What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.
I’m posting an image every day (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.
We have something a little different today. This has been nicknamed ‘The Penguin and Egg’ by some astronomers, I think it looks rather more like a hummingbird. But its real name is not so memorable, the penguin is NGC2936 and the egg is NGC2937. They are a pair of colliding galaxies and will eventually merge. This view comes courtesy of the James Webb Space Telescope; the website is worth a visit, there are many more images like this one.
The universe we inhabit is huge. Those two galaxies are interacting, but it takes light 100 000 years to travel between them. Click the image and look closely and you’ll see dozens more galaxies in the far distance beyond this pair. We are surrounded by awesomeness!
Themed image collections
The links below will take you to the first post in each collection
If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome!
What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.
I’m posting an image every day (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.
England and Ukraine flags flying at Uphill
Uphill is a village just south of Weston-super-Mare in North Somerset. At the top of a prominent hill is a partially ruined church and on the tower is a flagpole. Currently there are two flags flying, the red cross on a white ground of England, and the Blue and yellow of Ukraine.
There are many Ukraine flags flying in England, on flagpoles in small cottage gardens, to those on official buildings. England (and indeed the rest of the United Kingdom) supports Ukraine’s valiant battle against conquest by her belligerant and bullying neighbour, Russia. The UK has helped with military and civil aid, and has often led the way in extending the range of weapons supplied, as well as the uses to which it may be put.
We have given Ukraine arms and ammunition, and also permission to use it as they wish.
Slava Ukraini!
Themed image collections
The links below will take you to the first post in each collection
If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome!
What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.
I’m posting an image every day (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.
I really do not see the signal…
Still in Weston-super-Mare, this whimsical statue stands overlooking the sea. I suspect it represents Lord Nelson during the Battle of Copenhagen. He received a flag signal ordering him to perform some action that he knew would result in failure. He put his telescope to his blind eye, and remarked, ‘I really do not see the signal’. And he won the battle! Hence the expression, ‘Turning a blind eye’.
If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome!
What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.
I’m posting an image every day (or as often as I can). It might be a photo I took, an image from Wikipedia, NASA, or some other open source, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.
Birnbeck Pier, Weston-super-Mare
This photo takes us back to Weston-super-Mare and Birnbeck Pier. Now derelict and falling apart, the pier is closed off as it’s too dangerous to visit. 50 years ago I boarded a paddle steamer here (the Waverly) to cross the Severn Estuary to Barry in Wales and then along the Somerset Coast to Ilfracombe. Finally, money has been raised and there is a plan to begin restoring the old pier.
Initially the Victorian ironwork supports will be checked, repaired and the wooden decking replaced. Once this is done, visitors will be able to walk out to Birnbeck Island again and the lifeboat station (slipway on the left) can be refurbished and brought back into use.
Themed image collections
The links below will take you to the first post in each collection
If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome!
What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.
I’m posting an image every day (or as often as I can). It might be a photo I took, an image from Wikipedia, NASA, or some other open source, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.
Mugman, always up for a laugh
I’d like to introduce you to Mugman! Some time ago I amused a friend during an online chat by moving this character slowly into view from the side of the camera frame while we were talking. I didn’t need to say anything, just the unexpected appearance of this nosy character intruding while we were talking was enough to cause a lot of mirth.
Sometimes it doesn’t take much. I’d really like to bring Mugman sneakily into shot during some of the political debate going on in the world. That’s not going to happen, of course, but it might be fun if it did!
Favourites
For convenience, here’s a list of my favourite images:
If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome!
What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.
I’m posting an image every day (or as often as I can). It might be a photo I took, an image from Wikipedia, NASA, or some other open source, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.
The beach at Weston-super-Mare
This is Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset in the UK on 22nd June. The beach is long and wide, golden sand at the top running down to sticky and dangerous mud at low tide. Beyond the mud is the sea, beyond that the distant north coast of Somerset, and finally the sky with a bank of cloud.
The colours here are so subtle, grey-blues and grey-browns. How would you describe these colours? Do any of them have names? Put it all together with the three figures and it makes a lovely composition, a peaceful scene. If I’d turned 180º and taken another photo it would have shown the hustle and bustle of the sea front streets – not peaceful at all!
Favourites
For convenience, here’s a list of my favourite images:
If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome!
The day began with a flight to Inverness Airport, and then a short journey north with several stops en route, ending at Dornoch where we spent the night in a traditional hotel.
