Richard Close
banner
richardclose.bsky.social
Richard Close
@richardclose.bsky.social
Immigrant.

Born in 🇿🇼, lived in 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (mostly), 🇿🇦 and 🇺🇲. Now in 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿.
Farewell Valaris Gorilla 6, we hardly knew ye.

(Seen from Tayport sailing away from Dundee Harbour).
November 8, 2025 at 4:57 PM
The Tayport swans, with Waverley in the background.
October 21, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Listiening to the Mystery of Time (Kabeláč) again. Such a compelling piece of music. Feels vast and inexorable and alien.

#ClassicalMusic #NowPlaying
September 7, 2025 at 9:12 AM
Orange smoke, perhaps?
August 15, 2025 at 9:14 PM
This is going to be interesting!

(getting more into Martinu at the moment)
August 6, 2025 at 7:19 PM
I remember it well! The official number in nearby Pershore Worcs was 37.1.
July 19, 2025 at 11:57 AM
A close up:
July 13, 2025 at 12:58 PM
We saw this very relaxed sparrowhawk perching on a garage roof in Newport yesterday evening. Wonder if he could take a pigeon? We see pigeon remains quite often.
#Fife
July 11, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Seen on a ride yesterday: two more fine examples in my occasional series "Waymarkers and Milestones of Fife"
June 22, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Yay!
April 30, 2025 at 7:15 AM
Wish me luck!
April 30, 2025 at 7:08 AM
Here's another wayside marker at St Michaels. This one is much more logical. I see that Tayport used to be Ferryport on Craig. Google image search show another in Lundin Links, that's going to be a much longer bike ride.
April 23, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Incredibly chonky chestnut tree at Balmerino Abbey. That tree has seen some things.
April 22, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Out for a bike ride in Fife today, I saw this milestone (or maybe milestone shaped signpost?) at a fork.
It's a bit mad in a few ways:
- no distances, just L/R
- why are half the Rs on the left, and vice versa?
- some of them seem wrong to me

(Lots of fine 19th C milestones in Fife)
April 11, 2025 at 1:15 PM
A few minutes later
March 29, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Caught the beginning of the eclipse, clouds have rolled over now.
March 29, 2025 at 10:42 AM
Pnone of the above
March 8, 2025 at 11:28 AM
While New Inn is now nothing more than a roundabout on the A92
March 7, 2025 at 7:33 PM
There had to be a reason! Pettycur was the north end of the ferry crossing of the Firth of Forth.
March 7, 2025 at 7:18 PM
March 7, 2025 at 2:20 PM
But go back in time 2 years, and you could have done it! (OK, you would have destroyed a few cones and fought with the highway maintenance guys). It's like Maps has a phantom limb.
January 31, 2025 at 4:43 PM
... which doesn't look like such a great idea.
January 31, 2025 at 4:37 PM
So Google Maps suggested this route to me ...
January 31, 2025 at 4:34 PM
11) I remain very impressed by this sort of thing:
January 29, 2025 at 2:11 PM
7)
January 29, 2025 at 12:01 AM