My Adventures – Knightshoots Landscape Photography

Whitelee Wind farm, Balgray Reservoir, Woulkmill glen, Littleton and…

South West Scotland 2021: Part Nine

12 September 2021

Today was so still that none of the windpumps were working… and after the two nights seeing and hearing them moving constantly, it was really, REALLY eerie! As I got ready to leave Whitelee, I had every intention of making a second trip back here one day. There was so much potential here, it was so interesting, and so incredibly peaceful.

It ended as being a very reluctant departure, but eventually I did, and I started the day by going to Balgray Reservoir. As I approached the reservoir I was met by a gorgeous, pure glasslike reflection when I drove past. Perfect!! This got me really excited. Unfortunately, I struggled to find a parking spot here, since the few provided were already taken. I ended driving up and down the road several times before finding a singular spot just big enough for Fred – much further down the road, but at least I did find somewhere eventually.

River and I walked all the way back up to the pumping house on the reservoir where I hoped to take some photos, but I could immediately tell I had missed the optimum moment. The breeze was just beginning to pick up, and the reflection started to disappear in small bursts – in hindsight I wished I had come here a little earlier than I had. With the sky back to cloud cover, I hadn’t felt the need to rush out though. Silly girl!! Note to self… early mornings arn’t just for sunrise – they are also really good for still water and parking spots! River and I walked around the reservoir anyway – well I was here right?! I tried to take pictures from both sides of the pumping house. Although the dream reflection was now gone, I managed a fairly decent moody shot here, using a 5 second long exposure to still the water enough. It was almost perfect. Almost. Maybe a bit of light on the pumping house, with perfectly still water? Maybe a little light mist to soften the background and seperate it better? Maybe even some… yes, yes… I know, there’s always something else we would like to make any photo ‘the dream one’ right??

Balgray Pumping House, not quite as glassy a reflection as 10 minutes earlier, but a nice moody shot anyway..

We walked back to the road, crossed and then headed to the other reservoirs in this area. Right at the start of the walk there was a really pretty waterfall on Brock Burn, and it had enough water in it to actually bother shooting – Woohoo! Little did I realise how lucky I was with this one! River kept barking at all the other dogs that came past though, so I started getting really irritated with her. I tried what I could, but with her being so annoying, I ended up abandoning the spot to get her moving and focussed on varying views and scents rather than any other doogies coming into ‘our’ space.

Waterfall on Brock Burn, at the start of the Ryat Linn reservoir walk

As we walked around I found some other spots that looked quite nice, although the light was really naff in them all. The join between Ryat Linn and Woulkmill Glen Reservoirs was supposed to have a spillway waterfall, but the water levels were very low and there wasnt even a dribble today. Rivers angst was not easing up, and I found my frustrations really getting the better of me with every dog she went for. I struggled to focus and enjoy myself, and found myself wandering aimlessly between the rest of Woulkmill Glen, and Littleton Reservoirs. With the light being so poor I found my mood really dropping big time. I kept trying anyway, since these would be memory photos if nothing else. Because the light so flat, I even tried attempting some hand held photos of some bees, and gorgeous butterflies that were enjoying the flowers here. Handheld was clearly a terrible idea too, as every photo was awful, which just frustrated me all the more on top of everything else. My mobile did a far superior job! (see header) Eventually, everything seemed to get the better of me. Today felt like one of those ‘nothing is working!’ days, and frustration just built to a peak. Even tho in theory this spot had some lovely opportunities that could have opened up to me, I really struggled to find them.

We left when I couldn’t cope any more, and as I got to Fred I realised that part of my problem was where I hadn’t eaten anything yet. I was obviously very tired because my inner fuel level was just far too low! So I made myself a ham, cheese and onion toastie in my Ridgemonkey, and soaked each side in egg. Yum! I felt much better after that. As I ate, I looked at map to see where my last location for East Renfrew was – Harelaw Dam. Looking at the location I felt very uninspired due to todays visit being much the same subject, so I scoured the map that Google was showing me, to see what else might be in the area instead. In doing so, I spotted an iron age hill Fort that looked far more interesting. It looked to be near some water too so I felt there might be some possibilities here and drove to that location instead.

As it goes, it was a much better choice, I managed both reflection and viewpoint shots here. The short but steep hike up the hill that the fort originally stood on, was enjoyable enough in itself, and made for a really pleasant last visit in this area. It completely lifted my spirits above the grumpy morning that I had experienced. The view was really gorgeous, and tho I could see sunshine dancing across the hills in the distance, they never came any closer towards my position. It seems this area was just destined for grey flat light for the day but I counted my blessings that at least I didn’t get rained on! When we descended, River and I were accosted by a small herd of cows. They were only curious about us, and not at all aggressive, but them all coming at us at once was a little nerve-racking, before they then wandered off to the waters edge. A short walk further and I found and fell in love with some very small knarly red berried trees, that stood at the bottom. I am not well informed about trees, but these were really gorgeous, so I took a small leaf and berry sample to identify them later on. I found out they were Hawthorn trees, and considered one might make a lovely feature in my garden back home…

As we were edging to later in the day, I hoped for a sunset reflection shot here, but it didn’t really happen. The dappled grey cloud cover was just that little bit too heavy, going a soft peachy pink on the edges of the clouds instead. It was still quite pretty. On top of this a bunch of swans keep swimming across my reflection, rippling up the water forcing me to wait longer. I swear they were doing it on purpose in the end! I waited for ages trying different shots with the water as still as possible, and praying for something before the sky lost its colour. In the end I managed to capture one image that will at least work as a good record to remind me of future possibilities.

Duncarnock Hill Fort. Thank you Google for helping me find this spot!

After that I decided East Renfrew was done, so headed for the Barr reservoir in West Renfrew ready for the early morning shot I hoped for there. I arrived in the dark, but as far as I could tell, there was no parking anywhere nearby, except for members of the fishing club, that, I guess, owned the land. So I drove on to Semple, my next location on the West Renfrewshire list, arriving in the pitch black, very tired and very relieved to have somewhere to stop!

Sleep this night came swiftly and easily!

Whitelee Wind Farm and Lochgoin Monument

South West Scotland 2021: Part Eight

11 September 2021

Wind farm day… Only when I woke up early hoping for the sunrise shot I dreamed of, the cloud was SO thick you couldn’t see out of the window!!

I went back to sleep.

I eventually woke up to rain a couple of hours later. With the view still quite restricted, I simply took things easy and waited the weather out. The predictions were looking a little more promising as the day went so on I felt there was no rush today. The cloud lifted a little eventually, and it made for some nice shots from the camper window… Was that cheating?

Grim view from the window as the last downpour finally headed off

Eventually the rain stopped down to a light drizzle, and the clouds were above the turbines, so I decided to go on a long walk with River to guage some nice moody compositional spots. I headed in the opposite direction to yesterday, walking past turbines 40, 24, 9, 8, 78 and down towards the Lochgoin Monument (see yesterdays map). This monument commemorates John Howie the author of The Scots Worthies, a book from 1775 that documented notable Covenanters and ministers. (Covenanters were a group of people in Scotland who had signed a petition against the interference of the Stuart kings in the Presbyterian church affairs, back in 1638. What followed was over 50 years of horrific persecution, violence, torture and murder)

I took some photos there, but I was sure that I could get nicer pictures in better weather and/or light. For now however, at least this documented my visit. After I had taken photos from a few different positions I realised that this exact spot was no longer in East Renfrew, but actually in East Ayrshire instead. This meant that, after all that walking, I couldn’t mark this spot off the East Renfrew leg of my county challenge … Oh well. One in advance…

As I took the pictures, I noticed a couple of breaks in the clouds, dancing small pockets of light across the Eaglesham Moor. While the light danced, it hit the occasional turbine. This looked SO pretty that I hoped to maybe capture one lit up against the grim grey sky as I turned to continue my walk around. For now, the walk ahead had no breaks in the cloud, so I aimed instead to get to a good viewpoint as soon as I could.

I started towards the Lochgoin Reservoir, only to realise several minutes later, that I was heading down to the farm by mistake. I walked back as quickly as I could and continued the hike round past the water and towards a marked lookout spot near turbine 43. My destination was Blackwood Hill.

