What are your jeans doing today?

[Double 0 Soul]

18 hours ago, MJF9 said:

Like much of the world, the MJF9 family are all at home for the foreseeable. Best wishes to the Sufu community with challenges now and ahead.

The fella on the telly - Joe Wicks aka The Body Coach - is running daily PE classes at 9am UK time on You Tube. He got about 850k viewers today. 

This is the new family uplifter for the day ahead. We all get stuck in together.

And a good way to break in my Canes M41001!

I don't know how you managed this work-out in a denim-tux, we've just done it, i was wearing a pair of RonHill's and t-shirt and ive got a right sweat on!

[Duke Mantee]

Went for a wee walk down to Victoria Park - a big old open area just off one of the promenades at the cliffs. It’s usually busy to mobbed, regardless of day or weather ...

Little Ellie and Sam were wise enough to keep to the other side of the road as we had a bigger than usual tide coming in - mostly it’s a good 10-20 metres to the water. I on the other hand thought it best to get closer because I only had my iPhone with me ... back up the road quick time to get dried off 

[MJF9]

3 hours ago, Double 0 Soul said:

I don't know how you managed this work-out in a denim-tux, we've just done it, i was wearing a pair of RonHill's and t-shirt and ive got a right sweat on!

Good start to the day eh?!

Extending the meaning of workwear for some sick fadez (I think this is what they say) 

[Double 0 Soul]

Tis, my arse hurts thanks to Joe Wicks!

...words i never thought i'd be typing into the internet

[Double 0 Soul]

...more adventures from last January to see us through the lockdown

Sheffield's Megatron is a large subterranean storm drain, historically the city continued to get wiped out by flooding due to its geographical possition.. trying to avoid repeats the Victorians having grown fat on industry/empire money built a massive storm drain over the convergence of the rivers (affectionately known as Megatron) before slum clearence and re-building the city over the top, in effect raising the city center up by 30ft.

The easiest way to enter Megatron without having to ab in from one of the bridges is beneath the transport police station.. in these days of terrorist hysteria i can't imagine the fuzz would take too kindly to folks with a backpack disappearing below the city's main transport hub so a early start, low key approach is key.

Having done this route many times over the years, i'm tooled up with a home made tripod extension to bring the camera above water level and my search and rescue light which can fire a beam 1200m, perfect for tunneling and a pack with essentials, i'm deep underground with no phone coverage.

 

I entered beneath Midland train station/police station, i'm alone in complete darkness, using the torch and long/timed exposures from the tripod which is stood in the river.

 

 

Trains thunder overhead and the stench of diesel is thick in the air

 

Overhead you can see some modern reinforcement to support the weight of the trains

 

On i go...

 

...it goes on

..and on

 

Until i pop out at an open air water section where daylight floods in

 

I quickly cross this section through a fast flowing river to avoid getting seen from the bridges above, then i'm back under the other side heading towards the brick cathedral arch

Brickwork overhead with stone foundation, much like our old terrace house.

 

Just around the corner up to my armpits through this very deep water section we get to....

 

....the bat-cave, you can see shit loads of tiny bats picking off insects from above the water, their eyes reflect in your torch light.

Where the light floods in is the end of the road, there's a weir and it gets far too deep, first time i attempted it, i had a mini-freak out when i got my welly got stuck firmly in the silt and had to put my arm and face underwater to pull it out with my hand.

The cathedral arch, it's impressive, my photo's don't do it justice.

 

Light painting on a long exposure

...and back we go, RMC watch cap maintaining subterranean-steeze

 

Thanks for looking...

 

Edited March 28, 2020 by Double 0 Soul

[Duke Mantee]

Fantastic stuff Neal - the seminal variation of social distancing

[MJF9]

@Double 0 Soul brilliant... loving the inventive creativity of this and Sheff Town Hall set... any more in the series? Keep 'em coming pal...

[Double 0 Soul]

I will do, there's loads, just tell me when you get bored...

[shredwin_206]

Can we have a @Double 0 Soul and @Duke Mantee story hour. To help us get through the quarantine? 
You guys post the best stuff! 

