THE DOOR

Too little
Has been said
Of the door, its one
Face turned to the night’s
Downpour and its other
To the shift and glisten of firelight

Air, clasped
By this cover
Into the room’s book,
Is filled by the turning
Pages of dark and fire
As the wind shoulders the panels, or unsteadies that burning

Not only
The storm’s
Breakwater, but the sudden
Frontier to our concurrences, appearances,
And as full of the offer of space
As the view through a cromlech is

For doors
are both frame and monument
to our spent time,
and too little
has been said
of our coming through and leaving by them

(Charles Tomlinson)

The Cloister

A cloister (from Latin claustrum) is a part of cathedral, monastic and abbey architecture. A cloister consists usually of four corridors, with a courtyard or garth in the middle. It is intended to be both covered from the rain, but open to the air. The attachment of a cloister to a Cathedral church usually indicates that it is (or was once) a monastic foundation.

Cloistered (or "Claustral") life is also another name for the life of a monk or nun in the enclosed religious orders; the modern English term enclosure is used in contemporary Catholic church law to mean cloistered, and cloister is sometimes used as a synonym for monastery.

In medieval times, cloisters served the primary function of quiet meditation or study gardens.

Hasselblad 501C, 50mm carl zeiss, FP4 125 rated at 80, developed with rodinal

Cloister of Glasgow University

Eilean Donan Castle

The name Eilean Donan, or island of Donan, is most probably called after the 6th century Irish Saint, Bishop Donan who came to Scotland around 580 AD. The first fortified structure was not built on the island until the early 13th century as a defensive measure, protecting the lands of Kintail against the Vikings who raided, settled and controlled much of the North of Scotland and the Western Isles between 800 and 1266. From the mid 13th century, this area was the quite seperate "Sea Kingdom" of the Lord of the Isles where the sea was the main highway and the power of feuding clan chiefs was counted by the number of men and galleys or "birlinns" at their disposal. Eilean Donan offered the perfect defensive position. Over the centuries, the castle itself has expanded and contracted in size.

For the best part of 200 years, the stark ruins of Eilean Donan lay neglected, abandoned and open to the elements, until Lt Colonel John Macrae-Gilstrap bought the island in 1911. Along with his Clerk of Works, Farquar Macrae, he dedicated the next 20 years of his life to the reconstruction of Eilean Donan, restoring her to her former glory. The castle was rebuilt according to the surviving ground plan of earlier phases and was formally completed in the July of 1932.

http://www.eileandonancastle.com/visitor-information/history.htm

Hasselblad 501C, 50mm Carl Zeiss, red filter, developed with Rodinal

Eilean Donan Castle, Scotland, on the road to Isle of Skye

TO A DEAD MAN
By : Carl Sandburg


OVER the dead line we have called to you
To come across with a word to us,
Some beaten whisper of what happens
Where you are over the dead line
Deaf to our calls and voiceless.

The flickering shadows have not answered
Nor your lips sent a signal
Whether love talks and roses grow
And the sun breaks at morning
Splattering the sea with crimson.

Hasselblad, 80mm Carl Zeiss, yellow filter, developed with Rodinal, Printed in Ilford using ansco 120 developer

Cemetery at the Wells Cathedral, Wells, England

Loch Lomond

Loch Lomond must be the worlds most famous Loch and has been much written about, both in song and verse. It is a Scottish loch located in both the western lowlands of Central Scotland and the southern Highlands. The loch (as of July 2002) is now part of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. On the Loch there are approximately 38 Islands, some of them inhabited. Loch Lomond has the largest surface area of fresh water Loch in the UK. The Loch is 24 miles long and five miles wide and at its deepest point is some 600 feet deep.

Nestling by the bonnie banks of Loch Lommond the family-owned Scotch whisky distillery takes its name and its exquisitely pure water from this most picturesque and celebrated of all Scotland's lochs. The beauty and tranquility of the setting belies the considerable activity within one of the finest Scotch Whisky Distilleries.

Hasselblad 501C, 250mm Carl Zeiss, FP4 125 rated at 80, developed with rodinal

Loch Lomond, Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, Central Scotland

Tranquility
by Ira Eden

Rolling swell to kiss the land,
falling back to crash the advance.

