the run. They were running up and down the beach flying them like kites as they ran. Against the back drop of the North Sea and the blue sky it looked fantastic. My camera was all packed away by now and in the boot of the car. I couldn’t move another inch, had I made an effort by the time I had changed lenses and got set up the moment would have been gone.

There was one final image to take however, and it was left to my mobile phone to grab this one. Elaine with her finishers medal for the Great North Run 2013. As her husband I cannot tell you how proud I am of you. You can read all about Elaine’s quest on her blog here

This is dedicated to in loving memory of Anne Eileen Fawcett, Daughter, Sister, Mother, Grandmother, Partner and Friend.
I love and miss you more everyday, but I know you never left me. xx
5/5/55 – 13/10/12

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One of the nicest people I have had the pleasure of knowing. R.I.P. Eric….

Where are you daddy?

Where are you daddy?
by Diane Blue

Hey daddy, I’m right here –
Can’t you see me?

Hey daddy, I’m talking to you –
Can’t you hear me?

Hey daddy, I need a hug –
Can’t you touch me?

Let’s play catch daddy.
Teach me to fish.
Help me build a birdhouse.
Listen to my wish.

Daddy, daddy, where are you?
I can see you standing there –
What’s the matter daddy?
Don’t you even care?

I need you daddy –
Don’t you love me?

Never mind daddy.

Modems, Mobiles & Tablets – Who needs an excuse for a photo session? Well, it would be rude not to……wouldn’t it?

Wednesday 13th March – 03:15 The recent weeks have been pretty poor when it comes to the weather, well so I thought. Having spoken with my Mum and Dad yesterday it seemed that the little pocket of Cumbria called Haverigg had missed out on all this inclement weather and somehow the rest of us have ended up with quite a raw deal. Before they went to New Zealand for Christmas I informed my lovely mum that she was paying way over the odds for her telephone and broadband package and a better deal was to be had elsewhere. Changing before they went to the far-flung corner of the globe wasn’t really an option so it was decided to leave it until they came back. Anyway, yesterday was changeover day; well it was originally Tuesday but twenty-four hours wasn’t going to make any difference was it? By the way, had that situation been in reverse and I had needed assistance being told I had to do without my broadband for a night would have driven me mad.

Watching the weather is something that seems to have descended through the male ranks in our family. My grandfather used to watch the weather and I can go with that, like me he was a photographer and it made all the difference to have a sunny day for your images. It just makes them sparkle and stand out by comparison. My dad is just the same as his father, ruled by the weather, an outdoor person who finds been stuck indoors akin to life in a prison cell. With views from home of the Lake District mountains the Duddon Estuary and the Walney Peninsulas it has to be said that it doesn’t look quite the same in miserable weather. I find it hard to admit this, but I think I have caught the very same disease but maybe just a lighter strain of it. I will quite happily take photographs in poor weather, after all you are reflecting a moment in time and if the weather was like that on the day…then c’est la vie that’s the way it rolls. So after checking with the Met Office website and finding out that Wednesday was going to be more than suitable, it was time to set my stall out.

Sunrise was 07:12 at Windermere. I knew in my head what I was looking for but a little bit of research was in order as you cannot pause the rising sun while you move locations. Using modern computer applications can save you a lot of time and effort. Google Earth as a reconnaissance tool is fine but it doesn’t give you much idea when it comes to location and the position of the sun. What there is to offer on the wonderful www is Suncalc . This is a fantastic little tool for working out where the sun comes up and sets in relation to your current location. A screen shot of yesterdays is shown.

