Liverpool Lights

The Liverpool waterfront all lit up with the Christmas lights, next time I will use a tripod.

Autumn at Bodnant

The colour of the Acers leaves has been spectacular this year. You can certainly see why they grow so many in Japan. This was taken in the Acer Glade at Bodnant Garden, North Wales.

A Walk round the Park

It is a long time since I went around Astley Park, I had forgotten how big it was.Astley Hall is a museum and art gallery housed within a Grade I listed historic house. The Hall is set within the beautiful surroundings of Astley Park which include historic woodland, a lake, a fully renovated Victorian walled garden 

Autumn Solstice

A day in the lakes to celebrate the autumn solstice, lots of Herdwick sheep posing for the tourists. The Herdwick is a breed of domestic sheep native to the Lake District of Cumbria in North West England. The name "Herdwick" is derived from the Old Norse herdvyck, meaning sheep pasture

Sailing

Another picture from Llandudno last week, when the sea was so calm.

Dead Calm

An evening in Llandudno with the sea so calm, with not a breath of wind. 

Bodnant Garden – the Bath.

The oval pool, dating back to Victorian period, lies just below the Front Lawn of Bodnant Hall, tucked away behind high sheltering walls and hedges. Gardeners are transforming ageing, shrubby planting into a miniature exotic paradise, filled with lush foliage and brightly coloured flowers which can take advantage of the sheltered microclimate. It’s the finale of two years of renovation in the area, following devastating winter storms of 2013. The Bath was created by Henry Pochin, who founded Bodnant Garden as we know it when he bought the estate in 1874. In his diaries of 1880 Pochin said: “We have finished the bathing pool and the archery” (referring to the now-famous Laburnum Arch.) The surrounding walls of the Bath were added later at the turn of the 19th century, probably by Pochin’s grandson Henry Duncan McLaren when work began on the construction of the nearby Italianate terraces.

Brown Howe Bay

A beautiful day to be in the lakes this week, we stopped at Brown Howe Bay to give Bailey a splash in Coniston Water.

Bodnant in July

Pin Mill

Situated above the River Conwy, with spectacular views of the Snowdonia Range, Bodnant Garden is one of the finest in the world and the holder of four National Plant Collections. Bodnant Garden has many impressive features including a series of five Italianate-style terraces: Upper Rose Terrace, Croquet Terrace, Lily Terrace, Lower Rose Terrace and the Canal Terrace featuring the Pin Mill. The Dell, formed by the valley of the River Hireathlyn, contains the Pinetum and Wild Garden and features 200-year-old native trees together with the tallest Giant Redwood in the UK.

Fleabane.

Fleabane, I always think what a strange name for a flower and wonder how did it get that name. It is one of the Erigeron family and Its English name, fleabane appears to be derived from a belief that the dried plants repelled fleas  or that the plants were poisonous to fleas. The generic name Erigeron is derived from the Greek (eri = early; geron = old man), a reference to the appearance of the white hairs of the fruit soon after flowering.

Bodnant's New Volunteer

There was a new volunteer at Bodnant Garden this week, although Bailey was more interested in whether their food in the big bucket than trying to wheel the barrow.

Family Photo

This must our first family photo ever, it was taken on our day out to Bodnant Garden this week.

Island Hopping

This week we went across the Menai Suspension bridge to Anglesey. The Menai Suspension Bridge is a suspension bridge to carry road traffic between the island of Anglesey and the mainland of Wales. The bridge was designed by Thomas Telford and completed in 1826 and is a Grade I listed building.

Beautiful Bodnant

Beautiful Bodnant this time in June with the roses coming into flower.

Beautiful Bodnant

A beautiful display at of tulip at Bodnant garden this year.

Lytham Windmill

Lytham Windmill is situated on Lytham Green It is of the type known as a tower mill and was designed for grindingwheat and oats to make flour or bran. Since commercial milling on the site ceased in 1921 the mill has belonged to the town.

The mill was built on Lytham marshes around 1805 on land leased by the local landowner and squire to miller Richard Cookson.  The surrounding land was later levelled and grassed to form a ribbon green between the houses and the sea, in the middle of which stands the mill.

In 1919 a high wind overcame the mill's braking mechanism and the sails spun out of control, causing the mill to be burnt out. In 1951 the mill was designated a grade II listed building.^[3] In 1989 it was totally restored by Fylde Borough Council and opened to the public.

Hailstorm in LLandudno

From sunny skies to a hailstorm and then back to sun again, dramatic weather in Llandudno this week.

The Tern Project

An evening in Morecambe and the first time we had seen the Tern Project.

Celebrating the birds and other diverse wildlife of Morecambe Bay, the TERN project is a stunning series of various award-winning sculptures situated along Morecambe's seafront and promenade.

 Steel cormorants, gannets and razorbills sit proudly on the roundabouts on Central Drive and on the top of bollards in the sea railings, whilst long lengths of fencing are enhanced with flocks of metal birds.

Dramatic Skies in Scotland

We have just returned from a few days in Scotland. We stayed in Ballachulish and had some amazing lighting in the evenings plus I finally got to some landscape photography.

Sands of Time

The tide was out as we drove into Barmouth and there where the most beautiful patterns in the sand of the Mawddach estuary.

Metal Fish at Sunset

Metal fish sculpture on the promenade, Southport

Monday Sunset's

March is always a good month for sunsets and this year is proving no different coinsidentaley most Monday's seems to find us in North Wales at the moment.

Winter in the Cairngorms

We have stayed at the Hilton Coylumbridge many times but never realised that there where so many red squirrels in the woodland right behind the hotel.

Sunset in Wales

A beautiful sunset on our day out to Wales this week.

Sunset at Lytham

How better to spend the day than giving Bailey a run on the beach and then watch the sun go down.

A chat with a swan.

A day in the Lake District and a close up encounter with a very social swan at Coniston.

Cloud Watchers

Whilst we where photographing storm Henry at Crosby this week we inadvertently managed to capture some "nacreous clouds " as well. 

Sometimes known as mother of pearl clouds for their distinct appearance, nacreous clouds are laced with vivid iridescent light from below the horizon.
Nacreous clouds form in the lower stratosphere over polar regions when the sun is just below the horizon. The clouds are illuminated from below and often glow in vivid colours and will often remain visible for a couple of hours after sunset and through the night as they are lit by moonlight.The water droplets which form nacreous clouds are much smaller than those forming more common clouds. The smaller droplets scatter light in a different way which is what creates the distinctive luminescent appearance.They are usually only visible from the UK when the cold air which circulates around polar regions in the stratosphere (known as the stratospheric polar vortex) is displaced and hovers temporarily over the UK which creates the very cold conditions required.

Storm Watchers

Yet another storm hit the UK this week, we went to Crosby to see if we could capture a picture of storm Henry. There where quite a few other people there too.

A Murmuration in Blackpool

A trip to Blackpool and a murmuration of starlings over the north pier.

Stormy Weather.

The end of  December brought more wet weather and storm after storm hit the UK. The highest rainfall ever for December is recorded and many of our favourite places in the country are flooded as rivers birst there banks. Thankfully living on a hill has it's benefits and other than a very soggy garden we remain dry.