Flowing in a row of building ripple,
bow down to the sandy temple.

In the distance nothing is still~
ever moving windy mountains.
Hills and vales change location.
The sea whispers to the shore:

"I must come in now to soothe your wounds,
to wash away the footsteps."

Lightly caressing the rising mass,
then receeding back into itself.

.............

Muara Ujung Genteng, West Java, Indonesia

The Waterfall

By Henry Vaughan

With what deep murmurs through time’s silent stealth

Doth thy transparent, cool, and watery wealth

Here flowing fall,

And chide and call,

As if his liquid loose retinue stayed

Lingering, and were of this steep place afraid,

The common pass

Where, clear as glass,

All must descend

Not to an end ;

But quickened by this deep and rocky grave,

Rise to a longer course more bright and brave.

……………..

Senaru, Nusa Tenggara Barat, Indonesia

The River's Tale

by Rudyard Kipling

TWENTY bridges from Tower to Kew -
Wanted to know what the River knew,
Twenty Bridges or twenty-two,
For they were young, and the Thames was old
And this is the tale that River told

.........................

River Thames from Waterloo Bridge London, England

http://www.kipling.org.uk/poems_riverstale.htm

Bicycle Ride

....................

Bicycle bicycle bicycle

I want to ride my bicycle bicycle bicycle

I want to ride my bicycle

I want to ride my bike

I want to ride my bicycle

I want to ride my

Bicycle races are coming your way

.....................

(Queen’s song)

Photograph was made with Hasselblad 501C, 50mm Carl Zeiss Plannar lens and red filter. The film is Ilford FP4 125 rated at 80, developed with Rodinal. Printed in Ilford paper with Ansco 130 developer.

A street near King's College, Cambridge, England

Cherry Blossom

Sleeping under the trees on Yoshino mountain

The spring breeze wearing Cherry blossom petals

…………………..
Wishing to die under cherry blossoms in spring

Cherry blossom season in full moon time

………………….

Saigyo

Photograph was made with Hasselblad 501C, 50mm Carl Zeiss Plannar lens and red filter. The film is Ilford FP4 125 rated at 80, developed with Rodinal. Printed in Ilford paper with Ansco 130 developer.

OLD CITY OF CAMBRIDGE

The City of Cambridge is one of the most beautiful and romantic cities in Britain. Situated in the quiet east of England, amid the rural countryside of Cambridgeshire. Cambridge’s unique setting on the banks of the River Cam, the "backs" and the magnificent architecture of the University buildings all combine to make Cambridge the most unforgettable place, one which will linger long in your memory.

Photograph was made with Hasselblad 501C, 50mm Carl Zeiss Plannar lens and red filter. The film is Ilford FP4 125 rated at 80, developed with Rodinal. Printed in Ilford paper with Ansco 130 developer.

The River Dee

A notable river, the Dee rises deep in the heart of the Cairngorm mountains on the Braeriach plateau, some 4,000 feet above sea level in an area known as the Wells of Dee and it eventually reaches the sea at Aberdeen, some 87 miles from its source.
The Dee below Balmoral adopts a winding and slow moving course until it reaches Ballater, where it once more increases in tempo.

Photograph was made with Hasselblad 501C, 50mm Carl Zeiss Plannar lens and red filter. The film is Ilford FP4 125 rated at 80, developed with Rodinal. Printed in Ilford paper with Ansco 130 developer.

WELCOME DEATH

………….

And out of these and thee,
I make a scene, a song, brief (not fear of thee,
Nor gloom's ravines, nor bleak, nor dark—for I do not fear thee,
Nor celebrate the struggle, or contortion, or hard-tied knot),

Of the broad blessed light and perfect air, with meadows, rippling tides, and trees
and flowers and grass,

And the low hum of living breeze—and in the midst God's beautiful eternal right
hand,

Thee, holiest minister of Heaven—thee, envoy, usherer, guide at last of all,
Rich, florid, loosener of the stricture-knot call'd life,
Sweet, peaceful, welcome Death.

