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Blog

My Adventures

St Cuthberts Cross, Berwick Upon Tweed and Bamburgh Castle


Northumberland 2021: Part One

26 May 2021

So, a job in Northumberland meant that I had a new county to explore! I drove up the day before (leaving less than an hour after my second covid injection) as the agent had very kindly arranged a covid test first thing for me, parked up in a nearby layby to get some sleep after the long drive and was at the testing site first thing. Fortunately for me, one of the crew signing us in and guiding us on where to go, happened to be a local. As we got chatting, he suggested several locations that were worth going to, and I left aiming for the closest, St Cuthberts Cross and Church Island in Alnmouth. The car park he directed me to was no longer available, as the road to it has now been blocked off, but I found a nearby spot and started the hike down to church hill. The weather wasn’t particularly promising, but it actually suited the shot I hoped for with the Cross, so I wasn’t put off just yet. I pushed on past the little derelict chapel I noted at the bottom of the hill, aiming to get that as I came back, and breached the top of the hill at a fairly windy and cloudy moment. My intention to try and get a shot of a moody cloud streaking across the sky towards the cross, but I haven’t actually worked out how to get a shot like that. Seems wind/cloud direction and speed are a big factor! I tried several shots, most didn’t give it the bleak, lonely feel I wanted, because the background looked full and populated, but I finally found a spot I liked and ending up squatting down in a grassy part down the side of the hill. Several people passed through on daytime walks with their dogs, but everyone was lovely, and they all moved out of my shot really quickly. I guess this is obviously a popular spot! It also seems most photographers get nice sunrise or sunset shots from here, but where its up high and alone, I wanted a shot with a colder, empty, lonely feel to it. Although close to what I envisioned, my shot wasn’t quite what I hoped for a) because the clouds were blowing across the scene rather than into it and b) they were moving so slowly despite the wind, that I simply couldn’t get the effect no matter how hard I tried! I decided that I would have to retry another time but for now I was getting battered a bit by the winds where I was so exposed, so I decided I would try the little church lower down.

St Cuthberts Cross, Alnmouth

This little hill by the way is called Church Hill, and the cross is believed to mark the spot where in 684, the former monk and prior, Cuthbert, agreed to leave his life as a solitary hermit, and to become the bishop of Lindisfarne after King Ecgfrith of Deria and Northumberland petitioned him in person. He died a few years later in March 687, and was subsequently venerated to become Saint Cuthbert, one of the most popular saints in medieval England. I have no idea when this cross was first placed here, but this particular one certainly didn’t look ancient. If they are always made of wood they must eventually rot being exposed like this, so, I guess, must also need regular replacement. Its a nice spot to visit though, being high up on its own little hill, and surrounded by wetlands, with views across the river and coast that are well worth exploring.

Down this hill a little, near the bottom, are the ruins of a small mortuary chapel built around 1870. In the grey weather, I tried a couple of different positions, but the scene was a little flat no matter where I stood. As I contemplated what I could do here, two elderly gents passed by and got chatting with me. ‘Where is your accent from?’ asked one eventually. I have never been asked where I was from like that before, and for a brief second I stopped to wonder what accent (!!) We chatted for ages, and the men offered several other location ideas that I could visit, most already on my list, but it was good to hear confirmations on them, and recommendations for new ones! They went on their way, (actually inside the ruins) to have their lunch, and I noted a glimmer of sunlight trying to poke through onto my scene. This showed that the side I stood on was all in shadow, so I moved round and took a photo from the other side, which caught another, smaller, glimmer of light, and this time a hint of some moving cloud. The sun didn’t reappear again but I could see that above the low cloud, there were patches of blue coming. I waited for a while, but sunshine clearly wasn’t going to happen anytime soon here, and I ended up feeling that this whole location might actually be better at a high tide, with a nice warm morning or evening sun anyway. So I ended here and headed back to the camper for some lunch.

The small derelict chapel at the bottom of Church Hill.

As I sat in the camper making lunch and thinking of where to go, I decided that as I had a few days, maybe I should just start at the top, and work my way down, simply exploring and working out locations for now. Once I finished eating, I looked at my map, and headed up to the top of Northumberland and to Berwick upon Tweed in particular.

The drive up was really easy – one road pretty much! As I drove, the dark sky was to my left and lighter blue was coming through to my right. At one point I passed a sight that I have ever since kicked myself for not stopping at. Not that I could have done so easily from the dual carriageway I was driving on. It was the striking sight of a very dark sky, with the sun shining brightly on 3 white wind farm windmills, and lighting up the grassy hill in front into a lush green colour. It was a surprisingly beautiful and simple sight of something I would never consider photographing… but alas, it disappeared into the distance in my rear view mirror as I sped away at 60 mph. Its still in my head though, and I remember where it was – so should I ever get lucky and spot that sight again, I will make sure I stop!

As my drive on continued, I altered my course slightly. Before I hit Berwick, I decided to drive on another 5 minutes to just step (literally) into Scotland, simply because I randomly fancied getting as far north of England as I possibly could, and solely for s**ts and giggles – well since it was so close, why on earth not eh?! (is this work or a holiday? – does it actually matter?!!) I sent photos to the family of my feet in both countries, looked at the little bit of wall there, and tried to follow the route it would have taken with my eyes, since we are not able to follow it with our feet. There really wasn’t much else there to mark this otherwise important position, so the stop didn’t last much more than 5 Minutes itself. Childish giggles for myself over, I drove down to find my location.

Berwick Upon Tweed was on my list because I had seen a boat sculpture, a viaduct and a bit of the old castle all fairly close to each other and I hoped to find them to see if I could get them to work in one shot. I parked up and went on a recce trip, leaving all my kit in the camper (I suspected this site would look best at sunset.. which was still several hours away) I travelled through a really lovely park bit that was beautifully set out and very peaceful, and found the three elements for my hoped for composition very easily. I explored what I could, taking photos with my mobile but I couldn’t find a way to get all 3 elements in the shot together in a pleasing way (to my eye), so I just sat on the boat and relaxed instead. If only I were a few feet taller! This area was just SO peaceful though. Despite being in a big town, I could only hear birds and the tide lapping at the shore – it was an incredibly beautiful spot. The sun finally made a stronger appearance, and I found myself here for over an hour just taking in the calm and warm sunshine. I reminded myself that I was just 24 hours after the jab, so was mindful not to overdo anything -this weather and location being perfect to help encourage me to take things easy.

Awww… If only I was a few feet taller so I could separate the boat from the bridge!

As I sat I realised the tide was actually going out, and that by the time sunset would be here, the view might largely be mud rather than a nice reflective water. Since I hadn’t brought down my kit anyway I decided to just rack this one up as a place ‘yet to do’, and I picked another location for the evening. As the sky had mostly cleared, I thought there might be a chance for a nice sunset, so picked a location I thought might work perfectly, and one I had been dying to see in person. Bamburgh Castle – a castle photographed a huge number of times and one that was sure to look great regardless of what happened with the weather. I hoped this would be as equal a corker location for me, as it clearly had been for all the other photographers whose pictures I had admired. The drive was very easy (as were all the locations along this coastline I found!) and the walk to the beach was equally so. I was standing in position within a few minutes of parking and taking in the wondrous sight that was reflected perfectly in the wet sand where the tide was on its way out.

I wasn’t alone either, there was another couple here, both with their tripods out, Peter and Caroline, and we happily got chatting about the view, our experiences, locations we had visited and our kits. (Peter had the most awesome lightweight tripod, Caroline had the same Benro geared head on hers as I had!) They had been here a number of times before, coming up to Northumberland from Cornwall regularly to tour and get photos of areas they loved. They suggested a number of further sights for me to try, most, again, on my list, and a couple that weren’t. The longer we waited for the sunset though, the quicker the cloud in the sky dissipated sadly, until we were left with a clear blue sky and nothing to reflect the sunset colour. We all tried what we could however, and even though it was disappointing, at least we had a beautiful warm colour on the castle itself, and I had already manage a lovely reflection shot with some interesting cloud, when I’d first arrived.

First ever view of Bamburgh castle!

Mildly disappointed it wasn’t looking like I would get a colourful sunset cloud, I looked behind me to see where the sun was in relation to the horizon (would there be enough time for any cloud to form?!!) and was in awe of the sight. It was just dipping behind the little lighthouse here, throwing the evening sky and sand into deep oranges over to the west, and silhouetting another photographer standing right behind me, that I hadn’t noticed turn up. She was a younger woman, very much focussed on what she was doing, chatting quietly with a man who was with her, so I didn’t distract her with conversation of my own (I tend to talk a lot sometimes!!) She was photographing the view I was looking at, and definitely had the right idea though, so I swung my camera around to capture this sight instead, photographing them in the scene (see header pic). I then stepped to her side and photographed the lighthouse as well. Seconds later the sun was gone, and the colour immediately dimmed with it.

I messaged a friend who told me that there was going to be a supermoon that night, and when I excitedly brought up my Photopils app, it looked like the moon may well come up behind the castle at around 1am!! Exhilarated at the prospect of a nice moon and castle shot, I decided to stay put with the camper and come out a little later. Within the hour however, there was heavy cloud on the horizon and by midnight the sky was covered… this wiped away any chance of seeing any stars and definitely not a supermoon. 🙁

The sun setting behind Bamburgh Lighthouse

With my options stripped, I just went to sleep where the camper was. Perhaps by dawn the sky might be clear….