I confess to feeling a little tired by the time I got there, and realised that it was pretty close to where I had ended at last night. Here River and I finally stopped for a good long sit down, some fluids and a lunchtime snack. It was a wonderful position. I could see for miles, and the distant hills and towns were bathed in glorious sunshine. Above us, the heavy skies remained. I saw more and more patches of sunlight come across the fields right over to me now however, so I positioned myself looking at a group of turbines, hoping that 3 of them might catch the light at once. I took loads of pictures of them all individually catching the sun, but for one patch to hit my complete grouping in one go, proved annoyingly elusive – then suddenly, after what seemd an age of trying and waiting – it happened!! I was over the moon, but realising the composition wasn’t quite right, tried to re adjust the shot. I was too slow though – the light had already gone off two of them. I waited, but it didn’t happen again, so I re-evaluated the shot I had captured and decided that I might be able to crop it to help it work better.

Light breaking through to hit some of the turbines

After this I wandered back and as I did, I spotted the Lochgoin monument in the far distance. I realised that from near where I stood, it would be perfectly positioned to sit in the middle of the silhouette of Ailsa Crag even further away, so I walked a few paces over to my left get the best view. I put my long lens on, zoomed to the max, and rattled off a few shots, moving an inch this way, half a foot that way until the position was perfect. The image on the back of the camera was really pleasing to my eye. I chuckled to myself…was this technically a 3 in one county shot? I was standing in East Renfrew, shooting the monument in East Ayrshire, against Ailsa Crag that was in South Ayrshire. How do I mark this one off?! Satisfied I’d gotten the best shot that I could, we finally headed back to the camper for a much needed rest. I’d ponder that question later if I really needed to.

As the hours passed, the heavy clouds cleared quickly so I made the call to head back out for either a clear sky sunset shot, or even a colourful one if I was lucky. Either one would do! River was exhausted (well we had just done 6.5 miles) so I left her behind to rest up while I trotted back to the spots I wanted to try for sunset…

As I walked, I spotted a lone tree on the horizon some distance away. With a lovely evening light bathing it, the blue of the sky behind, and a pink tinge to the cloud above, it looked lovely to my eye, so I hastily set up and tried to take a few photos. I needed to zoom in to the max, but even with an extender trying to help, it still looked small in the frame. (see Header) I felt it was still worth stopping for though, even if it did cut the time to sunset considerably closer than I was comfortable with.

Since I hadn’t picked a nice spot yet – and I only had a rough idea at that – I quickly headed on my way but soon found myself stopping a second time. This time it was to photograph the sun dipping below the hill, with a delightful starburst in the making. This spot proved rushing any further would be a waste of time, since I now realised I was in the wrong place to actually see the sun dip below the horizon itself. As I positioned myself for this shot, I saw the one I would have loved to have taken… but sadly the water level in the reservoir was far too low. I think that maybe a reflection in the water would make a strong image and that this would be much better after a period of rainfall. For now, I concentrated on trying to get the best angle for the sunburst.

Once I’d managed this one, I saw that I still had 5 mins to the actual sunset. I suspected it might be worth re-trying the monument shot I’d taken earlier, but I realised chances were going to be slim once I spotted that the sun was now behind a cloud. Any colour there a few minutes ago was already fading to a dull blue and quickly at that. I tried the shot however – gotta be in it, to win it, right?! Unfortunately the lens extender (which slightly restricts the amount of light that can get to the shutter) and the rapidly fading daylight, made it very hard to focus. Eventually I had to admit to myself, that I wasn’t going to get this one. Maybe I could just cheat the earlier shot, and put the colour that I was now looking at, into the image when I edited it…

Matching the bit of colour I saw in the sky later on, this was taken earlier in the day.

I walked back towards the wind turbine I had photographed and used my phone to take a quick snap of the severely depleated reservoir. This was to remind me that when full, it might be worth coming back to try a good reflection shot. Finally, completely exhausted, I plodded back to the camper for a well earned rest tonight!

Pollok Country Park, Linn Falls and Whitelee Wind Farm

South West Scotland 2021: Part Seven

10 September 2021

After a good nights rest, a reset, and a gentle morning, I left Emily at mid day with a clearer plan of action.

I was hoping to finish Glasgow, but rather than take shots of the city proper, I turned to two country parks just on the city outskirts – still technically in the Glasgow City ‘county’ so these can be counted as valid locations in my county challenge! My first port of call was Pollok country park, recommended by Emily’s flatmate. Parking was easy to find, and free, so I got there quickly, and walked towards the river, gauging a couple of extra shots as I walked along. It was as lovely as I hoped here. The most surprising discovery of all though, was the fact that THIS was the exact spot that I had actually tried to find two days ago!! The river I followed along here was White Cart Water (this river was clearly longer than I checked!), and the spot I had seen in the photo was the weir and old saw mill along the river right here! Clearly the original photo I used for reference had been slightly mis labelled as Renfrew when it wasn’t, or the poster thought that this spot was within the Renfrew boarder. Either way, I was overjoyed, and took no time at all setting up and taking multiple images of this beautiful location. It was still very cloudy, but it didn’t rain so I was really happy. I am determined to come back here at some point, and capture this image in prettier weather. I bet it will look really lovely with a bit of sun to bring this scene alive!

The old Sawmill by White Cart Water at Pollok country park

River entertained herself around me, and decided to rub herself in … muuuddd???. It could have been anything actually, so I didn’t take any chances and took her down to the water to wash it all back off again (much to her annoyance – she’d worked hard at getting that all in there!!) As I did this, I saw a chap taking photos of some bottles with the weir as a backdrop. I had a brief chat with him, and he explained that he was trying to take some advertising shots with his mobile. I asked how they were coming out and he said he was just an amateur and that the photographer he had hired couldn’t do it until October, adding softly ‘are you interested?’ Now, somehow I missed this question, only hearing it later, but I continued the chat, mentioning that I had seen shots like these before, that I bet the box was heavy, and further random conversations. It was only when I walked away a few minutes later, that I heard the question and I wondered if he had been serious, and whether I had missed a chance to earn a few pennies, and try my hand at still life and promo photography. Ahh, when you hear things back in your head after the event right?!

I went on my way, stopping to photograph the weir and old buildings from under the bridge (see header) then looked at Pollok House from the path. It was closed for the day due to covid restrictions, but the view from here was really nice and super symetrical which appealed to my sense of order… well apart from the gate being slightly oddly opened. I darted up the steps and evened the opening out before running back down to grab a quick shot with my phone. The lands here were the family seat of the Stirling-Maxwell family, and they lived here for 700 years in various castles before this house was built in 1752 (with a few extensions since then) In 1931 it was here that the first discussions were had to form a new National Trust for Scotland with the then owner, Sir John Stirling Maxwell 10th Baron of Pollok. He died in 1957, and the property was handed to the City of Glasgow by his daughter Dame Anne Maxwell MacDonald in 1966, and then to the National Trust for Scotland to care for in 1998. The family have retained the rights to still reside in parts of the house when they visit Glasgow, which I was really pleased to hear -it means that its still a living residence for this long line of lords and barons.

Satisfied with what I could get with my limited light for now, I marked Pollok Park as one to come back to at another time of the year or when I am next up here, and I then left and went to Linn Park, not terribly far from here. This was recommended by Emily herself, ‘its gorgeous there Mum, we went last summer, and you’ll love the waterfall…’ I duly listed this, and headed over with some hope that perhaps this waterfall might be as impressive as she suggested… but no, the water here was a fraction of the flow as I had secretly assumed. I sent her a jokey text with a photo, asking if there was more water when she was here (knowing full well there was) and she replied with a shocked face at seeing the levels. I wasn’t put off however. I did what I could, and actually really liked just focusing on one part only. The water that was falling here, had gathered to one side and formed a smaller section of falls that was in its own right, still fairly pretty. I really enjoyed this shoot. The low river levels allowed me to step a little further out into the water so I could get a better view. Photos online I have seen since, suggest that this isnt normally possible! Once this was done, I was pleased to be able to mark yet another county off my list.

