So who’d have thought that all this virus madness would still be around a year later?! I remember thinking back at the start of March last year, when the Photography and Video Show at the NEC was cancelled, that the organisers were probably overreacting and there was no way that there’d be any kind of lockdown! And then a few days after that weekend, the government announced that everything would shut down for at least the next 12 weeks – and that seemed like a really long time back then!
In the end, I didn’t leave the house until the end of August (apart from 2 trips to the doctor’s for blood tests), and then in the months since then, I ventured to the cinema when they opened up again for a bit in September and October, and I’ve also been doing a walk around the local area a couple of times a week (well, maybe not always quite as regular as that!)
Walk alongside the River Mersey.
I’ve lived around here for nearly 20 years, but never really explored the area properly, although I have cycled alongside the Mersey (which pretty much runs past my house) a couple of times in the past. So, I can cross over the river and then walk for a couple of miles alongside the river until I get to Parrs Wood, where I then cross back over and head towards Cheadle village, where I then head into Abney Hall Park on my way back home, giving me a full circuit of 4 miles. What’s pretty cool is that apart from the final short stretch, you really do feel like you’re in the middle of no-where, with just fields and trees – you wouldn’t know you’re so close to the city / town! It’s actually really nice to be out and experience a total change of scenery like that, and gets me doing a bit of exercise as well!
First vaccine done!
Other news – I had my first Covid jab a few weeks ago, and unsurprisingly I’m not now being controlled by Bill Gates or emitting 5G phone signals! I’ve not had any reaction at all other than a slightly sore shoulder, although I know some people have been wiped out for a day or two after having it.
Hopefully as more people get vaccinated, there’ll be a positive effect on things. It’s been announced that on the 12th of April there’s going to be some easing of the restrictions that came in after Christmas – non-essential retail will allowed to reopen, as well as gyms (so no excuse anymore!), but you still can’t go in anyone else’s house so it’s all a bit mixed up! Also there’s no news yet on whether Cineworld will open next month – I have really missed going to the cinema so can’t wait for that to come back, and there’s a pretty decent backlog of delayed films which I’m looking forward to seeing!
I mentioned a while back that I’d ordered a film scanner so I could scan a load of old photo negatives and slides. Well, it turned out it was quite hard to get hold of the one I wanted, and my original order was cancelled by the store! Not sure if it’s been discontinued or if it’s a Covid supply issue, but the only place I could get it was an online store in the Netherlands! I finally got hold of it at the end of August, and have been scanning hundreds of old family slides (some from the early 1960s!) and also some of my 35mm negatives from the 1990s and early 2000s (before the ease of digital finally took over!)
Grandad at Stoke Gate, Hampshire (June 1970).
Mum, Joan, Grandad, Dad and me in Cockshutford, Shropshire (11th August 1974).
Me, Mum and next door’s dog Joe (June 1973).
I’ve been really impressed by the quality of the scans – the resolution is really detailed and sharp, and is higher that most modern photos! They do take a bit of clean-up work though – there’s quite a lot of dust and scratches that need removing, plus general clean-up to remove tough grime and stains I’ve not been able to remove with isopropyl alcohol. One of the challenging things is to identify the images when there’s been no details written on them. I’ve managed to pin down a date for a lot of them, and have also been using Google Maps to work out where some were taken, but there’s a lot that it’s impossible to find much info about. It’s made me realise that it’s important to make a note of stuff like that with photos if you want people to look at them in the future, so I’ve now started going through my folders of digital photos and adding dates, names and locations into the filenames! (To be fair, I’ve had a lot of time on my hands!)