On Holiday With The Countess..........

April 26, 2024

Hello dear readers and welcome to a nautical episode of my Blog. Indeed, this adventure had been a trip planned for years only to have been thwarted by the dreaded “C” word (The Global Pandemic). Well, now we are semi-retired and back in the UK, Mrs. C and I have a new “C” word, Carpe Diem!

So, Mrs.C booked us on a 3.5 day epic canal adventure with the lovely people at The Wyvern Shipping Company, on the Grand Union Canal between Leighton Buzzard and Cosgrove.

Where is Leighton Buzzard (or as the locals refer to it Leighton-Be-Buggered) I hear your cry. To be fair I had to dig out the atlas myself (for those readers under the age of 30 that’s a book with maps in; call it an analogue sat-nav) and found it to be located somewhere in the vicinity of those two great British cultural icons of Milton Keynes and Luton. Well that’s all I needed to know so I packed the Billingham with the Leica SL2 with the 24-90 Vario Elmarit and the 50mm Noctilux F0.95 as well as my little Fuji XF10.

Now in an adventure like this, regular readers will know that Mrs. C takes over the admin and planning role whilst I ensure that the no less important but more esoteric matters are fully considered. In this case I ensured that I had appropriate head wear and that I had cultivated a look that was a panaché and would scream “salty sea dog meets semi-retired merchant banker”! Of course, that is for you to judge dear reader.

Uncle Phil was assigned the role as Captain on account that he has a boat and actually has some clue as to what he is doing. The Girls would take care of the handling and operation of all Locks as well as preparation of in-trip sustenance (Mrs. C had baked her famous lime drizzle cake and Aunty Jackie had prepared her mega flapjacks). For me they had kindly reserved the role of First Mate. Naturally I assumed this was a more supervisory role that would allow me to monitor operations from the poop deck of our vessel, offering advice and guidance whilst recording our adventures in glorious monochrome. How wrong that assumption turned out to be!

So we fired up the Polo, dialed Leighton Buzzard in to Trixie (that’s the lady in my car’s sat-nav) and headed up the M3 to Leighton Buzzard.

Mrs. C had set me some homework to learn a few knots that might prove useful in the operation of our vessel. I attach below said homework for those Topologists who wish to delve deeper in to this dark art. For me, I just settled on the old nautical favourite of left over right, right over left and cross your fingers.

We finally arrived at the Wyvern Shipping Co, situated in Linslade, Leighton Buzzard and a 5 minute drive from the local Tescos where we collected our vittles.

What a beautiful scene with our trusty vessel, The Countess, moored and gleaming in the sun, fully prepped and ready for us to assume command. Mrs. C was on top of the admin and the lovely people at Wyvern made the handover a breeze.

Once we loaded everything on to the Countess we were joined by Shaun, who provided a full tour of the boat and its facilities, gave a mechanical briefing, as well as explaining some basic need to know items about canal etiquette and boat handling. I saw him looking at my hat and it was clear that he had acknowledged my nautical origins.

Shaun would be accompanying us for the first mile of so, to provide on the go instruction and to take us through the first lock, before alighting just before the Globe pub, at which point we would be left to our own devices.

And Away - Giving the Countess the “Full Noctilux”.

Now all went very smoothly during Shaun’s short tenure as part of our crew. The only worry was what started as a sunny afternoon with a gentle breeze had now turned to darkened skies, intermittent rain and a 35 mph cross-wind!

As Shaun alighted, just before the Globe pub, he waved goodbye and clearly had a religious bent as he made the sign of the cross. What could possibly go wrong?

From that point onwards the weather went from bad to worse. The skies darkened, the rain started (there is no cover on the back of a canal boat) and the wind was blowing in gusts of up to 35 mph.

Most sane canal goers had moored up for the afternoon and called it a day. Not the Chivers boys. “When Needs Must the Devil Drives” and we were determined to push-on through to our planned first night’s mooring at Fenny Stratford.

Just when we thought we were getting the hang of things we approached a very severe hairpin bend with a broad beam canal boat coming in the opposite direction. The other skipper was clearly of questionable parentage and even though he could see we were novices clearly wasn’t going to give way. The fickle finger of fate seemed to be pointing directly at us. At that moment Uncle Phil looked me in the eyes and that telepathy that only brothers have kicked in. In that instant we both new that there was only one thing to do…..Engage the Warp Drive!

Phil opened up the engine and with some pretty deft steering, the holding of breath and with squinty eyes we narrowly avoided the oncoming vessel. No time to be complacent because up ahead the bank of the canal was approaching at a rate of knotts (well about 4 mph actually). Again Wharp Drive engaged but this time in reverse. Suffice to say we narrowly avoided disaster and soon had The Countess back on the straight and narrow.

Things were strangely quiet on the bridge of the Countess for about 5 minutes as we both regained our composure. As we continued onwards the rain continued to sting our faces and the wind grew ever stronger.

Our respite was only a short one for up ahead loomed our next challenge. The Three Locks. The Three Locks are a series of three locks located next to a pub called The Three Locks. You can see where I am going with this.

We were passing through these locks with another boat, also from Wyvern. We successfully navigated the first lock but as we were waiting our turn in the waiting pool, a strong gust of wind caught our bow and pushed us sideways. Now the pool was about 40 feet wide and our boat had a length of 65 feet so we were in danger of being wedged.

I was immediately dispatched to the pointy end which required a 65 foot dash through two bedrooms, the kitchen and the lounge before I was able to retrieve the “Pole of Panic” and push us away from the concrete wall, all whilst trying not to fall in. Meantime, Uncle Phil was undertaking a similar activity at the rear of the boat whilst also operating the rudder and throttle. This is what you call real teamwork and finally we managed to regain control and we passed through the remaining two locks without incident.

Fortunately for us, the bad weather had ensured that there were no alcohol enthused locals outside of the pub, who would have no doubt proffered their “encouragement” as we fought to save our vessel and our pride. With both intact we pressed on although we knew that we had definitely dodged a bullet.

It goes without saying that I did not have one opportunity to capture any of the aforesaid events. It was literally all hands on deck. As we cruised to our planned mooring point at Fenny Stratford both Uncle Phil and I were completely knackered. This was supposed to be a relaxing canal boat holiday but my back was aching, my knees were throbbing and we were already at stress level ten! The remainder of the afternoon passed without controversy or incident and we managed to find a suitable mooring at Fenny Stratford.

This seems to be a sensible moment to mention Mooring:

Ideally steer towards the bank at nothing more than 0 mph to avoid sinking.
Put the fenders over the side of the boat that will be next to the bank whilst not falling in to the canal. NOTE: Canals are filthy. If you fall in there is a danger of contracting Weils disease. Google it; You do not want to contract Weils disease.
One of the crew steps off the pointy end on to the bank with a rope attached to the boat. If you do not attach the rope to the boat you are buggered ( nautical terminology referring to placing oneself in an unforeseen unfortunate position).
Our skipper then points the rudder to the right and gives it some throttle and the back of the boat comes in to the bank.
At this point The First Mate, yours truly, steps off the stern of the boat with a rope in hand, said rope being attached to the centre of the boat. It is my job to hold all 20 tons steady whist the skipper drives a mooring pin in to the ground, both fore and aft, before attaching the mooring ropes. Then for good measure, we put a third mooring pin in to the ground at the centre of the boat where I was standing and attach the centre rope.
We decided that my right over left, left over right and cross fingers didn’t actually cut it. So we used the old yachting knot of 0800 or Locking Hitch / Cleat Hitch. Basically wrap the line once around the base of the cleat and bring it over the top. Then wrap the line around the opposite side of the cleat and bring it over the top of the cleat again. Wrap the line under the first arm again forming a figure eight pattern over and around the cleat. Then form an underhand loop and slip it over the first arm you started with. Then pull the free end of the rope to firmly secure the cleat hitch. Finally, always tie the knots on the cleat on the boat and not on the mooring pins. This will secure the boat but allows for easy release. Clear as mud. Then perform such operation in fading light, torrential rain and a 35 mph gale. You get the picture!
You are now successfully moored and can go back on board and crash out on your bed in order to overcome your nervous breakdown.

Our skipper, windswept, soaking wet and shell-shocked after our first afternoon’s adventure.

That evening we walked in to Fenny Stratford and after a few beers and a delicious Thai curry we relaxed and were able to have a giggle about the days adventures, or should I say mis-adventures. The main thing was that we had overcome adversity and worked as a team. The Chivers Boys can deal with anything.

I don’t remember my head hitting the pillow and I slept like a baby and snored like a Lion according to the rest of the crew. Harsh but true :-)

However, everything starts early on the canal and by 6.30 a.m. I was wide awake and captured the following image of tranquility and calm (to my relief) through the rear door of the boat.

Whilst the girls were knocking up a hearty breakfast of steaming coffee and bacon rolls, we performed the necessary daily engine checks and left the engine on tick-over so as to keep the batteries charged whilst we used the appliances such as toaster and microwave. On this particular type of boat you can only use two appliances at any one time.

The skipper working through engine checks.

The First Mate ensuring everything is ship-shape.

Like coiled springs our crew prepares for the day-ahead.

As we slipped our mooring we then gently cruised in to the centre of the canal with a view to reaching The Black Horse Pub for lunch and then mooring for the evening just before the Cosgrove Aquaduct…hold that thought.

Finally we were in control which enabled me to take in the beauty of our surroundings and also grab a few images. I started with some of the wildlife.

Serene and beautiful but with a beak like a chainsaw.

Posing for the camera - A Heron looking for its lunch.

Canal folk are in interesting bunch. Most are just like you and me except that they have decided to step off life’s treadmill and seek a more tranquil existence on the canal. I am a believer that all that glitters is certainly not gold and we met a number who had definitely gone off the radar for one reason or another. However, I found most genuinely hospitable, eager to lend a hand and often keen to stop and have a chat. Indeed, there were many living a solitary life although perhaps they may have lived a similarly solitary life on land. Loneliness can be a dreadful thing and perhaps a friendly chat with a stranger is often enough to keep up one’s motivation.

You could also see many vessels projected the nature and state of mind of their owners:

One thing is for sure, when you are chugging along at a snails pace I found it all a very zen-like experience and it was very easy to let your mind wander and lose concentration. That is when accidents happen and there was plenty of evidence of this along the way. So for all canal newbies, be alert at all times.

Not much leeway when passing under bridges.

This is when concentration is really required.

By this time the girls were operating the locks with consummate ease. Generally they are straightforward and come either singularly or in series. Some have added complications like the one below at Fenny Stratford which had a swing bridge in the middle of the lock, which acted as a pedestrian bridge. This had to be unlocked and manually swung to one side before the lock could be operated and we could pass through. Remember to put the bridge in place afterwards. It is a methodical process but there are often locals or volunteers on hand to help you out if you have a problem.

Shaun from Wyvern had helpfully explained the operations of the locks but one thing is for sure, you will know when the lock gate is ready to open as the water levels and pressure will equalize and it will move quite easily. Until that moment, there is no way you can open the lock gate.

Note: When operating the locks take your time, take care not to fall in and do not drop the winding handle in to the lock.

I managed to grab the girls operating the swing bridge using my little Fuji XF10 whist stood on the towpath holding the boat steady with the centre rope.

The girls operating the in-lock swingbridge at Fenny Stratford Lock.

I found the most comfortable and safest position to capture imagery was in the bow of the boat. I regretted forgetting my polarizing filter and the light could sometimes prove to be challenging. However, there are many opportunities to grab interesting reflections and also catalogue the changing environments as we passed through country side, through towns and past industrial locations.

We had two main challenges. The first was crossing the two aquaducts, at Bradwell Mill and Cosgrove and the second was to turn our vessel around at the Cosgrove Winding Point … hold that thought.

The narrow approach to the Bradwell Aquaduct.

Having passed through the Bradwell Aquaduct without incident we found a suitable mooring point and settled in for the evening. As it happens luck was on our side as just as we finished mooring and battening down the hatches we had thunder & lightening, followed by very large hailstones and then pouring rain.

We had a lovely dinner on-board in the lounge of the boat, played board games and generally chilled out. This was the canal boating I had been promised and a welcome detox from everyday life.

The next morning were were up early and ready to meet the morning’s challenges. The first was to cross over the Cosgrove Aquaduct. You can see below that it is narrow and there is only room for one vessel. Fortunately the canal is quiet in April and so there were no queues and we slipped across without delay.

You will note that on one side there are railing and on the other nothing but a 100 foot drop. However, from the middle of the aquaduct the view was stunning.

The Cosgrove Aquaduct - Note the sheer drop on the right.

We then entered the Cosgrove winding point, a 70 foot wide pool that was situated in front of Cosgrove Lock. Again, we were the only vessel there and this could have proved much trickier in the middle of summer.

By now our crew was operating like a well-oiled machine. The girls were on look-out on either side of the boat, I was positioned at the pointy end, ready to spring in to action with The Pole of Panic and Uncle Phil operated the rudder and throttles with the dexterity of a concert pianist.

In no time we had made the turn without any incident and were back on our way across the Cosgrove Aquaduct.

The First Mate positioned at the pointy end.

Whoop whoop we had made it - Well done team!

Our elation lasted but a minute as up ahead there seemed to be something moored on the Bradwell Aquaduct. as we moved closer we found that someone had decided to moor on the acquaduct even though there was ample room before and after the aquaduct. We passed the boat with literally inches to spare as the vessel owner came around the corner grinning saying that he just had to walk his dog! Don’t even get me started on that one!

Is that something moored on the viaduct!

Some people are extremely inconsiderate.

We had made such good time that we were able to take a very leisurely cruise on our final full day. In fact 800 rpm or slightly less than 2 mph is the way to go.

We had planned to go through The Three Locks and moor-up by the Globe Pub for the night, before passing through Leighton Lock and deliver the vessel back to Wyvern by 9.00 a.m. the next morning.

It was time for elevenses so we pulled over, moored up and soaked up the sun and scenery over a cup of tea and a slice of cake. We were all in our happy places.

Our skipper being given the full Noctilux.

You had to be there to appreciate how beautiful and relaxing it was.

Now that we were in complete control I thought that I would be able to record us passing through The three Locks on our return journey.

Fortunately this time the weather was calm and although the girls were in full control of operating the locks there were volunteers present from the Canal Trust to help smooth our way through.

The waters rise and so do we as the locals watch with a degree of respect at our competence.

Volunteer James asking where I had bought my hat - clear a man of style and taste.

We moored up Just after the Globe Pub and settle in for a coffee and a flapjack. At that point a large Heron was seen walking along the towpath and stopped directly in front of our boat to undertake a spot of fishing. This is my favorite image of the trip. I particularly liked the Pigeon on the branch above seemingly waiting to see if there might be any leftovers should the Heron be successful.

