Attn: Northampton natives and Canal buffs

[Desmond Riordan]

Some time ago I took a photograph, of a canal lock within easy strolling distance the Hunsbury Hill area of Northampton, which I would now like to map. I have looked at satellite pictures of the area and can find no lock that appears similar. The lock in the photo has a squared-off form, whereas all those that I can see in the satellite images have a bottleneck configuration. Can anyone identify it for me?

In the past the Panoramio community has identified a bird in Galicia that I didn't know, the make and model of a gold-plated car in Dubai and located an obscure alleyway in Barcelona, consequently my expectations are high - don't let me down, guys!

Here's a link to the picture:

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/127141329

[ikar.us]

 Suggestion sent.

[Desmond Riordan]

Many thanks for taking the time to look, ikar.us, but I don't think that it's the right one. The 'bottleneck' shape of the lock is different from the one in the picture and we can see that the canal takes a distinct turn to the left a few hundred metres from where the photo was taken - there's no such bend in the satellite image. I have been having another, closer look at the photo and have noticed that there are some railings just along the canal suggesting that there is an aqueduct carrying the canal over a road, railway or, possibly, another waterway of some kind. This does occur close to your suggested position but not close enough. Also, there is an open field to the right of the canal with two trees all of which is separated from the canal by a hedgerow. Again, similar to your suggestion, but the trees are in the wrong place.This is all rather intriguing not to say a little frustrating.

Many thanks again for looking.

On Sunday, January 17, 2016 at 12:44:21 AM UTC, ikar.us wrote:

 Suggestion sent.

[Cluke]

Try this.....

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/52%C2%B012'37.8%22N+0%C2%B056'18.8%22W/@52.2104988,-0.9391207,126m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0

....Looking North.

Regards

Cluke

[ikar.us]

Sorry, but the only explanation for your reject can be that I finally placed the marker wrong. Or it was saved wrong or displayed wrong to you. 

To make sure we are talking about the same: 52.210334, -0.938478 . Northwest of the road intersection of M1, A43 and A5123. East of the blue triangular advertising column. On the satellite image, a red ship is leaving the lock. Its stern would be under the bascule bridge in the photo if it were there.

A confusing factor may be that the photo was taken with very long tele lens. Thus everything look much shorrter and nearer than in reality.

The small canal coming from left and discharging into the lock chamber next to the gate is there.

The bend left is in the satellite image, just before the crossing with Banbury lane. It's a light turn, but again it looks much sharper and nearer in the photo due to the tele perspective.

The aqueduct and the railings are there.  In fact these are what make me sure. The railing parallel to the canal is there, with its endings in 45° angle, and the orthogonal railing on the right, behind the crossing canal, next to the weir. Again, they appear nearer in the photo than they are in reality.

The hedgerow on the right hand side is very well visible. The open space is there. The bypass canal, that goes from our to the crossing canal, must be just outside the photo.

The row of bollards with white heads is there, with the last one out of the row, leading to flat scrubs at the bank line.

The light street on the left isn't in the photo, but it's obviously very new.

The trees look confusing, but from their shadows you can see that the right tree is taller than the other, which explains the perspective effect.

[ikar.us]

Cluke's position is the same as mine.

[Cluke .]

Yep, I agree with ikar.us's description. On the nail. :D

On Sun, Jan 17, 2016 at 4:29 PM, ikar.us via Events & miscellaneous friendly chat <panoramio-misc+APn2wQe7zHEnaeaTd...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Cluke's position is the same as mine.

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[Desmond Riordan]

Hi ikar.us and Cluke.

I have spent a good deal of time now examining the picture and taking into consideration your observations and I have to say, ikar.us, that you make a strong case for your suggested location. However, I remain troubled by a couple of things.

Firstly, where water is being discharged into the canal in the picture seems much closer to both the lock gates and the bridge than what appears to be the same/similar on the aerial photo. Now, I know that you have suggested that it is the effect of perspective compression caused by a long lens but the EXIF data shows that the focal length was only 55mm, which is pretty close to how the human eye would perceive the view. Consequently, I have trouble buying into the idea of the seemingly sharp turn in the canal actually being a gentle curve distorted by the lens. This kind of thing is all rather subjective and we could argue about it until the cows come home. But what troubles me most is a detail clearly visible in the picture but absent from the aerial image.

On the right-hand side of the picture we can see the curved path with raised treads that is used by people operating the lock gate. On the satellite picture there is only such a path on the south end of the lock and we can be certain that we are looking at the north end in the picture as it was taken at 3:45 pm so the light is coming from the west, which is our left. So why is there no path at the north end in the aerial image?

Ikarus, Cluke, I'm very close to being convinced but I'm not quite there yet. How can you close the case?

Again, my thanks for taking the time to look and for sharing your observations.

[Cluke .]

Hi Desmond

Go to google streetview (in Google Maps) on the A43 bridge where it crosses the canal just south of the position and zoom in to the view down the canal. It's taken at a different time of year but everything lines up with your shot including the houses in the distant background. And the path is on the streetview shot - the satellite shots can be several years out of date.

Regards

Cluke

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[ikar.us]

1. On a natural scene the tele view can be recognized by experienced viewers without consulting any data.

2. Any cropping of an image leaves a more tele perspective than the original.

3. 55mm (or rather 45mm) is the neutral focal lenght for 135-film, which has an image field of 24mm*36mm. The EOS Kiss X5 has 15mm*22mm. If the 55mm is the real geometrical focal length in real mm and not some "as-it-were" number, this is quite long for the small sensor area.

4. Yes, that stair thing is missing. I noticed it, too. But: things do change. When was the photo taken?

[Desmond Riordan]

Cluke and ikar.us,

This has been a very satisfactory result.

Ikar.us - I'm impressed that you can recognise a focal length without consulting data - that must be a useful talent.

Cluke - Thank you for your heads up re Google Maps. That has convinced me.

The photo was taken nearly five years ago, so it's not inconceivable that the curved path was added subsequently. I feel as though I have had a pair of first class detectives on the case. My thanks to you both. 

Case closed!

On Sunday, January 17, 2016 at 7:17:01 PM UTC, Cluke wrote:

Hi Desmond

Go to google streetview (in Google Maps) on the A43 bridge where it crosses the canal just south of the position and zoom in to the view down the canal. It's taken at a different time of year but everything lines up with your shot including the houses in the distant background. And the path is on the streetview shot - the satellite shots can be several years out of date.

Regards

Cluke