Westcountry wanderings » Rain

Winter walking on the moors

nigel — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 09:17:08 +0000

As is usual at this time of the year many of the hits on this blog are related to snow on Dartmoor. There has been very little this year and so far nothing that has been worthwhile photographically speaking. It looked as though there was a little on the high/northern areas the other day but not much and it has been rather grey for good photography. This blog relates to a walk ten days ago when the advance forecast looked pretty good. The night before it had changed to “showers in the afternoon and wintry on high ground” however we decided to try and make the most of it and were out quite early.

We walked in to the south east moors from Reddacleave Kiln area and headed north to go around the back of the Avon dam reservoir. It was cold but sunny and the moors had that wintry feel which I love. everything seems somewhat muted and we didn’t see another person all the time we were out.

We headed up the Western Wella brook towards Huntingdon Warren. This smallholding provided food for the local tin mine and the warrens would have provided a good supply of meat in the form of rabbits. The enclosed ground seen above is the main part of the farm – the remains of the buildings are just out of sight to the right of the tree. Some remain of the workings can be seen down the valley with the tip of the reservoir in the distance on the right.

We headed up to the top of the hill behind Huntingdon Warren to the wonderfully named “Heap of sinners” which is a fairly large cairn and decided to stop for an early lunch break. The above image was our view. It captures the winter bleakness of the moors quite well for me. As I am enjoying a little more image manipulation these days I’ve taken quite a bit of the colour out of this really only leaving reduced levels of blue and orange/yellow. To me that has enhanced that wintry feel a little.

Getting to our feet after eating it must have been just about midday… This was the view in the direction we were heading. A brief conversation suggested a change of plan was wise but by the time we had put on a layer or two more the rain was with us, it became very cold and we got quite wet in the following half hour.

Hitting the main track running down the ridge in the direction of the car we looked back. Rainbows are seen quite frequently however this one was nicely placed on the top of Pupers and all too often the weather is not the best for using the camera. The weather bot north and west of us suggested that heading on back to the car would be wise.

A few minutes later there was a full rainbow the right hand end of which can be seen here. Despite the wide angled nature of my lens I couldn’t get the whole rainbow in sadly. This was the last shot of the day as the next batch of weather hit us immediately after this. We agreed that the hail that came then was a little painful when it hit! Overall a good winter walk however also a reminder that even the nice looking days can change quite quickly on Dartmoor.

Walking the Redlake tramway

nigel — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:59:42 +0000

Out for a walk a couple of weeks back now we decided to wander up the Redlake tramway on southern Dartmoor. This was originally used by a small railway line which served the china clay works at Redlake however work stopped there in 1933 and there has been no rails there in my lifetime. It is actually not the best walking surface however it is usually less wet than the surrounding moorland.

The “watery” sunlight in the top image shows that we got some sun however it was weak and the weather was more than variable. The two images above were both taken just after we set off from the car near Ivybridge. The left hand image shows that weak winter sun on the South Hams while the right hand image, which looks a little left of the left hand one, shows the interface between the good weather and the rain more.

Walking up the tramway we left it to head a little right handed at the base of Three Barrows (so named as it has three barrows at the summit). It is one of the highest points of the moor in that area so gives – on a clear day – great views over the surrounding area. The above image is taken part way up to the top and looking back south the way we had come. The tramway can be seen lower down the hill heading off to the left.

Taken from the top of Three Barrows this looks roughly west over the valley of the river Erme. The low winter light creates good contrast in the shadows here. The small broken up granite in the foreground is known as “clitter” and is a regular facet of Dartmoor tors formed be erosion.

Dropping off Three Barrows north towards the tramway as the moorland was both rough and very wet around here, we reached the old china clay works at Leftlake which is roughly halfway to Redlake. The remains are quite significant here and the pool seen above is where the granite was washed out to get the china clay. An old bridge allows the tramway to cross the water course that flows out from the pool to the river Erme. I have seen otters here but there was no signs of wildlife today.

