Northumberland – Knightshoots Landscape Photography

Spittal Beach and Berwick Upon Tweed

Northumberland 2021: Part Thirteen

16 June 2021

Today, when I got up, I hobbled like a 90 year old. The soles of my feel hummed with extreme pain, and to this day I have issues with them (particularly the heel pad part of my feet). I fear I may have overdone it and injured something inside. Because of this I abandoned plans to do the other side of the wall walk from Steel Rigg to Cawfields, and instead looked at trying to get a shot I hoped for, tonight, instead of tomorrow night. This would then basically give me a days grace before I had to drive home.

So I headed for Berwick upon Tweed, and realising I pretty much had the whole day to myself before this evenings shot, detoured off to Spittal beach a little to the south. It was a relaxing, stress free drive, that my aching body was grateful for, and once there, I did little more than take a very gentle stroll down the beach. Once I was at a further end, I just sat on the sand playing with the pebbles. As I sat in there, I just thought to myself how lovely this felt, and realised that when you are as physically and mentally tired as I was right now, there was little better I could have done, than coming to a beach and simply making footprints in the sand…

So that’s exactly what I did.

When you are tired and worn, what better way to spend the day than to leave footprints in the sand…

The pebbles here were a wonderful array of colours, and I was a little awestruck at the rainbow at my feet. They were such beautiful colours that I collected a few, and made a foot for each member of my family; me, the children and their children and I sent this photo to them with a chuckle. This play time was so chill and relaxing, I must have spent well over an hour just gently gathering the stones and arranging them in a nice way. After I had finished this, I took a slow walk over to some of the larger sandstone rocks with the most beautiful striations, again, of rich colours. Here the rocks were just amazing to see… I wonder why this, and the pebbles, are all here, in this one spot and not like this all up and down the Northumberland coastline? I snapped a couple of pictures of the beautiful sandstone formations here, although I found the shots a little tricky to compose. This type of shot isn’t one I have executed much at all, so I suspect I need to practice it more. I’d left my tripod in the car, and as hand held wasn’t a thing I was used to still, many were poorly thought out and not as pin sharp as I would have liked. None the less the view was a feast for my eyes, and a couple of the shots weren’t too bad. (see header pic)

After this, I went back to Fred at the car park right on the water front, and made a cup of tea before I gently wandered up the beach to take a couple of photos of Berwick pier and lighthouse. I was a little more in my element here, and found it to be an ideal spot for a long exposure, as the tide was just coming in and the perfect height to part cover some old decaying groynes. Everything was just gentle, and today was turning out to be exactly what I needed.

From there I poodled back to the van, and had a bit of lunch, before considering driving round to where the light house was, to try a shot there. It was fairly easy to get to, but I didn’t find my photos to be as pleasing from this position. The light wasn’t particularly great, and it left the features lacking character for me. I climbed onto a wall, and took a couple of shots, just to see if anything would work, but for today at least, it didn’t spark my enthusiasm. I wasn’t worried though, it was still a lovely relaxed day, and ultimately this was an unplanned bonus for me. As I sat looking out at the water, and the view across to Spittal beach, a man passed me and asked if I had managed to get a photo of the dolphins. Seeing my confusion, he pointed them out, and sure enough, there were two in the bay, just where I had been looking! (blind or what??!!) I tried to photograph them, but they were quite a distance away and it was too hard to predict where they would come up. In the end I just stayed put, and simply watched their activities instead.

