Sheffield Town Hall Sunday 27th February. Stand with Ukraine Sheffield group held a rally of support for Ukraine and its people, and a protest of condemnation of Putin’s invasion of the country.
After and elderly Ukrainian woman reported told a Russian soldier
‘You should put sunflower seeds in your pockets so that they will grow on Ukrainian land after you die.’
Supporters of Ukraine carried Sunflowers along side their placards some of which called for an end to the war others repeated the reported reply from Ukrainian border guards who died defending Zmiinyi Island after being called upon to surrender by a Russian warship.
This weeks news photographs of the army being brought in to help out with the shortage of fuel tanker drivers reminded me of these old photos I shot during the Firefighters dispute in January of 2003. The Army, still using some Green Goddesses, were brought in to provide cover.
At the time I was working with the Barnsley Chronicle. The Chronicles staff photographer had been turned away at the gates but I happened to have a very good relationship with the local Territorial Army unit and managed to talk my way in. A chat with the regular Army who had been assigned to use the Barnsley TA Centre as a base to operate from got me a few posed training pictures and as a thank you I shot a couple of group photos. The largest of the two is
Alma Company 1st Battalion Duke of Wellingtons Regiment (West Riding)
It’s one of the largest and probably the easiest groups shot I have ever taken. A brief explanation of what I wanted and needed resulted the appearance of giant set of step ladders while the NCOs sorted everyone into position. A fantastic piece of organisation.
All Images Copyright Paul David Drabble
All rights Reserved
April 01 2021 Sheffield Scrap Yard Fire:
Fire fighters and police at a scrap metal fire on Carlisle Street in Sheffield. Large plumes of smoke caused by a blaze near Burngreave caused South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service to advise local people to keep their doors and windows closed while South Yorkshire Police put diversions in place try and keep traffic moving in the area.
#Photography #Storytelling #PublicRelations
If you don’t want to miss future posts please follow #PhotographyNorth
All Images Copyright Paul David Drabble –
All rights Reserved –
Moral Rights Asserted –
Sheffield Arena becomes COVID-19 Vaccination Centre. The Venue has been transformed into Sheffield’s newest NHS vaccination centre opening for business at 10:00AM on Monday 25th of January.
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals trust will run the centre and it is set to be open 7 days a week.
25 January 2021
www.pauldaviddrabble.co.uk
All Images Copyright Paul David Drabble –
All rights Reserved –
Moral Rights Asserted –
Meadowhall flood defences are in place closing Meadowhall Drive. Beyond the flood defences the COVID-19 testing Centre was also closed as authorities keep a close eye on the swollen River Don around Sheffield Meadowhall shopping centre. Amber flood alerts remain in place across South Yorkshire amid fears that rain brought by Storm Christoph will cause extensive flooding, due to a combination of heavy rain fall and already saturated ground.
Thursday 14 January 2020: Sheffield: There was traffic chaos on the A616 Stocksbridge By-Pass as snow fell across much of the country despite the best efforts of snow ploughs and gritters. I counted four snow ploughs as I made my way past a number of cars, lorries vans and a number of people on foot that were having difficulty negotiating the slippy conditions around lunchtime.
Caption: Heavy snow forecast for most of the day causing traffic chaos on the A 616 Stocksbridge By-Pass around lunchtime today
Images © Paul David Drabble
All Rights Reserved
Moral Rights Asserted
As Sheffield Enters Tier 3 of Covid-19 restrictions. I’ve read news reports that the Government are looking at options for a ‘Tier 4’ to add to the current Covid 19 restrictions should the current Tier Three restrictions not curb coronavirus cases. Here are a few images shot in Sheffield on Saturday 24th October, the first morning that Sheffield Enters Tier 3,. For those who know sheffield the images show
1. Top of Fargate,
2. & 3. looking down The Moor,
4. Charter Row all in Sheffield City centre.
Images © Paul David Drabble
All Rights Reserved
Moral Rights Asserted
Emley Moor Transmitter Mast
Emley Moor Transmitter Mast
Today I took advantage of the lovely autumn light, and the lul in the amount of work brought about by the pandemic, to photograph a landmark I should have photographed years ago. Emley Moor Transmitter Mast West Yorkshire England is such an iconic structure, visible for miles, a constant presence when driving in this area and I always thought I should photograph it but never really found the time.