As you can see, this is ideal for planning sunset and sunrise shots. My original intentions had me down for Waterhead; this is about two miles north of where I ended up at Wray Castle. I wanted some shots looking across the lake with some reflections and a nice morning sky. After using suncalc I decided that this location would have been no use whatsoever as the sun would be emerging too far to the east of there to get any decent water reflection shots. Bouncing out of bed and grabbing a quick coffe I left home at just before 4:00am and joined the A65 heading north-west towards the Lake District. I only saw a handful of vehicles in the quiet two and a half hour journey and actually managed it without stopping. I actuallt felt like I was in a race. A race against the rising sun, Jeremy Clarkson east your heart out. As I approached Ambleside the sky was already paling, I got my bearings and decided that suncalc had it spot on so proceeded to head over to the edge of Lake Windermere near Wray Castle. I followed my nose, my instinct and the Sat-Nav and found a small car park well off the beaten track near the shoreline at High Wray. The trees were very close to the edge of the water but it was perfect for the sunrise. Whilst waiting for the sun to show its face I looked around from my spot by the lake for the possibility of other photo opportunities.  As I looked towards the North-East I noticed the pink glow tinging the side of Fairfield this was a tell-tale sign that the sun was on its way. With the low light prior to dawn I opted for a tripod and got myself in position for my first shot. I knew exactly what I was looking for and panoramas were the order of the day. Below is my first attempt of the “Morning”….

The shot above is a composite image, it has been stitched together from 6 single images hence the unusual cropping. Even without the sun in the shot it just seemed right. I had a good look around and tried different angles and in particular kept taking several images that overlapped in order to stitch them when I got back home. The whole set on Flickr seems to lean towards the photo-stitches but I quite liked the panorama effect over the lake and after all that’s what I had planned to do. As the sun rose higher the colours started to kick in. It wasn’t as intense as I had hoped but it still left a golden glow to the whole scene. As I said earlier the road where my car was parked was very close to the water’s edge, this left very little option for stepping back and obtaining some distant shots which was quite frustrating. A pair of swans made an appearance and drifted across my view… it was like they were summoned to be there just for me. I just kept tapping away and making minor adjustments to the settings to make life easier for when I got the images in to the computer. It wasn’t long before the beautiful colour started to dissipate, once the glow had gone and the sun rose above the low-lying southern fells of Cumbria an early spring like atmosphere set its stall out for the day. I can’t post all the images on here but I have included a small slide show below. Failing that head over to my Flickr page here to look at them in more detail.

I jumped back in my car, not literally, and attempted to get back to a more appropriate road. Preferably one that was wider than six feet, surrounded by thicket and one that I was confident would lead me south-west. I sat in the car pondering my options; do I head back towards Ambleside for some more images or find my way towards the peninsulas, my parents home and breakfast. I opted for a quick peek over the hedge at Ambleside and headed back where I had come from along the B5286. Parking is quite difficult at the best of times in Ambleside and this was 07:45 on a Wednesday morning and there was no where to park. So, I made a quick pit stop for a bladder drainage and observed the view from a small car park near Waterhead whilst parked in a drop off zone. The angle I had chosen for the sunrise images from Wray Castle had me intentionally facing in to the sun, now the sun had risen a little I was presented with a problem from this end of the lake. It was far too bright and way too “contrasty” for any decent images so I made the decision to call it a day for Windermere and turn around yet again.

It was time to head south-west and off towards the small village of Haverigg. I usually don’t have a problem getting from A to B and I have been to Haverigg more times than I brushed my teeth last year, but what I have never done before is visit this place arriving from central Lake District. I had it in my mind which way to go so I assumed that the Sat-Nav would follow suit. Err, no…it had different ideas. So off I went, exploring ! My parents were aware of my impending visit and as a result they informed me that they would be up and ready earlier than usual. I wasnt entirely sure what “usual” was for them but I reckoned on 08:45-09:00 as an estimate and a good time for breakfast too.  I made my way across the county following the Sat-Nav to the letter. I kept looking at the stunning views and couldn’t help noticing the snow adorning the summits of the higher central peaks. There were so many photo opportunities that I missed and it became frustrating as stopping was impossible. The narrow road and a lack of lay-bys, passing places and farm gates prevented me from taking up those opportunities. It really cheesed me off and round every corner a glance over my right shoulder only confirmed what I was missing. I was like a child been dragged away from Santa’s Grotto without actually meeting the big guy himself and getting a present. Still I managed a couple from the comfort of my driving seat whilst waiting for a tractor to pass me.

