My Walk this Week 125 – Colour in Construction

Posted on 21/09/201815/09/2018 by Alastair

I was looking for woodland on my walk this week – and I found it, to a degree, behind the colour in construction of the Science and Technology Block of York University.

It was open woodland straggling along the back of the university which I picked up again on my return across open fields. The colours used in the modern buildings reflected those of older walls surrounding the adjacent York House BIRT facility. I enjoyed the colour in both as well as the textures and patterns in the old, and the cleanliness and hard edges of the new.Continue reading→

A Centre of Art – Swansea 2 The Glynn Vivian Art Gallery

Posted on 04/09/201803/09/2018 by Alastair

Last week I took a day to walk around some of the art currently showing in Swansea. The city is teeming with it – all sorts both international and local. For many years now the arts scene in Swansea has been good but in recent years it has been growing even stronger. So I will be posting each day this week with a different aspect of the work we enjoyed on our tour from one gallery to the next.

We started at the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery where N. S. Harsha had his largest exhibition in the UK to date. He was winner of the Artes Mundi prize in 2008 and one of the works was an installation made for the Glynn Vivian. The whole exhibition was impressive and the installation was powerful in its use of mirrors – I became one of the people painted on the floor looking up at the mirrored ceiling. It has a strange and disorientating effect.Continue reading→

Dumfries 1 – Camera Obscura

Posted on 27/08/201824/08/2018 by Alastair

While in Scotland in June I both wanted and needed to visit Dumfries. I wanted to go there in order to visit the Camera Obscura I had so often heard about throughout my life. My father had seen it when a boy living in Dumfries and I thought it was about time I did too.

Dumfries is an attractive town on a sunny day and one of its enjoyable features is the River Nith – but more about that in my next post. The camera obscura is a fascinating contraption housed in what used to be a windmill. It is this fact that influenced the design andContinue reading→

The Scarborough Express Steam Train

Posted on 13/07/201809/07/2018 by Alastair

While walking around York railway station on my walk this week I saw an increasing number of photographers hanging around – then, to my surprise, the Scarborough Express steam train arrived – which explained everything.

I had been focusing on some of the architectural details and perspectives of the station, enjoying the rib cage of arches andContinue reading→

Superbug or Pokemon on Platform 3

Posted on 11/07/201809/07/2018 by Alastair

It’s not really a superbug or Pokemon on Platform 3 of course, but my walk this week around York railway station offered me a view of a number of different trains and this was the front of one of the local commuter versions. Looking at the face of the train on its own, I thought it had a distinctly cartoon character.

The train I was due to meet was to arrive at Platform 3, but search as I did, I could not find the platform . . . at first. The York station environment is very busy and it can be difficult to identify one thing amongst many.Continue reading→

My Walk this Week – Skeletal Station Architecture

Posted on 09/07/201807/07/2018 by Alastair

My walk this week is at the end of recent travels and depicts the skeletal architecture and structure of York railway station and more. The rib-like structures of the station design are fascinating and while all the photos were taken on my iPhone, perhaps that forced me to be more selective about the views and angles of the images I took.

I found myself unexpectedly with time to spare due to a cancelled train, and so, apart from exploring the station, I also went to York Art Gallery for a lot at this year’s Aesthetica exhibition. It was very interesting but many of the exhibits were in video form and therefore less immediateContinue reading→

Copperopolis 2c – Old Engines and A Trip Up the River

Posted on 01/06/201826/05/2018 by Alastair

The rusty old engines I found as I turned a corner at the end of my walk this week around the old industrial buildings of Copperopolis in Swansea, brought a big smile to my face. The colours, textures and patterns of the old wheels and screws, cables and rails are wonderful.

The boat trips up the River Tawe pass by this old historic area of Swansea but I had a much better view of abandoned machinery than those on the Copper Jack. If you look back atContinue reading→

River Nene Reflections

Posted on 18/05/201814/05/2018 by Alastair

The last part of my walk this week is looking at the River Nene as it flows past Beckets Park in Northampton. Swans, Canada Geese and Mallards were the order of the day.

Reflections were also an expected theme of the day – not only in the river and marina water, but also looking back at the trip at the end of the day. The time spentContinue reading→

Tag Archives: travel