Begun 1969 it is a 275 meter (902ft) tall tapered cylindrical pillar made of reinforced concrete topped with a 55 Meter (180ft) lattice steel mast. It stands 1084ft tall and is the the tallest freestanding structure in the UK. In 2002 the tower became a Grade II listed building for being of significant architectural/historic interest.
Taller than Shard in London and the Eiffel Tower in Paris it is listed as the 27 tallest freestanding tower in the world and the Tallest freestanding structure in the UK. Emley Moore transmitter tower is not open to the public.
Beside Emley moor Grade II listed mast is a temporary structure supported by dozens of steel cables which was erected so that vital upgrade work can be carried out on the original tower.
German Military Cemetery Staffordshire
Many of you will know I am quite interested history, especially military history. While doing a little research I discovered a German Military Cemetery in Staffordshire Britain. Not something I had ever considered but probably should have. All wars result in casualties on both sides and while there were no land battles in Britain, there was the war in the air and at sea, not mention Prisoners Of War.
My interest piqued I took a trip to Staffordshire to shoot some images at the Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof. The cemetery contains the graves of 2143 soldiers of the first world war and 2786 soldiers of the second world war. All the headstones are very similar but unlike British CWGC headstones they don’t seem to say, with any consistency, which branch of the armed forces the personnel served with or their unit, though they do indicate rank.
In 1959 the UK German government came to an agreement for the care of the graves of German nationals who lost their lives in the United Kingdom during the two World Wars. The result was the Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof at Cannock Chase Staffordshire. This resulted in the transfer of all graves in the UK, not already effectively maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, to this central cemetery. This transfer of graves of German servicemen and civilian internees from both world wars was arranged by the German War Graves Commission (Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgraberfursorge). The inauguration and dedication took place on the 10th June 1967 and is immaculately maintained by the CWGC.
A few notable graves to look out for amongst the photos for are….
Generalfeldmarschall Ernst Bernhard Wilhelm Busch
holder of the Pour le Merite (Blue Max) and Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. He commanded troops during the invasion of Poland, the Battle of France and the invasion of Russia (Operation Barbarossa). His final command was Army Group Northwest. His task, to stop Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery’s advance into Germany. Busch surrendered to Monty on 3 May 1945 and died of heart failure in a prisoner of war camp in Aldershot, England.
SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS Maximilian Karl Otto von Herff.
Originally in the Wehrmacht Herff was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in 1939. He served with the German Afrika Korps, was then promoted to Colonel and commanded “Kampfgruppe von Herff”. In June 1941 was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross for his service in North Africa. He transferred to the Waffen-SS and joined the Nazi Party in 1942. From August 1942-1945 Von Herff was ‘Chef fur Personalhauptamt’. The man in charge of the office responsible maintaining the service records for all commissioned Waffen-SS and Allgemeine-SS personnel. Captured in 1945, and held at Grizedale POW camp he died in Conishead Priory Military Hospital as the result of a Stroke.
Four Graves Containing the Remains of Four Zeppelin Crews
Tablet marks the four graves containing the remains of Four Zeppelin crews Shot down during World war one with each Crew being buried together.
A small black and white photo at the bottom of the headstone marking the last resting place of Eugen Geyer and Franz Andele. Both were members of the German Luftwaffe
Cannock Chase War Cemetery Staffordshire
Before reaching the actual German Military Cemetery you will encounter Cannock Chase War Cemetery which is closer to the road. Cannock Chase War Cemetery contains 97 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, most of them New Zealanders, and 286 German burials. There are also three burials from the Second World War.
Images © Paul David Drabble
All Rights Reserved
Moral Rights Asserted
The image archive updated to include some newly discovered pictures of
Denis Healey, Baron Healey CH, MBE, PC
Born: 30 August 1917 Died: 03 October 2015 . He was a British Labour politician who served as Secretary of State for Defence from 1964 to 1970 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1974 to 1979.
Rodney Bewes
Born: 27 November 1937 Died: 21 November 2017. He was an English television actor and writer who is probably best know for his portrayal Bob Ferris in the BBC television sitcom The Likely Lads and the follow up Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?
Neil and Christine Hamilton
Neil Hamilton Born: 09 March 1949 is a British politician, barrister, and former teacher. After being implicated in the cash-for-questions affair, he became widely associated with ‘sleaze’. Defeated in the 1997 general election, he left politics but didn’t leave the Conservative Party until 2002, when he joined UKIP
Christine Hamilton Born: 10 November 1949 Neil Hamiltons wife. She is an English media personality and author. Both have become prominent supporters of UKIP (the UK Independence Party)