We don’t often get snow, or in this case the heavier variety. It may sound childish to some but there’s still some magic in watching the arrival or snow for me.
It’s also surprising to see how badly local drivers managed when the roads were covered…!
These pictures and videos are @Aidan Parr 2021, so please ask permission if you want to use them. I’ll probably say ‘yes’!
Greenfinches, bullfinches and blue tits in the back garden, on the feeder in January 2021. They are territorial little sods!
The pictures aren’t that great at times because the camera was quite new to me and I had to shoot through a double glazed window. It’s impossible to be outside without alerting the birds – even the click of the camera makes them fly away.
I’ve since tried with a tripod and a remote control (me inside and out if direct view) but it takes them about a week to get used to the new ‘thing’ in their environment and the camera clicks still send them scattering.
You’ll also see how fast they can be when they fly…
These pictures and videos are @Aidan Parr 2021, so please ask permission if you want to use them. I’ll probably say ‘yes’!
This is yet another old railway line which would have run from the now defunct Derby Friargate Station to Etwall and then joining the mainline south of Eggington Junction.
It’s not a terribly exciting walk but when we’d been in Lockdown I grabbed the chance for a short walk, despite the cold and the snow flurries! Luckily the sun came out later on the way back.
These pictures and videos are @Aidan Parr 2021, so please ask permission if you want to use them. I’ll probably say ‘yes’!
The Jinney Nature Trail is the remains of old railway line that ran from Tutbury & Hatton via Rolleston-on-Dove to Burton-on-Trent. It closed in the 1960s thanks to the idiotic Lord Beeching and his drive to close many parts of the rail network as possible.
Happily it is now a short walk (about two miles) from Rolleston to the outskirts of Burton. This was my first chance to get out for a walk for ages and to be more than 9.9 miles from home, because of Covid restrictions. Any fitness is hard to acquire, but easy to lose!
Four miles was quite enough…
Spring is a favourite time of year, so there are as many pictures of flowers as possible!
These pictures and videos are @Aidan Parr 2021, so please ask permission if you want to use them. I’ll probably say ‘yes’!
This was a walk from Rolleston-on-Dove in Staffordshire, along the River Dove to Tutbury and back by a very quiet road and across country back to Rolleston.
If you’ve got time, Tutbury Castle is worth a look. Be aware that it is privately owned and opening hours are eccentric. At the time of this walk, the castle wasn’t open because of Covid.
There were lots of dramatic and changeable skies where it looks like you need to pack for every sort of weather: sunglasses, sunscreen, raincoat, hat and scarf. Fortunately, despite dark threatening skies, it remained dry with just a light shower for a few minutes.
It’s very English location with pretty villages, old churches, swans and spring flowers just starting to bloom, slightly spoilt by the Nestle factory in Hatton. Even if you ignore it visually, the smell of coffee can be overpowering.
This is the session I discovered that I had dirt on the CMOS sensor of my camera, so you might spot unidentified objects here and there. These are the perils of trying to understood what goes wrong with a ‘proper’ camera after using my phone for so long…
I thought it would be nice for the swans on the Dove near Hatton to get their own small section:
These pictures and videos are @Aidan Parr 2021, so please ask permission if you want to use them. I’ll probably say ‘yes’!
This was an intended walk from Earl Sterndale to Chrome Hill, also known as The Dragon’s Back. Park outside the church, opposite ‘The Quiet Woman’ pub.
It was one of those days where intention and actuality don’t overlap and I didn’t get far. It’s a walk to definitely go back to but it requires a level of fitness I didn’t have on that particular day…
To be fair, I’d overdone the walking the week before at over nine miles and hadn’t quite recovered!
Enjoy the pictures of clouds and dramatic skies, the lambs at their gambolling and frolicking stage and daffodils.
These pictures and videos are @Aidan Parr 2021, so please ask permission if you want to use them. I’ll probably say ‘yes’!
I really enjoyed going to Spurn Point a couple of weeks ago. The post and pictures are here.
I didn’t get to walk much of it because of problems with my foot and I was unprepared for the walk! The herculean task awaited and I couldn’t resist the challenge. Seven hours and 8.5 miles later I got back to the car with sunburn, a sore back, knees and foot but happier than I’ve been in ages.
It’s a peculiar place. The further south you walk, the more lonely it feels. The washed away road lies in huge rafts of concrete scattered around like toys for giants. The remnants of Spurn Head’s history are also scattered about: the ruins of fortresses and the worn remains of anti-Tank blocks from the Second World War litter the beaches at low tide.
There’s eroded brickwork and mysterious concrete shapes everywhere.
Nearly everything made by human hand is in ruin leading to more impression of desolation, the exception being the RNLI station and housing for their staff. It leads to some reflection on the futility of battling the sea and how we tend to think we have mastery of nature.
On a more positive note, nature bursts forth everywhere and it is overwhelming Spurn Head’s history, good and bad.
Happily the walk back north on the beach on the eastern side was much more wild and empty. As you head north, though, there’s more remnants of man’s broken constructions.
That’s enough deep thought for now… thankfully!
There’s far too many pictures as the sky was beautiful and the coastal features were incredibly photogenic.
I’ve split the pictures:
Birds:
Flowers:
Sea, sky and ruin:
Check the high tides as Spurn Head can be cut off at it’s narrowest point, a mere 50 metres wide. Do also look at the signs at the car park about safety if there is a high tide.
Go to the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust website for more information about the area and better photos…
I recommend the fry up in the cafe at the Spurn National Nature Reserve.
These pictures and videos are @Aidan Parr 2021, so please ask permission if you want to use them. I’ll probably say ‘yes’!
This walk started in Ashbourne right at the beginning of the railway tunnel which was once part of the train line joining Ashbourne to Buxton which was closed in 1963. It’s now the splendid Tissington Trail. I’ll cover that in another post.
Park in the Ashbourne Leisure Centre Car Park and you’ll see the tunnel. I cut across country eastwards when I got out of the other end of the tunnel, eventually walking along the River Dove.
The walk ends at the almost Orthodox-looking church at Mapleton. I returned by going up the hill behind the church and joining the Tissington Train back to Ashbourne. There’s lots of beautiful countryside, horses, sheep, donkeys, alpacas and other wildlife on the way.
Apologies if there are too many pictures, it’s sometimes hard to know when to stop when I’ve enjoyed a good day out…
These pictures and videos are @Aidan Parr 2021, so please ask permission if you want to use them. I’ll probably say ‘yes’!
Spring is a favourite time of year when literally everything is bloom: the apple and pear tree, daisies on the lawn and even the holly bush has flowers.
These pictures and videos are @Aidan Parr 2021, so please ask permission if you want to use them. I’ll probably say ‘yes’!
Sometimes I see things that are worth photographing even when they are closer to home…
I keep trying to get better pictures of the moon as I struggle to understand how to use my Canon 30D more. Because the camera is rather ancient, it probably doesn’t deal with contrast well (e.g. a bright moon in a night sky) but I keep battling away.
Occasionally the results are ‘ok’.
These pictures and videos are @Aidan Parr 2021, so please ask permission if you want to use them. I’ll probably say ‘yes’!
