CalSmithBooks

Ex-academic turned travel author, storyteller & vintage camera enthusiast | Destination portraits for the reflective reader | Bio etc 🔗👇

[CalSmithBooks @CalSmithBooks]

Available in both paperback and Kindle formats

https://t.co/aryYXNi8wR

[CalSmithBooks @CalSmithBooks]

A somewhat atypical doorway, a relic of the past (not the fuel prices). Captured on a 1954 camera made in Dresden, DDR—similar era
#AdoorableThursday

[CalSmithBooks @CalSmithBooks]

@barry_wizard Many thx—tho not quite a full win until I get to inspect upon arrival (a bit like playing poker; fun though)

[CalSmithBooks @CalSmithBooks]

With ppl planning a getaway in the next couple of months, if you haven’t decided where to go & seek inspiration, take a look at my travel book on Almería, Andalusia, the land of my childhood & a special destination. More on Almería (& my other books) at

https://t.co/mENOnti0QN

[CalSmithBooks @CalSmithBooks]

After last week’s rather grandiose affair, today something quite different—I bet that door could tell some stories.

Somewhere in the Fens #AdoorableThursday

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Typical Florentine bling!
Bronze 30-foot doors of Florence Cathedral’s main portal, installed by Augusto Passaglia in 1903–the west end facade was plain & unfinished for centuries. If planning a trip take a thermos, sarnies & brolly as queuing is otherworldly
#ADoorableThursday

[CalSmithBooks @CalSmithBooks]

@paz565 A decent collection (plus the Fed 2). Many people think we are nuts but we love these machines

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@paz565 Do you develop yourself at home? If not, initially it sounds very daunting but it’s actually incredibly easy, even developing colour. Developing B&W using something like Rodinal is a cinch once practised a couple of times. A great way of testing cameras & much cheaper than labs

[CalSmithBooks @CalSmithBooks]

PS Deeping St Nicholas, Lincolnshire (just off the A1175 right by the Vine House Farm Shop) @Vinehousefarm

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Look what I found yesterday—a pre-Worboys road sign, possibly dating back to the 1930s (all road signs were redesigned, modernised and standardised following the 1963 Worboys Committee). Very few old signs like this now survive. A little piece of transport history!

[CalSmithBooks @CalSmithBooks]

This humble doorway is probs the oldest in all Grimsby. West entrance of the Saxon tower of Old Clee Church (Holy Trinity & St Mary the Virgin), Cleethorpes—oldest building in the area, built around 1050 AD (a few years before those pesky Normans arrived) #AdoorableThursday

[CalSmithBooks @CalSmithBooks]

Reculver Towers, Kent, now restored. Ignore unusual images (1961 DDR camera+expired grainy film) & consider its history: Roman fort, then an Anglo-Saxon church, lastly medieval parish church vandalised by the Victorians. Lower stonework Roman. As Spok would observe “Fascinating”

[CalSmithBooks @CalSmithBooks]

Bit of fun for home film developers with no space for a dark room. Where do you hang your negatives? Post your pic & story

I hang mine from light in my tiny Art Deco kitchen-diner. Not big enough to swing a cat (I’ve tried but both cats tell me it’s not big enough). Still works

[CalSmithBooks @CalSmithBooks]

@moiracathleen PS Here’s an image of the helpful info board on the church grounds with more on the issue…

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Two for the price of one—not ornate, both blocked up, but ancient! Square one on left is 7th century, probably the private entrance of Queen Bertha of Kent to her chapel. Note the repurposed Roman bricks.

St Martin’s, Canterbury (oldest church in England) #ADoorableThursday

[CalSmithBooks @CalSmithBooks]

@moiracathleen It’s believed this one dates back to the late 6th c (and parts may even be the remains of a repurposed Roman-era building, although it wasn’t a church then). Of course, I suppose it depends how one defines “oldest church”

[CalSmithBooks @CalSmithBooks]

@barry_wizard @CathyRLowe Bless you! (One little suggestion from you several days ago and suddenly the phone has been pinging all morning from a single post). Many thx

[CalSmithBooks @CalSmithBooks]

@barry_wizard It’s the light, isn’t it. Can make or break an image