Splash Deserted!

I did not venture far today just a short walk, to shoot another face of our river for my friend, but that was enough as the wind billowed around me tugging at my clothes like it wanted to blow me to Oslo!!!

I shot the desolation of the Esplanade a few weeks ago but further along and facing east, today I faced west and shot the beautiful sweeping curve of the promenade as it gently leaves our river and joins the real world again. I spent a lot of my formative years here, canoeing and rowing for the RWSABC, the boat sheds and club sitting at the end of the esplanade, we trained, we partied we lived life like we had not a care. Looking back I think we had the best of times, as our circle fledged and flew the nest the club changed, I was the only one who was left, but our time was past and it wasn't the same.

This place was an escape for me. It is in stark contrast to see it on a day like today, cold, grey deserted, the ghosts of the past drift through my mind as I walk, I remember the faces, the names the long summer nights when after the club shut we would sit on the balcony and watch the sun set, sometimes we sat all night, watch the sun rise and paddle the morning glass before the world was awake.

Today, like that out of season holiday town in the rain I had the place to myself, but memories don't keep me warm and I shot a few frames before returning to the sanctuary of the car and heading home, I hope you enjoy the depth of this monochrome shot, the brooding of the storm clouds, diametrically opposed to my happy memories of this place...