newcastle
Causing Chaos For Cancer
Mar 9th
A few years ago a friend of mine, Ben Alldred, started a metal festival with his then band mate ‘Metal’ Ken Turner. They organised a metal festival every year, with all proceeds going to charity. A few years down the line and they have both left the band that they started the festival with, but it still goes on every year with Paul Hartburn organising things now.
This year was no different, and with over £1,500 taken, and some excellent bands travelling from London, Glasgow and even Sweden to play for free to support the gig it once again proved that people in the metal scene do care about contributing to a good cause as well as hearing some excellent death, thrash groove and just about any other kind of metal. I head along and try to get pics for the bands every year, so here are a few from the day:
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The rest of the pics can be seen in my gallery by clicking here.
~Shepy
Lets talk about science… carefully.
Feb 11th
As some of you may or may not be aware Richard Dawkins, the popular science author, spoke at the Lib Dem conference in September about the blight of the UK libel laws stifling the international scientific community.
Dawkins explained how many companies are using the draconian libel laws to silence, financially cripple and ultimately hinder any scientific study or paper which might damage their business in any way. What is especially galling about this is the fact that the large corporations are going after the individual carrying out the research in many cases and not the publishing entity, generating hundreds of thousands in legal fees for the scientist. Obviously this can cause a reluctance to publish findings for fear of being sued, and can lead to the slow down in advancement of our knowledge, understanding and development as a people. The very thought that someone may avoid some particularly innovative research into something such as cancer simply because they can not afford the financial problems that it may bring when they are sued is simply staggering. Case in point being Simon Singh, a widely respected author who had the audacity to challenge the chiropractors claims of being able to help with sleeping problems, ear infections and asthma through chiropractic treatments. Mr Singh is now wrought in a legal battle with the British Chiropractic Association which has cost him at least £100,000 to date alone. More info can be found on Wikipedia at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Singh#Chiropractic_lawsuit
Today I received an email from a friend highlighting a new petition which is aimed at changing all of this, bringing about real change in the libel laws with an aim to improving free speech, scientific debate and publishing of findings. As someone with a deep interest in science in its many facets, and living in Newcastle which is often dubbed the City Of Science I felt it almost a duty to sign the petition and I think you should too.
The petition, and more information, can be found at: http://www.libelreform.org/sign and after you’ve signed the petition the site will even send an email to your local MP on your behalf if you so wish.
Thanks for taking a moment to read this, from myself and no doubt future generations who would be helped by the scientific advances made by the removal of this fear of ill founded libel claims.
~Shepy
Graveyard shift
Feb 4th
Another night out taking photos, this time around a local cemetery which was lit superbly. Click to enlarge pics.
 Walking up to the cemetery |
 Path along the back of the church |
 Headstones and shadows |
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 Path at the side of the church |
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 More headstones |
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As ever, comments and suggestions welcome.
~Shepy
Street Photography
Jan 23rd
My friend Paul and I decided to spend our Saturday having a look at the excellent exhibition at the Side Gallery of ‘Women In Prison’ with photographs of incarcerated women taken in prisons throughout the world, spanning a decade worth of work for photographer Jane Evelyn Atwood. It really is an excellent exhibition with some seriously powerful and thought provoking images, and best of all it’s free so you really have no excuse not to go see it!
After the exhibition we thought we would wander about the town doing some street photography, and here are some of the images from the day. Click images to enlarge.
 Skaters at the Bigg Market |
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 A skater jumps as his mates look on |
 Jumping the steps |
 More jumping down the stairs |
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 Skater jumping down the stairs |
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 The Long Stairs, Newcastle |
 Brave cyclist riding down the Long Stairs |
 Sax-o-ma-phone on Northumberland Street |
 Trumpet playing on Northumberland Street |
 Overgrown gravestone at St Andrew |
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 Skater at the law courts |
 Mid air when skating |
 I believe i can fly.... |
 Blinding skaters with flash |
 More flash-blind skaters |
 Newcastle Quayside & Tyne Bridge |
As ever, comments and suggestions welcome.
~Shepy
Wandering in the mist
Jan 19th
I had arranged to go out taking a few pics round the town with a friend of mine tonight, and as luck would have it mist had really set in, which made for a few nice pics :)
(click to enlarge)
Grandstand in the mist - Exhibition Park - Newcastle
Table and Skate Park - Exhibition Park - Newcastle
Civic Centre and Lake, Newcastle
Civic Centre and Lake, Newcastle
As ever, comments and suggestions welcome :)
~Shepy
Stop the War Protest: Edinburgh
Nov 15th
Seeing as how I had covered the London Stop the War coalition protest, as there was one a lot closer in Edinburgh, it seemed silly not to head along to photograph that too. The Edinburgh Stop the War protest march was on the 14th November.