From here I decided to go to East Renfrew. I wasn’t sure about doing another park, a waterfall, nor long walk, so decided to go to Whitelee windfarm instead. This was going to be an unusual one to do, and I was very uncertain as to what I could expect here – but as the prediction was for 24% cloud at sunset, I considered that maybe a turbine silhouetted and reflected in some water would look nice…? That was the thinking anyway. I arrived, saw a few spots to park up and then went for a brief walk to guage the place. I totally surprised myself by really enjoying it here. It truly was far more fascinating than I was banking on. Where I was expecting a bit of an eyesore location, with some interesting/different features to possibly photograph, I found myself in a very well thought out location, designed to be practical, preserving of nature, AND a pleasant place to spend some time walking or learning about these rather awesome structures. This place genuinely had it all worked out really well! I only did a short walk to begin with, just to guage the lay of the land… wandering around past turbines 40, 41, 54, 55 and around to turbine 43 (see map below) I spotted a possible sunset spot, and headed back to the van for some supper to wait the cloud’s departure before I aimed to go out a little later.

map of part of the huge Whitelee Wind Farm

The sky however, hadn’t read the same forecast as me, and I watched as the cloud got heavier and heavier until it was clear there wasn’t going to be any sunset, and that instead heavy mizzle would be the order for tonight! I moved the van to a safer spot, after seeing another motorhome move, and spotting a sign mentioning gates being locked. With miserable weather here now, I decided that I would stop for the night , and have a full and proper look at this site tomorrow… this was WAY more interesting than I initially expected it to be, and you never know, perhaps the sunset sky was slightly off by a few hours and the sunRISE would be the glorious chance I hoped for.

Dumbarton Castle, Renfrew, Cloch Lighthouse and a Deep Depression.

South West Scotland 2021: Part Six

8 & 9 September 2021

As I planned, I scouted the area the other side of Dumbarton Rock, driving over the river and parking up near a small park area, and some smallish industrial looking buildings. The view was really nice, but the low tide definately didn’t do any favours here. I was right in thinking it was a high tide spot. Everything was how I wanted it on my return and I was pleased to see the weather was actually playing ball too – although all the local birdlife definately wasn’t. Every time the reflection looked clear, I opened the shutter for a long exposure shot to smooth the ripples that were blowing, and it seemed that this was the cue for every bird to do a sudden swim across the scene. I won’t lie, it actually got very frustrating to see shot after shot marred by happy white streaks as they sauntered right through the otherwise perfect reflection. The tide turned and I started getting convinced that I simply wouldn’t get this shot in time before the water was too shallow again, but finally they left me alone for a few minutes and I was able to get the shot I hoped for. Actually the sight of the rocks just under the water is quite pleasant, so maybe fate was guiding me to a slightly lower than high tide shot after all….

Then I finished Dumbartonshire.

Next up was… Well I was terribly indecisive. In the end I settled on East Renfrew, since it was just below Glasgow. I could head westward after, through the top counties, then head south along the coast to capture the Ayrshire ones. On the way through, I passed a spot I had marked as a lovely waterfall, so pulled off very excited to see it. Rouken Glen is a park just on the bottom part of Glasgow, and the photos I had seen of the falls here looked awesome. Not for me today however, for me, the falls were pathetic, and to my eye, literally not worth photographing. I couldn’t even get into a good position to capture the little dribble presented to me, so less than half an hour later I was walking back to the van wondering what to do next.

One of the spots I had marked on my map, was little more than a vague hope that the location was correct. I had seen a snap someone had posted from (I think) a fishing trip, labelled simply ‘White Cart Water, East Renfrew’ but the view behind him was something I thought I would love to see for myself. Trying to find the exact location however proved to be very tricky. Following the map closely for ages, up and down this very long river, I finally found some falls near a building that looked like they might be the right place. I’d marked this spot on my My Maps route planner, and today I drove on over, really hopeful for this one instead, as it was likely to be very picturesque. I got to the spot I thought it was at, only to discover, it wasn’t. There was nothing there. A small weir, with a ton of teenagers on it, and the building was non existent – just a seperate cottage not linked to the water at all.

I felt very frustrated. Maybe Fate was telling me I shouldn’t be here…

So I gave up on East Renfrew for now, and headed for a sure fire spot I was really excited to photograph, and plotted Inverclyde as my next county instead. There are several locations here I wanted to photograph, so I felt that it was going to be one of the easier counties on this trip. There was one lighthouse that I was particularly looking forward to photographing, and my greatly dampened mood was picked up as I drove on over there first. When I eventually got to it however, I was devestated to realise that there was literally nowhere to park. For such a highly photographed lighthouse, this was totally surprising to me. Where on earth do people park?!! Outside the lighthouse were a few parking spots very clearly labelled as residents only, but after a few drives up and down the road again, I felt I had absolutely no choice but to stop here for a few minutes to gather myself, and to work out what, if anything, I could do about this. I eventually had to get out to try to work out how to get down to the beach, since everything was so unclear. In the end I still couldn’t work it out, since there was no obvious tourist path down there – it seemed you had to climb down? I was so confused!! It began to feel so ridiculously impossible. With my stress levels rising, I walked up a bit instead, and found an easier climb down (still a climb though), and a possible parking spot to use… but I wasn’t overly thrilled at it. I would have to park right up on the pavement, and to the edge of the drop to allow enough clearance for walkers to get by safely without forcing them onto the road. Not that many people walked by here I mused, there seemed to be little else around. I drove back there anyway, carefully parking up, and I went down to the very rocky beach for a quick recce. It was a very uncomfortable walk, and even River seemed reluctant to walk across the oversized stones for too far. I stomached the pain of the twisting ankles for now, as I caught sight of my quarry, Clough Lighthouse. It was just as lovely as I hoped, however, I’d forgotten to check tide times, and the water was nowhere near as close to the building as I had hoped, leaving a pretty unslightly forground for my shots. Sunset was in about 30 minutes, so I took a picture of the glow on the lighthouse with my phone, quite hopeful that the colour might pick up and really kick off over the next half hour.

With plenty of time, I started back to pick up my main camera before I thought to check the app again for the sunset time. I felt a little suspicious that it might be sooner than 30 minutes, but the app said not… Not totally convinced, I double checked a secondary source though, and to my deepest disheartenment, saw the sun was setting NOW. I was really frustrated that the app had been wrong and hadn’t updated to match my location as it should, but more than this, that it was yet another thing going wrong today. With the roller coaster of high hopes and dashed plans on top of everything else over this week, I was at the end of my tether. Everything had been gradually chipping away at my morale and I suddenly began to feel chronically despirited and defeated. I miserably got back to the camper, kicking myself for not bringing the camera straight out first time, and I struggled to put on my sturdier boots. It all felt totally pointless. River angrily barked at anything that moved past us. It grated where it became such a repetitive and loud noise, and she just wouldn’t stop. The traffic passed by loudly as well, shaking the van with every big vehicle that went past, and as is want by some drivers, honking horns to disturb a camper sitting quietly, happened here too. My negativity finally spiralled completely out of control and I went into a mini meltdown, struggling not to cry. Did I want to move the van? Try this tomorrow? But move to where??!! It’s getting dark, and I don’t know this area enough to know where I might stay! But I dont want to be here! But where else would you go?!!

As I just sat for the next 40 minutes, totally unable to function, it started raining outside, and I just gave up. I hadn’t even seen the cloud roll in, I was so locked in my dark place. Sod it. Stay here, I am probably unsafe to try and move Fred anyway right now, and who knows… maybe tomorrow morning all this will all look better. I curled up into bed and gave in to the tears. It was the only thing I was physically able to do right now.

It rained all night.

9 September

Today started where yesterday left off. It was rainy, grim, and visibility was poor. I made breakfast, a cup of tea and just sat there totally unable to focus or think. I had no idea what to do. It just felt like this whole week had been a battle.

Then Emily text me asking if I could transport a large item for her today or tomorrow. I quickly checked the lighthouse, and seeing that there was definitely no shot there, I told her I would be over in an hour. I tidied everything away, making it safe for driving (nothing worse than things flying around the van when you are concentrating on the road!), and started the drive back to Glasgow. To my horror I instantly realised I had no wipers working. I really couldn’t believe this on top of everything else!! Thankfully the rain was minimal, so I drove gingerly to Greenock where I spotted a kwikfit and pulled in. I almost couldn’t believe the bad news that they didn’t do any electrical work on vehicles. Seeing my distress however, the guy at the desk very kindly directed me to a road which was full of garages that would probably be able to help. I thanked him very gratefully, wiped my screen dry and followed his directions. My luck continued as it started… The first garage there, had no electrician, and he directed me to a second – the second was too busy and directed me to a third – the third – well the third completely ignored me standing in reception. They saw me there, stood around chatting among themselves, but no-one had the common decency to speak to me or even acknowledge me. I didn’t dare open my mouth for fear of what might come out by now. I had been working myself into an ever downward spiral, so eventually just left, fuming, desperately low and close to tears yet again. The rain had temporarily stopped, so I thoroughly wiped the windows again and headed to Glasgow instead. If I could get there, maybe the AA could help!