The time eventually came for me to try the bridge, and the shot I’d been waiting for. The cloud was heavy, very heavy, so I didn’t expect too much, but I was still going to try – there’s always the chance right? I went along to the spot I’d visited before and found the water level to be perfect. Climbing into a nice position I waited and prayed for the sky to do something, and sure enough, behind me, the cloud started clearing on the horizon. It cleared just enough to let the rays of the setting sun peek out from under the heavy blanket, and it finally started colouring the underside of the grim sky. On the horizon the orange-red colour became amazing, but it didn’t seem to want to get to my spot – although I did notice that it was still slowly creeping across the sky – really slowly – so slowly I ended up begging and praying for the colour to reach the cloud over the bridge. Just as it seemed to reach within my viewfinder however, it looked to be fading. I was gutted – until I saw, just under one of the arches, what appeared to be a rainbow forming. I was very confused by this as it wasn’t raining at all.. not a single drop. Perhaps there was some moisture being held in the air I couldn’t feel? I didn’t know, but as I sat there the thing grew and grew into a massive and unbelievably bright arch. From my position it was impossible to capture well, and I dithered – do I stay or do I move?!!! I wasn’t too familiar with this location, but it was clear that this spot was useless for this shot, and I might get a better opportunity further back away from the bridge. I instantly stopped thinking and just moved. I grabbed everything and RAN. I didn’t care too much where, but this rainbow wasn’t going to last long, and I’d tried here – so I HAD to try something else. Once down the path, I spotted an old bit of tree trunk and decided to stop there and turn back – only to realise the rainbow was now a remarkable red one, and a DOUBLE. I did no more than plonk the tripod down in the nettles, try to level at speed, adjusted my focus, and finally fired a set off. I was shaking like a leaf with excitement! The rainbow lasted, and I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to capture this particular one. Red rainbows are very uncommon, if not rare. They need the combination of a normal rainbow (not an everyday occurrence as it is) teamed with a setting sun. They are caused by the red of the setting sun stripping the blues and greens from the spectrum, in the same way the dying light strips the sky of those colours to give us a red sunset. Conditions for a red rainbow therefore, need to be really specific – and to have caught one as bright as this was unbelievable – let alone a double one!

Rare red Rainbow over the Royal Border Bridge in Berwick upon Tweed

As I stood there snapping whatever photos I could, a man walked by with his dog. ‘That’s a beauty that one, isn’t it?’ he commented.

Sure was!

My Adventures

Hareshaw Linn and Sycamore Gap

Northumberland 2021: Part Eleven

14 June 2021

After the long hike of Simonside, I had a really good sleep and decided I would take an easy start to the day. The chill beginning was very welcome, and at around 12 I made my way over to the popular waterfall, Hareshaw Linn. Everyone I had spoken to were excited by these falls, so I was very much looking forward to seeing them for myself. Unfortunately, the car park here wasn’t very big at all though. The entire space was full by the time I arrived and a man monitoring the parking (not totally sure why) guided me into a spot near the small the industrial estate here. I chatted to him for a while, (just to get assurance that it was OK to park here mostly), and then headed off to follow the simple walk to the falls themselves. This was a lovely, gentle and flat walk and one of the easier ones for sure! There were several spots I looked at before I got to the main fall but I decided to stop at them proper on the way back. Continuing on, I passed through a wooded area and over 6 bridges to get to the final position that opened up revealing the beautiful plummeting waters here. It was as lovely as everyone had described, but for some really strange reason, I found myself struggling with any shots I tried to take. I couldn’t quite work out what wasn’t working for me with this one – My angles? The light? It certainly wasn’t the waterfall itself. That looked perfect. Yet all my images left me feeling just that little bit ‘meh’. Despite trying from a number of different positions, I found it extremely hard to get excited with what I was producing, so I ended up just sitting on the far side.

From here, I watched other tourists come and go for a bit then found myself bird spotting… ending up SO engrossed with them, that I didn’t move for nearly 2 hours! I’d spotted a Robin drop down to some rocks and fly away again first. When he did it again, I looked closer and saw a baby sitting in a crevice. I’d never seen a baby robin before! I photographed him as he looked back at me warily, then I noticed some other birds also flitting around the gorge. I spent the next few hours just trying to shoot them, finding the challenge quite enjoyable. What thrilled me the most was catching sight of a grey wagtail. I have adored these birds since Scotland, and I had, ever since then, hoped to capture an image of one. Boy did the ones here make it hard though!! I ended up with a ton of blurry bum shots where they made it so difficult, and in the end they disappeared altogether, proving to me that it wasn’t to happen here. They were clearly an aloof bird, and didn’t want to come near me, but I tried. I’ll give myself that. In the end, I was chill about the experience and I wont lie, just watching them had been a really beautiful way to spend those hours.