The First Man - I had finally earned the right to wear my hat.

The next morning we cruised through Leighton Lock and on to Wyvern to hand back our trusty vessel.

Shaun was waiting for us on the dock and as we gently slipped in to our mooring berth, without the slightest hitch, he gave us a smile and simple nod, which said it all. We were now canal people.

What a wonderful 3.5 days on this beautiful stretch of canal. We always have such a great time with Uncle Phil and Aunty Jackie. We all like the same things and everyone is prepared to muck-in and roll-up their sleeves. For me it is a wonderful thing to spend quality time with my little brother, my best mate and someone I love dearly.

Having well and truly scratched the itch that is canal boating we will definitely be returning for a second go. However, that will be after the trip to Seville, Rhonda and Cadiz so watch this space.

Ah, you thought I had forgotten. Even on a canal boat I managed to find a Bench of contemplation.

I do hope you have enjoyed this nautical episode but stay tuned as Mrs. C and I have much more planned for the rest of the year.

Warmest regards to you all from a relatively warm and sunny Plymouth.

Pound Farm........

March 27, 2024

For my regular readers you will have seen a recurring theme….Family. Mrs. C and I have always made family a priority, especially when we lived overseas. All our holidays were spent either with family and friends visiting us or in us traveling back to Uk or Spain. With our children growing up in an expatriate environment, we always felt it was important to keep them grounded, to make sure they retained a sense of belonging to the UK and above all, ensure they spent time with family.

One of the ways we have tried to achieve this togetherness is, on an annual basis, to bring as much of the family together as possible at a particular location. We have tried a few but for the past few years we have chosen the wonderful Pound Farm.

Situated a 5 minute walk from the sleepy Somerset village of Bishops Lydeard and located in the foothills of the Quantocks, this beautiful farm house sleeps 18, has all mod-cons, but above all, has a dining table that seats 18 and which is the focal point of our family holidays. I love to sit back and see everybody sitting around the dinner table, eating, drinking, chatting and laughing.

This year we had full attendance and as the last of the clan arrived and were hugging and saying their hellos in the family kitchen, I was already welling up with tears of happiness.

The “young people” have finally arrived.

This was also to be a special visit to Pound Farm. Our Matriarch, “Mother”, had broken her hip over the Christmas period and had experienced a very tough time during rehab. Thankfully all went well and this was an opportunity to focus on something positive and joyous and surround her with the people she loves.

From previous blogs the reader will be aware that between Mrs. C and Aunty Sarah, everything is managed and organized with military precision. As a result nothing is left to chance, everything has its place and everyone has a role:

Grandad Robert: Our Patriarch and actually believes he is in charge.

Mother: She is actually in charge.

Mrs. C: Logistics, baking and providing me with regular “advice and guidance”.

Alice: Alpha female.

Eleanor and Anna: Trainee Alpha Females

Mark, Kevin & Matthew: Eating and drinking as much as possible.

Simon & Joe: I.T.

Mike: Our resident “Twitcher”.

Kitty: Our resident “Horse Whisperer”.

Eleise: All things interior design & fashion.

Maggie: being cute and cuddly at all times.

Aunty Sarah: Aunty Sarah retains her role in charge of family hydration and always ensures there is plenty of grog to go around.

Uncle Chunkle: All matters photographic.

For this visit I was anticipating the possibility of precipitation. So, I brought the Leica SL2 with the Leica 24-90mm Zoom (both are weather sealed), as well as the 50mmm Noctilux F0.95 which I manually adapt.

What I love about Pound Farm is the light and shadows, particularly when using the Noctilux.

Big Ted in his usual place in the window at the top of the stairs.

Grandad Robert’s 2023 Curried Pear Chutney - An excellent Vintage.

Ofcourse, regular readers will be familiar with our 4th generation, the wonderful Maggie. She filled the house with laughter and giggles and for Uncle Chunkle (that’s me) the camera loves her and she loves the camera. So I make no apologies for sharing lots of images of her whenever possible.

A family tradition is that every year our Patriarch calls for a family meeting, to be held at the nearby Quantock Brewery Tap Room. Needless to say there is always 100% attendance.

This year I was delighted to sample one of the stouts, “Pleasant Pheasant”. Lets say it was really good and lets agree that I might have over-sampled. Perhaps that is why, even with auto-focus, my “hit-rate” declined after the the third pint!

All filled with that beautiful nectar, brewed from that special water that flows down from the Quantocks.

Mark - Our expert on all matters pertaining to Beer, seen sampling a cheeky little IPA.

Us older folk could not keep up with the young people so as the beer haze descended we headed back though the village and across the fields for an afternoon snooze.

Bishops Lydeard - Centre of the Village.

I am old enough to remember when these contained telephones.

Busted! - Aunty Sarah and Mike having a sneaky hot tub.

The “Young People” maximizing use of the facilities.

Another highlight of this years visit was the celebration of a number of significant birthdays. Joe and Kitty were turning 30. Grandad Robert was about to hit 90 and after 20 years at the age of 39 Mrs. C has final become a women of a certain age.

As we actually celebrated these significant events on my birthday, I was allowed to blow out the candles. I must also thank everybody for all the cards and wonderful presents.

I also use our annual get together to update family portraits:

Grandma and Grandad with all the young People.

It is fair to say that we had all detoxed from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and everybody disappeared to do their own thing. Some took to the hot tub, some took the opportunity for an afternoon snooze, others went off for some pitch and put and some of us headed off across the fields to soak up the beautiful Somerset countryside.

So there we have it; a year in the planning and over in a flash. This is why I write my blog, to record wonderful memories in both pictures and words.

As even the young people get older our all consuming lifestyles increasingly get in the way of the important things in life. Our family is our rock, its who we can rely upon in times of trouble and who we can love and enjoy at every opportunity. So lets all make the effort to ensure we keep this tradition going, wherever and whenever possible.

I love you all and look forward to our next gathering in June at Somerset Cricket Club Taunton.

With warmest regards from Plymouth.

A Fresh Pair of Eyes

March 19, 2024

As creatives we generally tend to always be in search of fresh inspiration to ignite that creative spark. Sometimes, we forget that the things we know and love and which are most familiar to us can provide all the creativity we need. It just requires us to have a different perspective and take a look with a fresh pair of eyes.

I recently returned to Dubai, a place which I loved and where I thought I had maxed-out my creativity. Yet, upon my return, and having spent 18 months away, I really did have a different perspective on both the place and the people.

The first example is the thumbnail to this Blog, the iconic Burj Khalifa. When I lived in Dubai I must have passed it a 1,000 times. The challenge was always how to capture this wonderful building in a different way than the thousands of images posted online. For me it was all about the light and perhaps how to give this building a different perspective. Here are a few of my favorite images, each taking a slightly different perspective on the same subject.

Same building but a different look. My personal favorite is the first with the sweeping curves and is the one I have hanging on my living room wall.

When living in Dubai, Downtown and particularly Dubai Mall was a weekend destination. When it was 45 degrees centigrade outside this air-conditioned environment beckoned, not only for some retail therapy but also for our regular breakfast haunts such as Pauls and La Durée.

Familiarity and routine sometimes resulted in a creative block. However, on revisiting I suddenly remembered how much there was to capture in this wonderful place.

Reflections of Giorgio & Ralph - Fashion Avenue

Now as a resident of Dubai I was particularly guilty of driving everywhere. Walking was confined to the couple of months when temperatures dipped below 35 degrees centigrade. Otherwise, it was from air-conditioned home to air-conditioned car, to air-conditioned office, to air-conditioned mall. You get the picture. The thing I never used was the Dubai Metro. Its a bit like living in the UK and never taking the bus.

This visit was different. The traffic was manic, particularly in the downtown area and so Mrs. C bought a couple of tickets for the “Golden Sector” of the Dubai Metro so that we could enjoy this mode of transport in relative comfort. It also proved an interesting source for imagery and made me realize that I should have made more use of this when I lived in Dubai.

The Walk from Dubai Metro Station to Dubai Mall

You see, I went from wondering what I might capture to not having enough time to capture it all.

Now I am the first to admit that I am a creature of habit and I do like my routines. Anyone who knows me would testify that when I lived in Dubai, if you wanted to find me on a Saturday morning between 10.30 a.m and 12.00 that you need look no further than the wonderful Leica Store Dubai Mall.

Mrs. C and I always took our breakfast at La Durée Fashion Avenue. Our lovely waitress Ellie always showed us to the same table and then without asking brought us Americanos with hot milk accompanied by Poached Eggs with beef bacon well done. No stress, no anguishing with menus just a hour of tranquility to start our Saturday morning.

Mrs. C then headed off to “Brands For Less” for some retail therapy and I headed of to my Xanadu, the wonderful Leica Store Dubai Mall.

I was always welcomed by Gina with a smile and an espresso and during the next hour or so we would talk cameras and all things photography indispersed with various members of the Dubai Leica community popping in.

During these visits the wonderful Gina helped me enter the world of Leica, my first acquisition being the glorious Leica M10P and 50mm Summilux Asph. So on this return to Dubai I thought it best to revisit Gina with my original purchase, so as to square the circle so to speak.

The rest is history and over the years Gina helped me put together a rather extensive collection of cameras and lenses. So much for my original one camera one lens! If you want to know more have a read of my recent Blog “Pandora’s Box” where you can see some of my gear and my thoughts about it (spoiler alert; I am a complete Leica Fanboy so all views are utterly and completely biased!).

So I can’t tell you how much I was looking forward to returning for my Saturday morning coffee at Leica Store Dubai. It was like coming home. Gina had come in especially and Eman and Maria were also there. More coffee, lots of catch-up over what had happened since my departure but no purchases, even though that Silver SL2 kept winking at me. Perhaps on my next visit; hold that thought and note to Gina!

For any of your Leica needs I cannot recommend enough that you contact the team at Leica Store Dubai Mall. They are the No.1 Leica Store globally and the level of service is absolutely top notch.

Notwithstanding all of this the people we missed the most were our “Dubai Family”, Claire, Seth and the boys. We spent so much time together over the years and they were and still are a huge part of our lives.

Claire did point out that they were short of a few pictures of the boys since we had left and so I did not need asking twice.

What a wonderful time we had and two weeks passed in an instant. So much had changed around Dubai in 18 months but all the important things remained the same. At the end of the day it is not about the place, its all about the people.

Speaking of people, following the recent change in my profile picture on the various social media platforms I did receive some comments that I was looking rather Ernest Hemingway. I leave it for the reader to judge!

The Silver Fox - Sporting the monochrome look!

I hope you all enjoyed my brief return to Dubai and I look forward to sharing more adventures in the very near future.

Warmest regards from Plymouth.

Pandora's Box

March 12, 2024

Well its a wet and window afternoon in Plymouth U.K. I have tried to go outside and brave the rain and wind, which can only be described as biblical and which would even make Noah abandon his Ark and take to the lifeboats. So, I decided to make a coffee and write a blog that up until now I had refused to write.

You see, I love creating imagery and equally enjoy telling the stories behind my images through my various blogs. I am also not a hypocrite and like most photographers I love buying gear, particularly lenses and have permeant G.A.S. What is it they say, “you date the camera but marry the lens”? I think I would agree with that and over the years, aided by Gina at Leica Store Dubai, I have managed to curate a not insubstantial lens collection which I continue to enjoy to this day.

So, in putting this short blog together, I thought I would answer the many questions that I am regularly asked via instagram or on this website, and show those of you who seem to be interested about the cameras and lenses that I use on a daily basis, along with my thoughts and general observations of the same.

I called this Blog “Pandora’s Box” as I knew that once open, the gear discussions will go on and on; But hey, who doesn’t love a new toy!

So whenever I discuss anything relating to Leica lets first of all deal with the elephant in the room; entering the world of Leica is expensive. However, its all relative. When you buy something that is precision made and for some an iconic design, you expect to pay a premium. This is polarizing, those that agree and understand it embrace it, those that don’t will never be convinced.

Fortunately, if Leica is above your budget or simply not for you, we are so lucky that there are a plethora of fantastic cameras available, across all brands and suiting all budgets. I firmly believe that with advances in technology pretty much all cameras and top end phones have the ability to assist photographers to generate fantastic imagery.

Whether the imagery is any good or not often lies in the eye of the beholder and down to the vision and skill of the person pressing the shutter. We tend to forget it is the photographer who takes the image, the camera and lens are merely tools of the trade.

Leica M10P & Leica 50mm Summilux F1.4 Asph

As you can see the M10P is simply a thing of beauty. In the world of Leica “less costs more” but what you do get is simply a work of art and craftsmanship. I have often heard the term “camera porn”; well for me, this is it. No detail has been spared in putting this camera together. It feels just right in the hand and when paired with the wonderful 50mm Summilux Asph the magic begins.

If you want video and flippy screens and lots of customizable buttons contained in a nondescript black box, you need not read any further. This camera is stripped back and built for stills photography.

The Leica M10P is a rangefinder with all controls at at your fingertips, Aperture, Shutterspeed and ISO and whilst you can shoot in aperture priority, the camera beckons you in to the world of full manual mode, allowing you complete control over the creative process.

The menu system of this camera has been designed by people who simply understand and in fact, as I shoot in full manual, I rarely have to delve in to said menu other than to format a memory card or update firmware.

I am often asked about camera settings:

I always shoot in manual.
I have no fixed settings as these very much depend upon the situation, lighting and artistic approach which is required at the time.
I tend to decide upon ISO (dependent upon available light), then the depth of field I am looking for (more often wide open as Leica lenses tend to shine at their widest aperture) and then play with the shutter speed to ensure correct exposure.
I like the process to be considered so I rarely use the continuous modes and set to single shot. As I have always said I am built for comfort not speed and I particularly enjoy the art of manual focus..
Metering is set to centre weighted. I only use Spot when I have some very difficult lighting situations such as when my subject is strongly backlit.
I rarely use auto ISO and tend to keep it simple. I normally shoot outside at ISO 200 and inside at 3200 although up to ISO 6400 is great should you quire it.
White balance I keep in Auto which for 95% of the time seems to work well.
I do not like to clutter up memory cards so I only shoot in DNG (RAW) and post process the images to create JPEGS on my laptop.
On the LCD I like to see the various exposure elements as well as the exposure gauge and the spirit level. That pretty much does it for me as 99% of the time I use the optical view finder, which after all is why you have a range finder.
The M10P does have limited touch screen functionality but I never use it. I told you I was old school!
I have the Visoflex Type 020 which I only use in the rare instances when I break out the 50mm Noctilux or the 135mm Apo Telyt. However, I have the SL2 to accommodate these lenses. More on that later.
Finally, as I only shoot in bnw / monochrome, so I set the exposure simulation to monochrome. This allows me to review my exposure and image in bnw / monochrome in the LCD but still gives me the RAW file in color.