When I got there, Emily gave me a big hug and made a warming cuppa while I called the AA. They arrived in quick time, and the chap did a really thorough check of everything. He eventually had to look at every single fuse individually when he found the wiper one to be fine. It took him a while, standing out in the drizzle, but he was good natured and very calm as he methodically worked his way through the problem, eventually finding the dead one. He changed it, and everything worked again, including a bunch of other things that I had noted wern’t working, but hadn’t really thought too much about – Wipers, blowers, cigarette lighter sockets and the reversing camera. He suggested that whoever had put the reversing camera in, had connected it to this circuit, and that perhaps it was a bit too heavy a load for the fuse. He gave me two spare 10 amp fuses so that if it went again, I would be able to drive safely home, and then I could take Fred to a garage. What a relief… I suddenly felt such a weight lifted. Had all these little things also being weighing me down as well?

I took Emily’s thing to her studio, then we went back to her flat where we had a quick bit of tea. She had to go back out again, so I sat quietly, safely, and warmly, while I backed up all my photos, charged the laptop and my phone, had a shower and just watched a bit of TV. Tonight everything felt so much better!!!

Grey Mare’s Tail Waterfall, Jaw Reservoir, Lady Linn Falls

South West Scotland 2021: Part Five

7 September 2021

Today I decided to try to find Grey Mare’s Tail waterfall, and nearby Jaw Reservoir. I had read that this one had a walking trail that would take me right passed it, so I hunted for, and found it, on the All Trails App. First instructions were for a small car park nearby, so I happily headed over to that. Frustration hit right at the start however, when I pulled up to a height barrier preventing me from parking there. I carefully turned round and drove up and down the narrow road for a bit until I found a spot on a verge just big enough for one or two vehicles. Although not the best start, I felt very lucky to have found that at least, or I suspect I would have had to abandon this walk, since I didn’t think there was anywhere else to park. The walk from here looked easy, simply following a small road, but then I missed my turn off to the right and ended up walking all the way along until I hit a private house. Just laughing at my poor luck today, I turned round and retraced my steps until I found the correct route, and from here it was easier to follow.

The walk to the Jaw Reservoir was not hard, it was a bit boggy in places and I did indeed pass the waterfall. It looked like getting down to the base of it might be a bit tricky though, since the sides looked very steep, and were largely covered in huge thick ferns. I briefly tried one open grassy bit of the hill, but gave up thinking I might retry on my return journey. Looking downstream, I thought I could see a possible route to try. River loved it though and bounded on ahead, confused when I couldn’t follow. It’s easy if you have 4 legs, obviously!

For now, I continued on up to the reservoir and when I got there, the water was very still with a light mist over the trees, giving a beautiful vibe to an area that might otherwise be just a bit flat and boring. I snapped a few photos before I took a gentle walk along the edge for a while, simply soaking up the incredible peace here.

A beautiful and calm Jaw Reservoir

With the exception of one man tidying his fishing rod away, some distance ahead, noone else was here, so this peace was very much just for me to enjoy. I ambled along the stony edge of the water until River got all caught up in some fishing wire. As I was untangling her, the fisherman came past explaining to me that it was probably lost here after the line or weight had broken. He went on to say that the water was the lowest he had seen in 30 years, and he genuinely seemed amazed at this level at the moment. As I looked closer, I could see a lot of broken bits of fishing line and where the water level might normally sit. I understood then, just why he was astounded at this – the grass line (which I assume sat just above the regular fill line) was actually quite a few feet higher than where I stood. It was hard to imagine so much extra water here, and how much it might change what I was seeing today. We chatted a while as I worked to untangle the line, and once River was freed, he went on his way. I found myself just walking the rest of the circuit around the reservoir without taking any further photographs, and only once I got back to my starting point, did I encounter anyone else.

On the way back down, I tried again to get to the bottom of the Grey Mares Tail, this time attempting the route that I had spotted earlier. Despite a huge battle through thick ferns, that had me feeling a little unnerved about what might be hiding in there (I’ve clearly been watching too many jungle movies!) this route proved to be no good after all. It stopped by a wall above the river, and had no way to get down from there. Disappointed, I retraced my steps back and then attempted a third route, a little closer to the falls. This nearly ended in disaster when River lost her footing and rolled down what evidently revealed itself to be the steep edges of a gorge! I stopped breathing for a second as she tumbled, but then her fall was broken by a tight mass of ferns and nettles. Though shocked, she was clearly unhurt, thankfully. I paused for a second to breathe again. She remained still in her shallow hammock of plants, and although I could see fear in her eyes, she trusted me totally as I then attempted to guide her back up the steep sides. As soon as she had gotten close enough, I grabbed her by the collar and gave a quick sharp hoik up the last unclimbable portion. Apologising profusely for nearly choking her, I hugged her hard and she licked me frantically as we perched where we were for a moment, not moving another step. I quickly took a handful of photos from there, which weren’t particularly good ones, and we left as soon as we could, retracing our steps back out, so as to avoid any further accidents. We were both a bit shaken but these falls, and the pictures, were not worth loosing my dog over!! I abandoned any other thoughts of further attempts at photographing this one… I think its my least favourite waterfall ever.

This was as close as we got to this without getting into any further danger

We carried on walking down feeling a huge relief to be back on an established and safe route, and River walked with a happy wag to her tail. Feeling a little fed up with this today, I looked at the map again and noticed that there appeared to be another set of falls that I hadn’t spotted before, and that noone had written about. They even had a name – Lady Linn Falls. I debated about whether to bother, assuming that noone had written about them because they were a bit pants, but since these looked to be close to the road and in the woods I was currently walking past, I decided to make the detour. I had been so disappointed at the Grey Mare’s Tail falls, that a chance for a second one seemed promising.

I was so very glad I did! These were really pretty, and the walk in the woods very pleasant!! River loved it, and as I worked I spotted her rolling in mud, paddling in the stream and back in the mud again until she was largely just a muddy ball. It was lovely seeing her unfazed about her fall earlier and so happy. I took photos from the top of the falls (see header), the front, and then down a step of boulders that revealed a secondary part to the fall. This spot was really gorgeous with some early autuminal leaf fall on a lush green moss covered rock. I couldn’t understand why this wasn’t mentioned anywhere.. it was WAYYY prettier than the Grey Mare’s Tail ones, and dead easy to get to!! The colours around me were stunning, and it all got helped with the occasional dash of sunlight on the scene as the sun popped out to play intermittently. Now this felt a little more like it, and I had an absolute ball here.

Dappled sunlight over the Lady Linn Falls

Once I was finished, I washed River down in the water until she was clean again, and thought that on our way back to Dumbarton, I might try and find a dog brush so I could detangle her once she was dry again. I had forgotten to bring one, although I had brought everything else for her.

I got back to camper, drove to Dumbarton, where I found a pet store without any trouble, picked up a nice brish, and some special dog treats. Then I parked up back at my spot from the last two nights, to a nice sunny evening. I took River over to the castle and we sat in the warm sun where she was able to fully dry off. She loved the hands on attention as I gave her a thorough brush through, and complete inch by inch tick check. Going through those ferns earlier, I felt sure she would have picked up at least one of these hitchhikers, but I found nothing on her at all. Clearly the spray I used intermittently on her, WAS doing its job, and the smell of the geranium oil and vinegar mix was not to their taste!

After an hour just chilling in the park, I took her back to camper, and decided to come back to quickly photograph the castle while there was nice light on it. Of course, as soon as I got back with the camera, the last bit of sunlight actually shining on the castle went, but it still looked nicer than it had so far in my trip, so I took a proper shot of it anyway.

Dumbarton Castle looking a little nicer with blue sky instead of grey!

I felt it was time to leave this place, although I felt very comfortable and safe being here. West Dumbartonshire had been completed for now, with The Dumpling, Jaw Reservoir, Dumbarton castle, and the two waterfalls, but before I thought of heading off, I looked to the left, and realised how I would very much like to photograph the castle from that side. Again, I hoped for high tide, so I looked at the timings. The next one would be in the middle of the night, but the one after was at 2pm tomorrow. Armed with these details I decided to stop another night and take the morning to scout the best position to shoot, before coming back to photograph it proper. Then I could head off to my next county on this trip. I wasn’t altogether sure where to go next either, but I had my list, and the best I could tell myself was that it would be the first of the counties south of the Clyde.

