Doors I have known .............. now that’s a zippy title

Fairfield Street

Now there is nothing original in showing off a collection of doors.

But I was reminded of just how many pictures of doors I have taken over the years after talking to my cousin Marisa in Canada.

She was recently engaged in a project to photograph and record the stories of doors in her home town in Ontario

And as you do I went looking for some of the ones I have come across over the years.

Most are from cities and towns in Italy, Greece and a shed load here in Manchester

Some of them have appeared before along with the history of the people who lived or worked behind them.

So for now I shall just post the pictures of three I like.

Via Nationale

I  don’t pretend they are classic shots but just ones that I have come to know over the years with the promise of more to come.

The first is one of those most of us pass by without a second glance.

It is on that very busy and at times desolate stretch of Fairfield Street by Piccadilly Railway Station.*

And for a big chunk of the 1970s I often caught the 218 out to Grey Mare lane and then when we bought our first house all the way up to Ashton.

The second is on the Via Nationale in Rome and caught my fancy as I waited outside a clothes shop for what seemed a century.  We had done the sightseeing and now it was that other type of activity involving a series of shops which made even the most mundane Roman relic a thing of beauty and fascination.

And that just leaves me with the entrance to J & J Shaw on New Wakefield Street.

New Wakefield Street

I long ago delved into the history of the company and acknowledge others have taken better pictures of the door and tiled surround, but then this at least is mine and not snatched from the internet.

So there you have it ...... three doors three places and I bet lots of stories, as yet untold.

Locations, Fairfield Street, Manchester, Via Nationale, Rome, and New Wakefield Street Manchester





Pictures; different doors, different places 2002-2010, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Alas it has gone

Other people’s pictures ...... Rome ..... no.4 .... across the roof tops

Now I remain fascinated by other people’s pictures.

It is partly because the pictures are often of places, I have never been, but also because it is an insight into how other people see the world.

So, here just a year or so after they were taken are some from our Saul.

Location; Rome

Pictures; Rome, 2020, from the collection of Saul Simpson

Other people’s pictures ...... Rome ..... no.2 .... the statue

Now I remain fascinated by other people’s pictures.

It is partly because the pictures are often of places, I have never been, but also because it is an insight into how other people see the world.


So, here just a year or so after they were taken are some from our Saul.


Location; Rome

Pictures; Rome, 2020, from the collection of Saul Simpson

Holiday snaps ....... I keep coming back to nu 4 ... beside the Pantheon

We were looking for somewhere to eat and found the Pantheon.

Nothing to say really.

Location: Rome










Picture, Rome, 2011, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Other people’s pictures ...... Rome ..... no.3 .... looking for a bargain

Now I remain fascinated by other people’s pictures.

It is partly because the pictures are often of places, I have never been, but also because it is an insight into how other people see the world.

So, here just a year or so after they were taken are some from our Saul.

Location; Rome

Pictures; Rome, 2020, from the collection of Saul Simpson

Railway stations I have known ...... no. 2 Roma Termini

Now I am the first to admit that these pictures do not do justice to the main railway station in Rome.

But there you are, they are mine and we are stuck with them.

We didn’t actually either arrive or leave by train but used the station to eat, which may seem daft but the chain of restaurants called Ciao were second to none, serving up a variety of fresh and interesting food and were always well patronised.

Sadly the chain is no more and a place where you could eat excellent food at a decent prices across Italy is no more.

The railway station is big.  It replaced an earlier one built in 1868, and opened in 1950.  It has 33 platforms, 150 million passengers pass through each year and there are daily international services to Munich, Geneva and Vienna.

And there are lots of shops.

All in all it’s got the lot.

Location; Rome






Picture; Roma Termini, 2009, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Losing a bar and avoiding the gladiators ....... doing the essential walk and making it historic .... no. 20

Now here I have to admit I am cheating.

This was not Barbarella's essential walk in 2020, but her holiday in Rome, long before the virus and travel restrictions.

My own pictures of the "Eternal City" are filed under a collection of odd titles which are not easily found and so I was happy when Barbarella offered up these.

This as everyone will know is the Tiber and back in the early 1950s, somewhere along here was that floating bar which featured in Roman Holiday.  The film remains a favourite of mine, partly because it is a daft romantic story, but also because the backdrop is Rome in 1953.

And as you do each time we watch it; we do the touristy bit of picking out the places we know and reflecting on how different they look today.

So, I will mutter about the tons of euro coins we have thrown in the Trevi Fountain and Tina will yet again tell me about the man, the ice cream and the Spanish Steps.

But despite a series of walks along the Tiber I have never found that floating bar., although the boat on the water in her picture looks promising.

On the other hand, Barbarella must have chosen the only day when the Gladiators were not out and about at the foot of the Colosseum posing for pictures with tourists.

I don’t begrudge anyone a living, but paying a shedload of money to stand beside Eric from Morecambe and Lib from Milan dressed in a plastic breastplate and helmet, with a bendy sword from the Euro Shop, doesn’t capture the historic moment of the Colosseum.

Well that is it …… I could wax historical on the river and the amphitheatre, but their stories are too well known.

Location Rome

Pictures; The Tiber and the Colosseum, from the collection of Barbarella Benevento