Eventually I left, and wandered down river. I had a couple of people assuming I was a qualified bird watcher (Hahahahaha, if only they knew!) asking ‘what’s this bird? what’s that one? Rather remarkably, I actually managed to identify the ones they asked about… a dipper, baby Robin and of course, the grey wagtail.

I stopped back at a small waterfall at the start of the walk here, and almost immediately I spotted another wagtail. I had another chance to get a picture! I tried so hard here, focussing totally on the bird, that in the end, I completely forgot to get a shot of the smaller falls! It was still hard to capture this bird, but at least it was out in the open more, so my opportunities were made just that little bit easier. Knowing now, how skittish these ones are, I tucked myself to the side, partly behind a tree, and just waited for it to get a little closer. Initially it was as timid as the ones upstream, and he was just that little bit too far away for a good photo – but my patience finally paid off when he eventually got close enough for my camera to lock focus. I know I could get a better one than this in the future, but for a first time, I am dead chuffed that this little fella is clear enough to identify, and isn’t just an odd yellow smudge!

Finally! I have my grey Wagtail photo… persistence paid off!

As I finished these pictures my phone tinged, and I read the annoying message telling me that my time here would be curtailed, yet again, by a job needing a Covid test – ASAP (a Covid test this week, ahead of a second Covid test, for the job at the end of next week?!! Don’t get me started…!) As messages were sent to and fro, with me trying my hardest to save my plans for the end of this week, I was hit by the first beam of sunlight for the day. I suddenly wondered what the sky was doing? I looked up and saw the grey sky was evidently starting to clear, and indeed, the sun had started shining.

Oh my.

It was just an hour away to sunset, and by the looks of it, there may actually be a little colour… Wondering what to do, I realised I was not far from Hadrian’s wall. Perhaps it would be worth trying Sycamore Gap again?… Was I close enough??… 30 mins away… that would leave me…

I didn’t wait, I just drove. There was no time to think about this! I got to the car park in the 30 minutes, dived out, hastily shut the door, locked the van and started the long walk. I got 5 mins down the trail before I realised I had forgotten to change the camera battery. They were all on the bed where I was sorting them…!! I hurried back… grabbed the battery… checked my watch… 15 mins to sunset. I immediately started walking at pace, and to my left tried to ignore the orange sky as I hotfooted it as fast as I could. The colour in the sky seemed to be dimming… I didn’t dare look… but my heart was sinking with every step. I maintained the speed regardless, (knowing the route helped massively) and in a neck breaking 12 minutes, I was there… Huffing and puffing, but there.

I finally allowed myself the time to properly look at what was happening… and disappointment filled me. All the colour had gone with exception to one little bit of pink.

‘Oh well’ I consoled myself, ‘I’m here, I may as well take the shot’. No-one else was around, so I had the space to play with as I liked. I proceeded to pull the tripod out and put it into a prime position taking my first test photo. In it was the smallest bit of colour, and I felt gutted. By the time I looked back at the sky however, it looked a little different. Was it my imagination or was it getting redder? I took another shot…wait, there’s a bit more… I questioned myself…WAS that there a second ago?

The change was so subtle and gentle that I could barely see the difference, but wait… No… there’s definitely more… With a sharp intake of breath, and trying to contain my building excitement, I realised it WAS getting redder! I had forgotten that after the sun dipped for the night, the colour can sometimes bloom in an afterglow… and tonight it looked like I might get lucky! I snapped more photos, and in front of my eyes, as each minute passed, the colour brightened and eventually flared until it looked like the tree was on fire. I was beside myself and fired 47 images on the camera, changing my position slightly a couple of times just to vary the composition slightly. I couldn’t believe I was seeing this!!

