Tag Archives: hampshire

Twyford Waterworks

When returning from a trip, I was flying into Southampton, and the routing includes a circling descent over Winchester. I saw an interesting looking structure on the ground which, some later research confirmed, was Twyford Waterworks. Turns out that they do open days on a regular basis so we headed up there one sunny Sunday to have a look around.

Located just outside Twyford’s centre, this has been a waterworks since the Victorian era. The chalk downs in this area soak up the rainfall and provide a great source of water for the surrounding towns and villages. This is still the case, and the waterworks is active supplying water to the region. These days, electric pumps are in the wells and are not only not visible from the surface but are also out of bounds given the critical nature of the water infrastructure. However, when it was built, it was steam powered pumps that extracted the water.

There used to be many similar facilities in the region, but most have been demolished. However, a preservation order was placed on Twyford when demolition had barely got underway and it remains a historical record of how the water used to be provided. The facility is owned by the water company, and they are obligated to preserve the buildings but the restoration of the machinery inside is handled by a charitable organisation and the volunteers that carry this out are supported by the donations and entry fees from visitors to the open days.

When we arrived, I had anticipated wandering around for a while and taking some pictures while reading information boards. I think Nancy had thought this would be something she tagged along on but wouldn’t enjoy. However, just after arriving, a tour was starting so we decided to go along. We hadn’t anticipated that this tour would take about an hour and there was a good reason for that. It was a thorough and most interesting explanation of the history of the place, the reasoning for it being where it is and the processes that used to be needed for extracting and treating the water. This included lime kilns producing quick lime to treat water hardness.

The tour was fascinating and our guide, Dave, was happy to take questions as we went around of which I had a fair few. One of the things that struck us was the difficult conditions that the workers experienced. In those days, no one was paying attention to the hazards, and you can imagine that there were lots of issues the workers will have suffered. I bet they didn’t all have long and comfortable lives! Once we had wrapped up, we were able to walk around the buildings and see the boilers and the triple-expansion steam engine that drove the pumps. It was an impressive looking machine.

There are a number of similar waterworks that are around the country. If you have a chance to take a visit to one of them, if they are as well managed as Twyford is, I recommend you pop along. It could be interesting.

Steam Powered Vehicles

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During our first visit to Exbury Gardens, we happened to have chosen a day that coincided with a gathering of steam powered vehicles. While we didn’t change our plans for walking around the grounds to see them, we did encounter a load of them in the grounds. There was a steam powered car that a chap was driving around but the majority of them were miniature versions of the old-fashioned traction engines.

There wasn’t a chance that they were going to sneak up on you. Steam engines do tend to signal their approach even if the operator isn’t blowing the whistle. A blast from that will definitely get your attention. They were all planning to gather up at the house around 2pm and we didn’t go to see how many there were. However, while we might have been a fair distance away in the grounds, we could definitely hear them all when they were whistling together!

Let’s Try the Sun at a Different Time

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After the solar eclipse was over and I had spent a couple of days reflecting on the experience, I had a thought that really should have occurred to me at any point in the last few years. A solar filter is just as handy when wanting to photograph the sun without an eclipse as with. I therefore decided to have a go at taking some sun shots. Of course, as soon as I thought of this, it got cloudy. That didn’t last too long, though, so I was able to experiment with varying exposure to get some images.

The first thing I liked was the clarity of the sunspots. They really had some definition to them. This was a nice quick win. Then I saw some texture in the other parts of the sun. Going with under and overexposure allowed me to see if this made a difference in how well things showed up. It might not be easy to see in these images but hopefully there is something you can make out.

I Guess This Eclipse Didn’t Quite Go to Plan

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The partial solar eclipse was going to put our home under the path of significant sun cover. I was aware it wouldn’t be as dramatic as a total eclipse having experienced both, but I still was keen to see it. I had some ideas of shots that I wanted to take and where to take them from. I was hoping to get away from work a bit early to get home and set up for when it all started. Sadly, my plans went awry.

My afternoon meetings ran long, I got a train an hour later than planned, it left late, it got delayed for a medical emergency at an intermediate station so, but the time I got home, it was about ten minutes until maximum obscuration. All plans were scuppered so, instead, I just grabbed the longest lens and my solar filters and headed outside the house to some open ground. There were a bunch of neighbours there and this was the thing that saved it for me.

I was able to let them use my filters to see what was going on and they really appreciated it. I also just got to talk to them which was really good fun. I did take some images, though. Even these didn’t go so well. Initially I was seeing some internal reflections. I moved the filter closer to the end of the lens and that seemed to address that. However, this was partly caused by my second issue which was overexposure. Everything was washed out and, when I remembered to bring the exposure down, things got a lot better. We were already on the way out of the eclipse at this point. Having said that, a shot of a partial eclipse is a shot of a partial eclipse. It really doesn’t matter how much. Therefore, this shot is a bit meh!

Interrupting My Bike Ride with a Balloon

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When the work schedule allows, I am making the most of the early light to get some bike riding done. When the weather is at its hottest, this is also the best time of day to ride anyway. It is a very peaceful time to be out in country lanes with very little traffic and plenty of wildlife. I was riding along one morning when I saw a hot air balloon off in the distance. Balloon rides are popular in our area, so this isn’t that surprising.

I then lost site of the balloon as I headed north for a while. As I got towards the northern part of my route, I briefly spotted the balloon again through the trees but then it was gone again. I wondered whether it would appear again as I started south but I couldn’t see it because the roads have tree cover on the side that might have offered a view. I gradually lost interest as I figured it had either landed or our routes had diverged again.

