A spectacular, illuminated trail, full of wonder and intrigue, to delight and enthral your senses. As darkness descends, join us on our enchanting journey, as we weave a captivating light trail through the beautiful Victoria Park. Immerse yourself in our mesmerising trail, with stunning lighting elements and fabulous light play, all set to ambient music. - Well that was their description it was hardly the Liverpool light trail which was free, this cost £56 for a family of four! My picture was taken with my phone through the railings.
Just down the road from our house is Toad Hall, originally constructed in the 1920s to launch an ambitious development project in Ainsdale. The resort failed to materialise but the Shore Road building became a hugely popular nightspot and regularly played host to footballing stars from Liverpool and Everton. However, it had fallen into disrepair in recent years and a fire in 2014 destroyed the interior of the building. 2021 saw local artist Paul Curtis complete what is thought to be the largest painting created by a single artist in the UK of two giant sand lizards which inhabit the local dunes.
Southport hosts the annual British Musical Fireworks Championships each year. It was my first time trying to photograph fireworks and the first time I had used a tripod in quite a while. Hopefully, I will be better prepared next time.
https://www.ovoenergy.com/blog/lifestyle/7-reasons-why-brits-are-obsessed-with-weather
Common blue damselflies on the lilypond at Bodnant Garden.
The Common blue damselfly is our most common damselfly and can be found around almost any waterbody, or away from breeding sites in grassland and woodland. It is a regular visitor to gardens and is on the wing from April to September. The Common blue damselfly is an aggressive species: males will defend their females as they lay their eggs, both from their own kind and other species. As with other damselflies, when Common blues mate they form a 'mating wheel' in which the male clasps the female by the neck and she bends her body around to his reproductive organs.
An enjoyable hour in the wildflower meadow at Bodnant, I think this is a Meadow Brown.
We spent an afternoon trying to photograph the damselflies on the lily pads down at Pin Mill. Not the easiest of insects to photograph, in fact, they proved quite a challenge. I think this is a common blue damselfly but I could be wrong I never realised how many different species there were. As with other damselflies, when common blues mate they form a 'mating wheel' in which the male clasps the female by the neck and she bends her body around to his reproductive organs.
My first visit ever to a Royal Horticultural Society garden. RHS Bridgewater opened in May and I cannot wait to go back again.
It is the first Royal Horticultural Society garden in an urban area. The 154-acre site opened a year later than planned, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The garden has been built on the former grounds of Worsley New Hall, the estate once owned by the Earl of Ellesmere which was itself home to "glorious, formal landscaped gardens". However, during the early 20th Century, the hall fell into disrepair and following a fire in 1943 it was finally demolished by a scrap merchant, who had bought it for just £2,500.
Laburnum sometimes called golden chain or golden rain. The end of May signals time for the Laburnum arch at Bodnant garden to come into flower. The Laburnum Arch, a 55 metre-long avenue of golden flowers, was created by the garden’s Victorian founder Henry Pochin in 1880.
Lots of bee activity around the blossom on the Malus transitoria (cut-leaf crabapple) in the Parterre garden.
Not only snow but thunder, lightning and hailstones. This is the view across the Menai straits of the mountains of Snowdonia.
Chicks or Cootlngs, not as fluffy as duckings but still very sweet. Trying out the Canon R5 this week with animal eye detection it's amazing, it even locked onto the chick's eyes.
Windermere in the Lake District, our first trip to Cumbria this year and hardly a soul in sight. It was hard to believe lockdown was over I don't think I have seen it was so quiet.
In 1801, George James, 4th Earl of Cholmondeley was responsible for the demolition of the original Hall (click here for more history) and the erection of a comparatively small ‘gothic villa’, designed by a local architect William Turner of Whitchurch which is Cholmondeley Castle today.
The villa was subsequently extended in 1817–1819, perhaps to celebrate his accession to the Marquisate, but it was not until 1828 that several additional towers/turrets designed by Sir Robert Smirke were added to the structure to make it the Castle we see today.
One of the remaining Victorian Shelters in Southport with the Marine Way Bridge in the background.