 

 

 

Index of Locations

Index of Highland Locations

 


For anyone interested in reading about any specific locations, I have made you a new category – ‘Index of Locations’. (you can find categories to your right)

In these, I have assembled a list of the areas that I have blogged about, and put them in alphabetical order so that you can find the one you want easier. Wading through blogs can be hard work if you are only looking for one or two specific places, so on these you can now find the particular area(s) you want to read about, and click on the link which will take you directly to the relevant blog(s). When I revisit and write about a second or even third trip to any location, I will be constantly updating these indexes to show all the relevant blogs for you. These will be done by UK County (or municipality if I eventually get abroad)

In a few locations where there was a lot to see in one small place… I will add a separate index. One of these was Skye. Technically in the Highlands, there were too many places not to separate this beautiful Isle out, and I have every intention of revisiting and exploring some more! (in cases like this, I will also link the index into the relevant county)

I hope this proves helpful!

Achnambeith Cottage          https://knightshoots.com/2020/08/27/achnambeithach-cottage-corpach-and-castle-sinclair-girnigoe/

Achscrabster Quarry           https://knightshoots.com/2020/09/17/bucholi-castle-westerdale-mill-and-achsrabster-quarry/

Applecross                               https://knightshoots.com/2021/02/15/highland-wildlife-applecross-and-the-bealach-na-ba-viewpoint/

Ardessie Falls                         https://knightshoots.com/2021/01/27/ardessie-falls-gruinard-bay-gairloch-beach-loch-maree/

Ardvrek Castle                        https://knightshoots.com/2020/12/20/wailing-widow-falls-ardvrek-castle-inchnadamph/

Ardvrek Castle                        https://knightshoots.com/2020/12/31/ardvrek-castle-wee-hoose-sputie-burn-and-big-burn-waterfalls/

Ardvrek Castle                        https://knightshoots.com/2021/01/10/ardvrek-castle-drumbeg-clashnessie/

Bealach na ba Viewpoint   https://knightshoots.com/2021/02/15/highland-wildlife-applecross-and-the-bealach-na-ba-viewpoint/

Big Burn Waterfall               https://knightshoots.com/2020/12/31/ardvrek-castle-wee-hoose-sputie-burn-and-big-burn-waterfalls/

Blackwater falls                      https://knightshoots.com/2021/02/25/glen-docherty-viewpoint-3-lochs-blackwater-falls-and-fyrish-monument/

Bridge of Oich                         https://knightshoots.com/2021/04/11/glen-affric-fort-augustus-bridge-of-oich-and-invergarry-castle/

Buachaille Etive Mor             https://knightshoots.com/2021/04/28/buachaille-etive-mor-ralstons-cairn-glencoe-lochan-and-kinlochleven/

Bucholi Castle                         https://knightshoots.com/2020/09/10/whaligoe-steps-keiss-castle-and-bucholie-castle/

Bucholi Castle                       https://knightshoots.com/2020/09/17/bucholi-castle-westerdale-mill-and-achsrabster-quarry/

Carrbridge                                https://knightshoots.com/2021/03/28/carrbridge-foyers-falls-and-studhe-viewpoint/

Castle Sinclair Girnigoe     https://knightshoots.com/2020/08/27/achnambeithach-cottage-corpach-and-castle-sinclair-girnigoe/

Castle Sinclair Girnigoe     https://knightshoots.com/2020/08/30/noss-head-lighthouse-geo-bay-and-castle-sinclair-girnigoe/

Castle Stalker                          https://knightshoots.com/2021/04/20/glenfinnan-castle-stalker-and-corpatch/

Clashnessie Falls                   https://knightshoots.com/2021/01/10/ardvrek-castle-drumbeg-clashnessie/

Corpach                                     https://knightshoots.com/2020/08/27/achnambeithach-cottage-corpach-and-castle-sinclair-girnigoe/

Corpach                                    https://knightshoots.com/2021/04/20/glenfinnan-castle-stalker-and-corpatch/

Corpach                                     https://knightshoots.com/2021/04/30/corpach-boat-and-lighthouse-and-back-to-glasgow/

Corrieshalloch Gorge         https://knightshoots.com/2021/01/23/reset-day-roadside-snaps-and-corrieshalloch-gorge/

Drumbeg                                   https://knightshoots.com/2021/01/10/ardvrek-castle-drumbeg-clashnessie/

Dunbeath Broch                    https://knightshoots.com/2020/09/03/noss-head-bay-dunbeath-strath-broch-and-prisioners-leap/

Dunbeath Straith                  https://knightshoots.com/2020/09/03/noss-head-bay-dunbeath-strath-broch-and-prisioners-leap/

Dunnet Head                          https://knightshoots.com/2020/10/24/dunnet-head-varrich-castle-and-loch-eriboll/

Fairy Glen Rosemarkie      https://knightshoots.com/2021/03/06/mermaid-of-the-north-rogie-falls-fairy-glen-rosemarkie/

Falls of Divach                        https://knightshoots.com/2021/04/04/suidhe-viewpoint-invermoriston-falls-of-divach-and-plodda-falls/

Fort Augustus                         https://knightshoots.com/2021/04/11/glen-affric-fort-augustus-bridge-of-oich-and-invergarry-castle/

Foyers Falls                             https://knightshoots.com/2021/03/28/carrbridge-foyers-falls-and-studhe-viewpoint/

Fyrish Monument                https://knightshoots.com/2021/02/25/glen-docherty-viewpoint-3-lochs-blackwater-falls-and-fyrish-monument/

Gairloch Beach                      https://knightshoots.com/2021/01/27/ardessie-falls-gruinard-bay-gairloch-beach-loch-maree/

Glen Affric                                https://knightshoots.com/2021/04/11/glen-affric-fort-augustus-bridge-of-oich-and-invergarry-castle/

Glencoe Lochan                      https://knightshoots.com/2021/04/28/buachaille-etive-mor-ralstons-cairn-glencoe-lochan-and-kinlochleven/

Glen Docherty Viewpoint  https://knightshoots.com/2021/02/25/glen-docherty-viewpoint-3-lochs-blackwater-falls-and-fyrish-monument/

Glenfinnan                                https://knightshoots.com/2021/04/20/glenfinnan-castle-stalker-and-corpatch/

Glen Nevis                                 https://knightshoots.com/2021/04/24/glen-nevis-steall-falls-and-torren-lochan/

Gruinard Bay                          https://knightshoots.com/2021/01/27/ardessie-falls-gruinard-bay-gairloch-beach-loch-maree/

Inchnadamph                         https://knightshoots.com/2020/12/20/wailing-widow-falls-ardvrek-castle-inchnadamph/

Invergarry Castle                  https://knightshoots.com/2021/04/11/glen-affric-fort-augustus-bridge-of-oich-and-invergarry-castle/

Invermoriston                        https://knightshoots.com/2021/04/04/suidhe-viewpoint-invermoriston-falls-of-divach-and-plodda-falls/      

Keiss Castle                             https://knightshoots.com/2020/09/10/whaligoe-steps-keiss-castle-and-bucholie-castle/

Kinlochleven                          https://knightshoots.com/2021/04/28/buachaille-etive-mor-ralstons-cairn-glencoe-lochan-and-kinlochleven/

Loch Clair                                 https://knightshoots.com/2021/02/25/glen-docherty-viewpoint-3-lochs-blackwater-falls-and-fyrish-monument/

Loch Coulin                             https://knightshoots.com/2021/02/25/glen-docherty-viewpoint-3-lochs-blackwater-falls-and-fyrish-monument/

Loch Eriboll                            https://knightshoots.com/2020/10/24/dunnet-head-varrich-castle-and-loch-eriboll/

Loch Maree                             https://knightshoots.com/2021/01/27/ardessie-falls-gruinard-bay-gairloch-beach-loch-maree/

Loch Maree                             https://knightshoots.com/2021/02/25/glen-docherty-viewpoint-3-lochs-blackwater-falls-and-fyrish-monument/

Loch Stack                               https://knightshoots.com/2020/11/14/smoo-cave-sango-bay-and-loch-stack/

Mermaid of the North       https://knightshoots.com/2021/03/06/mermaid-of-the-north-rogie-falls-fairy-glen-rosemarkie/

Noss Head Bay                      https://knightshoots.com/2020/09/03/noss-head-bay-dunbeath-strath-broch-and-prisioners-leap/

Noss Head Lighthouse      https://knightshoots.com/2020/08/30/noss-head-lighthouse-geo-bay-and-castle-sinclair-girnigoe/

Plodda Falls                           https://knightshoots.com/2021/04/04/suidhe-viewpoint-invermoriston-falls-of-divach-and-plodda-falls/

Prisoners Leap                    https://knightshoots.com/2020/09/03/noss-head-bay-dunbeath-strath-broch-and-prisioners-leap/

Ralstons Cairn                       https://knightshoots.com/2021/04/28/buachaille-etive-mor-ralstons-cairn-glencoe-lochan-and-kinlochleven/

Rogie Falls                               https://knightshoots.com/2021/03/06/mermaid-of-the-north-rogie-falls-fairy-glen-rosemarkie/

Sango Bay                                https://knightshoots.com/2020/11/14/smoo-cave-sango-bay-and-loch-stack/

Skye                                         https://knightshoots.com/2020/05/21/skye-highlands-scotland/

Skye Index                            https://knightshoots.com/2021/06/22/index-of-skye-locations/

Smoo Cave                               https://knightshoots.com/2020/11/14/smoo-cave-sango-bay-and-loch-stack/

Sputie Burn Waterfall       https://knightshoots.com/2020/12/31/ardvrek-castle-wee-hoose-sputie-burn-and-big-burn-waterfalls/