[dango]

Went for a walk recently. Would rather ride my bike but not a fan of hill climbing in the rain. Vancouver's many varieties of cherry trees have been in bloom for a bit now, this one is probably some kind of Prunus cerasifera. TCB slim 50's and Blundstones, the official unofficial boot of Vancouver.

[Double 0 Soul]

The continuing saga...a day out on Bleaklow, searching for a B-29 Superfortress crash site..
Bit out of my usual comfort zone Bleaklow. It's a rough, boggy, wild and lonely place with tricky navigation and limited bearing points... slow progress over the seemingly endless peat hags, im more at home amongst the rocky outcrops of the High Peak.
An OS map, compass, and basic map reading skills are all essential up here, much like the rest of the Peak District mobile phone coverage is non existent.
...I know roughly where the crash site is, it's just getting there from Old Glossop where i parked the car that i'm not quite sure about.

On the way up to Bleaklow from the Roman road, i pass old defence possitions or maybe remains of an old firing range

360° bleakness

..this is the terrain

I headed north towards the pole at Bleaklow Head which is a good place to take a bearing point, on the horizon you can just about see the Wain Stones.

The Wain Stones, affectionately known as the "Kissing Stones" if you get the angle right.

I stopped for lunch, fully McCoy'd up, mil-repro seems to be the order of the day.

This is where i left the Pennine Way (trail) to head cross country over the deep peaty groughs towards 'Higher Shelf Stones'

As you emerged from the peat hags, this is what your greeted with....

On the 3rd November 1948, RB-29A 44-61999 was being used for a flight from Scampton near Lincoln to Burtonwood near Warrington, a flight of less than a hour.  Low cloud hung over much of England that day and as such the flight was to be conducted on instruments. They started their descent.. having not cleared the ridge and struck the ground, due to the remoteness of Bleaklow the wreckage remains...

Landing gear with tyre still partly attatched.

Oil cooling radiators and 4x Cyclone engines

It covers a huge area, it just goes on...

....and on

The aircraft had, for at least part of its existance, carried the name 'Over Exposed', it got the name while being used by the 509th Composite Group to photograph atomic weapon tests as part of Operation Crossroads at Bikini Atoll during 1946.

All 13 airmen were killed instantly when the Superfortress flew into the moor. It is not known why Captain Tanner did not fly at a height sufficient to clear the ridge.

Memorials..

...the following weekend my then 6yr old wanted to do the same 9.5mile, 6hr hike, +an extra hour spent catching lizards..

.

.

..the end

Edited March 30, 2020 by Double 0 Soul

[Double 0 Soul]

Went to the opening night of Phlegm's 'Mausoleum of the Giants' last year at Eyewitness Works, a derelict/repurposed cutlery factory in Sheffield, we got there early but peeps were already queueing around the block.

I was gutted because there was a limited run of 200 'opening night' prints which i was hoping to score.

 

 

Finally we got to the front..

 

 

 

The models took 6months to assemble, made from plywood frames, covered with segments of card, wrapped in paper and painted.

 

Holy fuck!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some 'Giants' were hard to frame having being built into factory spaces and through walls

 

 

 

 

 

 

I still managed to swing a print, Number 89/200 to add to the collection

 

 

...and a few postcards

 

fin

 

[julian-wolf]

First week of passably-ripe strawberries: first galette of the season

Hopefully many more to come as we transition through cherries, stonefruits…

(Never been big on baking w/ apples so haven't done much since last summer)

 

 

Meanwhile, also really been enjoying the chance to take breakfasts more seriously

Beverages and all!

[heyson]

Edited April 6, 2020 by heyson

[edmond]

boobs are awesome

[unders]

Those should be the patch design for the WH competition jeans. 

[heyson]

<3

Edited April 7, 2020 by heyson

[Double 0 Soul]

More Urban Exploration

George Barnsley & Sons were England's premier makers of forge and cutting tools for leather workers, saddle, bridle and shoe makers, the company was founded in 1836.

