Hi John - I came across your Substack from the link attached to your '1904' image on the Photowalk red assignment page. Since subscribing we have exchanged messages (I've really enjoyed that). Without delving deeply into your bio, reading this post I assumed you were in the UK as you mention Severn Trent and Peterborough then see you are thousands of miles away in Canada and that's what's great about the internet (when use properly) - the connection.
Anyway, seeing your boat lift above...about 10 or so miles from me is the Cheshire salt town of Northwich. The River Weaver and the Trent & Mersey Canal both run through the town. Being an important salt trading town years ago the water networks were used for getting the stuff to market. There is a boat lift that links the river and the canal lifting or dropping boats between the two. Cast iron construction and fairly recently restored. It is an amazing structure (the Anderton Boat Lift) so look it up if you want to disappear down a rabbithole of British waterways!
I'm also conflicted on zoos - some work is undoubtedly great but they were created as entertainment and conservation/research came later. A small zoo has opened on a farm near us. It went through four rounds of planning before betting permission to build (it didn't help that they had started to build without planning nor applying for a zoo licence first). Their main attractions seem to be meerkats and kookaburras - neither are endangered so kind of undermines the conservation story. We'll have to see how it goes but not expecting tigers.
Thank you Paul for taking the time to follow through to this post and to comment. Have you posted a "red one" yourself? I will have to look again at all the submissions. For some strange reason I cannot articulate, I felt an immediate connection to you through your photography. My wife Ruth, who was born in Cardiff, had connections with the Morgan family, but quite far back.
Yes, naming conventions in North America can lead to much confusion. The colonists seemed to want to bring the old country with them, assigning every place name here after one back home. I often reflect how strange it is that I ended up in Northumberland County knowing my deep ancestry is from that part of the UK. And no, I have no immediate connection to the footballers.
Thanks for telling me about the Anderton Boat Lift. That's amazing that it precedes the Peterborough Lift Lock by almost 30 years. I wonder if the corrosion problems experienced at Northwich resulted from salt water due to contaminated ground water? In my trip down the rabbit hole, I notice a new boat lift in Central Scotland named the Falkirk Wheel, an unusual rotating wheel design opened in 2002. What a mind blast these wonders of engineering are.
That local zoo near you should just be called a prison, because that's what it is. Operations like that should be outlawed outright. The owners need locking up.
Sounds like you've had some good excursions with your new camera, John. I don't know any of these locations, though I enjoyed the photos as a chronicle of the change of seasons; life going on despite all that happens within it, and the seasons faithfully keeping their routines.
I appreciate the dialogue about the order of life; like you I feel religion and politics have artificially placed humans above all life, with disastrous effects we fail to realize (or realize but fail to act on, due to selfishness). I appreciate Perry's statement on zoos. I do not enjoy them, and stay away from them as I too see them as prisons where animals are displayed in unnatural habitats for our entertainment. this discussion reminds me of the Planet of the Apes films where this practice was fictionally reversed.
Thanks Steve. I appreciate you for taking the time to read and reflect upon the article. Taking time for these connections is truly a precious gift we give each other.
I often ruminate on that scene on the beach by the Statue of Liberty from Planet of the Apes with Charlton Heston daming humanity to hell for its arrogance. As a young person, I paid attention to this man as much for his name as his acting ability and the blockbusters he performed his circus tricks in. I find it so ironic that this long time champion of gun rights would have provided us with this 'Hallmark moment' which in my mind represents humankind's ultimate folly.
I chose the squirrel monkey as the feature image for this set because of this creature's gaze, which seems to look out on our uncertain future.
I love that you brought in the contrast between the beach scene (the most dramatic and chilling scene I can recall from my youth, as even then I seemed to grasp the meaning) with his later “cold dead hands” remark in favour of unrestrained public access to military-style weapons. As one whose dear friends had a child taken by the plague of US gun violence, the irony you mention resonates deeply.
The official video for Talk Talk’s “It’s My Life” is similar in its statement on animal wellbeing as a sign of the destruction humanity wilfully inflicts on all life.
I am truly sorry for your friend's senseless loss. I used to use Heston's name to help people understand the spelling of my own, but have largely stopped doing that because the man has lost much of his hold on society since his death but also because I find it repugnant to associate my name with his.