That is pretty much all I need to do to set up the camera. I don’t use flash with this camera and I have not upgraded to later models as 24 mps is fine for my purposes and If I want more I have the wonderful Leica SL2 (hold that thought).

Given that I rarely use the live view for shooting and only shoot in single shot mode, I find battery life perfectly fine. I always have three batteries for all my cameras although I rarely need more than two.

The only thing I would recommend is to buy an ND filter, especially if you want to shoot at wide apertures such as F1.4 in very bright conditions, as the shutter speed tops out as 1/4000. I use a ND16 (4 stop) which pretty much has me covered. Indeed I tend to generally slightly underexpose and then if required, bring back the shadows in post.

Many people ask me about the optical viewfinder and how difficult is it to manually focus. I have to say that like many things it is just down to practice and muscle memory. I rarely have a problem these days for the subject matter I shoot. Lets face it there are horses for courses and If I was a sports and wildlife photographer then I might be looking for another piece of kit. However for travel, street and portrait I have no issues. Indeed, when on the street I can manually zone focus and the camera almost becomes point and shoot and thus is extremely fast to use.

It is testament to this lens combination and my love of 50mm, that I very rarely switch out lenses on the M10P. The only time I tend to use another lens is when traveling and I have my wonderful little Leica 28mm Elmarit F 2.8. Just for those wide angle shots.

The only real downside living in the UK is that the camera and lenses are not weather sealed. As a result I really do hesitate to use in rainy conditions.

Not that much more to say about the M10P. The shutter is extremely quiet and the camera itself looks like a traditional film camera and is very discreet in use. I cannot tell you how many times people have come up to me to ask me why I am still using a film camera, only to be surprised when I tell them its a digital rangefinder.

However, I let the imagery speak for itself. Any limitations are down to my ability, not the equipment.

Leica Type 246 Monochrome & Leica 50mm Apo Summicron F2

If you thought that buying a Leica rangefinder was polarizing, how about buying a version that only produces monochrome images! Welcome to the Leica Type 246. In fact this version was issued in 2015 and would be seen as old technology since then there have been a couple of updated iterations.

The Type 246 is based on the M240 platform and uses a full frame 24 Megapixels CMOS sensor with no Bayer filter. As you can see it is produced all in black with no Leica Red Dot although, as usual, I like Silver lenses on my M bodies and in this case I have the superb 50mm Apo Summicron, one of Leicas highest resolving M lenses, which rarely leaves the front of this camera. IMHO it looks so sexy on the Type 246 and its image resolution is just stunning.

Shooting with the Type 246 is basically the same as the M10P with some significant differences:

Great care must be taken not to blow out the highlights. Once they are gone they are gone and it is so easy to do. Exposing too much to the right can be an image killer.
An ND filter is a must. Minimum ISO is 320 although I generally use 400 as my base ISO. I am not sure why I use ISO 400 but I guess I shoot this camera on a similar basis as BNW film, where I use Ilford delta 400.
Creativity can be enhanced through the use of color filters. I use both yellow and orange filters.
You must learn to “embrace your shadows” as this camera will encourage you to shoot in low light with no flash required.

Why haven’t I upgraded to the latest range of Leica Monochrom cameras? Well honestly I am simply comfortable with my trusty Type 246. It ticks all the boxes for me. This camera had great image quality when I bought it and still does today. If I were starting out today I would probably buy the latest and greatest but honestly I am super happy with how it operates and resolves and would wholeheartedly recommend anyone wishing to step in to Monochrome only cameras to try one.

If find I tend to do minimal post-processing on my monochrome images. I either seem to get it basically right in camera, just requiring tweaks and crop adjustment or else I get it completely wrong and bin the image.

Also I have no skin in the megapixel debate and for my rangefinders and computer limitations 24 mps still remains more than adequate. I have some large prints on my living room walls to prove it.

If I could change one thing it would be to remove the video capability. I know this sounds strange but I never use it so would rather free up all processing power and design to accommodate stills photography. Thats simply how I roll. although your use case may differ.

As I constrain myself creatively to BNW / Monochrom, I am often asked why I don’t exclusively use a camera with a monochrome sensor such as the Type 246 and sell all the others. I have thought about it and I guess that sometimes I would like a raw file that gives me the option to use the color version. Indeed family members often ask me for a color version. It doesn’t necessary suit me creatively but I ham more than happy to have the option to oblige.

Here are a few images taken with the Type 246 & 50mm Apo combo.

Leica SL2 & Leica 50mm Noctilux F0.95

If you have read this far, you will have guessed how much I love Leica Rangefinders and 50mm lenses. So why buy a traditional style EVF driven camera? You will be surprised to learn that my primary reason for buying the SL2 was as an advanced platform to make better use of certain Leica M mount lenses; primarily the 50mm Noctilux F0.95 and the 135mm Apo Telyt. You only have to pick up an SL2 and look through that 5.76 million pixel electronic viewfinder to understand why.

For me, it brought both these lenses to life and focussing became a doddle. Also, due to the fact that it has an electronic shutter and allows sutterspeeds up to 1/40,000 I don’t need to use an ND filter when using the Noctilux wide open at F0.95.

I do have SL lenses, which I primarily use for landscape and nature, namely the 24-90mm Vario Elmarit, the 100mm-400mm Vario Elmar and one of my most favorite lenses the wonderful 90mm Apo Summicron SL.

Everything has its specific use case. If the weather is bad and I am just wanting a walk around I will take the SL2 and 90 mm Apo. It is compact. weather sealed and in my opinion the rendering from the 90mm Apo is absolutely stellar.

However for 90% of the time I have the 50mm Noctilux F0.95 welded to the front of the SL2. At 47 mps the camera gives me a higher image resolution, bearing in mind that for my website I am limited to an image size of 20mps. However, it aids the process of cropping when and if that is necessary.

If I could only have one lens and one camera, it would have to be the SL2 with the 50mm Noctilux F0.95 manually adapted. That is how much I enjoy this set-up. On an M body the Noctilux is super front heavy. On the SL2 it balances beautifully.

Again my principal set-up with the Noctilux manually adapted is as follows:

I generally shoot at F0.95 unless creatively I want a much deeper depth of field.
The SL2 is set up in full manual mode. Aperture controlled on Lens, ISO via the bottom of the two custom function buttons on the front of the camera and shutter speed via the control wheel on the top of the camera.
I use the top function button on the front of the camera to zoom in when precise focussing is required. This allows me to keep my eye looking through the EVF and simply moves my finger from the grip the to the button in a seamless manner.
I use the FN button on the back of the to toggle between my user profiles. These are both BNW but one has red focus peaking and one is without focus peaking. I generally find focus peaking distracting but sometimes it has its uses.
I have the EVF set up so that when looking through the screen it is devoid of information other than what I need namely, the level gauge, focus point and the Histogram top left. When I half press the shutter button I get the shutter speed, ISO and the exposure meter along the bottom. Note: when manually adapting M lenses with the Leica M to L adapter, there are no electronic connections so the aperture doesn’t register.
I almost always shoot in single shot unless the subject matter demands differently.
Consistent with my M bodies on the SL2 I use centre weighted metering most of the time. Again, I tend to only use spot when the lighting situation is challenging and demands it. Maybe there is a better way but this seems to work for me.
White balance is set to auto.
I only shoot in DNG (RAW).
I have two SD cards and unless I am shooting something where I absolutely must have back-up in camera I have the SD cards set up to switch to card 2 once card one is full. Anyways, I always down load my images at the end of a days shooting on to my laptop and external hard drive.

Once I am in this set up I hardly ever have to delve in to the menu and can focus 100% on composition and the creative process.

This is what works for me and I am sure that each of you will have your own way of setting up your camera and I would love to hear your thoughts, comments and advice in the comments section.

Here is some imagery with the SL2 and 50mm Noctilux F0.95:

Leica Q Type 116

I have to confess that I own a Leica point and shoot. Admitted not just any point and shoot but a silver one! Yes this is the camera I was never going to buy but which I have grown to love.

Every Saturday morning I would walk in to the Leica Store Dubai to have coffee with Gina and just inside the door was a stand with the various iterations of the Leica Q. Each time I would pick one up and say, “Looks great, nice auto-focus but I love to manually focus and being a 50mm man, the 28 mm focal length is just not me”.

Of course that fateful day happened when just after giving me an expresso and a biscuit Gina pulled out a Leica Q Type 116 in SILVER! I immediately crumbled and after taking it for a quick test run around Dubai Mall the deal was done. Although a used version, the camera was immaculate and as usual I left Gina smiling but with my wallet just a little lighter.

I actually think this was a smart purchase. The 24 mps lines up nicely with my M bodies and the size and build makes this a great travel / street camera. Sometimes when I have the M10P or SL2 with 50mm or longer, the Leica Q gives me a wide angle without having to stop and change the lens.

Auto-focus was fine for me as I only usually focus manually and so me autofocus did take a bit of getting used to. As did the 28mm lens….but what a lens!

In the world of Leica, Summilux generally refers to a lens with a widest aperture of F1.4. On the Leica Q the 28mm Summilux has a widest aperture of F1.7 but what is 0.3 amongst friends! Let me assure you this lens is absolutely fantastic in the way it renders and just when you think you have witnessed all the magic a twist of the lens near its base turns it to Macro Mode and a whole new world of creativity emerges.

When I tire of autofocus by pressing a button on the focus tab you can manually focus the lens lust like my other M lenses. Steve is very much in his happy place with this set-up.

This camera and lens set up often comes with me on short overseas trips or when walking around sketchier locations where I don’t want $20k of Noctilux and SL2 removed from my person at knife point. Have you visited Barcelona recently!

Despite not being weather sealed I have used it in all weathers and during a recent blizzard in Prague, when temperatures dropped to minus 8, this little camera did not miss a beat.

So how do I generally set it up:

I generally set ISO, aperture and shitter speed manually except for the autofocus where i use auto focus single shot.
ISO I set to 200 when outside and then only adjust when light fails sufficiently that my shutter speed is too slow. Inside I generally set to ISO 3200. I generally have had no problem with image noise and the camera performs well in low light.
I generally shoot in single shot unless the creative situation demands otherwise.
Exposure metering centre weighted.
I know the camera has a digital zoom capability whereby it can crop in camera to either a 35mm or 50mm view but I prefer to keep at 28mm and any cropping is undertaken in post.
White balance primarily set to auto.
I only capture images in DNG (RAW).
Generally when walking around the streets I am at F5.6 but wide open at F1.7 I find the Bokeh pleasing.
The camera has a video capability but I have never used it.
To protect the camera body Gina sold me a half case with an integral grip which I really like.
The camera came with this super cool push on silver Leica Lens cap. That was going to be lost in 2 minutes so that stays in the box and I bought a rubberized lens cap online that I saw on red dot forum which is perfect.
With autofocus I have started to learn to shoot from the hip when walking the streets but I have found this little camera to be extremely nimble. The later variants, Q2 and Q3 will no doubt be even more refined and have a higher megapixel count but you know, I have never been tempted to upgrade. This simply does the job and I would whole-heartedly recommend anyone wishing for a gateway drug in to Leica to scour the web and try and pick up a used Q. If you like it, then you will move to an M in a heart beat and will be well and truly hooked. I did have a Fuji X100F, which by the way is a fantastic little camera. However, once I bought the Leica Q I found the Fuji got little use and eventually I sold it.
Is there is anything that I would change on the Leica Q? Three things really:
(a) I wish it had an internal ND filter like the X100 series.
(b) I wish the on-off switch was simply that. However it has the option of single and continuous shot. I sometimes move this by mistake and end up taking multiple images.
(c) I would remove the video button to somewhere else on the camera as it is too close to the shutter button for my fat fingers. In fact you probably have guessed that I have never used the video so they could remove that functionality all together and I wouldn’t mind. These things may have already been changed in the newer iterations.

Here is a selection of imagery take with the Leica Q Type 116:

I am often asked about straps. I have no affiliation but all of my straps are from Rock and Roll. I have the brown “Hendrix” strap on the SL2, a black soft leather braided strap on the Q and simple classic leather straps on the M10P and Type 246 in yellow and Burgundy respectively. I know, yellow, but its how I roll!

I have not included my Leica MP film camera in this review because I still have not put enough rolls of film through it to feel qualified enough to discuss film shooting and perhaps I will write an Analogue Blog in the future. I have a 35mm Summilux glued to the front for that reportage feel. All I will say is it is truly a liberating experience shooting film with this beautiful camera although, in these inflationary times, it is an experience that comes with a cost. Hold that thought until a later “Analogue” Blog.

So if you have reached this point thank you! In summary, what might you have learned from this Blog:

I am a self confessed “Leica Fanboy” so my reviews are suitably and unashamedly biased :-)
I have more 50mm lenses than god!
You may have correctly assumed that I do not aspire to be a camera reviewer. There are plenty of people on YouTube who are much better qualified to do so.
The best place for specifications are in the user manual. I have not yet met a photographer who reads the user manual. Enough said!
For me photography is a passion and I am blessed to have these wonderful cameras and lenses to help me to express my creativity.
You have hopefully gained some idea as to how and why I use the various combinations of cameras and lenses. I have a number of other lenses but what you have seen is what I use for the majority of my imagery.
Could I do it all with one camera and one lens? Probably, but what would be the fun in that.
If you want to enter the world of Leica call Gina at Leica Store Dubai. You will not regret it, you will get a fabulous service and support and they do serve excellent coffee!

I hope you enjoyed this slightly different Blog but stay tuned as Mrs. C and I continue to record our various adventures. 2024 looks to be an exciting year.

Warmest regards from Plymouth and yes, it is still raining!!!

Glorious Gidleigh

March 9, 2024

Some say that a man is only as old as the women he feels! Well given that Mrs. C has spent the past 20 years basking between the magic ages of 39 and 40, I guess I have continued to feel extremely young at heart.

Another wise man once told me that ageing is just another word for living. As I look in to the bathroom mirror it would appear that I have certainly lived!

So as Mrs. C verges on becoming “a women of a certain age” (we have been married for 37 years and she tells everyone that she was a child bride) and given that we continue embrace the theory of “Carpe Diem” too its fullest extent, we decided to celebrate the occasion and book in to the wonderful Gidleigh Park Hotel, located just on the edge of the village of Chagford.

So we fired up the Polo, dialled Gidleigh in to the Sat Nav and headed across Dartmoor in search of paradise.

Now, I have neglected to mention that the wind was approaching 50 miles an hour and the rain was horizontal and coming across the moors like tracer bullets. Inclement weather can sometimes be an issue when driving across Dartmoor. However, regular readers will know that the Chivs have what is known as “Churchillian Fortitude” and basically this was a summers day for us hardy residents of Plymouth.

