Film – fragglefilm

Film Friday ~ South Shields Funfare ~ Oct 2022

November 25, 2022November 24, 2022Posted in adventures, Contax Aria, Film, kodak gold 400, Photography, Tyne & Wear, UncategorizedTagged Adventure, Contax Aria, film, fraggle, kodak gold 400, photography, South SHields22 Comments

We’re going back to the funfair this week, not with the Ektar diptych maker, but my beloved Contax Aria.

A tiny History Bit

The Funfair is officially known as Ocean Beach Pleasure Park, which sounds very Victorian, which is no surprise as she was Queenie in 1899 when the fair became a permanent fixture. Mostly it’s known as The Fair, as there isn’t another one in our county unless you call Diggerland in Durham a fair, which I don’t.

Prior to 1899, travelling fairs would come along in summer, park up by the market and only be allowed legally to start up once the ordinary market stalls had finished for the day. Eventually they had their own space and could run rides any time. One of the first permanent rides was the Aerial Flight, built in the 1910’s-20’s and cost 1d (old pence) (which would be 0.23 cents in $) for a ride, and advertised that it is suitable and “approved” for all ages. (But not any of my ages, ever.)

STH0000818 Copyright South Tyneside Images 1920’s Ariel Flight Ride.

All gone now, and things are a bit more modern. Well a little bit at least.

Bird poop on his face but surrounded by laydeez, a happy chap.

There were a few Marvellous rides (this is the little bit of modern)

Black Widow being chased by an X-person I think

This chap is doing well for a 94 year old.

Would have had a go on this next one if it had been an option!

These next ones are to do with Peter Pan. Firstly a galleon which swings up high at the front, then wangs itself backwards and swings high at the back. You have a bar to hold onto, which you need when it goes back as your bum leaves it’s seat. I know as I’ve been on one prior to being in my dotage, had to hold my lad from falling out. Very scary biscuits.

This a faceless Captain Hook I believe, he was at the bottom of the steps up to the galleon.

“Death is the only adventure I have left, Smee.” (*Hook 1991*)

you can have

and have lots of

and for your little bambinos

Finally, some surprised elephants. I did wonder if it was a Disney Dumbo thing, but the ears are not long enough and there isn’t a feather in their trunks, so they’re just your average surprised elephants.

My favourite is the Zombie enclosure at the top of the post, might have to go in there when it all opens up again. That’s it for this week, but stay tooned, there’s a few more to come from outside the fair.

📷 🎞️ 😊

Film Friday ~ Kodak Ektar h35 ~ part 3

November 18, 2022November 13, 2022Posted in adventures, diptych, Film, Kodak Ektar H35, kodak gold 400, PhotographyTagged Adventure, film, fraggle, Kodak Ektar H35, Kodak Gold 200, photography, South SHields26 Comments

Camera info ~ This camera is a half frame camera, which means what it says, it only shoots half of a frame of film, so when you put a roll of 36 in it, you get 72 pictures. Neat eh? The camera itself is cute looking but a bit hokey, plastic with no settings other than a flash on/off on the dial around the lens, and the dial is as stiff as a stiff thing on a stiff day. I loaded it with a roll of Kodak Gold 400 and took it everywhere with me but it still took a fair few weeks to finish the frame. I shot the film with the making of dyptichs (2 pictures taken together to complement each other) in mind. I’ll be posting some of them on Fridays.

This set of diptychs will be my last for some while as I’ve a new roll now in the Ektar which will probably take a couple of months to shoot. These are from a little project I’m doing on South Shields sea front.

My first visit was to Little Haven Beach to see the Weebles

and Herd Groyne Lighthouse

the beach was empty of people though evidence of them was apparent.

I went up to Sandhaven and Ocean beaches and had a walk along to the amusement park.

There’s a mini race track for mini people outside one of the arcades.

A bit further on I got to the fairground, which is usually locked up over winter, but I wandered in unchallenged and so started taking photographs. I think one of the arcades was either open or having work done, but they didn’t bother about me.

