November 12 2020

For the December 2020 issue of Vintage Spirit, I dug out pictures of a day I spent in the cockpit of a Hercules C130-J while its crew practised air-to-air refuelling over the North Sea with a VC-10 tanker ZA-149 in 2010. ZA-149 first flew in April 1969. During its 19-year life as a passenger plane with East African Airways, call sign 5X-UVJ and based at Kampala, its passengers included Pope Paul VI on his way from Rome to Uganda. The plane was sold to the RAF in 1978 for conversion into a tanker, but it was seven years before it first flew as ZA-149. A quarter of a century later, I would have my close encounter with the 40-year-old plane and get the chance to take some striking pictures.

September 14 2020

When I posted this in June I thought there was a chance for me to find out if anyone actually reads this stuff. The picture, right, shows the only surviving gas tramcar in Britain, operated by Neath Corporation into the 1920s and restored in the 1980s after spending many years being used as a garden shed. The gas tram was fuelled by 'town gas' supplied by the local Neath Gasworks. Sadly, the tram's engine – which would have either been built by Nicolaus Otto in Deutz in Germany – is long gone. The invention of the gas tram was claimed and patented by several engineers in the 1880s and 90s. One of them was Carl Lührig whose first British patent in 1891 suggested a compact German 'Blessing' gas engine could be used. My question was – has anyone come across a reference, or better still an illustration, of such an engine? The question was eventually resolved. 

April 17 2020

Today sees the publication of the May-July issue of Scottish Islands Explorer, with my article on the island of Mousa featured on the cover. What a change two years can make – it is almost that length of time since we explored the island, and this year all we can do is sit at home and remember that experience. This is the second issue of the magazine to which I have contributed an article and the cover picture – the March/April issue included my article on The Tomb of the Eagles on the Orkney island of South Ronaldsay. For August/September I have been exploring the geology of the island volcanoes which, millennia ago, created the Scotland we know today.

April 10 2020

One of three articles of mine which appear in the May issue of Vintage Spirit, out today, is built around a combination of two VE Day stories to mark the 75th anniversary of that event. One is the scuttling of the German submarine U-534, complete with its Enigma machine, the other the story of my late aunt's work as a cryptographer in 'Hut 6' at Bletchley Park, decoding messages intercepted from Enigma machines. One of the other two articles tells the story of a terrible mill accident in Trowbridge in 1815; the other explores the story of light railways and the Colonel Stephens Museum at Tenterden Town Station on the Kent & East Sussex Railway.

March 20 2020

Just when I thought my health was returning to a level where I could get out with the camera, along comes coronavirus to put the mockers on such plans. Understandably, my publishers' plans are on hold as well, so Among These Dark Satanic Mills and The Governor are unlikely to appear in print any time soon. At least I had already planned for 2020 to be a quieter year than usual – I ended my 18-year association with Scotland Magazine at the start of the year, transferring my Scottish focus to Scottish Islands Explorer magazine – my first piece for them was published this month – while maintaining my writing for Vintage Spirit. Luckily I got a lot of the photography for 'future projects' done last autumn – including this view of Abraham Darby III's restored Iron Bridge at Ironbridge – the world's first all metal bridge. That will someday feature in a project when life gets back to normal.

December 20 2019

Sometimes the most unexpected good news follows on from unexpected bad news. Just got out of hospital last night after another heart scare, and today Pen & Sword Books have confirmed that The Governor – controlling the power of steam machines will become the second book of mine to be published under their imprint. Working on the book started in mid 2018 and has taken up most of this year. Preparing it for publication will keep me busy well into 2020, with publication probably in early 2021. What an excellent pre-Christmas present. The research for this book has rewritten much of the story of the development and manufacture of engine governors – devices which were amongst the world's first automated control systems.

November 24 2019

What will probably be the last photographic outing of the year as places shut down for the winter, was a trip up to the Didcot Railway Centre to see the GWR's 4-6-0 King Edward II, built at Swindon in 1930, and compare it with a photograph taken around 40 years ago (inset) of the same locomotive when it was still an abandoned wreck in the Woodham Brothers' scrapyard in Barry. Few people thought that wreck could ever be brought back to life, but it was, steaming for the first time in 2010 and now regularly seen doing what it was built to do. Indeed, when this picture was taken it had only recently returned from an extended visit to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.

