Red Kite

In message <[email hidden]>, Paul Saunders
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Just to make AC jealous, here's a shot of a red kite taken a couple of
days ago on Moel Feity. It's a composite of two photos, so it's the
same kite, not two of them. I've lightened the shadows so that you can
see the markings underneath more clearly.
http://www.wildwales.fsnet.co.uk/misc/kite.jpg

Talking of kites. On local hill there are plenty of kite flyers. One of
the kiteists is told by a ranger to move away from some neighbouring
power lines. Kite flyer takes the huff and goes to local paper -
inaccurate headlines about 'council bans kite flying' and start of a
campaign against killjoy jobsworths. Despite protests from Council press
officer that there is no ban.

Two days later a kite gets caught in said power lines and 2000 homes are
without electricity for several hours. Local TV news gets hold of story
"following the controversial council ban on kite flying...".

See how myths are created and perpetuated?

--
Martin Richardson
239/284 Munros - 15% to go 34/34 'Furths' & 439/439 Nuttalls - 0% to go
42/89 Donalds - 53% to go 0/? Himalayans - 100% to go
442/1552 Marilyns - 72% to go

[email hidden] said...

Quoted message said:

Two days later a kite gets caught in said power lines and 2000 homes are
without electricity for several hours. Local TV news gets hold of story
"following the controversial council ban on kite flying...".

See how myths are created and perpetuated?

Try this for size...
http://www.cec.org.uk/press/myths/
--
Fran
If you need my email address please ask.

Fran said:

Quoted message said:

See how myths are created and perpetuated?

Try this for size...
http://www.cec.org.uk/press/myths/

To bring this thread back on topic (for the group rather than for
Paul!), here is one of those myths:

Myth: "High up" signs to be put on mountains
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘High up’ signs on mountains row
BBC News Online, 22 March 2004

A Euro MP claims new EU laws to prevent falls at work will mean UK
mountain pursuit centres having to warn people that they are "high
up"… Welsh Tory MEP Jonathan Evans said…"This is madness – most people
know that when they climb a mountain they will be up high!"

Twit peaks – Signs warn climbers: Careful, you’ll fall off
Daily Star, 24 March 2004, page 12

Warning signs are to be put on mountains to let climbers know they are
high up. A bizarre new law from Eurocrats is intended to prevent
people falling on building sites. But the result is that mountaineers
may also have to be warned they are at risk of tumbling off.

Fact:
The EU "Working at Height" directive, aimed at protecting people such
as builders, comes into force in July of this year. It was a agreed to
by the European Parliament and member state governments in 2001, and
aims to reduce the number of workplace fatalities due to falls (68
workers in the UK died in such incidents in 2002). The rules do not
require "high up" signs on mountains or "Snow is slippery" signs, or
for climbers to use scaffolding.

Martin Richardson <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

In message <[email hidden]>, Paul Saunders
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Just to make AC jealous, here's a shot of a red kite taken a couple of
days ago on Moel Feity. It's a composite of two photos, so it's the
same kite, not two of them. I've lightened the shadows so that you can
see the markings underneath more clearly.
http://www.wildwales.fsnet.co.uk/misc/kite.jpg

Talking of kites. On local hill there are plenty of kite flyers. One of
the kiteists is told by a ranger to move away from some neighbouring
power lines. Kite flyer takes the huff and goes to local paper -
inaccurate headlines about 'council bans kite flying' and start of a
campaign against killjoy jobsworths. Despite protests from Council press
officer that there is no ban.

Two days later a kite gets caught in said power lines and 2000 homes are
without electricity for several hours. Local TV news gets hold of story
"following the controversial council ban on kite flying...".

See how myths are created and perpetuated?

Dad and I used to fly a home-made kite on a full hank of string, until
it was almost out of sight. I think the legal limit is 200ft if you
are within a few miles of an airport. Very boring. :-(

Staying on topic, I bought my grandson a seagull kite from the RNLI shop
when he was over here from Merka. It was quite good, you wouldn't
think they'd fly would you, with that strange shape?
--
Gordon

[email hidden] said...

Quoted message said:

The rules do not
require "high up" signs on mountains or "Snow is slippery" signs, or
for climbers to use scaffolding.

Pity. I'd find it a lot easier if I could use scaffolding...
--
Fran
If you need my email address please ask.

