You say you want a revolution

Welcome to December's Photo Challenge. Our year end Finale, if you will. I said this time last year that due to circumstances beyond my control we'd have have a truncated year this year, but I reckon we've crammed more into ten months of 2025 than we did last year and the year before. Am I right? I'm not wrong.

So, this month I was looking for things that rotate and things that revolve. And no, I didn't receive many scratchy 45s (or 33s for that matter). Instead I received a bumper mailbag full of left field stuff. If it went round and round you sent it to me. One again I was in awe. See what you think. We also have a special guest - the original Mod Housewife - welcome aboard, Amy!

As is tradition, Rol Hirst gets to spin the wheel first: "Hi John, Here are some things that revolve and rotate. 1) A mechanism for opening reservoir drainage channels. 2) Our local wind turbine. 3) Me as a teenager who should know better with two of my younger nephews, in a barrel. Cheers, Rol." Thank you, Rol - better to be in a barrel, than over a barrel. A great start to proceedings.

As an ex-railway engineer and scooter mad Mod, I was expecting David hit me with railway turntables and Lambrettas. Not a bit of it. "No turntable shots I’m afraid, John. But I have found three photos for you. Firstly, a Christmas Big Wheel in Leipzig. Often on my longer trips I have to use a launderette, this was in Zagreb. And finally a shot from my current trip. The emergency helicopter taking off from the hospital adjacent to The Karen Rolton Oval in Adelaide during a game in the Women’s Big Bash. David." Cheers, Coops. Good effort. I presume you're in Oz for The Ashes?

Our San Diego correspondent, Riggsby - and his wife Jingyi - has gone into hyperdrive; my email inbox overfloweth. "Hi John, we  recently visited the Petersen Automotive Museum in LA. Incredible collection of vehicles. One gallery displays the history of tyre development. The illuminated tyre overlaps a bit with the lighting theme last time."

"Sushi boats carried around on a circulating channel of water. Surprisingly, this Japanese Restaurant is in the heart of San Francisco’s Chinatown." 

"We were at Clear Lake, California this week and saw this old-looking caravan at one of the campgrounds we passed. We stayed in Nice, CA (I kid you not; pronounced niece by people but nice by the navigation)."

Half a dozen more things that went or go round spotted at one of the wineries near Clear Lake including part of a windmill, an old carriage wheel, and an air conditioning unit!"

"… and the last round and round theme pics from our visit this week to Nice and Clear Lake. This windmill, at the Wild Diamond Vineyard, was pumping water from a well. The style looks old-fashioned, but the windmill looks new. We saw quite a few of these whilst driving south though the Napa Valley. Wild Diamond is a reference to Lake County diamonds, crystals in the soil that can be found particularly after heavy rain."

"This pic from Jingyi is a reflection of the Ferris wheel la grande roue de Montréal, which she rode while there for a conference." 

This stone mill pic was taken by Jingyi in Yunnan Province, China. The region, near Tibet, is known for its beautiful lakes and mountains, and the inspiration for the name Shangri-La. The food, rice or grain is added through the hole and ground by turning the top sone with the handle.

"And finally, pedalos on the man-made lake at Shoreline Park in Mountain View, California." Wow! Thank you Richard. A most exhaustive collection. Thanks again.

Johnny Legs has gone for two home and one away: "Centrifugal Governor at Papplewock Pumping Station." You do know that's my new name for you, Johnny: The Centrifugal Governor"! - JM.

"Turbine from the Kirk (Croatia) hydro-electric power plant."

"A soggy day out in York." 

"And the historic mill of Sanssouci in Potsdam, Germany." Nice one, Johnny. And the first carousel of this month's collection.

Tim from Hucknall: "Hi John, here are my Top 5 for this month. 1. Big Wheel - Slab Square, Nottingham. 2. Thorpeness Windmill - a particularly charming one. 3. Euro Windmill - Palma, spotted en route to the suburbs to source fine craft beer at La Velo taproom. 4. Fontaines DC in rather jazzy format. 5. My first attempt (this weekend) at pottering. Great fun & it definitely went round. Cheers, Tim." I love 'em, Tim! Who knew pottery could be some much fun. D'ya fancy turning your hand to a Johnny Vegas teapot?!

Celia from Sun-dried Sparrows: "Hi John, hope all's good with you! It's amazing what you can do with a phone camera, a coloured nightlight and an empty washing machine: here's my arty shot of the inside of ours. Well, it goes round, doesn't it?! All the best, C x." It does indeed, C. And it's precisely because of your pic that I immediately back-heeled all the launderette shots I'd got teed up. This definitely gets you a podium finish.

Alfa Dave with his pride and joy: " Here you go, John: I’ve just had the wheels refurbished on the red peril (it’s an Alfa 159 😉) so thought this might fit the bill." Cheers, Dave. It does indeed. When are you taking me out for a spin? 

East End Ernie next: "Hi John, apart from a few dull snaps of windmills I couldn't find any photos to fit the theme so in desperation I took a photo of a turnstile at the football and whacked a silvertone filter on it in the vain hope that would somehow make it more interesting. Apologies for being a bit crap this month. Ernie." Ernie, my man, don't sell yourself short. This is turnstiletastic! A podium finish, for sure - JM."

And then, a couple of days later, I received a further missive from young Ern: "Am I too late to add a second entry? You may recognise the venue. I only went to photograph the rotating glitter ball but Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby kept spoiling the shot."