Verticle spinning bucket thingy and a crazy house.

A good place to end. It was strange to be alone in an amusement park usually shrieking with kids and things spinning and moving all the time. I took some more photos with the Contax so we’ll have a look at those next time.

Stay tooned 😊
📷 🎞️

Film Friday ~ Kodak Ektar h35 ~ part 2

November 11, 2022November 8, 2022Posted in adventures, Cats, diptych, Family, Film, Kodak Ektar H35, kodak gold 400, PhotographyTagged diptychs, film, fraggle, Kodak Ektar H35, kodak gold 400, photography26 Comments

This weeks diptych series starts with a few I took when on my visit to Guisborough Priory which you can read about HERE if you want the history.

This phonebox is outside the Kirkleatham Museum next door to the Owl Sanctuary.

The next ones are from walking around Wardley.

Bomba Nonce??? I have no idea what that means.

and I’ll finish off with a couple of pictures from home.

So that’s it for this week, but fear not dear reader, there’s more to come so stay tooned!

📷 🎞️

Film Friday ~ Kodak Ektar H35

November 4, 2022November 8, 2022Posted in Film, Kodak Ektar H35, kodak gold 400Tagged film, fraggle, kodak 400, Kodak Ektar H35, photography28 Comments

A couple of months ago I treated myself to a new camera, the little Kodak Ektar H35. This camera is a half frame camera, which means what it says, it only shoots half of a frame of film, so when you put a roll of 36 in it, you get 72 pictures. Neat eh? The camera itself is cute looking but a bit hokey, plastic with no settings other than a flash on/off on the dial around the lens, and the dial is as stiff as a stiff thing on a stiff day. I loaded it with a roll of Kodak Gold 400 and took it everywhere with me but it still took a fair few weeks to finish the frame. I shot the film with the making of dyptichs (2 pictures taken together to complement each other) in mind. I’ll be posting some of them on Fridays.

These first ones I took when we went up to Edinburgh for the scale model show.

one of the rugby practice pitches and a wall of programme covers.

I took a few when we did the Art Trail, the digital versions are HERE

When I posted this next piece on the Universe blog it got a big reaction, mostly of consternation but Sophie has been in touch with the artist and she had this to say –

“My work explores my thoughts and fears about how mental health feels and how I think people may see both me and other sufferers.

I am passionate about art and mental health and believe that representing it through art and talking about it can only help end the negative stigma that is attached to it.

I find the helpful meditativeness that I get while working extremely cathartic and it is this that has helped me through difficult times”.

“This piece represents the acute feeling of anxiety, how sharp and intense it can feel”.

And that will do for this week. I’m travelling down South to see my son and family tomorrow but will be checking up on everyone in the evenings when I’m back where I’m staying.

Stay tooned, more dyptichs to come you lucky people!

📷 🎞️ 😊

August Miscellany ~ 3

October 7, 2022October 6, 2022Posted in Contax Aria, Family, Film, Photography, UncategorizedTagged Contax Aria, film, fraggle, Kodak Gold 200, photography12 Comments

The last shots from this roll in August take me back to sunny days and Bar-B-Qs, or ODE’s as they’re known here ~ Outdoor Eating Experiences :). Our friends Paul and Lorraine who live over in South Shields and have a lovely big garden, had friends and family over one Saturday afternoon, and I took a few frames.

Phil, Lorraine Paul under the gazebo thingy

It was nice to be socialising oudoors and seeing family we hadn’t seen in ages.

Phi and I had a few ODE’s ourselves on sunny evenings after work

finally, I love it when the evening sun lightens the corner of the living rooom window, and if you look carefully in the shady bottom right hand corner, you can espy Lord Vincent on the back of his favourite chair.

That’ll be it on Film Friday for a while, I’ve got 2 rolls of film on the go and no-where near finished, but, I’ll be back!

