Another GW690 photo from my recent walk around Wentworth. I’m posting early today as I have a dentist appointment later which might (probably will!) involve a tooth extraction, and I’m not sure whether I’ll feel like writing anything after that.
Fujica GW690 & Fomapan 400. Shot at 200asa and developed at box speed by lab (in Xtol).
Today’s photo is of The Fat Cat pub in Kelham Island. It’s a place I’ve photographed on a number of occasions as it always seems to catch my eye, especially if the conditions are nice, as they were on this day.
I think that, because I tend to choose Kelham Island for photography outings quite often – it’s close and easy to get to and I can usually find free parking. Plus it’s undergoing gentrification so change is taking place all the time – that an element of over-familiarity might have set in and that I’m drawn to the same compositions that attracted me on previous visits – the more obvious ones at least.
There will be countless other pictures to be made, but I need to look more carefully and draw them out I think.
A couple of earlier posts featuring The Fat Cat can be seen here and here.
I’ve spoken a few times recently about the odd marks on this roll of expired Tri-X Pan. I believe it expired in 2003, although that’s really a best guess based upon the fact that it came with some rolls of other film which were all dated that year. Given its age I perhaps shouldn’t be too surprised that defects have appeared, although I’ve shot older film than this (and a number of rolls of this same film from the same batch) without issues, so it’s not necessarily a given fact.
Anyway, I’ve been editing the marks out of the pictures in Photoshop for the most part, but this one resisted my efforts – or at least to an extent that I was satisfied with any restoration that I’d attemped – so I decided to leave it as it is. I’ve not removed any dust spots and there’s even another defect at the left side of the frame where the negative took some physical damage, possibly as a result of my struggling with the curliness of it!
Despite the marks on the image, it quite works with the scene I think. It maybe adds a little character.
Olympus XA3 & Kodak Tri-X Pan (expired 2003 – shot at box speed and pushed a stop in development). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°
I’ve posted photos of abandoned pubs on this blog on a number of occasions before. So here are a couple more. The Durham Ox and Ye Old Harrow are within a stone’s throw of each other on Cricket Inn Road and Broad Street (these are effectively the same road, but the name changes partway along its length). The Durham Ox is in a sorry state of affairs with most of its roof missing and I suspect it will not be long before it is demolished. The Ye Old Harrow, while looking somewhat rough around the edges with broken windows, boarded up doors, and graffiti, appears to have been sold and will hopefully find new life in some form.
There’s a photograph of the Durham Ok made in 1981 by John Davies, which shows the pub in different times. The city was undergoing a lot of development at that time and over the next couple of dacades as a lot of the heavy industry gradually moved on and the city became more service-led.
No-one drinking now So many pubs are now gone Only shells remain
A couple of photos of the Wig & Pen pub in Sheffield City centre. I don’t think I’ve stepped foot in here for thirty years! I remember going in occasionally on work’s nights out, but it never featured as a venue when out with my friends. It didn’t use to be red back then either, but it makes for a nice vibrant picture.
Stuck for a haiku? Just make up some old rubbish That will do just fine
Another victim in the declining pub trade in the UK, the Farfield Inn stands at the western end of Neepsend Lane at the bottom of Hillfoot Road, not far from the busy route that is Penistone Road. There used to be pigeon lofts on the steep hillside along this stretch but those, like the Farfield Inn, have fallen into dereliction, their skeletal remains vaguely apparent in the brush that has grown to take their place.
“Fancy a nice pint?” Would once have been said by those Who visited here
This is the Yellow Lion pub at Aston. I think I’ve only ever been inside once, and that was decades ago, mostly because it’s out of the local area. On the day I made these photos it was closed, the second tranche of lockdown easing that would allow pubs to open for customers in outdoor seating yet to arrive. Now, I expect it will be serving people outside and, unless the situation changes, probably for indoor service later this month.
Some disappointment with my Plustek scanner has arisen. I’ve spotted it might have developed a fault as I’ve noticed feint vertical bars on some of my photos. While they are only noticeable on shots with areas of low contrast (clear skies and so forth), and not immediately visible unless you’re really looking for them, now I’ve noticed I can’t un-notice the problem. Oddly it only seems to be affecting colour negative scans – slides don’t seem to have any sign of the issue, and neither do B&W negatives. Whatever the case, I’ve sent a message to Plustek to see if there’s a way to fix the problem, but in the meantime I’ll just have to put up with it.
I’m feeling concerned My scanner has a problem I hope it can be fixed
The Three Tuns pub in Sheffield. I was told by a friend that it is supposedly haunted, and a quick bit of Googling reveals reports on people being prodded by an invisible finger, and the sounds of an unseen crying woman in the cellar. If it says it on the internet then I guess it must be true, eh? 🙂
The shot was made with my £1-from-a-car-boot-sale Fuji DL-270 Zoom Super (which already had this roll of film loaded). I don’t think I’ll keep the camera – I have several other compacts already – but I’m very happy with a lot of photos from this roll. Not necessarily in terms of sharpness or anything, but in the way they look. I got some great colours in a lot of the pictures.
Fuji DL-270 Zoom Super & Kodak Colorplus. Grain2Pixel conversion.