Photography – Page 3 – Things I Have Learnt

Nov 23, 2017Nov 25, 2017

Gravetye Estate

What a find! The estate of the Elizabethan former manor house of 1598, the whole lot was left to the Forestry Commission on the death of former owner William Robinson, who also created renowned gardens around the house, which are now open under restrictions. The house became a hotel and Michelin starred restaurant.

Because the estate is managed by the Forestry Commission, the whole lot is designated as Access Land and the public have the right to roam across all of it. Unlike most Forestry Commission properties it is far from being uniform pine plantation, but is in fact a wonderful extensive patchwork of woods, fields, lakes and streams laid over rolling hills and with the old manor house still set at its heart.

Aug 5, 2017

Wester Ross

I have been to many beautiful places and there are those that equal, but none that surpass Wester Ross in the Scottish West Highlands for sheer beauty and grandeur. There may be bigger mountains in the world, the weather may be a bit tricky and the midges can be a challenge, but there’s nowhere quite like it. If you love walking in the hills, dramatic mountain and coastal scenery and some of the best seafood in the world, I urge you to go there.

Welcome to Scotland

Loch Maree

Shieldaig Island, Loch Torridon

The Road to Lochcarron

Loch Kishorn

Bealach na Ba (The Pass of the Cattle)

Sgurr a’ Chaorachain

The Cuillin Hills, Skye, from the Bealach na Ba

Cuillin Hills

Lichen, Applecross Peninsula

Applecross

Cuillin Hills

Applecross

Cuillin Hills

Rona and Skye

Cuillin Hills

A wee ginger beastie

Applecross Peninsula

Sand, Applecross Peninsula

The Cuillin Hills from Sand, Applecross Peninsula

Sand, Applecross Peninsula

Stag, Applecross Peninsula

Cuillin Hills

Poser

Applecross Peninsula

Poser II

Loch Shieldaig

Upper Loch Torridon

Beinn Dearg from Coire Mhic Nòbuil

Sàil Mhòr from from Coire Mhic Nòbuil

Coire Mhic Nòbuil

Liathach from Coire Mhic Nòbuil

Lochan, Coire Mhic Nòbuil

Shieldaig Island, Loch Shieldaig

Loch Carron

Lochcarron from Loch Carron

Loch Carron

The road to Lochcarron

Loch Shieldaig

Loch Maree

Bealach na Ba

The Cuillin Hills

Jul 25, 2017

Bedham Church

Now, I don’t know how you spend your evenings, but I spend quite a lot of mine looking at Ordnance Survey maps. Mostly, of course, I’m looking for places with rude names (Wellcombe Bottom being a particular favourite), but also I’m looking for places that might be nice for a walk. One such place is an area of open access woodland I noticed to the north of Fittleworth in West Sussex (Fittleworth of course is not a rude name, exactly, but it’s still an awesome one). Today being a nice day, I decided to go and have a look… And found this! Built as a church and a school in 1880, it stopped being used for education in 1925 and for worship in 1959.

Jul 23, 2017

Brighton – Rottingdean

One of the best things about living in Brighton is how easy it is to get out to the countryside. Often I drive out to the Downs, or Ashdown Forest or somewhere, but this walk starts at my front door and within ten minutes I’ve left the city and the green fields are all around me.

Jul 16, 2017

A Few Extra

A collection of a few pics that, for one reason or another, weren’t part of other sets, or haven’t been posted before. Hover and click for descriptions.

Sunset, Ashdown Forest

Sheep graze at sunset, Ashdown Forest

Clouds creep over the South Downs, Firle

Trees in the mist, Wilmington

Midland Hawthorn, West Wood, Wivelsfield

Wild Garlic, Bignor

Above Ladybower Reservoir

Poppies, Stanmer Park

New Moon Rising, Blackcap, South Downs

Bluebells, West Wood, Wivelsfield

Jul 14, 2017

Burnhouse Bostall

Just the other side of the Downs from Brighton is a path that winds up the steep, northerly slopes called Burnhouse Bostall. For thousands of years shepherds lead their flocks up and down from the Weald to the Downs and back, carving these deep paths into the chalk as they went. Now the sheep are no longer driven up these paths, it is left to the rain and the boots of walkers to carry the job on.

Jul 7, 2017Jul 7, 2017

Pagham Harbour

Quite by chance and on a whim, I thought I’d go and have a wander around Pagham Harbour. I had only seen it on a map and thought it looked worth investigation. Normal people, I believe, are all in the pub of a Friday night, but not I. As I stood and watched the sun go down, I could hear nothing but the wind in the reeds and the high, lonely calls of the birds, while the clouds like rippled sand spread out above me, taking a little colour for a time from the sun’s dying rays.

Pagham Harbour

Jun 19, 2017Jun 19, 2017

Pevensey Levels

The Pevensey Levels are a large area of reclaimed land in Sussex. Over centuries a shallow tidal inlet was progressively drained and turned into farmland. Still today there is an atmosphere of otherworldliness and impermanence about the landscape, which is criss-crossed by large dykes or ditches that drain the soil. There are very few houses beyond a few scattered farms, unusually for Sussex. The main population is made up of cattle and sheep.

Snuck in a couple of Belle Tout Lighthouse on the white cliffs of the Seven Sisters on the way back to Brighton, innit.

Belle Tout Lighthouse

Jun 4, 2017Jun 5, 2017

Darwell Wood and Reservoir

The path fell steeply away at my feet as I entered Darwell Wood and I was quickly deep in the quiet, dreaming woodland. I could see on the map that I wasn’t far from the reservoir, but I couldn’t see it. My heart sank a little and I wondered if it would be the same as Weir Wood Reservoir, where only the barest glimpses of the water can be caught from the path and a high fence prevents getting any nearer. The path brought me to the long, gently winding incongruous sight of a covered conveyor belt, running through the trees: there are gypsum mines in these woods and the conveyor stretches for just under 5km between them. Turning away, the footpath drops once again and suddenly, to my delight, I could see the water through the trees. Fighting my way through dense willows, I emerged on the shore. What a beautiful place. I didn’t want to leave, but leave I did and looped back round through the woods to the car.

Darwell Wood in the High Weald

Jun 2, 2017Jun 2, 2017

Ashdown Forest

Ashdown Forest is a former hunting preserve in East Sussex and is now one of the largest areas of open access land in the South East of England. More open heath, riven with winding streams than dense woodland, the “forest” part of its name refers to its status as a hunting ground, from the original Norman French meaning of the word. Having said that, it does have woodland and that’s where I mostly was today.