Stay tooned! 📷 🎞 😊

Film Friday ~ August Miscellany 2

September 23, 2022September 22, 2022Posted in adventures, Contax Aria, Film, Kodak Gold 200, Photography, UncategorizedTagged Adventure, Contax Aria, film, fraggle, Kodak Gold 200, Northumberland Zoo, photography19 Comments

Summer seems a long time ago now, sitting here with the rain coming down all day. More pictures from my August roll of film, this time. Back at the zoo with Cal and Liddy, the digital shots some of you saw on the Otherverse Blog.

I’d never heard of these giant donkey’s before, so here is the informtion you are gagging to know too now..

The Baudet du Poitou, also called the Poitevin or Poitou donkey, are (no surprise) bred by the Pesky French. They were (?)created by breeding male donkeys with lady Poitevin horses to produce Poitevin mules which were formerly in worldwide demand for agricultural and other work. The Baudet has a distinctive coat, which hangs in long, ungroomed locks or cadenettes. They were possibly bred from donkeys introduced to the area by the good ol’ Romans. According to wiki they were also possibly a status symbol in the middle ages at least in France, (will rely on April for corroboration on that point) I suppose like having a top specs Range Rover is today, or was, maybe not so much now with climate change and the cost of fuel. Anyhoo, I digress. By the 1800’s France had established a studbook for the breed, and the 19th and early 20th centuries saw them being used for the production of mules throughout Europe. (Is anyone else thinking ‘genetic engineering to the max?) During this same time, Poitou bloodlines were also used to develop other donkey breeds, including the American Mammoth Jack in the United States. Then came mechanisation and by 1977 there were only 44 giant donkeys left in the world. There are more now because of private and public breeding and by 2005 there were 450 purebred Poitou donkeys. They are still an endangered species, their population is below 800 animals worldwide, with 60 of them in the UK.

A Ring Tailed Lemur surprisingly in focus! Interesting factoid:-
Ring-tailed lemurs have scent glands on their wrists, which they then rub all the way along their tails to then waft their tails at other lemurs in ‘stink fights’! As of early 2017, the population in the wild is believed to have crashed as low as 2,000 individuals due to habitat loss, poaching and hunting, making them far more critically endangered, despite reproducing readily in captivity and being the most populous lemur in zoos worldwide.

Fallow Deer have been around for over 8000 years, and are now found roaming free on every continent except Antarctica.

Liddy ~ a unique member of homo sapiens, the most abundant and widespread species of primate. And she is a little monkey!

That’s it for this week! Phil and I are off to Edinburgh today, to the Murrayfield Stadium where Scale Scotland are having their model show, if the Pesky Scots have internet connection up there, I’ll catch up with y’all later.

📷 🎞 😊

Film Friday ~ August Miscellany 1

September 16, 2022September 15, 2022Posted in Contax Aria, Film, Kodak Gold 200, PhotographyTagged Contax Aria, film, fraggle, Kodak Gold 200, photography, Tynemouth Market23 Comments

Random photographs from a roll in the Contax I took with me out and about in August.

A few weeks ago I posted my Hipstamatic outing to Tynemouth Market over on the Universe Blog but of course took a few with my Contax too.

I was with Phil, and we always grab a coffee from the Ouseburn Coffee Company, and Phil managed to knock his one all over the counter, resulting in copious amounts of paper towel mopping up on our part. The guy serving was very nice about it and gave him another cuppa free of charge. I’d have made him pay 😉

I know I posted a picture of Foxy Scotsy last time, but I like this one much more.

I do love the quirky things people bring to sell, I might have to have one of these next visit!

I wish I’d been sharper with the focus for these cute guys

Just people.

I couldn’t resist these ladies again

That’s it for this week, stay tooned though!

📷 🎞 😊

Film Friday ~ A little bit of the Grand Union Canal.