Steall Falls                               https://knightshoots.com/2021/04/24/glen-nevis-steall-falls-and-torren-lochan/

Suidhe Viewpoint                https://knightshoots.com/2021/03/28/carrbridge-foyers-falls-and-studhe-viewpoint/

Suidhe Viewpoint                https://knightshoots.com/2021/04/04/suidhe-viewpoint-invermoriston-falls-of-divach-and-plodda-falls/

Torren Lochan                      https://knightshoots.com/2021/04/24/glen-nevis-steall-falls-and-torren-lochan/

Varrich Castle                       https://knightshoots.com/2020/10/24/dunnet-head-varrich-castle-and-loch-eriboll/

Wailing Widow Falls         https://knightshoots.com/2020/12/20/wailing-widow-falls-ardvrek-castle-inchnadamph/

Wee Hoose                              https://knightshoots.com/2020/12/31/ardvrek-castle-wee-hoose-sputie-burn-and-big-burn-waterfalls/

Westerdale Mill                   https://knightshoots.com/2020/09/17/bucholi-castle-westerdale-mill-and-achsrabster-quarry/

Whaligoe Steps                    https://knightshoots.com/2020/09/06/wick-lifeboat-house-old-castle-and-walligoe-steps/

Whaligoe Steps                      https://knightshoots.com/2020/09/10/whaligoe-steps-keiss-castle-and-bucholie-castle/

Wick Lifeboat House         https://knightshoots.com/2020/09/06/wick-lifeboat-house-old-castle-and-walligoe-steps/

Wick Lighthouse                 https://knightshoots.com/2020/09/06/wick-lifeboat-house-old-castle-and-walligoe-steps/

Wick Old Castle                   https://knightshoots.com/2020/09/06/wick-lifeboat-house-old-castle-and-walligoe-steps/

Index of Locations

Index of Moray Locations

 


For anyone interested in reading about any specific locations, I have made you a new category – ‘Index of Locations’. (you can find categories to your right)

In these, I have assembled a list of the areas that I have blogged about, and put them in alphabetical order so that you can find the one you want easier. Wading through blogs can be hard work if you are only looking for one or two specific places, so on these you can now find the particular area(s) you want to read about, and click on the link which will take you directly to the relevant blog(s). When I revisit and write about a second or even third trip to any location, I will be constantly updating these indexes to show all the relevant blogs for you. These will be done by UK County (or municipality if I eventually get abroad)

In a few locations where there was a lot to see in one small place… I will add a separate index. One of these was Skye. Technically in the Highlands, there were too many places not to separate this beautiful Isle out, and I have every intention of revisiting and exploring some more! (in cases like this, I will also link the index into the relevant county)

I hope this proves helpful!

Bow Fiddle Rock         https://knightshoots.com/2021/03/11/dulsie-bridge-bow-fiddle-rock/

Bow Fiddle Rock        https://knightshoots.com/2021/03/17/bow-fiddle-rock-craigmin-bridge-craigellachie-bridge-linn-waterfall/

Craigellachie Bridge  https://knightshoots.com/2021/03/17/bow-fiddle-rock-craigmin-bridge-craigellachie-bridge-linn-waterfall/

Craigmin bridge         https://knightshoots.com/2021/03/17/bow-fiddle-rock-craigmin-bridge-craigellachie-bridge-linn-waterfall/

Duffus Castle              https://knightshoots.com/2021/03/24/lossiemouth-duffus-castle-and-findhorn/

Dulsie Bridge              https://knightshoots.com/2021/03/11/dulsie-bridge-bow-fiddle-rock/

Findhorn                      https://knightshoots.com/2021/03/24/lossiemouth-duffus-castle-and-findhorn/

Linn Waterfall            https://knightshoots.com/2021/03/17/bow-fiddle-rock-craigmin-bridge-craigellachie-bridge-linn-waterfall/

Lossiemouth              https://knightshoots.com/2021/03/24/lossiemouth-duffus-castle-and-findhorn/

Index of Locations

Index of Skye Locations


For anyone interested in reading about any specific locations, I have made you a new category – ‘Index of Locations’. (you can find categories to your right)

In these, I have assembled a list of the areas that I have blogged about, and put them in alphabetical order so that you can find the one you want easier. Wading through blogs can be hard work if you are only looking for one or two specific places, so on these you can now find the particular area(s) you want to read about, and click on the link which will take you directly to the relevant blog(s). When I revisit and write about a second or even third trip to any location, I will be constantly updating these indexes to show all the relevant blogs for you. These will be done by UK County (or municipality if I eventually get abroad)

In a few locations where there was a lot to see in one small place… I will add a separate index. One of these was Skye. Technically in the Highlands, there were too many places not to separate this beautiful Isle out, and I have every intention of revisiting and exploring some more! (in cases like this, I will also link the index into the relevant county)

I hope this proves helpful!

Blackwater Falls    https://knightshoots.com/2020/05/20/neist-point-and-blackhill-waterfall/ 

Brides Veil Falls    https://knightshoots.com/2020/05/20/fairy-glen-and-brides-veil-falls/

Bheinn Shuardial  https://knightshoots.com/2020/05/20/loch-fada-and-bhainn-shuardail/

Duntulm Castle     https://knightshoots.com/2020/05/20/duntulm-castle-and-bay/

Dunvegan Castle   https://knightshoots.com/2020/05/20/dunvegan-castle-rha-river-falls-mealt-falls/

Eilean Donan        https://knightshoots.com/2020/05/20/eilean-donan-castle/

Elgol                         https://knightshoots.com/2020/05/20/loch-slapin-elgol-and-portree/

Fairy Glen              https://knightshoots.com/2020/05/20/fairy-glen-and-brides-veil-falls/ 

Fairy Pools             https://knightshoots.com/2020/05/20/fairy-pools/

Lealt Falls              https://knightshoots.com/2020/05/20/lealt-falls-and-old-man-of-stor/

Loch Fada              https://knightshoots.com/2020/05/20/loch-fada-and-bhainn-shuardail/

Loch Slapin            https://knightshoots.com/2020/05/20/loch-slapin-elgol-and-portree/

Mealt Falls             https://knightshoots.com/2020/05/20/dunvegan-castle-rha-river-falls-mealt-falls/

Neist Point             https://knightshoots.com/2020/05/20/neist-point-and-blackhill-waterfall/

Old Man of Stor    https://knightshoots.com/2020/05/20/lealt-falls-and-old-man-of-stor/

Portree                    https://knightshoots.com/2020/05/20/loch-slapin-elgol-and-portree/

Quiraing                 https://knightshoots.com/2020/05/20/the-quiraing/

Rha River Falls     https://knightshoots.com/2020/05/20/dunvegan-castle-rha-river-falls-mealt-falls/

Sligachan               https://knightshoots.com/2020/05/20/sligachan/

Talisker Bay          https://knightshoots.com/2020/05/20/talisker-bay/

My Adventures

Corpach Boat and Lighthouse and Back to Glasgow


Scotlands Highlands 2020: Part Twenty Six

17 & 18 August 2020

So my last location was finally here!

After I ate my food, and checked the weather, I looked out to see big looming clouds building. It didn’t bode well, but at the same time, the sun was still trying to flick in and out. I ended up having a massive debate with myself… Should I try the boat shot after all – or not. I really don’t want to – but this might be your last chance – but I am SOOO tired! – but you might regret it if you don’t, but … and on and on it went for about 10 minutes… full on arguing with myself (!!!) and then, as if some unseen spirit took over my body, I just grabbed my bag and left the camper. Once out I felt the full power of the exhaustion, but told myself that it was just a 5 minute walk, and at least I would have tried to get a classic shot off the bucket list.. even if I didn’t find boats exciting to photograph. The walk wasn’t hard, but I found myself plodding laboriously through the tiredness, and when I got to the boat, I took position and framed up without much enthusiasm. Then suddenly, out of the grim clouds, one beam of light broke through and hit just the boat, nothing else! I couldn’t believe my eyes at the sight. Something boring and drab, suddenly looked magical! I took the shot instantly, and a second, by the third the light was noticeably less, and by the 4th it was gone.

The Corpach Boat. Often photographed, and a definite bucket shot collectors piece for me

At the same time, rather randomly, thoughts of my dad jumped into my head, which I felt very comforted by. Part of me felt he was giving me this – having been a sailor he would have loved this place. Yes I know, that’s probably just me being an emotional softie, looking for meaning in unusual moments, but I have to say, the whole thing suddenly energised me, and I was able to continue working the scene for another hour without any problems… well, that’s not quite true…

The light may have gone, but there was still a great, moody feel about the scene, which I loved. As the clouds behind the boat split further, revealing more of the mountain (which incidently is Ben Nevis), I got all excited and fired off several shots before realising that there was a large family of people that had walked into the scene. I stopped and waited, hoping they would leave quickly, as the higher clouds were beginning to go a gorgeous peachy colour.. ‘this might just kick off!’ I quietly thought/hoped. Half the group split off and climbed onto the boat, and for the next 20 minutes the family took their time venturing all over it (with torches at some points) and all over the shore, while the cloud was doing beautiful things around the mountain. When the party on the boat finally climbed down, I noticed the cloud really picking up colour, glowing incredibly, with the lower cloud staying grey. It looked amazing, but wait… Now the group is posing in front of the boat for photos, this way, that way, and another… lets all look at the photos… lets take some more… this way, that way… and again, and again… I nearly cried as I watched the amazing colour start to fade away, and decided to fire a shot anyway, and just prayed that I could remove each person in the editing stage. The light finally went altogether, and the group left the beach… but wait… what’s that?!! 2 of the group gave me a hearty wave showing me they knew I was there all along…(#@$&#!!!) At the time, I was so frustrated at the inconsiderate way they had just stayed there (when they could have stepped aside while checking their photos at least)… but they had every right to be there of course, and in all honesty, they probably had NO idea that the sky was doing something stunning that I had been desperate to capture. It was one of those great frustrations you occasionally experience being a photographer.