(Death Valley, Walt Whitman)

Photograph was made with Hasselblad 501C, 50mm Carl Zeiss Plannar lens and red filter. The film is Ilford FP4 125 rated at 80, developed with Rodinal.

St Mary Redcliffe Church

In 1574 Queen Elizabeth is said to have proclaimed the Parish Church of St Mary Redcliffe to be the "fairest, goodliest and most famous parish church in England." Bristol’s most historic and beautiful building, the St Mary Redcliffe Church is one of Bristol’s treasures with its magnificent exterior of flying buttresses, pinnacles and spire.

The building has a splendid interior with fine stone vaulted transepts with 1200 gold covered roof bosses, beautifully carved by mediaeval masons, which act as keystones locking the masonry that forms the vaulting.

Photograph was made with Hasselblad 501C, 50mm Carl Zeiss Plannar lens and red filter. The film is Ilford FP4 125 rated at 80, developed with Rodinal. Printed in MGIV FB Ilford paper developed in Ansco 120 and Ansco 130 and selenium toning.

THE ROMANTIC CASTLE, EILEAN DONAN

In the superbly romantic setting amid silent, tree clad hills, Eilean Donan Castle possesses a rare and dream-like quality. Yet, standing lone sentinel on its rocky promontory at the meeting point of three sea lochs - Loch Long, Loch Duich and Loch Alsh - it is, in reality, a fortress of solid stone and formidable defences.

It is not hard to realise the position commanded by the Castle during the troubled times of the marauding Norse and Danish adventurers who raided along these coasts. Nor is it difficult, when gazing down today from the heights above the shore of the loch, to visualise an era of savage but somehow glorious warfare, when the Clans fought and the MacRaes found refuge in this impregnable fortress, defying the attacks of their enemies.

Much of the history of the Castle has been preserved within its solid walls and immortalised in the ballads and stories handed down from generation to generation.

Photograph was made with Hasselblad 501C, 50mm Carl Zeiss Plannar lens and red filter. The film is Ilford FP4 125 rated at 80, developed with Rodinal. Printed in MGIV FB Ilford paper developed in Ansco 120 and Ansco 130 and selenium toning.

View over Edinburgh

Calton Hill is one of Edinburgh's main hills, set right in the city centre. It is unmistakable with its Athenian acropolis poking above the skyline. The top of Calton hill is an excellent and usually quiet place to come on any day, with its grassy slopes and panoramic views of the city, including down the length of Princes street (the main shopping thoroughfare) and Edinburgh castle. There is a good view North of the ruddy-coloured cliffs of Salisbury Crags and the undulating slopes of Holyrood Park.

Photograph was made with Hasselblad 501C, 50mm Carl Zeiss Plannar lens and red filter. The film is Ilford FP4 125 rated at 80, developed with Rodinal. Printed in MGIV FB Ilford paper developed in Ansco 120 and Ansco 130 and selenium toning.

Glenfinnan and Loch Shiel

Glenfinnan sited on both the road and the famous railway line between Fort William and Mallaig the village, with a view down the long Loch Shiel, the '45 monument sited right at the head of the loch, and the always impressive Glenfinnan Railway viaduct. This area played a major role in the life of Prince Charles Edward and much of the initial support given to him came from this area. The monument is a tribute the men and times of 1745 and the statute that adorns the top is of one of Prince Charles' clansmen.

Loch Shiel is a fraction above sea level and hence is not tidal. It is however extremely deep, over 120m as indicated on the maps, and at its narrowest point only 600m wide - a classic case of glacial erosion. The loch is therefore much deeper than the ocean floor as far west as the continental shelf to the western seaboard.

The Glenfinnan end of the loch is dominated on the north side by the long craggy ridge under Beinn Odhar Mhor, and on the southern side by the equally rough looking mountain sides of Meall a' Choire Chruinn. The northern ridge of this mountain-top drops right down to the loch-side and making a focal point in the famous view along the loch.

Photograph was made with Hasselblad 501C, 50mm Carl Zeiss Plannar lens and red filter. The film is Ilford FP4 125 rated at 80, developed with Rodinal in N process using semistand agitation. Printed in MGIV FB Ilford paper developed in Ansco 120 and Ansco 130 and selenium toning.