Dumpling and Dumbarton Castle

South West Scotland 2021: Part Four

5&6 September 2021

I woke up in my lovely forest parking spot quite refreshed, but I really struggled to get myself motivated. I had no idea why. I think maybe yesterday had been a bit of a blow, even though I had managed some recovery in the end.

I eventually got myself together, and made my way to the first location in my next county, West Dumbartonshire. Here I found myself at the northernmost location on my list, The Dumpling, a perfectly positioned hill that overlooked the southern end of Loch Lamond. Parking was easy, and the walk, although steep in parts, wasn’t long, and before I realised it, I was standing on top of the hill looking out at the view that was… well, very disappointing. I have seen some cracking shots from here, but today, even though the sun was shining, most of the loch was lost to a very heavy haze. I had a small lunch with me, so I waited some time, just chilling to see if it would lift, and though it did a little, after nearly two hours I gave up. I hoped I might be able to recover whatever shots I had managed to get, in the editing stage, but I dont think they are too great. I pretty much only saved one of them – sort of – its definately not of a quality I am happy with. Strangely, my eyes could see more than my camera at the time, which actually quite curious.

View of Loch Lamond from from The Dumpling

On way down my footing slipped on the very dry and dusty ground, and I instictively reached out to grab something to break my fall. Without looking, my hand found a thick, very thorny bramble, and as I went down it tore through my flesh. I startled (and worried) River as I landed, yelping in pain. My hand instantly poured with blood and I had to stop to pull out a bunch of thorns and try to supress the bleeding, before I could continue any further. This really dragged me down on top of a whole bunch of things I was already feeling. I gingerly continued down until I got back to the van, managed to clean and dress my hand properly, and made myself a calming cup of tea. I sat for some time, contemplating what to do next. I was now out of milk, and still needed anti histermine for my very itchy face, so went to find a local shop. Unfortunately, they only sold the expensive branded stuff (I won’t pay for a name if I can help it) and no skimmed milk, so I changed my plans a little and went to find a supermarket at Dumbarton instead, aiming to get some fuel at the same time.

Now I was here, I hoped to try Dumbarton Castle – only to find it closed due to covid restrictions. This just felt so sad on top of everything else. Feeling a little sorry for myself, I settled for a wander instead, with River, my mobile phone, and no weight on my back. I took a snap of the castle from the front and then explored all around the castle rock to as far as I could walk. The last of the blue sky quickly left, turning more and more cloudy until it gradually started raining. I returned without exploring much further, loosing motivation completely for tonight, had some dinner, and just stayed put.

Mobile photo of the front and lower levels of Dumbarton Castle

I did find this castle to be an interesting location to be sitting next to however! It struck me as being a very unusual looking hill, and you could see it from quite a distance as you drove in. It was very steeply sided, while there was no other hill close by, and the town of Dumbarton was laying all around the base of it. Curiosity grabbed me as I settled for the evening and I found myself looking up its history, both geological and human. Turns out it was formed by a volcano some 350 million years ago. A lava flow basically hardened in the middle of the volcano, plugging the vent, and after years of weathering, ice erosion and ground movement, the outer, softer layers of rock gradually wore themselves away, leaving just this ‘plug’ of hardened basalt rock. From Iron age times, it has been used by people as a spot for a fortification, being particularly suited to seeing enemies well before they are near, and being fairly impenetrable once they had arrived. It also housed prisioners (like William Wallace) and served to hide monarchy as they waitied to flee. (Mary Queen of Scots hid here before fleeing to France) Quite a spot I think!

6 September

It rained all night and quite late into the morning. Eventually it stopped at 11ish, so I took River for a walk just to get her moving and to go to the loo if she needed it. She didn’t want to come out initially, but I made her anyway and she eventually loved it when we got going. I left the camera in the van not thinking I would see much in this miserable weather, hoping simply for an exploratory walk upstream. I had my mobile for any reference shots if I needed it. As it goes, I did end up spotting an interesting view that I hoped would work at high tide – if the water stilled long enough. (see header) I went back to the van, had lunch, and decided to leave again at around 1-ish ready for high tide at 2. River chose to stay, so I headed out alone for the picture I aimed to get. The tide was now fully in, but the water didn’t really still completely as I had hoped. I did manage to get a shot that showed the volcanic dome well though. Now I knew the history, it seemed all the more interesting to me and I really found it fascinating to try and visualise a much bigger volcano in this area.

I tried a couple of other shots of some rotted pier legs (I assumed that was what they were) but the shots didn’t really work here. It gradually started raining again and I didn’t really want to leave River alone for too long so I made my way back to Fred and chilled out for a while.

When the rain stopped, it was much later, but I decided to go out again, this time back to the front of the castle. The light wasn’t great but I hoped that when the tide was fully out I could possibly try a bit of bird spotting as there seem to be quite a few wading birds here. Unfortunately I struggled to photograph or identify any birds, because the tide had already gone so far out, they were impossible to see clearly, even with my 400mm lens! The castle was grey and dull with a heavy black cloud over it, so any pictures there were a bust too.

As I stood aimlessly looking downstream, I noticed some sun rays were trying to break through the dark cloud. They looked really pretty as they danced across the scene at the end of the river. Initially they were quite a distance away, but then I realised the cloud was actually very slowly making its way up towards my position. I watched and hoped they would come up this far for a while, before I realised I should be photographing them!! I hurridly got the camera out, focused, and snapped a few shots, fearful the beams would fade one last time. They never did come right up to me, but just as a nice one was streaking through, I heard geese behind me. I didn’t dare turn round but kept my eye on the beam as the light strengthened. As soon as they started to dim, I thought, I would press the shutter regardless – but at the same time I prayed that the birds would get into the shot. Please hang on, please hang on, please hang on!!! I held my breath as I prayed, and then, there they were – 4 birds were flying through my frame! I pressed the shutter. Hoping and praying I had a decent shot as the screen went black, I gasped when I saw what I had captured. Those geese couldn’t have been in a more perfect position!!

The beam was just on the turn, so the timing couldn’t possibly be any better either. The shot looked great and I was over the moon! The hole in the cloud closed shortly after this, and in no time it got to a point that there was no light at all and so close to sunset that the cloud effectively presented a prematurely dark and grim night. Nonetheless…it was a happy end to the day!

Blairskaith Waterfall, Torrance-Kinkell countryside, and Craigmaddie Reservoir

South West Scotland 2021: Part Three

4 September 2021

I took my time getting ready this morning. Now this wasn’t due so much to laziness, as it was to tiredness… since River had decided that she wanted to sleep with me during the night, and then kept waking me up as she wriggled, tossed and turned, decided my face needed kisses and ended up giving me 2 inches of the bed… If you have animals, I guess you fully understand this story! Actually the face kisses were probably for a good reason – I awoke to mossie/gnat bites all over my face and neck from last night. When I tried to help myself, I realised I had no anti histamine in the van either, so had to settle for anti itch cream. Not the best start.

Today’s plan was to find Blairskaith waterfall, so as soon as I was sorted, I drove on over, and found a nice spot to park up. I took the short walk back down the hill a little, and wandered into the woods full of anticipation. Then, when I stood on the path looking down at the falls, my jaw hit the floor. I was shocked to see that there was barely anything here and the falls were little more than a dribble!! I stared for quite a while before it actually sank in. I was in Scotland, and a waterfall was… DRY?!! I pulled myself together, trying really hard to dismiss my extreme disappointment. ‘Well, I was here’ I thought, so I took a couple of shots with very long exposure to try and enhance the water flow, but it was a totally unsuccessful endeavor, and the few photos I took ended up just being record shots for a future visit.

It was a heartbreaking moment when I saw no water in this waterfall!

I did a quick explore of the cave behind, but it was equally uninspiring without light or water, so I returned very sadly to Fred and wondered what else I could do. I needed 3 locations to scratch East Dumbartonshire off my map, but without this one – I would barely scrape two!

