Night out at the Lantern Festival

A Steam Powered Surprise at Malvern Station

I had heard from the Malvern History page on Facebook that a double headed steam train would be picking up travellers at Malvern Station on a day trip to Cardiff on Sunday morning. As this nicely coincided with taking my son Duncan to the station to return to London we arrived a little early to see it. Unfortunately Beastie was too poorly to come, so he stayed in bed while I was in charge of the pictures.

Duncan and I took a good position on the down platform to get a view along the line which is straight to Malvern Link. It was already 5 minutes late and we were chatting idly when suddenly I heard a distant chuff, on the edge of my hearing.

“It’s coming” I whispered tapping Duncan excitedly. We stopped talking and soon after, heard a faint train whistle as the train drew near to Malvern Link. We waited, spellbound, straining our eyes and ears for any sign of the train.

Then, there it was, at first sight just a swirl of steam and smoke in the far distance, getting ever closer as it stormed down the line towards Great Malvern. Then we saw its front light, then the engine itself. It blew its whistle again, just because it could. It had no need to attract attention to itself. 

Then all of a sudden it was rushing past. First the two engines with the drivers and stokers faces tinted orange by the roaring flames of the fire. Then the coaches. Lots of them. So many coaches that the engines were well out of the other end of the station, all steamed up and lit with table lamps and decorated with tinsel. Full of smiling faces looking forward to their shopping trip to Cardiff and maybe their silver service meal on the way home.

We rushed through the tunnel to try and get a better view from the other platform as the line curves to the right out of the station, as it heads towards the tunnel through the Malvern Hills and then out into Herefordshire. By then the next train to Birmingham had arrived and was massively spoiling the photo opportunities from this platform. This was in fact the train Duncan needed to catch so I left him briefly and tried in vain to get a picture of the engines but they were too far distant to be inspiring and also completely engulfed in steam. 

The whistle blew, doors slammed, the engines began to roar and bellow and the lovely train drew off. 

We had just enough time for a quick hug then Duncan too was on his way to London. 

I have had a hankering for a special train ride for a while and this just confirmed what I already felt. I admit, I am now a railway nut, officially. This has to be the single most exciting moment for me for some time, sad I know. If our circumstances were different and Adrian had been with me and said, “Come on, get aboard. This is your Christmas present” I would have been delighted. 

We might have to go back this evening and see it again.

Postcard from York

A clock, a clock in situ, a Grotesque, a room with a view and two turtle doves creating their very own wallpaper design. It’s York.

The Antics of Worth and Gates 140/366

Worth and Gates have two very indulged cats. This is Alfie. Alfie lacks the elegance of the true Gentleman cat.

Pictures from Ste Maxime

Ste Maxime is a picturesque town on the French Riviera in the Gulf of St Tropez looking across to the small town of St Tropez itself. It has a style and charm of its own and is a lovely place to meander around and grab a nice lunch in one of its many restaurants.

Playing in Grimaud and St Tropez

Yesterday we went to book a horse riding trip for Thursday and on the way back we stopped in Grimaud for lunch. We had a saunter round and wandered up to the old chateau that tops the hill. It is a lovely place to spend a few hours exploring.

Lunch was lovely. Norwegian salad for me and an omelette for Peanut washed down with a glass of white wine each. A lot of Harley bikers were there making the restaurant busy. 

We had planned to go to the beach but the strength of the sun had waned so we went to St Tropez for a mooch instead. 

We parked in the centre at place des Lices and then headed to the port to grab a few photos of the yachts.

A lot of the more traditional yachts were in the port which to us are more interesting to see. Contrasting with these were the Harleys parked along the quayside. Peanut grabbed this photo. The reddy background is from the seats of one of the more famous cafes that surround the port. I loved this image that P shot.

The Antics of Worth and Gates 124/366

A lazy day for Worth and Gates on holiday in the south of France. However, the sunshine dragged them out of bed and into their car for lunch in Ste Maxime. Duck for Worth and salmon for Gates made for a rather delicious lunch and this necessitated an afternoon on the beach to help digest lunch. A dash to Gigaro was called for then. 

That is the fun side of living with cancer mused Worth. The not fun side of dying with cancer was the tummy ache that followed the meal and the sunglasses to hide the bloodshot eye where a blood vessel had decided to burst for no good reason. 

Worth mused some more. He likes his life – he gets to do all kinds of antics with Gates – there’s nothing to beat it.

Harley Davidson Festival

The Harleys (and the odd Indian) are in St Tropez. Every machine a work of art.

Walkabout in Port Cogolin

The morning rain had cleared but left ominous dark clouds in the sky. We took the opportunity to walk around Port Cogolin as we always find something to photograph.

I love to capture detail shots from around the port and there are always flowers to be found too.

Interesting cars are always showing up. This Jeep lives here and I just love this vehicle, it just looks so full of purpose.

When you see a 2CV you know you are going to photograph that too.

A cat and a bird are again prime targets for the camera

Next we have an assortment of other interesting things we came across.

And finally a walk around Port Cogolin is not complete if I don’t grab a photo of the crane. I love this crane.

A Wet Morning in Port Cogolin

Brilliant sunshine streamed through the narrow gap in our window shutters to wake us with the promise of a beautiful day. However in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea in bed the weather had changed and dark, heavy clouds promised  a downpour. 

And down it came, marooning us in our apartment. Only one thing to do – take some photos.

First I grabbed the landscape pictures above using the 27mm pancake lens and the I turned to the big zoom lens for some detail shots.

It’s amazing what you can find to photograph on the patio. I loved this shot of water droplets clinging to the leaves. I played around with the image and rather liked the black and white version.

Then I amazed myself by just how much I liked this photo of pegs on a clothes drier. Now my first rule of photography is “If you want to take a good photograph, stand in front of something good.”

I’m not sure that this adheres to rule number one, but nonetheless I love this photo.

Next I grabbed a close up of the copper roof on the band stand below us.

Later the rain stopped and we went on a walkabout. I’ll share those pictures later but I’ll leave you with this one of The Pouncho, which will take you across the Gulf of St Tropez to the famous fishing village.