Spectacular landscape #2 of 2. The Black Isle — which is a peninsula rather than an island — has never been seen by me before but turns out to be spectacularly beautiful, a smorgasbord of photo opportunities. I did my best to pick one that summed up all this.
Spectacular View of the Last Two Days, number 1. This is the view from Carn Glas-choire, historic Top of Nairnshire, my 52nd County Top (see my other blog). In the background to the left, Braeriach, which is the third-highest mountain in the whole of the UK, at 1,296 m (4,252 ft). A magnificent panorama, and total vindication of my CT project: giving me an excuse to visit parts of my country that I have never before seen. This one was well worth the effort.
Aberdeen’s debut appearance on this blog was on 24th June 2015 with a picture of a bloke stood in the middle of the River Dee, presumably fishing. Six years and eleven months on, for all I know this is the same bloke, although he’s further downstream than before. Still, I stand by my first impression of that time: that this is a surprisingly attractive city, this river particularly: it’s hard to believe that this is very near the centre of a place with 200,000 inhabitants. The cars on the bridge are the only real hint of urbanity.
Culter Fell becomes my 50th County Top bagged. Not all that exciting a walk but a fine way to break the latest journey north into Scotland. I keep finding new corners of the country to explore and that seems a reasonable approach to take to the rest of my life.
Today I, and around 250 other people, walked from Arnside to Grange-over-Sands — an easy, flat walk of about 5.5 miles. The complication is that between these two places lies the northern reach of Morecambe Bay, the largest expanse of intertidal land in Great Britain. But in that also lay the fun of the day — the chance to (safely) get a couple of miles away from permanently dry land, into a space that is neither one thing nor the other, a limbo state between land and sea — with a healthy dose of sky, too.
I deliberately cranked up the contrast on this shot because I like the way that all the people look like dashes of paint descending from a horizon that is insubstantial but definitely there. As if we are trapped within a sheet of glass, aware of the heavens above us but unable to reach them.
The other side of the Mersey, that is. Hence, on the (recently updated) stats this photo counts as one in Birkenhead, not Liverpool. But Liverpool is what you see here, including both its cathedrals: Catholic (a.k.a. “Paddy’s Wigwam“) on the left, the Anglican one on the right.
A glorious day today, spent entirely outside, getting healthy exercise. Work, in a formal sense, was just something other people were doing, and the day was all the better for it. I do not apologise for the Jesus & Mary Chain reference either, as no one should for referring to such a seminal musical beat combo.
Busied myself up enough to get to the Lake District once more: those who follow my other blog can read all about my day there. Gray Crag was the most dramatic object seen — but fortunately not climbed — today (I’ve done it before, and it’s proper work I can tell you). Below it to the left, just visible, Hayeswater, which supplies the taps of Penrith a dozen or so miles away, hence the need for the access road. But I don’t think that spoils the shot; instead, like a necklace, it seems to accentuate the graceful lines of this fell.
Ivy House FC (of Halifax) come out for the start of the second half at the rather picturesque, if basic, ground of Midgley United. They were 1-0 down at this point but recovered for the draw. But who cares about the game today? I went for the landscape, and it did not disappoint.
Midgley has appeared once before on the blog, on 17th December 2013, day 845. Returning after 3,035 days, this little village on the hillside between home and Halifax now takes over (from Nottingham) as the place with the longest gap between appearances.
Although I spent most of the day in Manchester, Hebden Bridge should feature on here for the fourth day in a row thanks to the unexpected scenes which greeted its residents when opening their curtains in the morning. While we were enjoying the balmy spring weather a week ago, I joked with my international students saying “British weather — it could snow again before we’re done”. But I didn’t necessarily think I would be proven right. This was all gone again by the time I came home, however.
Being 42 