Now the problem with a Sat Nav is the propensity to blindly follow its instructions. As we headed through Princetown “Trixie” (yes that is the lady on my Sat Nav), instructed me in a polite yet domineering manner to turn left.

As an ambi-turner I immediately obliged only to immediately regret it! She had directed me down a country lane with grass growing down the centre of the road (always a bad sign in the West Country) that was only six inches wider than my car. As there was no turning point, the rain was getting harder and the light was beginning to fail I pressed on. Just when I thought things could not get any worse they did; we reached the bottom of the hill to be confronted with something that resembled the Sea of Galilee. The water stretched on for about 30 metres and there was no indication of how deep it was. I certainly could not reverse back up the road so “when needs must the devil drives” and I put my foot down and went for it.

Eventually and with some considerable relief on my part, we emerged on the other side relatively un-scathed and breathed a huge sigh of relief. Having crossed that particular rubicon we were greatly relieved to see the signs for Gidleigh along with another sign underneath which said “don’t give up you are nearly there”! Clearly there had been others who did not have our frontier spirit.

Then all of a sudden we turned a corner and there it was, our Xanadu, the Glorious Gidleigh Park Hotel.

As we walked through the main door I knew we had made the right choice. There were pairs of Dubarry Wellies of all sizes tucked behind the door, just incase we had forgotten ours (we had by the way).

Dubarry - Just in case you had forgotten yours.

We walked past the inviting lounge which seemed to have the words “please indulge in a rather superior brandy and then snooze” written all over it.

The ideal place for a brandy and a snooze

Then we were welcomed by Simon, our General manager and as if by magic our bags disappeared and we were sashayed in to said lounge to enjoy a plate of smoked salmon sandwiches and a couple of glasses of red. Yes we were both in our happy places.

Gidleigh may be termed as “old school quality” so photographically I tooled myself up in a similar vein with the Leica M10P and 50 summilux. I was in 7th heaven with the surroundings and mood lighting.

A bit of still life en route to the room

I believe that someone had spotted that we were in danger of spending the entire afternoon eating smoked salmon and drinking red wine. Not a bad way to spend a wet afternoon, when a charming young man appeared and offered to take us to our room.

As we walked in a smile came across my face. The room was beautiful and on the window sill was a decanter of Medeira and a flask of cold water. I assumed the water was there in case of fire so we proceeded to tuck in to the rather cheeky medeira, accompanied by some rather lovely chocolate truffles.

Madeira and chocolates - The flask of water was in case of a fire!

At this point I had a serious look outside the window and we certainly had a room with a view!

Room with a view - I spy a potential bench of contemplation

So reluctantly we tore ourself away from the Madeira, borrowed a couple of pairs of Dubarry’s and headed off for a walk through the grounds.

As you can see the grounds are absolutely beautiful. Everything is of course wet and damp, after all this is Dartmoor England although, the woodland is in fact almost like a tropical rainforest.

We managed our 5000 steps and headed back to our room, only to find that a bottle of Champagne had been placed on the dressing table with the compliments of the Management. That was going to make that long soak in a hot bath even more enjoyable!

Dinner was booked for 7.30 and Management had suggested that we might like to arrive a little earlier for an aperitif. Always polite Mrs. C and I duly obliged.

Dinner was absolutely delightful. There was no rush and each course was carefully explained by the Maître D’. I have included the menu for reference.

For the record, I started with the prawns, followed by the venison and ended with the cheese, all accompanied by a cheeky little claret. In addition there were various amuse bouches and pre-deserts and the whole culinary experience was quite fantastic.

Following dinner we moved back in to the lounge for coffees and petit fours and with a very nice touch our hosts sent a delightful message in celebration of our birthdays.

What a fabulous way to have a joint celebration of us both becoming personages of a certain age. Next morning we rounded things off with a traditional “Full English”; basically a pork-fest including wonderful black pudding and a local delicacy, hogs pudding!

Good things always come to an end and it was then time to fire up the polo and head back to Plymouth (this time ignoring Trixie and taking the A38 dual carriageway).

Ah, you thought I had forgotten. No blog can end without the Bench of Contemplation.

So that was a little Glimpse of us celebrating a major milestone in our lives. Still very much in love we continue to Carpe Diem and make the most of every minute together.

Lots of adventures to come so stay tuned and warmest regards from a wet and windy Plymouth.

Vodičkova 9 Prague..........

December 10, 2023

Well Christmas is coming which in the Chivers household means “Road Trip”!

Yes indeed, we like to travel to Europe to search out a Christmas Market and get in to the festive spirit (which normally means over indulgence on my part). This year was to be very special on three counts:

It was our first Christmas Market since relocating back to the UK.
We would be meeting up with our best friends from Dubai, Seth & Claire and their lovely boys.
We had chosen Prague, somewhere we had never visited.

Now as regular readers will already know our overseas visits are planned by Mrs C. With what can only be described as a military precision.

Of course, what everybody was really thinking was what camera I would be taking. As we were travelling super light I had decided on the Leica Q. I had been enjoying the 28mm focal length, especially for cityscapes and I also wanted something that was good in low light.

So it was off to London City Airport and on to a British Airways flight to Prague. For once the planets aligned and we all arrived within half an hour and there were lots of hugs and kisses as we met up in the arrivals hall at Václav Havel Aiport.

It is always so great to meet up with the people you love. As you can see I am already sporting my Santa look.

Our driver Vassel seemed to be a man on a mission; his mission being to get us in to town as quickly as possible. I am not sure what red light or stop sign is in Czech but to Vassel they seemed to be more inference than obligatory. I did not want to scare the kids so I only screamed out loud once!

Within what seemed a heart-stopping twenty minute drive we were outside our apartment, located at Vodičkova 9 and Vassel collected his fare, (approx 50 Euros) gave us a toothy grin and sped off to collect his next victims (Passengers).

As we entered our beautiful top-floor apartment it was clear that Claire had absolutely outdone herself on the accommodation front. This was my first image captured from the lounge window and I already knew that I was going to enjoy my visit to Prague:

Now they call Prague ”The City of 1000 spires” but truly it delivers on so many fronts. The minute I stepped outside the door my shutter finger went in to overdrive.

In addition to my attempts at being a bit arty there are also the many attractions that are obligatory to capture. The first of these was the Prague Orloj, otherwise known as The Prague Astronomical Clock, attached to the side of the Old Town Hall.

Installed in 1410 it is the third oldest astronomical clock in the world and the oldest clock in operation. It certainly is spectacular but a word to the wise, get there early in the morning as the crowds are huge, even during a freezing cold winter.

Which brings me to the subject of weather. As we arrived in Prague the snow started to fall and the temperature fluctuated between about minus 3 degrees centigrade to absolutely brass monkeys. So plenty of layers, walking boots and a good hat and gloves are essential.

There is no need to worry about self catering as the food is wholesome and inexpensive when compared to UK or Dubai. Well everything is inexpensive when compared to Dubai!

Our first morning we stopped off at Cafe 11 ( Instagram: @cafe11praha ). The girls really looked after us and plates of steaming mushroom and cheese omlette really set us up for the day.

Horatio is always the star of the show and like all 2 year olds can be seen here enjoying a post-omelette babychino.

Suitably fed and watered we set off for our destination for the day, The Prague Castle via Charles Bridge.

The entrance to Charles Bridge - The Malà Strana Bridge Tower.

Through the gloom you can see Prague Castle.

The Charles Bridge is a photographer’s dream. Spanning the Vltava River, it is a medieval stone arch bridge which has been fully pedestrianized. As a result, even in a full-on blizzard, it is packed with tourists and from a street photography perspective may be termed as a “target rich environment”.

The bridge is adorned with 30 mostly Baroque style statues situated on the balustrade which really lends a sense of theatre as you cross towards Prague Castle.

Prague Castle as viewed from Charles Bridge.

CAPTION COMPETITION: Please leave your suggestions in the comments section.

Approaching the end of Charles Bridge - Spot the Brit abroad bottom left.

Who doesn’t like steaming hot chimney cake?

As we walked across Charles Bridge the snow almost became a whiteout and it was so cold my hands hurt, even through my gloves. Fortunately my Leica Q didn’t miss a beat and I kept capturing images. However, it then came time to make a decision. Do we climb the three hundred or so steps to the castle or do we go back to the apartment for a steaming mug of hot chocolate.

You’ve already guessed it, “when needs must the devil drives” and with our usual Churchillian fortitude it was head down, teeth well and truly gritted and across the rubicon of pain to the castle.

At that point Horatio decided to fall asleep in his push chair. Not to be defeated, Seth and I manned-up and carried Horatio, asleep in his pushchair, up the three hundred steps to the castle.

Having recently become a “man of a certain age” it is fair to say that at about step 250 (yes I was counting) the legs were shaking, the snow had iced up my nose so I had trouble breathing and it is fair to say that the old heart was pumping in overdrive!

Once we reached the top I surprised myself as despite my trembling hands I grabbed this image of Prague Castle.

I could not understand why there were so many people milling around in the middle of a blizzard. I then realized that we had arrived just in time for the changing of the palace guard ceremony. Indeed I heard a guy say that there was a someone behind me with his chopper in his hand! Of course, it was the commander of the palace guard and his troop marching back to barracks.

I decided to be brave and capture some images of one of the sentries that was guarding the palace gate. These guys did not move a muscle, despite the freezing cold, but this was as close as I dared get to a man carrying a gun with a big knife attached to the end of it!

On the way back we took a detour via Wenceslas Square (and yes I did sing the song). The snow had really begun to settle and provided some excellent opportunities to capture Prague in its full winter coat.

Wenceslas Square with the National Museum in the distance.

Mrs. C still working the Prague Chic look.

After about 20,000 steps and chilled to the bone lunch was beckoning. We had booked a table at one of the establishments serving local Czech food aptly named Bar & Restaurant Local. It was a good job we had booked as the waiting time without a reservation was about 1 hour.

As you can see the restaurant might be described as Spartan and indeed was only nominally warmer than the street outside! However the staff were super friendly and the local Czech food delicious. We started with marinated pork belly accompanied by a spread of crushed pork crackling followed by roasted beef cheek, potato dumplings and steaming hot gravy. All this was washed down with a half litre of their local grog. All of this came to approximately £10 per head. You know it makes sense, unless of course you are a vegan!

Now the original purpose of our visit was to visit the Prague Christmas market. I have to be honest, the market itself was a real disappointment. It was full of fast food stalls interspersed with vendors selling what might generously be termed as tat. You would be better to shop for souvenirs in the local shops. This seems to be an ever increasing theme for Christmas markets in Europe but I did grab a couple of images for posterity.

Night out in Prague - One of the smaller local Christmas Markets.

There was so much to do in Prague and we simply scratched the surface. This bodes well for a return visit during warmer climes.

Being an avid supporter of all things Leica, I did search out the local Leica hub. As it happened it was situated a stones throw from our apartment and comprised the Leica Cafe (coffee was excellent) and the Leica Gallery where we viewed an exhibition called “ Private Journeys” by a local photographer.

“Framed” - Mrs. C whilst viewing the exhibition at the Leica Gallery.

Our final morning had arrived so we were up especially early and took our coffee and croissants to a nearby park to watch the sun come up and allow the boys some time to play in the snow. The light was super and I was able to capture some of my favourite images of the entire trip.

Let there be light - Sunrise over Prague.

So our time in Prague had come to an end and what a fantastic time was had by all although, for some, it was all a bit too much……..

So my creative year has finally come to an end, as we focus in earnest on preparations for Christmas and New Year celebrations with family.

I would like to thank all of you who have supported me across all the various platforms where I am active. Your support, advice and encouragement is always gratefully received.

2024 looks to be a fabulous year from a creative standpoint so until then, may I wish you and your families a very merry Christmas and a happy and peaceful New Year.

Warmest regards from Plymouth. U.K.

Cotehele......

October 28, 2023

Well, it is surprising what a trip to Waitrose supermarket turns up. Living in Plymouth our local Waitrose Supermarket is in fact in Saltash, which involves a drive across the Tamar Bridge in to Cornwall. Its free to get in to Cornwall but they charge you £2.60 to get out! At this point I normally go in to my rant about paying to go across the bridge but, in my new relaxed semi-retired state, I simply smile, take a breath and enjoy what Cornwall has to offer (even if it does cost £2.60!).

In this case a visit to our local Waitrose not only resulted in two bottles of Primitivo and a Bottle of Morganhoff Chenin Blanc (don’t forget Aunty Sarah was with us and regular readers are aware that she is head of family hydration) but also included a visit to Cotehele House, a National Trust property some 20 minutes drive from Waitrose Saltash and situated next to the River Tamar in a beautiful estate of some 1,300 acres.

As usual we arrived precisely as the café opened and so we settled down to a steaming coffee and croissant. Always best to start these visits from my happy place.

For this visit I was armed with my usual “National Trust Kit”; the Leica SL2 and the manually adapted 50mm Noctilux F0.95. You have to be prepared for low light and the Noctilux is a low-light beast.

With one eye on the weather (It rains a lot in Cornwall, about 400 days a year) we decided to leave the house for this visit and head down through the woods to Cotehele Quay, about a 15 minute walk.

I can feel myself relaxing as I press the shutter

Through an archway and the garden emerges

All of our sudden we had views of the River Tamar and quite different from the Tamar Estuary with its dockyards and marinas.

We then came to Cotehele Quay, which was a total revelation. Our first stop was a carpenters workshop, where we were warmly welcomed by Chris, a carpenter by profession, who was working on the restoration of what looked like an old wooden river boat. As we talked it was clear that Chris was a man who had definitely found his happy place and was doing something he really loved.

So generous with his time, even though he clearly had so much to do

I look forward to returning to speak with Chris once his restoration project has been completed. I really do envy someone who has the ability to visualize what they want to make, and then have the skill to bring the vision to a reality.

Leaving Chris to his work we continue to wander around the Quay, with its discovery centre and Edgecumbe Café, definitely a lunch spot for our next visit. Here are a few of the images I captured:

Is that a future Bench of Contemplation that I spotted in the foreground?

The Edgecumbe Café - There’s a pastie with my name on it next visit!

We did have a walk around the main house but I did not have the time to do it justice with my camera. So this will be the subject of a future visit. After all, there’s a pastie with my name on it down at The Edgecumbe!

So the moral of this story is that if you go to the Supermarket, always wear a camera, as you never know what might be just down the road.

All the best from a wet and very windy Plymouth.

The City of Discovery...........

October 26, 2023

For those of you who have read my most recent Blog, “Carpe Diem”, you will know that since our return to the UK and our life-change from being full-time expatriates, both Mrs. C and I have been determined not to miss any opportunity. Above all, we are enjoying the ability to have spontaneity in our life, rather than being governed by plane schedules and planning holidays and the simplest of trips six months in advance.