October 4 2019

Today's good news is that Among These Dark Satanic Mills, volume 4 of my Britain's Industrial Heritage series, has just been accepted for publication by Halsgrove and should have been published in 2020. Thanks to Covid, it is now scheduled for spring 2021. Completion of the project turned out to be a year later than originally anticipated, as a result of my health issues, but getting out with the camera and visiting dozens of heritage sites over the past few months which had previously escaped my attention has been a delight. Subjects include everything from industrial manufacture on a massive scale to the craftsmen who keep the skills of chain-making and nail-making alive. And I have had the pleasure of exploring some massive engines along the way.

September 9 2019

Just back from a couple of days in the Midlands, visiting Forge Mill Needle Museum in Redditch and re-visiting both the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley and Blists Hill Victorian Town in Ironbridge. These are the limekilns on a spur of the Dudley Canal round which the Black Country Museum has evolved. Also had a chance to photograph the recently refurbished Iron Bridge itself. Lovely weather for photography across a couple of really hectic days. But the 'main event' was being given access to all the steam engines at Blists Hill for a future Vintage Spirit article – some covered in years of dust – and adding a huge amount of information to my ever-growing database of British engine and governor makers.

September 1 2019

At last we have a publication date for the Transporter Bridges book – It will be published in hardback on 28 February 2020 by Pen & Sword Transport Books at £30 per copy and is already available for pre-order on Amazon. By the time it comes out, the project will have occupied nearly six years of my life and engaged me in some really fascinating research, some wonderful trips, and the chance to meet and talk to the engineers who keep the last of these amazing bridges operational. I have found myself taking pictures from some pretty hairy viewpoints, and doing stuff someone my age should have had more sense than even contemplate. Happy days!

June 29 2019

With the best will in the world, every so often, something goes wrong, and the fact that it was not my fault may be a blessing, but doesn't make it any less infuriating. This month it has happened with my article on the incised Neolithic 'cup and ring' markings on a  hillside above Cairnbaan at the top of Kintyre which is published in the July issue of Scotland Magazine, just out this weekend. The magazine has recently changed ownership, and someone – nobody has owned up yet – decided to retitle my article as 'Iron Age Discoveries'. That is not an auspicious start! The Neolithic period spanned a range from around 7000BC to about 2000BC, whereas the Iron Age didn't start in Europe until around 1200BC. The cup and ring markings date from around 5000 years ago – so about 2000 years before the Iron Age was even thought of! Not even close!

May 27 2019

You don't often see me with such a determined look on my face but, with lots of people watching, I didn't want to get it wrong. This is me, under instruction from the Bolton Steam Museum's Chief Engineer, Alan Ratcliffe, starting the 1915-built inverted vertical compound engine, built by Scott & Hodgson of Guide Bridge Ironworks, Manchester. The engine spent its working life at the Diamond Rope Works in Royton and is now beautifully restored back to working order in the museum. The late May Bank Holiday was one of the museum's steaming weekends, and I made a couple of trips photographing their collection of thirty-two working engines and their rich assortment of governors. Well worth a visit!  photograph: Duncan Hannavy

March 25 2019

The final proofs of The 1896 Light Railways Act arrived today, with the publishers' chosen cover. All is looking good and set fair for publication in mid-August. The picture on the cover shows a Southern Railways U Class 2-6-0 Mogul approaching Norden Station on the Swanage Railway in August 2018. Built in Brighton in 1926 as a 2-6-4 'River' or 'K' Class tank engine for the Southern, the locomotive was rebuilt two years later as a 2-6-0 Mogul. Withdrawn by BR in 1964, it spent 12 years in Woodham Brothers scrapyard in Barry before being rescued and restored at the Mid-Hants Railway. It is now regularly steamed on the Swanage Railway – known as the 'Purbeck Line' – in Dorset, running between Norden and Swanage via Corfe Castle. 

February 24 2019

A trip to Devon to get pictures for a couple of forthcoming magazine articles took in The Robey Trust's collection of early steam engines in Tavistock – fitted with a variety of governors – Brunel's Royal Albert Bridge at Saltash, Finch Foundry brought back to life by the National Trust, and Agatha Christie's holiday retreat at Greenway overlooking the Dart estuary. The entire trip took place during those few days of brilliant weather in late February with warm temperatures and clear blue skies– better conditions for photography than we get on many a summer's day.

