Ray's Photos

[Rayge]

Part Two

Still staying at Chip's new house in Mangotsfield


Peachy


A Stern Talking To
Sally sorts out Bella at the Bath showrooms of Bisque


Bathroom Cabinet


High Drama


Sunset With Squiggle


Showered

Tomorrow: Cirencester and Fairford

[Rayge]

Part one from the summer of 1987 takes in a day trip to Cirencester and Fairford from Chip's place, and part two is in West Wales again in the early part of the decade


Pink Top


The Long Ride
Cirencester


The Other Way


In Bad Odour
Sal's just rolled in some fox poop. And there's a fair drive ahead. Thank god it's hot enough to drive with the windows down


Fairford
Lovely church made extra-special by having somehow escaped the iconoclasts and so has a full set of mediaeval stained glass. Vide...


The Great Doom Window


Grinning Gryphon


The Wages of Stink Are Bath

...

[Rayge]

Part Two


Folds and Rolls
Looking east into the Big Empty towards Plinlimmon.


Cairn
Nick and Leaf overlooking the Dovey Valley


Distant Woollies


Shrine


Vroom
Matt and Sarah and, ahem, Plank


Storm Passing

[Rayge]

Part one today is back from Wales but still in the very early 1980s. Part Two is still in north-east Bristol in August of 1987


Work Station
Carlton Mansions


Going Down, or Possibly Up
Kitted up for frisbee with a tab of acid on my tongue to complete the preparations. Pic by Bill


Radioactive Shirting
A selfie


Buddha in the Pool of Lights


Pink ’Un
Moon over London. Not sure exactly where, to tell the truth


Eat a Peach I
Tripping, stoned, an hour or so of freestyling, then bit into a fresh, ripe peach. Billy captures a peak moment


Eat a Peach II
Same time and circumstances, but all I capture was Billy losing control of a mouthful of juicy flesh

...

[Rayge]

Part Two


Excelsior
My first-ever picture of a hollyhock. There have been hundreds since, but I'm still fond of this one


Bandstand
Staple Hill Park


Shelter
As above


Distillation


East from Mangotsfield Common
Looking towards Bath


Sally on the Avon

Back on Monday with some archive, a bit of January and maybe some news...

[never/ever]

That bandstand pic is terrific.

[Rayge]

That bandstand pic is terrific.

Thank you

[Rayge]

In Part one today, continuing with the summer of 1987 and a stay at Chip's place in Bristol. Part two represents the debut of 2019 here



Another Summer Afternooon
Avon Valley


Poppies



Riding Out
Karen and Chip, Marshfield ( I thinkk) near Bath



Wheatfields, Evening

...

[Rayge]

Part Two
Shockingly, New Year's Day in Devon was cloudless and bright, and me and him went up on the Ridgeway, whither we had not ventured for many months.

It's Kissing Season...
The gorse is in flower


Rolling and Winding


Rollercoaster


Bristling


Baled


Middle Henstil Farmhouse

More from this in a couple of days: tomorrow, back to the double archive

[Rayge]

In Part One, more from East Bristol in the summer of 1989: part two features a dip in the 1980s bran barrel.


Yet Another Golden Sunset


Fluffy Pink Clouds


Ears Akimbo*
Sal and Bella
*yes, I know that's a misuse of the word


Hearthrug Auditions


Delicacy


Tangled


Blow
Sculpture trail, Forest of Dean

More from Dean next time

...

[Rayge]

Part Two


Toys
Carlton Mansions


Funky Epaulettes
Bill, Carlton Mansions


Andy Campbell
Andy was Frankie's little brother. He died, aged 55, of an aneurysm, having been knocked over by a stray bullock he was attempting to usher out of his garden


The Boy from Leighton Buzzard
Chris S, Kentish Town


Mother
Westminster


Old Faithfuls


Big Shot
Pete B, Marylebone


The Devil's in the Detail

Back tomorrow, with luck

[Rayge]

In part one today, more arts and craftiness from the sculpture trail in the Forest of Dean: part two, randomly from the mid-1980s


Only Sleeping


Traveling Companions


The Big Chair


Drama
I have got no idea what's going on in with that cloud to the left of the chairleg


Stained


Glass Sheep

...

[Rayge]

Part Two
All early 1980s, I think

Boom
Carlton Mansions


Flash Fucker


La Cross on Crook's Peak
Sally Cross. Copy of a pic by Bill


Leap
A scan of a slide I took of the original slide projected on my wall. Bill jumping, don't know who took it.
Both this and one above, Crook's Peak, Mendips


Follow
Somewhere in Kent, around 1980


Red Bus and Dolphins
Have a guess

I'm going to be busy over the next couple of days so can't guarantee tomorrow, but I'll try.

[Rayge]

Part one today is from the Really Random punnet, while part two continues the 1987 saga


Late Night TV
Mike and Kate, Carlton Mansions, around 1980


Winter Scene
Detail of the Victorian scrap screen I inherited from Rosie Boycott, via Tony T


Petals Across the Ocean


Divided
Field boundaries in West Wales


Sunset Express
South London, leaving Waterloo I think


Westbound
Same journey, back when you could open the windows in trains


Partial Eclipse

Next time, disreputables
...