I chose a miserable day to visit, but the works are very photogenic with lovely atmospheric lighting, the last time i was here i was still using my old Leica with wet-film.
Over the years entry points have been on and off, more recently off with the entire perimeter secured but i managed to squeeze my ass through a tight gap where found myself in a 2' wide cavity between the crumby old 18th century wall and the later, outer brick wall.
I climbed up to this point on the roof where i planned to drop a rope in but i only had 15m of rope and nowhere to tie off that wasn't crumbling and the beam was far too rotten to walk across... remember kids safety first

Im in! after possibly one of the most sketchy solo entries i can remember...i'll worry about getting out later

 

Grinding wheels and polishers

 

 

Before the macbook there was the Burroughs L5000.

These are Indentures for an apprentice knife or toolmaker (i found a box full of them) the apprenticeship taking a mere seven years two hundred seventy one days when it would be signed off by George himself. Traditionally they were cut in irregular patterns on the top edge so that the master and apprentice copies would always fit together to stop forgeries.

 

Its hard to read from my photograph but having enlarged i can make out “Fornication he shall not commit”  and “his master’s lawful secrets he shall keep.”  Dope!

 

George Barnsley was Master Cutler in 1883. The company grew throughout the 19th century and the Barnsley family were well thought of in the Steel city.

 

Pigeon egg and Radio Set.

Keeping fingers crossed that i don't fall through the floor..

 

Frozen in time

Traditional timber-clad work spaces

I found boxes of old running spikes which you would push through the sole of your shoes and secured in place with a footbed.

Old George's chair? I haven't seen a tea-cozy for years...

George Barnsley Jr. died in 1958, the factory became outdated and the inefficient production meant that the company could not keep pace with a competitive import market. With the costs of production growing George Barnsley closed its doors, the site has sat derelict ever since.
More boobs!

 

Kitchen space is...bijou? if you look at the back of the cooker, you can just about make out some modern decoration... a sheep (or maybe a cloud) smoking a fat joint

On i go...

 

 

Keep your eyes pealed around the boot markets and yard sales for George Barnsley stamped leather workers tools.

the decay continues...

Fancy a cuppa?

Past the kilns and into the forge

Belt driven heavy machine shop

You only get an Oooo with Ty-Phoo

Now... how the fuck do i get back out?

 

All this history has been lost to gentrification, the factory having recently been unsympathetically re-developed into office space for architects with yet more soul-less hipster flats above...

Edited April 7, 2020 by Double 0 Soul

[beautiful_FrEaK]

Awesome like always Neal!

Crazy that so many stuff remained. Just cleared the shelfs, looked the doors and that's it (at least looks like this)

[Double 0 Soul]

Thanks Tilmann

Indeed, some of the shelves still had boxes of stock (albeit out of focus) just left there for the last 50+ years

 

[Wasim]

On 4/29/2018 at 5:33 PM, Maynard Friedman said:

Thanks bartles, gentrification is always an interesting process and like the working day of a lift engineer, it has its ups and downs. Hopefully it will happen in Willesden soon!

Maynard, are you from Wilesden??! I used to go to the Roundwood club there for my Dof! 

[Wasim]

@Double 0 Soul How have you been sir? Long time! How's the family and how's the cycling going?

[Double 0 Soul]

Really well thanks, we've spent the day playing tabletennis in the garden, followed by plantpot basketball.. how's the studies going? strange time to be entering the medical profession.

Edited April 7, 2020 by Double 0 Soul

[Wasim]

On 9/14/2018 at 10:42 PM, chambo2008 said:

In bed chilling with the cat 

Hemel Hempstead? I have good memories of the place, not too far from Watford right? I did my first ever work experience at the Hospital there (geriatrics, I think it's subsquently closed down now?) And there used to be this market on the weekends at some old airfield?

[Wasim]

16 minutes ago, Double 0 Soul said:

Really well thanks, we've spent the day playing tabletennis in the garden, followed by plantpot basketball.. how's the studies going? strange time to be entering the medical profession.

So glad to hear It's been good thanks, a bit of a wobble atm but we're on track (can't stop medics we all need us) but it'll be interesting to see how it goes for the next few months or so. Totally, a lot of my friends are working front line, and some have passed medschool without having to sit finals, so have been thrown right in!

