This was not far from my hotel at Kensington Close. I'm pretty sure this was the first picture I took that first morning after jet lag wore off.
These pictures are some "surviving" prints from a trip I took to England in 1985. I say surviving because when I got home two of the rolls of film I took were destroyed by some machine foul-up at the local One-Hour Photo labratory I was used to going to back home.
Consequently the pictures I had of places like Regent's Park, my bus trip out to Hampton Court and a later rail trip to Winchester to see the cathedral there came out just a brownish mess! Oh, to have had a diigital camera twenty six years back.
These are some shots from the first two rolls I had. All in all it was a great trip and my wife and I plan to go to see more of England and other parts of the Isles together one of these days.
It was a very nice visit, although it could have rained more! :-)
How long did you go for?
ReplyDeleteJust eight days, Fred. I needed half of my luggage--which wasn't much--and twice as much money I guess.
ReplyDeleteI will keep that in mind if I ever go
ReplyDeleteI'm just around here to give good advice, my friend. :-)
ReplyDeleteWow what a trip! I am sorry about the film. Can you order prints from the places you visited and lost the pictures of?
ReplyDeleteWow... who would have thought that 1985 could look SO old!
ReplyDeleteI echo what Ian above said......I do sympathise with your lost films, I lost all my pictures from an overland trip across Iran, Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bangladesh....left them in a truck after hitching a lift to Glastonbury in the middle of the winter about 35 years ago....so I know how it feels to be deprived of memories in that way.
ReplyDeleteHowever, if I'd had films trashed by faulty equipment I would be furious Doug, but at least you have some shots saved, they're great momentos.
It seems like you made good use of the time you had in London to get around and see a lot of things Doug, I wonder if you would think it has changed much when you come back again to England?
I echo what Ian above said......I do sympathise with your lost films, I lost all my pictures from an overland trip across Iran, Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bangladesh....left them in a truck after hitching a lift to Glastonbury in the middle of the winter about 35 years ago....so I know how it feels to be deprived of memories in that way.
ReplyDeleteHowever, if I'd had films trashed by faulty equipment I would be furious Doug, but at least you have some shots saved, they're great momentos.
It seems like you made good use of the time you had in London to get around and see a lot of things Doug, I wonder if you will think it has changed much when you come back again to England?
I deleted the 2nd bit of that double entry
ReplyDeleteThanks Mary Ellen. Luckily, I do have the guidebooks from Hampton Court and lots of little souvineurs from the other sites I was at.
ReplyDeleteOddly enough, one of favorite little keepsakes is a little paper bus ticket which, on the back, has a picture of a stick figure and a trash can. The phrase next to it says "Keep Britain Tidy". I remember seeing that sign all over Victoria Station and other stops I was at.
Ian, you must have read my mind! When I was taking some of these pictures out of the plastic in the old album they had been stored away unseen for years, I realized these old Kodak photos made the time of my young adulthood look like it was back in the '50s or something.
ReplyDeleteThank God I wasn't using black and white film; I'd feel like even more of a dinosaur! :-)
Yes, there's nothing quite so frustrating as losing hard-won photos that are your best way to recall the visuals of a trek. And your trip does indeed sound like a trek and a half! Sir Richard Francis Burton probably would have been impressed by all the places you still have personal photos from.
ReplyDeleteI was furious that day at the Sun Valley Mall back home, AA. It was not me at my best, let's just say that, especially after I got over the initial surprise. I wish I could remember the name of the franchise, but the fog of faulty memory has allotted this place and the idiot clerk I yelled at a measure of charity.
I tried to get around a lot, AA, which was easy given the great transportation facilities one could easily make use of. Just the ability to take a trip by tube station from Heathrow to London itself was a blessing! Saved me a lot of hassle in my jet-lagged state. In 1985, that was a big gain over my experiences in transport stops in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas, et al, where one was lucky to catch a seedy bus from train or airport. (San Francisco's never-to-be-completed airport, SFO, I am happy to report now has a rail station to the city, and its about time.)
I imagine a lot of things would surprise me about London and the Surrey area now. London and her environs were much more cosmopolitan in population than I imagined it would be then, and I imagine it has marched on in the direction of a global capital of both multi-ethnicity and heritage.
I do know London know has that famous footbridge across the Thames that connects the Blackburn Power Station to the Ministry of Silly Walks. That bridge is in every feature movie set in London. American directors can't get enough of that. I feel like I've trod on it already!
I know the dollar to pound exchange rate has changed, which explains why you likely see fewer Yanks cluttering up the streets of Birmingham than you might have in the long decade of Reagan/Thatcher and that peculiar Interregnum.
Yes, there's nothing quite so frustrating as losing hard-won photos that are your best way to recall the visuals of a trek. And your trip does indeed sound like a trek and a half! Sir Richard Francis Burton probably would have been impressed by all the places you still have personal photos from.
ReplyDeleteI was furious that day at the Sun Valley Mall back home, AA. It was not me at my best, let's just say that, especially after I got over the initial surprise. I wish I could remember the name of the franchise, but the fog of faulty memory has allotted this place and the idiot clerk I yelled at a measure of charity.
I tried to get around a lot, AA, which was easy given the great transportation facilities one could easily make use of. Just the ability to take a trip by tube station from Heathrow to London itself was a blessing! Saved me a lot of hassle in my jet-lagged state. In 1985, that was a big gain over my experiences in transport stops in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas, et al, where one was lucky to catch a seedy bus from train or airport. (San Francisco's never-to-be-completed airport, SFO, I am happy to report now has a rail station to the city, and its about time.)
I imagine a lot of things would surprise me about London and the Surrey area now. London and her environs were much more cosmopolitan in population than I imagined it would be then, and I imagine it has marched on in the direction of a global capital of both multi-ethnicity and heritage.
I do know London know has that famous footbridge across the Thames that connects the Blackburn Power Station to the Ministry of Silly Walks. That bridge is in absolutely every feature movie set in London. American directors can't get enough of that. I feel like I've trod on it already! I know the dollar to pound exchange rate has changed, which explains why you likely see fewer Yanks cluttering up the streets of Birmingham than you might have in the Reagan-Thatcher Interregnum.
Seems there are some gremlins afoot at the Multiply HQ, AA.
ReplyDeleteNever saw these Doug it would be tremendous to venture there. As well look at how this have changed as far as the quality of film. Regardless of how old it would truly be something to see other parts of the world. Not all (if you know what I mean). Great group of shots and that would have been a great venture.
ReplyDeleteYes, Jack, much as travel outside the comfort zone is a real boon, there are a few spots in the world right now I'd just as soon "give a miss" as some Britishers say, or used to say.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy seeing old amateur motion pictures or newsreels of places that are now decades old. They really are a window on the world ordinary people lived in, and they were filmed simply to record impressions, not as part of of "background" for a movie so the textures of life that they capture are richer. Still photos can also serve this purpose.
Thanks for your coments.