Tag: Portsmouth

Boats eh? Brian wants us Messing About in Boats for his turn at the helm of The Good Ship Monochrome Madness, captained by Leanne.

I looked at all my shots of attractive little harbours, busy little fishing ports all along the coast of the Spanish Maresme, where daughter Emily and family live. I thought back to our seabourne days in Sweden. But in the end, I settled for city-centre boats, set against not the wide open skies of the ocean, but with a backdrop of skyscrapers, warehouses and townish busyness.

My header image is taken from near Greenwich, now firmly part of London. I’m not overlooking the elegant naval buildings of Greenwich itself, but gazing across the Thames, with its little flotilla of small boats, toward the skyscrapers of Canary Wharf and beyond.

And here’s another. These busy barges and boats look more workaday. They’ll be conveying goods and services up and down the Thames, which is every bit as busy a highway as any other major route in London. London new – The Shard and London old – Tower Bridge provide the backdrop.

But London can offer quieter scenes, even in the centre. I was only five minutes walk from Kings Cross Station when I snapped this scene at the Regents Canal – houseboats.

Off up north to Leeds now, and the Leeds-Liverpool Canal. Once mucky, rubbish infested and something of a no-go area, the canal basin has been transformed into a relaxing city-centre destination to while away the time with friends, or perhaps to have an informal business meeting.

I’ve got two slightly left-field images to finish with. One’s from Portsmouth (yes, I know it’s by the sea, but it IS a city, and this shot was not taken on the seafront) and shows small boats after they’ve been put to bed at night.

Last of all is from Cádiz, which also sits by the sea. But this shot comes from the city’s museum and shows small maquettes which were, I think, for stage sets at the theatre there. I found them rather charming.

And that’s me done. Why not join in yourself, and link back to Brian’s and Leanne’s posts? Or failing that, hunt down some more posts illustrating this challenge. You’ll find we’re not all in the same boat.