Where High Street becomes Market Hill
Welcome
Hi, I’m Bob and I use the name Kilburnlad on social media and elsewhere.
As you might have guessed, I was born in Kilburn, London. You can find more information on the About page.
We now live in the market town of Chatteris in Cambridgeshire having moved here from Pinner in 2004.
This is my 2023 re-themed and greatly slimmed-down personal website, it’s predecessor having become somewhat bloated. You can however look at an archive of the former site that contains photo galleries and film reviews among a few other things.
Here I’ve included a bit about me and my interests, and a little about Chatteris, in particular the small yard where we live that has a bit of history.
My interests
Fishing
Like many young boys, and in those days it was mainly boys, I started fishing as a youngster and was ‘hooked’ from the off. Life then sort of got in the way and I returned to the waterside around 2003, after which it once again became a bit of a passion. I now have a YouTube channel and a dedicated website for Bob Goes Fishing.
Photography
Like fishing, photography has featured in my life since I was about 13. Starting off with a basic Halina 35X 35mm camera, this taught me the fundamentals of focus, aperture and shutter speed. A move to a Pentax ME Super provided a workhorse camera for many years. After a couple of digital SLRs I now rely on my iPhone 13 Plus!
Web Design
I created my first website in 2001 writing HTML code in a text editor, later moving on to Microsoft’s Expression Web. A move to an Apple iMac in 2008 led to RapidWeaver, an application that made the job of web design much easier while allowing for a great deal of customisation. I’m now experimenting with Blocs, another native Mac application.
French
When I retired in 2008, at the age of 60, I made a personal commitment to learn French. I have since written a book to help others who are considering learning this quite challenging language. I self-published in November 2018. To accompany the book I created the French at 60 website and a dedicated Facebook page.
The Natural World
I’ve always enjoyed being immersed in nature and as an angler I achieve that state while sitting quietly by a lake or river. It’s surprising how close wildlife will approach when you effectively become part of the surroundings. This is one of the joys of fishing. I also keep an eye on the garden as it is nature in miniature.
Cinema
Since the Covid pandemic my visits to the cinema have declined but, of course, streaming now provides access to seemingly limitless films if you subscribe to one or more of the channels. I have, in fact, become quite attracted to viewing at home where the film can be paused for a tea break or whatever.