anthony galvin
Amazing aerial photo of Deptford from 1938
Historic England have released a collection of aerial photos from 1938. This one of Deptford is fascinating - I spent about 15 years in and around Deptford, from the late 1990s until we moved out of London. So much of what is captured in this photos has gone or changed beyond all recognition.
But not everything.
The churches stand out, gleaming. The railway. The river. The royal naval college in the distance. Emma's old flat next to the snooker club. I can even make out a couple of pubs on Creek Road that we used to drink in as students.
03/10/2024 permalink
A grey and brooding late summers day and the rolling roads of Northamptonshire are playing host to stage 5 of the Tour of Britain. We have a whole peloton of stars flying through the village, including the double olympic champion Remco Evenepoel.
The full rolling road block of police outriders.
The breakaway then a flying peloton, followed by the team cars.
Then suddenly it’s gone.
A few minutes later and you wouldn’t have even known it happened.
But I’ll always remember when Remco rode through Maidford.
07/09/2024 permalink
For a whole heap of reasons we usually end-up in the Alps for some spring skiing and snowboarding. The snow conditions have varied over the years. Weather in the mountains is unpredictable at the best of times. If you go to the mountains there's no point worrying about the weather, you just have to put the right kit on and get on with it (or sit it out in the cafe / chalet / cabin of your choice).
Environmentally resonsible winter sports holidays are clearly a difficult thing to achieve. Anyone interested in snow sports knows that many resorts are struggling with the impact of climate change. Fewer snow sure weeks - especially for lower resorts - reduces the viability of many winter tourist businesses across Europe (and beyond). Without at least 100 days of snow resorts will close. Any holiday is probably contributing to climate change, especially if you holiday in a ski-resort.
Despite the cognitive dissonance we pootle along pristine French roads, enjoying the mostly good charging infrastructure. And what a trip. Visiting old friends, making new ones. Having lots fun in the sun and snow - and wow - what great snow. For the entire week the weather alternates between warm blue sky days or massive dumps of snow. As the seasons change under the weight of human influence and inaction, it seems, at least for now, spring is the best time to catch the snow.
07/04/2024 permalink
Whilst driving home from Morzine I realised that we were going to cross the route of Paris-Roubaix. So we accidentally / on-purpose managed to watch a little bit of the race at Saint Quentin.
07/04/2024 permalink
Rochdale scrubs up pretty well
Fantastic photos of the restored Rochdale Town Hall. A place that figuratively and literally loomed over my childhood. Whilst at the same time the government plans to sell off these kinds of buildings.
07/02/2024 permalink
Best photos of 2023
Bridleway near Plumpton Wood, Northamptonshire
Over the last few years we’ve been lucky to be able walk together before work. Remote working, a local school runs and an energetic dog combined to make this part of our weekday routine. Unfortunately this doesn’t happen so much now - new job and new school.
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Northern Lights from Maidford, Northamptonshire
For a brief moment, even South Northamptonshire was transported to the edge of the article circle. We took the kids up to the top of a hill near the house but it was too cloudy, and after an hour or so we took them home to warm up. A few hours later, pretty much in the middle of the night I went back out and grabbed this photo.
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Hovden, Hardangervidda, Norway
A day on the slopes, with old friends. Magic.
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A deer runs across the lake at Vinje, Hardangervidda, Norway
Looking out across the lake from my friends study. Amongst all the stillness a frenzy of legs and energy.
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Blue sky day in Morzine
Spring in the mountains. Blue sky and another chance to scoot around, this time with the family.
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Looking down on Avoriaz
About 20 years ago I came to visit Richard and stayed in what was then just an old barn. He took me up here and showed me this view. Still magic.
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Emma & Violet (Snr) at the Coronation Street Party
I didn’t take this picture, but it’s one of my favourites. Emma and her grandmother - Nanar Violet. Violet had seen 5 monarchs in her lifetime and this coronation was just before her 100th birthday. Sadly no longer with us, she remains an inspiration to us all.
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Lower Shuckburgh, Northamptonshire
Lush, green, rural middle of England.
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Following the family cycling round Rutland Water, Rutland
A day out. Cycling round and round. This was my view for most of the day. Pootling round Rutland Water is a great reminder that adventures can happen in your backyard.
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The church at Rutland Water, Rutland
Growing up in Rochdale there were lots of tales about the villages at the bottom of the reservoirs (Hollingworth Lake and Greenbooth in particular). But Rutland Water takes that to a new level.
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Amsterdam Harbour
One of the few work trips of the last year or so, and a scorching hot evening in Amsterdam.
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Path over the fields, Northamptonshire
When I'm away working in a city, it's this sense of space I really miss. Especially on a sunny day.
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Emma & Hazel, before the circus at Evenly Wood Gardens
Who doesn't love a burger before a night at the ~~opera~~ circus.
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Arriving at the Bothy on Ulva after 2 hours of walking
The most memorable walk of the year, at the start of our stay on one of the most magical islands that makes up our nation of islands.
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Rain stops play. Stewkley, Buckinghamshire
Amazingly we got back on and finished the game.