We walked further north but at one point the actual tramway turned into something of a river which does happen in wet conditions so we decided to turn west and head down to the valley of the river Erme. The image above epitomises this part of the moors in winter for me. The ground is very rough with large tussocks of the straw coloured grass and rare patches of green. As can be seen it is fairly featureless other then the obvious valley of the river and I guess it is not a very hospitable place for a fair weather walker. However both my companion and I have been roaming the moors for many years enjoying both better and worse conditions than this and we agreed more than once on this walk that we preferred winter conditions frequently even if it can be very wet. This was almost the last real sun we saw!

It did start raining from time to time after this and the camera was in and out of its case quite a bit. In the winter the days are quite short so we started heading south down the valley of the Erme intending to strike up left lower down and get back to the tramway around Leftlake again. The above image capture the valley of the lower part of the Erme on Dartmoor quite well and the clouds in the distance that looked like rain were just that.

We got back on the tramway as planned and headed south on it for a while forking left near Hangershell Rock to go down the spine of the ridge. Stopping for a drink in relatively benign condition at Butterdon, one of the high points on the way back, we sat enjoying the views. There was sunlight on the sea (the English Channel) with lines of cloud and rain moving from west to east across the South Hams. I could have filled this blog with the image I took from there – the light, colour and drama of the weather was something very special and we probably stayed longer then we intended. It certainly was a very good winter walk.

A “footnote”

When my friend spotted this I said that this image would make a good footnote and we both laughed – maybe others will enjoy the humour too. This single boot was some 3 miles up the the tramway and there was no sign of anything else left abandoned nearby. We saw no one with a missing boot and still had both of ours when we got back – there is a back story to this .

Changeable weather around Dawlish Warren

nigel — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 10:00:59 +0000

It was time to get back to the coast again after some nice walks on Dartmoor. There was only one day in the week when the forecast was for good weather so we headed over to Dawlish Warren. My last blog was from the summer of 2010 and is here. When we arrived it was a clear and pleasant winter’s day.

The sand along the warren and dunes is under constant threat of erosion by the sea and so there are groynes placed along the beach to try and prevent the sand being washed away.

I’ve not blogged many wide angle images for a while now although I continue to use and enjoy the ultra wide angle lens I have. This shows a tangle of rope around the base of an older groyne with a more modern one in the distance and has the characteristic “distortion” that can be created with such a lens. Some people would consider it is the “wrong” way to use such a lens and others that is an interesting effect – I am one of the latter!

I do love the sense of wide open space that you find along such coasts and this shot was intended to capture that. In the foreground of the photo are the remains of a couple of wooden posts which I imagine were the remnants of even older groynes.

After walking to the point and looking over to Exmouth on the other side of the Exe estuary we turned to head back. There were quite a few wading birds around as well as geese and some bird watchers watching them. Looking to the south it was obvious that the weather was changing. A minute or so after I took this one I put the camera away and only just in time – the rain came down and it rained quite steadily all the way back along the beach.

After a coffee at the bar on the edge of the beach we emerged to find that the rain had passed. The light in the clouds added something to this scene and the arch in the cliff can be seen in the photo. While not taken at exactly the same spot this photo can be compared with the one at the top of the blog. Just the other side of the cliff is the beach at Dawlish. However, despite the changeable weather, we had had a good walk and headed back to dry off the walking gear.

Light on water

nigel — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 16:47:37 +0000

Having caught up with the backlog of the holiday snaps I started working on the relatively small number I’ve taken since I’ve been back and wondering about my next post. These are not all taken on the same day but I realised that on a number of days I’d taken photos that were effectively on a theme – light on water. The above looks from Paignton towards Berry Head.

I guess it is partly the time of year with a lower angle of the sun and less good weather however I do love the coast and the play of light on the water. The one above is taken from Preston and shows a windsurfer spotlighted on a stormy autumn day.

Shooting into the light has its problems. All too often a shot will be out of sensor range. A camera sensor can only get the exposure (roughly) right over a fixed range of light. Outside this range there will either be black with no actual content or white similarly. This may or may not be considered “wrong” by some people however I do like to catch what I see and so I have no real issue with this if most of the image has valid content and portrays what I want it to. The above – shot from Goodrington looking towards Berry Head – is a good example. It is not a “perfect” image with some parts of the image over or under exposed. The limitations of the camera also mean that the quality is not as perfect as I would wish but it conveys the scene I saw in the way that seems correct to me (& I like it!).