In the space of 15 minutes, it brightened, glowed and then started fading again. As the colour started to leave the sky, I stopped to breathe and cheered, punched the air and stamped my feet in a happy dance… I simply could not believe how lucky I was seeing that tonight! I stood for a while calming my breathing, taking in the shots, and reeling from the excitement, before I was able to pack everything away. I stared at the tree, now surrounded by the blue of the night, and quietly thanked the universe for what it had given me this evening, before finally turning away and taking a gentle walk back to the van.

That was SO worth the rush to get there!!!

My Adventures

Simonside

Northumberland 2021: Part Ten

13 June 2021

Today I was going to take it easy and just go for a hike when I was ready. I cleaned up Fred, completely washed myself head to toe, and waited for my hair to dry off a little before setting out. I should add that I DO wash daily (!!) but its usually just a quick one of essential areas (you know the one – better known as the religious bath/cowboy bath/whores bath… so many names for this but basically: Face, tits, pits and bits) Today’s one was the big top to toe one to completely refresh and reset myself. I am on my own and outside in the wild most of the time when I am away, so to conserve water, there’s no real need to be super sparkly clean is there!? (so yes, I can skank out a little on an extended trip – I apologise in advance if you ever come across the old cave lady with mad hair, covered in dirt and filth, smelling like a cow pat – that’ll likely be me on day 6 of no human contact…)

Today’s hike took me through woodland before it started climbing, then I followed the path through some areas of cut trees. This developed into open moorland on the left, and trees to the right, before curling around and taking me up the final steep climb to the highest point of this ridge. The views from here were lovely, of course, since you could see for miles, but I’m not one for huge, beautiful vista shots. I love them, don’t misunderstand me, but I don’t think I have a developed eye for a good image (yet!) and I really I struggled to see any exciting shots from here. I tried a general view with the cairn being the focal point, but it didn’t feel particularly breathtaking to me in the way I would have liked.

I did keep trying though – one day I will nail it and amaze myself! As I was here pondering what wasn’t quite working, a family came up. They were a big group of about 6-7 people, and all the excited young women in it, got mum to photograph them with the view behind. They then got her to photograph dad, dad with them, selfies with mum, and then they all jumped over to the cairn taking their phones out to snap further shots of their own. A very typical and adorable family day trip image. However, coming up at the rear was a young man of about 16, who very clearly had some kind of mental handicap. He was able to communicate, but he spoke very much younger than his years. My heart broke when he asked to have his photograph taken too, but no-one heard his multiple requests, literally brushing past him in their excitement. It was almost like no-one saw he was even there. More disappointing was when mum blatantly ignored him, focussing solely on the girls when he asked her, twice again, in his very gentle tone. I’d heard him though, so how she didn’t escapes me. They all sat around the cairn, and in small groups took each others photos – again the young man was being pretty much left out. I felt so sad! In the end I hated just standing there watching his treatment. I asked if they would like a group photo, and they eagerly said yes. I did no more than group them together, with the lad very clearly in the middle of the shot, and took several photos with their phones. Now I could see a happy beam on his face, and I felt so much better for him. Finally, he was a member of this family, albeit for a brief moment.

Shortly after they left, I met a young couple here too, Georgia and Gary, and we also chatted for a while. They were out taking photographs, Gary explained, trying to pick some locations for a night time milky way shot. We chatted about all things photography, and I noticed they both had an interesting clip they used to store their cameras on their shoulder straps. (I imagine it could also clip onto a belt). Gary explained that it was a Peak Design ‘Capture clip’, that it clips securely onto most straps, and has a safety on it to lock the camera in place as well. They both sang the praises of the design, and I have to say that it looked really good, and a super efficient way to grab your camera quickly for a hand held photo. I took a photo with my phone with the intention of looking these up when I got home. (Nb. I did, and I purchased one and although its not quite as good for a larger camera with an L plate attached, I can see I would have some use for it)

