Run Chase

Another from the Lustleigh game. For once we had a decent crowd watching the game and they even seemed to be getting quite caught up in proceedings as we inched towards an unlikely victory. The Minox is quite good for these grab shots as long as you remember to set the focus in advance!

Lustleigh

This weekend was our annual trophy match against our oldest opposition: the Dartmoor village of Lustleigh. Lustleigh is a beautiful devon village complete with picture postcard church,pub and cricket pitch. The opposition are friendly but competitive and our afternoons there are always enjoyable.

I captained our side the 'Erratics' and we restricted Lustleigh to a low score of 126. Over tea we were confident we could score these with ease. Unfortunately by the time we were 35 for 5 things looked less cheery! We recovered well and got within 15 of the winning score but it wasn't to be. This is apparently Peter O'Toole's favourite cricket ground and I'm sure when he played here he had a drink or two in The Cleve afterwards, as we always do.

The half painted bridge

Here's a shot from the back of the train today. I was asked to take a trip to Gunnislake which is about 40 minutes from Plymouth and just over the border into Cornwall. As you can see from the picture the weather shows that the English summer is back to its best!

The bridge you can see in this photo is only half painted and has been so for years. It's like that because half of it is in one local authority's land and the other half belongs to another. One council decided to paint their half and the other didn't (or couldn't) It has therefore been left half rusty and half painted.

The other amusing story connected with today was that I was only working on this train due to the discovery of a wasps nest at Gunnislake station. The chap who should have been on the train apparently is highly allergic to the little beasties so I had to tear myself away from the messroom television for my little trip to Cornwall!

tagon

Those of you who know Exmouth will know the 'Octagon' which has been there as long as I can remember and probably a lot longer than that! Millions of overpriced cans of pop and Ice creams must have been sold here over the years - wish I owned the business! Anyway, I've included this pic to show the accuracy of my Minox viewfinder - it's two letters out!

number 20

I quite liked this number plate on a rather faded but still grand house - a black and white conversion with a little extra contrast. Am beginning to quite enjoy the little Minox now. Haven't tried any flash photos yet and haven't mentioned the additional flash unit that comes with the camera. Something for another day maybe!

Would you like a flake in that?

A day off! So we caught the train to Exmouth for a walk by the sea and around these parts it is seen as very bad form not to have an ice cream when you go to the seaside. Mine was a clotted cream vanilla and I had already eaten it by the time I thought about photographing it with the Minox. A photo of the young lady who runs he establishment will have to suffice. More pics to be added from this little trip over the next few posts...

Sunshine

After a rare unsunny day yesterday the Summer seems to have returned. That's very nice but unfortunately it's the start of the weekend and I have to go to work and there's bound to be lots of lagered up idiots on my trains this evening! Will leave the Minox at home today but here's a pic for the day to prove that the sun is shining!

out the window

Here's one of the landscapes I took the other day which turned out very brown and muddy. I've decided the only way to rescue it is to save it as a black and white image, which is fine and could be the way forward as I've always leant that way with my photography. More to come...