Tag Archives: travel

Re-Roofing Chichester Cathedral

Leave a Reply

Chichester Cathedral was something I would easily recognize from a distance.  It has, for many years, had a copper roof and this gave it a bright green color.  It was very distinctive.  When we were in Chichester this year, we walked around the cathedral grounds and they were working to replace the roof.  Apparently, copper had been used in a previous re-roofing because it was cheaper.  However, it was not an ideal material for the roof as it was not heavy enough and had moved in the weather allowing some significant water damage to the wooden structure underneath.

This is now being repaired and the roof material replaced with the leads that had been used prior to the copper.  The project is underway in phases and has made good progress.  Some of the exposed roof sections are already done so the remaining work is under scaffolding.  However, there is still signs of the green roof.  Soon the cathedral will look something like its original configuration.  I shall miss the green but I imagine those looking after the cathedral won’t miss it so much!

The Train That Started It All

Leave a Reply

The Japanese Shinkansen trains introduced in the 1960s became known around the world as bullet trains.  The shape of them was well known, often photographed with Mt Fuji in the background.  While other countries developed high speed rail, the Japanese bullet train was often the first one people would associate with the topic.  These first trains are known as the Series 0.  There have been several iterations of design since.  However, the Series 0 is still very recognizable to me and probably others of my generation.

I had seen a Series 0 vehicle once before.  I visited the Nippon Sharyo factory is Toyokawa many years ago and they have a cab vehicle on display by the main gate.  Sadly, I wasn’t able to get a photograph of that then.  Seeing an example at the SC Maglev museum was my second opportunity.  It was displayed alongside a number of the more recent iterations of the Shinkansen but, judging by the number of people taking photos of it, it still has a strong level of recognition.

Red Arrows Launch and Recover

Leave a Reply

The Red Arrows operated from ramp space at the eastern end of the show grounds at RIAT.  I spent some time down there on one of the days.  It provided a chance to watch them brief, crew up, start and then recover after the display.  Here area. Few shots of the team in action.

A Little Hovercraft Video

Leave a Reply

I got a few stills of the hovercraft but I also decided to film some video.  For those that haven’t seen hovercraft in action, stills probably do not give a suitable impression of how they rise up above the surface yet still leave a wake.  Quite a cool form of transportation and I do enjoy seeing them.  Hope you enjoy the video.

Nagoya Castle

Leave a Reply

I had a free Sunday in Japan prior to some meetings getting underway so made the trip to Nagoya.  Nagoya is a fair distance from Tokyo but the Nozomi Shinkansen service compresses that journey to just over 90 minutes!  I took the subway to the location of the castle and wandered around the grounds.  It was unbelievably hot.  In the shade it was uncomfortable but when you got into the sun it was brutal.  Still, how often am I going to get a chance so off I went.

The castle is surrounded by a moat and some very thick walls.  Lots of the structures were destroyed by fire in the bombing at the end of World War II.  The tower was reconstructed in concrete after the war but has now been closed and they are planning to demolish it and reconstruct it in wood like the original.  Other buildings have already been reconstructed in their original materials.

The tower is an imposing structure, even on a sunny and toasty day.  I was able to walk around the perimeter of the main castle buildings in the time I had available.  I had a return train booked based on when I needed to meet a colleague arriving in Tokyo that evening.  Therefore, I needed to keep moving irrespective of how much I wanted to be in the shade!  I had a look in some of the other buildings too.  They were quite simple and elegant in their construction.  I imagine that the whole thing will be most impressive when the reconstruction work is completed.

There were actors walking the grounds in costume as I moved around.  They engaged freely with the visitors but I still felt a little weird photographing them as they passed me by.  They clearly didn’t mind but somehow it felt like I was doing something wrong.  Not sure why, to be honest.  Maybe it is just the feeling that comes with being a foreigner.

Pilatus’ New Toy

Leave a Reply

There were lots of things I was hoping to see at RIAT but I did get a few that were very pleasant surprises.  Various air forces had business jets showing up and departing throughout the show as dignitaries (or urgent spares) needed to be moved.  The Swiss brought in several jets while I was there but one of them looked a little different.  My first encounter with a PC-24.  To say I was surprised and pleased would be to understate my response!

Three Types of Wightlink Car Ferry

Leave a Reply

Having traveled on the car ferry from Portsmouth to Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight for all of my life, I have seen many generations of ferry come and go.  The oldest ones I recall are Fishbourne and Camber Queen.  These would amaze current travelers with their limited car capacity and very limited customer amenities.  They were replaced by a bigger and better equipped fleet which were replaced in turn but the fleet of Saint named ferries.  Their time has mainly come and gone and now most have been replaced again.

On this trip, I got to ride of two ferries from the newer generation.  They have  a significant increase in capacity that has required the introduction of two level loading to allow the schedule to be kept.  While traveling on each, I got to see the other heading in the opposite direction along with one of the older Saint class.  The latest ferry has again gone away from bi-directional operation and has also added a hybrid power drive of some sort.  No idea how it works but the large logo on the side leaves you in no doubt that it is there.

Rather Disappointing F-35B Appearance

Leave a Reply

The F-35 has been around for quite a while by now so I have shot them on plenty of occasions (although an F-35C is still on the wish list).  My UK trip was one where I was hoping to get an RAF F-35B.  It was scheduled to make an appearance at RIAT but the information did not make it sound like a display.  On the first day of the show, the weather was shocking.  Low cloud and rain got in the way of a lot of things displaying.  Late in the day the F-35B was due in.  Our initial forecast for arrival was extended as the cloud base meant an instrument approach was needed.  It finally appeared and flew through the display line once.  Then it powered away and a while later we were informed it had gone home.I was shooting video of that which is at the bottom of this page.

The next day had better weather so I was hoping for a little more.  It did show up and we did get more than one pass.  However, even then, it was a rather lackluster performance.  I guess they have not worked up any form of display – not even a hovering portion – so we got some passes and a couple of configurations and that was it.  I don’t think I was alone in feeling a little underwhelmed by what they put on.  I guess in coming years, a more worked up display will be seen but I will have to wait a while for that.

Island Flyer

Leave a Reply

Regular readers know I like the hovercraft.  I didn’t make a specific visit to Ryde on our last trip to see them but I did get to see them on our two ferry crossings and we also stopped at Southsea where I got to see a couple of arrivals and departures.  The new hovercraft have not had a trouble free introduction but I suspect they have had a few fixes embodied.  The memory of introduction problems will probably last far longer than the actual problems but I don’t know for sure whether they are doing fine now or not.  All I know is that the service was running while we were there.

I was rather pleased that one of the crossings ended up getting very close to the ferry as we headed in to Portsmouth.  It provided a far more interesting angle on the hovercraft than I would normally get.  Combine that with some shots from the beach at Southsea and I was happy with having got some shots of the new craft which I hadn’t really seen before.  During the departure, I was conscious of the potential for spray sideways as they lifted off.  What I hadn’t considered properly – pretty annoying given how I know to deal with jetwash when on a ramp – is that the departing craft got quite far offshore before you got blasted with their propwash.  That was mixed with seawater – an ideal combination for electronic equipment!  No permanent damage though.