Needless to say, when our daughter Anna mentioned that we had been invited to Dundee, “The City of Discovery”, by Matthew’s parents, we immediately accepted. The last time we had visited Scotland was also one of our proudest moments, to be present at Anna’s graduation from Edinburgh University, so we were long overdue a return visit.

Anna simply said “leave all the arrangements to us, just turn up to our apartment in London on this date and everything will be taken care of “. So we were faced with spontaneity and being absolved of all responsibility. It seemed like a win / win to me!

Of course, arriving in London meant we had the pleasure of meeting up not only with Anna and Matthew but our son Simon and his partner Kitty. Collectively this meant a calorie fest and a great evening was had by all in China Town where we had an evening of “Double Duck”’. That is for another blog.

Suitably fed and watered, the next morning we headed for Kings Cross and the 10.04 a.m. to Glasgow. The six hours passed very quickly and comfortably. Matthew handled the catering via the on-board catering app and delivery service (a world with which I am distinctly unfamiliar) and there was a great deal of discussion as to what we would be doing during the next few days in Dundee. Anna seemed particularly concerned as to our ability to “keep up”?!

We were warmly welcomed at Dundee station by Matthew’s father Bruce, who was keen to give us a feel for Dundee. So we headed to the highest vantage point, the Dundee Law, which provided a fantastic view across Dundee, The River Tay with its famous road bridge and beyond in to Fife and the historic golfing location that is St. Andrews.

As the sun was setting we looked to the West and the approaching rain and storm clouds provided an ominous warning that the weather might be on the change. Prophetic words as four days later, following our departure, this part of Scotland would be subjected to the ravages of Storm Babet. We were literally in the eye of the hurricane.

Ominous clouds…Storm Babet knocking on our door.

Then it was off to Broughty Ferry to meet Matthew’s mum Janet and the two dogs, Isla and Teddy. Now Mrs. C is a little nervous around dogs but we needn’t have worried, Janet had these two beautiful golden retrievers fully trained and after their initial “enthusiasm”, we were accepted like a part of the family.

The handsome Teddy - favorites are not allowed but if they were, he would be mine

This was our first opportunity to meet Janet and Bruce but as they welcomed us in to their beautiful home it soon felt that we had known them for years.

That evening they took us for a meal at a country restaurant called The Lands of Loyal. We drank an aperitif in front of a roaring log fire in a baronial style lounge before partaking in a meal of Pheasant wrapped in filo pastry followed by Gressingham Duck with all the trimmings. As usual I was firmly in my happy place and once we returned home I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

A good job really as Janet and Bruce are very much outdoors people and the next morning, after a hearty breakfast, we drove about an hour or so in to the country side to Loch Lee for a “morning walk” and to exercise the dogs. Mrs. C and I were fully prepared and had our hiking boots and multiple layers as a shield against the crisp Scottish wind and the possibility of precipitation.

To capture it all I had the Leica SL2 and the 90 mm App Summicron SL. Not a compromise in terms of image quality but for this particular trip, knowing we would do a deal of walking, I wanted to keep everything lightweight and with a degree of weather sealing.

For those of you who have never visited Scotland it is truly a land of beauty and as we walked towards the Loch there was ample opportunity to flex the shutter muscle.

We then headed off along the banks of Loch Lee. Our target to reach a small white cottage at the end of the Loch. We aimed to take lunch in the woods above the cottage. Once again calories provided the motivation to crack on.

Our lunch destination - the woods behind the white cottage at Inchgrundle in the distance

Once we arrived at our initial target the scenery changed as we entered in to a beautiful wooded area.

The perfect spot for our lunch - Janet and Bruce with their trusty hounds

Having located the perfect spot for lunch, everyone was very relaxed and an opportunity for me to grab a few images of the team.

They even took one of me and my 50 layers of clothing! - A good boy scout is always prepared!

After delicious corned beef rolls (a personal favorite of mine), a steaming cup of Bruce’s speciality coffee and Janets über delicious date and walnut bread, we set off for a rather steep climb to our final destination above Loch Lee and what a view!

View from the top - the beautiful Loch Lee

Having walked for about two hours it was not lost on me that we also had another two hour walk back to the car and going down a mountain seems much harder than going up!

The walk back seemed a lot quicker, perhaps quietly pleased that we had “kept up”.

As we passed the far end of the Loch we came to a beautiful chapel, Kirk Lees, which dates back to 1803. It is still in use today and unbelievably in this day and age was open to welcome all those who pass by.

The beautiful church organ - built in Vermont USA in 1891.

What a fantastic day. Needless to say I was once again out for the count as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Next Morning Matthew had decided to show us around Dundee. Were first headed off to the V & A which would not only give us an excellent morning coffee but was also situated next to The Discovery, the ship which was captained by Lieutenant Robert Falcon Scott, better known as Scott of the Antarctic. I just loved the Juxtaposition of the modern V&A next to a ship which was built in 1901.

The V&A is definitely a destination for a future visit as we only had time to scratch the surface.

We then headed off in to Town which gave me an opportunity for a bit of street photography.

Giving Dundee the full Noctilux at F0.95

Desperate Dan - Fans of the now defunct “Dandy” comic magazine will recognize Dan who was the comic’s mascot

Fisher and Donaldson - Bakers with a 100 year history - by Appointment to The Royal Family of course

Regular readers will already have guessed that our morning adventure would end in calories. Fisher and Donaldson are a master bakers dating back 100 years. They maintain a royal Warrant and specialise in traditional baking, renowned for their fudge doughnut.

Our mission, which we chose to accept, was to buy some bridies, a meat filled type of pastie plus some steak and haggis pie for our lunch. Janet had been quite specific that we were not to linger and were to avoid the fudge doughnuts. I could see the conflict in Matthew’s eyes as he gazed longingly at them. A testament to his will-power and good boy that he is, he resisted temptation. A treat perhaps for our next visit?

On our arrival back home with our treats, Janet (clearly a fabulous cook) had casually prepared two types of home-made soup to accompany our savories and delicious fresh-baked scones for afters with home made Lemon curd. Deep joy!

Now Janet hails from nearby Arbroath so after lunch we decided to take a restorative walk along the Seaton Cliffs at Arbroath whilst attempting to walk off the calories we had consumed during luncheon (I am afraid to admit that yours truly consumed more than others).

The view of Arbroath from the cliff path

Pebble Skimming - Anna said it wasn’t a competition, but if it was, she won!

The beautiful Isla on Seaton Cliffs always willing to pose for the camera

After our bracing walk we drove back through town. Bruce suggested we lower the car windows and we immediately had that beautiful smell of the famous Arbroath Smokies. Arbroath is famous for its smoked haddock, another treat for a future visit.

Our final day had arrived and for me was to be a real treat. We drove across the Tay road bridge and headed towards the town of St. Andrews. Famous for its great University, stunning beach but above all, is the home of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, where I was hoping to obtain one of my bucket list photos.

Upon arrival in St. Andrews we parked next to the beach and headed off to give Teddy and Isla a run.

Following a good walk along the beach we then headed off to the home of golf.

I wanted a shot of the old clubhouse as seen across the 18th Green. As I took the image I could hear in my mind the commentary from the immortal Peter Aliss, “ just a chip and a putt and Steve Chivers will be presented with the gold medal and Claret Jug, as Champion Golfer 2023”. The stuff of dreams!

The 18th Hole with Club House in the background.

The Famous Rusacks Hotel, where many a glass of Bollinger has been supped

Rusack’s “Rock Weather Station” - it merits careful attention!

Then we came to a spot near the 18th Tee. The Famous Swilken Bridge where Open champions of the past have taken that special walk up to the 18th Green. This was the photo I wanted and what better than to be accompanied by my beautiful daughter Anna. A special memory with a very special girl. Do you think I look like a proud father? The only thing that was perhaps missing was for me to be holding the famous Claret Jug after having been crowned Champion Golfer. Well we are all allowed a dream aren’t we?

The Swilken Bridge with my beautiful daughter

Our thanks have to go to Janet and Bruce. Not only have they provided their wonderful son Matthew as a partner for Anna, but they were so kind and generous in welcoming us in to their home. We look forward to returning this hospitality and showing them the beautiful South West of England at the earliest opportunity.

Ah yes, you thought I had forgotten. Let us finish with a rather special “Bench of Contemplation”.

Warmest regards from Plymouth and see you all again soon.

Carpe Diem!.......

September 30, 2023

Sometimes, as creatives, we are guilty of running out of energy as the creative juices seemingly dry up. something akin to writers block.

For me, its that in the South West of England we are prone to some inclement weather (about 365 days a year!) and so there are times, when unless you wish to photograph pouring rain, we are forced to remain indoors. As a photographer I find this somewhat limiting as there is only so much “still life” photography I can undertake.

As a result and when we do get a break in the clouds, and that beautiful light streams through natures soft box, it is definitely time to “Sieze the Day” and make the most of any opportunity to get outside.

This is what happened last weekend. As we peered through the curtains we could see the early morning sun emerging through windswept clouds and so we decided to head out first thing for coffee and breakfast and just see what the day might bring.

Now we could have just walked around to the Barbican Plymouth to one of our local haunts but that particular day, by some form of serendipity, we drove some 15 minutes to Saltram House, a National Trust Property located on the outskirts of Plymouth.

This is a prime example of taking advantage of something that is actually on our doorstep.

The house itself is set in a beautiful Georgian country estate that dates back to the 1700’s. It was actually owned by the Parker Family from 1724 to 1957 until, like many of the landed gentry, the property was transferred to HM Government in lieu of death duties and then passed over to the National Trust.

There is quite a long walk, (about an hour or so) around the perimeter of the estate, including a beautiful stretch which winds along the banks of the River Realm and includes views over wetlands and a bird sanctuary. I can’t wait for that 100-400mm zoom to arrive.

However, today we decided, for the first time, to visit the house itself. As we passed though the entrance we literally set foot in to another world.

As always we had arrived early and had about 40 minutes before we were allowed in to the house and most importantly about an hour before the Chapel Tearoom was opened! So, we decided to walk around the side of the house and through the exquisite inner gardens to find The Castle Folly. Above all dogs are banned from the inner garden so (a) we didn’t have to constantly watch where we were walking and (b) Mrs. C, who is not comfortable around our canine friends could enjoy the whole experience in a relaxed manner.

Already looking promising from a photo perspective

What a promising start to our walk. The garden was a dream and presenting all manner of interesting photo opportunities. Indeed, there are some 1,500 species of plants in the garden and so I felt duty bound to capture at least some of these (albeit in my “artistic” manner).

What better place to take a break than under a 100 year old Rhodidendra!
I was so at peace as we sauntered through the grounds and after about twenty minutes we finally came to The Castle Folly.

Yes I had died and gone to photographers heaven!

Even Mrs. C was willingly participating!

Now Mrs. C has a limited tolerance on the modeling front and so not wishing to push my luck over that particular rubicon I suggested we head back to the Chapel Tearoom for a cup of tea and slice of cake.

The route back was equally as rewarding…

What a grand place to put a deck chair - memo to me for my next visit

Tree-lined avenue back to the Great House

And then our oasis that was the Chapel Tearoom emerged. A pot of Ceylon Tea and slice of Pumpkin cake and I was well and truly in my happy place.

My way of capturing tea and cake at F0.95 using a Georgian manor house as Bokeh

Mrs. C checking the old analogue sat-nav to see if we had missed anything

Suitably refreshed we decided that we should have a quick look around the interior of the Great House. Now we intend to come back again during mid-winter and spend much more time inside this wonderful property which includes a Robert Adams neoclassical Saloon, original Chinese wallpapers, beautiful ceramics and a remarkable collection of paintings including many by Sir Joshua Reynolds and Angelica Kaufman.

For this visit I settled on trying to record and show you what we experienced before an in-depth blog later in the year.

Well that should boil a kettle in no time

No doubt the maid had plenty of polishing duties

Chinese silks in the bedroom where King George allegedly spent the night.

Back to the car via the Stables and the obligatory National Trust shop

What a day we had. It started out with a decision to go out for a cup of tea and ended up with a wonderful day out and my shutter finger fully exercised.

Now you didn’t think I had forgotten did you? As usual lets end this blog with the Bench of Contemplation. Actually, I am breaking with tradition and ending with the Benches of Contemplation as there we two images I liked so I am showing you both!

So the motto of this story…..Carpe Diem!

See you next time and warmest regards from Plymouth.

Agatha...........

September 28, 2023

Now Mrs. C. and I are great fans of Hercule Poirot, the famous Belgian detective created by the wonderful Agatha Christie. We had just finished watching one of our favorite episodes, “Dead Man’s Folly” when Mrs. C pointed out that it was filmed at Agatha Chrsitie’s holiday home, “Greenways”, located about an hour from Plymouth. Moreover, the house is now run by the National Trust!

A quick call to Aunty Sarah and we agreed that an expedition to Greenways was in order. So we fired up the Polo, dialed Greenways in to the sat-nav and headed up the A38.

Now for those of you who are also great Agatha Christie fans and would like to visit Greenways, remember that you need to book a 3 hour parking slot in advance of your visit as it is a very popular destination amongst her legions of fans.

Another tip for young players is to get there early. The first slot starts at 10.30p.m. and they have a delightful café with excellent coffee and the usual National Trust gift shop etc.

After a restorative jolt of caffeine our first stop was to visit the house itself. Its not a huge property and so an hour in the house itself is more than enough.

When I first caught sight of the house and saw its location and views across the picturesque River Dart, I immediately understood why a creative like Agatha Christie would be drawn to this wonderful slice of Devon.

Once you step through the front door your are warmly greeted by a member of staff, provided with a guide book and told to simply enjoy the experience.

The light was streaming through the panes of the front door and I immediately captured a picture of an ornate bust ordained with a rather stylish hat, my favorite image of the morning, which I used as the “thumbnail” for this blog. I was surely now in Agatha’s world.

From this point onwards I can only say that the entire experience could be termed as a sensory overload. The house was crammed with artifacts from travels, collectibles and of course many books, but it struck me that she and her family were hoarders rather than collectors.

So my images of this initial tour of the house perhaps reflects this as I picked out those singular items which drew my photographers eye and piqued my creative sensibilities.

As we entered one of the sitting rooms there was a beautiful Steinway piano upon which, was a picture of Agatha. It was then that it dawned upon me that despite having read so many of her books and watched so many of her stories on television (Hercule Poirot and Miss Marples), I didn’t actually know what she looked like!

A rather beautiful image of the lady herself.

Then on to the Kitchen. Rather plain and functional which seemed to lead one to believe that food was not perhaps her greatest creative motivation.

I can only describe some items as “eclectic”!