After everyone had moved on, I did too, and ahead of me I noticed what seemed to be a snowy scene. Now, all the guides I read this morning, just before I did this walk, led me to think I was here too early for the best of the colour (they all suggested August for when the heather is in bloom) so I wasn’t expecting anything too exciting out of this trip. As I approached this ‘snow’ however, I was blown away by the mass of white flowers that filled this particular area. There were tiny while balls everywhere, blowing in the breeze, and, against the darker background of the tree filled hills, I felt they looked amazing. I now know this to be Bog Cotton. ‘Why do none of the guides mention THIS?’ I thought, and I snapped a ton of photographs of this stunning scene, trying out a closer shot (see header), wide ones and, after I had followed the path right through them, a shot looking back to the cairn. I liked this one a lot. I liked these flowers a whole lot more too!

Looking back over the bog cotton to the cairn on top of Simonside hills

The rest of the walk was essentially just hiking, and other than a couple of rocky outcrops that marked the tops of Dove Crag, Old Stell Crag and Little Church Rock, its a very flat and open hike. The growing dark clouds left the landscape extremely flat looking, making any vista shots even harder to see, but I found it interesting how, where I had to restrict myself, I managed to cut certain ideas out of my head, and started looking at things harder and differently. This meant that I found myself I experimenting with more variable, or intimate shots. Once home, I picked holes in them all… too off balance, wrong angle, to flat, too boring… so I clearly hadn’t learned the art of photographing things that work well in this scenario just yet! But that’s fine, this was a fairly new experience for me to concentrate on and I wasn’t expecting miracles! Having a play was a good thing, and on the plus side, I found that as I got into the walk, I started seeing different shots all over the place, and before long I found the experience really exhilarating. I need to do a few more of this type of hike I feel, just to get the experience in, and to help train my eye to not be so lazy in future!

I had a packed lunch with me, so I absolutely took my time over this walk, easily doubling the recommended length of time it is expected to take. This day out, for me, wasn’t quite as much about the photography, as just trying a different type of hike for myself, and seeing what might be involved with trying to get these beautiful vista images. Photography aside, this had been a most enjoyable day! As I reached the end of the ridge, I looked back to see a band of light washing across the scene in front of me, racing towards me at quite a pace. Thankfully I had just enough time to grab this shot, which I really liked. I totally get the guides on this one though, had it of been in peak heather season, this would have been stunningly colourful!

Panorama of the Simonside hills taken as I started the descent

From here, I turned down the hill, and made my way through the woods again to the camper. This had been a very full afternoon, and I returned at around 8.30pm very satisfied with what I had experienced. I would be happy to try more of these I feel, but I really need to look into what makes a ‘nice view’, a ‘great vista’ photo… because I’d really love to be the photographer behind one of those!

My Adventures

St Marys Lighthouse, Blythe, Linhope Linn and Bird Photography

Northumberland 2021: Part Nine

12 June 2021

I got up for sunrise in plenty of time today. No more oversleeping for me! The tide was on its way in, so I needed to be careful that I didn’t get trapped on the little isolated section of sand, which was my chosen position for this morning. As it goes it was absolutely fine. The red in the sky was lovely, but unfortunately it stuck to a line of cloud on the horizon and there was little above it to even the colour out (see header photo) Although I took what I could, I actually thought I preferred yesterdays dawn shot (am I just being a fussy moo?!) As I left, the tide continued in, and I snapped a photo with my phone from higher up on the cliff. I really liked this position. It had a much better, open feel to it, for my taste. So I made a mental note of that spot for another time. For this morning however, the sun had risen fully by this point, the cloud was building and I wanted to start clearing up some coastal locations before moving inland. This meant a return visit to Blythe, so I drove straight there and jumped right into the spot I had been trying. Thankfully, the sun climbed out of a cloud for a short while, and beamed onto the huts exactly how I hoped it would. I only needed to take a few shots and I was done here too!

Third time lucky with the Blythe beach huts!