August 19, 2022August 20, 2022Posted in Contax Aria, Film, kodak portra 200, Photography, UncategorizedTagged Adventure, Contax Aria, film, fraggle, Grand Union Canal, Leighton Buzzard, photography23 Comments

Back in the Jurassic era, when there were heydays and I was in mine, on good weather weekends, my friends and I would cycle to the Grand Union Canal in Hemel Hempstead, where we lived, and cycle 8 miles along the canal paths as far as Tring, then we’d cycle back home. There were, and still presumably are, several establishments along the way where you could rest and refresh yourself with beverages, usually half a pint of Bulmers, and have a nice lunch. Summers were fab down south back then and I got fit and tanned, and only rode my bike and myself into the canal once. Ah halcyon days indeed.

The Grand Union Canal came to be in 1929 when it amalgamated with a couple of other canals to try and mitigate against the competitive rail and newly-developing road transport system. It’s the main navigable waterway between London and the Midlands, starting in London, with an arm running to Leicester and a second arm going to Birmingham. The London-Birmingham route is 137 miles long and has 166 locks to pass through.

When I went and stayed in Leighton Buzzard to look after my grandson whilst his Dad took his lady to the Isle of Wight Festival, I took my Contax to the bit of the canal that you can access from the carpark at the Tesco Superstore, and spent a pleasant couple of hours having a wander.

I found this carved felled tree trunk at the beginning of the walk

Plenty of narrow boats that people either live in or use as holiday homes are berthed on the canal. Lutra is named after the Eurasian Otter of the same name.

Loved the washing line and TV ariel on this

There are houses who’s gardens abut the canal,

The Wyvern Shipping Company hire out narrow boats for day trips, or longer. holidays, it’s on my bucket list of things to do.

Not every vessel was a narrow boat

Narrow boats are usually decorated with plants and colourful painted bits and pieces

I reached the first lock on this stretch and was hoping for a boat to come through

And got lucky.

That was were I turned round and went back to pick up Lewis from school, after a lovely afternoon which brought some fab memories back.

All shots clickable and embiggenable

All shots taken with my Contax Aria on a roll of Kodak Portra.

Film Friday ~ Morpeth & Herterton Gardens

July 29, 2022July 31, 2022Posted in adventures, Contax Aria, Film, kodak portra 200, Photography, UncategorizedTagged Adventure, Contax Aria, film, fraggle, Herterton Country Gardens, kodak portra 200, Morpeth, photography32 Comments

I’ve recently been posting about Morpeth and Herterton Country Garden over on the Universe Blog with images from my FujiXT2, but of course I took along my Contax Aria loaded with a roll of Kodak Portra 200 and took some more pictures with it which I’m sharing today.

The Toll House
Toll houses were built on toll roads, tolls being fees that travellers on the road had to pay. A toll collecter lived in the house and there was often a gate across the road to stop people travelling without paying. This one is an early 19th century building, a Grade II listed building and is now a pub called The Office.

Morpeth sits in a loop of the River Wansbeck.

Morpeth Old Bridge ~ footbridge part.
a medieval multi-span bridge of 13th century date, which spanned the River Wansbeck in Morpeth. The bridge was in use until 1835 when it was partially demolished and replaced by a new bridge downstream. The abutments and central pier remain standing to about 4m high and are surmounted by a 19th century footbridge.

On to Herterton now.

The three faced scottish sundial on the arched byre, and Marjorie at work.

the exit from the flower garden into the wildflower garden

Macedonian scabious (*Knautia macedonica*), an extremely hardy ornamental plant.

accompanying posts from the Universe blog :-

Morpeth Part 1
Morpeth Part 2
Herterton Country Garden Part 1
Herterton Part 2

Film Friday ~ April & May

July 1, 2022Posted in Cats, Contax Aria, Film, kodak ultramax 400, Photography, UncategorizedTagged Contax Aria, film, fraggle, home, kodak ultramax 400, photography17 Comments

Random shots taken on the Contax Aria on Kodak Ultramax film.

I do like a sparkling rosé once in a while

I planted these violas last spring and they’ve resurrected themselves this spring too, which is why I suppose, their nickname is Johnny Jump-ups.