After 45 minutes on the road I finally pulled in to the small seaside village of Haverigg. I have said this in previous posts but I will say it again, as sleepy as this village may be it always excites me. I think I am looking at that from a photographers perspective as the subject matter in this location is endless. I always think that I need to spend at least a week here providing the skies were cloudless and it was warm and dry throughout. As I came off the main coast road and turned on to  the seafront along Sea View I stopped in awe at the view.  I have seen this view a thousand times but this morning it was stunning. I grabbed my mobile phone and took an image that had my name and style stamped all over it. I shot straight in to the sun creating a very contre-jour style look. The image is below and is straight from the phone with no edit involved.

After getting my shot I looked back over my shoulder and considered whether  should stop again and open my camera bag. All I could think was “ive got this shot so many times it would be totally pointless.” I was right to consider this as I do have this image in many variations, different seasons, alternative weather and alternative angles. I moved on and parked up outside my parents house.

It has become apparent that in this day and age that companies no longer seem interested in keeping your business. I came across this just last week and covered it well in my blog post entitled “I dont always listen to what they say…do I” I also mentioned that my parents had changed their phone and broadband contract from BT to Sky. In my opinion this was a wise move, cheaper and effortless too. My job (after a small breakfast) was to remove all the BT equipment and install the Sky modem and eventually get my mums’ lovely computer back online. In addition to this I had a number of smaller jobs that involved connecting a tablet to wireless, connecting a laptop to the same network and demonstrating how to use a Samsung Smartphone. Oh, and connecting that to the wireless network too. All in a days work for me and a piece of cake.

As far as setting up the equipment goes, this was like taking candy from a baby and I had it done in less than fifteen minutes. I even had the PC online and wireless up and running within another five minutes. The fun and games started when setting up the email address. Instructions were fine for setting the primary user but were not so clear when you wanted to change the email address generated by Sky’s computer to something a little more user-friendly. Rumplestiltskinsunderpants1245@sky.com doesnt exactly make things that easy when you are stood outside Tesco chatting to a friend you havent seen since school and he or she asks for your email address. By the time they have typed that in to their phone you could have emailed it yourself, packed up the car with the shopping and gone home. So my first job after getting online was to create a new one. I did it, but it took a phone call to an operative to complete the task. Instructions were not that obvious and the help facility online ranked much closer to “unhelpful”. By the time all this was done I needed to stretch my legs and get some fresh air so I persuaded my dad to drive me a couple of miles down to Devonshire Road. This location provides some excellent views looking inland and eastwards towards the Lake District fells. The location (Borwick Rails) used to be a harbour as around Millom there was a local coasting trade in coal, iron and slate. The discovery of large quantities of iron ore led to a huge increase in shipments out of the area from the Hodbarrow Mining Company’s pier at Crab Marsh Point (Borwick Rails), with almost 600 vessels using  it in 1864.The ironworks of the Cumberland Mining & Smelting Company Limited began production in 1867, and in the following year started to build their own pier at Borwick Rails, only a stone’s throw from the mining company’s pier. Millom Pier grew to be nearly half a mile long, and included the original harbour. On one day in January 1892, eight steam vessels shipped 4400 tons of ore from the mines. The last shipment took place in 1940, and the pier was derelict by 1951.

This was a place that I had been to a few times before, as a child and in recent years too. I always seemed to leave my camera behind or bad weather would hamper any opportunity for a photograph. Today, I was half way there. The sun was out on the distant fells but a large mass of cloud blowing from the north-east put my chances of getting a sunlit foreground as slim. We waited for about thirty minutes and then gave up. The cloud was swirling and moving very slowly, it was very difficult to work out exactly where the sun would emerge which made it very difficult to predict its appearance at all. I decided to make the best of a bad situation and grab some images anyway. The shot above is a composite image of twelve individuals and as you can see the foreground is very dark. I wanted to create this “HDR” look despite it not actually been an HDR image. I was reasonably pleased with the outcome.

The loitering, lingering and very dark cloud that spoiled my images from Borwick Rails continued to hang around for much of the afternoon. I had hoped it wouldn’t. For years my journeys to Haverigg usually involve a routing from Leeds to  Kirkby Lonsdale and then the A595 along the southern tip of Cumbria. This is a beautiful part of the world and the view from one particular point in this journey is absolutely spectacular. The panoramic view from the hill above Grizebeck near the Burlington Slate Quarry is somewhat stunning. A very old friend, Richard Sugden captured an image from this location that caught my eye and all I could imagine was how this scene would look like at sunset? I feel a challenge coming on !

