The Bear and The Reindeer, Atkinson Art Gallery.

 

The dazzling illuminated figures are being brought to Southport for families to enjoy this Christmas period.The new character installations, provided by Southport BID, will sit either side of the sparkling 60ft LED Christmas tree in Southport’s Town Hall Gardens this festive period. The Bear stands at over 18ft tall and the Reindeer stands at over 13ft tall.

Winter Colour at Bodnant

 Late winter sun lighting up the winter garden.

Autumn at Bridgewater

 

 

A perfect morning at Bridgewater, late autumn,blue skies and perfect reflections.

Reflections of the Lonely Tree.

 

Acer Glade

 

Squirrel Season

 

Erddig.

 Sitting on a dramatic escarpment above the winding Clywedog river, Erddig tells the 250 year story of a gentry family’s relationship with its servants. A large collection of servants’ portraits and carefully preserved rooms capture their lives in the early 20th century, while upstairs is a treasure trove of fine furniture, textiles and wallpapers.

Outdoors lies a fully restored 18th century garden, with trained fruit trees, exuberant annual herbaceous borders, avenues of pleached limes, formal hedges and a nationally important collection of ivies.

Lime.green Magnolias at Bodnant.

 

The magnolia trees at Bodnant look as beautiful in September as they do when they are in flower. The leaves look spring like their colour is so fresh and bright.

The Kitchen Garden at Bridgewater.

The Kitchen Garden at Bridgewater has really developed since the garden opened.

Copper on Origano

These little butterflies are incredibly photogenic. For the last three years my best butterfly pictures have been of these little guys.Taken at Chirk Castle.

Chirk Castle - Inner Court Yard

 

Started in the late 13th century, Chirk Castle was never planned as a family home. Instead, it was one of several medieval Marcher fortresses along the Welsh-English border, built to keep the Welsh under English rule. 

The White Garden.

 

The White Garden  at Bodnant was created by head gardener Troy Scott-Smith in 2014.

Carneddau ponies

 The Carneddau Mountain range in the Snowdonia National Park is home to a small population of around 300 semi-feral Carneddau ponies whose history is thought to date back to the Bronze Age. Although they are not designated as a rare breed, they are genetically distinct from the Welsh Mountain pony and carry genes specifically related to hardiness and waterproofing.

Newborough Warren

Newborough Warren, the huge network of sand dunes at the south western corner of Anglesey, is home to a population of Welsh mountain ponies, sheep and hardy cattle which keep the vegetation under control.

Marram Grass sculpture, Pen Lon, Newborough

 

The small car park at Pen Lon features this sculpture created by Caernarfon-based Ann Catrin Evans representing stooks or sheaves of marram grass (Ammophila arenaria). Marram grass is particularly important in Newborough’s history: it was a major source of income from mat, basket and rope making; and it protected the village from being buried by the vast dunes

Bridgewater after the drought

 

A Penguin at Sudley

 

The midnight penguin designed by Rosalind Hargreaves is one of the remaining penguins from the 2009 public art extravaganza Liverpool with the appearance of 135 individually designed giant penguins around the city centre.Sudley House is a historic house in Aigburth, Liverpool, England. Built in 1824 and much modified in the 1880s, it is now a museum and art gallery which contains the collection of George Holt, a shipping-line owner and former resident, in its original setting. It includes work by Thomas Gainsborough, Joshua Reynolds, Edwin Landseer, John Everett Millais and J. M. W. Turner

Wide Angle of the Lily Terrace

 

The five beautiful garden levels were carved out of the grassy hillside which sloped westward down from Bodnant Hall to the valley of the River Hireathlyn; taking in unparalleled views of the Carneddau mountains beyond. What was little more than a steeply sloping lawn just over a century ago – and before that pasture land – is now our Top Rose Terrace, Croquet Terrace, Lily Terrace, Lower Rose Terrace and Canal Terrace,

Meadow Brown in the Meadow Bodnant.

 

One of my favourite places at Bodnant is the meadow. It is a calm tranquil place in the garden away from the crowds. June marks the arrival of the early butterflies feeding on the knapweed flowers.