Phil sits on a stool in the conservatory to have a cuppa and read the paper. 🤣

I am enamoured of the views from our upstairs windows, I like all the angles and lines of the urban landscape at the back, and I especially like Cheryl’s washing line as it’s so colourful. 🙂

The front bedroom window is my favourite though for all the trees and our Happy Eater Tree when it blossoms.

My first attempt at photographing the grandkids on the contax.

My spider plant is taking over the bathroom, not sure what I’m going to do with all the babies.

When the weather is kind I go on walks around our area.

Hmmm. Not the done thing.

On the whole we don’t fly our flag everywhere as in America, a good explanation as to why is HERE.

On a trog over the railway bridge to go to Lidl at Pelaw i saw the trailing foliage over a lot of people’s back garden fences.

That’s it for this time,

Stay tooned 🙂

📷 🎞 😊

Birkheads Secret Gardens ~ May 22, analogue edition.

June 17, 2022Posted in adventures, Contax Aria, Film, Kodak Gold 200, Photography18 Comments

Over on the Universe Blog on the last and next sundays are my close-up digital shots of the flowers Sophie and I found at Birkheads Secret Gardens. I also had my Contax Aria loaded with Kodak Gold 200 film, and used it to do wider shots of the gardens, and to photograph the quirky decorations that you come across when walking through the gardens. So to accompany the Universe posts, I’m doing a Film Friday post with the results from the Contax.

In one of the corners there’s a nod to pirates

There’s also an oriental kind of place

and you can sit by a pond and look for the fish and the newts.

Walking around you come across mini statues

the owners have a sense of humour

They’ve left an area to become a wildflower place, with it’s own not-a-scarecrow and fake geese 😃

More to come next week, so stay tooned!

all pictures are clickable to embiggen.

📷 🎞 🙂

Film Friday ~ Craster May 2022

May 27, 2022May 27, 2022Posted in adventures, Contax Aria, Film, Kodak Gold 200, Photography, UncategorizedTagged Adventure, Contax Aria, Craster, Dunstanburgh Castle, film, fraggle, Kodak Gold 200, photography23 Comments

Sophie has been home from Spain for a couple of weeks and we’ve been out and about with our cameras. We spent a Sunday up in Edlingham and Craster ~ the Edlingham shots are mostly with the FujiXT2 so will be appearing on Sundays over on the Universe blog, but we also went over to Craster and had a windy walk up the coast to Dunstanburgh Castle, and I employed the Contax Aria for the visit, loaded with Kodak Gold 200 film.

Craster is a small fishing village on the Northumberland coast. It has a small harbour and a grassy path leading up to the castle which is the only way to get to it. For many years, the village has had a herring-curing business: Craster kippers are well known around the world.

Dunstanburgh Castle was built on an epic scale atop a remote headland along the coast. It was built at a time when relations between King Edward II and his most powerful baron, Earl Thomas of Lancaster, had become openly hostile. Lancaster began the fortress in 1313, and the latest archaeological research indicates that he built it on a far grander scale than was originally recognised, perhaps more as a symbol of his opposition to the king than as a military stronghold.

Unfortunately the earl failed to reach Dunstanburgh when his rebellion was defeated, and he was taken and executed in 1322. Thereafter the castle passed eventually to John of Gaunt, who strengthened it against the Pesky Scots by converting the great twin towered gatehouse into a keep.

The focus of fierce fighting during the Wars of the Roses, it was twice besieged and captured by Yorkist forces, but subsequently fell into decay.

Before we arrived at Craster we had lunch at our favourite café in Rock, which readers of the Universe blog will have heard me bang on about.

It was a really blowy~blustery day so walking up the coast was a bit like being beaten up, we didn’t get right up to the castle before we’d had enough and turned round, wimps that we are, but far enough for a long shot of it.

flower pots line the roads coming out of Craster car park

There are quite a few holiday cottages to rent, or maybe they are second homes for posh people, along the sea front, and the have their own little gardens to sit in with views of the harbour, castle, and sea.