I checked the sunset times and gauged my departure time from Haverigg to co-ordinate an arrival at the quarry for the setting sun. I got it spot on too, I kept looking in the rear view mirror whilst en-route and could see the sun from only a couple of spots on the main road. The mountains and fells in this location are high enough to block the sun from the valley roads especially in Winter. As I drove up the hill out of Grizebeck I could see the sun about to dip behind fells and the sky was turning in to a gradient from blue to orange. The clouds were illuminated by the golden light and looked like lampshades lit by an orange bulb. The scene was perfect. I turned in to the entrance of the Quarry at the top of the hill, this was uncharted territory for me. I kept driving, there were no barriers or security gates. No bollards or warning signs. I kept going, over the cattle grid and climbing even higher. I reached the summit and pulled over on the right. There is only one word that describes the view from up here…. WOW ! I will let you judge for yourself when you see the image below, but I am confident you will agree with me. From the north I could see a snow storm blowing across the mountains. This would be spectacular if the storm would blow across the setting sun. Would it move fast enough, it was a race between the sun and the cloud, would it be quick enough for me to capture the setting sun and the storm in one shot. It was leaving a haze on the sky that almost looked like fine smoke from a grass fire … oh if this was to move fast enough and cross the path of the setting sun I would be in for a treat. I wasnt so lucky, I did however manage to capture the blowing snow in the right hand side of the images.

There were a combination of elements that in my opinion would make this image look special. In the valley the Duddon Estuary was calm, still and reflecting the glow of the sky against the black of the shadows. To the North was the impending snow storm, and to the south was a bank of cloud with a rim of iridescent reds and oranges contrasting against the blacks. This was perfect, a perfect end to a perfect day. I will say no more, other than I arrived home 18 hours and 225 miles after leaving with 300 images that were well worth the effort. Oh and mums’ broadband is working too. I hope you enjoy the images, I did. Remember to look on Flickr as they are many more.

I love my family…..

As I walk through life,
I look at all I have done.
I had wandered aimlessly,
And wondered what I have become.

I have been through so much,
It is amazing I made it through.
The lessons I have learned
I am shocked I pulled through.

The times I wondered
What life was all about.
The trials experienced in life,
Can make all the good come out.

We try to make it day by day.
Remembering what we were taught.
Just remember some time to pray,
It is important,
We need it every day.

Life can be short.
Unexpected at that.
We try to take its punches,
Just hoping it won’t break our back.

Remember who you are,
Who you want to become.
Everything will fall into place,
When the time comes.

Don’t forget I love you’s,
Every chance you get.
The time maybe short,
There is no time to regret.

Life can be exciting,
As we all have found out.
Eventful, even busy
There is no time to be left out.

Remember who you are,
And Who you want to become.
The time can be short
Don’t leave things undone.

Remember your families,
They are the only ones you’ve got.
To carry you in times of need
They can not be bought.

Remember they love you,
Either here or there.
They will always be with us.
Help for things to bear.

Source: Poem On Advice To Live By, Remember 
http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/advice-to-live-by#ixzz2MHHxHPJ3 
www.FamilyFriendPoems.com

Bananas ! A Faux Pas

Exactly ! Bananas….that’s how Thursday started at Winterbourne Towers. In a nut shell (or Banana skin in this case) I stole my wifes breakfast. Technically speaking it was a “portion” of her breakfast. Well I didn’t know that she wanted a banana in her porridge did I? Elaine never has banana in her porridge, she always has Granola. Having said that so do I. Anyway, to cut a long story short we’ve not had chance to shop this week yet so supplies have been diminishing slowly with Granola and bananas holding on to the top two on the shopping list chart rundown. This is all beyond my awareness as a male by the way. So Thursday commences like any other Thursday.  I got up slightly early to make sure the sunrise wasn’t up to much after yesterdays faux pas. And also because I had agreed to meet my good friend Lee Pirie aka Yorkshire Flyer to have a morning taking aviation images. Two days in a row I hear you say. Yes, its been a while hasn’t it. Anyway, back to the bananas… I am going to try to defend myself here but it’s probably all in vain as I know I was in the wrong. So here goes…My beautiful wife (that’s not a grovel by the way, that’s what I always call her) Elaine was about to put two bowls of Porridge on the table and as usual I pop a sliced banana in my bowl along with a small handful of  Granola. This morning there was only two very small bananas left in the fruit bowl so I grabbed them both thinking that wasn’t greedy as they were significantly smaller than normal and proceeded to slice them whilst sat at the table.  After Elaine had placed the bowls on the table a brief statement to the words of “Oh there’s no bananas.. err … there were some bananas” came out of her mouth with a comical glance in my direction. Yes, I know, I was guilty. I just didn’t know….. “I’ll just have porridge then shall I” she said….We laugh about things like this, because life is way too short. I did offer Elaine my bowl before you ask.