Then I moved upstairs ahead of the crowd to find her study. This was perhaps her inner sanctum and of course we saw where she would have committed her thoughts to paper, a library of her works and a rather lovely original script of Dead Man’s Folley, signed by Hercule himself (David Suchet).

The lady could definitely write a story!

Now Mrs. C is an absolute mine of information and asked me if I had noticed anything particularly interesting about the dining table. Indeed, whilst all place settings had wine glasses, she had a jug in front of hers as it appears she only ever drank double cream with her food!

I continued my journey around Agatha’s house still trying to make sense of who she really might have been and collecting imagery which drew my attention.

The exit, guarded by a portrait of her son-in-law, Anthony Hicks

An hour had passed and I felt that I had barely scratched the surface. However, the weather was forecast to be changeable and I was determined to see the gardens and visit the Boathouse.

So we re-grouped outside the house and it was out with the analogue sat-nav to determine the best route down to the river.

So dear reader, that is my photographers view of 2.5 hours at the holiday home of Agatha Christie. In fact I made a further visit with our dear friends Cathie and Nick and still I feel that I have yet to scratch the surface.

I think this is one of those places that will always be on our list of places to visit and for sure we will see something different at each visit.

Well by now I had worked up a thirst. As you know Aunty Sarah retains the role as “Head of Family Hydration” and immediately suggested that we visit the White Hart Inn, located some 30 mins en route back to Plymouth, for a bite of lunch and a “quick sharpener”.

Here are a few images of our sortie and a “taster” of this lovely location and its immaculate gardens, which I feel should be revisited later in the year and merit a specific blog (memo to me).

I think the cured meat ploughmans has my name on it

Well dear reader, that brings us to the end of our day out. When I entered semi-retirement a friend of mine asked me if I thought I would get bored. I think not!

As always we couldn’t finish a blog without visiting the Bench of Contemplation:

I do hope you have been enjoying our National Trust adventures and as the weather starts to change and winter approaches I wonder what will be in store for our next outing.

Wishing you all good light and warmest regards from Plymouth.

The Tower......

August 24, 2023

All of a sudden August is upon us and Mrs. C and I have been feeling the need to do a bit of traveling. So, we took cousin John up on his kind offer to spend a few days in the country, fired up the Polo, entered Great Shoddesdon in to the sat-nav and headed up the A38.

Now cousin John, although retired, has many strings to his proverbial bow. He was and continues to be a great sportsman. In his day he was a fine cricketer and “Whispering Death Hurle” is still reveered in the hallowed corridors of the Trojans Cricket Club, as the bowler who terrorized many a batsman down the “corridor of uncertainty” whilst, when fortifying the middle order, subjecting many a naive young bowler, who dared to stray fuller than a good length, to the “long handle”. To cap-it off he is a member at HQ (that’s the M.C.C.) and one of the Somerset C.C. faithful.

During retirement, he turned his hand to Bowls and became Club Champion at Salisbury Bowls Club and was capped at County level having been selected for Wiltshire. He also enjoys the odd pint of Timothy Taylors best bitter so that’s all good then! However, I digress……

Being a keen historian, John now acts as a guide for the tours of Salisbury Cathedral’s famous spire. Although Mrs. C is somewhat altitudinally challenged, she was determined to overcome her fear of heights and experience cousin John’s “Tower Experience” first hand.

To give context to our visit to Salisbury Cathedral, John felt it was important to first visit the earliest settlement of Salisbury. Located some two miles to the north of Salisbury, the Iron Age hill fort of Old Sarum dates back to around 400BC.

The site continued to be developed during the Roman occupation, the Saxons later used it as a stronghold against the marauding Vikings and the Normans created a motte-and-bailey castle, a stone curtain wall and a great cathedral.

King Henry 1 built a royal palace within its walls and the site continued to be used for some 300 years until disputes between the Sheriff of Wiltshire and the Bishop of Salisbury caused the removal of the church into the nearby plain.

By the 13th century and as the ‘new Salisbury” developed, Old Sarum was slowly dismantled until the site was sold by Henry VIII in 1514.

Interestingly it continued to have a parliamentary representation and became one of the most notorious “rotten boroughs" and until the passing of The Reform Act of 1832, it served as a pocket borough the Pitt Family.

We chose a beautiful day to visit Old Sarum and here are a few images of our explorations.

What a day with views across Salisbury Plain

The ruins of the original Salisbury Cathedral

The Spire of Salisbury Cathedral as seen from Old Sarum

What must this view have looked like when the fortress was originally constructed?

Having gained an understanding of where and how it all started, we headed off for Salisbury and its beautiful Cathedral.

Salisbury Cathedral, formally the “Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary”, is an Anglican cathedral, is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury.

The Cathedral can only be described as impressive and is widely regarded as one of the leading examples of early english gothic architecture.

Its main body was completed over a 38 year period, from 1220 to 1258. The Spire (our ultimate destination), stands at a height of 404 feet (123 meters) and has been the tallest church spire in the United Kingdom since 1561.

The Cathedral continues to hold a number of other records, having the largest cathedral close (the area immediately around the main cathedral building) encompassing some 80 acres and the largest cloister.

As we walked from the car-park to the main entrance of the Cathedral, I was in awe that a building of this size and intricacy could have been constructed over 800 years ago. Just consider the logistics alone of transporting all that stone by horse and cart, let alone the craftsmanship that was required.

As I walk closer the beauty of Salisbury Cathedral emerges

Interestingly, the Cathedral holds one of four copies of the Magna Carta Libertatum (translated from the medieval Latin as “Great Charter of Freedoms”).

This royal charter of rights was first drafted by the then Arch Bishop of Cantebury, Cardinal Stephen Langton, and was agreed by King John of England, at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15th June 1215.

Its purpose was to make peace between the unpopular King and a group of rebel barons and promised protection for the barons against illegal imprisonment, provided access to swift justice and limitations on feudal payments to the Crown.

Whilst containing many good intentions none of the parties to the charter honored their commitments and the charter was annulled by Pope Innocent III.

In 1216, the regency government of Henry III reissued the document and it finally acquired the name “Magna Carta” (Great Charter). It was again reissued in 1225 and later in 1297, at which point it was confirmed as part of England’s statute law.

In order to protect this fragile document it is maintained in very low light and no photography is allowed. However there is a full translation next to the original and it makes very interesting reading.

Whilst waiting for the tour to commence, I took the opportunity to collect a few images.

Reflections in the water from the main font provides a different, albeit wonderful perspective

Now it was time for our tour. Comprising of 9 people plus our guide (cousin John), the duration of the tour is approximately 1.75 hours and involves five different climbs, comprising 332 steps, to an eventual altitude of 200 feet. It is not for the feint of heart. Oh and you better use the toilet facilities before you start, as once the tour begins there is no turning back.

Our first climb brought us to a balcony with uninterrupted views along the length of the Cathedral. It was here that I managed to capture the cathedral in all its glory (IMHO).

Having reached the base of the main Spire we were confronted with a vertical tower of spiral steps leading to the next level. I gulped and looked at Mrs. C who was keeping it together. If we were going to turn back it would have to be now.

However, “when needs must the devil drives” and always Mrs. C stepped up to the plate and we started to climb. I was trying to be brave and supportive but I must say that I had to take a few deep breaths along the way.

Crikey, you mean we actually have to climb up this!

Of course, John is an old pro and managed all the next steps in relatively easy stages and his inciteful historical knowledge and witty repartee made the whole process a joy.

Once you reach the 200 foot level, there are four doors leading to a very narrow outside viewing balcony. One is closed due to nesting by Peregrine Falcons but the other three provided spectacular views.

John and our merry band enjoying a truly spectacular climax to the tour

The Cathedral and Close from a different perspective.

I was so proud of Mrs. C for reaching the top and for coming out on to the balcony. The only way to defeat one’s fears is to confront them although easier said than done!

By the way, coming down is just as difficult as going up but buoyed by her success Mrs. C was like a gazelle and I had trouble keeping up.

I have only scratched the surface with my images and I leave the rest for you to discover when you take the Tower Tour. Trust me, go online and make the booking, you will not regret it.

Once we finished the formal part of the tour I was free to wander around the Cathedral. Here is a selection of imagery which I hope conveys the marvelous experience that awaits the visitor.

As we were leaving we came to a huge oak door which was locked. I managed to capture this image “through the keyhole”.

What a wonderful day and as all English, the best way to finish is a cup of tea in an English country garden. As I don’t take images of cups of tea here is my ‘artistic” interpretation.

As always my final image has to be Mrs. C in John’s beautiful cottage garden, sitting on “The Bench of Contemplation”.

So dear readers, another adventure comes to an end. As always we managed to combine, culture, calories and the odd libation or three with precious time spent with the people we love.

I hope you enjoyed our brief ntour of Salisbury Cathedral. There are many more adventures in the pipeline, so see you all again soon.

Warmest regards from Plymouth.

Culture In The Country .....

August 10, 2023

Well August certainly started with a bang. A visit to Doncaster to see our daughter Anna meant that Mrs. C could tick-off one of her longstanding bucket list items, a visit to the wonderful Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP).

As usual Team Chivers came fully equipped for all eventualities as the weather had been somewhat inclement and the morning weather report predicted rain of biblical proportions. I ventured to suggest that we might put-off said visit for another time but “She Who must Be Obeyed” was unanimous, we were going and that was that!

Under advice (a.k.a. pain of death) and given that this was predicted to be the best day of the week, we decided to take our chances. So, we dialed YSP in to the sat-nav, fired up the Polo and headed up the M1.

Now regular readers will already be aware that Mrs. C plans these excursions with what can only be described as a military precision. As a result, I merely point the Polo in the correct direction, ensure I have various cards for payments and light refreshments and pack my camera bag.

Given that this was going to be an “artistic” excursion, I decided to give it the full treatment with the Leica SL2 and the manually adapted 50mm Noctilux F0.95 (my favourite lens).

As aways we arrived bang on opening time at the Weston Entrance, so as to start the day with our usual steaming coffee and a croissant. The immaculate coffee shop did not disappoint and whilst everyone else was enjoying breakfast and discussing what sculptures they wished to look at, I decided to work on creating some art of my own.

“Bokeh Daisy” - Steve Chivers - Giving it the full Noctilux treatment at F0.95

Entrance to the Park is £9 for adults and parking is free. So suitably refreshed and ticket in hand we set out in to the Park.

Now walking boots and / or stout walking shoes are highly recommended as is picking up the old analogue sat-nav (for anyone under the age of 30 that is a paper map which shows you the route!).

I will not pretend to know too much about either sculptures or the artists that created them. However, we had great light, dramatic clouds and a very interesting subject matter, all set out in the 500 Acre 18th century Bretton Hall Estate in West Yorkshire.

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words so let us move forward accordingly.

I have to say that after the first 15 ,minutes of walking I was so enjoying both the art itself as well as the beautiful scenery of the Bretton Hall Estate.

Now I do not wish to provoke a debate about the nature of the sculptures but it is fair to say that Damian Hirst may not be everyones cup of tea.

However, in the next sector of the Park we came across my particular favorites by the wonderful Henry Moore. If I could afford to buy one (which I can’t), and had a garden (which I don’t), I would put one in it.

“Reclining figure:Arch Leg” - Henry Moore

“Large Two Forms” featuring Anna Chivers - Henry Moore

I loved the juxtaposition of the art amongst the beautiful Yorkshire countryside

At this point I had fully embraced the artistic concept and was up to about 4000 steps on the iPhone. Culture whilst burning calories, an interesting concept! However, we appeared to be off the beaten track and so it was out with the analogue sat-nav.

Fortunately, being a country boy, I have a natural sense of direction and I soon had us on the right track.

We had now traversed the entire Park and had arrived at the main entrance and the YSP Centre. As we walked through the centre the lighting created more photo opportunities.

“The Corridor Of Uncertainty” - Steve Chivers

Then we emerged in to a sector of the park where the exhibits somewhat challenged my concept of art although they did make me smile. An exhibition by Erwin Wurm. However, that is the beauty of art, it is all in the eye of the beholder.

Well, after the last selection of exhibits by Erwin Wurm my mind was reeling. So we headed in to the woods in search of familiar territory; Barbara Hepworth.

“Relics in the Landscape” - Daniel Arsham

Walk of Patrons - Our dear friends Rachel & Jonathan Ward

Well there we have it. Arriving back at the Weston we had covered about 4kms in about 2.5 hours. Exhausted but jubilant. To cap it off we had an excellent lunch at the Weston of cold cuts, local cheeses & steaming hot new potatoes oozing with butter. Be sure to book in advance or you will not be able to get a table. As always, I ended our visit in my happy place :-)

As per tradition the last image has to be “The Bench of Contemplation”.

“The Bench Of Contemplation” - Steve Chivers

What a fabulous morning and we felt that we had barely scratched the surface. All the more reason for another visit; something I would recommend to everybody!

See you again soon and warmest regards from Plymouth.

A Morning With Elizabeth......

August 9, 2023

Sometimes in life the planets align and a wish comes true. This just happened to me when I received a call from my brother, who asked me if I would like to spend a morning with a beautiful lady called Elizabeth and take pictures of her.

Okay, so my curiosity was piqued to say the least. Then I found out that Elizabeth was in fact a Mark IX Spitfire owned and operated by the wonderful people at Aero Legends ( aero legends.co.uk ) and that his neighbour, Mark “Maverick” Gifford, was one of the volunteers / enthusiasts who help run the air-days out of Compton Abbas Airfield, and he had arranged an all areas pass for me to take some photos of this wonderful aircraft.

For me this is “Boys Own” stuff! I have always been an aircraft enthusiast although I had strangely never combined this with my love of photography. This was going to be a very exciting and challenging photography experience and for the day I took my Leica SL2, with the 24-90mm Vario-Elmarit and the manually adapted 50mm Noctilux F0.95 M lens, plus my Leica Q Type 116.

Mark and I arrived at the airfield at 8.00 a.m. sharp. He had an operational briefing to attend and I would have an opportunity to grab some images before the crowds arrived.

I was introduced to Josh, who runs the Aero Legends side of things and to Andy, who runs the airfield itself. Josh was looking a little nervous as the good old British weather was up to its usual tricks and if it got any worse the day would have to be cancelled. Both Andy and Josh were extremely kind and basically told me to roam freely whilst avoiding getting anything chopped off by propellers……Sound advice in my book!

I was then shown in to the hanger and formally introduced to Elizabeth.

Well it was love at first sight. Such beautiful lines and even though she was made some 70 odd years ago she is still the centre of attention wherever she flies.

At this juncture I was introduced to our pilot for the day, Mr. Charlie Brown.

I have to say that Charlie is one of the coolest guys I have ever met. After all, who has a job description that simply says “Spitfire Pilot”? Absolutely charming and patient he took time to tell me about the history of the aircraft and about the work it takes to keep this wonderful aircraft in peak flying condition.

