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Explore the world of vintage lenses through repair notes, real test shots, and detailed archive threads packed with images.

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Calendar 2009 - entries for DECEMBER
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Nice gloomy photo, Richard! Orio - in order to make beer you need hops too. In local forests grows a lot of hop (Humulus lupulus) Smile Look HERE


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Ah, it's the lupulus then. I know the plant well. Very common forest vine and often used in traditional medicine (or omeopathy if you prefer). I didn't know it is also used to make beer. But on the other hand, beer making is not one of our strong points here. We only drink it Very Happy

So, what are those roof cones used for? Most obvious use would be gathering rain waters, but I'm not sure how this could be of use for beer making. So I'm not going to guess.


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Orio wrote:
Beer is made with cereals, what I see there are woody plants that look more like vines (although from the photo is not easy to tell)


You're on the right track. English ale is made from malted barley as the cereal component,
the other ingredient does grow on vines...


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Orio wrote:
Ah, it's the lupulus then. I know the plant well. Very common forest vine and often used in traditional medicine (or omeopathy if you prefer). I didn't know it is also used to make beer. But on the other hand, beer making is not one of our strong points here. We only drink it Very Happy

So, what are those roof cones used for? Most obvious use would be gathering rain waters, but I'm not sure how this could be of use for beer making. So I'm not going to guess.



They're Oast Houses used to dry the hops.


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Look here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer#Hops
Sorry for off-topic Smile
By the way, I've just added some photos (of frozen grapes) taken today. There are in this topic: http://forum.mflenses.com/winter-winter-everywhere-t4293.html


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Richard_D wrote:

They're Oast Houses used to dry the hops.


I see. Sun drying, natural procedure. This is good. I guess that big industries use ovens for that. Confused


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Well done Hubert! Actually, I'm not sure the rows of woody plants in the pictures are in fact hop vines, they could be grape vines or even small fruit trees. Normally hops are grown on wooden posts and wires and at this time of year would be completely bare.

As Richard says, the building is an Oast, or Oast-house. The hop flowers are laid out on the upper floor of the building and dried by heat from a kiln on the lower floor. The things on the roofs are called cowls, they turn with the wind and allow the heat and smoke from the kiln to escape safely. In the old days the kilns burned wood or charcoal but it's mainly done by electricity or diesel now.

Kent is famous in Britain for growing hops for brewing beer, but very little today compared to former times. People from poorer areas in London used to go to Kent to pick hops as their summer vacation, and live in little huts on the fields.

BTW, the reason I know all this is because I used to work at a big brewery and we were taken on a visit to a Kent hop farm Smile

Gloomy is the word Hubert! It will probably be gloomy here now till Spring Sad


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peterqd wrote:
Well done Hubert! Actually, I'm not sure the rows of woody plants in the pictures are in fact hop vines, they could be grape vines or even small fruit trees. Normally hops are grown on wooden posts and wires and at this time of year would be completely bare.

As Richard says, the building is an Oast, or Oast-house. The hop flowers are laid out on the upper floor of the building and dried by heat from a kiln on the lower floor. The things on the roofs are called cowls, they turn with the wind and allow the heat and smoke from the kiln to escape safely. In the old days the kilns burned wood or charcoal but it's mainly done by electricity or diesel now.

Kent is famous in Britain for growing hops for brewing beer, but very little today compared to former times. People from poorer areas in London used to go to Kent to pick hops as their summer vacation, and live in little huts on the fields.

BTW, the reason I know all this is because I used to work at a big brewery and we were taken on a visit to a Kent hop farm Smile

Gloomy is the word Hubert! It will probably be gloomy here now till Spring Sad


Yes Faversham still has one brewery (Shepherd Neame) but the other has gone and most Oast houses have been converted into private houses. There's some hop-picking but most hops are now imported from eastern europe.

As a child my father worked his summer holidays picking alongside the Londoners, gypsies and other travellers who came down especially for the hop season.

It's still a pretty rural area though.


