Following up on the beachcombing from a few days ago we wandered the seafront in Preston and Paignton yesterday in some good winter light. The tide was a little high for any further rock pool work but there were things happening as we walked along the beach.
The jetski activity was definitely eye catching. A number of riders were running jetskis around the bay and jumping waves.
They also came back down again too.
Given that there was not much surf the low number of surfers was not surprising. However those that were out seemed to be doing well.
One of those days when the weather was better than we had expected it would be so we decided to get out in the winter sun. We had not walked along the coast in Torbay for a while so we headed to Broadsands and parked there and walked around the coast to Elberry Cove.
This holds many memories from my childhood. It was a place I walked to and swam from many times. The “beach” itself is really one of quite large pebbles but with the tide out some of the sands were exposed. As importantly there were also rock pools to look into. The colours on the anemone in the rock pool were stunning.
Few people were out despite the fact that it was a good day so we were able to explore uninterrupted. Some of the rocks and the colours could be seen as abstract art and were very attractive.
A final bonus returning to the car was a buzzard sat on one of the posts on the road side when we first saw him. By the time I had the camera out he had flown to the ground and this shot is zoomed quite a bit.
I had a text message from my daughter who lives out of my area the other evening saying there was a lovely rose coloured sky. I replied that there was here also and I’d just taken some photos.
The weather forecast was for sun… Never trust weather forecasts in the Westcountry! Heading for Kingsbridge last week and planning to head down towards Hope Cove for some coastal images it became obvious that the day was not going to be as forecast. Looking at the head of the estuary at Kingsbridge the winter light is clearly in evidence.
Moving on with the change of plan I passed Frogmore Creek which leads into the main estuary and found a family of swans. The three young ones, while large now, show the juvenile plumage clearly and for a while there was some sun.
By the time I got to Torcross there were odd glimpses of the sun but they were brief. The light on the waves was lovely and the blue of the rock there was very attractive (I have many more shots to prove that!).
Looking back towards Start Point there is that real “winter feel” to the view, cold and a little misty with what sun there is failing to really light the scene or warm the day.
While overall the countryside still looks rather faded and winter like a trip to Dartington Hall gardens yesterday showed that there are the start of signs of Spring.
In addition to the snowdrops (the scent was lovely) the shoots of a number of bulbs indicated that the next few weeks should have some colour in them. I will be back there again.
Out and about locally yesterday gave some differing and interesting light conditions. In the morning I was in Torbay wandering around on the coast.
The combination of the light and cloud over the Berry Head headland were very striking (and appealing). The light on a sea that was quite calm also looked good.
The conditions continued (& continued to vary) for quite some time. In the one above the clouds and crepuscular rays coupled with the light were just crying out for attention.
Later on in the day I wandered about locally and found some nice rural settings. There was a sense in which the landscape had a winter washed out look. However the clouds and sky are more definite with some incoming (wet) weather.
No photos, not local, no apology.
Haiti in general and Port-au-Prince in particular have a major humanitarian crisis due the the earthquake yesterday.
There may be little we can do to help directly but there are organisations who are in a position to help if we can contribute even small amounts of money. There is the appeal from SOS villages to help orphans there. I am no lover of big organisations but the Disasters Emergency Committee can help co-ordinate efforts and funds.
On a more local basis Shelterbox provides vital assistance in many such disasters so contributions here will always help someone in similar circumstances in the future. The chances are that your problems are relatively small compared with the people of Haiti – thanks for reading.
This posting pre-dates the previous two in practice but I had not had a chance to work on the images I took until now. Just after the new year (but before the big snow) I drove up through the country (M5/M6). The previous night had seen some of the lowest temperatures. Close to Worcester we stopped at the service station and while the others were having some food and drink I was out with the camera catching the extreme frost on the trees. Sadly some of the best views across the countryside were while I was driving!
Arriving close to Burnley the snow was far thicker and continued to fall most of the time I was there. There was little opportunity to get out to take photographs sadly but I did manage to get a few.
I liked the looming wind turbines here looking quite ghostly in the snow. Equally the next image is of Pendle Hill. The summit is the lightest part of the white that is not actually sky!
The light was going when I got this but it was a lovely scene.
I hope to go that way again later in the year for some images in better visibility but without the snow. While it makes for interesting images the driving was not good at times. The run back – without any images – was not bad as most people seemed to have heeded advice the stay off the roads.
Today with very low temperatures in the UK and in the Westcountry (-14 deg C locally on the news and -7 deg C at my house overnight) I was not sure how far on to the moors I would be able to get. I had planned to go out with a friend however the uncertainty meant the plans had to change sadly and I walked on my own.
Given the fact that I imagined many people would head to Hey Tor I went that way and found the roads clear generally. However I prefer the tranquillity of the moors so I went past there towards Widecombe and parked at the top of the hill leading there.
I headed north on foot towards Bonehill rocks and then went on to Bell tor and Chinkwell.
From there I turned and headed east towards the Hey tor areas again and took a wide circle back to the car. In one or two places I was up to my knees in snow that had drifted, in many places I was the first being – human or otherwise – to have walked across the snow. It was very cold indeed, the temperature when I left the car was -1 deg C and the wind chill was noticeable but the walk in those conditions was reward enough.
Some 100+ images later including a number of panoramas I was back at the car having enjoyed it thoroughly (& with an eye to getting out again tomorrow!). Hopefully some of the panoramas will make it to Commons soon.
A couple of short walks today produced some nice pictures. Looking over Totnes towards the south of the moors gave me this one.
Looking up the River Dart at Totnes showed how cold it was last night. Bear in mind that the Dart is tidal and so salty at this point so the ice that can be seen must be a little unusual at the very least. The temperature outside my house got to -6.9 C last night.
And more today (08/01/10)
Another cold night (-7 deg C) saw more ice on the River Dart.
