19 January 2020
The low January sunshine and shadows helped to place a spotlight on the black swan in the window of this building. Those in Sheffield may recognise this as being the place which was once the Black Swan pub (and later became The Boardwalk). Locally is was affectionately known as ‘the Mucky Duck’. It is a pub forever embedded in Sheffields history of rock ‘n’ roll hall of fame, not least for being the pub where in 1976 The Clash played their first ever gig when they supported The Sex Pistols. There more about the pub as a music venue HERE and also an old photograph showing a black swan in the same window but not the same as featured in the one above.
This is one in a series of photographs taken under the banner of ‘January Blues’. A theme and title inspired by a call for contributions to the Mass Observation Project curated by CKPonderings Details below:
Don’t forget to get involved in the new January Blues Mass Observation Project! It’s really simple to take part. If you’re interested, just:
- Take a photo that represents the January Blues to you
- Email the image to adayinphotographs@outlook.com by Wednesday 29th January
- Include your name and location and a short note about the photograph
- Visit CKPonderingsToo.photo.blog on Saturday 1st February to see the Mass Observation Results!
Postcard Cafe 
Great stuff, Mr C. I think this may be my favourite jan blue so far… Love the way the sun shines a spotlight on the upper floor, but with the contrast not too high as to mask the detail of the lower.
Thank you.
I loved spotting this shot and as you know sometimes it’s about timing and how we chance upon these moments. 10 minutes later and the shadow on the left would have moved towards the swan and I suspect the shot wouldn’t have worked quite so well. To balance the image a bit better I cropped in a little, with the original showing more of the lower part of the building. I was very happy with this shot and of course as noted it has a place in Sheffields musical heritage.
Have a great Sunday.
Best wishes
Mr C 🙂