Just a few photos to show you what an amazing place the Farne Islands are. We always go with Billy Shiels, but there are others who may be just as good. Fantastic puffins and other birds there. 
blue caps, 
Today an 80 metre cargo ship called MV Danio, Norwegian registered, has run aground on rocks known as ” Blue Caps” near Longstone Lighthouse on the Farne Islands. The boat was carrying timber and there are no reported fuel nor cargo spillages. The crew of six are reported unharmed. The lifeboat was called out at 04.50 am and made un unsuccessful attempt to refloat the vessel due to the tide going out. A second attempt to refloat will be made tonight.
The Farne Islands are a group of small islands unihabited off the Northumberland coast near Bamburgh and Seahouses. They are home from April to July to thousands of Puffins,Arctic terns and other seabirds, and are a great place to visit by boat from Seahouses. The Longstone Lighthouse is famous for the rescue of a grounded boat in 1843 by Grace Darling.
I visit there each summer to photograph puffins and seals. Photo credit to RNLI for the MV Danio below, and credit to myself for the other photos, which are not of the Farne Islands but taken a few miles north at Holy Island.
MV Danio
Holy Island. Good access to graveyards
Today was the first day that really felt like spring might be coming, a little sunshine, no rain and a crisp cold day, so the first good opportunity to visit and photograph the Deer. As a photographer I am not sure what it is but animals do not find me threatening and thus i can often get closer than some to photograph these beautiful creatures. Here are a few images from today.
Sometimes places have atmospheres. Lindisfarne or Holy Island has always been a holy place since St Aidan arrived here in something like 700AD to try and preach christianity to the heathen masses at that time. That holy atmosphere prevails. The castle can be seen in the distance with gravestones in the foreground. In the church the ghosts seem to be carrying actively the coffin out. Many of the gravestones in the graveyard have almost disappeared back into the earth and recount the lives of many who have died over the last 300 years. A holy atmosphere prevails still on a lovely island
I am not a fan of football stewards, and in many cases they often cause trouble that otherwise would not have been there. However today the stewarding at Chelsea was good, almost invisible and appropriate. End of story. What caught me eye though was the head gear worn by one steward who looked more like he should be with Bear Grylls out on an arctic expedition, rather than in the sunshine of Stamford Bridge. But my question is this. Could he actually hear and see anything? 
A short post to emphasise something that to most of us is basic and obvious. If we are in a shop and we select fresh food, we don’t take an item, nibble it and put it back? Or do we . This sign today at Garsons Farm Shop at Esher suggests maybe some customers do. If they do they are likely to drive Range Rovers the size of a bus and can afford the not inconsiderable prices charged in this Surrey outpost.
The only other occasion I can recall where similar warnings were given was at a school fair a few years ago , when parents were extolled to bring certain items in to be used as prizes or to be sold and the school had to emphasise that ” toiletry items should be new and not partially used”. So no bringing along the end of a bar of soap or a toilet roll, or worse.
Dont nibble my Olives
Even now that the rain has allegedly stopped, the flooding is still present in many areas in Surrey. Certainly in Cobham the Thames is very high still and these photos are of a nice filed that is often used for picnics and cricket, not at the same time, in the summer. Near Esher and in fact opposite Garson’s Farm in Winterdown Lane. The cruel ones amongst us might suggest we are looking at the new QPR football ground with ample space for their legions of fans watching a team that has been the most consistent in the football league this season!
In a life of a football fan and especially a non-league photographer a day of hideous weather such as yesterday, is not wanted. Most games were called off and the challenge was to find a game that was actually on. For me this would have represented a challenge to the management of a club that wanted to boost their attendance by getting the word out there that the game is on, or even off. Some clubs did this very well. Respect due to Sutton who even replied to my humble tweet to them about if the game was on. A club that did badly on all counts was Tooting and Mitcham FC. I could find no social media nor internet site to answer my question. The websites attributed to Tooting seem to have been last updated months if not years ago. No Twitter account. No Facebook page. I might add that all these media are freely available and indeed free. Many other clubs did well to update their fans. Lets throw some praise around. Walton and Hersham have both twitter and facebook and their fans knew the night before that the game was off. Horsham regularly tweet game updates during the game.
I belong to a closed group on Facebook related to non-league photography and from the multiple postings there it was clear that our little coterie could have been driven to any game probably on, hence boosting attendances by a few, but multiply this up and clubs could have done themesleves a real favour.
Having guessed correctly that the game might be on I arrived 2.20pm at Tooting to find no information available. Was the game on or off? Turnstiles all locked. No signs. No clues. No programmes. A few stewards appeared, mostly young lads, doing a grand job I must say, of about 13-14 years, who appreciated the issue and went away to solve the problem. Turnstiles duly opened at 2.40pm. A thin paper based programme was on sale from a cheery gentleman for 2£. In all honesty the poorest non-league programme I have seen for some years. I do not exaggerate but I could have printed this off from my computer in far better format. Little to no food was available in the snack bar. A wait for 10 minutes led to a burger. Priced at the not so cheap price of 3.50£. Entrance to the ground was 10£.
The pitch was not in bad condition at all considering the rain .
I will stop my social media rant here, but what opportunities are being missed by clubs who want to boost their crowds. Each week we read that non-league football needs larger crowds but clubs must promote themselves a little better to get new fans. Tooting missed this opportunity big time yesterday.
Small Crowd at Tooting
Ann Wildgust has her latest exhibition at Holt, a small Norfolk town in UK. A truly superb series of paintings all around a theme. European links with early US settlers, hence some are painted in UK and others in Holland, Leiden. Well worth a visit. What is equally amazing is that Ann has only been painting now for a few years but is starting to attract attention as she is working in different styles and themes. We are fortunate enough to have one of her paintings and another print of one in our house. 
Strange but true. Brentford ask a minimum of 1£ only but you can choose what to pay if you buy your ticket beforehand up until 4 pm friday evening. Why are they doing this? Perfect sense. They have around 2000 season ticket holders, who do not begrudge them doing this at all, and will make it up to their season ticket holders later in the season with some offer one suspects. So 2000 have already paid. The expected crowd for a home game the saturday before Xmas is never high, maybe 5000 maximum and possibly lower. Stevenage will not bring armies of fans and most likely will bring around 200-300 only. Folks will not pay 1£, they are likely to choose to pay a median amount of between 5-10£ in my opinion.
So a good PR activity, a good day out. Lets hope this works. A few years ago a home game versus Peterborough was sponsored by a company (maybe St George Homes?), and they essentially made it free to get in. Result, great crowd,great atmosphere and home win! So spread the word and call Brentford to buy your tickets over the phone or online. Lets fill the ground. Already two sides have sold out, so don’t delay.
chris1957
Arcticterntalk.org 