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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Dragonfly

River Don, Jarrow

Just along the road from South Shields the River Don flows into the River Tyne, and opposite St. Paul’s Church in Jarrow there is a small pond formed from rain water that is full of life in the summer months, tadpoles, toads, frogs, insects, strange worms, and these bright blue dragonflies.

Trouble is, they don’t want to stay still enough to be photographed! I was lucky with this one.

Camera details; Pentax K100D, lens 450mm macro, 1/350 second, f8, iso 200

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Faceoff

Thoughtful art

An interesting face off between the human and the metal mesh in this thought provoking work of art at Bede’s World in Jarrow.

Converted to black and white and colour toned with Photoshop.

Camera details; Pentax K100D, 28mm lens, 1/90 second, f5.6 iso 200

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Lunch

Along the River Don

Walking from South Shields towards St. Paul’s Church at Jarrow can be very enlightening, from Tyne Dock it’s only about a 1 1/2 mile stroll and in summer when the trees are fully clothed in leaves the coolness of the area around the River Don is very welcoming. Walking from Church Bank in Jarrow along the River Don footpath we find a huge variety of wildlife at this time of year, butterflies, mayflies, ducks, the odd heron, early morning rabbits, and (it was pointed out to me), even a kingfisher. You will find a couple of ponds teaming with life as millions of tadpoles enrich themselves on the rotten leaves lining the pond bottom.

Whilst I was walking through the more dense trees and longer grass I was surprised by a female partridge and her family of minuscule chicks, so surprised that I did not have time to raise the camera to the eye!

This fellow was enjoying his lunch on an English oak.

Camera details; Pentax K100D, 450mm lens (macro), 1/125 second, f8.0, iso 200

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The “Jarra Arra”

Steve Cram

Steve Cram was an Olympian middle distance runner from this area and he was popularly known as “The Jarrow Arrow” with his dart of speed in the final lap of a race. He was born and brought up in Jarrow and often trained and raced in South Shields when he was a schoolboy. He went on to become one of Great Britain’s best middle distance runners at a time when Steve Ovett and Seb Coe were his international rivals.

His collection of winning medals is on show at the Bede’s World Museum in Jarrow and these few are from the collection, left to right;

• 1986 Gold Medal 1500m European Championships, Stuttgart.
• 1984 Silver Medal 1500m Olympic Games, Los Angeles
• 1982 Gold Medal 1500m European Championships, Athens.

Camera details; Pentax K100D, 55mm lens, 1/8 second, f5.6, iso 200

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