That's interesting about your take on the video for It's My Life but I can't say I agree. I am not of the video generation per say, and have never seen this one before today, although I am very familiar with the music.
The video is quite a departure for a song I always assumed was about personal autonomy and have pplied it to my life in that context. Clearly the videographer had something different in mind, but I'm more inclined to think the vocalist was taking a stand against lip syncing more than making a case for man's destructive nature. To me, the zoo shots in the video seem like a convenience to photograph the singer in close proximity with wild animals rather than to raise awareness of their plight. The wink at the end of the video just left me confused. Great song. So so video.
Thanks for your sympathy, John. It was a dramatically life-altering event for all who knew her.
I appreciate your take on the video in the context of the song's theme; hadn't thought of it that way but always like to hear others' perspectives. Makes sense when you put it that way. I've only watched the video 2-3 times but the song has many, many plays. It's a great one for sure.
Loved the photo of Henry (he is gorgeous, even ruffled!), and also especially the photos of the locks at Peterborough - those brought back fond memories of my own photo shoots there a couple of decades ago. Still an awesome place to roam and photograph, I see! Silly question around the zoo photos: the description of the emu image describes a couple with a baby in a stroller as a "monkee couple" - and I'm somewhat disconcerted, and wondering just what that means. ???
Sorry, I am stretching reality a bit by saying that, but doing so on purpose. There were no monkeys or monkey couples wandering around with the humans that day, but people seem so disconnected from their natural selves these days, I was using the term to suggest we are all animals even if many people refuse to entertain that fact in any way. I blame religion for this, placing humans high above all other animals in importance and rightful privilege. Even within our own species, religion and politics have divided us into those deserving and not deserving of worthy status and reward. In reality of course we are all very much the same. We are all worthy. There is no difference between us. Race is an artificial construct and label. From a genetic standpoint we are also very close to all primates and share vast amounts of DNA with many other branches on the tree of life. I was thinking that from the emu's point of view we are just another ape. But I suppose that too, is wrong. As Perry points out, beware the human ape; more dangerous than all the rest.
Ah, I see - "monkee" as a synonym for "higher order ape".
I agree that we are indeed animals:
Scientific name: Homo sapiens
Class: Mammalia
Genus: Homo
Family: Hominidae
and know also that our genetic difference from chimpanzees and other great apes is very minimal (1.2% of genetic difference between humans and chimpanzees, our closest animal relative - although that 1.2% DOES make up about 35 million DNA base pairs).
Both Islamic and Christian religions do set humans above animals in many ways, but differ in their specifics - some Islamic religions subscribe to the belief that eating the meat of other animals is a significant sin, however, and practice vegetarianism as a result. Pagan religions view animals and humans as part and parcel of the same order of beings, and a large number of pagans are very much vegetarian or highly selective in other ways in dietary matters as a result - also, a lot of pagans believe that every plant, animal, and element (earth, air, fire, water, and spirit) has a soul similar to but different from human souls.
Politics is more about money than anything else these days, I think, and money being the most accessible means of gaining power, it's not surprising that civic and economic forms of power are so enmeshed.
From an emu's point of view, we are probably the only ape they are familiar with, as Australia and New Zealand have no native primates other than humans at all, unlike parts of the rest of the world.
I have lately begun to suspect that humans are not even the most intelligent creatures on the planet: a number of species of whales and dolphins actually seem to be much more intelligent than we've given them credit for.
As for adaptability, I'm thinking that invasive plants are probably the winners there, and that the recent scientific findings around communications between trees in a forest using underground fungal networks and vocalization analyses of sounds used between large numbers of other mammal species indicate that we have no monopoly on language, either.
Seems we non-naked apes are going to be getting a significant comeuppance as far as our alleged superiority goes in the near future.
I do not have mixed feelings about zoos. They are prisons; the animals captured and sold for money. The same with acquariums. I visit neither and I make no apologies for my views, which might seem harsh to some. You mention the animals pacing back and forth..Well, what else is for them to do? Look at humans? They have seen us and what we can do.
I do hope Henry makes a full recovery. Why is Duncan so mean to him?
Not harsh at all Perry. I understand your viewpoint completely. I doubt I will ever go back. It has been many decades since I went to the Toronto Zoo which was the last zoo I visited.
