Crossing

Tyne Tunnel

Thousands of commuters use the Tyne Tunnel every day and hundreds drive from South Shields under the River Tyne at Jarrow and make their way to work in North Tyneside. I used to do it myself some years ago and hated the twice daily trip with it’s interminable queues!

However, as a Tyne Crossing it is one of the busiest, I prefer the older pedestrian tunnel where you can use a bicycle and see the old county boundaries under the river marking Durham and Northumberland.

This shot has been livened up a little in Photoshop with some radial light rays (helps cover the imperfections in the shot taken by my passenger!

Camera details: Pentax K100D, 60mm lens, 1/15 second, f5.6, iso 200

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Classic cars No. 3

1964 Jensen

Here is another rare beast found at the classic car rally in South Shields - the 1964 Jensen CV8 MKll.

It’s owner told me at Souter Lighthouse that there are now only about 150 examples left in the world, and the majority of them are in Australia, they like V8 engines down there!

The Jensen CV8 was a ‘Supercar’ even before the phrase was coined. Powered by a Chrysler V8 it was arguably the last of the true Jensens because it was the final model in a long line designed and built by the Jensen brothers. Interestingly, both brothers washed their hands of the CV8’s successors! If you can’t afford an Aston, these superb machines make a brilliant substitute and (dare I say) drive much better than an AM anyway!

Camera details; Pentax K100D, 36mm lens, 1/125 second, f5.6, iso 200

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Classic cars No. 2

A Morris parade

This rally of classic cars at Souter Lighthouse, South Shields was organised by the Morris Minor Club, and here we see a collection of old examples of the popular “moggies”. It always amazes me how the wooden frames on the old travellers have not rotted away by now.

Camera details; Pentax K100D, 28mm lens, 1/60 second, f13, iso 200

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Classic cars No. 1

The Austin Morris 8

There was a rally for classic cars held at Souter Lighthouse in South Shields last weekend, and as we prepare to go away for a few days break in the English Lake District I’ve loaded up a few posts in advance.

So here is the first of three from the exhibition of pristinely maintained cars, the late 1940’s Austin 8 caught my eye as a marque no longer seen on our streets. The brand eventually became part of the ill fated British Leyland group and disappeared forever. There was a good crowd at Souter Lighthouse to see a huge range of older cars all lovingly looked after by their owners, and some were really quite unusual.

Camera details; Pentax K100D, 82mm lens, 1/180 second, f13, iso 200

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Italian Job

“Smashing” view from there!

My children, along with most of the others in South Shields, are on holiday from school at the moment and yesterday we took a trip by Metro and bus to the Metro Centre at Gateshead. The Metro Centre is Europe’s largest indoor shopping mall (as you north Americans call them). So, I’ll feature a few of the pictures that I got there over the next few days.

At lunchtime we stopped at this restaurant in “the Studio” area of the shopping centre, which is called “The Italian Job”. Obviously the exterior decor is meant to replicate a scene from the famous film starring Michael Caine and the equally famous mini car by BL. I thought it made a really smashing impact and really caught the eye.

An hour later, fully loaded with linguine we carried on shopping - more tomorrow.

Camera details; Pentax K100D, 82mm lens, 1/2 second (anti-shake device comes in handy), f5.6, isom 400

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