Weekly Photo Challenge: Room

June 7, 2014June 7, 2014 / Steve Lakey / 6 Comments

These photos were taken at what was a Victorian Workhouse, at Southwell, Nottinghamshire, UK.

Workhouses were seen as a last resort for poor people who had fallen on hard times. They were deliberately run on austere lines, and males and females, even from the same family were kept completely separate.

The building has recently been renovated and is open to the public. It certainly has a Dickensian atmosphere to it. Some of the rooms have been furnished, while others have been left bare.

This is my contribution to Weekly Photo Challenge: Room, hosted by the Daily Post . Click on the link for more details.

Split-Second Story

May 31, 2014May 31, 2014 / Steve Lakey / Leave a comment

Trafalgar Square, London.

London’s West End.

Outside the Houses of Parliament, London.

Three different snapshots of London, taken on our honeymoon, May 2010.

Trafalgar Square is a vibrant focal point, in the heart of central London.

London’s West End is Theatreland – with a wonderfully laid-back evening atmosphere.

There was an anti-war protest outside the Houses of Parliament, the home of British Democracy. This was overlooked by the statue of the great wartime Prime Minister, Winston Churchill.

This is my contribution to the ‘Split-Second Story’ Photo Challenge from

The Daily Post.

Weekly Photo Challenge: On The Move

May 10, 2014 / Steve Lakey / 8 Comments

The London Eye

Jetski, Lincolnshire, UK.

Tube Train, London Underground.

Weekly Photo Challenge: On the Move

Water Under the Bridge

January 26, 2014 / Steve Lakey / 22 Comments

Photo: Copyright Al Forbes

Visiting time again. Standby for the Grandkids! They’ll probably want to know about more stories about my bridge. I tell them that I built it with my bare hands, back in the day.

The bridge has been a focal point to me over the years. Many’s the time I’ve leaned over the edge and told my troubles to the flowing water underneath. And they’ve all been carried off to who-knows-where. Maybe there’s a part of the sea that holds all my sadness and worries. And a better part where the good things I’ve lost are all there waiting for me. My lovely Alice, for a start.

I don’t go there anymore, at least not physically. I ask the staff, but they say there’s never enough of them on-shift to drive me over there. I’d wheel myself if I could. but my weak arms couldn’t get me further than the TV room.

The staff think I have an afternoon nap everyday. But I’ve got them all fooled. Since I read that “Creative Visualisation” book off the Volunteer’s trolley, I’ve learnt to take myself to the bridge in my mind. In fact, if my daughter and the kids don’t show up in a couple of minutes, that’s where I’ll be heading.

This is my contribution to Sunday Photo Fiction, January 26th 2014, hosted by Al Forbes. For more details, please click the link.

To read the other stories, click on the logo.

Bed Rest

January 25, 2014 / Steve Lakey / 18 Comments

Photo: Copyright Björn Brudberg

“Mikey! Time to get up! No? Just lay there then. I’ve been ‘blessed’ with the laziest son in the world! Your house won’t finish itself, you know. If you think I’m building it all by myself, you’d better think again, Sunshine.

I’ve bought us a new metal ladder. That old wooden one that broke, I’ve chopped it up for firewood. You should have seen it burn!

Well, I’m going to get myself a nice cuppa. You want one? You can just nod, you know. Or blink. The doctor says you can hear me. Please Mikey, squeeze my hand! Just once.”

This is my contribution to Friday Fictioneers 100 word photo challenge, hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. Please click the link for more details.

To read the other stories, please click the logo.