Charlie, or to be precise Flt. Lt. Charlie Brown, not only looks like a fighter pilot but is the real deal. He joined the RAF in 1981 and throughout his 30 year flying career he has flown all manner of aircraft including the Tornado GR1. A flying instructor and head of training at Aero Legends, Charlie has reached over 1000 flying hours in Spitfires and you could see the glint in his eye as he took me around the aircraft.

Charlie then politely excused himself to attend a comprehensive operational and safety briefing. Whilst the day is about giving a great deal of joy to those lucky few who get to fly with Charlie, nothing is compromised in terms of safety and operational efficiency.

The Team gathers for their morning briefing.

A great many of the team comprise volunteers / enthusiasts who gladly give their time to keep “Elizabeth” in peak condition. By the time they had finished their preparations she was absolutely gleaming and ready to be rolled out of the hangar.

Simply stunning, fuelled up and ready to be moved air-side.

At this point I decided to take a look at the cockpit. I managed to grab a few images and was amazed how simple and straightforward it all looked, albeit a little snug. I must say that if I ever have the opportunity to fly in this beautiful aircraft I might try to lose a few pounds beforehand!

Then Elizabeth was towed on to the grass airstrip ready for the first lucky passenger. Aero Legends run flights from a number of locations and if you follow the link to their excellent website you can see the various locations, aircraft and flight packages. Fair to say I am already saving up for mine!

Passenger safely installed in the rear cockpit

A puff of smoke from the exhausts and the wonderful Merlin engine roars in to life… What a sound!

Low level flypast -simply stunning and very emotional - I was already welling up at this point

One satisfied customer - I just had to record that smile

As you can see above, everyone to a man that flew in Elizabeth came back grinning from ear to ear.

Aero Legends have many different aircraft but one that caught my photographers eye was this beautiful Boeing Stearman. Formerly used as a military trainer this aircraft is in mint condition and that wonderful engine and glistening propellor just begged to be photographed.

I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Josh and Andy for giving me access to Elizabeth as well as Mark Gifford for making the necessary introductions. What a great team!

Now Compton Abbas Airfield not only provides a great flying experience but also provides plenty of great food and drink at their onsite restaurant. As I was there really early, I took a few arty shots. Let me tell you, the service is fantastic, the signature burger to die for and all washed down with a pint of the delicious local Gritchie IPA. I was once again in my happy place!

The Restaurant - Early morning before the crowds arrive

There are a couple of Gritchie Ales with my name on them

The Gritchie Brewing Co are on to a winner - My particular tipple was a cheeky IPA called “Session Lore”

Only one thing left to do and that was to have my picture taken with the beautiful Elizabeth.

As you can guess I could have taken hundreds of photos. If you want to see more please go to my gallery page and I have made a specific gallery entitled “Spitfire MK IX NH341 - Elizabeth”.

I hope you have enjoyed my Spitfire experience as much as I did capturing the images. I thoroughly recommend one of the flying days at Compton Abbas Airfield and once you have experienced the thrill of seeing this aircraft up close and personal, like me you will start saving for a flight in this wonderful piece of aeronautical history.

Stay tuned for more of my adventures and warmest regards from Plymouth.

Going For A Pastie With Drake.....

July 26, 2023

Well dear readers, we saw a break in the weather and the sun was threatening to come out from behind some very ominous clouds. So, we fired up the Polo and headed off towards Dartmoor and the wonderful Buckland Abbey, to visit the home of Drake (no not the well known Canadian rapper), Sir Francis Drake, one of England’s most historic figures.

Now for this visit our regular team was a man down, with Mike a little under the weather. So it was Mrs.C, Aunty Sarah and yours truly, armed with the Leica Monochrom Type 246 and the 50mm Apo Summicron.

Buckland Abbey from the car park…Those clouds were looking ominous!

It took about 30 mins to arrive at Buckland Abbey, located on the edge of Dartmoor near Yelverton. Unusually parking was free and for those of you who have yet to subscribe to become members of the National Trust, adult entry will cost you £14. If like us you are a regular visitor to National Trust properties, the annual membership at £139 for a couple is a no-brainer.

As always we are one of the first to arrive and headed to the lovely cafe, manned by super friendly volunteers and producing excellent coffee. Over a steaming hot flat white the girls convened to determine the order for the day.

Actually, the order of play was to be dictated by the weather, for as we looked out the window the heavens opened and it was like a monsoon for about twenty minutes. Seems like we were in the best place to wait it out.

It was decided that once we had a break in the weather we would take a walk around the grounds of the property before returning for a tour of the house. If I was good, Aunty Sarah was promising a steaming hot pastie for lunch! Sold to the man with the monochrome Leica!

All of a sudden our collective prayers were answered, the rain stopped and there was light! So without further ado we set about our tour.

Buckland Abbey dates back to 1278. It was originally a Cistercian monastery, the last one that was constructed in England and Wales. However, in 1541, during the reign of King Henry VIII and as a consequence of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the entire Buckland Estate was sold to Sir Richard Grenville.

The Abbey was subsequently converted in to a Tudor mansion home. It was then that it was sold to Sir Francis Drake, the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

One can only imagine the opulence during the 16th century.

With Mrs.C in charge of the analogue satnav (in older times we called this a map) and ably assisted by her partner in crime Columbus (a.k.a. Aunty Sarah), we headed off in to the grounds.

The light was challenging; when it was out is was super but it kept changing mid-shot. I used a four-stop ND filter on the 50 APO in order to avoid blowing out the highlights.

There is nothing like the countryside after the rain

Mrs. C and Aunty Sarah at one with nature!

It was all going so well until I spotted the girls scratching their head and consulting the aforementioned analogue satnav. Alas I made the fatal error of suggesting that we may be in fact lost. Have you ever tried taking photos when your wife has her foot on your neck?

However, quickly retrieving the situation I suggested that at times like this the best advice is to always turn left. Being an ambi-turner, left is my favorite direction and lo and behold we found ourselves back on the correct path!

The warmth of the sun disguising the fact that we weren’t so much lost again but merely off-course!

Oh dear, we seem to have another “conversation” about direction….Columbus is saying nothing!

Uncle Chunkle saves the day……finally back at the Abbey

After our little excursion and with rain threatening we decided to venture inside to see how our Tudor ancestors lived.

I must say having recently visited Llanhydrock House and Coleton Fishacre, much newer properties, Tudor England was certainly a less opulent place. However, Buckland Abbey would have been the height of luxury during these times and it was only from the profit of Drakes famous world voyage, that he could have afforded a property like this.

I love a good hat, with some bokeh added for good measure

I believe that the heart of these old homes is the kitchen. They normally had to produce food on a grand scale. At Buckland Abbey it was more rustique and utilitarian than I had imagined.

However, Buckland Abbey does have its treasure. In the Georgian Dining Room is a self portrait by Rembrandt. It took eight months of painstaking cleaning and restoration before it was formally confirmed to have been painted by the old master. I did my best to record it but there were so many reflections on the protective glass that I fear I did not do it justice.

Rembrandt’s Self Portrait - another man who liked a hat!

Regular readers of this Blog will know my love of “Embracing The Shadows” and also that I am a sucker for a good window. All these old properties are full of light and shade and Buckland Abbey did not disappoint.

As the sun tentatively ventured out again from behind storm clouds, we grabbed the opportunity to visit the Cider House and its wonderful garden.

Cottages amongst the beautiful undergrowth

Given that everyone was now so relaxed, the sun was beaming down upon us, birds were singing and butterflies were…. well doing what butterflies do, I gamely asked the girls if they were up for another quick portrait session. I believe that a picture is worth more than a thousand words. I leave it to you to judge!

To round off our day at Buckland Abbey we lunched at their delightful cafe. Steaming hot home-made pasties, full of meat and with buttery short-crust pastry, washed down with Luscombe Sicilian Lemonade. Uncle Chunkle was back in his happy place.

On that heart warming note and in accordance with tradition I end this Blog of our Buckland Abbey exploits with Mrs. C and Aunty Sarah on “The Bench of Contemplation”.

Stay tuned for more of our exploits in the coming months.

Warmest regards from a wet and windy Plymouth.

Coleton Fishacre.....

July 20, 2023

Regular followers of this Blog will know that since arriving back in good old Blighty, Mrs. C and I immediately joined the National Trust and have set about visiting the various National Trust Properties in the vicinity.

Now when aunty Sarah mentioned that we should all have a day out at a beautiful country home, in the midst if a tropical garden, situated by the sea and only an hours drive from Plymouth, I was to say the least intrigued. So we dialed Coleton Fishacre in to the sat-nav, fired up the Polo and headed up the A38.

For those of you who have never visited a National Trust property, its generally manned by super friendly and helpful staff, everything is super organized and you are to able to simply enjoy the property and its surroundings.

We always aim to arrive early in order to beat the crowds and, over a steaming coffee, allow ample time for Mrs. C and Aunty Sarah to plan our route-march, (sorry I mean leisurely sojourn), around the house and its gardens.

As you step out of the cafe and walk around the corner, you get your first glimpse of the house itself.

Coleton Fishacre - Rural Devon at its finest

Okay, time for the potted history bit. The location of the property was decided upon when Rupert and Lady Dorothy D’Oyly Carte where sailing off the Devon coast and spotted a valley leading down to the sea close to Pudcombe Cove. The rest as they say is history. Designed by architect Oswald Milne the property is blessed with fantastic sea views and beautiful light and just blends in to the surrounding countryside. The house was completed in 1926 and became the summer retreat for the D’Oyly Cartes.

The family lived in the property until 1949 when it was sold to Rowland Smith. He and his wife Freda maintained the house and gardens until his death in 1979 and the property passed over to the National Trust in 1982.

Mrs. C had already consulted her Met Office weather app and suggested we do the gardens and picnic first and then finish with a tour of the house; just in case the weather turned for the worse (much is weather dependent in the South west of England).

As we walked down through the gardens towards the sea we began to understand why they describe this as a tropical garden. I do not pretend to be a master of black and white plant photography so I didn’t try. However, I have enclosed a few images of things that caught my photographer’s eye.

Uncle Chunkle is getting all arty again….

Then all of a sudden we emerged at the top of Puddlecombe Cove. As we took a breath the peace was shattered by what sounded like a gun shot and then the crashing of leaves and wood as a huge branch of a tree literally fell off. Phew, that really was a close one!

The team at the viewpoint at Puddlecombe Cove

The view really did take my breath away and for once I put down my camera and took a moment to reflect and savour the view. At which point, Mrs. C grabbed the Fuji (yes a change for this visit as I was using the Fuji Xpro2 with the XF 55-200mm lens) and she captured an image of me “taking a moment”.

As you can see I was sporting my Raiders of the Lost Ark look…

Many other people were also enjoying this wonderful location which gave me an opportunity to indulge myself and capture a few different images which I believe reflect the vibe of the day.

Well, all this relaxing was starting to make me hungry and so we found a bench opposite to a wild meadow and munched through a rather superior picnic if I say so myself. Also the wild meadow proved to be an excellent opportunity to capture some more images.

Uncle Chunkle is getting all arty again at 200mm….

Suitably refreshed it was time to head back to the house itself and have a good look inside.

Now Coleton Fishacre differs from the normal stately home. It has a certain understated elegance whilst reflecting the fact that, until not that long ago, it really was someone’s home.

As I wondered around the house I tried to record images which I felt reflected how the family actually lived. Of course, your mileage may vary but as I often say, its not what we see but how we see it.

Standard issue for the period - Bag, gloves and cigarette holder

Everything you need to know about roses - No google in those days!

Very poignant - Michael d’Oyly Carte who died aged 21

As usual we end with Mrs. C and Aunty Sarah on “The Bench of Contemplation”

Well there you have it, my brief insight in to the wonderful world which is Coleton Fishacre. I wholeheartedly recommend you visit this wonderful property. When you do, bring a stout pair of walking shoes, a good picnic and of course your camera. I look forward to seeing it through your lens.

Warmest regards from Plymouth.

Back in the Box.....

July 16, 2023

What a month that June has been but the question was, how to round it all off? Easy, lets get all of Mrs. C’s side together for our annual visit to Somerset Cricket Club at the County Ground Taunton.

Now this annual event is a firm favourite with all the family, witnessed by the fact that we had 100% attendance (save for Anna and Matthew who were at Matthew’s brother’s wedding where Matthew was Best Man).

Robert, who has been a life-long supporter of Somerset hires out one of the hospitality boxes (we normally have the Bill Alley Suite) and we all come together to catch up on each others news, eat a hearty lunch, take a drink or three and oh yes, watch some cricket!

This was also the first time that we had had all four generations of the family in attendance at County HQ thanks to our lovely Maggie who was making her first class debut.

The Somerset Faithful awaiting the start of play.

Now we are a family of routine and so everyone very quickly reverted to type. “Mother” was in charge (she was unanimous about that), Grandad Robert thought he was in charge, the young ones went in search of food and alcohol, Aunty Sarah, being head of family hydration, was already one step ahead and had actually secured supplies of alcohol, Cousin John tried to explain the rules of cricket to Kitty, whilst I continued to candidly snap images so as to record the day.

Don’t worry team, Aunty Sarah has found the booze!

Now I listened with great interest as John explained to Kitty the intricasies of our beloved “Summer Game” and I must say it differed considerably from the potted version that I had explained to Kitty over breakfast.

My version goes along the following lines: “weather permitting, 11 blokes dress up in white, play with a red ball on the green bit, and try to get those that are in out, so that they can go in themselves whilst the other team try and get them out. Meantime, we have morning coffee, followed by a rather delicious lunch in the clubhouse, have a kip, followed by afternoon tea following which, we check the score to see who was most likely to win. Nothing complicated about that and rather eloquently explained I thought although, I do remember that Kitty’s eyes seemed to glaze over!

Whilst all that was going on I liked to roam around the ground with my Leica Q and try and capture a few images of the cricket from a different perspective.

Did I mention it was essential to wear a hat?

Its looking like a moody afternoon, hope they keep the Thatchers cold.

Now, the main event of the day was actually the cricketing debut of young Maggie. We felt that it was important for her future development that we introduce her to the “Summer Game” as early as possible. Naturally, she took to it like a duck to water and had a wonderful time.

What a beauty and Maggie looks lovely too!

Vital cricketing skills - Mum demonstrating to her daughter how to down a pint of Thatchers!

Well what a day we had. As always, thanks must go to Robert for making all the arrangements and bringing us all together and to all the family for being there. It really was a non-stop day but in the end and for some, it was all a bit too much……

Heres to next year at the box and regards to all from a wet and windy Plymouth.

The Boys Are Back In Town.....