In article <[email hidden]>, Martin Richardson
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Talking of kites. On local hill there are plenty of kite flyers. One of
the kiteists is told by a ranger to move away from some neighbouring
power lines. Kite flyer takes the huff and goes to local paper -
inaccurate headlines about 'council bans kite flying' and start of a
campaign against killjoy jobsworths. Despite protests from Council
press officer that there is no ban.

Two days later a kite gets caught in said power lines and 2000 homes
are without electricity for several hours. Local TV news gets hold of
story "following the controversial council ban on kite flying...".

See how myths are created and perpetuated?

A South Wales (Carmarthenshire) farmer once gave his young son some
electric fence "string" with which to fly is kite. The boy's kite flew
into a 33kV overhead line and the lad was seriously burned - lucky not
to have been killed.
--
Bill Grey
http://www.billboy.co.uk

In article <[email hidden]>, Judith
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Warning signs are to be put on mountains to let climbers know they are
high up. A bizarre new law from Eurocrats is intended to prevent
people falling on building sites. But the result is that mountaineers
may also have to be warned they are at risk of tumbling off.

I presume that if a climber should fall off, on his way down he will see
a sing :

"If you can read this, you have fallen off a high place and are
descending to a lower place"
--
Bill Grey
http://www.billboy.co.uk

Quoted message said:

Fact:
The EU "Working at Height" directive, aimed at protecting people such
as builders, comes into force in July of this year. It was a agreed to
by the European Parliament and member state governments in 2001, and
aims to reduce the number of workplace fatalities due to falls (68
workers in the UK died in such incidents in 2002). The rules do not
require "high up" signs on mountains or "Snow is slippery" signs, or
for climbers to use scaffolding.

AND does HM Zealots know this? especially in relation to guiding and
instruction?

Brussels is one thing, its those gits in London that worry me

Richard Webb

"Paul Saunders" <[email hidden]> wrote in news:cefhba$ip7$1
@newsg4.svr.pol.co.uk:

Quoted message said:

Just to make AC jealous, here's a shot of a red kite taken a couple of
days ago on Moel Feity. It's a composite of two photos, so it's the
same kite, not two of them. I've lightened the shadows so that you can
see the markings underneath more clearly.
http://www.wildwales.fsnet.co.uk/misc/kite.jpg

Nice one, Paul.

If you're ever in the Chilterns keep an eye open for Red Kites - especially
in the area around Stokenchurch on the A40. We have hundreds of them - quite
literally. A friend who lives near the escarpment regularly sees 30 in the
air together, and has seen 50! They have some regular feeding spots, which
brings them down very low and in large numbers - you couldn't fail to get
some good shots.

In article <[email hidden]>, Stuart
Mann <[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Nice one, Paul.

If you're ever in the Chilterns keep an eye open for Red Kites - especially
in the area around Stokenchurch on the A40. We have hundreds of them - quite
literally. A friend who lives near the escarpment regularly sees 30 in the
air together, and has seen 50! They have some regular feeding spots, which
brings them down very low and in large numbers - you couldn't fail to get
some good shots.

They are some which we spared you some years ago.:-)
--
Bill Grey
http://www.billboy.co.uk

"W. D. Grey" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>, Stuart
Mann <[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Nice one, Paul.

If you're ever in the Chilterns keep an eye open for Red Kites -
especially in the area around Stokenchurch on the A40. We have hundreds
of them - quite literally. A friend who lives near the escarpment
regularly sees 30 in the air together, and has seen 50! They have some
regular feeding spots, which brings them down very low and in large
numbers - you couldn't fail to get some good shots.

They are some which we spared you some years ago.:-)

We're most grateful - they're quite a feature hereabouts!

Stuart

"Paul Saunders" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Just to make AC jealous, here's a shot of a red kite taken a couple of
days ago on Moel Feity. It's a composite of two photos, so it's the
same kite, not two of them. I've lightened the shadows so that you can
see the markings underneath more clearly.
http://www.wildwales.fsnet.co.uk/misc/kite.jpg

Great stuff Paul.

Read elsewhere you have departed - hope Bill & Fran don't disappear where
will I get my local knowledge from?