Corpach Boat, just as the colour in the sky was fading.

Shortly after, I too left, as now the light was ebbing away quickly into blackness with the mix of night and building clouds. The promised storm however, never happened thankfully, and I ended up with a really pleasant light rain on the camper for the large part of the night.

The next morning I was up bright and early for the dawn, with my fingers crossed that the tide was high, and the water still. The rain had stopped, the worst of the cloud cover had passed, and it no longer looked angry. There was cloud, but it didn’t heavily blanket the sky any more, so I felt hopeful that I might be a bit lucky. When I turned up, the water was the perfect height, and although not perfectly still, there were continuing moments when calm just crept over the surface in patches. It was fascinating watching this happen, it was almost as if it had a life of its own, breathing in and out across the water. I stood embodying the full levels of emotions in this scene, hope rising and falling with the growing stillness, breathing when a breeze shattered it, holding my breath when the still patches grew, and suddenly, there it was… the scene still and beautiful, and by some miracle it coincided with a glow in the sky and my pressing the trigger on the camera.

Corpach Marina. This was my one and only chance to get this shot. The amazing view doesn’t exist now!

Much as this looked beautiful, I felt a little heartbroken that it wasn’t perfect. (don’t want much do I?!! LOL) There were mounds of soil spoiling it, metal fencing, bright orange diggers and cones all well within the shot. I didn’t have a clue as to what was going on there. I initially thought they were doing some repair work, but I looked it up yesterday, and have seen that they have built a whole new marina here. The only photo I have seen to date, is an aerial one, so I am not totally sure what it might look like now, from the position that I had used. From the air though it looks like the reflection of the two buildings has now been obliterated, as the new bit of marina seems to come out as far as those. That’s not to say it won’t be a beautiful view when they are done – I understand they hope to build a cafe and marina facilities building, which may, or may not, make an awesome reflection for future photographic ventures. As it stands though, this does mean that I will never be able to capture this shot looking like this ever again… and nor will anyone else.

*update… apparently the bit I have seen online, is just phase one… the car park and shop part… they have yet to build a further floating section for up to 45 boats, which, looking at the diagrams, will cover this entire area.

Photo done, this morning left me feeling extremely satisfied and that my journey for this trip, was complete.

I left and drove back to my daughter in Glasgow. I bought a takeaway for us all with the £20 note I had found outside on the very first day, and we chatted about the adventure. We looked River over and found one singular tic on her, which we gently removed, but other than that she had fared extremely well I felt. I enjoyed my first full bath, slept in a real bed and drove home the next day fully rested and ready for home, singing happy songs pretty much all the way.

 

My Adventures

Buachaille Etive Mor, Ralston’s Cairn, Glencoe Lochan and Kinlochleven


Scotlands Highlands 2020: Part Twenty Five

17 August 2020

This morning I hoped to get a very well known shot, that I had already tried in January. To be fair the January shot was really nice and moody, but I wanted a day where there was a full mountain and sun shining on the waterfall in front of it, and indeed, hopefully on the mountain itself. I wanted a happy and cheerful version of the photo instead… Today I was aiming to get the Buachaille Etive Mor waterfall shot I had been dreaming of.

When I awoke, the sun was flicking in and out of the clouds and I felt content that this would be perfect for what I hoped. I gently sorted myself out, had a bit of breakfast, a cup of tea, and left to finally get my shot just before 9. River and I made our way over to the prime shooting spot, and as I approached, I was rather surprised to see that it was photographer free – well that’s a real rarity – but it would mean I would have the place to myself and I would be able to move around freely! Then I looked up skywards, and noticed that the cloud had started to build. I might have been just that little bit too slow getting here, I sadly realised… but the sun did keep trying behind me, and I could see the mountain was clear at least. I wasn’t going to give up hope just yet! – until I got closer however, when I was totally surprised at the sight… there was no water at all!!! I laughed, and looked at River ‘well that explains the lack of photographers here doesn’t it?!’ As if the sun heard me, and wanted to stick its tongue out, it then bathed the Buachaille in beautiful swathes of dappled light. Well you can’t have everything, right? I took those pictures just to remind myself that the sun does shine here, and packed everything back up. I sense that Glencoe will be having a trip entitled ‘take 3’! Lol.

A very moody Buachaille Etive Mor in Jan 2020…
…today though, there was no water in the falls!

I didn’t think much further here, and just went back to the camper. Had I of really thought about it, I could have followed the river along a little, and maybe gotten an entirely different shot. Although I didn’t quite see it from my vantage point, the water hadn’t gone entirely, and I could hear the river flowing in the distance. Oh well, hindsight is a wonderful thing and all that…

Yesterday was about finding a thing I missed on my January visit. Another location I’d missed, was Ralston’s Cairn. It wasn’t too far from here, and after the January trip I had researched its location better, and a parking spot for it, for the future. So today, since the falls had been a bust, I decided that the future was here, and that I would go take a hike to find it. I pulled up at the singular parking spot, which, thankfully, was empty, and readied myself for an uphill hike. I used Google maps to try and find the exact position of the cairn, since it was on there with one of their markers, although I knew from other photos online roughly where it was. I hiked up, following Google until I saw a small building. It had marked this as the cairn, but it definitely wasn’t here. I had a little explore instead, then wandered around a slightly wider area in an attempt to find it. Using a photo I had on my phone, I tried to line up landmarks and wandered up and down in the area for a bit, until I nearly gave up – then I saw it. It was lower than I was, lower than the building marked, and a bit further down than the map had indicated. In fact, it wasn’t far from the start and I had overshot it by quite a bit! I went over and sat down nearby resting and just taking the view from here in thoroughly. On any other day it might have been an absolutely stunning view, but for me right now the cloud had taken root, and there was no sunlight picking out the scenery in front of me. That doesn’t mean to say that it wasn’t still breathtaking however!

View of the Glencoe valley from Ralston’s Cairn

Because the scenery was pretty flat, I thought I would just try to blur it out a little and get the cairn in crisp focus so that it was clearly the point of the image. I thought I would at least try and be a bit creative and deliberate in my shot(!) This wasn’t something I had really tried before, but I wanted the view to still be there, just not as the main subject. It would have been very easy for me to snap a photo taking the whole view in, and if it had been dappled in patches of sunlight I probably would have done that. For now however, I put my aperture onto the widest open that I could (f2.8 on this lens) and took this shot. I can see that it hasn’t blurred the background as much as I hoped though. For those not camera techy, setting the aperture to the smallest number will ‘open’ the lens up to its fullest. This does two things – it lets in a lot more light (so you have to adjust other settings to ensure its not too bright) and it restricts the area of focus. (also called the depth of field) Now, I really struggle to understand the camera settings, and no matter how many times I think I get it, I forget it all very quickly – but this effect almost worked – so maybe some is slowly sinking in after all! I suspect it wasn’t quite as blurry as I hoped in the distance because the subject that I was using to focus on (the cairn) wasn’t as close to the lens as it needed to be for a stronger effect on the deeper background. But if I had been right up close to the cairn, the balance of the photo wouldn’t have been what I wanted either, so this may have to do I think. Of course I may be totally wrong about all this… an experiment trying other ideas will show me otherwise I guess… (or someone advising me of course!)

Ralstons cairn, by the way, is a fairly new one. Its in memory of Ralston Claud Muir, who died suddenly, aged just 32, on 10 January 2000 from a rare form of leukaemia that he didn’t know he had. He loved to climb in the Glen, and his family and friends decided to have his ashes remain here forever, so he would never be far from the area he loved so much. On the marker it says “These are my mountains and I have come home. Ralston” The number of photos taken here, at this exact spot, are a reminder of why he loved this place so much, and will keep both this love and his memory very much alive. I was so very pleased to have finally found it, and sat having a short chat with him before finally making my way back down to Fred – a walk which revealed just how much closer to the start point it actually was.

It was 1.30 by now, so I wondered what I should consider doing next… I had visited Glencoe Lochen in January, but they had drained it at the time to do some urgent repair works. I wasn’t sure if they had finished it (as I couldn’t remember what their timescale was), but I assumed it would be a long job. I decided to go and visit here anyway, just to take a look, and started the drive. Somehow I took a wrong turn and was driving for over half an hour simply enjoying the views over what I now realise was Loch Leven, before I spotted my mistake. I turned back, found the parking spot I had hoped for and went for a gentle stroll around the circuit with River. After the woodland segment of the walk, I reached the lochen to realise that the water had been completely filled again, that it was looking stunning, and that even this late in the day, the water was incredibly still. The cloud had lifted a little in the hour I had been driving, and I was blessed with the odd burst of light across the whole scene. (see header photo) Agh!! I didn’t have my kit with me!! I pondered for a few minutes, but I really couldn’t be bothered to go all the way back for my camera, so I took out my mobile and settled on shots with that instead. The view from a little jetty looked particularly gorgeous this afternoon, and at least I now knew that the work here was all finished and that it would be good for next time right…?