From here I drove for a while to go and find the waterfall at Linhope Linn. The drive was a pretty comfortable one, and towards the end I found myself driving parallel to a river – a long road, with large swathes of grassy areas. All along here were parked cars with people eating picnics, sunbathing, paddling in the water, and having a good day out in the sun, that was confidently beaming down now. There were ‘no camping’ signs everywhere, so I assumed all these were day trippers, which made the scene really lovely. I am used to seeing crowds at a beach, but I’ve never seen this sight along a river in this manner this before. I followed this road further until I was just over a mile away from the waterfall when I saw a few cars parked to the side of the road. I went to drive past them when I realised that from here the road was private, so this was actually as far as I could go. I carefully turned the van round and parked along with all the others and prepped myself a quick lunch to take with me. It was mid day, and I was already really hungry…(although to be fair, as I was up at 3.45, I guess my body felt it was much later!)

Now, I wasn’t expecting anything too exciting, since this was essentially just a straight down waterfall without anything specifically ‘pretty’ about it (other than being a natural waterfall of course!) but the hike was really lovely and I did it quicker than expected. (As I started walking, I’d asked a family on their return trip how long the hike was. One of the teens quoted ‘about an hour and a half’ – and 45 minutes later I was there!) I hoped that this meant my fitness level had been improving, since I am usually the slow one in a party, and this was a real improvement on the family’s quote! On your arrival to this one, you come to the top of the falls and look down. I saw quite a few people at the base when I looked – most with picnics, a group of free jumpers, swimmers and some packing up to leave. I wasn’t too concerned. I was happy to wait for them since I was in no real hurry, and besides that, my grumbling stomach demanded attention first! I ate the food, and as I finished, a delightful male chaffinch flew over to me and seemed happy to show off the big fly in his mouth. I chatted to him and he watched me intently. Eventually, I carefully got my camera out, and nervously tried to grab a few photos. This was a little more unsettling for him, and he hopped to several spots before disappearing altogether, making photographing him tricker than I expected. It was a beautiful moment though, he was clearly very trusting of people! After he’d flown away, I climbed to the bottom of the falls and looked at a few positions for shots. Unfortunately, from here, the sun was literally on top of the waterfall, and the light flared down the lens making every shot totally impossible. I struggled for a bit, then gave up, realising I would have to try this spot later on after the sun had moved more to the right. I climbed to the side instead and took a photo across the whole scene. The dynamic range here was very harsh too (lots of extremely light and dark areas in one shot) but I hoped I could balance it all up in the edit at home. It took a bit of work, but I did manage it. The shot was far too busy and cluttered for me to be totally satisfied with it though, and I suspect I should have just focused on smaller intimate scenes here. This fall was proving to be really tricky!

As I waited for the sun to move over far enough, I decided to try a little bird photography. Seeing the Chaffinch that close up had me really excited to try some more! I very briefly spotted, but didn’t manage to capture, a grey wagtail, which I love, and then I got buzzed by a Robin. To my delight, he was quite happy to pose a little for me – from a distance of course.

By now the sun had moved on, and the crowd of people had begun to thin, so I made my way back to the bottom of the waterfall again. The light was a little better, but what I had failed to really notice earlier, was how this fall comes down straight into a steeply sided rocky pool, that is obscured most of the way around. The only angle I could get where the composition was remotely pleasing to my eyes, proved to be one where I was perched at an odd angle, squeezed between a rock and a big tree, one foot in the water on a wobbly stone, one tripod leg likewise, and balancing quite precariously. I tried several shots, but the tree right next to me was very distracting and it really constricted my view. After some cropping, this ended up being the only shot I actually came near to liking, and even then, I wish I had of been a little quicker on the shutter so that the water was less of a blur. As it was though, I was too uncomfortable and concerned about the safety issues with this position to stay working this image for too long. I ended up abandoning it and clambering to safety after just a few shots. But, I know where this is, and if I am ever here again, I know what to expect. Next time I won’t go in such bright sunshine though, since it really hampered my efforts, and maybe I’d also go well out of the summer season, so I don’t have to work around so many people having a swim. I suspect this left me feeling too self conscious to explore compositional ideas thoroughly enough. For such an isolated area, I was quite surprised to see the numbers of people that were here, I wont lie!

