Peter Castell's photos

The water standpipes were installed in Ticknall South Derbyshire in 1914 at the instruction of Sir Vauncey Harper-Crewe ( Calke Abbey ) to bring clean water to the village a wind pump was used to lift the water from a well where it was piped to a covered reservoir 21 where installed around the village the 16 that remain are Grade 2 listed, one still has water in it there is a dog bowl on the stand. The system was made redundant in 1962 when mains water arrived in the village

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When I took the photo I was concerned about the exposure the wall was in deep shade, and there were parked cars to be avoided, it was only on the computer I noticed the half hidden door and the fascinating bracket above it which doesn't look sturdy enough to have held a sign there appears to be wires going to it

Flora is part of a herd consisting of 30 large and 44 small elephants that have spent the summer around Lichfield, Tamworth and Sutton Coldfield, later this month the herd will assemble in Beacon Park Lichfield before moving to the cathedral for the grand auction this will also be on line, the reserve price for a large one is £3,000 with the proceeds going to the locale Hospice St. Giles Flora was sold for £7,000

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3A Autographic Kodak Special Model B I bought this as an ornament then realised they can be adapted to take 120 roll film instead of the no longer made 122 film which made a negative 3.25: X 5.5" which meant postcards could be contact printed lots of old photos are postcards the example shows the size of the camera. When this model was first sold in 1916 it was 'Special' it's believed to be the first camera with a coupled rangefinder. Autographic refers to a special film Kodak made which had an extra layer of tissue like paper, on the back of the camera is a flap which could be opened and using the metal stylus supplied you could write details of the shot on the border between the negatives expose it to the light and the information would appear on the negative. Adapting it to take the much smaller film isn't to much of a problem you can buy adaptors for the smaller film then I need to make film guides and a pressure plate, the problem is the getting the bellows light tight it is possible to buy new ones very expensive so I need to repair them if you look on the internet there are all sorts of ideas non ideal, a local art shop suggested Acrylic paint mixed with a small amount of PVA glue, I bought a very cheap bellows camera and tried it worked and looks alright but tends to stick if I fold the camera so I'm thinking not to fold fold it make a case to carry it open. Unless any one has any ideas

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CWP