Henry will make a full recovery and is doing fine now. The worst thing is that he had the fur around the wound shaved back to the skin at the wrong time of year for that to be comfortable for him. He goes outside at least once a day and often for a few hours. I can't be sure why Duncan attacks Henry but I know it has something to do with his early upbringing. We got him from the Humane Society when he was a bout 2.5 years. He was taken there because he was attacking the cat he was living with. He didn't grow up in that house but was moved there when his previous owner could no longer take care of him at the college she was attending. She moved Duncan into her parents place and the problems started with the resident cat there who also was not not looking for trouble but found it in Duncan. The handover apparently was a highly emotional y charged mess. These are disputes of which only Duncan is concerned. Henry gets along with everybody. I often stand between the two boys to mediate and protect Henry. Sometimes, that makes things worse. Duncan has been known to hold a grudge. I would say he is getting better, becoming more secure, but then it flares up again out of the blue. It's like a crazy gene that gets activated occasionally. Not the first cat I've had with a crazy gene. They require special attention to keep them from going off. I can generally tell when it is coming and just try to keep them apart when Duncan is getting like that. Like people, I believe it is passed on from one generation to the next. The bullied becomes the bully. But unlike people, there is no talking to him, nor reasoning with him. I am firm with Duncan and will not allow bullying, but there is only so much I can do without becoming a bully myself which will not help the situation. Love seems to be the only cure, but neither will I reward bad behavior. It can be difficult to manage. As long as Duncan feels loved, he remains confident. When he feels threatened or neglected, he becomes a little monster. He has a highly developed sense of justice and will strike out if he feels there is an imbalance in our treatment of them. Of course, we love them all equally, but on occasion, it can be hard to convince him of that.
I wish it were some other way, but I have to work with the hand he and collectively, we have been dealt. The lives of cats can be beyond imagining. But these days, so can the lives of people who fall through the cracks. Thank you for giving Henry Newton some love.
Agree with the unease around animals in zoos - I also find it disturbing to see the tightly controlled environments that often seem much too small for wild animals.
Hi John - I came across your Substack from the link attached to your '1904' image on the Photowalk red assignment page. Since subscribing we have exchanged messages (I've really enjoyed that). Without delving deeply into your bio, reading this post I assumed you were in the UK as you mention Severn Trent and Peterborough then see you are thousands of miles away in Canada and that's what's great about the internet (when use properly) - the connection.
Anyway, seeing your boat lift above...about 10 or so miles from me is the Cheshire salt town of Northwich. The River Weaver and the Trent & Mersey Canal both run through the town. Being an important salt trading town years ago the water networks were used for getting the stuff to market. There is a boat lift that links the river and the canal lifting or dropping boats between the two. Cast iron construction and fairly recently restored. It is an amazing structure (the Anderton Boat Lift) so look it up if you want to disappear down a rabbithole of British waterways!
I'm also conflicted on zoos - some work is undoubtedly great but they were created as entertainment and conservation/research came later. A small zoo has opened on a farm near us. It went through four rounds of planning before betting permission to build (it didn't help that they had started to build without planning nor applying for a zoo licence first). Their main attractions seem to be meerkats and kookaburras - neither are endangered so kind of undermines the conservation story. We'll have to see how it goes but not expecting tigers.
Thank you Paul for taking the time to follow through to this post and to comment. Have you posted a "red one" yourself? I will have to look again at all the submissions. For some strange reason I cannot articulate, I felt an immediate connection to you through your photography. My wife Ruth, who was born in Cardiff, had connections with the Morgan family, but quite far back.
Yes, naming conventions in North America can lead to much confusion. The colonists seemed to want to bring the old country with them, assigning every place name here after one back home. I often reflect how strange it is that I ended up in Northumberland County knowing my deep ancestry is from that part of the UK. And no, I have no immediate connection to the footballers.
Thanks for telling me about the Anderton Boat Lift. That's amazing that it precedes the Peterborough Lift Lock by almost 30 years. I wonder if the corrosion problems experienced at Northwich resulted from salt water due to contaminated ground water? In my trip down the rabbit hole, I notice a new boat lift in Central Scotland named the Falkirk Wheel, an unusual rotating wheel design opened in 2002. What a mind blast these wonders of engineering are.
That local zoo near you should just be called a prison, because that's what it is. Operations like that should be outlawed outright. The owners need locking up.
