Behind closed doors

It's that time again. Pinch, punch and all that. I sent a little reminder to you all about April's photo challenge; it went something like this - ''The perceived etymology of April (from the Latin Aprilis) is from the verb aperire, meaning to open. So, next month I'm looking for photos of openings, doors, portals to other worlds; you snap it, I'll post it.''

And snap you did. Thank you to everyone who took part.

Up first is a beautiful photograph taken by Saskia Daniel. Saskia posted it on Twitter and simply said ''Isn't this nice?''

It is. And I asked Saskia if I could use for my photo project. Quick as a flash she responded ''Yes, sure. Thanks for asking.'' 

I'll go next. This is one I took in Hull a little while ago. It was the name that struck a chord with me as much as anything: Magic Roundabouts, hippy rabbits and dogs addicted to sugar lumps all spring (see what I did there?) to mind. 

Alyson never disappoints and this month she really came good with something of a twofer. ''We headed down to our local Floral Hall this afternoon (basically a giant tropical green house) as I remembered there's a bit in the middle with a portal to a portal. Here are two photos - one of the main entrance and the other where you can see through to the pond & waterfall.'' Very tranquil, Alyson.

You may have read recently that our resident Swede was on the other side of the Atlantic in March and whilst there he spotted this Brooklyn beauty: ''Beyond those chained gates, down the steps and through the heavy wooden door lies...who knows what. If you want to take a look, I'll be right behind you - about a mile and a half behind you.'' 

Stay the hell away, TS. If it's not mutants then I'd say Cybermen. 

Charity Chic sent me a photo which would also have qualified for last month's theme. He also namechecks his rock and roll hero when he says ''Green door, what's that secret you’re keeping?''

C next. ''This is 'The Conduit', it has no roof and behind the door there's an opening in the floor. I'd like to think it leads you down through a winding tunnel to the secret location of the Tardis, but actually it's the portal to an underground spring. The little structure itself was originally built in the early 1500s (partly rebuilt in 1989 after a car crashed into it) to surround a well and pump there to collect the water.'' 

I love quirky buildings. Thank you, C.

Finally, a touching and uplifting note from Rol who recently lost his father...

''Hi John, here's a photo of a doorway I found. It's taken from the inside of my dad's old barn, looking out on a  beautiful summer's day. This was before the days of filters and I'm guessing I took it with a proper camera and just got lucky. The barn was knocked down , maybe about 15 years or so ago - my brother built a house where it stood. I've not looked at this photo for a long time, but it's a doorway to my past and, in the best of our memories, it's a always a summer's day.''

Perfect. Thank you so much, Rol.

And there you have it. A huge thanks again to all those who joined in. I'll post next month's theme in the comment section below (or the Show Notes as I like to call them!) nearer the time. J

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Postscript 2.4.23

Swiss Adam, as you can see in the comments below, was gutted to have missed the cut-off. Apparently the dog hadn't eaten his homework and, akin to a note from his mum, he sent me this yesterday evening: ''Sorry I missed doorways today. Memory is awful at the moment. We are in the Lakes for a couple of days and I've just seen this.''

As I said in my reply to him, it's got Grim Art written all over it!

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P.S 10.4.23

(aka Show Notes for May's theme...)

Not everything in life is black and white. Tho’ I am rather hoping you’ll join me in May’s themed photo collection and show me monochrome images (not just colour snaps converted to b+w) in your neck of the woods. Magpies, zebras, magpies on zebras; you get the gist. Get them to me by the 1st if you’d be so kind.