Closer up on the falls once the sun had moved round

As I walked back to the camper, I wondered what to do for this evening. With so many ‘no overnight camping’ signs, I felt a bit loathed to stay (which had been my original idea given how little sleep I’d had over the last 2 days). While I pondered my options, I had tea and just sat looking out at the countryside around where I had parked. In the field next to me, goldfinches seemed to be playing together. They hid in the tall grasses, all erupted into view at once and seemed to chase each other, before they hid again, and then repeated the scene. This was such a delight to watch! Their happy chattering made it totally impossible to not smile at their antics. Unfortunately they were quite a distance away from me, but when one came slightly closer and just sat on a fence post, I was able to get a (slightly soft focus sadly) shot of him, before he vanished off to the games again. Way down the road, a pied wagtail wandered about, twitching his long tail as they do, and over the other side, pheasants wandered a safe distance away, keeping their eyes on this strange creature with a long metal eye that looked a little suspicious. They were all to far away to photograph well, sadly, but just sitting, eating, watching them all, and making a few vain efforts to photograph them, made me insanely happy and at peace.

Birds from today! A Robin, a Chaffinch and a Goldfinch

After some debate, I settled on going to Simonside, a location that had been recommended to, rather than researched by, me. I wasn’t totally sure what to find there, but it was something different, and, I was told, they had no issues with campers stopping overnight. This seemed to be an ideal location to stop and rest after the lack of sleep for 2 days. 7 hours total managed in 48 hours. Not good! I arrived at nearly 10pm, and once there, settled straight into bed. I was out like a light in minutes.

My Adventures

St Marys Lighthouse, Chambois, and Blythe

Northumberland 2021: Part Eight

11 June 2021

This morning I wanted to finish Tyne and Wear with location no. 4 and my most anticipated place to date. St Mary’s Lighthouse. Just about every photo I had seen from this location looked amazing, and it seemed there were endless possibilities for compositional ideas! The day started off really early, but where I had been driving so late into the night, I overslept slightly. I hurridly got ready and rushed out – but, a little guttingly, found the walk to be further than I realised and although I tried to hike at some pace over to the lighthouse, the sky bloomed into beautiful shades of pink and red, then faded in minutes. The colour had all but gone by the time I arrived. I was SO disappointed at myself! Despite what I felt however, the site WAS still lovely and I felt very relieved that I managed to get there in time for the actual rising of the sun – which allowed for some shots with a warm orange glow on the water instead. This shot was literally the first spot I plonked my camera on, and I was not at all unhappy with this as a start! The tide was just beginning to receed, and as it did the causeway over to the lighthouse island was being revealed. I wasn’t sure how far out the water went, but I guessed it meant that there would be a lot of varying opportunities, at a huge variety of different times. If I couldn’t get what I hoped for on this trip, its one of those locations I feel you can keep coming back to, since water height, and different sunset/sunrise/weather conditions etc would change just about every shot for sure!

St Marys Lighthouse, first dawn attempt.

As I finished these shots, I met another early riser out with his camera, and we chatted for a while. This man was a real inspiration to me, as he told me his story of why he got into photography. He’d had a stroke several years ago, and it incapacitated him to such a degree, that it changed his life. One of his medics advised him to find a hobby that would keep both his mind and body active, but in a gentler way than he was used to. Alan decided to take up photography – and in just a few years, not only has the quality of his work boomed, but he had the added bonus that the lingering effects of the stroke all but disappeared. Looking at him, I would never have known anything like that had ever happened. His story is a wonderful example of how this hobby helps build lives back again. Where my adventure helps me with my depression and self identity issues, his helped him recover from a serious medical issue. Look up some of his work and see just how hard he worked at his photography as a recovery aid.. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100005502481710 and tell me that this hobby isnt one of the best self healing tools you can give yourself?!

