Ray Cannon's travel and photography blog

Pictures and posts on the the theme of travel and photography

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  • Launching the lifeboat

    Launching the lifeboat

    Scarborough got a new lifeboat station in 2016, and shortly afterwards, in 2021, a brand new lifeboat to go with it! The all-weather Shannon-class lifeboat was named after Frederick William Plaxton, the founder of Scarborough coach building firm Plaxton Ltd. It cost in excess of £2 million pounds and is capable of reaching a speed of…

    rcannon992

    September 11, 2025
    lifeboat, Photography, UK
    Frederick William Plaxton, lifeboat, lifeboat station, Scarborough, Shannon Launch and Recovery System, Shannon-class lifeboat, South Bay
  • This amazing digital age: sampling paintings

    This amazing digital age: sampling paintings

    It was not that long ago that it was prohibited to take photographs in art galleries like the National Gallery. The reason given was that flash light was harmful to the paintings. Even though flash could be turned off! Fortunately, that policy changed in 2014 for the National Gallery (earlier for some other galleries), although…

    rcannon992

    August 18, 2025
    Travel
    Art, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Fra Filippo Lippi, Leonardo de Vicnci, London, National Gallery, painting, paintings, Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, Raphael, Renaissance art
  • Kittiwakes with nowhere to go!

    Kittiwakes with nowhere to go!

    Imagine coming back from a winter spent at sea to find that your nest site is no longer there! That’s what’s happening to many kittiwakes in Scarborough this year. You’ve come back and have found your long lost love – kittiwake pairs do not stay together during the winter – but the euphoria is heavily…

    rcannon992

    April 2, 2025
    conservation
    birds, Black-legged Kittiwake, Kittiwake, Rissa tridactyla, Scarborough, seabird, seagulls, urban
  • Christmas Eve

    Christmas Eve

    Follow me on my walk this evening as the sunset (at 15:53) builds to a climax. Photos, not words. Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire, UK.

    rcannon992

    December 24, 2024
    Travel
    Christmas eve, Nature, orange, Sunset, walks, winter, woods
  • A short essay after walking along a country road🤣

    A short essay after walking along a country road🤣

    Gigantic tractors towing huge loads, irate Tesla drivers itching to get past; Amazon delivery vans speeding along carrying cardboard boxes for the masses, supermarket delivery vans trundling more sedately with their baskets of goodies; the odd badger and squirrel lying dead in the road, chosen at random as sacrificial roadkill; the 3:30 traffic jam of…

    rcannon992

    December 4, 2024
    Travel
  • Armed Forces Day: Scarborough

    Armed Forces Day: Scarborough

    Saturday 29th June 2024 was Armed Forces Day in Scarborough; an annual event celebrated around the country to commemorate the service of men and women in the British Armed Forces. Whatever you may think about celebrating the contributions of ex-servicemen and women, it is a great opportunity for photography! Personally, I think we owe these veterans a…

    rcannon992

    June 29, 2024
    Photography, UK
    Armed Forces Day, cadets, Marching bands, Scarborough
  • Another visit to the National Gallery!

    Another visit to the National Gallery!

    The National Gallery was less crowded than when I visited a few weeks ago. We do not charge entrance fees for access to museums in the UK, which is all well and good, but it does mean that they can get get rather well attended, on occasions. Teachers are very fond of bringing their classes…

    rcannon992

    March 3, 2024
    Art, UK
    Art, Claude-Joseph Vernet, history, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, London, National Gallery, Nicolas Poussin, painting, paintings
  • Long Covid and ME

    Long Covid and ME

    I have not been on an aeroplane or done any travel outside the British Isles since before the pandemic. The reason is that I have been on a long road of recovery from a Covid-19 infection. I contracted Covid (give it its full name: coronavirus SARS-CoV-2) in Aug 2022, my one and only infection, as…

    rcannon992

    February 29, 2024
    Ilness
    brain fog, chronic fatigue syndrome, coronavirus, Covid-19, fatigue, Long Covid, Long Covid symptoms, ME, ME/CFS, post-exertional fatigue, post-viral fatigue, recovery
  • A short visit to the National Gallery

    A short visit to the National Gallery

    I often visit the National Gallery when I am in London. There is always something new to see or old favourites to revisit and admire. When I was younger, I was completely taken by Impressionist artists, like Degas (below), and would generally walk rather briskly through the Old Master galleries, containing Renaissance painters and the…

    rcannon992

    February 9, 2024
    Art, Photography, UK
    Art, Francesco Pesellino, Griselda, London, Master of the Story of Griselda, National Gallery, Renaissance art
  • The Monument of the Discoveries (Padrão dos Descobrimentos)

    The Monument of the Discoveries (Padrão dos Descobrimentos)

    On a recent cruise (Dec 2023) to Madeira and the Canary Islands, we stopped off in Lisbon (Portugal) for the day (below). This was the first time I had visited this city, and I took a tour around the main sites. The thing that really stood out for me was the Monument of the Discoveries (or…

    rcannon992

    February 3, 2024
    Travel
    Lisbon, Monument of the Discoveries, Padrão dos Descobrimentos, Portugal
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