These shots were taken over a number of days and while mostly they are taken in Torbay the one above was taken on Slapton sands looking towards the lighthouse at Start Point. The light on the water really had a sparkle to it.

I find I do tend to look for “good weather” images but the one above is a reminder to me of how wrong that approach can be. Taken from Preston Sands with Berry Head just visible the rain that is coming in can be seen (& it rained shortly after I took the picture). The contrast between the better weather and the rain is quite striking.

And finally – I’d watched this person flying their kite for a while. I was looking for a good shot of them and got one or two with the kite in the air and in sunlight. However this one seemed to catch the mood of the weather (which kept changing) at the time. This was taken from Preston Sands.

Evening storm

nigel — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:55:36 +0000

On a Wednesday night I will often walk with friends on Dartmoor however it has rained quite a lot recently so we decided to take a shorter walk in the Bay.

This shows the storm approaching.

There was a fairly brief storm, rain, hail, sleet (which we did not shelter for!) and this shows the storm having just passed us heading out to sea.

The aftermath of the storm clouds out at sea, in the dusk, can be seen here.

A walk frustrated

nigel — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 17:16:04 +0000

Another of those days when I set out in hope of a walk. This time I had not driven far before I realised I was unlikely to get much of a walk in and I planned to be back for the afternoon to watch the rugby so my time was a bit limited.

The original idea had been to look around the old tin mine workings near the Warren House Inn including those around Birch Tor. The weather when I got there did not look good nor likely to change much. The above image looks west and the weather was coming from this direction.

I did walk up to one of the old shafts on Water Hill (appropriate) and the above was my view from there. You can even see the spots of rain that were on my lens at the time.

At times the visibility and the light were far better as can be seen here but these moments were rare. Kes Tor rock is on the right with Cosdon Beacon in the distance in the centre. The water on the ground shows just how wet the moors are at present. I guess it will be a few days before this has drained never mind dried out.

The advantage was that there were some times of drama in the view from the light, clouds and skies.

I did get this view of the Headland Warren and Challacombe down area. There was a brief moment of sunshine which allowed me to get the three images that make up this one. The trees in the centre foreground are where the warren house is. To the right the deep grooves of the old (open) tin workings can be seen. On Challacombe the remains of an old strip field system can been seen however this is best seen when the light is low in the early morning or at dusk.

For some people the weather was a positive advantage though. Plenty of people were out canoeing on the River Dart – here at New Bridge.

Even more water

nigel — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:08:18 +0000

A quick post and a follow up to a couple of other ones. It has continued to rain heavily for some days now. My last post here showed the water level at salmon leap on the River Dart a week back. This is the same spot yesterday.

The concrete channel – seen in both the other images – is now completely underwater although it can just be seen where it catches the light in the foreground to the right of the image.

The other spot can be seen in this post. The bench seen in that post looked like this yesterday.

Certainly not possible to sit on it. The forecast is for some better weather coming now so hopefully I’ll get out for some shots though I think the ground will be very wet everywhere for a while.

The volume of water

nigel — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:18:22 +0000

The UK has been suffering from some fairly substantial rainfall over the past week or so (high winds too). The Westcountry has not been as badly affected as the north west for example but rivers have risen substantially and there has been some flooding.

I’ve wanted to try and get out to capture some pictures of the rivers and – between heavy showers – I got out today along the river Dart. The first area which I stopped at was “salmon leap” which is a fish ladder on the river Dart allowing first to get to the upper reaches of the river for breeding. Hopefully the images are sufficiently contrasting to given some idea of the increased flow of the river.

I then moved closer to Totnes to check on two places I have photographed quite regularly in differing conditions. The first spot is actually a field although confusion on that would be understandable!

A little further down the river Dart, just above Totnes, is a weir which is the highest tidal point on the river. Again the difference can be seen.

We are fortunate here – the weather has mostly been an inconvenience. There are places in the UK where people are far less fortunate and will be homeless for some time to come. They are in our thoughts.