We skipped breakfast as we were keen to get to the airport and could buy something there after checking in. Paul gave us a lift to Weston-super-Mare railway station where we loaded our luggage onto the Airport Shuttle bus and watched the countryside go by until turning into Lulsgate Airport. The bus service from Weston is very efficient and only £7 return, but on arrival we discovered our flight with EasyJet was running 45 minutes late because landing had been delayed at Schipol on the plane’s first flight of the day. We had more time than expected to grab coffee and choose a light breakfast.
Once on the plane (an Airbus A320), we were soon airborne and had good views of familiar local landmarks including south Bristol, the Chew Valley and Blagdon reservoirs, and Flat Holm in the Bristol Channel. After that we were in thick cloud until we got our first views of Scotland on our approach to Inverness Airport. We were soon in the arrivals area with our bags and had a rather long wait for our turn at the car hire desk. But then we were quickly on the road out from the airport and able to start our journey towards the north coast.
Heading north from Inverness
We had decided not to visit Inverness on this trip, but to get started right away on the NC500 route. We had visited Inverness briefly on an earlier holiday, and thought we might get a chance to visit again during our family get-together in the Cairngorms in August. We skirted the city on the A9, crossed the river by the bridge and visited the Shandwick Stone for our first stop. This is a Pictish carved monument encased in glass; there are many of these Pictish stones in the north-east of Scotland, but the others are all in museums so it’s great that this one still stands where it was erected, about 1200 years ago. It is a Christian monument with a cross forming an important part of the design, clearly showing that the Christian faith had reached the north-east of Scotland by 800 AD.
We drove on to Portmahomack, a pretty fishing village, well known for its mermaid sitting on a rock on the pebbly beach. We parked the car to explore on foot and take some photos, then we drove across a second bridge near Dingwall before heading on to Dornoch for our first night’s stay in a comfortable, little hotel in the town. Had we not flown we would have needed one or two nights en route to limit the daily driving. This would have been fun, and would have allowed us to explore others places in England and in Scotland on our way to Dornoch. But we didn’t have much time and wanted to focus on the NC500 route as much as possible.
Dornoch
We had time to explore a little during the late afternoon. Dornoch is a beautiful small town, peaceful and historic.
Strolling out to the coast just 1 km from the town centre, we ate at ‘The Highland Larder’, refreshingly different and with an open-sided shelter against wind and rain.
We walked around the old streets, noticed the widespread use of warm sandstone for older buildings like the little castle, and looked in shop windows as we passed. The cathedral here is the most northerly on the British mainland, only the Orkney Islands have a cathedral further north than this. We decided to look around the cathedral the next day and instead spend our time getting a feel for the town. We stayed in The Eagle Hotel which was unpretentious, comfortable and friendly.
The tidal range is enormous, exceeded only by the Bay of Fundy in North America, and the beach is gently shelving here so the tide goes out several miles.
We had decided to fly to Inverness and pick up a hire car there, mainly because we had limited time with Donna’s work and other commitments and we wanted to spend our time on the NC500 route, not driving to Inverness and back.
Perhaps the title is incorrect as the day was spent hundreds of miles from the North Coast 500 (NC500), but it was the first day of our holiday. Our nearest airport is Lulsgate, south-west of Bristol; and Donna’s brother Paul and his wife, Vanessa, live in Weston-super-Mare, which is very close; we drove down on Friday evening, 16th June, and spent the night with them ready to catch our flight the following morning.
Weston-super-Mare beach and pier with the Welsh coast in the distance
It was good to spend the evening chatting over coffee, having a bit of a catch up. We like Weston, the photo shows the beach and the pier. In addition to those, notice the land on the horizon which is part of South Wales, the Bristol Channel which is very wide at this point, and the mud between the sea and the sand. The tidal range is enormous, exceeded only by the Bay of Fundy in North America, and the beach is gently shelving here so the tide goes out several miles. This photo shows Weston closer to high tide than low tide!
We brought our bags into the house and gave Paul the keys as we won’t be needing them and it would be good if he was able to move the car if a need arose.
We slept well, knowing we had a long journey in the morning. It would be the first day travelling north from Inverness.
What is the North Coast 500?
This name, often abbreviated to just NC500, is a famous touring route along the north coast of the mainland of Scotland. You can follow the route in either direction, starting from Inverness Castle. We chose the anti-clockwise version, making the fabulous Highlands scenery a grand finale to our journey.
Which part of a holiday is best in your view? Is it setting out on a new adventure, being away and exploring, or returning home?
Journeys of Heart and Mind 