Category Archives: Urban

Wheeling and Dealing

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Approaching Belfast city centre on this Boxing Day walk in 2011 the architecture becomes abstract when superimposed against the big ferris wheel situated beside City Hall. Seen behind one of the columned towers of the building, the scene takes on a Christmassy or religious appearance – ironic considering the role that religion still plays in Northern Ireland politics. So are the punters wheeling while the politicians are dealing?

This shot can also be seen in black and white on Monochrome Madness MM 2-41 at Leanne Cole Photography.

Ferris Wheel

 

City Colours

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My walk around Belfast started with the River Lagan but then headed towards the city centre. It was Boxing Day and the streets were relatively quiet. The range of architectural design, colours and patterns may be what you might expect in any city, but this is Belfast, the place where I grew up and still love.

This walk was taken a few years ago and I have not been there since. These photos  are therefore important to me and serve my memory very favourably.

Belfast

Suburban Night Walk and Reviewing the Week 53

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The location of this walk and the time of year (a mild winter in Middlesbrough) is the same as the pervious week’s daytime walk, but the sense of it is quite different at night. Once again this is not a StillWalks video, but I hope you can still enjoy listening to the soundscape while viewing the images.

night time footpath

Click the play button below and then the first thumbnail image to view the photos in sequence.

Night Walk Soundscape 

If viewing this in an email, to see the sound player you will need to visit the blog – please click the post title to view the full post.

Colour and a Ghostly Light

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The colour in these night lights and their reflections in the water of Hemlington lake is clear, but whatever colour may be in the branch below as it stretches into the night under a desaturating street lamp, is lost almost entirely – I find it quite ghostly.

urban light reflections

branches in night light

Dark Images – Photos of the Night

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As my walk extended round to the unlit side of Hemlington Lake my photos became still darker. At this point I am facing away from the town and much of the light and colour reflected on the clouds is hidden by the trees behind me.

In the first image you can just see the near side of the footbridge with the railings of its far side silhouetted against the street light. Below is a short sound clip of my footsteps crossing the bridge and it is after this that a gentle rain starts.

Footsteps and Rain

If viewing this in an email, to see the sound player you will need to visit the blog – please click the post title to view the full post.

dark footbridge

Blue Bell Beck at night

Hemlington Lake at Night

Light and Dark

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The view of and colours in the night sky over Middlesbrough changed as I walked around the other, unlit side of Hemlington Lake. The shapes and silhouettes of trees enhanced the reflected colour on the clouds and proved there was light to be seen. However, the footpath on this side of the lake was very dark and it was only because I know the path well that I had no problems seeing where I should walk.

As I came round this side of the lake I disturbed some of the birds roosting in the vegetation at the lake side. So at this point in my night walk, there was a little more sound than perhaps there should have been.

Night Birds

If viewing this in an email, to see the sound player you will need to visit the blog – please click the post title to view the full post.

trees at night

trees and night sky

night sky and lake

Swans in the Night Lights

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Many of the birds on Hemlington Lake were roosting during my night time walk around its perimeter. Some however, like this swan, thought there might be some food on offer. Unfortunately for him the best I could do was to take his photograph in the wan light of a distant street lamp.

It was darker than I had expected on this night walk. Being a suburban lake I thought there would be more ambient light from the city. It seems the lake and its surrounding grass and trees provide something of an oasis from the hustle and bustle of the urban landscape – just as intended.

The second image in this short sequence shows the fenced off outlet in the lake that featured in one of last week’s posts – you can just see it in the dark

Swan in the night light

Reflections and Colour in the Sky

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Such as it is, the colour in the sky on this night walk round Hemlington Lake is a reflection of the urban lights in Middlesbrough. Despite travelling north east for the new year, the weather didn’t improve much for us and so the street lamps had plenty of cloud cover to reflect their yellow-orange glow.

It didn’t actually rain much on me during this walk and I really enjoyed the subdued colours, the silhouettes of trees and the night sounds of coots on the water.

lake at night

footpath and lake at night

trees at night