Quoted message said:

It was hovering quite close to me and could easily see me. I thought it
would disappear immediately after spotting me but no, it continued to
hover for quite a few minutes, almost as if it was posing for photos.

Unfortunately I didn't have a telephoto lens with me. If I had I could
probably have got some excellent shots, but the best I had was an 88mm
equivalent. The shot above is a composite of two crops from the full
size photos, no resizing involved.

The light was really crappy, it was dull and mostly overcast, but I took
a few snaps anyway. Just for a laugh I decided to see how much I could
enhance one of the shots. This is the result;
http://www.wildwales.fsnet.co.uk/misc/sky.jpg

For anyone who's curious, this is the bland original; (Cefn Cul on the
right, Fan Gyhirych in the middle)
http://www.wildwales.fsnet.co.uk/misc/sky_b4.jpg

Amazing how much detail is captured by the 300D's 12 bit sensor. All
due credit to RAW mode of course.

Paul
--
http://www.wilderness-wales.co.uk
http://www.wildwales.fsnet.co.uk
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/userphotos?id=118749

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In article <[email hidden]>, AC
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Great stuff Paul.

Read elsewhere you have departed - hope Bill & Fran don't disappear where
will I get my local knowledge from?

?????????
--
Bill Grey
http://www.billboy.co.uk

* The air of uk.rec.walking was filled with the delicate perfume
* of violets, as Stuart Mann <[email hidden]> descended on a shaft
* of golden sunlight, and announced:

Quoted message said:

If you're ever in the Chilterns keep an eye open for Red Kites - especially
in the area around Stokenchurch on the A40. We have hundreds of them - quite
literally. A friend who lives near the escarpment regularly sees 30 in the
air together, and has seen 50! They have some regular feeding spots, which
brings them down very low and in large numbers - you couldn't fail to get
some good shots.

I live near the Chilterns and often see Red Kites on the M40. Where are the
regular feeding spots you mention, I'd like to take some photo's?

Regards: Jim Ford

* The air of uk.rec.walking was filled with the delicate perfume
* of violets, as Gordon <[email hidden]> descended on a shaft
* of golden sunlight, and announced:

Quoted message said:

Dad and I used to fly a home-made kite on a full hank of string, until
it was almost out of sight. I think the legal limit is 200ft if you
are within a few miles of an airport. Very boring. :-(

IIRC the legal limit _anywhere_ is 200ft and no flying at all within 2 miles
of an airport!

Regards: Jim Ford

Gordon said:

Quoted message said:

Dad and I used to fly a home-made kite on a full hank of string, until
it was almost out of sight. I think the legal limit is 200ft if you
are within a few miles of an airport. Very boring. :-(

Do you really have rules about how far a kite can fly? I once won a
kite flying contest for having the largest kite. It was made out of
brown wrapping paper. I was about 10-11 then.

Katherine

"W. D. Grey" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>, AC
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Great stuff Paul.

Read elsewhere you have departed - hope Bill & Fran don't disappear where
will I get my local knowledge from?

?????????

Firstly I meant great stuff about the Kite, not Paul's departing !

As you are both local ( Sth Wales) I have in the recent past asked for
*local* info which I think you, Fran & Paul have all helped me with.

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Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
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Jim Ford <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

* The air of uk.rec.walking was filled with the delicate perfume
* of violets, as Gordon <[email hidden]> descended on a shaft
* of golden sunlight, and announced:

Quoted message said:

Dad and I used to fly a home-made kite on a full hank of string, until
it was almost out of sight. I think the legal limit is 200ft if you
are within a few miles of an airport. Very boring. :-(

IIRC the legal limit _anywhere_ is 200ft and no flying at all within 2 miles
of an airport!

Regards: Jim Ford

Yippee! I'm a rebel against authority.
--
Gordon

Katherine <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Gordon said:

Quoted message said:

Dad and I used to fly a home-made kite on a full hank of string, until
it was almost out of sight. I think the legal limit is 200ft if you
are within a few miles of an airport. Very boring. :-(

Do you really have rules about how far a kite can fly? I once won a
kite flying contest for having the largest kite. It was made out of
brown wrapping paper. I was about 10-11 then.

Katherine

Ours was home made, this shape:

___
/ \
/ \
/ \
~~~~~~~~~

with a tail of course. It was made out of thin linen, I think, and
very light flexible cane.
--
Gordon