I went back to a spot I had seen from the road and considered photographing that instead. As I had driven the Campsie Road between Torrence and Kinkell, I had spotted a field with hay bales, and a rather nicely positioned tree. At the time it was bathed in a brief wash of sunshine and it looked quite striking. Now however, an hour or so later, the sun had mostly gone and the cloud flattened the scene. I texted the shot idea to a friend, and we discussed the pros and cons of it. I’d not taken a’harvest’ scene before, but that was probably because I’m not especially good at reactive photography, and this type of shot would generally be spotted as you drive past. This one had some promise though. So I took a number of shots from a variety of positions, and sent the sad text of ‘all this needs is light’ to my friend, so we could commiserate together. As if listening in, the sun suddenly started a 10 minute spell of brief and intermittent light spells, as clouds parted briefly to my left. I wasted no time jumping back to the nicer compositions I’d found, and just as I reached my favourite spot the last beam of light raced up the hill! I snapped several shots, hoping to blend them together to produce a happy sunny image. As it goes, I didn’t need to do any blending work, because this one was lovely all on its own! The sun never returned, but as a first attempt at an image of this nature, it wasn’t a disappointing effort, and marked location 2 of East Dumbartonshire off my map. Well technically location 3 I suppose, as I had actually visited Blairskaith Linn, and I had actually photographed it. What were my rules regarding this scratch off map anyway…?!! Visit 3 locations in a county? Take photos of three locations? Take 3 ‘quality’ photos at 3 locations…??? Hmmnn… I wonder if I need to be a little clearer on my rules.. I don’t want to cheat now, do I??!!??

When the sun listens to your pleas and obliges!

As I debated this oh so serious issue, I had some lunch, played on my phone while doing my water filtering, then went to my third (fourth) location for East Dumbartonshire. Whether I had any formal decisions or not, I clearly felt I needed another one for this county, just as a back up… So the Craigmaddie reservoir was my next port of call. Hang on… just who is monitoring me on this anyway..?!! LOL

Now here was a really nice location. Plenty of parking nearby, and a wonderfully easy and flat walk. I almost forgot to look for spots to photograph as River and I enjoyed our pleasant stroll here, despite the now grim sky, and strengthening breeze. It was getting on for late in the afternoon so we simply followed the path around the edge. I wasn’t quite sure what I was looking for here, but the possibility of reflections from the large trees on one side was missing due to the wind that was completely spoiling the surface of the water. I didn’t feel stressed by this however, and I simply followed the path further round as I explored the area. This led to, and guided me over, a path that split the reservoirs into two (creating Craigmaddie and Mugdock reservoirs), and carried on round to a section where the area was out of the worst of the breeze.

I found a lovely spot here, where the water inflow to the reservoir allowed for a nice long exposure. I struggled a little though, with the wind blowing the bushes across the front of my lens, masking much of the water trails and making my view restricted and messy. A faster shutter rid me of the bushes, but killed the drama and movement. Frustrated with the shots, I finished and wandered over to a central point in the walkway here, and met two girls from Brighton who had left at 1am to get here today. I was quite amazed at how much energy they had, given the length of their drive! Holly and Gemma chatted to me for a bit, telling me they had a week to try and get in a super tour of Scotland. With points across the Highlands and Skye all together, they seemed to have quite a packed schedule! (all in a week?!) ‘They’ll need a holiday after that lot!’ I thought, as they continued on their way. I hope they managed all the bits they’d planned on seeing – and even if they did – I bet they will be back!! I continued across the walkway to the opposite side, where the view seemed a little clearer. I confess, it wasn’t quite as easy to get this shot either, especially with my tripod balanced precariously across the barrier, but I managed to capture the water flowing far better from this side.

Some nice shots were to be had here, and it felt a little different for me.

After this I went back to the central point where I turned my attenton to the very symetrical water inflow tunnel. This has an inscription showing it was built in 1885/6, and this is the point where all this water finally ends its journey of 25 miles, coming through an aqueduct that starts at Loch Katrine. Rather oddly, the water in this small section was very still, allowing for a glass like reflection. Although not a regular subject matter of mine, I found it very pleasing to my eye, and loved taking the photos of it (see header)

It was getting chilly, and much dimmer by the time I finished, so I wandered back to Fred, with River happily plodding next to me. She seemed happier being out, and I think all her aches and pains had finally become manageable for her. I re positioned the van to a nice spot for the evening and settled in for the night. I was pleased to realise that tomorrow, I could start West Dumbartonshire – the three locations for East Dumbartonshire had definately been covered this time!

Blairskaith Linn take two. 10th December 2021.

Ok, so in December, my daughter had her graduation ceremony in Glasgow – Well, I couldn’t go all that way and NOT re-try a couple of the disappointing locations, could I?! (So expect to see a few additions on these posts as the revisited spots come up) First was Blairskaith. Such was my disappointment in my visit here, that I HAD to come back and have a second try – and what a difference some rainfall makes! The falls here were MUCH nicer! I had parked up in the parking spot overnight, since I hoped to cram several spots into today, and this was going to be the first. I awoke to frozen windows, and a cold van, but as soon as I got myself moving I warmed up enough to enjoy the quick walk down to the falls. Today, the sun was beaming, which for the beginning of the session here, created some nasty shadows across the falling water, however, as the time here went on, the sun dipped intermittently behind cloud, and I was able to capture this shot which shows just how pretty it can get here. I have no idea what it might look like in full spate after a prolonged period of rainfall… but for me today, this was a huge improvement, so I will take that one!

Glasgow City and Campsie Glen

South West Scotland 2021: Part Two

2-3 September 2021

This morning I woke to a broken dog, and my feet in severe pain. Poor River could barely walk a few paces, and those were terribly laboured. She, like I, had overdone it yesterday, and we both ached like there was no tomorrow. After a chat with my daughter, we decided that I could leave River with her so the poor pooch could rest for today, and that I could retry the botanics glasshouses again – this time driving and parking outside in the street, and NOT walking! Parking was straight forward, and I was among the first to enter. There were several restrictions to the entry of the glasshouses in place, limited numbers being allowed in, seating barred, and masks having to be worn – nothing too unusual for the current climate, but once in I ended up doing a relatively quick walk round anyway. I found photo opportunities to be pretty limited with the bulk of the plants just grouped together in a fairly uninspiring setting (for my taste). There was really only one area where I could stand far enough back to capture anything fully, but even there, I found the background to be quite distracting with covid posters, signs, barriers and milling people.

As I turned back however, I noticed all the benches that had been grouped together to stop people sitting on them, and was quite taken with the sight. The benches had created an unintentional, albeit unusual, leading line towards a central sculpture and all the plants bahind. I finally reached for my camera and took this shot.

Covid restrictions offering an unusual, but pleasing composition

I tried the second glasshouse next, but it was just a cluttered collection of plants, which for plant lovers was really interesting. For my photography however, the crammed display lacked a point of focus for me. So I left and made my way back to relieve Emily of her dog sitting duties. While she continued with her tasks for the day, organising an art exhibition in Edinburgh, I simply rested. Later in the afternoon I took River for a gentle walk around the park next door, just to get her moving again before her muscles seized up altogether, then we just chilled some more until Emily got back home. We ate very late and chatted till gone midnight, while I carefully monitored the prospects of fog at the Necropolis for tomorrow morning. The chances were looking very promising at first, over 60%, but sadly they gradually dropped to less than 15% as the hours went on. In the end I decided to just leave it, and slept in instead.

3 September

Because of the late night, and the disappointing fog watch, my plans didn’t quite go as I hoped and I ended up leaving Glasgow at 11. My original intention was to get to the Necropolis at 5 ish, and leave by 7 to start the next leg of the trip. Oh well, there was no harm done, and now I was on my way! The first county I hoped to capture was East Dumbartonshire, and to start, I had a lovely location to visit. Campsie Glen Waterfall. Waterfalls are by far my favourite subject, and I drove to this one with great excitement, but once I had parked up in the car park, I was a little unsure on which way to walk from here – I couldn’t see any signage directing me the correct way.

Eventually I plumped for the hike downhill. The route up looked to be getting flatter, and there was only a slim dirt track to follow. Down was a much clearer path, and it looked steeper… there might be a better chance of finding a waterfall where the route was steeper I mused, and headed down. The walk went downwards for quite a way without signs of any waterfalls however, and finally I got concerned, turned round and started the walk back uphill again. Just after I started, I bumped into an older couple, and they told me that there were actually two falls here, not just one. The woman pointed further down hill, saying it was the easier one, and that there was a delightful coffee shop at the bottom, adding that the second fall wouldn’t be easily accessible with a dog. The lady didnt direct me to that one seperately, so I assumed it was in the same direction. Thanking them, I turned round again, and headed back down.

I walked most of the way down the hill, until it was clear the water just turned into a flat river, and stood very confused. Pretty much all I had seen was a small cascade. Was that the waterfall she meant? Assuming it was, I went back to the cascade, and photographed that (see header) hoping that this wasn’t all there was here. It was a really peaceful spot though, and I could see some rather beautiful detail was achieveable, so relaxed and simply enjoyed the experience of being out photographing the tumbling water. River loved being here too, and she paddled happily next to me, dipping her belly and nose into the gentle flow of stream as it continued away from us.