RHS Botanical Art and Photography Show, Saatchi Gallery , London.

 

What an honour to have a set of images on display in the Saatchi Gallery in London as part of the RHS Botanical Art and Photography Show.

Bodnant from a different angle.

 

Situated within the terrace gardens is a bust to the great-uncle of Anne McLaren, Walter Stowe Bright McLaren, a Liberal MP who is remembered for his support for women’s rights to citizenship. He died in 1912

A dry day at Bridgewater.

 

In contrast to last years lush gardens at Bridgewater. This year was more of a dull and dusted Landscape especially in my favourite place the Paradise Garden. It is very very rare that I come away from the garden and my best picture is that taken in the gift shop. These are these glass vases were backlit as we left for the evening.

A phone that does raw files.

Photography these days is more a case of technology rather than traditional camera makes to know.We know have iPhones which intake raw files. My iPhone 14  can now produce files of 45 megapixels. A lot of cameras don't have so many pixels. Is it now time to change and let technology take over.

Head butting sheep on the Carneddau

 

     It's rather unusual to see to sheep, having a scrap in the summer months.

Bridgewater.

 It was great to be back at Bridgewater again. The tulips were only just coming into flower, but it was a lovely evening and the garden was full of Camassia flowers.

Eurovision in Liverpool.

The Soloveiko Songbirds – which will have accompanied audio to represent different regions of Ukraine and are designed with unique plumage – are one of the 24 commissions announced by EuroFestival on Tuesday. The nightingale is a national bird of Ukraine.

Last year, Ukraine won Eurovision with Kalush Orchestra but due to the ongoing Russian invasion is unable to host the song contest so the UK has stepped after Sam Ryder came second.

From Ukrainian food and drink, live music events to creative pop-ups, the jewel in Royal Albert Dock’s programme is the installation of a 10-metre artwork, ‘Floating Earth’, which will shine brightly in the dock from 28th April – 18th May. 

The piece, by artist Luke Jerram, uses detailed NASA imagery of the Earth’s surface, and provides visitors with the opportunity to see our planet floating gently in three dimensions – creating Liverpool’s most incredible backdrop.

Superlambanana receives makeover ahead of Eurovision

The iconic Liverpool sculpture has been given a new colour scheme one for each of the countries in the contest. This the Ukranian one.

Speak Hall

 Although we have lived on Merseyside for the last five years, this is the first time we have ever visited Speke Hall. A rare Tudor manor with a Victorian personality. Home to a priest hole, Gothic Revival furniture and William Morris wallpaper. Speke Hall is a wood-framed wattle-and-daub Tudor manor. It is one of the finest surviving examples of its kind. It is owned by the National Trust and is a Grade I listed building.

Summer in Paradise.

 2022 was a good year for my flower photography. This week I was honoured to be invited to exhibit at the Saatchi Gallery in London as part of the RHS Botanical Art and Photography Show.

Copper on Blue

 Another Gold Medal for "Copper on Blue ", this time in the member's section of Southport Photographic Society, 76th National Open Exhibition.

Northern Lights in Southport !

 

Yes aurora borealis, this was taken from Marshside in Southport by Vic's on his way back from the camera club.

Is 2023 a good year for aurora borealis?

During the solar maximum, there is a more significant activity, which increases the possibility of seeing more frequent geomagnetic storms and strong Northern Lights at lower latitudes. In 2023, we are getting closer to the solar maximum of cycle number 25, so it's considered a good year to see the Aurora.

Oops!... I Did It Again

 Oops!... I Did It Again - Right hand this time, so I am playing catch up with my iPhone, no 100-400ml lens for a while.

Llandudno Pier Sunset

 

We searched for snow in Snowdonia but ended up in Llandudno for this beautiful sunset over the pier. The iPhone jpeg makes a better initial image than my 45MP R5 can produce which makes you wonder.

Icy Bodnant

 A beautiful winter's day at Bodnant, we have never seen Pin Mill and the Canal Terrace iced over. Sadly most of the garden want accessible due to the ice and to prevent the grass from being damaged by people walking on the frozen grass.