[Rayge]

Part Two


Well-Dressed Dresser
In the Mad Hatters Tea Rooms at the edge of the Forest of Dean. Can't remember the village name




Stacked
Three harvest pictures in a field south of Keynsham


Treat
Sal shares in the picnic


Post Prandial Rumination
In the absence of a cigar, Sal chows down on a crow quill


My Kingdom Across the Water
Looking north over Blagdon Lake towards Bristol from the top of the Mendip Scarp


Nuthin' But Blue Skies...
As above


Another country
The sliver of light a third of the way up on the left is the Bristol Channel, and the coloured smudges beyond, South Wales and the Brecon Beacons

Next time (not sure when that will be - we're buying a house tomorrow and things are going to be severely disarranged chez Rayge for a bit ) Axbridge and beyond

[Rayge]

In part one today, some portraits from the bran barrel, roughly the first half of the 1980s, while in part two a second instalment of my New Year's Day walk on the Ridgeway earlier this year.


Silver Gauntlets
Johnny G, now a world expert on textiles, then a lanky hippy


John Again
He was also a Deadhead and a PNE supporter


Curry Night
Fisherman Bob, mike's younger brother


Billy and Biggles
One of more than a dozen attempts to take a pic of Billy and his cat for his mum to coo over. Couldn't get them both looking fine at the same time.
Another below


Slump


Three One-Eyed Guys


The Argument
Particularly pleased with this one. Single exposure, no mirrors, no Photoshopping, no secret twin

...

[Rayge]

Part Two


West Henstil


Elements


Green Lane


One to Puzzle the Monkeys


Holloway


Redwood


The Big House

Back, I hope, on Monday

[Rayge]

Because I'm going to be in and out with this thread for a while, a bonus three parter for my fan. Part one continues the narrative from early this month, when unseasonably fine weather led me to walk out to Shobrooke Park for the first time in a while: part two continues with the summer of 1987 and a day out in Axbridge and the Somerset's west coast, while part three dips into the bran tub for some recently re-jigged shots from all over the time.


The Mill Lane Oak


Fifty Birds
Three mallards, four rooks (in flight against the grey of the bridge), 43 herring gulls


Square Dance


Formation Waddling 101


Boathouse


No Boats in this House
To the tune of the Fall's 'No Bulbs'


The Big Yin
Some lovely specimen trees in the park - I think someone once dreamed of arboretums


The Usual Suspects
Herring gulls line up on the parapet of the bridge. I particularly like Janus on the far right

Another batch from this walk next time

[Rayge]

Part Two
For them that do not know, Axbridge is a village going on small town nestled on the southern slope of the Mendips


Setting the Scene
Strangers on that magnificent sweep of stone stairway, soon to be replaced by...


Overture and Beginners
Sal and Chip


Ownership
The frontage of the Georgian house at the foot of the steps


Restoration Piety (with Severed Heads)
Can't read the inscription very well due to lack of sharpness but O-level Latin from 56 years ago just about good enough to see that this wonderfully restored painted stone tomb dates from 1661, just 15 years (or so) after the puritan iconoclasts did their worst


Blue Bull
Hand-decorated 19th (maybe 18th) ceramic tiles in a (former? - memory fails) butcher's shop in High Street


Double Jetty
This style of timber-frame building exploited the cantilever principle to give extra space on the top floors with a building with a footprint restricted by a road, while still allowing room for laden wagons to pass. The canyons thus created – it was said that it was possible sometimes for neighbours on opposite sides of the street to shake hands via their gable windows (though why they would want to is a mystery), while the projecting upper storeys made it easier to empty chamber pots out of the window without splashing the walls of the lower storeys – were gloomy, stinking places. Don't say you don't learn anything in this thread.

Since I've yammered on, we've run out of time for this section. We'll get to the seaside next time

[Rayge]

Part Three
Half a dozen portraits of dodgy and/or delightful characters in the 1980s


Definitely Dodgy. And Knackered
Billy relaxes with a joint


Definitely Delightful. And Full of Beans
Sally X at Billy's flat in Brighton, around 1980-1


Helen in Kensington
1982, when we were very briefly an item


The Horror
Mike, Carlton Mansions, around 1979-80. I have no idea why I was outside the bathroom with a camera and a charged flash
No, really


Oh Dear
Original slide was underexposed and had to push it a good deal to show that I am rocking the Wazmo Nariz two-tie look
along with a fetching red suede weskit that matches my eyes. Ye gods, I might have been hamming it up, but I was really out of it.
Judging from the size of my pupils, I was probably tripping. Think this was a tripod and timer selfie.


Singing as We Go
Another one suffering a bit from overpushing to bring out detail. Frankie of fond memory with the tea, joint and Phil Oakey ’do,
Glyn with the refreshing beverage and toothy grin that earned him the nickname Fang

Back when I can