One of the benefits of a cut-price classical education is that I am able to find my way round Google when I want to appear educated. My Grammar school career ended after only one year when the school was converted to a Comprehensive.
Whilst watching photographers near the bridge at Bakewell I thought Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Well you would, wouldn’t you? Though “Who photographs the photographers themselves?” would be more suitable.
As a result I decided to photograph some of the photographers. That’s not as easy as it sounds, as most of them now use cameras for taking pictures and merely appear to be staring at their phone. It can be difficult to separate the photographers from the general run of slack-jawed tech users. It’s a bit like shopping these days – it’s difficult to tell whether people are talking to themselves or using a bluetooth earpiece. I tend to think that neither is necessary whilst shopping.
I also took a picture of a pair of boots. They are Doc Marten’s with an angel painted on them. I used to wear DM’s for work. They were light and comfortable and, despite the odd puncture, very practical. As I recall, they used to come with instructions for punctures repairs – you used to heat a knife blade and use it to seal the hole by melting the rubber sole around the hole.
It seems positively Victorian. My Dad was part of the last generation to wear clogs, I wore Doc Marten’s and my kids wear all manner of exotic footwear. Such is progress. You could probably chart the decay of Western Civilisation by reference to the nature of our footwear. From clogs to boots to trainers. My grandchildren will probably wear dancing pumps.
Boots at Bakewell
They were interesting boots, though anything beginning with the letter “B” would have done to complete the title.
If someone had walked past with a bulldog it could have been a very different post.
I had a couple of pairs of clogs in the 70’s and loved them!
I can’t stand these locks everywhere! I also don’t like little cairns of stones, coins hammered into trees, ribbons tied to branches and all that twaddle. I expect my views won’t be popular.
I know one place where they are popular views, though I’m not actually a reliable guide to modern thought on these matters. 🙂
😀
Funnily enough, I just recently read the quotation ‘Quis custodiet ipsos custodes’ in an Ian Rankin novel!
Strange to find it cropping up twice so closely linked. Last year I didn’t see it once! 🙂
I read an interesting article on coincidence, the main premise being that it doesn’t exist as our mind thinks it does. I’d previously have said that my seeing ‘quis custodiet ipsos custodes’ twice within a month was a coincidence but I think it’s more like my brain will notice it more because I really had to understand the phrase the first time I saw it (it was a fundamental piece of evidence in Rankin’s story).
The human brain is a wonderful thing when it comes to manufacturing things that don’t really exist. Someone once went through the mathematical side of probability with me but I still believe in fate and luck. 🙂
Yes, the human mind is very good at seeing the world the way it wants it to be 😉
Lovelocks give me the creeps. Am I alone in that? The idea that you would have to lock it in. Shudder. I wonder at their weight as well–and that bridge is loaded. Goodness. I like the Doc Martens, too, especially the decoration. As for watching the watchers, yes, it’s hard to tell who’s taking a photo and who’s just not situationally aware…
The woman who walked across a pedestrian crossing as I waited this morning was asking for trouble – eyes glued to her phone, walked into a barrier and stumbled on uneven surface, but kept her eyes on the screen. If I can’t use one when I’m driving why can a pedestrian use one whilst walking in front of cars?
I am a casual loafer man myself, The charm of Doc Martens escapes me.
I’m a casual loafer too, but I can loaf in boots. 🙂 I got used to boots at work and have been wondering if the additional ankle support might help me.
Photographers at work are a rich vein, which you have tapped nicely. Actually I like the last in the gallery best
Thank you Derrick. I’ve seen some of your photos but never thought of taking any myself until now.
Fun project, and that is some bridge.
In France they lost part of a bridge parapet due to the weight of locks. 🙁
My gosh! We humans are a odd bunch, aren’t we?
Indeed we are.
Keep sharing, smiles, happiness…
🙂
1. So sad for your truncated grammar school education. Mine lasted for four years before they were cut short and I wish I had appreciated them more.
2. I have to confess to being slack-jawed tech user, but would be more worried about all the ironmongery and how it will be eventually disposed of.
3. I love the Doc Martens and, at the age of 75, feel there is a pair out there somewhere with my name on them.
4. Thank you for the first blog post that has interested me enough in to read the full version in a long time.
I’ve a feeling that they had to cut all the lo0cks off a bridge in Paris because the weight was becoming too much for the structure. It’s a custom that deserves to have been invented by the Locksmith Federation of the United States.
Yes, it’s a brilliant marketing ploy. They had to cut locks off after they broke a section of parapet in France. Several years ago they said they were going to do that in Bakewell, but there are now more than ever.
I remember clogs being fashionable in the 1970s – I had a pair, they wee impossible to drive in!
My sister had a pair – I’d forgotten all about them until now.
I hate those lovelocks – just another form of graffiti!
I keep wondering about the price of scrap metal…