Glencoe Lochen. Fully filled, and looking stunning. A huge difference to January

This was about the walk Sandy… just the calm, peaceful walk… don’t look at it all too closely… enjoy the WALK!!! I was actually fuming with myself that I hadn’t brought my full kit, despite the pep talk – but looking skyward, it was clear that the break in the cloud was only ever going to be fleeting. By the time I had gotten all the way to the camper, and then back here again, this would surely not look like this. Or so I told myself anyway… I don’t know it convinced me however. The walk was wonderful, and despite my frustrations with myself, It was lovely to walk around somewhere beautiful without the weight on my back.

When I left here, it was to go to my final overnight spot, and to be in position for my last morning shot. I had plenty of time now, because I was just thinking of simply going back to park up ready, and relaxing for the evening. As I had the extra time on my hands, I decided to follow the pretty view I had mistakenly taken just before getting here. I paused for a quick stop in Kinlochleven, the village at the top of Loch Leven, when I saw what I thought were big gushing falls into the river that led into the Loch. As I explored I realised it wasn’t a waterfall, but a man made structure, releasing water from something being used much further upstream. I found a board that told about there being a dam further into the hills at Loch Eilde Mor. It said that the demand for Aluminium had grown so rapidly during the first world war that 1200 German POW’s and 500 British soldiers were brought in to build a pipeline from the dam to another – the Blackwater Dam, 5 miles away – to help increase water to the hydro scheme. I wonder if this is the run off from anything to do with that or the Aluminium smelter?

I tried to get closer to see if there was a shot here, but realised fairly quickly that I needed to plan this in properly to be able to work the scene. The flow out was quite chaotic, and the little spur of pebbled bank didn’t really lend itself to a nice enough foreground to balance the power of the gushing water. I went from there to the main bridge, and noticed that behind the commercial wastewater (??) there was the possibility of another shot with a little wooden foot bridge, a small weir (?) and some very gently flowing river. I was feeling too tired to go back and explore further though, so I snapped a photo on my phone, and left it there for today. This tiredness had been building clearly, as it was twice now that I had not bothered this afternoon. The ‘not bothered’ mood struck again very shortly afterwards, when I spotted a small sign pointing the way to a waterfall near where I had parked up. The Grey Mare’s waterfall was somewhere nearby clearly, although I couldn’t hear it from here, and I had no idea how far a hike might take me. Did I want to investigate… did I?…did I? I knew it wasn’t on my map as I had never heard of this one and I pondered it for a bit I wont lie, but was I feeling quite exhausted, so took a photo of the sign to remind me to look it up… and I left it for now instead.

Water at Kinlochleven. Run off from of the hydroelectric scheme?

As I drove towards Corpach, I suddenly realised how hungry I was too, (had I eaten anything since my light breakfast??) so I stopped off for something at the Fort William MacDonald’s drive through. I am not usually a fan of burgers, but I was so hungry I realised I actually wanted ANYTHING… no, I wanted EVERYTHING!!! LOL!!! The girl at the window was really helpful, and made sure I had enough of the sauces as I suddenly remembered extras to my order that I had forgotten, and I left salivating at the thought of tucking into it. Me, salivating at the thought (and smell) of a McD… that’s got to be a first!

As I drove through the north part of Fort William, a sign flashed up that there was a yellow weather warning for the area, and that heavy rains were expected. I feared the worst thinking that tomorrow may well be a bust – but I was here now, so I may as well stay, just in case. I pulled up at my stop for the night, ravenously devoured my food, and checked the weather. Yep. bad weather was definitely on its way looking at this…

 

 

My Adventures

Glen Nevis, Steall Falls and Torren Lochan


Scotlands Highlands 2020: Part Twenty Four

16 August 2020

Well, I have two days free, what shall I do with them?

That question went round in my head for the night and into the morning, and eventually I settled on going back to Glencoe to re-do some of the areas that I had tried back in January. Everything back then went so badly, I literally haven’t written or thought much about the trip, although I guess I shouldn’t dismiss it entirely – I did get a couple of nice photos out of it, and it was, ultimately, a really good recce trip. It gave me a good idea on the layout of locations in the glen, as well as which sights I wanted to revisit, the conditions I hoped to try them in, and better than these, some spots that I had yet to find. One on the ‘yet to find’ list really struck me. ‘How on earth did I miss this one?!!’ was the question I asked myself when I found out about Steall Falls. Its only the second highest falls in the whole of Scotland (!) really picturesque, and a reasonable hike away that shouldn’t take a whole day… Today I decided that, as I now had the opportunity to find them for myself, this should be the location for my next exploration! Settled on this plan, I drove on over.

The route from Corpach was easy, and 45 minutes after leaving I found myself driving through beautiful hills where the cloud moved in the breeze, leaving dapples of sunlight dancing across the scene everywhere. Eventually I found a car parking spot and ran up a small mound to capture this:

Light dancing across Glen Nevis

I didn’t realise it at the time, but I was driving through Glen Nevis, and wow, what a beautiful Glen! I continued to follow the road through here, absolutely loving the views with every turn of the road, and I found myself at a car park near a waterfall on the river that wound through here. I got out to have a quick look and saw that this wasn’t the Steall falls I was looking for, but the ‘lower falls’ on the Waters of Nevis, a much smaller one. I noted the price of the car park and the waterfall for future, got back in the camper, and continued following the road. It had started getting more forestry now, and as I passed a second car park (smaller this time) I thought that I might be getting near. The road carried on still further though, and then I started noticing cars parked up all along the roadside. Shortly after I found myself in another car park, that was crammed, and the road ended in the middle of it. This one was the Upper Glen Nevis car park. It looked to hold about 30 vehicles, and, as luck would have it, just as I debated how on earth I was going to turn round, someone behind me signalled that he was about to leave. Lucky me! I basically had the last spare spot, and rather pleasantly, this one was free parking as well! I sorted myself out and eagerly left for the hike that I understood would be through a gorge to the waterfall itself.

It was not the easiest hike – some points involved clambering over large boulders, a few were very slippery as some of the surfaces were largely scree or wet from trickles of water, many areas nearer water were heavily infested with midges, but I actually found myself managing all this pretty easily. At one point I over took a group of 5 Indian men who were huffing and puffing at a slower pace than mine. Clearly my fitness over these last few weeks had improved dramatically, and I wished I had thought of a better route for this whole road trip that’d maybe had the harder, more monro/mountain hikes, towards this point of it. I probably would have managed to have gotten one in after all had I have jigged the locations more considerately… Oh well, I might rethink other trips now I realised this. After a hike of about 45 minutes I started passing several people on their way back towards me. I also passed a deep bit of the gorge where I could hear water falling, but there was no way I could see the falls there… they sounded substantial though! Then the valley opened up properly, and as I turned round a bend I could see the falls in all their glory.

WHAT a place this was!! It was totally secluded here, and a large open grassy plain lay in front of me, with a gentle river flowing through it from where the water fell from the waterfall. As I walked along the side of the hill where the path still followed, I noticed that there was another river coming from further to the left and that the meadow opened further and continued on round that way. This to me would have been a perfect place to hide out from a threatening enemy. The mountains around the sides offered perfect cover, and as the sun beamed down, I could feel barely any breeze, which I assume would mean this place may have its own microclimate of more placid weather. Back then, without an obvious, well trodden tourist path, it would have been harder to find an obvious way in, but the open plain, fresh water, and lush carpet of grass may have been a perfect safe haven for a few hideaway huts or cottages. There was no evidence of any of this however, no ruins that I could see, and no big information board with a history telling of any of this, so I wonder if anyone ever lived here at all. For me today however, it looked incredibly peaceful, and although there was a steady stream of tourists milling around the area, I can’t say it was heaving.

Steall Falls

I walked over to the Water of Nevis in front of me, and crossed over, realising that the ground was quite boggy in places, and then I had to cross again closer to the falls where the stream from those cut across the meadow. Further down, after the two waters joined, there is a rope bridge, but that was not possible for me to use with a dog, so I had walked on to find to find the shallowest bits of river. Today that wasn’t really too hard, the water maybe got as high as half way up my wellies… but I am not sure how easy this might be at wetter times of the year! (Having said that, there are no formal wooden or stone bridges here, so maybe its never been an issue…?) I took photos of the falls from every angle I could, from one side, from the other, and from the bottom where you can actually climb over big boulders to stand right by the base of the falling water. Here I sat for ages just taking in the sound of these stunning falls. As I sat here, I watched as a number of tourists made their way from one side of the falls to the other over these huge stones and through the pools of water that the falls made in between them all. Some were clearly having an absolute ball, but I was quite sad to watch one man pretty much bullying his partner through them. She was quite clearly feeling highly unsure of the jumps across and the steps down into unknown depths, but I could see from the gestures he was making, that he had no patience for her fear and was pretty much forcing her to go across with him. It really left a mark on me watching her trying so hard to please him, but him being totally ignorant to her needs. She was clearly terrified as she paced each rock, or sat on them, trying to stretch her legs across enough to just touch the next boulder, before working out enough courage to either jump or slide over. It brought back some bad memories and feelings I didn’t want to remember…

Once they disappeared out of view behind the trees and bushes in the middle, I decided to get myself a little closer and to try a selfie. I don’t generally do these, but I wanted something that would help show the height of these falls when you were at the bottom. My phone didn’t do the height any justice sadly, but cropped, it made a nice shot for the header of this blog…

I was here for several hours, partly because I just felt so at home here, and partly because many of my shots were hampered by visitations from my favourite (!!) pest. I would set up and either tolerate their tickles, or move around until they had cleared and then went back to the camera to quickly snap a few shots. Eventually though, I had captured much of what I could, and I had to leave this beautiful place. River and I walked back this side of the falls, and found ourselves by the rope bridge. Well, I obviously couldn’t use it to get across the river, so I decided that I would simply have to walk across. It was deeper here, and wider than the river closer to the falls, as it was two streams of water merged into one by this point, but some of the rocks on the riverbed helped form a sort of stepping stones across. Halfway I met another woman coming the other way, a lovely big black lady with a fantastic accent from somewhere I couldn’t pinpoint, and a glorious laugh. For a few moments we actually had to hold onto each other for balance in the middle of the stream! We laughed as we paused to regain ourselves and she explained that she couldn’t do the rope bridge because, unlike her boys, she felt it was way too scary. I think she was partially regretting that decision now though! I nodded towards River happily paddling across and we laughed at how easy she was making it look. Once balanced, we let go of each other, made sure each other were OK, and continued on our ways.