Despite the Faux Pas at breakfast Elaine was still communicating with me, that was until the second slip up of the day. Elaine has been very fortunate to have been granted a place in this years BUPA Great North Run. My wife is what I would call a serious, casual runner. You know what I mean, she doesn’t go running twice a day and spend 32.5 hours in the gym and she doesn’t need a rub down from a bronzed Italian masseuse afterwards. Elaine runs to a plan; she has a set routine in place for the countdown to the GNR and she’s sticking too it. I have to give her credit as her running is something that has evolved over the last few years and I am extremely proud of her. I never thought I would see someone diagnosed with Asthma run the way she does.  Anyway, before I set off to meet Lee this morning Elaine informed me that she was going running. Now, I don’t have the best memory in the world, but it might have helped if I had listened instead of drifting off in to Winterbourne-Land and thinking of aviation and photography. Half an hour in to my photography I received an email on my phone asking for further details regarding an issue I had with a website I am looking after. Now I knew these details were on my desk at home and instead of being patient and waiting until I actually got home, I did what I always do and ring my beautiful wife, only this time Elaine was 5 miles from home and half way through her training plan.The  only way of answering the phone was to stop her in-ear coach and take my call. Well, I didn’t know did I? I should have listened. I actually rang twice, because she didn’t answer first time which I think made things worse. When I finally did get to talk to her I found out that I wasnt the only one that had rung and I was reliably informed that her morning run was crumbling beneath her feet. I’m truly sorry Elaine……lol 🙂

On to the important bits…. My great friend Lee Pirie, (before you go any further please have a read of Lee’s Bio here because this guy is the salt of the earth and what you would call a real true friend. You know what I mean, someone who would do anything for you and you would do the same back ). Lee loves his photography just like me and with the weather being so nice it was an ideal opportunity to get up to the airport. Lee expressed his desire to get some photographs of this mornings Thomson Holidays flight as it departed. So that was it, the stage was set. Cloudless skies, wall to wall blue and sunshine..yeehaa..a photographers best friend. In winter the sun rises almost in the south-east and this leaves a bit of a problem at Leeds Bradford Airport as it means shooting in to the sun. Who cares !! this is No Rules No Limits Photography … so we did.

Jet2 Boeing 737 departing Leeds Bradford Airport

As you can see from the shot above, the images do require a little bit of attention once you get them in to the computer. But they do give an impression of what it was like. I really like seeing the heat from the back of the engines in shots like this, it really provides atmosphere. We arrived at the end of the runway just in time for the Thomson flight and with the view down the runway looking direct in to the morning sun it was going to be a similar effort to the one above.

Thomson Boeing 757 rotating off runway 32 at Leeds Bradford Airport

It was, in fact it was almost an exact replica. What happened next was very strange and it took a couple of minutes to sink in what had actually happened. As the aircraft passed overhead and climbed in to the Yorkshire sky it started to snow. Seriously. Lee and I looked at each other in disbelief. There were no clouds and the sun was shining.  You could see the snow, feel the snow it was very strange. Before I had time to take it in, it had stopped. The only explanation I could muster up was that it had blown off the wings of the departing 757 and it was actually small ice crystals and not snow. Who knows.

It was a slow morning  at Leeds as aircraft movements were limited but we had a great time and I managed to tap off just under a hundred frames. It was also great to catch up with Lee again, I am just hoping it wont be as long before we get together again. Thanks Lee.

