Contax Aria – fragglefilm

Film Friday ~ Bits and pieces at the end of 2022

January 6, 2023January 5, 2023Posted in Cinestil 800, Contax Aria, Film, PhotographyTagged Adventure, Bishop Auckland, Contax Aria, film, fraggle, Miscellaneous, photography33 Comments

Sophie and I visited the the Spanish Gallery in Bishop Auckland and I took a couple of pictures in the town before we got to the gallery.

The Hut is just outside the Bishop Auckland carpark, and does the usual Northern fare, chip butties, bacon butties, sausage butties, teas and coffees etc, but I’ve been there a few times and never seen it open.

Walking from the car park to the gallery…

The area known as Bondgate dates to the very beginnings of Bishop Auckland. It is named after the ‘bondsmen’ – labourers, bound by contract, who served the bishop. Shortly after Auckland Castle was established, a small settlement grew to the west of the bishop’s residence and Deer Park. By 1183, the Boldon Book reported that 22 villagers lived here, including a cobbler, a miller and a smith.For centuries, Fore Bondgate was Bishop Auckland’s main shopping area, home to an eclectic mix of shops and public houses. Although, today, shops are more widely spread across the town, Fore Bondgate remains home to numerous independent businesses that keep the tradition of the area alive. (ish).

the birds in this shop are also not alive.

A random tree, no idea where I took this.

Sunshine after the rain made my net curtains look like they were sequinned.

I am surprisingly keeping this cyclamen alive.

Finally, let’s end with a cliché..

all pictures embiggenable with a click.

📷 🎞️ 😊

Friday Film ~ Christmas Market Day Dec 2022

December 30, 2022December 27, 2022Posted in adventures, Cinestil 800, Contax Aria, Film, North Shields, Photography, South SHields28 Comments

My Sunday post on the Universe Blog coincided with Christmas day, and so my post was about the Christmas Markets in North and South Shields, all taken with my iPhone, not thinking I’d have my film shots back from development. The wonderful people at Analogue Wonderland exceeded my expectations though, and I got them back on Christmas Eve.

These then are the accompanying photographs, all taken on a Contax Aria loaded with Cinestil 800D.

Outside a pub next to the market in North Shields a group of people singing carols and playing what I assume are ukeleles, were doing a cracking job.

The North Shields Ukelele Consortium ~ Santa division.

The first appearance of roasted chestnuts is a mystery, though they were thought to signify chastity for Christians. Some believe they had already made an appearance during the 16th century as a street snack in Rome.

🎶Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. 🎵 Or at least in a mini oven.

I saw this lady, and asked to take her photo

and then I saw this man, and did the same

I have no idea what this stall had to do with Christmas

Over to South Shields and their Christmas Market was even worse, this is the only shot I took.

but I took a couple of pictures on the way back to the car

The Oysten Street Gas holder has been a feature of the South Shields’ skyline since 1886. Built by G & W Walker Ltd., the design includes 16 vertical cast iron columns. It did have two huge tanks that lifted telescopically as they filled with gas, to a total height of 90ft, but it was discontinued 10 years ago. Northern Gas Networks was expected to begin demolition and removal of the redundant gas holding station from October 22 to April 23, but no sign of it happening so far.

And finally, we saw the sun set over the river Tyne.

That’s all folks! 📷 🎞️ 😊

Film Friday ~ Watergate Park ~ Film edition

December 16, 2022December 13, 2022Posted in adventures, Contax Aria, Film, kodak portra 200, Photography, UncategorizedTagged Adventure, Autumn, Contax Aria, film, fraggle, kodak portra 400, photography, UK, Watergate Forest Park32 Comments

A few weeks ago on the Universe Blog I posted some photographs of Watergate Park, a recreational park on land that used to be a colliery, you can check that post out HERE. I also took quite a few with my Contax Aria armed with a roll of Kodak Portra. It’s freezing here in the North UK and has been all week, so let’s turn back the clock to Autumn, and have a lovely walk through the park.

A pin oak. Or scarlet oak. Some sort of oak anyhoo.

Arty farty sculpture chair. Doesn’t look very comfortable.

It has been a lovely Autumn, that seemed to go on a long time. Phil’s hanging baskets lasted until this week. Not much snow here, just a few hours on a couple of days, but below freezing temperatures day and night, so what we did have is stuck in suspended non-animation and it is treacherously icy everywhere. The south got the worst of the snow, which is fair enough as they get hotter summers, but I really would have liked some more of it, for photographic purposes 🙂

stay tooned!

📷 🎞️ 😊

Film Friday ~ South Shields beach front ~ Oct 2022

December 2, 2022December 1, 2022Posted in adventures, Contax Aria, Film, kodak portra 400, Photography, South SHields, Tyne & Wear, UncategorizedTagged Adventure, Contax Aria, film, fraggle, kodak portra 400, photography, South SHields23 Comments

After I’d walked around the empty funfair (here) I sallied forth beyond it to the beach front. Very few people around, but I spotted this chap with his camera photographing some little birds that were hopping about. I asked him what they were and Snow Buntings was the answer. They are a sparrow-sized bird that breeds in the Arctic (from Scandinavia to Canada), and winters in the UK, mainly around the coast. Too small for the lens I have on the Contax, but the photographer wasn’t. When Phil saw this he said the guy looks like he’s about to launch an RPG!

I liked the clean lines of the locked up Lifeguard building,

and I liked the additional rainbow that landed on it a moment later as the rain started up.

The rainbow got cut off at the edge of the clouds, but it hung about as I walked up to the skateboard park behind the funfair.

The skateboard park was, unusually, bereft of lads with their derring do, and a lone Seagull sentinel stood aloft awaiting the action.

I realise I’ve grown too old to understand the graffiti alphabet or language of today, I think there’s an M in this. But I liked the mouse. Or maybe the rat?

It was quite cold this day, and I thought she could do with a coat on, or a blanket, but I guess pirates are mean.

If only, a beach bar in Havana, warm sunshine, a Cuban Rumba on the music system, a handsome waiter pouring me a cocktail, sitting by the outside bar and gazing out to sea, ah, if only!

I left Havana, without a cocktail, and wandered up towards the beach at Trow Rocks, where a herd of people, (well 4 anyway) were walking their dogs.

And that’s the end of this roll of Kodak Portra, which I think suits the subject quite well. It was a strange afternoon, I’ve rarely seen the place so unpopulated, even though it was cold (ish), but it was also cool, to be able to focus on what there is, and not what everyone is doing. Peace and tranquility, unexpectedly. I think I’ll go back next summer when it’s all on the go, and do some contrasting photographs.

So thanks for visiting, and stay tooned for whatever comes next!

📷 🎞️ 😊

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 SHields25 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.

📷 🎞️ 😊

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