ELHAS News - October 2016

Meeting Report October 2016

Our October meeting saw us treated to a real evening of pure nostalgia by David Alred, who gave us a slide show of over 100 slides entitled "Transport Mixture". David has been a keen photographer since the early sixties, but his interest in trains, boats and planes, or indeed all things related to transport has been with him since boyhood. And since David has been retired now for over 20 years he has plenty of time to indulge his passion.

David began his talk by showing several shots taken over the years of steam trains travelling on the famous Settle to Carlisle line. He carefully explained each photo saying where it was taken and describing how he had achieved (or not in some cases ) the shot he wanted. His main aim when taking shots of steam locomotives was to see the engine enveloped in clouds of smoke and steam. He explained the best way to get this was with winter shots, when the engine was labouring up an incline. And some of his atmospheric shots of steam engines showed his skill in achieving this.

Moving on to images of cruise ships, David regaled us with stories of holidays during his childhood when he was able to visit Southampton dockyard to see the elegant liners which crossed the Atlantic to New York. We were delighted to see the photos of such iconic ships as the Oceania and the Queens (Mary and Elizabeth). But what really took us back in time was David's commentary explaining how he was able to wander at will around the dockyards in order to take the photos. A far cry from having to deal with the stringent security measures which unfortunately have to be in place today.

Planes were next on the menu and we enjoyed shots of all types of aircraft from the Lancaster bomber to the Red Arrows flying in strict formation. David ended the aircraft section with several shots of Concorde taken both at Heathrow and Yeadon . He was thrilled to be able to tell us that he had taken a trip on Concorde even though it was only a short hop from London to Manchester and didn't reach supersonic speeds.

For the final section of his show he concentrated on vintage cars many of the shots being taken at Harewood and Harrogate. We thoroughly enjoyed the images of all the lovingly restored vehicles, both private and commercial, and there was much audience participation when the more knowledgeable members were able to display their expertise by saying what the vehicles were before being told. This might have seemed an indulgence to the males in the audience, but in fact it was an evening enjoyed by all present.

Image: Jonathan Kershaw - Battle of Britain Mermorial Flight, Waddington Airshow 2010

The next meeting on Monday 28th November will be an illustrated talk by John Clay entitled "The History of the Black Dyke Band". This will be the last meeting of 2016 and will be followed by hot drinks and mince pies.