On a final note….Yes, we have no bananas, we have no bananas today…..

Back to the Peninsulas

Sunday brought along another trip to the lovely Lake District Peninsulas and a visit to Haverigg for a catch up with my parents. In light of the recent cold weather and the knowledge that the mountains were still covered in a layer of snow this proved to be quite interesting from a photographers perspective. Leaving Winterbourne Towers at 8:00 am we headed north-west towards Skipton and Settle and the dreaded A59.

The Lake District Mountains

The two and a quarter-hour journey was flawless and the sight that greeted us as we hit the A590 at Milton just by the M6 was picture-book perfect. I could have spent my whole day in central Cumbria, the Lake District mountains looked sublime; every fell or mountain above  2000 feet was covered with a dusting of snow. It was quite unfortunate that places to stop on the A590 are few and far between and where lay-bys do exist the views were somewhat limited or restricted much to my frustration. I did however find a quick stop possible as we drove over the fells towards Grizebeck on the A5092. Between  Lowick Green and Gawthwaite as the road climbs towards the summit of the pass there was a lay-by with a very limited view over the central Lakes. As always, the view from a parking spot is never the same as what you observed a few minutes before and not been keen on blocking the road I decided to give that one a miss. I did however manage a couple of shots, above is a two image stitch of the view from a few miles down the road at Wreaks Causeway End Bridge on the A595. The snow on this image doesn’t look as intense as it did on the more central fells but I am sure you get the idea. The journey from Leeds can be split in to two sections; the first being the trip from Yeadon to Sedgwick on the A590 & A591 and followed by the trip west to the coast on the A595. Both segments have their own particular appeal, the journey to Sedgwick is mainly countryside with few towns and villages in comparison to the second  which is beautiful landscapes with the odd glimpse of the seaside flavouring the journey with a sweet topping.

We arrived in Haverigg at 10:30 am and ready for a customary morning coffee. It’s always a lovely feeling coming here, its difficult to explain but it always feels like coming home despite the fact that I wasnt born here. There is a family connection that stems back many years but that’s another story. Haverigg is a village on the south-west coast of Cumbria, it is historically part of the original county of Cumberland. It has an extensive blue flag beach, a restored lighthouse and close the RSPB Nature Reserve at Hobbarrow. It is at the mouth of the Duddon Estuary, a protected are important for birds and other wildlife. The village is also very close to Haverigg Prison, a low security prison for males from all over the North of England.  Below is a photograph taken on Sunday of the harbour at Haverigg, it almost felt like Spring. I am sure you will agree, the landscape on a beautiful day is stunning.

Haverigg, Cumbria

When the weather is good I will always put a camera in the car. Well, nearly always… there have been instances when I have totally lost the plot and left it behind. It’s on those occasions that something worth photographing appears in front of me and laughs at me uncontrollably. Haverigg is very picturesque as I am sure you can tell from the photograph above, if you would like to see some more images of this beautiful part of the world then take a look at the set I put together on my Flickr pages here . Mum and Dad live very close the beach but a long way from the sea. There is no chance of hearing waves crashing on to rocks here. Haverigg is in the mouth of the Duddon Estuary so the sea very rarely comes up so high. In a total contrast to this, just 2 miles up the coast the sea comes in very close making great photographic opportunities.