January 22nd 2019 

It was quite a surprise to discover that there is a rare steam engine almost on my doorstep! I first visited the Wadworth Brewery in Devizes some years ago when I was working for the now-defunct Wiltshire Magazine, but the engine was not part of the tour I was given at that time. It was built by George Adlam & Sons of Fishponds, Bristol, and installed in the brewery in 1900. Its working life came to an end in 1932 when electricity was installed – the blue electric motor can be seen at the top of the picture – and it stood idle until restored in 2004, since when it has been turned over only occasionally. The engine governor is of a surprisingly basic design for an engine of that vintage, a design which has much in common with James Watt's original governor in the late 18th century. Taken with my Canon 5D MkIV and 14mm lens.

January 1 2019 

What a great way to start the New Year – and get the camera out for the first time since my heart attack. A trip to Westonzoyland Pumping Station on the Somerset Levels, with all their engines in steam, and a beautiful day to boot, took my centrifugal governors project a few paces further on. The unusual governor on the 1886 single-cylinder engine, built locally by W & F Wills of Bridgwater, was a design I had never seen before. My thanks to the volunteers on site for all their help and advice. Seeing the 1861 Easton Amos Land Drainage Machine running is an awesome experience, well worth the journey on its own. The story of our visit – with plenty of pictures of course – appeared in the March issue of Vintage Spirit magazine less than six weeks later. Dinner in the Marco Pierre White restaurant at the Mercure Bridgwater was pretty impressive as well!

November 30 2018 

Contracts were signed this month for two new books, both of which are scheduled to appear in the second half of 2019 – my illustrated history of the world's transporter bridges, and a book about the 1896 Light Railways Act which accidentally gave birth to the heritage railway movement more than half a century after it became law. Transporter Bridges – an illustrated history will be published in hardback by Pen & Sword Transport Books, while The 1896 Light Railways Act – the law that made heritage railways possible will be published in softback by Amberley Books. These are my proposed covers – but of course the publishers may have quite different opinions.

November 1 2018 

Now slowly recovering from the heart attack in early September which has temporarily clipped my wings somewhat, my latest project, exploring the importance of the 1896 Light Railways Act which kick-started the modern heritage movement, has prompted me to digitise a whole load of images I took forty and more years ago. This is ex-LMS Jubilee 4-6-0 locomotive Galatea as a derelict scrapyard wreck with just about every salvagable part already removed. The hulk was rescued from Woodham Brothers' scrapyard in Barry in 1980, but was not rebuilt by West Coast Railways and returned to steam until five years ago.

August 22 2018 

Indulging my passion for anything power by steam, yet again, a run on the Mid-Hants Railway – the Watercress Line – seemed an ideal way to spend a pleasant August day. Two trains were running – one hauled by ex-Southern Railways 'Schools Class' No.925 4-4-0 'Cheltenham', the other by an Ivatt 2MT tank engine. In this view 'Cheltenham' has just arrived at Alresford Station.

July 13 2018 

Normally we get better weather in France than at home, but this year, of course, was the exception – the UK was just as hot. This is the ancient village church of Saint-Jean-de-Cole in the Dordogne, not far from our summer 2018 base at Villars. On the way there we re-visited work on the rebuilding of the Rochefort-sur-Mer transporter bridge to get some more pictures for my forthcoming book.

May 25 2018 

Just back from a week in the Shetland Islands where we were blessed with excellent weather for photography. Only one dull day – referred to as 'Jimmy Perez weather' in recognition of the dull dreich conditions under which the BBC films the Shetland tv series. Otherwise, clear crisp light, and some stunning scenery. The pictures will appear in the next two issues of Scotland Magazine.

January 1st 2018 

My article on Orkney's heritage, which was the reason behind our trip to the islands in July last year, is published over nine pages in the January issue of Scotland Magazine, out now. The article opens with this view of the famous rock stack, the Old Man of Hoy, reproduced across a double-page spread. The picture was taken on a Canon 5D MkIII with a 300mm lens from the deck of the Northlink Ferry MV Hamnavoe as we sailed towards Stromness. Good job I got the picture on the way north, as we returned south a week later in atrocious weather when the island of Hoy was almost invisible in the cloud and spray, with the boat rocking and rolling in the storm. We had, however, enjoyed a week of near-perfect weather for photography and exploring.