Other Photography: Old Slides

 

Now for something almost completely different! I have some very old slide photos, most of which were taken when I lived in Worcestershire before moving to Devon in 1977. Having done very little with them I thought it would be interesting to make an article to showcase them, especially as some have amazing colours.

These first few were taken in the garden of the house where I was born and grew up. Dad was an astonishingly good and enthusiastic gardener but I mostly concentrated on those little areas of quirkiness, rather than the showy vistas.

 

The one on the left is of apple blossom with daffodills and the one on the right is a pear tree. I say left and right because I've positioned them together, but they sometimes move to one below the other when published! And more apple blossom below, followed by a group of pansies with their cheery little faces.

And one taken at night, below.

One of the places I lived was a parish called Crabbs Cross, which has nothing to do with a moody crustacean, but was named after the crossroads it encompasses. There is a much older reason for the name, as I do recall hearing that it was named after a prayer cross which was erected by a man named Crabb. However, I haven't been able to verify that through research, even though that is the most likely explanation, and which has since been lost unfortunately.

These photos were taken through the windows of my bedroom in a house belonging to a friend in Crabbs Cross. Four more below.

I also lived in a rented maisonette in Crabbs Cross on my own for a while, which I absolutely loved, but the rent was too unaffordable and I eventually had to move. Sadly, I don't seem to have any photos of it.

Across the road I took this photo, which always reminds me of Monet's haystacks paintings. I have another one, even more so, but that and another two I remember aren't amongst the ones I've scanned and I don't know where they are now.

Nearby was the entrance to a wood, which I often walked through and across several fields in order to reach my parents house. The next three are ones taken on one of the walks when there were haystacks in the fields.

Another flat I had was in the main town of Redditch, which had lovely big kitchen windows and I took several photos of them during different times. That was the last place I lived in before moving to Devon

The above were taken mostly for the colours and plant shapes in the window, plus some more sillouettes - albeit out of focus - seen below.

 

I tried focussing them in post edit but it just made things worse. I quite like them as they are though, so I'm not that bothered.

 

And two more taken on a different day.

An odd shot of the kitchen worktop in that flat with an arrangement of fruit, bread and other bits & pieces.

Followed by some more looking through the kitchen window to the houses and hills beyond.

Plus the slight sillouette of a coffee mug filled with joss sticks on that last one.

The following three was an experiment using a chair with a decorative pattern of holes, beneath which I placed a lamp to see the effect.

This next one always reminds me of a grand piano at first glance due to the shape of the shadow behind it. I'm really pleased that I still have that chair and it's next to me at the kitchen table as I'm writing this.

Then there's a photo of an alleyway between housing in a terrace. Another name is Gunnel or Ginnel. I've usually used the term Gunnel although many just call it an alleyway.

The following slide was taken as the sun was begining to set through a window in the Redditch Advertiser newspaper, where I was the graphic designer and illustrator. I actually called myself the Art Department as I was the only one in it, even when the paper reached a massive amount of pages over 70 in number, lol.

I love this photo for the light, colour and composition, along with some good memories of my two years there before moving to Devon. 

The boating lake below is in the parish of Ipsley, Redditch, where I was born and my parents still lived.

It used to be fields and the meandering River Arrow plus tributaries, where us local children used to play. Before moving I had a wander round to see what it looked like and took the photo.

Below is either the river or one of the tributaries.

Some photos of the fairground during the Redditch Carnival next, which I went to with some friends. It was also a good opportunity to try out some nightime photos and I really like the bright colours and festival feel.

I belonged to a camera club at the time and put the best two plus the stream above those into the monthly competition, and was given a scathing review! I wasn't all that surprised, being the only female member, very much ignored and obviously unwanted. It didn't help that I'd joined along with my male friend who also happened to be my landlord, so we had the same address but with different surnames, lol. After all, this was the 70s!

These two slides were of the carnival lights, which I took from my office window at the Redditch Advertiser.

And now we move onto the Devon slides. There are only three of these. I have taken a lot more slides since but they aren't of this set which are by far older and interesting for their colour and condition.

A walk across the fields next and below that a walk along the cliff to or from Beer Village.

This final one was taken through the kitchen window of my first flat in Seaton. It was an old large house converted into six flats with odd dimensions. My flat had a massive living room, large main bedroom and a tiny kitchen plus tiny second bedroom. It was also haunted!

Next up will probably be the final part of the Weather Lore series. I started working on it a while ago before having almost five weeks of flu - or at least I thought I did until I went into the draft to see how far I've got. As it happens all I've put on the page is the title and one photo. Doh!

I've already completed quite a lot to the Devon Training Centre one so I might finish and publish that one instead. I'll see how it goes.

I really hope that everyone's well. Cheers 'til next time. :)