We’ve been blessed by good weather for some weeks but things appear to be on the turn. Awful weather this morning, though the afternoon was OK until sunset, pictured here from the back of the house and with some serious cropping to get rid of all that distracting town below — though the top of the Nutclough Mill tower sneaks unobtrusively in.
The weather was forecast to deteriorate today but it seemed alright to me. A very busy week comes to a close with a very pleasant evening.
Think landscapes are easy to photograph? No! Landscapes are capricious and complex. Like women. You have to get them in the mood, and when they’re there, don’t hang around — it might not last long.
A night out last night, stayed over in a motel (because you shouldn’t drink and drive — so given the choice I don’t drive). This was the scene outside our room this morning.
So what to do, and which picture to pick, to mark my birthday, and the point at which the title of this blog is now three years out of date? I’m off work this week so hired a car and took the family up to the Yorkshire Dales, a place which used to play a big part in my life but since 26/8/11 has failed to feature in it. I lived full-time in the Dales national park from October 1991 until September 1994 (and some part-time living after that); in summer 1994, 20 years ago now, I worked in a pub in Chapel-le-Dale, which is about two miles down the road from this point, beneath the western slope of that gorgeous lump of rock you see ahead of you, Ingleborough. A nice trip back to mark this particular anniversary. Happy 45th birthday to me and welcome to the fourth year of this blog.
To call the weather over the last 7 days ‘unsettled’ is a gross understatement — it’s hardly been the same for half an hour at a time, all week. This was taken as I exploited a relatively sunny period this afternoon to grab more blackberries. (I seek to make wine again.) Most of the rest of the day after this, it was wet. Then dry again. Repeat…
The UK government hate public transport, and have done so, passionately, since the 1950s when they realised that, regardless of the effects on the environment and society, they could make much more money taxing private motor vehicles. They are also the type of people who know the price of everything and the value of nothing.
This picture is taken from the Cumbrian Coast rail line which I happen to think is as beautiful a railway line as exists anywhere in the world. Cartmel Sands are the estuary of the rivers Crake and Leven, which empty Coniston Water and Windermere into Morecambe Bay. Every time I go over the bridge here it looks different, some alteration in the configuration of light, tide and season that refreshes the scene constantly.
I would — and do — travel on this rail line simply to see these kinds of thing, there does not have to be a particular destination in mind. But my government would never see this kind of value. They willfully refuse to, in fact.
For 25 years there have been seasons of outdoor promenade plays in Williamson’s Park, Lancaster. This is this year’s, and the first such performance I’ve seen. We were told not to photograph it, but when faced with a scene like this I bent the rules slightly — this is not actually the performance, the audience were just starting to gather at this point. I also hope it’s considered free advertising. What a spectacularly staged piece of work.
Had my evening meal with my parents over the border in Lancashire and captured this on the way back. Pendle Hill is 1,827 feet high, but to be honest, looks higher, particularly when one is closer to it (this image is taken from many miles away). Its name is actually the same word repeated three times; Pen from Celtic languages, ‘dyl’ from ‘hill’ in Old English, and then ‘Hill’ from Modern English. So its name basically means ‘HillHill Hill’. It is most famous for its association with the Pendle Witches, one of England’s more notorious witch-hunts.
After yesterday’s fun with the elephants, spent the day working in Nairobi and had very little chance to get a decent photo of anything.
But I did buy this map, and for a reason. Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in the world that one can just walk up (as opposed to needing specialist mountaineering skills) and I’ve already paid a deposit to do exactly that, on an organised trek, around this time next year. So if I’m still blogging then — and I hopefully will be — here’s an advance notice of what to expect…. Isn’t this a great-looking map? Let’s hope the reality matches the anticipation.
Being 42 