Once I was done here, and feeling like the trip had started proper, we started the 140 metre climb back up and arrived back at Fred some 2 hours after I had left. I stopped for a rest, had a cup of tea and something to eat, while River went and hid. I didn’t blame her, she was still working through her stiffness from 2 days earlier, and I realised that she would have a limit on how much excersise she would be happy to do right now. The walk we had just done was probably more than enough for today! I was determined to find this flipping waterfall though, so eventually left the comfort of the van, allowing River to stay and rest, and I went to find it! This time I headed upstream – and sure enough, there it was – 5 mins from the carpark…🤣

The couple were right here though – I found a slack line tied to a tree to help you get down some very large boulders, as it was steep with some sheer rocks at one point. A smaller dog would find this a struggle for sure, unless it was being carried. Clearly I had made the right call leaving River in the van. I got myself down and was delighted to see a people free waterfall that also had a ledge leading to a shallow cave behind it. I explored all behind, taking photos from this viewpoint, and posting an image to my story on instagam. Then I continued behind, and made my way right around to the far side.

Watching the water fall from the small cave behind

I went to take some pics from here, but found I had to clear litter as I went. Thankfully someone had left a plastic bag with their lunch lefovers (really?! is it that hard to bring your rubbish away?!) so I used that to pick up everything I found and started to take shots from the front. It was a lovely location, but I bet it would look gorgeous with a bit of sun on it. The light was coming from behind me, but the cloud obscured the sun from view. I tried waiting, for a fair while, but eventually gave up, packed up and crossed the river to start the climb out. As I was halfway up the boulders, the flipping sun briefly made an appearance, and it did indeed look stunning. But as I paused to consider going back, it disappeared again. Effing tease!!!

I gave up the idea of going back feeling unwilling to play this game (!) and continued up, then noticed the path went on a little further upstream. I left the bag of rubbish at this point, aiming to collect it on my way out (no point carrying it everywhere) and followed the path. It wasnt long before I spotted a second fall. These must have been the two the lady was talking about after all. So where was she directing me to, when she pointed downstream I wonder? This waterfall wasn’t particularly dramatic, but it did have an incredible stoic presence to it. Calm, and simplistic, no drama, it was what it was, and had no pretence to it. What an entirely different character this one had. It fell into a simple pool without fuss, and simply continued going straight from there down a boulder ridden but flat stream bed. It was very easy to cross, and I found myself a comfortable spot to settle into to compose my pictures. As I sat taking my photos, I was joined by a group of teens who subsequently found themselves on top of it, forcing me to stop taking longer shots and look at more intimate compositions. I wasn’t too worried, and waited when I needed to. I had the photos I wanted of the whole fall and was very happy with them.

After a while, they all climbed back down and left with mum, but curious, I followed their idea, climbing big rocks and boulders until I too reached the top. From there I saw the path still continued but it was unclear if it led to anywhere in particular. Unperturbed, I followed it anyway, clambering over further boulders (bit of a determined old granny when I want to be!!) until I eventually spotted a third fall! This one was beautiful and yet another, different, character! Sweet and far more delicate than the previous two, this one stole my heart as it tumbled gently to a pool that was so still, the water mirrored each of the cascades that formed on its journey. Time was getting on by now however, so I did what I could in the failing light, frantically firing shots with a variety of shutter speeds to hopefully capture this beauty well. As I did so, midges and mossies came out for their evening meal, and I could feel them tickling my flesh. I tried my hardest to hang on but eventually they became quite unbearable. I was being eaten alive here! I felt this was the prettiest of the 3 falls but I had definately reached it at the worst time of the day. I packed everything away, quickly looking upstream further on. I didn’t spot any obvious path from here, but in this light, it was entirely possible that I might have missed one if there was. Oh but what a lovely surprise to find 3 falls rather than two… and each one was so different. Today finally felt like it was a real winner, and what a cracking start to this trip!

I finished up, went back to Fred, sliding down some bits of rocks on my bum, and happily collected the bag of rubbish en route. The walk back felt really quick compared to the trip upstream, but I guess that was due to my exploring, rather than going straight to the top. I put the rubbish in the bin in the car park, and settled in to Fred to have some dinner, and stayed for the night. Where to tomorrow I wondered?

Postscript: Most of that was written the night I stayed over, and I have since looked to see if anyone has any names for any of these three falls. Turns out that the first two I saw, are the main two that you see on google, no-one has named them though unfortunately. I haven’t seen any photos of the third I saw (yet…)

HOWEVER… there is an another frequently photographed fall/cascade that I TOTALLY missed!! I have no idea where it is exactly, but it looks amazing, with water coming from multiple directions… I can see that I am going to have to go back and find it! WHAT an amazing area!!

Glasgow City

South West Scotland 2021: Part One

31 August- 1 September 2021

After yesterday’s all day drive up to Scotland, I didn’t plan too much for today, chilling mostly and only venturing out when my daughter had a job interview. River and I walked to Glasgow Necropolis on Emily’s suggestion and looked to spend a couple of hours out exploring. Wow, WHAT a location! The Necropolis is a huge Victorian graveyard built in 1835 on a hill next to the Cathedral. With a monument to John Knox (Scottish minister and religious reformer) already in position, the graveyard grew to have around 50,000 people buried here, many without headstones, but the area is still home to over 3,500 memorials that visitors can wander through. It was amazing here, although where it was warm and sunny, it created a far too happy atmosphere for a location I felt would suit some incredible moody photos. I was really excited at the prospect of coming back though, when the atmosphere suited my impression of the place – dark, grim or foggy please! The warm happy sunshine brought too much joy here for today though so I simply I wandered through the characterful graveyard, and snapped some pictures on my phone for ideas.

Once she was done, Emily phoned to say she was heading home so I headed back too and we passed the rest of the day with me assisting her moving and picking up several items she needed a larger vehicle for.

1 September

Oh dear what an awful day today would end up. I took River and we walked all the way to the botanical gardens. I had overestimated the distance – and the weather. The sun beamed down and the heat was quite blistering, consequently we were knackered by the time we got there so we just sat in the sunshine, had fluids, and rested for some time. I bought a wrap to eat and looked around at the packed park. There seemed no point trying to take any pictures here, since it looked like any old park on a packed sunny day. After we rested a bit, I looked at going into the glass houses instead, but dogs weren’t allowed in. This felt so very disappointing here!

Feeling a little despondent over this location, I thought I would try the Squinty Bridge instead, 40 minutes walk away… It seemed do-able, but took me much longer than I expected. My feet were getting really sore, and I walked at a super plod speed, trying to find as many shaded areas as I could for River to walk in. As I neared the spot I had plotted on Google maps, I realised I had clicked on ‘Squiggly bridge’ – and this was clearly the wrong one! Frustrated with myself, I re routed, only to walk 10 mins in the wrong direction. Agh!! I turned back to Squiggly bridge (actual name is Tradeston bridge, but the locals have named it Squiggly) and aimed to continue in that direction towards the Clyde Arc (also known as the Squinty Bridge – the one I was after – can you see why the mistake occurred?!). We paused at Squiggly and saw that its actually got a very apt name. It isn’t a straight bridge, it curves in a gentle S shape as it crosses the River Clyde. I took some photos of it with my phone before we crossed it, since I was really taken with the reflection in the still water of the river. It showed that this bridge had an equally attractive underside, visible only when the water stilled enough I guess!

Tradeston bridge, better known to locals (and Google!) as Squiggly bridge

As we plodded over the bridge, looking out over the water, we were stopped by a young man who asked to stroke River. I said yes, seeing no problem with this, and as he petted her he started to tell me that his dog had been stolen and that he was really sad. He kept talking, and I found it very hard to leave, feeling terribly rude to do so, since he was clearly getting some solace stroking my dog. As he continued talking and petting River however, I noticed his hands kept going to her collar, gripping it, then letting go. I ended up a little unnerved, but before I could take my leave, a second (seemingly drunk) man came up and also started petting her, with similar movements around the collar. I wasn’t at all comfortable with this, but really couldn’t get away, with a man now either side of me, blocking me and both effectively holding onto my seated dog. Then the ‘drunk’ man asked ‘how much does one of these cost?’. At this, the younger man answered £1000. I felt terribly unsettled by now but saw an opportunity. I laughed lightly and said ‘well, while you two discuss how much MY dog will sell for, we really need to be on our way’ and I immediately pushed through them and left. Thankfully their grip on Rivers collar had loosened at my sudden movement and she slipped through their hands. Sore feet or not, we both walked at pace off the bridge and kept going until I was sure we weren’t followed.

