Lucrecia

 

We will be going to Lucrecia's betrothal in the not too distant future - all being well. So looking forward to it. Her mother Ellen had the most wonderful birds nest head dress at her own wedding [I have seen the snaps] and I am sure Lucrecia won't let the side down. 

This snap was taken days / years ago at Manchester Velodrome as Lucrecia's Ma and Pa were in the training as tandem pilots for the Athens Paralympics. They both both won medals with their respectively partially sighted stokers - Aileen and Ian.

Now, I am not one for telling on people but Eve had two pieces of cake on her birthday. One Coffee and walnut  Made by Gill Price and one "Tom Hickman orange cake".

still love this

 

I mean tandems and everything - what's not to like.

We owned one for a few years - hung the Christmas lights on it as it had to grace the lounge in our tiny Lancs home. And tandems were a large part of my working life at Manchester Velodrome. Somewhere I have a snap of eight tandems in my works office - such as it was. They were ready for one of the Tandem omniums I ran.  Oh, and lets not forget The [two] Fuji tandems we managed to get made for Ellen and Aileen for the Athens paralympics where they won gold. [and again in Beijing].

Then Eve raced a few times on tandems with Paul Hunter and also Vic Possee, the latter in a tandem criterium I organised. She almost raced on tandem with Michael Hutchinson but the weather made the course unrideable which was a pity.

See here for more tandem posts.

Then up here in the windy cool north west Eve rode a 100 hilly and wet mile cyclosportive with Mr WInndy from which I'm not sure Mr WIndy has ever recovered from.

That's why I am attracted to images of tandems. Does that make sense>

ysp

 

this willow sculpture by laura ellen bacon reminds me of the sculpture that was in the Lewis Castle Grounds in  Stormoway some years ago before the vandals got to it. A quick but tiring visit to the sculpture park in Yorkshire revealed this in the church there. The iron tree that was outside the church by Ai Weiwei has gone.

Yes, tken with the Viogtlander Perkeo and Kentmere 200 film - handheld.

Ardfern

 

Eve, Ellen and Figgy the dog at Ardfern overlooking the Correyvrekan whirlpool. 

Really lovely area - even if the snap taken with my OM2n and Kentmere 400 [developed in Hydrofen] is less than wonderful. Eve & I stayed with Ellen and Paul at their pad in nearby Craobh Haven - a place I'd not known but hopefully will be returning since it's a mere boat ride and shortish drive from home.

Their home is where the Hunters are

The Hunter family. Well Harrison the rower who in this snap in their lounge readying himself for a bike ride to the cafe [where else?] and Ellen herself O.B.E multi world champion and the like - formerly that is. Just keeps herself active these days. Fairly active.

Still, we stayed with them the other week in their current gaff in Cheshire. Just a couple of days to make sure our mutual friend Jon Norfolk leaves the country to work with Aus cycling after working with British Cycling for years. We'll miss him.

We won't miss Ellen, Paul, Harrison and Lucrecia as they will be in the UK for the moment.

Him

Sometimes one likes a snap even though the technicalities - whatever they are - are absent.    This is Paul, no doubt searching for some aero/hydro-advantage for his son Harrison in his rowing boat thing. Paul did the same for his dear wifey Ellen on her tandem - to great effect - and for his own tandem to equally good effect

Corishland

No idea where this place is/was. Some old tin mines round the area. Tea shoppe/ice creams you need a defibrillator on hand to eat and people. Yes people. Lots of people even though you can't see many here. Trust me, they were there - as we were.

When I say 'we' I mean dearest Eve, the dogs Mattie, Dilly and the other one plus their pets The Hunters. Ellen and Paul to be precise. Here sunning themsleves while I snap them.

Oh, there they go up the hill with doggies. Must have said something I suppose.
We saw them later though. Stopped in their house and everything. Twas lovely.

There is going to be a bit of a change ahead

Here we are; our new blow-up toy. Next to the solidish floaty one - on the blow-up ones left that is. So now we move ahead with our plans to live afloat and eschew all that is land-based and what have you. Summer up here in the Isles and winter, well, up here in the Isles for the moment too. We do realise we need a little experience before sailing to Cuba or even Ullapool - as if anyone wants to go there, but soon the world will be our lobster as the saying goes.

Yes, I have figured a way to rig up a darkish room on the bigger boatee thing. It might mean HHHCB has to live on the blow-up toy but never mind, photographs come first and all that.

