11 February 2010

Geograph

Derelict and remote Lincolnshire house

It's a jungle out there! Well - at least the Internet is. Nobody could possibly "know" even 1% of the websites out there in the ether. Last August I came across a British website called geograph.com. Set up perhaps in 2004, its aim has been to illustrate the British Isles through still photography. Contributors earn points - especially for prized first geographs - being the first photos of particular grid squares. I think that each Ordnance Survey grid square is a hectare. Clearly, before I encountered this fascinating but slightly awkward to navigate website, hundreds of others had done a fine job of trying to "capture" every hectare on these islands from Lands End to John O'Groats and beyond.

This morning I was ranked 1283rd by Geograph.com having contributed some fifty photos including six prized geograph firsts - all in western Ireland. However, with a good weather forecast for northern England, I did something really quite crazy this morning. I drove forty miles east to the rich farming land south of Gainsborough in Lincolnshire. My sole purpose was to photograph some previously unphotographed squares and to thereby earn precious geograph points. A side benefit would be a bracing walk in unfamiliar rural territory.

Near Knaith Park, I drove up to a well to do farm with an attached equestrian centre. My aim was to walk through this farm and venture along the muddy farm track that left it going south. I saw Farmer Giles with his half-cocked shotgun and his two black Labradors. I waved to him and he came over. After explanation and a little debate, he gave me permission to wander south. Perhaps he thought I was an escaped lunatic. As expected from the map, I found an isolated derelict house miles from anywhere (see top photo) and though I failed to snap them, the RAF Red Arrows team were practising their aeronautic tricks above those sprawling fields.

Later, I parked up in Willingham by Stow and wandered off down the track to Park Farm to capture my next precious "geograph (first)". I am guessing that this must be a man thing. My wife thinks the expedition was totally barmy. However, I have always been obsessed with matters geographical and I am forever trying, mostly unsuccessfully, to capture photographic images that are special to view. And there are no more opportunities for would-be Captain Cooks and Roald Amunsdens so how can one find some adventure?

I took this photo of distant Cottam power station today. Click here to link to the Geograph website and start seeing the British Isles rather differently:-

8 comments:

  1. I don't think it's a "man" thing, it sounds like great fun to me. And think of the value this documentation will have sometime in the future.

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  2. hat does sound a lot of fun. And they are some pretty good shots.

    As for the farmer with the shotgun.. Well, lets just say I don't have very high opinions of people who carry guns around with them to intimidate others.

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  3. I love the power plant photo, the juxtaposition(what a fantastic word, been waiting all week to use it) of the smokestack and the field of grain.

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  4. JAN I wonder if there is a similar geographical photo scheme for amateurs in the USA. Let me know if you discover it as I have some obscure US photos I would like to submit.
    DAN He wasn't threatening me with his gun. He'd been murdering pigeons. Not the kind of "shots" that I admire as I feed wood pigeons on a daily basis.
    NEDINE Thanks for dropping by. I will be visiting your blog later on. Also thanks for your appreciative comments. I am rather pleased with that "juxtaposition" myself. Isn't it suggesting that there's something wrong?

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  5. You're so modest. . . the Arrows put the display on to mark your visit, didn't they?
    Anything that gets you out of doors in the fresh air can hardly be described as crazy.

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  6. I'd do anything to get out of the cabin after all your snow. But I'd do this any day, no excuses needed. I wonder if we have one.

    Have you tried Google Earth too YP?

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  7. Love this photo,YP. Hurrah! for "mad" projects...I'm all for it!

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  8. Thank you for the link YP- though I fear it is going to consume far too much of my time. It's fantastic!

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Mr Pudding welcomes all genuine comments - even those with which he disagrees. However, puerile or abusive comments from anonymous contributors will continue to be given the short shrift they deserve. Any spam comments that get through Google/Blogger defences will also be quickly deleted.

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