I made a mistake on Sunday. A huge one. One I regret, and will regret for a long time. I left my whole camera kit in the boot of the car which is something I never do. Before you start expecting me to say it was stolen, no it wasnt. But what happened next was just typical. The car was parked at the back of my parents home and the only entrance and exit from their house is at the side. We were sat having coffee when my dad informed me there was a bird of prey sat on the hedge just outside of the window. Not wanting pass off an opportunity for a photo I stood up and glanced out of the window. Stood on a perch no further than 10 feet away was a Peregrine Falcon. Yes, you read it right. I can honestly say I have never seen one before in the wild. But now I was in a pickle. Camera with 100-400 lens attached was in the car, the only way to the car was via the door. The minute I would open the door, said bird would be halfway to Windermere. I headed off to the back bedroom to get a closer look armed with my dads point and shoot digital camera. The curtains were closed in the bedroom which enabled a stealth approach…  I slowly peeled back the corner of the curtain and could see the bird in front of me no further than six feet away. It looked fantastic, I could clearly see the yellow beak and its beady eyes, its yellow claws looked huge. There were small feathers stuck in its claws, obviously a remnant of an earlier kill  All that went through my mind was I can’t believe I havent got my own camera in my hand. I got a little daring and slightly moved the curtain to unveil a better view. As I peered through the gap the Falcon sharply moved its head making eye contact with me and before I had chance to draw breath it was airborne and heading for pastures new. When I look back now, had there been an opportunity to grab the Canon it would have been no use. The minimum focussing distance on the 100-400 lens is 1.8 metres. This would have been no good to me as I was a lot closer with no ability to adjust my position. Despite all this, it was awesome to see one so close. It made me think how easily it saw me, all I did was move the curtain a couple of centimetres and its head moved like lightning. You can read more about the UK Peregrine Falcon here

Over the last few years the economic climate has had its effect on all of us, no more than this part of the country. South West Cumbria is very remote and the main employers in the area have either closed or had their work force cut. Cumbria is one of the most sparsely populated counties in the United Kingdom, with 73.4 people per km² (190/sq mi). As a result, the restaurants and public houses are very quiet and as a consequence some have even closed their doors for good. A notable example in the locality is the Commodore, a great place on the sea-wall offering superb food and awesome views. My parents suggested we try somewhere different a little further out-of-town, so we set off to a very small village called Waberthwaite about 10 miles north of Haverigg. The destination was a local Inn called The Brown Cow. From the roadside, the car park looked full giving the impression that we may have a problem getting a seat let alone something to eat. We parked up and took a peek inside. I asked the barman if they could squeeze four of us in to which he politely informed us that the full car park didn’t reflect the number of seats in the restaurant as most of the vehicles had been left over from a heavy session the previous night. We had a great meal, I just looked on Trip Advisor for a review of the Brown Cow but it seems to have avoided either compliments or criticism.

On the return journey from our visit to the Brown Cow we took a small diversion to a little shoreline location called Silecroft. With the sun out and it being quite low in the winter sky the lighting was superb. I took a slow walk on to the beach to grab a few shots. More of these will appear on my Flickr stream within the next few days. Meanwhile. here is one to keep you going.

Silecroft

I am sure you will agree with me when I say it was an opportunity not to be missed. As you will already know, I have no fear of shooting direct in to the sun. The results can be a little hit and miss but quite often you can come out with something really striking. I love lens flare…it adds another dimension to an image, of course that is just my opinion and like anything, it’s not to everyone’s taste. I managed to tap off about 65 images from the shoreline and returned back to the car quite happy. The short five-minute trip from Silecroft back to Haverigg culminated in me jumping out of the car in the harbour area to grab a few more frames. Once again, the lighting towards the end of the day was just spectacular. It’s always difficult to come up with something fresh when you revisit a location. This is made even harder when you have similar images from the same time of year and under the same lighting conditions. Despite this, I managed to get a few more shots in before we said our good byes and head for home. We were a little pushed for time as we had to be home before 7pm as our beautiful grandchildren were coming to stay for the evening. This meant leaving Haverigg at the very latest 4:30pm.

Sunset was due at 17:21 and given the choice I am sure you know what my option would have been. But which ever way you cut it that’s much too late to be leaving when you have a journey time of 2 hours 20 minutes. So then sunset would have to wait for another time. I had totally misjudged the timings for the afterglow as I had estimated that we would get somewhere near the view over the Duddon Estuary which would have been ideal. Instead, we got much further on. Beyond Kirkby Lonsdale in fact. Because the road is quite undulating and as you are heading away from the North-West it’s quite difficult to keep an eye on the setting sun once you get past Lowick as it disappears behind the mountains. It was just by chance that I took a glance over my right shoulder whilst Elaine was driving to see a wonderful glow. We pulled over on the A59 just past Kirkby Lonsdale. I wanted to capture something with a little bit of foreground without it detracting from the glow of the sky.

Sunset Photo-stitch

The sunset brought a perfect end to a perfect day out. Hope you enjoyed the photographs (more on Flickr later) and thank you for reading (if you got this far).

