The long, dark month of January is finally over and we move into February with the evenings starting to become lighter again…but still with the cold air and threats of snow.

The first of the Pictures of the Month for February is of one of the new trams on Corporation Street.

New Tram on Corporation Street 2017                                    © Photo Digital Art 2017

The view up Corporation Street from the New Street end is a classic Birmingham vista with the tower of Central Hall in the distance. I’d been waiting for the new trams to finally make their way to New Street Station so that I could take this picture of that classic ‘old’ vista, but with the new twist of a new tram being highlighted.

My second picture is part of a more personal series.

White Swan, Scotter 2017                                 © Photo Digital Art 2017

This is the view I had for many years as I walked to catch my school bus to Gainsborough each morning and as I went to do my evening paper round.

Scotter, between Scunthorpe and Gainsborough, is where I spent my childhood from the age of  8 until I came to University here in Birmingham in 1976. Following graduation in 1979, I only returned to Scotter for family visits and Christmas until my parents moved in 2010.

For a while, I’d been thinking of returning to my childhood ‘haunts’ and generating some nostalgic Photo Digital Art style pictures. So one weekend in May 2017 (when the weather forecast was good) I set out towards North Lincolnshire armed with my cameras to see what the views are like now.

Our old bungalow(s) are behind me from this view (up the hill on Kirton Road as it leaves the village); I’m standing on the bridge over the River Eau (pronounced ‘eee’) looking up the hill towards the village green where the War Memorial stands in the centre of the picture. The pub has changed somewhat over the years, adding a restaurant and some hotel rooms, but the basic building is unchanged.