Category Archives: Landscape

Aug 17 2021
Leave a comment
Daily Post, Landscape

Ben Lawers

Monday 16th August 2021, 11.55am (day 3,644)

Ben Lawers, 17/8/21

Ben Lawers towers over the shore of Loch Tay and, at 3,983 feet (1,214m), is the tenth-highest mountain in the UK. In the whole country south of this point, there is no higher land. Tell you what though, it made me work to bag it; the day was a classic illustration of how conditions can deteriorate with altitude. This walker was heading up it after the worst had passed — which is more than can be said for me. See the County Tops blog for the gory details and more pictures.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Aug 15 2021
Leave a comment
Daily Post, Landscape

The Old Military Road

Saturday 14th August 2021, 10.05am (day 3,642)

Old Military Road, 14/8/21

The A93 runs north from the town of Blairgowrie, in Perthshire, to Braemar in Aberdeenshire. Just north of this point — and a couple of hundred feet below the point from where I took this picture, looking back into Glen Shee — the tarmac reaches the Cairnwell Pass, which at 2,199 feet above sea level, makes it the highest public road in the whole of the UK. It’s called the ‘Old Military Road’ as it was originally built as part of the general plan to assert military dominance over the Highlands of Scotland after the last Jacobite rebellion in the 1700s.

Tagged , , , , , , , ,
Jul 27 2021
Leave a comment
Daily Post, Landscape

View from the top of Eagle Crag

Monday 26th July 2021, 11.50am (day 3,623)

A third day in four spent walking, bringing to an end a very fine long weekend in the Lake District, on which all was pleasingly normal. This pointy slab of rock marks the highest point of Eagle Crag, a fine (and finely-named) eyrie from which to keep an eye on the Stonethwaite valley below. See more photos on my other blog, if you like. Back to work tomorrow — but I will return here, I will always be returning here.

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,
Jul 25 2021
Leave a comment
Daily Post, Landscape

Wasdale, from a precarious point

Saturday 24th July 2021, 12 noon (day 3,621)

View down Gavel Neese, 24/7/21

Gave myself an adventurous walking task today — the South Traverse of Great Gable, a climbers’ path that inches its way across the face of this hulk of a mountain. For more details see my walking blog. This view of Wasdale was captured while somewhat precariously balanced above the drop; anyone going down the slope in an uncontrolled manner is probably not going to stop until hitting the fields at the bottom. But I survived it, and felt quite proud of myself in fact. See the other pictures on my walking blog, if interested.

Tagged , , , , , , , ,
Jul 25 2021
Leave a comment
Daily Post, Landscape

Climbing the Bowder

Friday 23rd July 2021, 3.25pm (day 3,620)

Bowder Stone steps, 23/7/21

Clare reaches the top of the steps that take one up onto the Bowder Stone — a famous attraction of the Lake District that I have never before seen. Its name is tautological, for a big Bowder (boulder) it certainly is; hollow it out, install plumbing, and I imagine a family of three could live inside in comfort.

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,
Jun 30 2021
Leave a comment
Daily Post, Landscape

Evening cloud

Tuesday 29th June 2021, 9.45pm (day 3,596)

Evening cloud, 29/6/21

More an abstract than anything else, today. Although the swallow (if that is what it was — it was certainly flying like one) gives it focus. I felt like putting up an evening shot, anyway: there have been very few of these in the last eighteen months. Nights out are a thing of the past. Mind you, 40,000 people could be accommodated in Wembley yesterday afternoon — but apparently, going out to the Trades Club is still considered ‘unhealthy’. Enough of this bullshit.

Tagged , , , , , , , ,
Jun 20 2021
1 Comment
Daily Post, Landscape

Moel Famau summit

Saturday 19th June 2021, 11.40am (day 3,586)

Moel Famau summit, 19/6/21

Top of Flintshire, summit of the Clwydian Hills, Moel Famau appealed enough to the royalists of the early 19th century for them to begin building on it a tower to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of King George III. But this fervour clearly faded, and the construction was never finished. Nowadays it is just a place to rest after hauling oneself up to the 1,814 feet (554m) summit. But it looks good, and the view is magnificent. (For pictures of that, see my other blog.)

Tagged , , , , , , , ,
Jun 16 2021
Leave a comment
Daily Post, Flora/Fauna, Landscape

Formal Sheep Portrait (High Pike)

Tuesday 15th June 2021, 1.05pm (day 3,582)

Formal sheep portrait, High Pike, 15/6/21

A very fine day was had in the Lake District. Even the sheep seemed to be enjoying it, and this ewe poses readily for the camera as they often do, with High Pike behind. A shame her lamb did not feel like joining in too, but one can’t have everything. (For more pictures from today, see my Wainwrights blog.)

Tagged , , , , , , , ,
Jun 03 2021
1 Comment
Daily Post, Interior, Landscape

Ikke i Tromsø

Thursday 3rd June 2021, 7.50am (day 3,570)

Virtual conference, 3/6/21

95 of the shots on this blog have been taken in Norway, making it the third most-depicted country after England and Australia, but there have been none since I took off from Tromsø airport on the morning of 26th April 2018. I was supposed to be there now, probably I would have journeyed over yesterday, stayed until the weekend, enjoyed the 24-hour sunlight, and the company of friends and colleagues. I could have stood once more where these singers are, namely the balcony at the top of the cable car, on Storsteinen. But we are all prevented from doing these things, and life is diminished as a result. I appeared at the ‘virtual conference’ because I didn’t want to let down people that I respect and like — but I’m not going to be attending any more of them.

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,
May 19 2021
Leave a comment
Daily Post, Hebden Bridge, Landscape

The hillside (with non-conformist tree)

Tuesday 18th May 2021, 2.30pm (day 3,554)

Lee Wood hillside, 18/5/21

An improvement in the weather, at least temporarily. The red tree proudly stands out from its neighbours; dare to be different…

Tagged , , , , ,
← Older posts
Newer posts →