Geograph Blog ::

The season begins

By David Howard

After getting new squares every week throughout the off season when it gets dark by 4 I was quite pleased with myself. Each year I have plans for a long journey or two, and each year they get longer simply as the closer ones get done. This year's list were all 80 miles minimum and include a new myriad, north record, distance record and anything else that comes to me on top. Unfortunately the exact moment the clocks went forward I was put on new tablets which had the primary effect of tiring me out, and although I carried on it cut down my scope by about 50%. They're gradually wearing off now and after half length trips to new territory so far have now done my first substantial journey to Andover SU3545 : Station Approach, Andover by David Howard and started the ball rolling. It's early days though with plenty of time to catch up and only one serious journey required for the quota, and always taking other places in between.

So far this year I have covered some or plenty of Kent TQ5464 : Field by Bower Lane by David Howard, Surrey SU9656 : Rough Road at the junction of Bagshot Road by David Howard, Hertfordshire TL0409 : Piccotts End Road looking north by David Howard, Oxfordshire SU6979 : The pond at Kidmore End by David Howard, Sussex TQ3032 : Field by Kings Farm, Balcombe by David Howard, Buckinghamshire SP9615 : View from Beacon Road, Ivinghoe by David Howard, Berkshire SU7273 : Office block on King's Road, Reading by David Howard, Hampshire SU3545 : Andover Station by David Howard and a tiny edge of Befordshire I didn't take as I'd done it already. I also got to Ardingly for this probably now unique pre-Worboys sign TQ3429 : Pre-Worboys sign in High Street Ardingly by David Howard which I'd completely forgotten about until I was looking at new photos and saw one there and reminded me. I also passed from the high 60s for total squares to a high of 58th last week, which is pretty good considering. November sees my ten years of digital photography, with every single square taken since then, with old ones only added once I've got them again otherwise the comparison of random film photos taken since 1968 and slews of digital with no limits would not be comparable. Ideally I wanted a second profile for the pre-2005 material but the system does not allow for it. And half my trips didn't even include the camera, and some which did only provided a few pictures as back then I mainly collected used train tickets and spent most of my effort going to stations and asking for them. Luckily my friend filmed a few trips to places including Birmingham and Yorkshire and I converted them to stills, thin and slightly vague but obviously photos. Otherwise they stretch from Plymouth to the Isle of Skye, with a main patch in Devon where I went every year from the late 60s to early 90s and a few other times, the Cotswolds where we went regularly and returned in 2013, Stratford on Avon, my first colour photo usage with the school trip in 1969, Oxford where I lived from 1988-9, and go to most years, with others randomly across Essex, Sussex, Kent, and a holiday in the Cotswolds in 1998 where I covered from Bath to Wootton Wawen in a few days but the camera let light in on some of them. There were also the remainder of Scotland, the first trip from Edinburgh to Skye in 1968 and the following in Melrose in 1969. I also usually make an annual trip to the seaside, TV4798 : The Esplanade, Seaford by David Howard 2011, TQ8685 : Overlooking the sea (Thames estuary), Westcliff by David Howard 2012, SZ8997 : The beach at Pagham by David Howard 2013, TR0917 : Looking towards the sea by Dungeness Road by David Howard 2014. I am a lifetime collector and personal record breaker, so whatever I can add in any field is included, and my photo map is the second after my train ticket collecting which gets me out as far and wide as possible, although with a smaller car, fewer friends around to take me to places and less energy can no longer manage the 200 mile plus each way trips in a single day. Had digital photography been around in the 80s and 90s I would probably have done the same as now had this site and the internet also existed, and had one of the top maps on the site. But as I'm only ever competing with myself and not others will keep working at beating my own records, and try and add the odd picture of the week nomination wherever possible. I chose the photo and square based on the old Geograph principle of the middle of nowhere is wherever people haven't taken more than a handful of photos. The area just north of London is a fertile patch which is very useful for me. SP9319 : Chapel Lane by David Howard


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Wed, 13 May 2015 at 18:04
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geotagged! SP9319
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