Thursday Doors

15-06-17

The weather has been so unpredictable this year but it finally seems to have settled a little. Managed to get out and about this week on a couple of days in between the chores. Here’s my (late) eclectic contribution to Norm 2.0 “Thursday Doors” blog.

Fleur Enjoying The Warmth

Met up with my PhotoBuddies on Tuesday for a coffee and a walk around some of the older parts of the city (Leicester).

Louvre’s 

This is very near to where the old Great Central Railway bridged it’s way into the station. I’ve decided I like louvre’s.

Underneath The Arches

These two guy’s were more than happy to pose for a photograph outside their Engineering Co. which sits under the old railway arches. We had a good chat about how the area had changed over the years. I’ll pop back next week and drop them in a print of this photo.

S R & S 1919

I’ve tried to find out what S R & S was, but no luck. I guess a trip to the reference library and a look at some old trade directories might supply the answer. The whole area (Bath Lane) had a lot of engineering companies and foundries in it’s heyday, it’s now becoming an apartment block zone !

Peeling

Tucked Away

The next few are from yesterday’s (Thursday) trip to town.

This shop at the top of the Market Place is being restored, it’s a lovely old shopfront.

Knight & Garter

This pub has been just been totally restored, I was tempted to go in and try the beer but I had jobs to do at home.

Bowling Green Street
 
I’ve walked past this lovely doorway countless times, never really took much notice. But it’s been restored and is now a restaurant. Can’t find much information about the building other than it’s Grade 11 listed and possibly the old Water Board offices.

Thursday Doors

01-06-17

Thursday Doors and Street Art might be a better title for my contribution to the excellent Norm 2.0 blog, do click through and check out some of the great contributions.

Was completely oblivious that last weekend there was a street painting event “Bring The Paint” in our cultural quarter, just as I had no idea the Queen was visiting my home town in April. I don’t use social media very much, just Instagram, really gone off facebook where apparently information about the event abounded !!!!

I had arranged to meet up with a couple of friends for a Photowalk on Tuesday and much of the street art was still around.

Photo Buddies
 
I’ve known the guy on the far side of the street since 1970 when we were both at Leicester School of Printing and both had hair.

Counting this one as a door, and there’s a shopping trolley as a bonus.

This one even has an electricity substation behind it, one of my favourite subjects.

 
A lovely old gate.

And from the front.

The little window caught my eye on this one.

Roller Shutters

 

Music Venue Door

The Sound House apparently want to keep the street art on their building.

Old Factory Door

This is the side gate to the factory above.

Finally Some Neglected Doors

All of this artwork was completed over one weekend, most of it will disappear as the whole of the Cultural Quarter is in the process of being restored or rebuilt.

Blackbirds, Holly Tree, My Cats & A Box of Prints

Blackbird alarm calls got me up and out into the garden, I knew there was a nest in my Holly tree. With the weather being so poor earlier on this year I never managed to give the tree a good pruning, a painful process (for me that is), the leaves are very sharp. The cause of the alarm calls were my two cats who were mooching around the tree looking for somewhere out of the sun to settle down for a sleep.

So now I’m fretting for the well being of the Blackbird chicks. I’ve talked to the the cats about them but they weren’t impressed. My old Tomcat (Orlando) never bothered about birds too much, but the girls are fascinated by them.

Later on I decided to do a bit more sorting out of the spare bedroom/ex darkroom and came across a box of prints I had forgotten about. They are all from infrared film, and were very tricky to print, but scanned in well.

North Wales

The ones above were taken on the way to Barmouth and Portmeirion.

Near Settle – Yorkshire


These were all taken on Kodak HIE infrared on my Olympus OM2n.

Old Footbridge, Rundale Pils, Latvia

This was taken on Konica IR750 film on my Rolleiflex in 1993. Rundale Palace has been beautifully restored now.

Thursday Doors

18-05-17

Orthez, Aquitaine, France

A bit of a cop out really, but my excuse is 2 weeks of man flu and not very good weather. Hopefully I’ll be out and about soon and have some new doors to post. These images are from around 2006 and taken on a film camera.

Check out the excellent Norm 2.0 blog for a great selection of doors from around the globe.

My friends moved out to Aquitaine to set up a Bed & Breakfast, which I have visited many times. It’s such a lovely area, and I hope to be seeing them again later this year. The nearest town of any size is Orthez, it’s a set on the Gave de Pau, has some great buildings and more importantly some great doors.

Gave de Pau

14th Century Bridge & Tower

I guess I’ve always liked photographing doors, archways, and gates !

This One Was For Sale

This is What the Rest of it Looked Like

If only I’d had a million or two.

All Good Things

Pastries, Chocolates, and Beer, what more do you want ?

Furniture

Religious Building

Really liked the Ivy and the doorway of course.

Thursday Doors

27-04-17

I’m a little bit late posting, went out for a few beers with some old friends last night, didn’t get back home until 12.45am.

Anyway here’s my contribution to Norm 2.0’s excellent “Thursday Doors” blog.

The weather on Tuesday was really good, so I set off for a walk to town on a different route to the one I normally take. I wanted to photograph some Georgian doors near to Leicester Prison ! (fondly known as Leicester Castle)

Leicester De Montfort Hall

Before heading to the prison area I stopped off at De Montfort Hall, the flowers in the grounds looked really good considering the bad weather we have had over the last few weeks. I’ve seen some great bands at this venue over the years, Pink Floyd, Captain Beefheart, Eric Clapton and Kraftwerk to name just a few. 

This place is being refurbished so I was glad I got this shot.

This used to be the Norwich Union Insurance offices, it’s now been refurbished and turned into apartments.

Heading towards the prison area I spotted this rather nice plaque.

There seemed to be a huge difference in the condition of the properties in this area.

And To Finish With

I’m sure I read somewhere that this building used to originally be a Harmonium manufactures premises, but I can’t find the information so I could be completely wrong. 

Thursday Doors

20-04-17

I’ve not really been anywhere for photographing doors over the last week. The weather apart from a few days has been cold and dull and when the sun was shining I was catching up on garden chores or going to see some bands playing, which inevitably involves drinking beer :>)

Here are a few doors for Norm 2.0 ‘s excellent “Thursday Doors” blog. I’ve been collecting examples of original domestic doors, there aren’t that many left nowadays, most being replaced by plastic or aluminum. The one I forgot to take a photo of is my own !

Columns, Portholes, and Stained Glass

Plain But Original

The One On The Left I Think

1930’s I Would Guess

As It Was Built

And A Grand One To Finish With

Thursday Doors

13-04-17

Managed a short visit to Oakham in Rutland this week, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutland) the weather forecast was reasonable and it’s only two stops down the line from my hometown. It’s been a long time since I visited Oakham for sightseeing, used to go there 2 or 3 times a month for business when I still worked. It’s a lovely old market town and most importantly has a fine selection of doors for my contribution to the excellent Norm 2.0 “Thursday Doors” Blog.

Oakham Cemetery

You can see the cemetery from the railway as you enter Oakham, it looked interesting so went straight there from the station. I know it’s not really a door but it’s a lovely building and entrance way. The lodge is Grade-II listed.

Oakham Cemetery Chapel

On the High Street

Partial selfie !

The Dentists Door !

Can’t have too many Blue doors.

All Saints Church

The Post Office

From The Side Streets

There are some lovely cottages along the side streets, a lot of them are constructed from the local stone and many have thatched roofs. Really enjoyed the visit to Oakham.