2026 Project 52 - Weekly photos from Geoff F

[Geoff F]

Not sure what to do this year. Maybe try a few now and then images comparing old and modern images of the same area and a few weather related shots of my part of the world, although nothing overly dramatic, just interesting skies etc.

Week 01 - Part of the local estuary on the last day of 2025. After some strong and cold east winds it was bright and calm although on the cool side (but probably feeling warm for some of you in more serious parts of the world)



Batson Creek today . . .



and as it was in the 1930s when ships were broken up in the same spot.



Turning around and looking inland, there was a bit of low angle sunshine below dark clouds.

[Geoff F]

Week 02 - More current and old scenes from where I live. Not possible to exactly match the old images due to recent building work and vegetation growth. But this should give a general impression of changes over the pas 100 years.

Batson was originally a separate small village at the end of a creek in the Salcombe harbour area.



This appears to be washday.



Shadycombe Creek and the Fish Quay

[Geoff F]

South Sands viewed from North Sands

[LenR]

Geoff, an interesting concept of then and now images of the Salcombe area. Well done.
Are those war ships that were being broken up?

[Geoff F]

The local opinion from that time was that the ships were WW1 battleships but clearly the breakers didn't have sufficient facilities to break up Dreadnought class battleships; so while some may have been minor naval craft most were probably old cargo ships. I haven't seen any names or other details about the vessels so the exact details would appear to have been lost.

That photo was only discovered recently when some old images were donated to Salcombe History Society and I was scanning this material. A lot of local images were stored by the local photographer on glass plates and were lost through bomb damage in 1942.

[Geoff F]

Week 02 - a nice day. After a spell of wet and very windy weather, yesterday was calm and sunny so I went for a walk along the coast path.


The coast near Bolt Tail



7D with 24-70 Tamron lens. 1/640 F9 Iso 320 merge of two bracketed exposures.

This blackthorn bush shows which way the wind blows



On the return journey I picked the easiest route up a slightly inland valley



1/400 F10 Iso 250

[Geoff F]

It can be difficult to get to the bottom of a bucket.



Some Highland Cattle are used to keep vegetation under control. I couldn't get an angle which avoided the fence; so I decided the best option was to ignore it and shoot anyway.

[Geoff F]

Week 03 - Looking towards Bolt Head. Another of those impossible scenes with difficult light but I did what I could with the situation.



7D with Tamron 24-70 lens. 1/60 F9 Iso 400. Merge of two bracketed exposures

[Geoff F]

Week 04 - I returned to the same general area as Week 03 and similar light problems but tried a different approach.

Watching the tide come in. Winter is similar to summer - except for different clothes.



7D with Canon 70-200 lens 1/160 F10 Iso 400. Merge of two bracketed exposures

Walking the dog - and the child.



1/640 F10 Iso 400

[Geoff F]

I have had a slight edit to this image with a few subtle changes.

[Geoff F]

Week 05 - Same area as the past couple of posts and with very similar dull UK winter weather



Canon 24-105 lens 1/320 F8 Iso 640 Merge of two bracketed exposures

If you throw my ball away again I am not bringing it back!



1/400 F8 Iso 640. Merge of two bracketed exposures

Moult Point with South Sands in the distance.



1/250 F8 Iso 640. Merge of two bracketed exposures.

[skitterbug]

Your photo work shows a wonderful feeling of freedom. Makes a person want to go exploring! Thank you for sharing.

[Geoff F]

Thank you for your comment, Sandy. There is some varied landscape around here. Nothing extremely dramatic but a good mixture of subtle tones and a few places with access such as the South West Coast Path and a few wildlife reserves.

[Geoff F]

Week 06 - Ruins in Andrews Wood. Spent a few hours trudging through deep mud in order to replace some old rotten bird boxes near these ruins. Exact date of occupation is unknown but the area was listed as ruins in the 1850 tithe map so it could have been a 17th century (or older) farmhouse



7D with Canon 24-105 lens. 1/125 F6.3 Iso 640. Poor light and difficult to find clean shooting angles amongst all the foliage.



This was probably an oven built into the chimney

[skitterbug]

Interesting to see. Is this area "own" by someone or is it part of a Natural Reserve? This scenery definitely beats all the snow that we have happening.

[Geoff F]

Hello Sandy. Andrews Wood is one of a number of wildlife reserves which are managed by Devon Wildlife Trust using a mixture of employees and volunteers. Each UK county has its own Wildlife Trust which is funded by central and local government plus donations etc. For several years I have been part of the Andrews Wood volunteer maintenance team.

A few years ago I produced a video about this site.

https://vimeo.com/913945067?share=copy&fl=cl&fe=ci

There are other wildlife organisations such as Woodland Trust. I record wildlife, particularly insects, at a number of local reserves.

In my part of the world, snow is rare. But we get a lot of 'greyness' and dampness.

[Geoff F]

Week 07. More current and old images. Last Sunday was slightly better weather, although still a poor light for landscapes, so I had a quick walk around looking for possible scenes to include in our next local history society calendar. An added difficulty is that the recent shots need to be in a 4 x 5 ratio.

Fore Street from various angles.













And back to wind with foggy drizzle for the rest of the week

[LenR]

Geoff, another interesting series of images from yesteryear. Would the streets have been cobblestones originally?

[skitterbug]

Hello Sandy. Andrews Wood is one of a number of wildlife reserves which are managed by Devon Wildlife Trust using a mixture of employees and volunteers. Each UK county has its own Wildlife Trust which is funded by central and local government plus donations etc. For several years I have been part of the Andrews Wood volunteer maintenance team.

A few years ago I produced a video about this site.

https://vimeo.com/913945067?share=copy&fl=cl&fe=ci

There are other wildlife organisations such as Woodland Trust. I record wildlife, particularly insects, at a number of local reserves.

In my part of the world, snow is rare. But we get a lot of 'greyness' and dampness.

Thanks for the reply and the information you supplied about Andrews Wood. I plan on watching your video!
As an older adult, I can say that I do not like snow anymore. Hard to believe that I basically "lived" outside when I was a child because I loved playing in the stuff. Amazing how time has a way of changing a person feelings about snow!

[Geoff F]

Thanks for the comments.It isn't just snow, Sandy. I don't like this continuous rain anymore. I spent today at Andrews Wood trudging through thick mud while cleaning out bird boxes.

As far as we can tell, Len, some streets may have been stoned, with stones and chippings, rather than actual cobblestones; but most appear to have been compacted earth. Muddy in winter and dusty in summer. There are records of complaints about the US Navy damaging these roads with heavy machinery in 1944.