Last Photo Walk of 2020

The last Saturday before Christmas is normally the busiest day of the year as folk spend the day getting the last of their christmas shopping and stock up on enough food and alcohol to feed and entertain a small army. With the Covid 19 Pandemic this year was not as busy as previous years, that was clear to see as most folk stayed at home. I had a few items to post before the first class post deadline on Monday and the last of the christmas presents for our grandchildren to collect, so I headed into town. 

I have got used to taking a camera with me every time I go out and on this day I wandered around Wigan with my Pentax SP500 loaded with a roll of Ilford HP5, it was also sporting it's Helios 44m-4, my favourite combination of basic Japanese camera and Soviet lens. I was hoping for a little sunshine for my last photo walk of 2020, but the only thing normal about 2020 was the grey clouds and showers we always get in December here in Wigan.

I took a couple of shots in the town centre after posting christmas cards for my family, but there just wasn't any festive displays to write home about. The christmas lights were on, but not visible in daylight and there wasn't even any buskers that have always seen this day as one of the most lucrative of the year. I had to go to the toy shop on the outskirts of the town centre so I made a decision to take a slow walk and grab a couple of shots of Wigan Pier as I passed by.

Thankfuly the rain moved to the west of town and as that was the direction I was headed, I missed the short sharp showers that blew through. I normally shoot Wigan Pier from the canal side, but this time I captured it from the road side. I have spoken of the ongoing refurbishment of the Pier complex in previous blog entries. The new signage is up and the finishng touches are all but complete, but it will be spring time before the grand re-opening is even considered for the venue.

My final couple of frames were spent on a great bit of sculpture that the garage at Seven Stars Bridge placed on his sign a few years ago. What do you do with scrap car parts that would have gone to the smelter? You weld some exhaust parts together and make a figure doffing his brake rotor hat to welcome folk to our town as they drive by. I wonder how many notice it as they pass by? Hopefully this little bit of recognition will give the metal chap a few more fans. People so often don't notice or even know about it, but he doffs his hat all the same.

Despite the dull weather I had an enjoyable walk to finish the year as it started, shooting Ilford film and developing it later that day. I have learned a lot this year and I will talk about it next time as I recap my year of learning to shoot and develop black and white film. Here are some of my photo's from my walk, I hope you enjoy them.