My reply to Ernie is screen grabbed below:

I haven't told Ernie yet who the 'other PC contributor in the room' was; though he must have seen her. This from Amy Rigby (for it is she): "Hi John, I'm so glad you liked the latest blog, and I'd be thrilled for you to use my pic (I came across it a couple of weeks ago in her, then, latest blog post. I asked her if I could use it for Photo Challenge - JM)  - it was such a perfect moment when that striped truck pulled up just as I was about to take a photo! Do you need a higher res version ? Is the Running Horse still going - for some reason I thought the owner was ready to retire but maybe he found a buyer? It was such a fun show there - one year ago this month! I'm getting my book out in the UK in March, hoping I can come back to Nottingham/thereabouts! Thanks so much and take care, Amy." Thank you, Amy! And how fortuitous that you stopped in that rest area in Berwyn, Chicago. As soon as I saw that concrete mixer I thought, that's going in! A podium finish, for sure.

Miss Turner's been to Scarborough Fair. Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. Here she is with her friend Miss Slater.

She even took a little video...  

And finally from Miss T "Us playing cards in The Blues Dawg on a repurposed cable bobbin - featuring Mr. Medd's hands!" Nice one, Miss Turner. Card and Carousels - a perfect combo.

Claire Nottingham has gone route one: she call this 'The hands of time'. Thank you, Claire. 

Adam says: "Round And Round. Only one way to go with that as a theme, from New Order, a February 1989 single, Fac 263 (for the Factory catalogue fans) and one of the songs from one of their best albums, Technique. Manchester via Ibiza." Thank you, Adam. I was expecting a ton of vinyl pics but precious little did I receive.

Pete Zab's just back from the fun fair: "Hi John, a varied selection for you, two from Goose Fair, some motorbikes, a windmill and some abstract inspired CDs. All the best, Pete" Cheers, Pete. I remember when CDs were the future.

Matthew & Samantha are currently cruising': Hi John, a roulette wheel and ceiling fans aboard the Sapphire Princess. And, from home, the Falkirk Wheel rotating boat lift. Thanks, M&S. See you both when you hit dry land.

Walt from Germany: "Hi John, for the current challenge I only found one picture in my collection that fits the theme. A rotating disc at a children's playground in my hometown. All the best, Walter." Danke, Walt. Love the colours.

Alyson aka Truly Scrumptious: "Hi John, here is a photo from when we visited friends in Berkshire many years ago. We went for an autumnal walk and stumbled upon the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang windmill. Our friends knew about it but it was a lovely surprise for me. A lovely memory of a great trip." Thank you, Alyson. Mind that barbed wire fence.

K from the Kotswolds "Hello John, a great challenge, as always. Hope you enjoy these offerings:

1. I went to a park whilst working in Cheltenham, looking for a roundabout in the kids’ play area. This is what I found. Health & Safety gone mad, as they say! 

2. Yes, it’s a roundabout outside Stroud train station. Yes, it’s static. But cars (not pictured) rotate around it, does that count? 

3. On my way to a gig in Bristol, I encountered the annual festive market and obligatory big wheel. Christmas is coming!

4. Sound Records in Stroud. The lovely big wheel in the window is constantly rotating, showing off their wares. I unfortunately picked the morning when they were changing the display! 

Thanks, K. Don't hang around too long in kiddies' playgrounds - it's not a good look.

The Swede "The only rotating things I can find in the archive are my first set of wheels. And in 1961 I clearly couldn't get anyone to push me, so I got out and pushed myself!" TS, you're a diamond: even tho' you clearly didn't take this picture I absolutely love it.

Mulberry Kate: "A man and his dog looking wistfully out to sea. (I know them both well - JM). These are the wind turbines at Skegvegas. I have an irrational fear of wind turbines." Thank you, Kate. Great work. Never thought I'd be comparing you to Trump but he too has an irrational fear of what he calls windmills. Then again he has an irrational fear of most things: Democracy, Mexicans; Biden, Bruce Springsteen, compassion, decency, the truth. I could go on...

Charity Chic: "Whitlee Wind Farm just south of Glasgow, the largest of its kind in the UK. And the light in our holiday cottage which unfortunately did not rotate." 

Vaughan a.k.a. the man looking wistfully out to sea: "Hi John, a Micrometer on a brake disc, a Focke Wulfe FW-190 at Cosford, an angle gauge, camshafts, a dial test indicator, London Eye from tourist bus stop, racing tyres at Donington and an electricity meter, V," Ooooooosh, spedooooosh! 

Well, what did you think? How great were they? Our gallery needs a new wing. I'll have a look in the piggy bank and see if we can find a few bob. It just leaves me to wrap things up with a couple of mine.

Crosby Beach, Nr. Liverpool; if you haven't been yet, what are you waiting for?

The Cathedral Quarter in Belfast.

Retro rotary style phones in an Amsterdam shop window.

My globe.

One of the last remaining foosball tables in Nottingham - The Robin Hood oil Sherwood.

The Brudenell in Leeds and Marcus Geard from the Slackers. He takes his rotating 'bass stool' on tour with him all over the world.

And finally, some (not very steady) video footage of my BBC 2 kitchen clock. There's something about that sweep hand...

...

Thank you again to everyone who gets involved. I'll post January's theme in the comments section in a couple of days. In the meantime, here's a link to all this year's challenges:

March: Shadows

April: Spring

May: Games

June: Where we eat

July: Street art

August: The seaside

September: Colourful houses

October: Pylons

November: Light

And if you want to go back even further, take a look at our offerings from 2023 & 2024.

See you next year! J x