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Richard_D wrote:
Yes Faversham still has one brewery (Shepherd Neame) but the other has gone and most Oast houses have been converted into private houses. There's some hop-picking but most hops are now imported from eastern europe.


I worked for 9 years in the Architects and Surveyors Department of Courages brewery at Reading. This office had previously been the head office of H & G Simmonds Ltd, whose logo was a hop leaf, so the image (and the smell) was everywhere! When I was there in the 70's it was still a lovely old-fashioned brewery with traditional copper and oak equipment, its own water supply from 400 feet down in the chalk and real old brewers who wore bowler hats. But the year after I left they opened a brand new stainless steel plant run by scientists in white coats and it was never the same again. Thanks to the Thatcher government, all Courages pubs had to be sold off in the 80s and the brewery became part of a multi-national, although now I think it's part of Scottish & Newcastle.

Shepherd Neame is a famous old name in the industry and it's very fortunate for all of us they managed to stay independent. Good luck to them!

Quote:
It's still a pretty rural area though.


"The garden of England". I love it.


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peterqd wrote:
"The garden of England". I love it.


Definitely one of the nicest areas in Britain. I have spent about 9 months there (in Maidstone). What a great memory!


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Richard_D wrote:

It's still a pretty rural area though.


Then I'm sure I would love it.


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Orio 01 Contax Distagon 1.4/35


Orio 02 Contax Distagon 1.4/35


Orio 03 Contax Distagon 1.4/35


Orio 04 Nikkor UD 3.5/20


Orio 05 Contax Planar 2/135


Orio 06 Contax Planar 2/135


Orio 07 Contax Planar 2/135


Orio 08 Contax Planar 1.4/85


Orio 09 Contax Planar 1.4/85


Orio 10 Contax Planar 1.4/85


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I like the last one really ( I not like much people as you know Smile )


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Orio

Magnificent- loved them all, I could almost smell the market place.

Richard

Are those oast houses on the road between Maidstone and Dover? It's a shame about the conversions and the loss of the old brewing. My brother works for the old Courage Brewery in Wandsworth, now owned by Coors! I grew up in Battersea and many of our neighbours had their hols by going hop picking in Kent. My other brother lives just outside Maidstone.


Very Happy Very Happy

patrickh


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patrickh wrote:
My brother works for the old Courage Brewery in Wandsworth, now owned by Coors! I grew up in Battersea and many of our neighbours had their hols by going hop picking in Kent. My other brother lives just outside Maidstone.


Patrick, I'm not aware Courages had a brewery at Wandsworth - wasn't that Youngs Ram Brewery? Courage had a small plant at Staines, but their London brewery was always The Anchor Brewery at Horselydown Lane, next to Tower Bridge.


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Only the one pic from me...need to get some nikon mount mf's so i can focus to infinity! Will have to stick to close-ups for now!

Hooper 01 Helios 44-2 58/2



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What a beautiful photo, Hooper! I like these colours and out of focus highlights. Nice composition Smile


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Thanks a lot maxim!!! There are some fantastic images in this thread, well done to everybody!


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Another December shots - will be moved to my previous entry to keep order in the forum:)

Last edited by Maxim on Wed Dec 26, 2007 6:43 pm; edited 1 time in total


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Guys, please place your entries into a single reply. If you want to add more pictures, or replace them, you can do it by editing that reply. Otherwise the thread becomes difficult to manage.


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OK, I've just moved my shots to previous entry Smile


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Orio wrote:
Guys, please place your entries into a single reply. If you want to add more pictures, or replace them, you can do it by editing that reply. Otherwise the thread becomes difficult to manage.


Orio - I'll sort them in the next few days when I'm not relying on a PDA for internet access. BTW great shots, particularly 8

Patrick - no - just outside Faversham (a village called Selling) I confess I got off the train to workand jumped on a later one arriving a little late at the office...

Hooper - a great close up

Hubert - another great shot.

This is a great start to the contest!


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Something festive from Christmas eve. The kids stockings out on the fireplace ready for Santa...

Very slow shutter with a zuiko 35/2.




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photos taken with a tilted volna-3


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