week 51 walk - Snowy Quarry, Shrewsbury

Today's photo shoot is not really the walk I wanted to do. All year I have been planning to return to Much Wenlock Priory as I loved the photos that I took there last year and as this project is coming to an end I really wanted to get there this week - but the roads were too bad for me to even consider it.

I had the most horrific journey in Manchester, Friday evening when I had to drive through a snow blizzard on the motorway - the snow was so dense that the road and sky was thick with snow that I could hardly see where I was going - 5 miles an hour was even too fast. Then yesterday I had an awful day at work, driving around the untreated roads in Telford with my car slipping and sliding all over the place and everyone else's car slipping and sliding towards me! It took me 1 hour and 15 minutes to make my usual 20 minute journey home - so no way was I getting in a car today - so my photo shoot had to be somewhere that I could walk to - so the Quarry park in town became my choice.

The quarry park is a tree lined oasis of green (usually!) in the centre of town which is surrounded by the river. It looked very pretty today.

Shrewsbury School sits high up on the river banks and it's boat house right on the river itself. I love the reflection of the boat house in the water.

This lovely old house lies right in the middle of the quarry - I like the glimpse of St Chad's church in the background.

This the the 'dingle ' in the middle of the quarry - usually a nice place to sit and reflect on life - but it was locked today - but I still like this view of it through the gates.

In the summer the bands play here and the grass is littered with people in deck chairs or on blankets listening to the music - lots of people out today - but none sitting around - oh except one hardy fisherman!

Another glimpse of St Chad's church.

The avenue of trees looked rather attractive covered in snow.

And at the top - St Chad's itself. Shame I could not make it to Much Wenlock priory - but still quite pleased with these shots.

Week 50 walk - Carsington Water, Derbyshire

This weeks walk is around the gorgeous Carsington Water reservoir in Derbyshire. Apologies for the quality of the photos - they are not very good - but the day was all about geocaching rather than photography and I had got another walk planned for this week - but the walk so so lovely that I just had to take some snaps.

The 8 mile walk finished, just as the sun was starting to set - and showing some lovely colours in the sky.
The reservoir is owned and managed by Severn Trent water and they have made a wonderful job of making the area a delight for visitors - wildlife abounds around the water.

There are several islands in the water - like this one above, which you are able to walk around - perhaps on my next visit I will get chance to do that.

I did not see anyone sailing today, but with all these boats moored here - it clearly is a good spot to sail on.

There was still quite a lot of snow on the surrounding hills.

Wildlife is given every opportunity to thrive here with numerous bird, owl and even bat boxes.

Despite it being winter the water levels were quite low - a bit of a worry for next summer.

Halfway round was this amazing little house with everything carved out of wood - tables, chairs, piano, fireplace and even a grandfather clock - it was fab.

Some lucky people even manage to live right next to the water - I was not envious really!

week 49 walk - frosty shropshire

At last, a chance to get some wintery shots - when I walked up the Wrekin on Saturday - all the snow had melted and on Sunday when we went to Liverpool to watch the girls run in the Santa race - there was no snow there at all! So imagine my delight when I woke up this morning to see fog and frost - and the chance for scrumptious landscapes. Yep the chance was there but unfortunately the results are not very good - I need more practice.

I remembered visiting Asterly on a geocache trip in weather similar to this and there was this windmill which looked great with a foggy background - so I headed back here to try and catch the windmill again.
The windmill is on private land so it is hard to get the right angle from the next field - but I quite like these overhanging branches in shot.

And I quite like the focus on the branches with the windmill merging into the background.

is it a bit too sharp here?

Then I walked up Pontsbury hill and got some nice frosty tree shots.

I saw lots of nice frosty trees on my journey - but getting some without electricity or phone cables behind was not easy.

The sun was shinning quite brightly behind this elderflower head - but it did not come out quite as bright as I wanted.

I found this nice willow tree in someone's back garden and thought it looked good with the blue sky behind.
The sun was shinning a bit here and throwing a nice light on the top of the hedge - but it does not really show up here.

These looked great along the roadside - but disappointingly I don't seem to have got it sharp enough.
Nice frosty trees - lots of distractions around this one which I have managed to cut out.

The frosty hedges.

And just a few shots of the girls in Liverpool yesterday - what a fun run - they really enjoyed it and it was a great sight to see thousands of Santa's running through the streets of Liverpool.

Week 48 walk - Highcliffe Castle, Dorset

While down in Bournemouth we visited Highcliffe Castle at Christchurch - what a little gem it was.

This is what the web site says about it:-

Highcliffe Castle has been described as arguably the most important surviving house of the Romantic and Picturesque style of architecture, which flourished at the end of the 18^th century and the beginning of the 19^th century. Its significance is recognised nationally by its Grade 1 status on the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural and Historical Interest.

There is an international importance, too. For a large amount of medieval French masonry, shipped across the Channel, was used in its construction. It is this Norman and Renaissance carved stone, along with the Castle’s Gothic revival features and ancient stained glass, that make it appear older than it is.

Built mainly between 1831 and 1836, the Castle is the realisation of one man’s fantasy. He was Lord Stuart de Rothesay, a distinguished diplomat who had known and loved the cliff-top site overlooking Christchurch Bay since he was a boy.

The magnificent building, once lavishly furnished in the 18th century French style remained a family home until the 1950s. In the late 1960s two fires rendered the building derelict and in 1977, to prevent futher deterioration, Christchurch Borough Council purchased it.

Despite the blue skies it was rather cold - you can see a little bit of frost in the box hedge garden.

It is a very popular place for weddings - you can see why.

Some intricate carvings at the top of the building.

From the front entrance there are lovely views over to the coast and a lovely woodland path takes you right down to the beach.

The beach is not as sandy as Bournemoth - but it is still attractive.

Week 48 walk - Bournemouth, Boscombe and Highcliffe Castle - Dorset

While the rest of the country shivered amidst the first heavy snowfall of the year - Steven and I headed down south to Bournemouth for a short break - where we found blue skies and no snow! Hope the snow will last for a few more days as I really want some snowy pics next week!

We walked in both directions from Bournemouth - to Poole on Sunday and Boscombe on Monday. Each day we were lucky with these gorgeous skies - it was still rather nippy though and we were wrapped up well with hats and gloves.

It was warm enough though to sit outside this cafe overlooking the beach and have freshly squeezed orange juice and chocolate brownies while we watched the world go by and dreamt about owning these gorgeous beach side apartments next door.

The life guards were on duty today though no one was out surfing today - we did see some hardy swimmers yesterday though!


Bournemouth has always been a firm favourite of ours because of its delightful sandy beaches and clear blue water. Even in winter it is still lovely.

The sandy beaches stretch for 7 miles - this photo is looking back on the walk taken to Poole and was taken just as the sun was starting to go down as we arrived back.