Steall falls, as I left the valley – with the rope bridge showing down to the bottom right.

As the walk progressed through the gorge, I stopped at a beautiful viewpoint and wondered about taking a photo of River and I together. I wasn’t sure how I could set it up, and take it without her not sitting ready, as the moment I moved to the camera to take a timed shot, she would surely come over with me. As I mused over the sight, pondering ideas, I was stopped by a couple who asked if I could take their photo with that view behind. I happily obliged, as they were so nice about it. I often get asked, as (I assume) they think I might be very capable of taking a nice shot (having a full kit gives that impression!) I am not sure where they were from, but although neither were British (judging from their accents), I didn’t think they had the same birthplace either. He looked Scandinavian, and she oriental. (I am not a good judge of accents, but they spoke differently too) As a couple they were really beautiful together, but she, especially, was a beauty I was happy to photograph. It struck me by now, that nearly every interaction I had been having here, and indeed many throughout the whole road trip, were with people non native to UK soil. As this was still in the midst of Covid restrictions, I became most curious as to how each of them had ended up here, in this country, at this particular moment…

After I gave her phone back she asked something no-one has ever asked me before. ‘Do you want me to take your picture?’ I was most taken aback… no-one has EVER asked ME before, most people just say thank you and go on their merry way. I obviously answered in the affirmative, but explained that I didn’t want to just stand there looking at the camera, would she mind taking a photo of me and River looking out at the view?? She happily did as I asked, firing several pictures off on my phone, and commenting on how beautiful it looked like that. After taking my shots, she moved her partner into a similar position, and took his photo too. When I saw the photos on my phone, I fully agreed, and I absolutely loved them – she did such an awesome job framing them up!

Chatting to River about the view looking over Glen Nevis

After this I was left with a bit of time. Evening was definitely creeping on, but it wasn’t so late that I couldn’t look for somewhere else to visit. I thought back to January, and remembered that one loch, in particular, was nice and quiet, but hadn’t produced a photo I wanted because of the low cloud that had obliterated all the mountains. This was Torren Lochan, so I decided that I would drop past there to check it out, before I headed off to my planned stop for the night. I turned up and happy that the mountains behind the lochen were visible, trotted over to the waters edge on a little island in the middle. Sadly there were less chances of reflections than there were in January, but I just sat for a while taking in the calm, watching as the water tried its best to smooth out (it genuinely seemed to be trying to comply with my hopes!) There is something about this particular place that really grounds me, and I can’t put my finger on it. I could sit on the little island for hours given a chance!! Maybe its because its small, almost private, maybe because its not a particularly huge tourist draw, being so dwarfed by the many other sights of Glencoe – but no matter what the reason I felt so good here was due to, the spell was broken a few minutes later when a big group of people entered the water with paddle boards. Any chance of the water calming was totally gone, as was the peace. So, for now, I have to settle with my reminder photo from January to keep me encouraged to try here again a third time. I suspect very early morning would be my best chance for super still water… and looking online, this may well be my dream reflection spot too, as the Black Hills behind are very picturesque… normally (!!)

Mobile photo of Torren Lochan as it was in January,
My Adventures

Glenfinnan, Castle Stalker and Corpach


Scotlands Highlands 2020: Part Twenty Three

14 & 15 August 2020

The drive to Glenfinnan took just an hour, which was really pleasant, and the whole way I was excited to see this highly iconic location, made famous by the Harry Potter films. This is SO well photographed here, that I wasn’t expecting any original shots, but I did hope I might be able to at least capture the gorgeous steam train, the Jacobite, for myself.

I started off parking in the National Trust car park and had a look around for any pay and display signs, only to discover there was no overnight parking allowed. This was going to cause me an issue. I wanted an evening and morning shot if I could, but if I couldn’t stay here, I needed another plan. I got back into Fred and drove up and down the road for a bit but no other possible parking spots caught my eye. There was literally nowhere to park BUT the NT car park! Then I noticed a car driving into an open bit of land next to it, and followed to investigate. Here I found some rough land where there were a couple of campers and several other cars parked up. I looked around and saw a sign asking for donations to stay here. I was happy to pay a bit to these people because this was far more suited to my needs. I believe they were hoping to build a car park with the funds… if so, I can only hope that they are going to allow overnight stops in an Aire fashion, because that’s what is needed here.

Glenfinnan Viaduct from the path up to the viewpoint

After I was parked up, I decided to go for a wander, and headed towards the viaduct. As I began my walk the first thing I saw was the Jacobite steaming across it in the distance! It looked fabulous, so I excitedly followed the pathway closer. As I got to the bottom I took a few photos of the viaduct itself -built in 1897/98 by Robert McAlpine & Sons and carrying the railway line from Fort William to Mallaig – and then I headed up to the viewpoint.

Here I sat with a bunch of people for the next hour or so, waiting to see if the train might return. It didn’t, but I learned that it passes through here only 4 times a day, once in each direction in the morning, and then again 4 hours later in the afternoon. It clearly is more of a tourist trip than a regular train ride with a frequent timetable as I originally thought. Once I knew the times however, I planned to be back here first thing, to hopefully get the iconic picture I dreamed of! I went back to the camper for some dinner, and then took a short walk to the Glenfinnan Monument that is also near this location. The light was failing by now, with no strong colour in the sky, so I just planned a position to take some photos for tomorrow, and went back to the camper to settle down for the night.

In the morning I was up bright and early, and took the hike back to the viewpoint. I was one of the first here, and there was at least an hour to go, but the area started to fill really quickly. As more people arrived, so did the heat for the day, and we were all plagued horribly by hungry midges. None of us wanted to move though, steadfastly hanging onto our precious spots that clearly became more precious as each minute passed. Eventually we were rewarded with the sound of a steam train chuffing in the distance… and then it appeared! It looked awesome from this spot, but to my disappointment, the daytime heat meant that the beautiful plume of smoke I hoped for, wasn’t visible. I snapped a constant stream of pictures anyway (see header pic) just so that I could at least get something that reminded me of this magical moment. The train slowed and tooted, released a big bit of (invisible) steam, and the driver and fireman both gave us all a big hearty wave before the Jacobite picked up speed again and chuffed off on its way to Mallaig. Something about all of this was highly magical despite the pictures not being perfect. If you are ever here in the summer months, (the train runs from April to October) I highly recommend coming just for this!

Glenfinnan and Loch Shiel from further up the path from the viewpoint

Everyone began to wander away, and I headed up further on the path, finding a fantastic view of the whole valley with Loch Shiel in the distance. There is another viewpoint, that goes up from the National trust car park (I think you need to pay to go on this walk though), but I didn’t take that today, and will try that one next time I am here. I suspect it’s better for photography than this one, with the monument and the loch more central to the view, but I was happy with this sight for today. As I stood taking in the view, I considered what I wanted to do with the rest of the day. I was disappointed in there not being any smoke, so it seemed a good idea to try again a bit later, but maybe from the other side – and so, as I had about 4 hours to kill, I decided to have a casual walk all around, and to go and see the monument in more detail.

The Glenfinnan Monument, erected in 1815, commemorates all those that died during the Jacobite rising in Scotland in 1745. The rebellion started here with a gathering of the first clansmen who awaited the arrival of (‘Bonnie’) Prince Charles Edward Stuart and raised their standards in support of his claim to the Scottish throne. The figure on top of the monument is of a generic Scottish clansman, representing all who joined in support, and was added a little later in 1835.

Monument to the Clansmen who died in the Jacobite uprising of 1745

You can visit, and climb to the top apparently, even standing next to the clansman, but as we were still in the midst of the Covid pandemic, it was closed to the public today. For me, this was probably a bonus, as getting this photo tourist free might be a much greater challenge normally. I preferred the morning light on the monument too, as the sun was now shining on the clansman’s face rather than on his back. With the hills behind in contrasting lights behind him, this was a much better photo for me than the snap I had taken the night before. I took River for a casual paddle in Loch Shiel and then gently wandered back to Fred for a spot of lunch.

After this I made my way back to my second viewpoint, and fell in love with the view from this position. It looked incredibly beautiful from this side of the glen, with more of the mountains visible from this side, and the viaduct setting clearly visible and aesthetically pleasing to the eye. I could see all the crowds beginning to gather in the spot I was at this morning, and was quite amazed at just how many people the spot attracted. As I waited the familiar sound of a chuffing steam train approached, and I relished the fact that I was here all on my own on this side. I think I am much happier with the shot from here too, although as the train slowed to toot its horn, the steam at that point evaporated to nothing very quickly. The best steam came before it slowed I feel.

The Glenfinnan Viaduct in its full setting

Once the train left, the crowds on the other side started to leave, but I waited… and sure enough, 10 minutes later, this mornings train came through on its return journey. I took a few photos of this one too, until I realised the locomotive was back to front. I hadn’t realised steam trains did that!