We are most grateful to our lovely pals Paul and Ellen Hunter [OBE] who furnished us with the blow-up tub with, and here I was touched, an accompanying motorised paddling device. Once we get it going again. Never mind, the big boatee has a motorised paddling device as well as big blanket things you hang from a tall pole on the boat to make it go forward pointed around by a lovely wooden and soon to be polished steering stick.

I have decided to take just 35mm cameras with me so will be giving away all my other stuff before we go. 

It's going to be a big change but a life afirming and interesting one. We will endeavour to keep you informed of our whereabouts.

In the meantime check out our sailing friends site here.

This print was Ok till I started messing wif it!

Honest guv. Nearly a masterpiece it was. And on ancient Kodak Polyprint RC paper too. Only, I decide to bleach it back and then sepia tone it - then try to scan while still damp. The result is this; a blotchy print which looked not too bad before the scan - if you propped it up on the other side of a dark room and looked at it without ones glasses on.

Gosh this old paper tones well!

Look, see that's a prized possession of ours [darling Eve & I]. Snapped yesterday with the wood, paper and gaffer tape monstrosity laughingly called a 13x18ish FKD camera. On Shanghai film - developed in PQ then cyanotyped onto Khadi paper - which doesn't take too kindly to such abuse - especially as I then dumped it all in cold coffee!

The subject; Ellen Hunter's [MBE and now Cornwall's fastest postwoman!]Athens Paralympic gold medal winning posy - or whatever it's called. Bit fragile now but I love it! The snap; dreadful!

WTCD. And I am part of it.

World Toy Camera Day is today.

You take out your simple 'toy' camera often made of plastic loaded with film and shoot. I like this day. Enables me to shoot without thinking of anything bar the image. Apart from the weather. And what we are having for tea. And Mr Wilman Sir who is staying with us - which is just lovely and everything. That's not to say the snaps are any good but I like shooting them anyway. I am, as it happens using an Vivitar Ultra Wide and Slim this year - because I have one. Paid a least 99p for it some years ago.

I took it for a stroll the other day - just to let it breathe. It did.

What a little gem this plastic box is. Just love the thing. I shall use it all day I think. Maybe two rolls of film. Snip, snap, that sort of thing.

Ellen Hunter OBE; see above this is what one does!

In for a penny or possibly £1.50.

Old snaps

I may have posted this some years before - I have no idea really and I can't be bothered to look. But I rather like the snap - taken through the glass that used to reside in the wall between the kitchen and the, , , the other now non-existent room. I think I took the snap with a Kiev60 - now gone to the great camera place in the sky. Yes, it's my dearest Eve.

USA TT tandem team

And this snap comes from Athens - the Paralympic Games and all that. The time trial for visually impaired stokers. Paul Hunter and Ian Sharp were riding too - they didn't get a  medal here - or in the road race where they punctured but they did get two bronze in the track at the same Games - 4km pursuit and the 1km TT beating the GB favourites as well.

 Hunter/Sharpe on their ill-fated RR ride in Athens

Celebrating with me in Athens after a bronze medal ride

Ellen Hunter OBE and Aileen McGlynn on their way to silver in the sprint after winning the Kilo TT

Yes they are old snaps - although we do still have a bouquet from that event  which is lovely. Only I am still very sore and less than able to snap more snaps or print more images till things improve at my nether regions!

Portrait of a lane

I shall be going to the Lewis Photographica [continuing] coffee meeting in the morning. It is a fine affair were ideas are exchanged, coffee drank and fruit consumed.. Sometimes we look at photographs. Imagine?

This image will not be one of them. I don't do landscapes but I did do this portrait of a country lane. Just before I toook these portraits of Ellen & Paul Hunter. All with the Hasselblad.

An English Lane 

 An English [not Welsh] Rose [ahem]

A born Hunter

Olympics

Ellen Hunter MBE

Paul Hunter

I've been listening to and reading all about the forthcoming Olympics in London today. To be quite honest, I've just about had enough of it now. Having said that, it did dominate my life for quite a number of years when I worked as a coach at the Manchester Velodrome - home of the GB cycling team.

Most of the radio was about the stars, Sir Chis Hoy featured as he should, Vicky Pendleton babbled away too and countless athletes, swimmers and rowers spent time telling me how wonderful it's going to be. 