July 14, 2023

Well June has been the gift that keeps on giving. Hot on our heels after seeing The Eagles we had news that the Chappels were going to be in Bournemouth. So, we immediately fired up the Polo and it was back up the A38 to visit our Dubai family.

For those regular readers you will already know that Seth, Claire and their three beautiful boys are family to us. We have known all the boys since birth and we have all shared so many wonderful experiences together during our time in Dubai.

I always get asked what I miss about living in the Middle East. I always say I miss those people with whom we shared so much of our time.

I have to say we were a little worried that after 7 months little Horatio wouldn’t know who we were. However, we soon dispelled that worry as on arrival there were cries of Aunty K8 and Uncle Chunkle! (by the way that’s what they call me due to my athletic physique….).

First things first was to undertake a family tradition. Every year Mrs. C bakes each of the boys a birthday cake so this time it was to be three in One.

So it was business as usual; Raif had a normal slice, Atticus had the big chunk with his name on and little Horatio, well he spent half an hour picking off and eating all the blue bits. Glad I am not changing that nappie mum!

Then we were off out to have an afternoon in nearby Burley. Actually this was an excuse to let the kids burn off some energy whilst us adults had a catch up.

You can be sure this trio were cooking up some mischief

Honest Uncle Chuckle it was Atticus who did it…..

Well what a wonderful first day. It is always the same with people you love; you don’t see them for ages and then as soon as you do it is normal service resumed. As you can see I was making up for lost time and unashamedly the Leica Q was in overdrive.

Next day there was a treat in store for me. As you know from previous Blogs, whilst Mrs. C continues to bask in the 20 years that all women have between the age of 39 and 40, this March I became “a man of a certain age”. So they took us for a slap-up lunch at the wonderful Chewton Glen Hotel and Spa. Trust me this was really a treat and the food was absolutely sublime.

Hey Auntie Kate, Uncle Chunkle is getting all arty again!

As always when you are having a great time it all went too quickly. During our last morning we all went to Hockey Farm for breakfast. So it was mega bacon and sausage sandwiches all round. Got to keep up the family tradition that whilst on holiday you have to have a portion of pork product in any form.

We then went out to the farm and found sone very scary looking Alpaccas.

Look Aunty K8 this one looks like Uncle Chunkle!

What a coincidence…we both have the same barber!

Well there you have it. So happy to be with everyone and so sad that we couldn’t have more time. So Just a few more images of the people we love.

So the motto of this blog is that whenever possible, wherever possible make sure you make the effort to take time out for the special people in your lives.

Warmest regards from Plymouth

June is bustin' out all over.....

July 13, 2023

To quote the lyrics from the old song, June had quite literally been busting out all over with wonderful adventures and meet-ups with family and friends.

For those of you who have never visited the Cotswolds it is one of the most beautiful parts of rural England. Better than that, it has the added bonus of being home to our oldest friends from Dubai, the Eagles

Cathie and Nick left Dubai a couple of years before us and they were greatly missed. We loved those Italian nights at Don Corleone at the Metropolitan Hotel, take away curry from Eric’s on the Sheikh Zayed Road (yes that really was the name of the curry house) and of course, Cathie’s Chilli Night at home followed by a movie. These may seem like simple things but for long-term expats these are the things you enjoy the most…real family time with the dearest of friends.

Mrs. C and I had been back in UK for almost six months and this get together was long overdue. However, with so much to do to get back in to the system and with our goods and chattels delayed by a couple of months (via Pakistan twice, India twice, Jeddah, through the Suez Canal, Tangiers, then to Hamburg before finally reaching London), we had been putting off a visit to Cathie and Nick until all was done and we could be completely relaxed. So, as usual, we fired up the Polo, put Carterton in to the sat-nav and headed up the A38.

What a joy it was to finally arrive and see our old friends in the flesh rather than through the screen of an iPad. As usual many hugs and kisses, lots of news to catch up on and of course a few gin and tonics to loosen everyone up.

Now the area in which Cathie and Nick live is absolutely beautiful and for our first evening they took us for a dinner at the nearby village of Shilton. Actually by took I mean we walked across a field, down a country lane and across a ford in to a picture perfect village.

Cathie and Mrs. C looking an absolute picture

Before partaking in the local beverages we did do a little sightseeing and had a look around the beautiful village church.

Having worked up an appetite we headed off to the centre of the village for dinner at the Rose and Crown.

Now I am always up for anything and then local brew is an interesting pint which goes under the name of “Shagweaver”. I am not sure how that translates across a myriad of languages, especially when I was asked by the barmaid what she could do for me and I replied, “A shag please!”. By the expression on her face that was not the first time she had received such a response! .

This was all followed up with a delicious dinner and once again, a few more pints and coincided with some fallibility with my manual focus skills. Funny that!

Knowing my propensity to grab an image, the next day we were taken to a couple of well known locations. I was all primed for some street photography with the Leica Q and I seemed to be getting to grips with this 28mm focal view.

First location was the beautiful Bourton On the Water.

As you can see the place is heaven and a firm favorite for tourists. After the girls spent some time browsing in the local shops we finished with jam scones at the Chestnut Tree Tea Rooms. Trust me they were heaven.

We then moved on to Burford. In fact Mrs. C and I had visited this beautiful village back when she was a “Child Bride” with our dear friends Shelagh and Clive and we had many fond memories.

As we walked back to our car I captured my favorite image of the day, an elderly gentleman at complete peace in the middle of his beautiful garden. He was clearly oblivious as to what else might be going on in the world. Seems like he is doing something right!

What a wonderful couple of days we have had with a couple of our dearest friends. We can wait for episode two when they come to visit us in Plymouth.

Warmest regards to all.

Surprise for Mudge....

July 10, 2023

Mudge…our mum, “Queenie”, the Matriarch and centre of our family.

I don’t believe in going backwards in life and firmly believe in forging ahead and making the most of what life has to offer. However, that two years of COVID lockdown impacted us all in so many different ways.

We were luckier than most and we got through it relatively unscathed. We all have our COVID stories (see my Blog “Creativity in Adversity) but Mudge and her partner Brian had a very difficult time of it. Locked down in Spain, some of the rules were particularly draconian regarding movement and other than our regular Zoom calls, no-one was able to visit for over 18 months.

So in brighter times and by putting that behind us, we are now determined to make up for some lost time.

Whilst Mrs. C and I and my brother Phil and his wife Jackie are now able to make regular visits, one thing that we knew Mudge really wanted was to have all her grandchildren together under one roof at our family home in Spain.

Now when I say grandchildren I actually mean working adults and their various partners. Everyone is super busy with life and work commitments so how could we possibly make the planets align and get everybody over to Spain at the same time.

Well, where there is a will there is a way. Some 8 months ago we floated the idea and everyone was up for it. Diaries were checked and co-ordinated and flights covertly booked. We told Mudge that just the four of us were coming over. Was she in for a surprise when 11 people would turn up on her doorstep.

Our thanks to her partner Brian, who we took in to confidence and in fact lent us his house, as it would be a logistical operation just to give everyone a bed for the night.

After the usual budget-flight delays, we all finally arrived at Alicante Airport, hire cars were collected and we headed off down the motorway to Los Alcazares. When we arrived at home the four of us went in and left the kids outside. When we brought Mudge out on to the terrace and she saw a row of grinning faces I can’t tell you how happy she was. Although I am a photographer and always seek to capture the “moment of emotional impact” I didn’t. I just watched and enjoyed!

Now regular readers will know that life with the Chivs involves family, food, drink and more food! So, next morning, we all headed off the the shores of the Mar Menor for our long overdue family breakfast.

We are lucky that my brother is a trained Chef and has his own catering consultancy specializing in Industrial catering. For with 13 mouths to feed every day it would be industrial catering and we needed a plan.

As usual it was not a problem and we kept it simple. So it was fire up the Barbie and yes even after all the wine I still have my eyebrows intact! although, after much “advice” from Mudge and ably supported by Mrs. C., the beard is now gone and I am told I look like my old self. According to Mrs. C. a cross between Brad Pitt and George Clooney…..hmmmm what is she after?

Alcohol, fire and gas…What could possibly go wrong?

Jackie and Harry just had to have a paddle

In my happy place - If you listen carefully you can hear Mudge moaning about my beard!

The rest of the week followed a similar trend of eating, drinking and making up for lost time. It made me so happy but what I really wanted was a family photo to remember it by.

Now trying to corral everyone in to a posable format whilst keeping their eyes open was something to behold and my admiration goes out to all wedding photographers. You couldn’t pay me enough to do that job. So I used the old “lets pull a funny face” to loosen everyone up.

Crikey no amount of post processing can fix this one :-)

However, I eventually got the image I was looking for.

I found this short blog so difficult to write; mainly because its so difficult to type with tears in my eyes. In all this happiness there was one person that I missed so much, my dear old dad. He would have had such a wonderful time with all his grandchildren around him. I made a few promises to my dad before he sadly passed which you can be sure I am in the process of keeping. However, I don’t mean to end this short blog on a sad note as I firmly believe he was there and smiling down on all of us.

Thank you to all the family for making the effort and for a fabulous time together. I love you all and lets make sure we make this a regular event because in my world, family keeps us all together and that’s what makes us stronger.

See you all again soon.

Tourist For A Day..........

July 9, 2023

Back in the day we lived and worked in London, (well way back in the day actually, bearing in mind Mrs. C was (a) a child bride and (b) is still basking in the twenty years that all women experience between the age of 39 and 40).

Somehow familiarity leads to a non-appreciation of what you have on your doorstep and its only when you return as a tourist that you realize what a beautiful capital city we have and just how much there is to see and do.

So, given that we now have some time on our hands, we decided to pay a visit to London and combine dinner with the kids with being tourists for the day.

As usual we like to start our day in Covent Garden and this visit we breakfasted at Pain Quotidien. Hot porridge followed by a butter croissant and a steamy coffee helped mobilize calories, fortify the arteries and stimulate the shutter finger, whilst motivating me to start embracing the shadows from the get go.

Embracing the Shadows at Pain Quotidien Covent Garden

On the photographic front I have continued with my creative challenge for the months of June and July of seeing the world from a 28 mm perspective. You see I naturally gravitate to 50mm and my favorite combo is the Leica SL2 paired with the 50mm Noctilux F0.95. This provides me with a sort of fusion which I describe as Jimi Hendrix meets Van Gough.

So I am trying to broaden my photographic outlook and try and capture the world, at least during June and July, from a much wider perspective.

Rather than achieving this with my M10P and 28mm Elmarit, I decided to go with the Leica Q Type 116 and its wonderfull 28mm F1.7 lens. A number of photographer friends have asked me why I have not upgraded this to the new Q3. My answer is in the images it produces. It produced super imagers back in 2015 when it was released and in my humble opinion still produces wonderful imagery (or is it me that frames the images and presses the shutter!).. Indeed, the original Q is an ideal street and travel set-up and the wonderful F1.7 lens helped me out on numerous occasions and in a variety of challenging lighting situations.

Now I admit that we were in London as tourists and according to Mrs. C. we were there to do a bit of sightseeing, co-mingled with eating and drinking and it was not to be a photography field trip. Yeah right! :-)

Of course, I am king of my own particular castle but for the sake of expediency and good health, mainly mine, I decided to take this advice on board. However, even though I would be “encouraged” to reign-in my photographic aspirations, I do like to have some sort of photographic objective whenever we are out and about and for this day, it was to try and take a series of images of St.Pauls Cathedral.

So, we set off from Covent Garden and walked along the Strand. The light was very contrasty and with all the tall buildings gave lots of shadows and interesting perspectives.

As we walked along Fleet Street memories of our time living and working in London started to flood back. Unfortunately some of them were still rather hazy as London in the eighties was a party town; all about big hair, shoulder pads, dubious fashion, food and of course the odd drink or three (so I am told).

Just as I saw St. Pauls in the distance we came across another famous landmark, the Central Criminal Courts, or to you and me, “The Old Baily”. With those fabled scales of Justice reminding everyone about the difference between right and wrong it reminded me of that wonderful TV series “Rumpole of the Baily” in which Horace W. Rumple was an “old Baily Hack” (played by Leo Mackern), with his domineering wife, known as “She Who Must be Obeyed!” and of course his beautiful colleague “Portia”. Anyway. I digress, but it is well worth looking up the book or repeats of the TV series. So a quick detour was in order as I tried to capture this building that one only wants to see from the outside as a visitor!

The Old Bailey - From a 28mm perspective.

Following our detour and in a rather roundabout fashion we eventually came to St. Pauls and indeed, I did manage to capture a series of images which I believe depict this wonderful landmark, which amazingly has graced the London skyline for over three hundred years, from a number of interesting perspectives. However, you the reader must be the judge of that.

St Pauls - Layered - From the Millenium Bridge

St. Pauls - From the South Bank - Could this really be central London?

I was really pleased with my set of images and from my perspective job done.

We then found ourselves at another Iconic building, The Tate Modern Gallery. Mrs. C. had been angling for a visit for some time so as she disappeared off to look at the art created by other people, I set about using this wonderful environment to try and create some of my own.

The Turbine Hall - My Industrial interpretation.

Embracing the Shadows - I called this one “Stairway to Heaven”

We could have spent all day at the Tate Modern but we were 15,000 steps in to our London expedition and still lots to see.

As we walked along the South Bank we came across an artist in full flow. He was totally absorbed in his painting and didn’t seem to mind me taking images of him.

I really would have liked to have been good at art. However, as a young man I was quite a good sportsman and so any artistic bent that I may of had was well and truly subdued in favour of football, rugby, cricket, tennis and golf. You get the picture.

In later life I did try my hand at pen and ink drawing. I bought a book by Betty Edwards called Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. Betty explained that everyone can draw but what inhibits most people is the way they see things. After reading this book and putting some of her recommendations in to action, I did achieve a modicum of success. Then again isn’t it the same with photography? We can all press the shutter but its not what you see but how you see it. Anyways its well worth a read.

As we walked along the embankment I was amazed at how, over a period of 30 years, everything could change so dramatically. It would be fair to say that this part of South London would have been deemed “a bit rough” back in the day. Today it is no longer the case. It has been re-devloped with smart new apartments and lots of bustling restaurants and oozed new money.

We then came to HMS Belfast. Another blast from the past as it is moored opposite the old Billingsgate Fish Market. I used to work next door in St Magnus House for the old Midland Bank (showing my age now). Anyways the light was great so I grabbed an image for prosterity.

We were approaching the zenith of our day out and Londons famous Tower Bridge lay ahead.

After 28,000 weary but very enjoyable steps later, our day as a tourist came to an end. We hopped on the tube at Tower Bridge Station and as we travelled back to our hotel we both agreed that we had barely scratched the surface. So, more blogs to come as I continue my 28 mm experiment!

Warmest regards from Plymouth.