[chambo2008]

@Wasim hey man that's right 15 minutes drive to Watford which is handy, Hemel OK not alot going on but that's good also. You are right most of the hospital has closed now I think it just has a urgent care centre the same as St Albans with Watford being the main one. 

The market is Bovingdon every Saturday if you fancy some knock off trainers, perfumes or clothes. 

[Wasim]

1 hour ago, chambo2008 said:

@Wasim hey man that's right 15 minutes drive to Watford which is handy, Hemel OK not alot going on but that's good also. You are right most of the hospital has closed now I think it just has a urgent care centre the same as St Albans with Watford being the main one. 

The market is Bovingdon every Saturday if you fancy some knock off trainers, perfumes or clothes. 

Bovy market!! That's the one! Gosh this is going back 12/13 years now. Yeah I recall them closing it down shortly after I finished school. I used to go Watford Grammar, small world. Hemel is cool, I think there used to be an independent clothes store in town, but I've forgotten the name. Was there an all girl's school in Hemel? I feel like there was, the inter school  banter was good.

[chambo2008]

@Wasim

Ah, we thought about sending our daughter to Watford gramer but thoght about the potential traffic and put me off, she goes to King's Langley which they rebuilt 5 years ago so it's still pretty new. I actually moved to hemel about 12 years ago from London but I'm originally from Luton so I know about the football rivalry between them and Watford! 

Anyways hope your well, and get some denim pictures up soon 

Edited April 8, 2020 by chambo2008

[Double 0 Soul]

Things to do at this time of year to break the perpetual lockdown boredom..

1) Collect birch sap

From late February in the south of England to early April in Scotland birch sap marks the coming of spring, when the trees emerge from their hibernation and suck up all the moisture they need to feed the oncoming leaves, you get a 2 week surge window each year which slowly moves from the south...to the north, after that, the flow of sap slows down somewhat

There are a few methods.. but you don't need to buy no fancy-shmancy metal maple tap i whittled these taps out of a branch in less than 10mins

Your looking for well established trees with a good girth and large canopy which proves that they're out competing the other trees and should yield plenty of juice.

Get the kids to do the hard work

Hammer in your tap

Tie your containers (in our case milk cartons) around the tree with some twine...then  jam a stick underneath to support the weight.

This is my prefered method of pegging it's less effective but less invasive...  you force your knife just under the bark, as with the tapping method a 30deg angle is perfect.

Push it in and stroke the sap down the peg with your finger forcing a capillary reaction and your all set, this method is much slower but hey its a lovely day, what's the rush?

Go for a pint.. while your containers fill up

My brother in law tells me that throughout the Ukraine and Russia birch sap is bottled and sold seasonally as a fresh energy drink.
It can be used to make birch wine, birch beer or distill into a moonshine,  but what we don't drink now, i'm going to reduce down into a syrup.

 

 

Plug the holes with a wooden stopper...

...and seal with 100% beeswax, the wax will melt out when the weather warms up.

Don't worry your not harming the tree in the slightest, birch sap is like natures antiseptic, you can cut off branches at this time of year with no detrimental effect whatsoever, just don't harvest the same trees again for a few years.

Much less concentrated than Maple, it has taken 42 pints of sap to make just over 1 pint of syrup, you don't need to reduce it anymore than this golden colour or it can instantly darken and taste burnt, do the final stage slowly in a bain-marie.

 

2) Pick some wild garlic (great for pesto)

Allways most flavoursome when it's just about to flower ie- now

3) Collect bulrush (reedmace) stems

Give them a good yoink

 

Eaten young like this they taste like a cross between cucumber and palm heart

4) Collect some American signal crayfish from the river

These are an invasive species in the UK so even if you found one by accident, you're duty bound to kill it.

Purge them overnight in a bucket of fresh water and get the kids involved dispatching them

If you twist the middle fin through 90deg and gently pull you can remove the intestine in one go

Clean all the meat out

Chuck in some linguine, your garlic and whatever else you've foraged

Who needs panic buying eh?

Edited April 14, 2020 by Double 0 Soul

[Kit Carruthers]

^^^ beyond impressed by that...