For me the stars of the show are the two erbs above. Ellen Hunter came into the Velodrome one day as a novice and then ended up [via breaking her back but riding as the able-bodied tandem pilot] winning a gold and silver in the Athens Paralympics on the front of a tandem with Aileen McGlynn MBE - and later gold in Bejing too. That same year Paul, Ellen's husband, entrepreneur, wit, irritation and driven man won a bronze on the tandem at the same event with Blinkie Sharpe. Paul was the one with all the talent really. I remember, after Paul won his first World Masters title with a scintillating ride in the pursuit final against some chap from foreign climes - him telling me that he had had packed all his training into one week. Yes that's right, one week. Most people take months and years of preparation but Paul planned it on the first day, did hard and specific training on the next 5 days, tapered on the sixth day and won it on the seventh. Goodness knows what he could have achieved if he trained properly. But then, if he had been around the Velodrome all the time like most of the other riders, someone would have killed him! Lovely chap but try telling him how to train .........

On another note I overheard staff at Tesco's in Stornoway talking about Sunday opening. Now there's a can of worms. I also heard some chap on Radion 4 talking about petrol prices in Stornoway being a tad high. He then went on to say people were using their cars less in the UK and so the tax take was lower and it was affecting the economy. Not one mention of the beneficial effect on the climate or the biosphere though.

Biking - again

Isle of Harris.

Proof

I think it's hard for most of you to appreciate the joy I had riding my bicycle round the Isle of Harris yesterday with Eve on our old mountain bikes.

When I was a kid I used to race bikes - a lot. It was my life really. Raced the track beginning at Cardiff Maindy Stadium and had a great time and a little success. Skipping forward a bit, and later in life I ended up as head coach at the Manchester Velodrome and worked with some of the best track cyclists in the world as well as some of the worst! I'm proud to have some fine friends who are top cyclists and coaches. My lovely and wonderful Eve won her World Title on the track during that time. Aileen McGlynn OBE and Ellen Hunter OBE who ride tandem together got gold medals at Athens and Bejing. Graeme Obree, the wonderful hour-record breaker whose uncle was a policeman in Tarbert, Harris at some time [and I worked with Johnny Lee Miller in preparation to the making of the excellent film about Graeme - The Flying Scotsman]. Michael Hutchinson who attempted the hour record and who wrote a fine and funny book based on the experience where I feature somewhat ! And not forgetting Sir Chis Hoy of Hoy and Princess Victoria Pendleton MBE the latter who did a fine job hoovering my stairs one day. Goodness knows why but she did! For 10 years during that period I ate, slept and drank cycling coaching, running race meets and a very successful sponsored track cycling club, the latter with the great Graham Wilman. All the time getting unwell as CFS or ME got to me. For the last 5 years or so of that period I could not ride a bike at all. I ended up having to work part-time then resigning and coming to the wonderful Isle of Lewis to get well.

And now, after some ups and downs, a lot of meditation I learnt at the Manchester Buddhist Centre, and using NLP learnt [again] from a fine chap in Newport I find myself back on the bike.

And what a day we had cycling down the Golden Road in the cool sunshine. It was without doubt the best days cycling I have had in years. And years.

And now I remember what a sore backside feels like :-)

Just must also mention again my dear Eve who has supported me so much during this difficult time. I can't thank her enough.

This was the wedding [2]

This chimney sweep arrived too late to sweep the chimney of the church stove but stayed for the wedding anyway!

The Great Elviski - all the way from Poland via Manc - wows the happy couple in the reception teepee. Ugh Huh!

Baron von Hoyster with my nephew, now actor and former track cyclist Joby [on the right. Sir Chris on the left. Yes, that's it] after a glass of champagne. Or two.

Mr Hunter has breakfast on the balcony of La Rosa. The church of the wedding in the background - next to the ruined Abbey

Lucrecia and Ellen prepare to look fab

The clan in La Rosa having high[ish] tea

Just back from the weekly Lewis Photographica coffee session and find myself still suffering from some ghastly bug that seems to be ravaging my bod at the moment. I have only enough energy to scan a neg or two before retiring to bed and then out to work later [life eh? ].

Well, since I took a couple of rolls of colour film while away I have started to have a look at what I can salvage from these. Not convinced with colour really. Seems far too complicated so I have converted some to monochrome - which is far from satisfactory but will have to suffice till I get this new fangled colour thing sorted. Any colour change of the image is purely due to my incompetence - or if you like it - due to my brilliance! Apologies for the slight blotchiness in some images but it appears that the lab technician who processed these colour negs for me must have washed her hair in the chemicals first!