Sounds like you've had some good excursions with your new camera, John. I don't know any of these locations, though I enjoyed the photos as a chronicle of the change of seasons; life going on despite all that happens within it, and the seasons faithfully keeping their routines.
I appreciate the dialogue about the order of life; like you I feel religion and politics have artificially placed humans above all life, with disastrous effects we fail to realize (or realize but fail to act on, due to selfishness). I appreciate Perry's statement on zoos. I do not enjoy them, and stay away from them as I too see them as prisons where animals are displayed in unnatural habitats for our entertainment. this discussion reminds me of the Planet of the Apes films where this practice was fictionally reversed.
Thanks Steve. I appreciate you for taking the time to read and reflect upon the article. Taking time for these connections is truly a precious gift we give each other.
I often ruminate on that scene on the beach by the Statue of Liberty from Planet of the Apes with Charlton Heston daming humanity to hell for its arrogance. As a young person, I paid attention to this man as much for his name as his acting ability and the blockbusters he performed his circus tricks in. I find it so ironic that this long time champion of gun rights would have provided us with this 'Hallmark moment' which in my mind represents humankind's ultimate folly.
I chose the squirrel monkey as the feature image for this set because of this creature's gaze, which seems to look out on our uncertain future.
I love that you brought in the contrast between the beach scene (the most dramatic and chilling scene I can recall from my youth, as even then I seemed to grasp the meaning) with his later “cold dead hands” remark in favour of unrestrained public access to military-style weapons. As one whose dear friends had a child taken by the plague of US gun violence, the irony you mention resonates deeply.
The official video for Talk Talk’s “It’s My Life” is similar in its statement on animal wellbeing as a sign of the destruction humanity wilfully inflicts on all life.
I am truly sorry for your friend's senseless loss. I used to use Heston's name to help people understand the spelling of my own, but have largely stopped doing that because the man has lost much of his hold on society since his death but also because I find it repugnant to associate my name with his.
That's interesting about your take on the video for It's My Life but I can't say I agree. I am not of the video generation per say, and have never seen this one before today, although I am very familiar with the music.
The video is quite a departure for a song I always assumed was about personal autonomy and have pplied it to my life in that context. Clearly the videographer had something different in mind, but I'm more inclined to think the vocalist was taking a stand against lip syncing more than making a case for man's destructive nature. To me, the zoo shots in the video seem like a convenience to photograph the singer in close proximity with wild animals rather than to raise awareness of their plight. The wink at the end of the video just left me confused. Great song. So so video.
Thanks for your sympathy, John. It was a dramatically life-altering event for all who knew her.
I appreciate your take on the video in the context of the song's theme; hadn't thought of it that way but always like to hear others' perspectives. Makes sense when you put it that way. I've only watched the video 2-3 times but the song has many, many plays. It's a great one for sure.
Loved the photo of Henry (he is gorgeous, even ruffled!), and also especially the photos of the locks at Peterborough - those brought back fond memories of my own photo shoots there a couple of decades ago. Still an awesome place to roam and photograph, I see! Silly question around the zoo photos: the description of the emu image describes a couple with a baby in a stroller as a "monkee couple" - and I'm somewhat disconcerted, and wondering just what that means. ???
Sorry, I am stretching reality a bit by saying that, but doing so on purpose. There were no monkeys or monkey couples wandering around with the humans that day, but people seem so disconnected from their natural selves these days, I was using the term to suggest we are all animals even if many people refuse to entertain that fact in any way. I blame religion for this, placing humans high above all other animals in importance and rightful privilege. Even within our own species, religion and politics have divided us into those deserving and not deserving of worthy status and reward. In reality of course we are all very much the same. We are all worthy. There is no difference between us. Race is an artificial construct and label. From a genetic standpoint we are also very close to all primates and share vast amounts of DNA with many other branches on the tree of life. I was thinking that from the emu's point of view we are just another ape. But I suppose that too, is wrong. As Perry points out, beware the human ape; more dangerous than all the rest.
Ah, I see - "monkee" as a synonym for "higher order ape".
I agree that we are indeed animals:
Scientific name: Homo sapiens
Class: Mammalia
Genus: Homo
Family: Hominidae
and know also that our genetic difference from chimpanzees and other great apes is very minimal (1.2% of genetic difference between humans and chimpanzees, our closest animal relative - although that 1.2% DOES make up about 35 million DNA base pairs).
