Anna W's Gallery

Waiting for summer

Anna W — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 22:29:09 GMT

Waiting for summer

Summer was well and truly over on Southsea seafront today - blowing a gale, freezing cold and just after I took this, the heavens opened!

The Unfortunate Pier

Anna W — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 22:02:33 GMT

The Unfortunate Pier

Southsea's South Parade Pier was originally opened in November 1879 but in 1904 a serious fire destroyed the structure, and it had to be rebuilt. The new Pier opened in 1908 and had an uneventful history for the next sixty years, even surviving the heavy bombing of Portsmouth during the Second World War. In 1967 another fire severely damaged the Pier and the theatre had to be removed. In June 1974 it was ablaze yet again when a spotlight set fire to some curtains during the filming of the rock opera Tommy. The fire soon spread out of control, requiring several hundred actors, staff and extras to be evacuated from the scene. Over 100 firemen fought the blaze, their task being made much harder by strong winds and the Pier's largely timber constrution, but they successfully stopped it from spreading to the rest of the Pier. I wonder if they've ever thought of installing a sprinkler system!

Welcome to the Pleasuredome...

Anna W — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 22:25:48 GMT

Welcome to the Pleasuredome...

...or rather, Butlins in Bognor Regis, lit by a shaft of sunlight just before the heavens opened last week! Rather frustratingly, there's a high fence all around the Butlins compound (I'm not sure if it's there to keep the public out or the holidaymakers in!) so getting a clear shot proved to be a bit of a challenge and involved standing on the wall. Thankfully the security guards must've been on their tea break at the time!

Stark

Anna W — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 17:31:54 GMT

Stark

Even though it's gradually being demolished by the sea, there seems to be a strength and defiance about the skeleton of Brighton's West Pier. I love the way it's starkness makes the barbed wire look almost delicate. It's sad to think that in a few years it will probably have disappeared beneath the waves.

Sunset on Dartmoor

Anna W — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 20:44:13 GMT

Sunset on Dartmoor

I took this a couple of weeks ago at a place called Nuns Cross Farm, somewhere in the middle of Dartmoor. It seems like a really remote place and was deserted when I got there, so I was surprised to look up after a while and find a steady stream of blokes in army fatigues with huge rucksacks stomping past behind me - turns out that the farm is used by the forces as a base for survival training!

Prospect Cottage

Anna W — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 20:13:04 GMT

Prospect Cottage

Prospect Cottage, Dungeness was the home of film maker Derek Jarman until his death in 1994. Despite living on a windswept expanse of shingle officially classified as a desert, he created a lovely garden using hardy plants and objects he found nearby. One side wall of the cottage bears the words of John Donne's poem "The Sun Rising" in raised wood. I wouldn't normally photograph someone's home from such close quarters but, having arrived at Dungeness at very early hour on a Sunday morning, it didn't seem likely that anyone was going to notice!

Three Sisters and a Chair

Anna W — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 20:18:57 GMT

Three Sisters and a Chair

One of these boats on the shingle at Dungeness was called Three Sisters, but to me the name seemed more appropriate for the three boats lined up next to each other. The garden chair was bedded down very snugly in the shingle and looked as though it had seen many a tide come and go but I resisted the temptation to park myself there for a while! I thought I'd have another go at this shot and so went back the following week but, when I got there (after getting up at 3.45 am!) this stretch of shingle was empty and the boats were out fishing. Huh!

Beside the Seaside

Anna W — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 21:20:47 GMT

Beside the Seaside

I spotted these two ladies sitting happily on the sea front at Bognor Regis recently, one swigging her mineral water and the other chatting into her mobile phone - for some reason they reminded me of a Beryl Cook painting!

Reach for the Sun

Anna W — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 11:59:33 GMT

Reach for the Sun

I love the sight of a cornfield full of poppies - there's something so cheerful about it somehow and I thought I'd include this one to show that I don't only do grey skies! Unfortunately I haven't managed to find a poppy field around here so far this year (still looking though - couldn't the farmers chuck a few handfuls of poppy seeds into the mix when they're planting their crops? lol..), so have concentrated on the few individual flowers I've come across instead.

Camel Mist

Anna W — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 20:52:53 GMT

Camel Mist

Taken on a recent trip to Cornwall, as the evening mist started to rise over the Camel Estuary. The lights on the right hand side are Rock - Padstow is just out of sight, below the brow of the hill on the left of the picture.

Selsey Bill

Anna W — Mon, 26 May 2008 20:39:47 GMT

Selsey Bill

Another grey day at Selsey Bill - I love this kind of weather for photography (got a bit of a thing for stormy skies), but it's not so great for Bank Holiday outings!

For those in peril...

Anna W — Sun, 18 May 2008 14:25:43 GMT

For those in peril...

Selsey Lifeboat Station - another one of those places that has been practically on the doorstep for years and which I've only just got around to visiting for the first time. If nothing else, taking up photography has been great for inspiring me to get out and explore the local area! I realise that anyone looking through my gallery might get the impression that we only get grey skies in this corner of West Sussex but I'm happy to report that it's lovely and sunny here today!

April Showers

Anna W — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:58:35 GMT

April Showers

Sunday morning, Southsea seafront (not Bognor, for a change!)

Bognor Beach

Anna W — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 11:52:11 GMT

Bognor Beach

Good old Bognor - in recent weeks they've had to lop another 80' off the end of the pier to stop the whole thing from falling into the sea, but at least the groynes seem to be staying put...

Woodland Carpet

Anna W — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 21:54:11 GMT

Woodland Carpet

At this time of year the woods near our house are thick with bluebells (why are they called bluebells when they're mauve??) and almost as thick with photographers taking shots of them! It's a real pleasure to take the dog for his morning walks in there, and he's happy too as we're out for about twice as long as usual when I'm fiddling around in the undergrowth with my camera!

Whiteout

Anna W — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 21:47:01 GMT

Whiteout

As soon as I realised that the snow was settling last Sunday I headed up to Kingley Vale to make the most of it (here on the south coast snow is a bit of an event!). I'd thought that there would be lots of others who'd had the same idea but, amazingly, I didn't see a soul for the 2 hours I was up there - apart from 3 joggers in the distance who seemed to be running rather gingerly! It was snowing hard for most of the time and the sky and land seemed to merge into one.

Ancient and Modern

Anna W — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 09:40:41 GMT

Ancient and Modern

I'd seen the Gherkin from a distance several times but only got up close to it for the first time last week. It's beautiful and immense, towering over the surrounding buildings like a rocket ready for blast off.

St. Oswald's Bay revisited

Anna W — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:16:43 GMT

St. Oswald's Bay revisited

Lobster boat, Bognor Regis

Anna W — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 21:02:45 GMT

Lobster boat, Bognor Regis

Scrumpo ... sinking

Anna W — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 21:20:51 GMT

Scrumpo ... sinking