The Wedding

Ice-maidens

Lucrecia

Eve & I were down at Whitby for a wedding recently. Lovely church on a hill overlooking the harbour. The sun was shining, Jon, the handsome and ever-lovely bridegroom was grinning and all was well. Carli the bride looked wonderful and in no time - with a little cajoling from the vicar to us plebians - the two were wed. Out in the sunshine the cameras were shooting this way and that - and some of them at Jon & Carli too. Sir Chris Hoy was there to see it all happen resplendent in his Hebridean tartan kilt. [note to self; tell Chris that Kilts and bouncy castles a good match do not make].

Ellen [and no, I won't forget to mention the O.B.E] was there as well with her hubby Paul and two childs - Lucrecia and Fred - both now too old for their own good. I must say, despite staying in a B&B that was singularly uninspiring["Would you like the room with the four poster bed?" ; yes please we say only to find the thing was a few peices of 2x2 with some rag over the ends!] , and later sleeping in a teepee at the reception field - we had a wonderful time. I mean, even The Jam Man was there.

A musical voyage

Gwyn, The Huffsters in t'middle and Simon wif some medals.

Do you ever get a sort of strange deja vu when you are trying to chill out so to speak. I had this feeling whilst listening to Voyages de Nuit at An Lanntair last nuit.

Some years ago when I was working teaching people how to ride round in ovals on a bit of wood on bicycles in Manchester, I ran a cycle team. The team name was yasumitsu-schlapp-and I think if you google that you will get the idea. We had some great riders - Paralympic triple gold medalist Ellen Hunter who piloted Aileen Mcglynn to the wins on a tandem in Athens & Bejing, Ant Kappes - twice paralympic tandem stoker at Bejing, and countless national and World Masters champions including my dear partner Eve. And not forgetting The Huffsters [Phil Huff / FilHough etc]- an over-muscled sprinter with that languid stylee that made him so laid back he was in gave danger of falling asleep.

Well, I sat there in An Lanntair letting the music wash over me and wondered why the Huffsters was up there playing a 4x10 Gandolfi accordian. Eh? It seems the Huffsters has a fine look-alike in Luke Daniels - even down to the languid half-awake/sleep look. I can't seem to find a nice snap of Mr Daniels but, if you look on this snap you can see what the back of his alter ego looks like :-) And of course he is there above with his best Schlapp stance.

Needless to say the Voyages de Nuit concert was brill. Hear them sometime.

Mi Lady O.B.E

MiLady OBE on 'arris

Fresh from winning yet another gold medal at the World Cup Paralympic event in Manchester last week, MiLady Mcglynn popped up to the home-stead on the isle for a spot of relaxatery and what have you. As usual, twas lovely to see her again since Ms Mcglynn and I go back to when it all started sometime in 2001 at the Manchester Velodrome where I worked at the time.
If you don't know who MiLady is; she was on some BBC ALBA programme recently; she has won countless acheivement awards to complement her three Paralympic gold medals won with her tandem pilot Ellen Hunter in Athens and Bejing.
Makes me tired just thinking about it.
If you troll down the links on this blog you'll find Aileen's blog - which she faithfully swore she will update this weekend - when she gets back from the islae.

Congrats are in order

New Years Day at Traigh Mhor

Cycling chums from my last career in England have just be awarded some more gongs for 2009. Aileen McGlynn - who has visited the island here - has been upgraded from MBE to OBE while her tandem pilot Ellen Hunter went straight to OBE. Anthony Kappes got an MBE and Chris Hoy got a bash on the shoulder with a sward and is now SIr Chris. Brilliant one and all.
I might add that all the gold medal winning cyclists got a gong of some sort - and well deserved it is too.

Out and about

While we are talking activity, Ellen Hunter MKE and her tandem partner Aileen McGlynn MBE has been enjoying a ride on the back of a lorry in London today. Such are the rewards of winning gold medals in Beijing. I found this snap lurking somewhere and it depicts Mrs Hunter piloting another Beijing gold medallist Mr Kappes [second tandem]whilst Mr Hunter stretches his for ever dodgy back. Somewhere in Lancashire on the one day of sunshine that year!
Mr Schofield is my neighbour. And a very nice one too. We trolled out to Garry beach some weeks ago while his partner Moira was away. I snapped him so I had the evidence - and here it is.