Photos
Here is a collection of photographs by me. Select the thumbnail displayed to see the full resolution image.
Tower Bridge
As with most people who live in big cities, I rarely actually go and look at the city I live in, but a few
years ago I did just that and this are two of my favourite pictures from that trip. It's of the famous Tower Bridge
in London, a very scenic picture this one, especially as at the time I took it a pleasing misty fog was rolling in to
add to the atmosphere.
St Pauls and Telecom Tower
As Rowan (Mr Bean) Atkinson once said..."it's a giant titty". Actually it's the dome at St Pauls cathedral, with the
Telecom Tower adding to the symbology in the background.
Swans at Windsor
Some swans photographs on the River Thames in Windsor, just south of the castle. A very rewarding part
of this green and pleasant land, this England. Just don't expect to find anywhere to park your car.
Stonehenge
Whether you're into 'the old ways' or not, this is a place you must visit, even if not on a solstice.
Paris
Two views of Paris, the first one taken near dusk when the city lights were just coming on, the second taken at
night from the top of the Eiffel Tower.
Lightning
One night (around 2am) there was a big storm outside my window. I jumped out of bed, grabbed a camera,
pointed out the window and at an appropriate moment pressed the shutter release. Unfortunately my usual SLR camera had
flat batteries so I had to use my backup a small simple camera with no B setting. This meant I couldn't keep the aperture open so
I had to judge the moment to catch this lightning bolt. You can see I still jumped a little when the lightning struck as it was near and
the thunder was loud and almost simultaneous with the lightning.
Princess Diana at Queen's birthday
In 1987 I went to the queens birthday parade and was very lucky to get this shot of Diana, Princess of Wales,
above the heads of the crowd. I pre-focused my Minolta X-700, to where I expected my target to be, held the camera above my head (and therefore
above those around me), judged roughly where I should point the camera and pressed the shutter release. A lucky (or was it skilful) shot
indeed. Even so, some woman did manage to get her head in the way.
Hovercraft
Invented by a british engineer, totally underused, this is one of the last remaining operational hovercraft
in the UK. There are quite a large number used in the USA and the Russian military have some seriously mean hovercraft but the UK market
will vanish once these Hoverspeed craft are retired, currently planned for around 2003.
Glomar Artic 1
In 1987 I did a two week hitch on the exploration rig Glomar Artic 1, a semi-submersible rig which lived on three massive
floatation tanks. The trips out and back were on a Bristow's helicopter like the one in the picture which I took mid-way
through my hitch, this flight brought supplies and some relief crew. It was an interesting experience but one which I would not
care to repeat. 12 hour shifts, dirty and dangerous jobs, complete isolation (no satilite TV in those days) discomfort in high
seas (the rig moved) all made the day drag and increased boredom. The food however, was very good.
On Patrol
First and foremost, my finger is not on the trigger, but along the side just as it should be. An oppo took this while we were having a quiet moment
on patrol. Actually there was a Scorpion light tank a couple of hundred yards away looking for enemy patrols so we were keeping our heads down - but we were still cool
enough to pose for a picture!
Climbing
I've done some climbing. Here my flight members and I are scrambling up a Scottish mountainside.
Parade
When you're going to be visited by high ranking officers, everybody has to chip in to ensure everything
is beyond standard, in this case a flight member is actually painting the tyres of this vehicle black, because the
natural state of the tyres simply isn't black or shiny enough for a parade.
Chippy at RAF Abingdon
My first flying experiences were gained with the Air Training Corps, which I was in from the age of 13.5 to 22 years,
rising to the rank of Cadet Warrant Officer. The ATC gave me a degree of confidence, self control, discipline and a breath of
experiences that would have been hard to match in any other youth organisation. I can thoroughly recommend to any
kids (or even older forms of life) out there to join this or similar organisations. Whatever your interests are, follow them. I actually
took this shot at RAF Abingdon as a cadet waddled out to a waiting Chipmunk for an air experience flight (the emergency use parachutes made
walking very difficult). If he was lucky he would have done some aerobatics while airborne. In the
background you can see some VC-10s awaiting their tanker conversion. The RAF had just acquired
these aircraft from British Airways.
Air Experience Flights
Back in the early 80's while I was in the Air Training Corps I'd go flying as often as possible. In the first picture, me and
two fellow cadets (from 2473 Sqn ATC) are waiting for an air experience flight in a Chipmunk at RAF Abingdon. I was a Flight Sergeant at this
stage and also doing my glider pilot training, gaining my solo glider pilot wings shortly after this powered flight. In the second picture a cadet deposits
the contents of his stomach, secured in a bag into a bin. The bag was filled due to aerobatic manoeuvres which disagreed with the greasy food the
cadet had eaten for lunch.
Gliding
An early glider a Kirkby Kadet, open canopy, wind in your face, real gliding, I gained my wings in
one of these. Later these were replaced by modern ASK21s.
Fieldcraft
If in doubt, build a tripod! We did a lot of fieldcraft training, survival etc and always, I mean always you would
have to build a tripod. This one was for practice only (no river to cross).
Transportation
Two modes of transportation being used in my mother's village in Cyprus.
Pyramid at Giza, Egypt
Just one of the pyramids at Giza. A couple of seconds after I took this shot,
the Police man in the foreground chased away the camel rider, whipping him and
his camel as they ran off into the distance. The camel riders get unsuspecting
tourists onto their camels, then demand large sums of money before the
tourists are allowed to dismount. Beware, everyone seems very friendly,
but they're just after your cash. they can get very pushy and things can get
ugly if your not careful, be firm is the best advice I can give, and never
take anything into your hand, even when offered as a 'free gift'.
Another view of the Pyramids at Giza, Egypt
Another view the pyramids at Giza. I'm sorry but no photograph can possibly
convey the scale of these structures, you'll just have to go and see. Two weeks before
my trip 9 German tourists were killed at the museum in Cairo (also part of my tour),
two weeks after my visit over over 65 tourists were killed on the same
tour I was on, and to finish off, a week later the sister ship of the one I was on
caught fire and sank. I guess I was just lucky!
Luxembourg
On my 1998 driving tour of Europe I stopped off in Luxembourg, a beautiful small country. Small is the word, what
you see above just about covers it. Well, that's no completely true but these pictures do cover most of the picturesque
part of the old city.
A corner of my room
A corner of my room, basically this is the tidy bit where you can actually see some floor space, the
rest of the room is not so tidy. Here you can see my PC, below the desk is my Amiga B2000, some painting
materials scattered around, a painting in progress on an easel and if you look hard enough you will even a stroomtrooper helmet.
Donnington 1998
Just a hint of the many beautiful cars at the Lotus meeting at Donnington 1998, the
50th Anniversary of Lotus Cars Ltd.
Lotus JPS Europa
Just one of the many beautiful cars at the Lotus meeting at Donnington 1998, the
50th Anniversary of Lotus Cars Ltd.
Smart Advertising
I was driving in Switzerland (on holiday) when I saw this advertising effort and
just had to take a picture of it, fortunately I had a little snappy camera with me. I've not
seen them in the UK.