As I came through Micheldever, a Land Rover van came in the opposite direction towing a trailer. This was clearly the recovery team heading north. I thought I had my confirmation that they had landed somewhere I had already passed. Turning out of Micheldever, I was riding across the rolling hills towards Stoke Charity when I saw the balloon north of me and quite low to the ground. I stopped and watched it for a while. It was not coming right towards me but was heading slightly more to the east.

I was going to get moving again but then had a change of heart. I wasn’t under any time pressure to finish the ride since it was still really early. I turned around and rode back to Micheldever. I don’t know the village well having always ridden through it on one road. I went the other way with the hope that some sort of open space would show up. Sure enough, I came to a football field and the balloon was coming straight towards me. I stopped and waited to see where it would go next.

Turns out that they were planning on landing in the field I had just made it to. They delicately descended to the ground with a couple of minor skips as they touched down and then settled. When I have seen balloons in the past the crews got very tetchy if you got to close. In this case they kept the balloon inflated and just sat there. I rode onto the field and around while keeping a safe distance. However, they were more than happy to chat as I got closer. I spoke to them briefly and then decided I really ought to continue my ride.

Prop Effects When Using a Phone

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Rolling shutter is a phenomenon that has become very apparent with the widespread adoption of digital sensors in cameras. The way in which a sensor scans across its surface means that relative movement can result in the position of objects being different at the end of the scan than the beginning. DSLRs used a digital sensor but a mechanical shutter so weren’t terribly susceptible to this (except when in video mode) but phones and video camera like GoPros have been.

Usually, if I am photographing aircraft with props, I am using my main cameras. (While I now exclusively use electronic shutter on my bodies, the read speed of the sensor is sufficiently high that the rolling shutter effects are barely visible. However, I rode my bike to Popham one Saturday and decided to grab a few pictures with my phone while I was there. The resulting shots have props that are clearly suffering badly from rolling shutter. It is not something I normally get so I actually found it rather funny. That wouldn’t be the case if I had desperately wanted the shot.

Turbulent Times

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If you are only used to airliners, light aircraft can look pretty flimsy. They are well designed, but they are small and a little flexible looking. They might be more than up to the task but, to a first timer, they might have the impression of being a bit risky. Then you can look at a Druine Turbulent. That takes the idea of simple to a new level. It is a home-built design that first flew in 1951. Small, light, powered by a small engine and with an open cockpit, it seems like even fitting in it might be a bit snug.

One was parked on the field at Popham one Sunday when we swung by to get some lunch. In due course, the owner came back to the plane and headed off. He had to hand swing the prop himself, so the aircraft was chocked while he started it up. The chocks were then stowed in a panel behind the seat and he climbed in and taxied out. Take off was not startling but still reasonably swift and he climbed out en route. What a cool little plane. I wonder whether it is a cost-effective way of flying.

Swift Fledgling

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When the weather has been really hot at home, we have had windows open all over the house. I was out of the office having lunch with Nancy in the back of the house and I could hear a bird tweeting that sounded very close but didn’t really pay much attention to it. However, when I went back into my office after lunch, I saw a bird sitting on the window frame. At first, I stopped dead and called Nancy to have a look before it flew off if we startled it.

This was not a problem. The bird seemed totally uninterested in my presence. I am not a specialist on birds, but I think it was a swift and that it was recently fledged. Every once in a while, it would start tweeting which may well have been because the parents were nearby. Then it would go very quiet again. I took some photos and footage of it before returning to work. I figured it would fly off in due course.

This wasn’t the case. By the end of the workday, it was still sitting there. I did wonder at this point whether the open window meant parents couldn’t see where it was. Maybe staying there wasn’t going to be good for it and I would need to close the window at night. I decided to try moving it across the road to a fence post, so it was elevated but also visible. I got some gardening gloves to pick it up. At first, it seemed uninterested in moving but then suddenly it took off and flew across the road, over the fence and into the fields. Later in the evening, our neighbours saw it sitting on the spoke of the wheel of their vehicle. I guess it liked the warmth. However, we didn’t see it again. No idea whether it did okay or not.

Europas With Varying Numbers of Wheels

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The Europa is a type I got attached to when my friend Sean had one. I was living in the US when he got it, but I used to come across for work on a regular basis, and we would often take the time to go for trips. It was a fun little thing to fly in with quite a turn of speed. The cockpit was very compact which was tricky when lugging a chunky camera around but not the end of the world! Recently, I made a couple of short visits to Popham Airfield and came across a couple of Europas.

The first was parked up and it is a Europa XS which is a later version fitted with tricycle undercarriage. It is a nice-looking aircraft, but it loses the novelty factor that the Europa Classic had. It has a mono wheel arrangement with outriggers to support it on the ground. The wheel, outriggers and flaps are all controlled together so, when you retract the flaps, the gear comes up. One had just landed when we got there and was getting some fuel. Fortunately, they took off before we left so I got a good look at it as it got airborne. A quirky but cool aircraft for sure.

Poppies in the Neighbourhood

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There was a time earlier in the year when it seemed like, wherever I went, there were poppies in bloom. That included in the area around our house. There were poppies on the earth piled up by the construction crews as well as alongside the paths and roads. They are a bit tricky to photograph because, with their long stalks, they are flexible and, unless it is absolutely still, they are constantly moving. Besides that, I did manage to get a few images. I do wonder whether the red of the petals is one that digital sensors struggle with as they seem to be look more muted than they felt in person.