Should we just take 'pretty' pics of England ?

Hi, I'm going to take a look at Ogdens over the next couple of days. If I can get something decent with the trusty Nikon I'll post it.

I just wish I'd taken digital pictures of the Albert Dock area before it was turned into a tourist location. I took some yeares ago on old monocrome film one sunny Sunday afternoon when the place was deserted except for me and someone playing a flute, the sound of which drifted over the still water / mud. "Greensleeves", a deserted dock full of the obsolete machinery of times past. All rather magical.

I feel really old now. Must go for a pint!  

I hope Ogden's is still there, Rod, and you get some good shots.

According to Google 'Streetview', Ogden's is still there, but I have been fooled by 'Streetview' in the past, with images sometimes a year or so out-of-date.  

Don't worry about waxing nostalgic. I am also old enough to remember Liverpool as a major port, and can just about remember the Overhead Railway through the Docks. Your description of the deserted dock is indeed magical.

Great news, Rod, I will look out for the pic. 

I hope the building will be used in some way to ensure its survival for years to come.

I like waxing nostalgic. I do it all the time--it's simply that we have long memories. 

I'll look for the pic, Rod. Also I hope the building will be used so it won't go to rack and ruin. England is usually wonderful about keeping buildings from long ago. It's not that way here, for the most part.

Thank you Rod and Edward for all the posts about the city my Dad and his family came from. I wish my Dad had talked more about Liverpool. He did get a bit emotional when Gerry and the Pacemakers released "Ferry 'Cross the Mersey" in the 1960s. 

Gerry & The Pacemakers are still heard singing "Ferry" on the Ferries to this day Linda-Mary.

I thought I would revive this thread, having posted a few 'unpretty' pictures myself.

Picture by Edward Lever

The pictures above show a side of our towns which are not the 'picture postcard' views. For me, at least, they are as much a statement about England as the prettier views. Should I continue submitting the occasional 'unpretty' image, or should I stick to pretty views only, so as not to deter visitors?

I too agree that our land should be recorded photographically in much the same way as Cromwell demanded his portrait painted, “warts and all”. Your pictures of the tower block, swimming pool and garage with the ancient petrol pumps are  interesting parts of what our nation is, has been and continues so to be. The human face and form is like a landscape, being sometimes beautiful, sometimes not, but seldom if ever not interesting. I’m thinking of gas holders, cooling towers, plus all kinds of industrial architecture that can provide graphic images. Also my minds skips to old trams, which in the days when they clanked around our city streets were just taken for granted and considered ugly. Now, a vintage tram is viewed by many as a wonderful sight.

I love to see images with a bit of an “edge” to them and our country looks as diverse and the people who populate it. I think POE would be all the better showing the good, the bad, and even the ugly, providing the image has something to convey to the viewer.