Herald Express (Torbay, Brixham & South Hams Edition)
Club reports
DAWLISH AND TEIGNMOUTH CAMERA CLUB
MEMBERS knew they were in for a treat when Linda Wevill FRPS paid a visit to show and talk about her amazing pictures.
Linda moved to Devon more than 20 years ago and is passionate about capturing images of the sea and surrounding landscapes.
She has exhibited in Bath, London and Edinburgh, was commended in the Landscape Photographer of the year 2013 and has gained medals in international salons and exhibitions around the world.
Travelling the coast from Bigbury in the south to the isle of Harris in the north she has captured the sea in all its moods, tumultuous waves displaying the fury of winter storms, a fast shutter speed capturing the action.
Linda will happily rise at dawn to photograph the sun rising through the early morning mist, Harris being one of her favourite locations with its white sands, and she captures the movement of the sea and marram grass using a slow shutter speed creating ethereal and haunting images of stunning beauty.
Another favourite subject is trees and she uses her camera in different ways to create pictures with a difference, the viewer is taken on a journey through avenues of woodland and fruit orchards in France.
Linda zooms in on the patterns created by fast flowing streams and rivers, water swirling around rocks, patterns left in sand by the receding tide, and reflections on wet beaches, all expertly captured through the lens displaying the beauty that surrounds us.
Naomi Stolow thanked Linda for a truly inspiring evening.
New members and visitors are always given a warm welcome, for more information visit dawlishteignmouthcameraclub.co.uk or just drop in to Holcombe village hall on Wednesday evenings 7.30 pm.
TEIGN FILM MAKERS
OCTOBER is usually a busy month for Teign Film Makers Club and this year has been no exception with a total of three meetings and the Teign Cup competition.
The programme included a new club event for the first two meetings of the month during which, on October 1, members filmed a pre-prepared script and secondly, during the fol- lowing meeting on October 15, they edited and showed various versions of their footage. No work on the material was allowed between meetings and discussion followed the screenings.
It was agreed by all that the experience was both enjoyable and beneficial to all members involved and will form part of the programme from now on.
The club held the Teign Cup competition on the afternoon of Saturday, October 13.
Attracting a total of 16 entries with an overall running time of nearly two-and-a-half hours, the quality and content of the programme was, once again, very high and the audience had plenty to enjoy.
On the day, club chairman, Ivan Andrews thanked all entrants, without whom there would be no competition, those who attended for their support and the club members involved in the preparation and presentation of the competition.
Finally, the club is delighted to announce that their recently completed film Sarah’s World came first in the Australian widescreen competition. Well done to all involved in its production.
Teign Film Makers Club welcomes visitors both local and not. For information about the programme, events and updates visit http://www.teignfilmmakersclub.org or visit the Facebook page.
BABBACOMBE & ST MARYCHURCH PROBUS CLUB
THE club was pleased to welcome Earl Connelly, long time member of Dawlish Probus Club as speaker.
The whole area around the five-and-a-half miles of Exeter Ship Canal, has had a chequered past. It all started, believe it or not, in the 13th century, when Isabella de Fortibus wanted to raise the level of the river Exe by blocking it, in order to bring water power to her serge cloth, paper and glass mills. However, the River Exe then ceased being navigable. Subsequent landowners Hugh de Courtenay (1251-1299) and Henry Courtenay (later executed by Henry VIII in 1498), agreed to unblock the Exe, but it was re-blocked in 1317 and it remained so for 250 years.
After petitioning the king, permission to unblock the waterway was granted.
But it was to no avail as it had silted up.
The river blockages are with us today at Countess Weir, Trew’s Weir and St James’s Weir. The Courtenays, from their power base at Powderham castle, owned, controlled and dominated trade in and out of Topsham, and thus in and out of Exeter.
During the Civil War of the 1640s, the Royalist-controlled City of Exeter was under siege from Parliamentary forces.
The city finally surrendered in 1646.
During the 1670s, a series of sluices were created to control the level of water in the canal. Seagoing ships usually transferred their cargo to lighters – smaller boats that could navigate up the waterway into Exeter. One important import was Flemish bricks which were used as ballast. It was these bricks that were used to build the Transfer Shed at Topsham.
On the quayside at Topsham, and in the transfer shed, can still be seen ‘king’s beams’, iron fulcrums used for balancing and weighing goods to determine duty to be paid.
It was at this time that double width lock gates were installed to allow two ships to pass. The expression ‘Double Locks’ came about because of this. Exeter canal now stands as a quiet backwater used only for leisure and by the abundant wildlife. Earl Connolly’s talk was full of useful and interesting information and makes you want to go exploring when the good weather comes around again. The vote of thanks was given by John Kelland