The Hunt for Red Octo…

...no, that should be ‘Red Phone Boxes’ J

So, I seem to have got my first ‘commission’! I posted on a forum that I was thinking of starting a photography business and asked people to critique my photos and say whether or not they were the kind of subjects they would buy. I added three photos, among them, this one:

One person responded and said she would be interested in a set of three red phone boxes ‘before they all disappear’ (her words). The photo above is not the sharpest picture I have ever taken – it looks fine in miniature, but when shown on a larger screen, like my laptop, the edges are way too soft. So I decided to spend a day seeking out red phone boxes and playing around with the settings on my camera. I haven’t had this camera very long, so it was a good opportunity to experiment with some of the settings – I took some normal shots, and some that saturated the colour more and some that did partial colour – these last are mainly black and white, but you can choose a single colour that comes out in that colour. Since I was photographing red phone boxes, obviously the colour I chose was red! Some of those didn’t come out too well; I think they needed different lighting and it was quite gloomy most of the time.

First, I did some research. I knew there were some red phone boxes in the area I normally walk, so I took to ‘street view’ and checked out the places I thought I had seen some. Then, bright and early, when there was some sunshine about, I drove to the Yorkshire Dales to take some pictures.

Taking the road over the Stang into Yorkshire, the first village where I saw a red phone box was the tiny hamlet of Langthwaite. The box was outside an old Dales farmhouse, but unfortunately, there was a landrover parked right in front of it, making it impossible to take a decent photo. I drove on into Reeth. I understand there is a red phone box somewhere here, but I couldn’t find it.

The next place was Healaugh (pronounced Hee-law, for those that are not familiar with the area). The phone box there is outside a B&B; again, it was hidden behind vehicles. Never mind, I would be travelling back that way later, so would try again then.

At Low Row, at last I found a box I could photograph. It was just off the main road, up a track leading to some houses, so I got out my camera and tripod and snapped away.

The next village was Gunnerside, where another red box awaited me. The black and white photo with a red box against the wall was particularly effective here.

This seems to work all right.

After Gunnerside, I returned to Ivelet, where the photo at the top of the page was taken. As usual, I overshot the road end and had to turn round. You’d think I’d get it right after going there so many times!! I had not driven over the bridge before – it was like going on a roller coaster. You point the car into the air and hope there is road underneath you when you get to the top! Usually, I park before the bridge and walk up onto Gunnerside Moor, but as this was just for taking photos (and my tripod is heavy!!) I chose to drive to the phone box instead.

The next place beyond Gunnerside where there is a phone box is Muker, which is probably my favourite place in the whole of the Dales. I could walk here every day and never get tired of the place. Maybe I should retire there. It was pouring with rain when I arrived, so I had to wait till it stopped and then I had to wait a bit longer while two hikers decided to stand under the tree – well, he stood under the tree, while she walked all over the road as if she was trying to work out which way to go. Eventually they both set off towards the meadows, so I was free to take my photo. Anyway, the phone box is tucked away beside an old barn and hidden by a big overhanging tree. The tree could make a nice frame for the picture, but the barn? Hmmm, fortunately, it’s built out of traditional stone, so not actually an issue. The telegraph pole standing right in front of it and the gas bottles tucked in behind it – well, those are something else!

Note the bright orange gas bottles hidden away behind the box!

From there I drove to Keld, passing through Thwaite and Angram on the way. There are phone boxes in both of these places, but there was nowhere to park at Thwaite, so I thought I would try again on my way back. The box at Angram had some BT works going on right next to it and no matter where I stood, they would feature large in the picture, so I gave that one up as a bad job and drove rapidly on (well, as rapidly as a road not wide enough for more than one and a half cars would allow) to Keld. Keld is the usual destination for my walks that start in Muker. It seems like it is a lot shorter to walk than to drive, though obviously it takes longer on foot than by car.

The phone box at Keld was also having some work done on it. There was a big BT van parked to one side and a hole in the ground with a BT man actually working in it on the other side. Still, I managed to find a couple of angles that excluded both, so I was happy. And then the sun came out J albeit briefly. And so did a random cyclist! I am sure I waited till he had passed, but then the camera was on two second self-timer (to avoid camera shake) and I think I might just have depressed the button a bit further than I had intended, so the camera took this shot for me:

Mind you, I think I prefer this shot of the same box from a different angle:

By the time I got back to Thwaite, it was dull and almost raining again. I had to drive round the village twice before I found somewhere to park, then wait for a jogger to run past, then took some quick shots of the box before leaping back into my car so as not to get too wet. 

I tried a photo that had the street in focus too, but I was in such a hurry that I focused on the wrong part of the picture and unfortunately the box came out rather dark.

Way too dark - not sure what happened there

After that, I took the buttertubs road over towards Hawes, passing through the tiny hamlet of Simonstone on the way. Right behind the sign telling me I was arriving in Simonstone, was another red phone box. 

It was really tatty and faded and looks like it will probably be the next casualty in the name of modernisation – ie it is likely to be replaced or removed L I took some pictures of it anyway, for posterity.

Scruffy, but probably my favourite box of the day

Hawes was having its annual Fayre, so I didn’t stay; I just drove up the town and back down again and on to Askrigg. I remember being in Askrigg about 32 years ago. There were police all over the place directing traffic, so we stopped to ask what was going on. It turned out they were filming ‘All Creatures Great and Small’, so we found somewhere to park and went to watch. I had a ‘small creature’ with me myself – in the form of my two year old daughter who had no idea what all the excitement was about and promptly fell asleep in her dad’s arms. Dad however wanted to take lots of photographs and so I ended up with said daughter in my arms instead, standing outside a small country pub, while hubby was off photographing anything that moved. After a while, a man’s voice behind me said ‘She looks heavy; can I hold her for you for a while to give your arms a rest?’ So I handed over my daughter to a random stranger – who turned out to be Christopher Timothy, the actor who played James Herriot in the series!! I have a photo somewhere of my sleeping daughter in his arms, but pre-digital.

It wasn’t so exciting this time and again, I had to wait for the rain to clear. I then took a set of photos of the box, which was just outside the church. They looked great – until I realised I had managed to catch the front of a nearby parked car in the corner of every one of them L 

Spot the car bumper, bottom right

Good thing I checked them before leaving the spot, so I was able to get out and take another set, missing out the car this time. I also took a couple with the church clock in the background.

A bit too dark for my requirements, but not bad considering the light was pretty dreadful

Leaving Askrigg, I took a narrow lane signposted back to Muker. I wanted to drive back through Healaugh to see if I could take some snaps of the phone box there. The drive was beautiful – hills and dales on all sides, the road climbing ever higher as I left Wensleydale and then dropping down the other side back into Swaledale. There was another route I could have taken – I could have driven on from Askrigg to Redmire then taken the road over Redmire Moor and down into Grinton – another place I wanted to visit. Redmire Moor is the place where, shortly after arriving in Yorkshire from Scotland, the real James Herriot had stopped on the moor top, got out of his car and laid himself down on the grass verge and thought ‘This is where I want to spend the rest of my life’. You can read about it in his books.

Healaugh was still a washout – literally as well as metaphorically. There were still cars surrounding the box, so I couldn’t see it properly. And the heavens had opened – it was pouring down! Never mind; I continued on to Grinton, where I thought I had remembered another red box. Yes, there was a phone box; unfortunately ‘progress’ has been marching relentlessly along the Dale, leaving a trail of plastic and steel phone boxes in its wake L

If this is progress, you can keep it!

 Disclaimer: None of the above photographs include those I sent for approval to my 'client'.