Both Islamic and Christian religions do set humans above animals in many ways, but differ in their specifics - some Islamic religions subscribe to the belief that eating the meat of other animals is a significant sin, however, and practice vegetarianism as a result. Pagan religions view animals and humans as part and parcel of the same order of beings, and a large number of pagans are very much vegetarian or highly selective in other ways in dietary matters as a result - also, a lot of pagans believe that every plant, animal, and element (earth, air, fire, water, and spirit) has a soul similar to but different from human souls.
Politics is more about money than anything else these days, I think, and money being the most accessible means of gaining power, it's not surprising that civic and economic forms of power are so enmeshed.
From an emu's point of view, we are probably the only ape they are familiar with, as Australia and New Zealand have no native primates other than humans at all, unlike parts of the rest of the world.
I have lately begun to suspect that humans are not even the most intelligent creatures on the planet: a number of species of whales and dolphins actually seem to be much more intelligent than we've given them credit for.
As for adaptability, I'm thinking that invasive plants are probably the winners there, and that the recent scientific findings around communications between trees in a forest using underground fungal networks and vocalization analyses of sounds used between large numbers of other mammal species indicate that we have no monopoly on language, either.
Seems we non-naked apes are going to be getting a significant comeuppance as far as our alleged superiority goes in the near future.
I do not have mixed feelings about zoos. They are prisons; the animals captured and sold for money. The same with acquariums. I visit neither and I make no apologies for my views, which might seem harsh to some. You mention the animals pacing back and forth..Well, what else is for them to do? Look at humans? They have seen us and what we can do.
I do hope Henry makes a full recovery. Why is Duncan so mean to him?
Not harsh at all Perry. I understand your viewpoint completely. I doubt I will ever go back. It has been many decades since I went to the Toronto Zoo which was the last zoo I visited.
Henry will make a full recovery and is doing fine now. The worst thing is that he had the fur around the wound shaved back to the skin at the wrong time of year for that to be comfortable for him. He goes outside at least once a day and often for a few hours. I can't be sure why Duncan attacks Henry but I know it has something to do with his early upbringing. We got him from the Humane Society when he was a bout 2.5 years. He was taken there because he was attacking the cat he was living with. He didn't grow up in that house but was moved there when his previous owner could no longer take care of him at the college she was attending. She moved Duncan into her parents place and the problems started with the resident cat there who also was not not looking for trouble but found it in Duncan. The handover apparently was a highly emotional y charged mess. These are disputes of which only Duncan is concerned. Henry gets along with everybody. I often stand between the two boys to mediate and protect Henry. Sometimes, that makes things worse. Duncan has been known to hold a grudge. I would say he is getting better, becoming more secure, but then it flares up again out of the blue. It's like a crazy gene that gets activated occasionally. Not the first cat I've had with a crazy gene. They require special attention to keep them from going off. I can generally tell when it is coming and just try to keep them apart when Duncan is getting like that. Like people, I believe it is passed on from one generation to the next. The bullied becomes the bully. But unlike people, there is no talking to him, nor reasoning with him. I am firm with Duncan and will not allow bullying, but there is only so much I can do without becoming a bully myself which will not help the situation. Love seems to be the only cure, but neither will I reward bad behavior. It can be difficult to manage. As long as Duncan feels loved, he remains confident. When he feels threatened or neglected, he becomes a little monster. He has a highly developed sense of justice and will strike out if he feels there is an imbalance in our treatment of them. Of course, we love them all equally, but on occasion, it can be hard to convince him of that.
Yes, having grown up with cats most of my life, your explanation is sound. A highly developed sense of justice and easily feels wronged.
As for Henry, he seems a lot like the feral cat I am feeding who I have named Henry Newton, a beautiful gentle grey cat.
I wish it were some other way, but I have to work with the hand he and collectively, we have been dealt. The lives of cats can be beyond imagining. But these days, so can the lives of people who fall through the cracks. Thank you for giving Henry Newton some love.
Nice write up and pictures John!
Agree with the unease around animals in zoos - I also find it disturbing to see the tightly controlled environments that often seem much too small for wild animals.
Love the picture of Henry!
Thanks Andy.