Broadway at Christmas

Every year, around Christmas time, I pop over to Broadway to take some photographs of the stunning lights that stretch along the High Street.

In case you don't know, Broadway is a gorgeous village located in the Cotswolds about 30 miles south of Birmingham in the UK.  It's a short 10-minute drive from where I live, so I try to visit it as often as I can.

Last night, I took my daughter Sophie over there and used the opportunity to take some pictures which I thought I would share with you here.

Stuart's Panoramic World 19 - Evesham, Workman Bridge & Flooded Avon - 25th November 2012

My next 360° panorama is from way back in November 2012, when Evesham was hit by a moderate flood which affected Waterside, and Crown Meadow.  This was taken on Workman Bridge, overlooking the flooded Avon.

 

 

If you look at my previous Panorama (number 18), you'll notice that the path where that one was taken is well under water.  In fact, you can just about make out the Life Ring stand just poking out of the water in this shot which is clearly visible in the previous panorama.

 

Click here to view the full interactive 360° panorama.

 

This one was taken on my old Fujifilm HS30EXR camera - A great little bridge camera which I used before upgrading to a Canon EOS DSLR.

Stuart's Panoramic World 18 - Evesham, Workman Bridge - 2nd April 2016

Here's another 360° panorama showing my home town (Evesham), the River Avon, and Workman Bridge. 

 

 

Also, from this panorama onwards, I'm going to be doing them sightly differently.  Whereas before all the panoramas I've made have been in .swf format (Flash), this made them unviewable on the majority of mobile browsers unless the user downloaded an app to make it work (usually making it quite sluggish).  Instead this and all future panoramas will be in HTML5 format.  Fortunately the majority of newer browsers for desktops and mobile devices support HTML5, so my 360° panoramics should be more accessible and I hope more people will enjoy them.

 

Click here to view the full interactive 360° panorama.

 

This was taken on Saturday 2nd April 2016, using a Canon EOS 700D and a 10-18mm lens. 

 

I was also able to take some nice pictures down by the river too, this being one of them.

 

 

 

 

 

Stuart's Panoramic World 17 - Evesham, Hampton Ferry - March 2016

This 360° panorama was taken by the River Avon in Evesham, near Hampton Ferry. 

 

Use your mouse (or cursor keys) to look.  Your mouse wheel allows you to zoom in and out.

Location : Evesham Date : 25th March 2016 Camera : DJI Phantom 3 Advanced Drone Built-in Camera Download/Enlarge : Click here to enlarge

 

Stuart's Panoramic World 16 - Evesham, Bengeworth - January 2016

The first panoramic of 2016.  This 360° panorama has been taken on a green just opposite our house.  It shows Broadway Road in Bengeworth. 

 

Use your mouse (or cursor keys) to look.  Your mouse wheel allows you to zoom in and out.

Location : Evesham Date : 16th January 2016 Camera : DJI Phantom 3 Advanced Drone Built-in Camera Download/Enlarge : Click here to enlarge

 

Stuart's Panoramic World 15 - Evesham, December 2015

 

Blimey.  My 360° panoramas are like buses - None for ages, and then two come along together!  This one is an aerial view of Evesham, showing the river Avon, the town centre, Bell Tower (with lots of scaffolding), Waterside and Bengeworth. 

 

Use your mouse (or cursor keys) to look.  Your mouse wheel allows you to zoom in and out.

Location : Evesham Date : 24rd December 2015 Camera : DJI Phantom 3 Advanced Drone Built-in Camera Download/Enlarge : Click here to enlarge

 

Stuart's Panoramic World 14 - Elmley Castle, 2015

 

It's been awhile since my last 360 panorama.  Having had the chance to play with a DJI Phantom 3 Advanced Drone, I've been doing some aerial views.  This one was taken yesterday at Elmley Castle, a small village near to Evesham and at the base of Bredon Hill.

 

Use your mouse (or cursor keys) to look.  Your mouse wheel allows you to zoom in and out.

Location : Elmley Castle Date : 23rd December 2015 Camera : DJI Phantom 3 Advanced Drone Built-in Camera Download/Enlarge : Click here to enlarge

 

Diary of a stressed Network Manager.... Part 2

It's been one hell of a stressful and busy six weeks, but the school summer holiday will shortly be over and the start of a new academic year will be upon us once more.

A few weeks ago I was stressing, worrying and having sleepiness nights about getting both Evesham High School's and Simon de Montfort Middle School's networks merged in time ready for September when the school becomes an entirely new school called The De Montfort School.

I'm relieved to say we did it!  Ok, I managed one day off during the whole time, I'm knackered and exhausted, but both schools are now on one network and I can once again sleep at night....  For the time being at least.  Of course, that's not all we've done.

• New Aruba Networks wireless system comprising of 65 access points (to replace an aging Netgear managed system) installed at the High School to cope with a larger number of mobile devices connecting to the network.  These allow increased wireless speed AND better coverage across the site.
• Upgrade from Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 to Microsoft Exchange 2013 on an entirely new HP Proliant ML350p Gen 8 server with 2 x Intel Xeon 2.30Ghz (12 Cores), 80GB Ram and 5x 600GB drives (Raid 5 configuration so it gives us about 2TB of usable space).
• Nice new intel i5 computers set up in one classroom to replace some god-awful Apple iMacs.

Plus lots of little upgrades here and there to computers and user profiles. 

My newly decorated office - Still a mess!

Of course, I suspect they'll be a few issues to begin with (it wouldn't be the start of a new year without them) and it's going to take some time getting use to not having some of the old IT teachers there now that they have moved on to other schools, but I look forward to working with a new team of teachers and a new technician.  I imagine some people will be quick to criticise certain things but hey ho....  That's just an average day working at EHS... ahem, sorry... TDMS.  Quick to criticise but slow to praise.

Nope - I didn't do anything with this room this year - I just like it hence why I have a picture of it here!

Am I still looking at other jobs or a career change?  YES and YES, but I'll wait and see how this year pans out first.  Things may be different now that we have a new Headteacher joining us...  or perhaps maybe not?

Additionally - the Summer season is nearly over and my favourite time of the year is about to begin. The temperatures are dropping and the nights are getting darker and cooler.  I'm actually feeling quite good - I don't expect it to last, but I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts.

New PC's in newly upgraded DU5 classroom

New PC's in newly upgraded DU5 classroom

New PC's in newly upgraded DU5 classroom

New PC's in newly upgraded DU5 classroom

Stuart's Panoramic World 13 - Hampton Ferry, Evesham 2014

Here's another 360° panorama (the first for 2014!) taken today, on the 14th April 2014.  It was taken at one of the most picturesque places in Evesham - Hampton Ferry.

 

Use your mouse (or cursor keys) to look.  Your mouse wheel allows you to zoom in and out.

Location : Evesham, Hampton Ferry Date : 14th April 2014 Camera : Canon EOS 600d Download/Enlarge : Click here to enlarge

 

Stuart's Panoramic World 12 - Evesham Floods 2012

Here's another 360° panorama taken on the 25th November 2012, when Evesham was hit yet again with another flood (although nowhere near as bad the 2007 floods).  This one was taken on Waterside, beside the junction leading to Port Street and the Workman's Bridge.

 

Use your mouse (or cursor keys) to look.  Your mouse wheel allows you to zoom in and out.

Location : Evesham (Waterside) Date : 25th November 2012 Camera : Fujifilm H530 EXR Download/Enlarge : Click here to enlarge