The PC, The Which & The Wardrobe

It does sound like a sub heading from Narnia doesn’t it? Trust me it’s not. However, that’s the way it has felt for the last week….in the 1950’s. If it hadn’t been for a very kind individual picking up on one of my numerous Facebook statuses regarding this subject then I may well still be in the same position today. Before you think any different, Facebook can be a great networking tool, as well as a bad one too. After the dual monitors started shutting down in to standby whilst using the PC I tried every possible solution, from reinstalling the drivers to unplugging the graphics card, to even replacing the graphics card. Still no joy. Well, that’s not entirely true. I managed to get it working only to inherit another problem… the screens kept jumping and flicking. I knew it wasnt down to the monitors as they were both doing the same thing. It had to be something else.

I know enough about PC’s to install hardware, change a disk drive, reinstall Windows. But that’s where it stops. I have dozens of exhumed PC parts scattered across the top of the wardrobe, I just wouldn’t know which to use. The Graphics Card diagnosis was a whole new ball game. So I went ahead and had a go. Low and behold it worked, well in a fashion. The screens need some adjusting and it was quite sluggish. I couldn’t understand what I had NOT done. I kept going through an imaginary check list inside my head, going over everything I should have completed. And that was it, I couldn’t figure out why things weren’t working the way they should.
My call to the …ssshhhh f a c e b o o k (it doesn’t sound so bad if you say it quietly) wall was a last resort. One that was answered by a very old friend, Robert. He informed me that he knew a computer literate person that would be able to help me. Just what I needed to hear. Oh, and apparently I knew him too, from years ago. After making contact with Andy there was a whole new perspective on the issue. I had blown everything out of proportion and being prepared to reenact the film with Nicolas Cage in, and say bye-bye PC “Gone in sixty seconds”. Elaine would not have been impressed should I have taken this course of action. So, I only considered it. Andy was very helpful and suggested I remove certain items of PC hardware in what seemed like me taking on the role of a surgeon. Graphics Card re-seated, RAM sticks re-seated and then the long painful job of connecting everything back up again.

Something is not quite right. Here I am, writing this blog but my PC & I are not singing from the same hymn sheet. Andy has very kindly offered to come around and have a look for me tomorrow. Kind fellow.

I would have done all this yesterday, but Monday was a very busy day. Sunday had seen my parents leave Singapore bound for Manchester and being the dutiful son I had offered to pick them up and take them home. So Monday morning at 04:45am my alarm went off and creeping out of bed I headed off to Manchester Airport. My plan had been to get to the airport and go straight round to the Premier Inn near the Freight Terminal and grab a Costa. I was on to a loser from the start as when I arrived it wasnt even open. I wandered inside, used the toilet, checked the flight screens and saw the SQ327 on approach. So much for a relaxing all you can eat breakfast and a cup of the finest Latte.  By the time I was parked up in the multi-storey the flight had landed and so I proceeded to the arrivals hall to “Meet the Parents”.
I had secretly hoped they would want to go to the Premier Inn for breakfast as they had been in exactly the same position a few years ago after arriving from New Zealand. And it was awesome; There is nothing like a PI Brekkie. I thought that the last experience of doing breakfast would have been fresh in the memory, but all said and done, they looked tired. They were tired and they had just travelled round the world in 23 hours. Instead, I was asked to stop at Lancaster Services on a quick pit stop which would reveal its trump card. Yes, a Costa Coffee. It was great to catch up on what had been happening with my family in New Zealand. One day maybe I will get out there myself. I dropped my parents off in Haverigg and heading back. I eventually got home late afternoon, after 12 hours on the road I was shattered and I don’t know how I managed to stay awake until 11:00 pm. But I did.

I knew that I had to tackle the PC issues today, and there it was waiting for me as I came downstairs this morning. Wires everywhere, disk drives removed. It looked like something from War of the Worlds. I looked at it again, almost singing the theme music to the film in my head. If I didn’t fix this, my life was going to be Forever Autumn, let alone Justin Heywards.  Like I said earlier, its working….well sort of. We will see what Andy can do with it tomorrow. Hope you have had a great day, I have….byeee.