Once this train left, I made my way back down and looked at leaving myself. I really liked Glenfinnan, and I am sure there was a lot more to explore here, but for now, I was just playing tourist. Next time, I will plan on stopping longer if I can, and to really have a deep look into the area. I really hope this car park is still here when I do! I looked at my map, and realised that most of this section of my tour was pretty complete, so I decided to see if I could take a leisurely drive down to Castle stalker, and see if I can get an evening or dawn shot of that.

I did the drive, taking a thoroughly enjoyable 2 and a half hours getting to Portnacroish at 6pm, but I really struggled on where to park. I found ‘Castle Stalker View’ on the hill before the road wound down closer to the castle. It had a view overlooking the loch alright, but it was too high for what I hoped for. I drove to a lower spot, but there was nowhere to pull over, except at ‘The Old Inn’, which had a tiny car park for patrons only. Beyond that it looked to be a private road to some cottages. After I drove up and down for a little bit, I didn’t know where to go, and in the end, feeling a little frustrated, I just left! I wasn’t sure WHAT I could do! If anyone knows where to park for a photo lower down, please let me know!

With only Corpach still on my list to do, I drove back there in the hope that I could at least get the shots here that I wanted. It took another hour of driving and I got there just as the sun was setting. I grabbed my camera and headed to the canal lock quickly, realising when I got there, that I had mere seconds before the sun would be gone, I didn’t try to get any closer to the boat because of this, and instead grabbed the only shot that I could, without loosing this light. It looked SOOOO beautiful with all the colours tonight, but it was already fading!

Corpach Basin on Loch Linnhe looking at Ben Nevis

…and then it was gone. I considered going to the boat and taking the shot there, but the light looked flat already, and I was very uninspired. Did I want to try the lighthouse shot… well, no, not really. The water wasn’t smooth because of the ripples here tonight and nowhere near reflective enough for the shot I had in mind there, so I left that too. I went back to the camper realising suddenly how tired I was now, and decided that I would simply have some tea and check out the next highest tide for the dawn shot. It looked like the best time for this was actually going to be in 2 days… so I stopped here for the night and planned a different location for tomorrow instead.

My Adventures

Glen Affric, Fort Augustus, Bridge of Oich and Invergarry…


Scotlands Highlands 2020: Part Twenty Two

14 August 2020

I awoke in the morning to mist, but readied myself anyway and headed off to find the spot to photograph this morning. I found a nice picnic area just at the top of Loch Beinn a’ Mheadhoin, and spotted through the trees, what appeared to be, a glass like, still water. I parked up quickly, grabbed my kit and ran to the waters edge full of such excitement that I was like a small child! I have wanted a water like this for SOOOO long!!! This view was stunning, and incredibly peaceful. The trees to the other side of the loch were hazy due to the lifting mist, but the trees nearer were now clear. Everything looked perfect. This wasn’t the snowy tipped mountain reflection I always dreamed of – but oh my wasn’t this pretty! I had the tripod in my hand already, and set it up quickly whilst being tickled in the face as I did… ah… yes… here were our friends coming to check out their breakfast… I tried. I tried really hard… but within seconds of stopping moving, and trying to set the camera up, I was swamped. The midges were on my face, in my ears, up my nose, and one in my eye, and it just got a bit too much… no amount of flailing would dissuade them, and eventually I ran away… I kept coming back, and doing the next bit of the camera set up, and finally managed a couple of photos before I remembered that a few days back, I had purchased a midge head net. I ran back to the camper, and picked it up clearing my head area completely of the biteys before throwing it on… and… there it was… a moment of total bliss this morning…

I tried to continue, but then struggled to manually focus through the netting so had to keep lifting it. (guess which daft idjit forgot there’s such a thing as AUTOFOCUS – duh!!!) This of course let the biteys in. And so the battle continued for an hour like this. Eventually a breeze began to flutter across the surface of the loch, and the glass reflection was no longer there, so I packed up and left, with around 10 photos for my mornings efforts.. I caught it though, and an really pleased to have this as a reminder of how peaceful it actually was at the start…

Glen Affric reflection. What a beautiful peaceful place.

Once safe in the camper I decided to leave Glen Affric for another (midge free) time. I left and looked at touring round some of the other Loch Ness sites, before heading out further west. My first stop was Fort Augustus, and I wont lie, its not quite for me. It didn’t help having a really unpleasant experience at the Monster Fish and Chip shop as I drove through on my very first day. Less said about that the better, but needless to say I wont ever visit that chip shop again, and I think that, sadly, it tainted this whole town for me. I did stop off for about an hour despite my negativity about the place, but although the view of the Caledonian Canal locks might have been nice on another occasion, today, with a now harsh sunlight and no water pouring gracefully over them, the view was severely lacking. I left and moved on completely uninspired, but pleased I had at least taken a look.

I started the drive towards Invergarry castle, but 10 minutes into it realised I was both hungry and thirsty, so pulled over at a spot where I noticed people having a picnic. As I enjoyed a quick snack, I saw I was in a central point (island area?) over the Caledonian Canal, but not yet over the river Oich. It was really pretty here with lovely open views of Loch Oich. Next to me was an older bridge built in 1854 spanning just the river section (now only for foot traffic) It was built after floods swept the old stone bridge away some 5 years earlier. I didn’t explore too much, but grabbed a picture on my phone to mark in my diary for reference. I think in a less harsh light this might be a really nice spot. I noted it for the future, and took a quick walk across, just to have done it. A nicer photographic position might have been from the opposing side, down on the bank, because as I continued my drive, it actually looked really nice seeing the whole span in one.

Bridge of Oich

I moved on to find Invergarry castle. I didn’t really know much about this one, but had randomly saved a picture of an old painting showing it from the waters edge. When I arrived at where google maps told me it was, I found myself pulling into a drive of what looked like a big country mansion. This left me feeling a little odd, and like I was trespassing, but the castle is near the entrance, so I don’t think this was a problem. When I saw the castle, I realised this visit might be another bust. I couldn’t find a way down to the waters edge, not that there would have been much of a view I suspect, as all the back between the castle and the water was heavily overgrown. The castle ruins only had a bit of a square tower left, and what was here was surrounded by trees and bushes on 3 sides, so it was very hard to get an interesting view sadly. Instead I grabbed one shot on my phone as best as I could, and had to leave here. There wasn’t much else I could do, as there were no information boards, and no other viewpoints. My stop had barely been a 10 minute one… I was quite sad.

Invergarry castle ruins.

So, What now? It was only 2.50, and with so much of today failing me, I had to look at my map for another location to try! I had Loch Morar on there, but it was a bit of a distance away. I considered it further however – maybe an evening shoot, an overnight and a dawn shot of, hopefully, another still loch…? (yes, I know – in the beautiful full sun of today I totally forgot that the midges would also be there!) It seemed like a good idea, and the few photos I had seen showed a pretty and tranquil loch, so I decided that I would simply enjoy a nice casual drive, and try this one. At 3pm I left Invergarry castle and headed off, following the sat nav along the A82 and then the A830. An hour and a quarter later and I pulled over in a long layby to visit the loo. Another car had pulled over here and the driver was snapping some photos of the view. We were high up overlooking Loch Eilt here, and the view had a small island smack in the middle of some trees. It looked nice from the van, but I continued the drive, as I had no idea how much further I had to go.

I followed the road round until I came to Mallaig, and here the road seemed to just stop. Confused I pulled over and re checked the route, and to my disappointment, I had completely misread the instructions… from here it seemed I was supposed to take a ferry round a head point to Tarbet! I was gutted – there didn’t appear to be a road around the loch at all! I had just driven for 2 and a half hours for nothing! I allowed a few minutes for the disappointment to set in, then realised that I had actually fully enjoyed the stress free drive itself, so didn’t punish myself any further. Instead I briefly checked the map again to be sure I hadn’t misunderstood, and simply considered my next options. The day was glorious, the views gorgeous, and the pace of the drive had been super chilled and relaxed, would I enjoy it as much as I retraced all the route back? Of course I would, and on the way, I vowed to snap my own photo of the spot I had stopped at.

When I arrived back there, I decided this might make a nicer view at some other time. For now, the sun only hit the hills behind so it was putting the main focal point into shadow, making an image that was lacking in any real interest to me right now. (I should have jumped out earlier!) A phone photo was fine for now though, and again, this was going to be a record for a later addition to the map. It felt like today was very much a recce day so far!

Overlooking Loch Eilt

It was nearly 6pm, so I wanted somewhere else to view, and hopefully stop the night. The closest to me here, was one I had planned to spend a day at anyway. Glenfinnan. So off I went, hoping that getting there early wouldn’t be a problem…

My Adventures

Suidhe Viewpoint, Invermoriston, Falls of Divach and Plodda Falls.


Scotlands Highlands 2020: Part Twenty One

13 August 2020

Today was a real pendulum, swinging from low to high!