We walked all the way to the correct bridge, sat for a short while to rest my feet, and then continued down to the next one to get a better vantage point. As it was nearing sunset, I decided to stay for that. The sky was pure blue, so nothing but a dirty pink happened from my position but I took a photo anyway… After all, I’d been carrying my whole kit with me all day, I should get it out once at least! The water was still pretty flat as I snapped the photo, but it changed a few minutes, later, so that was something anyway. Another photographer there, with his back to me, was frantically firing shots in the opposite direction, but for the life of me, I couldn’t quite see what was exciting him. Yes, the sun was setting that side, and I did snap a couple of pictures for the sake of it, but I genuinely felt there was no focal point to the image and ‘just the sun setting’ really didn’t do it for me. Even looking at the pictures these months later, I am asking ‘…but what did I take a photo OF??!’ Looking back upriver, I realised that the best time for a photo here would be at sunrise. I suspect the sun will rise behind this bridge. Now I bet THAT looks wonderful!

Squinty bridge (otherwise known as the Clyde Arc)

From here I went to get an uber home. My first time trying to catch one of these, but I was SO exhausted that I really couldn’t face taking another step. Today had felt highly frustrating, and like Glasgow was against me, but at least being driven back would feel like a treat. That was until the guy pulled up, saw River and waved ‘No Dogs! No Dogs!!’ pulling away before I had even gotten close. But I had PUT that in a message before you even accepted the job you @$#!@!! I nearly cried I was so tired. I waited a moment to gather myself and tried again. The second uber driver responded with ‘absolutely! No problem!’, and arrived a few minutes later. He happily chatted about his own pooch, and telling me all about his life here since coming from Eastern Europe a couple of years ago. He was genuinely lovely, and restored my faith in the service. Not that I have used it since…

On reviewing the day, I saw I had walked 11 miles in the blistering heat. Not a good day for the total lack of inspiration I felt… But I was happy to take the hit, because my daughter had already been told that she had landed her dream job, and if it offset the balance in the universe, it was well and truly worth the pain!

Pingot Quarry, Tandle Hill and Heaton Park Temple

Greater Manchester 2021: Part Three

19 November 2021

Today was a slow starter, due more to physical necessity, rather than just bog standard tiredness. I awoke to limbs that were aching terribly… My thighs, my upper arms, and the pectoral area of my chest in particular, were horrifically painful, and I can only guess it was due to the extreme workout some 36 hours earlier. As I gingerly moved out of bed, I also noticed heavy bruising to my right leg from the knee down – oddly, not the one that felt like it was going to give way as I walked yesterday. Dear me, I was falling apart.

My aim for today was to get to Pingot Quarry Waterfall, and after finally getting a bit of signal, I managed to plot the route – a mere 20 minutes or so away. The drive was easy, although the country park that the quarry was in had a height barrier, so I had to carefully reverse back out and park in the road. I walked the rest of the way – following Google maps… which, funnily enough, gave me the wrong route – so a very kind lady guided me to the correct path. The fall was pretty to the eye, but I didn’t feel my photos could do it justice. I really struggled here, and ended up just getting token shots from every angle I could get to, rather than ones that showed this fall off to its best. According to the lady, winter, after a good freeze, was when this one was really at its finest. ‘Its beautiful’ she had said, ‘with icicles and frozen water everywhere’.

Pingot Quarry waterfall. It looked much nicer than any of my photos relayed I feel. But its a record for me at least.

As I finished, it was still only 2pm, so I considered doing two locations that were both very close to each other, and here, and then possibly returning home. I was a little concerned this pain would be just getting worse over the next couple of days, and I may end up a little immobile.

The first, and closest, was Tandle Park, so I headed straight over. With two locations to try, I had no time to waste – the sun was due to set at 4. Again Google maps failed me, this time trying to make me do a half hour walk around the edge of the park. ‘There’s got to be a quicker route’ I wondered, and simply followed a path right through the centre of the park. Sure enough 10 minutes later I was at the war memorial. My last two targets were both man made, but as I arrived at the top of the hill I instantly saw that this one lacked greatly, looking horribly flat against a very grey and cloudy sky. However, across in the far distance my eye was caught by the silhouette of Manchester City against bright cloud, with a much heavier and blacker cloud looming over the top. To the far right were gorgeous sunbeams, but they hadn’t quite reached the city yet. I quickly got the camera out and snapped a series of pictures as the sunbeams slowly eeked their way across – and then faded before hitting my target. It was SOOOO disappointing!! (see header pic) I waited a while just in case the beams might reappear, but the cloud behind the city dimmed, and the rays never did return. Having this hill all to myself, I thought I might wait it out a little longer just in case something nice might happen. As I looked to my right I spotted a bright patch of sunlight on the field next to me and suddenly realised that it looked to be heading my way. I quickly repositioned myself to see if the light might capture the war memorial as it raced across the field towards this spot. Just as the set up was done, it did! The sight looked incredible against the moody sky, but really weirdly, within seconds of it lighting up, 8-10 people suddenly appeared out of nowhere and stood in my scene. Now where did this lot just come from?! The sun lingered for a bit so I was able to take a number of shots. I planned to layer them all so I could edit all these people out, especially since one young man seemed particularly set on being in the photo. He surreptitiously glanced across at me and stood by the trig point for an extended period of time in a mildly unnatural manner… not a giveaway at all 😂!! As the sun beam passed, the people quickly disappeared again – it was quite funny to watch! Talk about the sun getting us Brits out. 😂 The final photo though, looked wonderful!

Ahh, photoshop for people removal is a real treat sometimes! Tandle Park Memorial catching a beam of light.

I too packed up. I had just over an hour for my last location and at least a half hour drive in that timing. I hiked at speed, got to the van and hit school traffic all across the route, then, just 4 minutes away, I took a wrong turn and ended up on a motorway. Although frustrated, I was really pleased to note how close this last location was to the m62, since it meant getting home wouldn’t involve me crawling through any city traffic. Gotta look at the positives right?! Once back at the spot I was supposed to be, I parked at up at the nearby Sainsburys. I’d realised that I could grab a quick run and gun meal and fill up with fuel just before my long trip home too. Things were working out perfectly. The walk to Heaton Hall Temple was a little longer than I thought, but looking at the sky, I wasn’t sure if the sunset would flare anyway. I hot-footed it over regardless and 13 minutes later arrived at my last location. I noticed straight away, that even if the sunset had of kicked off, unless it was an entire sky, the direction of this structure would never have allowed me to capture the colour. With 5 minutes to sunset however, I still had enough light left to grab some photos of this spot – even if they were just record shots for a future effort here. I quickly scouted the location and realised that in reality there was only one position that truly favoured the building so I set up and took several shots. The sky did pick up to my left, and way up in the odd patches of thin cloud above me, I could see the upper cloud was a lovely pink. Through my viewfinder however, the cloud was a heavy and a very grim grey. I moved closer, tried various shots, and repositioned a couple of times before I realised the sun had finally set, the afterglow timing has passed, and that the light was going rapidly. Interestingly however, the whole of the grey sky had a really beautiful pink tint to it at this point. In fact, it had all gone to such a beautiful and subtle shade that I actually wanted to take a sample to a paint shop and ask for a ‘pot this colour please’… on a wall this would look gorgeous! I took a few more pictures in this light, hoping the shade would pick up on the camera sensor, but looking at the back of the camera, I wasn’t quite so sure. Best I could do was hope that once I got it on my pc, it would show up!

At Heaton Hall Temple with the lovely, strange, pink grey sky.

Once done, and with the light now dimming fast, I made my way back to Sainsburys, quickly sorted myself out with the food and fuel I needed, and then started the drive home, satisfied that I had another county explored – albeit only a few of the possible sights I could have visited.

I have since heard that Greater Manchester is going to charge for diesel vans, lorries and a selection of cars from July this year (2022)… the whole county. This has put a real dampner on further plans, and made me feel quite sad, because that will pretty much exclude me from all the possible locations here in the future. Inner cities I can understand… but a WHOLE county?! I really hope this isn’t going to be a new trend across the country… how many small businesses will be crippled by costs and forced to shut down, and how may others will divert costs to the already strained consumer so they can afford to do this? Sad times.