Bright and early Saturday morning, Paul and I headed up to Edinburgh and arrived shortly before the protest started.
There was only a fraction of the attendance compared to the London one, but that is to be expected I suppose, even if only due to the size of the respective cities.
The protest marched round the streets of Edinburgh, passing through major shopping and public areas, passing the Edinburgh International Conference Centre where the NATO conference was being held, then continued on down into the Princes Street Gardens.
A few pics from the day (click to enlarge)
The protest marching through the streets of Edinburgh
Protest passing a poppy wreath on a memorial
A girl carried on her father's shoulders, placard aloft
Mounted police wait for the procession to begin moving again
A young man lights a flare outside the EICC where NATO are meeting
Protest march pass Edinburgh Castle
A young couple have better ideas
The rest of the album can be seen in my gallery here.
~Shepy
Fog on the Tyne
Nov 10th
Looking out the window tonight I could barely see the other side of the street as a thick fog had descended. As I live right on the banks of the Tyne I couldn’t resist doing a few shots of the well known of “Fog on the Tyne”. Click images to enlarge.
Pathway along the Tyne
Dunston Staiths in the fog
Tyne Bridge disappearing into the fog
Swing bridge in the fog
Fog on the Tyne
Comments and suggestions welcome :)
~Shepy
Nocturnal wandering with the camera
Sep 24th
Decided to head out with Paul for another few shots around Newcastle by night again this evening, here are a few of the shots from the night (click to enlarge)
Bridges At Night
More Bridges
River God
Bright lights and walkways
Civic Centre at Night
Angel of the North
As ever, comments and suggestions welcome.
~Shepy
Photographing Newcastle by Night
Aug 27th
A friend of mine was expecting a new lens today, and as any photographer will tell you once you have a new toy to play with you have to go out and give it a test run. We decided to wait until midnight so the streets were starting to clear for that desolate and empty look, and then headed out to do a few photographs around the town. I was keen to get back down and take a few shots down the river also, after capturing this shot at sunrise a few days ago:
(click images to enlarge in a new window)
Sunrise On The Tyne
Here are a couple from that trip tonight:
Looking up the Tyne
Tilting Bridge
End of the line
Monumental Crossroads
If that hasnt satisfied your thirst for photographs, take a look over to Paul’s site and check out some of his excellent work, especially the holocaust projects.
As ever, comments and suggestions always welcome.
~Shepy
Dunston Staiths on fire… again..
Jul 23rd
I got a call from a friend on his way home from work saying there was smoke coming from the Dunston Staiths, so I took a quick wander along there with the camera and sure enough someone had set it on fire, sadly. Thankfully it wasn’t too bad a fire, and the fire brigade were already arriving as I was (just as I began dialing 999 I rounded the corner to see them).
Fire engine arriving at Dunston Staiths
Smoke rising from Dunston Staiths
Firemen climbing over barrier at Dunston Staiths
Fireman stretching hose out onto Dunston Staiths
Fireman trying to extinguish fire at Dunston Staiths
Firemen cutting burning wood out with an axe at Dunston Staiths
Firemen dumping charred planks into the river at Dunston Staiths
As you can see, sadly they have had to cut even more chunks out of the Staiths, though thankfully it’s nowhere near as bad as the fire that ravaged the structure in November 2003. This means that even more of the structure needs to be repaired, though with each fire I would imagine that gets even more unlikely a proposition.
Part of the problem is that the Staiths are made from an Australian wood known by its aboriginal name of Jarrah, which comes from the protected Eucalyptus Marginata tree. This wood was heavily forested for years for use in piers, railways, bridges and similar structures due to its dense nature and ability to withstand extreme moisture without decaying. The wood was exported throughout the British Empire for the uses mentioned above in the thousands of tons. Due to over use it is now bordering on being an endangered species, and as such the Australian government has placed a ban on the export of the wood, in fact many things built from Jarrah now even in Australia are built using reclaimed timber from destroyed buildings. As the Dunston Staiths are a listed structure, any repairs must be carried out using the same materials as the original, which obviously is not possible due to the export restrictions in place in Australia.
The Dunston Staiths were built in 1893 and were instrumental in the export of coals from the Newcastle,Durham and other local mining communities. Trains loaded with coal would arrive onto the Staiths and then be unloaded onto ships that would carry the coal out to sea and its eventual destination. It is truly saddening to see yet another fire started on there by vandals who obviously don’t appreciate the significance of the Staiths in both the maritime and mining history of Newcastle.
~Shepy