In the morning I awoke looking forward to the shoot at at the Suidhe viewpoint, but to my utter disappointment I found nothing but mist outside the van. Instead, I slept in further and woke up a few hours later. It was still very flat, although the fog had mostly gone, so I debated whether I should stay put or move on. I had no set plans for today, but I really didn’t fancy just sitting here, so I pulled up my ‘My Maps’ and had a look to see what was nearby. I was just south of Loch Ness, but almost directly over the other side of the loch, was Invermoriston. This looked promising for a grey day, so I sorted myself out with breakfast etc., and took a casual drive round to there. I drove through Fort Augustus, and round the bottom of the famous Loch, trying to keep my eyes open for anything that looked interesting. Loch Ness is a really big loch, so big that the grey sky just made it look like a boring mass of featureless water. From this side, it didn’t really have anything to make it look stunning as I might have hoped – no mountainous backdrop, or small islands to break the water up. I am sure there might be a way to capture this loch, but I suspect it would be with smaller features rather than a great big vista. I kept my eyes peeled as I drove around the waters edge. Urquhart castle might have worked, I considered that as I drove past there before, but there was no where to pull over (a problem I noted most of the drive up from Fort Augustus) except for their own car park… and I wasn’t sure if that was for visitors only, and if I had to pay an entry fee for that privilege (I didn’t want to go into the castle…). With the traffic fairly busy on this stretch of road, I couldn’t stop and dither, so I had just kept going. I didn’t get as far as Urquhart on this drive, but I did try and keep extra vigilant for any other sight that might work for me. None leapt out.

At 10.30 I rolled into Invermoriston’s generously sized car park. Right next to this was a bridge and a forest walk, so I took a quick explore here. I walked first to the bridge, and although the road was fairly busy this morning, I stood and looked first one side, then the other, immediately warming to this location. One side had a gorgeous looking stone summer house overlooking the river and some small falls, and the other had an old double arched bridge, built by Thomas Telford (the third bridge I have come across built by him!) with some further small falls beyond. Excited by these two views, I took River back to the woodland walk, and started towards the summer house first. The forest floor itself was beautiful here, full of rust coloured pine needles, and very soft underfoot, and the gentle trek to the summerhouse took no time at all. This was built as a folly by an old laird of Glenmoriston, who built this as a viewpoint for his guests to watch the salmon on their annual migration up river. The view from here was gorgeous, so I took my camera out and shot the scene through one of the windows towards the two bridges. Although it was cloudy for me today, I imagine this view would look amazing with dappled sunlight dripping through the trees…

View from Invermoriston Summer House

From here I walked down the path a little, just following the river, then after practising videoing some vlog ‘b’roll (you never know, I might actually make a proper video for all of you of all these visits!) I went back to the road, crossed over and explored the old Telford bridge. I took a photo of the Summerhouse from here (header pic) and turned my camera to the waterfall that flowed the other side. It looked wonderful, but again, I really wished a little light had fallen on it so it would really come alive. Even in grey light though, this location didn’t fail to impress.

Invermoriston Falls upstream from the Telford Bridge

From here I noticed that there were some other falls nearby that were on my list, so once I was finished with these areas I packed everything up, and decided that I might try and find Divach falls. I started off taking a wrong turn somewhere, then re routed myself, and ended up driving up some tight hairpin turns to the road where the very small car park was. It was a little tricky in places, I won’t lie, but it was also strangely fun to have to keep holding my breath and squeeze through tight spaces with the (thankfully occasional) oncoming vehicles. Once parked up however, I was highly relieved, and left the van with River feeling in desperate need for some fresh air. The walk was fairly quick, but very pleasant, the falls were… well… quite frankly… not worth it. I was really disappointed to realise that the summer trees blocked most of the view, and although there was a really nice small area to sit and take in the sight, the view of the waterfall was minimal and didn’t grab me in the slightest… and I truly LOVE a waterfall. I didn’t even bother to take the camera bag off my back, it was that uninspiring – however I did take one photo with my phone just for reference to myself. What I had hoped for, was a way down to the bottom of the falls to get a better, unobscured view. Up here there was a fence blocking any chance of that, and they hadn’t carved any steps down from here to help.

I walked a little of the way back, and noticed a lightly worn path going down to the left. Maybe this was the route to the bottom I wondered, deciding to follow along. It wasn’t long before the path disappeared however, and I ended up battling bushes and branches, getting into several tight areas that all just led to a steep drop. It was a hopeless experience, and I resigned myself to having to head back up to the main path… IF I could find it again…!! I had no idea where I was!! Lost, I basically headed in an upwards direction until I heard voices. Then I followed the sound as much as I could, crawling under one especially big branch, and getting my camera bag snagged most of the rest of the route. Eventually I found a path and hoped it was the correct one! I followed it left and after a few minutes passed a couple heading towards me. I asked if this was the way back to the car park, and on their confused ‘yesss…?’ thanked them and trotted on my way. I didn’t fancy explaining that I had just gone on an embarrassing off trail route into the woods, getting lost for a pointless cause…

Falls of Divach. These had such a restricted view 🙁

As I had no other serious plans, and I was already on the Invernessshire leg of my trip I decided that before I went much further, I really should change my portaloo cassette and grey water before I continued, so I went on a long leisurely drive back to Highland Campervans. I didn’t know anywhere near Loch Ness where I could do a service stop, and at least I knew what the deal was with these guys. At Highland Campervans, I had a chap explain the water release cap. I had battled with this for an eternity… ending up regularly wedging it off with a screwdriver where I couldn’t remove it, and I have been snapping the lock-in lugs in the process. Turns out you put the key in, hold the cap while turning the key, THEN turn the cap, and out it comes… who knew?!!! Apparently if it keeps spinning, you haven’t unlocked it – Ohhhhhhh…… (yes, I felt totally stupid… but there we go… that’s pretty par for the course for me really!)

While in the car park, I went back to my map to try and work out a route for the rest of Inverness-shire, and closest to me that I fancied right now was Glen Affric. There were a couple of spots I wanted to see, but mostly I was most curious about Plodda Falls. Another waterfall… I really hoped the view here was a better one…(!!) I went on another leisurely drive and found myself driving up a long forestry commission road to the car park near the falls. Excited for this one, I parked up, looked at the map on the board, spotted a sign that said ‘to the falls’ and walked in that direction… and walked…. and walked. Eventually I had to stop and listen, and I realised that I couldn’t even hear the river any more. I realised I must have gone wrong somewhere, so had to trudge all the way back up the hill I had hiked down. In the corner of my eye I spotted a figure that made me jump for a second, and when I turned I spotted this:

Horseman of the apocalypse roaming the woods of Glen Affric

Looking to all intents and purpose like a wild horseman of the apocalypse, I had to stop and take a picture. It didn’t look like it was a sculpture, or even a deliberate gathering of dead wood and twigs, but the grasses and moss couldn’t have been growing any more perfectly to give this creepy image!

When I was most of the way back up the hill (!!) I spotted a small red arrow on a tiny post and decided that I would follow this. I checked on google maps, and it did seem to indicate that I was standing at a path that was going to lead to the falls, so off I went. I got to a T junction, turned right, and ended up going downhill again… I found a viewing point at least, but what it was a view of, was beyond me, as I couldn’t see anything specific (trees..?) I was at the river at least, so decided to follow the route back again and see where the left turn of the T junction might lead me. This time I was successful, and I found myself at the top of some fall. I was very confused though, as these were definitely not the ones in pictures I had seen online. I decided to pause here for a bit to let River have a paddle in the waters, and to take a photo here, before following the path further. This lead to a viewing platform, so I very gingerly started across it, before I realised a) how high it overhung the falls and b) how far it jutted out away from the path. This was the falls alright, but could I get to the end of the viewing platform? Nope.. Nope… NOPE!!! My brain screamed in terror and I had to gently walk backwards to solid ground and wait there for a bit for my heart to return to a sensible beat.

The path continued straight on. or, as I saw, to the left – so I followed that one, and found myself going downhill. It was very steep, but the route was pretty clear, and before I knew it I was at the waters edge sharing the space with several tourists. A young couple were just leaving, and I spotted another couple coming towards me across the river, carefully stepping on some large stones that made a good route across. Once they were my side I decided to go the same way over, but I found myself really struggling with some of the larger steps across. I couldn’t quite work out why, but I battled to balance properly on these rocks. Eventually I had so much trouble, I literally couldn’t get the last quarter of the way over. I was stuck. Standing uncertainly and wobbling fearfully on a stone in the middle of the fast flowing river, I felt lost, confused and really embarrassed. A French family on the other side saw my struggle, and bless him, a man in the group made his way across with a big stick, offering it to me so that I could balance easier. This was such a massive help! I made it the rest of the way, and thanked him profusely. The family left shortly after, and I was really pleased to find I had the place entirely to myself. I made my way to the bottom of the falls and my breath was taken away with the sight.

The stunning Plodda falls

A huge fall (over 150 feet if I am reading things correctly online) left the cliff in one long stream of water to a deep pool (I assume, as I couldn’t see from where I was standing here) then spilled out to some stunning smaller falls that lead to the river I had just crossed. The view was incredible. It took me a few minutes to just gaze at the sight before I became quickly aware that the light was beginning to go. It was 7.30pm.. and I had very little time to get this shot and get back out safely. I spent the next 45 minutes quickly grabbing shots, being pestered continually by midges. (Damn.. forgot these little sods!) In the end the midges and the light (or lack of) started to get to be too much to work with, and I packed up. There were other shots I wished I had gotten, but this was definitely a place I wanted to come back to, so I was content with the shots I had, and didn’t worry about the short time I had spent here.

Once moving the midges left me alone, and I very, very carefully made my way back across the river. Again, my balance was terrible, and I have since looked into this. It appears it’s a hazard many photographers face… and it is of course due to the unusual weight we carry on our backs to locations we aim to photograph. On flat even ground where we get a solid footfall, we don’t notice it, but on uneven terrain, where fine balance is necessary, it throws us off. I was so relieved to find it wasn’t just me getting too old for all this! Though I struggled to cross back, the stick proved to be a huge help again, and even after it snapped I continued using it as I clambered back up the steep slope. Its still in Fred to this day. Too short now to be of any further help, it serves as a reminder of the kindness of others, and the wonderful support you occasionally get from random strangers.

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