Hackney gasholders at sunset

Sunset over the Thames

Red sky at night

Sunset in Waterlow Park

London skyline on a Winter Morning

Shot with a Canon SX 530 at 50x optical zoom, 320th sec at f/5.6.

Perigee full moon

The reasonably common phenomenon of full Moon coinciding perigee was completely ignored until the media discovered the term 'supermoon' a few years ago, Perigee (minimum distance from Earth) varies between 356400 and 370400 km (average 362600 km) and apogee (maximum distance from Earth) varies between 404000 and 406700 km(average 405400 km), so on average a perigee full Moon will appear 12 percent larger and 25 percent brighter than one occurring at apogee.

However, perigee on 14 November will be the closest one since 1948, and the Moon will appear 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter compared with the smallest apogee full Moon. This still isn't an enormous difference, and prior to the current frenzy over 'supermoons' was only of interest to astronomers. Here in Britain, of course, we are in any case set to see absolutely nothing.

Eternal Scaffolding

It is a constant frustration for a tourist to see a landmark they have traveled far to see covered in scaffolding. This is a photograph of the Spanish Steps in Rome in May 2004:

And this was the same scene a decade later, in October 2014.

A short distance away is the iconic Trevi Fountain. It's more eternal scaffolding than eternal city.

It was the same situation in Venice with the Bridge of Sighs between 2009 and 2011 (though restoration was complete when I visited in 2013).

The problem is certainly not confined to Italy. This is the Padrão dos Descobrimentos (Monument of the Discoveries) in Lisbon, a modernist tribute to Prince Henry the Navigator:

Mitchell's Fold stone circle

Mitchell's Fold is a stone circle in South-West Shropshire, located near the small village of White Grit on dry heathland between Stapeley Hill to the north and Corndon Hill to the south.It dates to the Early Bronze Age, around 2000 BC. The monument comprises 15 stones arranged in an ellipse measuring 30 m (100 ft.) by 27 m (88 ft.). Originally, there might have been up to thirty stones.

The dolerite stones are thought to have been brought from Stapeley Hill to the northwest and are of a uniform geology. The majority protrude above the turf to an average height of 0.4 m (1 ft. 4 in.); there are two recumbent stones; and three stones are appreciably taller than the rest with heights of 0.9 m (3 ft.), 1.4 m (4 ft. 6 in.) and 1.7 m (5 ft. 6 in.). Aerial photography shows that there is a central stone now hidden below ground. An outlying stone 0.7 m (2 ft 3 in.) in height stands on a small prominence to the southeast.

The Shropshire Hills

Located between Shrewsbury and the Welsh border, the Shropshire Hills have been designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The area is unspoiled by light pollution: on a clear night the Milky Way can be seen just a few minutes walk from the high street of Church Stretton.

Full Moon

Taken on 22:00 on 19 July 2016 with Canon Power Shot SX530HS - 1/160 sec at f/8 ISO 100.

Birmingham Central Library

The Birmingham Central Library opened in 1974 and was for a time the largest non-national library in Europe. Designed by architect John Madin in the brutalist style, the library won praise for its inverted ziggurat form, but it did not meet with the approval of HRH Prince Charles, who described it as looking like "a place where books are incinerated, not kept".

The library was part of a masterplan for the newly created Paradise Circus site, which also included a School of Music, a Drama Centre, an Athletic Institute, offices, shops, public house, a car park with 500 spaces, and a bus interchange. These were to be connected by high level walkways. In the event, only the School of Music and Yardbird pub were ever built, and the walkways were never completed. Spending cuts led to the Council selling off land surrounding the library, ending hope of the site being occupied by a publicly-owned civic complex.

The library's atrium was enclosed with a glass roof and screens around 1990, and the space below was named Paradise Forum. It was intended that this become an alfresco eating and entertainment area, but it was eventually leased to property companies who in turn sublet the units to shops and fast food outlets.

In the late 1990s, Paradise Circus was sold to property developers, and the Council began to investigate relocating the library, After a number of proposals had fallen through, work finally started in 2010 on a new Library of Birmingham, located next to the Rep Theatre. The Central Library closed at the end of June 2013.

The building could have been refurbished and put to other uses, but proposals came to nothing. The Council thwarted all attempts to have it listed, and demolition commenced in August 2015.

The library in September 2009

August 2013, shortly after closure.

Above: August 2013, showing visible signs of dilapidation.

Below: June 2016, demolition in progress.

Bridges of Newcastle

Few cities can claim as many architecturally-distinctive bridges as Newcastle on Tyne.

A photograph taken from the High Level road and rail bridge of three of the bridges that connect Newcastle to Gateshead. They are (foreground) the Swing Bridge constructed 1873-6; (middle) the Tyne Bridge constructed 1926-8 and (background) the Gateshead Millennium Bridge constructed 1998-2001. The Sage Gateshead can be seen to the right of the latter.

A photograph taken from the opposite direction towards the Tyne Bridge. The High Level Railway Bridge can just be made out at the back.

The High Level Bridge, opened in 1849. The other bridges can be seen in the background.

A closeup of the Tyne Bridge.

The Swing Bridge and Tyne Bridge, as viewed from the High Level Bridge.

Waxing gibbous Moon

19 April 2016 at 19:16 shot with Canon Power Shot SX530 HS 1/800 sec at f/8 ISO 200.