As the year draws to an end, I am closing my blog on onsightphotographic.co.uk, and continuing occasional stories from behind the lens @ http://www.sillettphotography.com/blog/
I wish you all a Happy New Year and all the best for 2019!

Came across this chap in York the other day. The pigeons and squirrels in the park seem to know him well.

Covered the event for the PR Guild, and took a few shots along (and off) the route.


You can see more pictures here
My new website http://www.sillettphotography.com is now live.
It’s oriented more to City of London events as I am becoming increasingly involved in covering guild and livery companies.
My picture of a crow on a cross has been selected as the cover photo for the Dark Art group on Flickr, evidently the most macabre of their 225,000 posts.

A short trip to the Somme battlefields 100 years after the end of the First World War.












On the road for a few days, back up North.
First signs of former heavy industry in the East Midlands.

Sheffield is a city of two contrasting half: the leafy, Victorian west and the East dominated by housing estates with some remnants of industry along the Don in the centre.




After Sheffield, it was over the North Yorkshire Moors to enjoy the gothic charms of Whitby.



If you ever wanted to know what Whitby was like in the 1950s… go to Whitby.









Another ruin on the moors: Rievaulx Abbey

Then it was back over the Pennines to Lancashire.


Had a small op on my finger today to treat Dupuytren’s contracture, which causes the finger to bend.
It had got to 40 degrees, so it was time.
Instead of surgery to cut out the thickened cords, I opted for minimally-invasive needle aponeurotomy weakening the cords by inserting needles. The finger is then straightened, but requires a splint and physio for weeks.
It’s a genetic condition apparently only occurring in those of Norse blood (it’s also known as the Viking disease).
I didn’t realise I had any Norse blood. Typically, I didn’t inherit the blond hair, long limbs or blue eyes, just this. And, of course, their unflinching courage.
Actually, I did flinch a bit. And brought the missus along for moral support. Although I overheard her later on the phone telling someone: “It looked really painful, but was fun to watch.”
Unfortunately, the finger will begin to bend again in a few years and I’ll have to repeat the process.