Ghost of Christmas past?

Ghost of Christmas past?, a photo by Scouse_and_Jules on Flickr.

as seen by android

as seen by android, a photo by Scouse_and_Jules on Flickr.

As seen by Android

As seen by Android, a photo by Scouse_and_Jules on Flickr.

Derby All Hallows Eve 2012

Derby All Hallows Eve 2012, a photo by Scouse_and_Jules on Flickr.

Crossbay Walk 2012

Walking across Morecambe Bay from Arnside to Kents try Bank. Four hours nine miles and a lot of fording rivets
http://db.tt/jby13i4f

Paddling in the Trough of Bowland

When we were kids we used to have a regular days out to the Trough of Bowland, a place of wild and rugged beauty on the Lancashire side of the Pennines.

Last visit I was 15 and never realised the significance the southern start point , Dunsop Bridge, would have in my later years as the place my Dad bought me my first real pint ... so he thought... that year. Sadly he died early the following year and as a family we never returned.

 I kept harping on about to Jules about the place and the pool formed at a bend  in Langden Brook we used "swim" and paddle in.The stark beauty of the fells and the ancient woods and rocky stream beds to explore.http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map..

So when we saw the sign driving through Lancaster on the way back from the Crossbay Walk it was a moments decision to follow the road. One we were glad we took.

Apart that is experiencing downright hostility from what looked like an illegally parked burger van in front of the information signs at the now much increased parking area. Staffed by what looked like a pig ignorant local money grabbing  husband and wife team who don't deserve any custom from anyone.

It's now a conservation area and the old naturally formed weir is now replaced by a man made one and has been moved further back to create a habitat for spawning; so the pool has gone.Of course three decades of water flow has eroded the grassy bank that my family , and the sheep, used to walk along to get to a flat piece of flat well grazed land at the bend to picnic on. We walked along the line of stone blocks and concrete making up the new river bank defences and Jules stopped to dangle her feet into the freezing water... memories flooded back as i looked around me and it was so great that the changes were so minimal and it was still the beautiful place I remembered so vividly.

Then just to make it better looking through binoculars from the parking area to a point high up on Sykes Nab, we had the great luck to see Hen Harriers. A pair with this years brood still in tow,  where being harassed by Golden Plovers as they all landed in the heather and bimbled about looking for food.


Given the current attitude towards them by the landowners of game bird moorland and their gamekeepers it's a sight we may never see again in this marvellous unspoilt Pennine upland.

Are we going to take the bikes back there in the coming months... ? You betcha! 

As seen by Droid

As seen by Droid, a photo by Scouse_and_Jules on Flickr.

Budleigh Salterton

Budleigh Salterton, a photo by Scouse_and_Jules on Flickr.

Happy New Year... ish...

Thanks to Jules having the lurgy our New Years Eve was a bit restrained and we decided to take a trip out New Years Day in the fresh air to see the Mappleton Raft Race and Bridge Jump near Ashbourne... but things went awry as we approached Ashbourne and saw the start time on the banner was 11am not Noon as we had seen on the link on a local site. We decided it was too late for getting there to see the bulk of the action so decided to stock up with something for lunch , just as the rain started.


Undeterred even though the weather was turning nastier by the minute we decided to take a trip to Arbor Low ;a place many consider to be the Stonehenge of the North. By this time the rain was rapidly becoming horizontal and as the bulk of the gear we had on was for standing in the cold rather than braving the elements of the Derbyshire Dales it was a brief trip. Also considering the inclemency of the elements I had decided rather than risk the SLR digital camera I would use the two cameras loaded with film that we had with us. Jules did manage to get a couple of shots with her digital compact before the rain got too bad... but macro shots...

The analogue cameras were a brace of Canons' finest, an old SLR EOS 600 loaded with Ilford HP5 and a compact AF Sure Shot 60 Zoom loaded with a roll of Lomography Red Scale XR rated as ISO 100 ... of course pictures will follow once developed!

Doncha love that old fashioned anticipation ?

Meanwhile here is an old shot from 2010 ....

                         February 2010, a photo by Scouse_and_Jules on Flickr.

                   Via Flickr:
                   Arbor Low