roundabout

Gas Street Basin / Birmingham, England
Even the canal system in city centre Birmingham has a roundabout. I used to refer to them as "suicide circles" when I lived outside of Boston because you required a death wish to enter one - fearing for one's life. Not so here; the Brits are much more civilized about the whole roundabout process - painfully so. Go - will you!

alien adventures

Selfridges @ the Bull Ring / Birmingham, England
Still one of the quirkiest examples of mainstream pop architecture, Selfridges gives off a particularly alien feel at night when the aluminum disks which cover the outside of the structure begin to give off a blue glow - reminding me of some far off one-eyed space aliens. It's a 2 minute walk from my flat in Brum and I never tire of shooting it - always an interesting shot.

star power

Woburn Road Gardens / Ampthill, England
And one more from my stroll through the village of Ampthill last weekend. I liked the star pattern - pretty cool.

flower power

Woburn Road Garden / Ampthill, England
In continuing the floral theme I've got going here at the moment, another shot from the english gardens I came across while walking through the village of Ampthill last weekend. Purple is a powerful color in nature - even in this soft and muted shade of violet.

an english buzz

Woburn Road Garden / Ampthill, England
Last weekend while working in Bedfordshire, I took a break and had a nice walk through the quaint village of Ampthill which I am told is quintessential England. I came upon a string of thatched roof cottages - each with lovely english gardens in the front. These bees were equally enjoying the sunshine.

reflections of progress

Livery Street / Birmingham, England
Reflections of something old, something new, and something yet to come. Not sure what the "something yet to come" is but the cranes were busy at work. Perhaps when I am back in Brum next week it will be identifiable.

of things to come

George Street (Jewellery Quarter) / Birmingham, England
The Jewellery Quarter is an area of Birmingham City Centre that is synonymous with the manufacture of jewelery and coins in Birmingham and has been the birthplace of many pioneering advancements in industrial technology. By the mid-1800s, the jewelery trade was considered the most lucrative in the city with jewelers being some of the best paid workers. There were more people employed in the trade than any other in Birmingham. The majority of the British Empire's finest jewelery was produced in the Quarter. The Jewellery Quarter's importance in the international jewellery industry has declined much throughout the 20th century and is now being transformed into a vibrant urban village and hub for creative businesses, eateries, and other support services. Numerous mixed-use developments are underway with most involving the refurbishment of existing manufacturing buildings no longer in use.

head west, young man

Birmingham Canal Main Line / Birmingham, England
I've posted several times about the extensive canal system in Birmingham - said to have more miles of canal than Venice. Here I was standing on a footbridge at the convergence of three major canals - the Worcester & Birmingham Canal, the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal, and the Birmingham Canal Main Line. The Main Line, pictured here looking west, was constructed in the 19th century and was a major connector of commerce between Birmingham and Wolverhampton. The canals now are used extensively for recreational purposes.

ye old contemptible

Edmunds Street / Birmingham, England
For a certain someone, today puts them one step closer to being an old contemptible - happy birthday birdshoes! And a thank you to the same for serving as guest poster for the past two weeks while I had no access to internet (initially) and then just became lazy - great job on the food porn. This is another in my occasional posting of interesting pub names in the UK and elsewhere. Based on what I was able to find out, the brave Tommies in the British Expeditionary Force proudly took on the nickname "The Old Contemptibles" with this Birmingham pub being a favorite watering hole of the veterans. Apparently, it has recently undergone a major restoration which has immediately made it attractive to the more well-heeled crowd. As one reviewer put it "Not a bad pub, though packed with suits weekday lunchtimes. Fortunately, they bugger off soon enough." Sounds to me like he's a bit of an old contemptible himself.

apocalypse now

Edmund Street / Birmingham, England
Yesterday morning I walked out of my flat in city centre Birmingham into - wtf? There was trash strewn everywhere - cars were tipped up on the sidewalks - spray paint graffiti - broken windows. My first thought was - how did I sleep through this - and what the hell happened. As I find out, I walked out of my door and on to the set of a shoot for the new yet-to-be-released BBC series "Survivor" - billed as "One virus. Millions dead. A few Survivors." For a brief moment, I did feel like a survivor.

light wars

London Victoria Rail Station / London, England
Walking through London Victoria this evening, it seemed a bombardment of light - colors, angles, reflections.

eye of the storm

Westminster Bridge / London, England
Off to London and Birmingham for a couple of weeks. With any luck, the weather will be abit more settled than this.

fences make good neighbors

Ashford-in-the-Water, England
During a recent drive through the Peaks District of North Central UK, I came across an abundance of stone fences - dividing up acres upon acres of pristine pastureland. I saw very few people so it must be to keep the sheep and cows good neighbors.

hopper

Millennium Bridge / London, England
What the the Tate Modern looks like while crawling across the Millennium Bridge.

variegated greenery

The Medieval Walls / York, England
From the top of the medieval city walls of York, I shot into this variegated Norway Maple tree growing up against the stone. I've seen alot of variegated vegetation but I think this is the first maple I've come across.

fields of sunshine

Pinfold Lane / Kirk Smeaton, England
This time of years, fields upon fields of rural England are in full bloom with rapeseed, a bright yellow flowering member of the family Brassicaceae (mustard or cabbage family). They are really quite stunning; from a distance the fields appear as vast carpets of brilliant sunshine. This was taken around 8pm against a setting sun.

wired on the waterloo

Waterloo Bridge / London, England
Waterloo Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge crossing the River Thames. Thanks to its location at a strategic bend in the River Thames, the views of London from the bridge are widely held to be the finest from any spot at ground level. The view looking up is pretty cool, as well.

stormy weather

Curbar Gap / Curbar, England
With a very early departure yesterday from Birmingham up into the Peaks District, I was able to catch a stormy morning sky as the sun was rising behind this stone barn. Fortunately, the rest of the day turned out nice.

stone barn

Llanhamlach, Wales
I've spent the past few days in Wales outside of Cardiff. While Llanlamlach is further inland to the northeast, this is fairly typical of the rustic Welsh countryside - though where I am at the moment is in the coal mining areas suffering significantly from the lack of a sustainable local economy.

birmingham bells

Temple Row / Birmingham, England
The Cathedral Church of Saint Philip is a Church of England cathedral and the seat of the Bishop of Birmingham. Built as a parish church and consecrated in 1715, St Philip's became the cathedral of the newly-formed Diocese of Birmingham in the West Midlands in 1905. St Philip's was built in the Baroque style by Thomas Archer and is the third smallest cathedral in England. Interestingly, the bells of St Philip's play an important role in the training and development of bell ringers. Since 1949 the Cathedral has been a regular peal tower - the "long practices" on Thursdays, and more recently Mondays, have proved a training ground for in excess of 500 accomplished 12-bell ringers in the last 50 years. That explains why on Mondays and Thursdays I hear non-stop ringing from the bell tower from 7-8pm (or longer).