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Towcester, Northamptonshire
It often feels like the people responsible for planning in South Northamptonshire are determined to erase the unique history and character of this part of the world. Luckily they haven't quite succeeded.
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Cold view from Maidford, Northamptonshire
Looking along the valley over to metropolis that is Adstone (population 65).
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30/01/2024 permalink
25 years ago this week I started working at what was then known as a 'web agency'. I started off as the 'work experience' kid - I suppose today I would have been an intern.
Quickly that became a part-time and then a full time job. The dot com boom was still in full swing. I didn't know a lot, but I bought a book on building websites from the computer section of Foyles on Charing Cross road. The 'internet' section didn't even fill a whole shelf. So much about technology and building websites has changed since 1999.
But amazingly many of the fundamentals I started to learn about on that first day (between making cups of tea), remain true today.
1/ Good design makes complex things appear simple. But simple is unbelievably difficult to achieve
2/ Thinking about the end user as a real person really helps - the best way to achieve this is to talk to some of your users regularly
3/ Readable code beats 'clever code' 99% of the time - leave comments. The next person will thank you (that next person is often your future self)
4/ Technology is like cricket, an individual sport wrapped in a team game. A lot of working with tech is an individual endeavour, but it's a team game. You need to operate well as an individual contributor and be an excellent collaborator to succeed
5/ It always takes longer than you think (Hofstadter's Law is real), and you often don't control the deadline - try and have a version that's ready to ship even if it's not quite right
6/ Fast web pages with good semantic markup are good pages - 25 years on having a H1 on the page is still a good thing! Web frameworks are amazing, but good markup wins every time
10/01/2024 permalink
As the Scots say, "West is best". So for our August holiday we put that to the test, heading slightly further west than usual. But not by much. A few days west of our usual summer spot on Mull, in a off-grid Bothy on Ulva. A couple of hours walk from the ferry under leaden skies. Past the many cleared settlements. To arrive at the most perfect spot. A little house by the sea with a white sand swimming beach. In the evening a cosy fireplace and just enough comforts. Not to mention an owl outside the kitchen window. Not luxury in the holiday brochure sense, but a place to make family memories, which is it's own kind of luxury.
10/12/2023 permalink
The past is a foreign country.
I'm not sure why this resonated with me so much. Maybe it's the down to earth way that 'Fred' describes what is clearly a job that is beyond the capability of most people. Or the fact that this happened in my lifetime, but in a way that seems from another time - with no health and safety considerations, beyond taking a cigarette break every now and then. There's a touch of Callum's Road about Fred's attitude that anything is possible if you just get on with it.
Fred, in 1979, brought down a chimney brick by brick.
— Ewen Cameron (@EwenDCameron) September 6, 2023
This is an unbelievable watch.pic.twitter.com/0forMEoN34
07/09/2023 permalink
Life, COVID and everything else means that it's 6 years since we last went on a family ski trip. Having driven to the Dordogne and back in the summer, we decided on another EV road trip. An early start, a dash for the tunnel and before we know it we're at our overnight stop of Reims
The next day, with late season snow forecast we arrive full of excitement. Over the next few days the girls and their cousins maintain their enthusiasm - fuelled by mountain top crepes and bolognaise! We split our time between Morzine and Avoriaz, and despite the spring conditions there's plenty of runs (and cafes) open.
On our final day skiing there's a sprinkling of fresh snow and blue skies. The slopes are quiet and the kids do laps round a couple of runs - hopping on and off the chair lifts like veterans.
It's a joy to see them catch the skiing bug. I've pretty much failed to pass on any of my sporting passions, despite an almost constant stream of participation and spectating opportunities. Maybe winter sports will be the one that sticks. Six years was way too long, hopefully we'll all be back on the slopes next year.
13/03/2023 permalink
VP Engineering Dashboard
Productivity advice famously doesn't work. A persons tips are almost certainly only applicable to them - we are unique individuals, perhaps with only a love of searching the internet for productivity tips in common. So with that caveat I'm sharing an approach that's been working for me. Your mileage will vary as the internet often says.
Like lots of people in engineering lead roles I have a lot plates to spin. I have 3 main tools I use to make sure I'm dropping the right things - an infinite bullet list of notes and links (in Workflowy), my calendar (colour coded, but more on that later) and a Miro dashboard, which I spend a little bit of time updating on a Monday morning.
The dashboard is pretty simple, but it helps me ensure that I'm spending my time on the right things and also communicate to my team what I'm focussing on this week.
Driving (up to 50% of my time) - initiatives where I'm a key contributor, or I'm directly accountable
Supporting (20%) - important but I'm playing a supporting role
Monitoring (5%) - I need to know what's happening but I'm not a contributor
Directs (at least 20% of my time) - my direct reports
Coaching (~5%) - people I'm keeping an eye on (maybe skip reports) or am supporting in some way
The colour coding is the key, because I then use that in my calendar and notes to visually link everything together. If I glance at my calendar and there's two much green, then it means I'm not spending my time on the right things. It's not a hard and fast rule, but a heuristic that helps me keep things on track.
There's a template available in Miroverse if you want to give it a try.
18/04/2023 permalink