Tag: sport

Gimme Five: Sledges

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Selection of sledges suitable for (the not so) grown ups! | H is for Home

We’ve been blessed this week with a thick, deep carpet of pristine snow. Because we live in the hilly Pennines it’s perfect for sledging. We’ve had a look online for sledges suitable for (not so) grown ups and there are loads from which to choose.

We love the look of the traditional Scandi wooden examples but they’ll take up a lot of storage space for the 50 or so weeks of the year that they weren’t being used. The fold up aluminium one is much more practical – and lightweight too, for getting up to the top of the hill. The red plastic Delta is cheap & cheerful perfect if you’re in a part of the country that rarely gets snow. The other metal sledge looks like a Formula one version – I wonder what its top speed would be!

  1. Wooden sledge with back rest: £22.90, Amazon
  2. Sledge – aluminium construction: £34.99, eBay
  3. Aluminium folding sledge – blue: £79.99, Halfords
  4. Delta sledge – red: £12.95, UK Sport Imports
  5. Davos wooden sledge – 110cm: £78, SimplyPiste

Tuesday Huesday: Vintage Wimbledon

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Wintage Wimbledon travel poster designed by Herry Perry for Underground Electric Railways Company Ltd in 1931

Well, it’s finally happened – Andy Murray has broken the drought of 77 years! Wimbledon has seen the first British men’s champion since Fred Perry way back in 1936. To celebrate, we’re sharing this vintage Wimbledon poster designed by Herry Perry (I wonder if she was any relation to Fred) in 1931 for Underground Electric Railways Company Ltd. Prints are available from the London Transport Museum.

Bookmarks: Personal Best, Paul Floyd Blake

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Personal Best book cover

Before we start, we need to declare a personal interest in this particular book. The author is a very good friend of ours – in fact we’ve blogged about him previously in our Friday Folks series.

Over a period of five years, Paul Floyd Blake regularly photographed sixteen young athletes in the build up to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. His work documents a unique time in British history, and captures the development of a generation of sportspeople as they grow from childhood to adulthood within the intense world of elite sport.

Blake’s restrained and subtle portraits offer an alternative to conventional sports photography, with its emphasis on dramatic moments of action. Instead, his images pay tribute to the long slog towards glory that is not usually seen or celebrated, whilst excerpts from the athletes’ own writings offer insights into their personal hopes and fears. Blake’s approach emphasises the individual’s own story and motivations beyond the values and structures of competitive sport, as the title Personal Best suggests. Of the athletes that Paul selected for the project five years ago, three have been selected to take part in the London 2012 Olympics.

The book includes texts by curator Pippa Oldfield (Impressions Gallery, Bradford) and Professor Jonathan Long (Leeds Metropolitan University).

Portrait of fencer Curtis Miller from the book, "Personal Best" by Paul Floyd Blake Portrait of swimmer Rosie Bancroft from the book, "Personal Best" by Paul Floyd Blake Portrait of badminton player Gabby White from the book, "Personal Best" by Paul Floyd Blake

PERSONAL BEST
£20.00 + £5.00 P&P
Hardback, 112 pages, 50 colour plates
285mm x 245mm
ISBN: 978-1-907893-21-6

To order your copy please email PersonalBest@photographer.net