Are there pylons still in the heart of town?

Can you see the sparks in any other part of town?
Does the current flow out of every line?
No, it's just on this street in King's Lynn.

This pretty adornment to the street scene gives a towering feeling (well it's several storeys high) to John Kennedy Road and brings the oscillating electrons and possibly an overpowering feeling to a sub station just off to the left.

The weekend in black and white is here.

With apologies to Lerner and Loewe.

South Quay, King's Lynn

The weekend in black and white is here.

Out to the Wash

Here we are again down the Fisher Fleet; this time with a bit of day light. If you carry on past the fishing boats you eventually fetch up at the river, the Great Ouse, which flows out into the Wash. The river no longer flows in its own free way but in a man made channel, dead straight. King's Lynn used to be much nearer the sea but land reclamation, drainage and such things means it's now a few miles inland.

The weekend in black and white is here.

Pylons, The Loke and The Long Pond

As the sun set softly over Loke Road (or simply 'the Loke'; as the natives term it) so Margot indulged her passion for pylons.

St Nicholas' spire in the background

I admit it's the same pylon from a different view.

The short part of the Long Pond

The Loke crosses the Long Pond cutting this ancient water course in two. I'm guessing it's a monastic structure to do with drainage, monks were real clever at drainage... Old maps (1887) show a Short Pond close by and I'm guessing now filled in as no-body mentioned it when I was there. There was also another large pond named the Loke (sic) filled in and covered over and now a playground close by yesterday's picture.

If I'm right then this is the very pylon Margot used to dawdle under on her way home from school despite her mother telling her not to.

A drowning shopping trolley, when will they ever learn that they can't swim?

Some local wild life.

And with this post we've come to the end of our little day trip to King's Lynn and must make our way back to Hull. I enjoyed meeting Margot's old friends (who I'd only known from Facebook) and  even the hanging around for a locksmith in the cold of the evening seems like a dream now (OK a nightmare) ... Hoping to be back soon ...

None of this would have been possible without the kind assistance of Dave Hunter and Betsy Smith, friends also met on Facebook, who offered us a lift both ways, seems they like driving a lot. Once again many thanks ...

The end of November

It's not often people stop and gawp at the sky but yesterday's flaming sunset was quite a spectacle and had folks looking up in amazement. I stood by the river and watched the old Sol Invictus disappear behind Lincolnshire's pylons and, of course, I pointed my camera at it just like you're not supposed to (eyesight is overrated).

Today's first of the month theme for City Daily Photo is "Transitions".

T is for pylon

Near Creyke Beck, Cottingham

A recent competition to design a new pylon has come up with a T-shaped thing that is so boring that it instantly appealed to all the judges from the Department of Energy & Climate Change, National Grid, and the Royal Institute of British Architects. Say what you like about these old giants that have been bestriding and despoiling the countryside for eighty years but they ain't dull.

Girt big pylon

Beside the bridge on Park Street this pylon serves to carry a couple of antennas to keep us in touch with the world and all its goings on.

A house on Park Lane

That's Park Lane, Cottingham and really there's no problems with the neighbours since there aren't any save for the pylons and power cables converging on Creyke Beck substation. The noisy skylarks might drive you to distraction though.

Window Scene

Smyth's Toyshop, Clough Road

I don't suppose anyone much younger than myself and certainly anyone who did not watch 1960's British TV will ever have heard of Harry Worth. He had a series on the telly, what they call a sit-com, though it was more 'sit' than 'com' as I recall. No, the only reason I have dragged this out of the mire that is my distant past is that in taking this shot I was reminded of the opening of  Harry Worth's program. Well OK just take a peek at the video and you might see what I'm rambling on about.

Weekend reflections are here

A means to an end

 

Many dislike long lines of pylons stretching across the countryside yet they still wish to have the benefits of cheap and reliable electricity. 

 

I have just learned that pylon is in fact a UK colloquial term for what others call a transmission tower; Australians use the term ironman and Canadians have hydro towers. They come in many shapes, sizes and colours but their function is simply to carry the cables from the power plant to your home. The strangest designs I have come across are here.

All photos by Margot K Juby

Parallax

There are people who find beauty in pylons; who am I to argue? This was taken from a moving train just north of Cottingham .