Once Alan had left, I looked around for a while. Since there was SO much opportunity here, I decided that I might try a sunset shot here as well. This meant, ideally, that I needed to stay fairly local to this area. By now, large swathes of rock were visible, but the area was covered with growing numbers of tourists, so staying didn’t seem appealing. I thought that maybe Blythe might be worth re trying. I made my way back to the camper, and headed off, reconsidering my route as I drove, and headed slightly higher up the coast to Chambois beach. It had a parking spot right near it, and was pretty close to Blythe, so I simply thought, ‘why not have a look?’ and I wandered on down. It was pretty much like most beaches, and fairly plain. The most noticeable thing here however, was a huge pipe that seemed to go on forever out into the water. For such an ‘ugly’ feature, it was a fascinating thing to look at. Having said that, it wasn’t the easiest thing to photograph and I really struggled to capture it from either side in a way that I liked. Ideally, I thought, I needed to get above it – and before I knew what I was really doing, I found myself climbing up the sides, and I was perched on the top. Now this view was more like it!! The first shots were nice, but I noted that the tide had turned and I realised that they would be even better if the water were in more. So I simply sat and waited. Its an odd shot, but I still really like it! All the mosses, algaes, and crustations stuck to it, give it so much character, and the lovely lines of the coal grains in the sand almost give a sense of water movement. I say almost, since the water was coming so gently, there was little to no surf movement at all, meaning there was actually no white froth in any of my photos. This has really helped reduce the seperation between the beach and the sea, and the scene looks very gentle and calm because of that effect. Getting down afterwards was a slightly different story however… It looked SO much higher when I looked down and the tide was now in! Eek! I gritted my teeth through my fear of heights, treading carefully with the offbalance provoking kit on my back, and just accepted the very wet legs…(!!)

From there I travelled down to Blythe and tried to check out the pier. I hadn’t noticed, but the wind had really started to pick up over this last hour and the further I walked along the pier, the more noticeable it became. It was strange… I have no real head for heights – climbing up the pipe earlier posed very few problems for me – yet walking along this wooden pier (for a fair distance), had me extremely uncomfortable. Maybe it was because it had gotten so windy and I could see choppy water below my feet at points? Who knows?! For most of the walk up to the end, I was literally hanging on to the rusty handrail though! I tried to get a photo, but it was terribly hard, and really didn’t happen. Although one of the set was almost acceptable (see header), it wasnt the image I wanted from here. Giving up, I tentitively wabbled my way back, deciding to try this shot from the beach on a calmer day!

I then tried to photograph the beach huts, but realised the sun was now behind them, meaning that the colourful fronts of the huts were now in shadow. This also pointed to the fact that I needed to come back here another time – so I stopped trying to push Blythe today, and simply packed everything away in the camper before wandering over to the fish and chips shop right by the car park. This proved to be an awesome supper, and I felt ready to tackle the sunset at St Marys now without needing to think of cooking a meal tonight. I popped by Seaton Sluice on the way back, just a short visit to have a look, and there I noted all the coloured pebbles, gathering a few with an idea for a photo if I could find more (and a sandy beach) then I drove onto St Marys again, finding a good car park much closer to the Lighthouse this time..

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but the tide here was so far back out again, that there was nothing but bare rocks on show everywhere. This would mean that I wouldn’t be able to get the watery shot as I hoped, but it was a challenge that I was willing to work with. Since sunset was still a couple of hours away, I decided to go and be a tourist for a bit, and check out the island. Everything was closed by now, but it was still possible to have a quick walk around, see the seals basking on the rocks, watch some of the birds, observe the quiet scurryings of some small mammals (well OK, yes – rats!) and then to amble back to get my camera. The seals especially, were a real treat to see. It was lovely to see signs up everywhere telling people to stay off the rocks at low tide to help encourage the wildlife here to feel secure enough that they would keep returning.

Once I had my camera with me again, I took a walk around the rocky part on the mainland, and found a couple of spots I quite liked. It was harder than I thought though, as the rocky pools were very small, and covered in ripples in the breeze. This meant that sweet, intimate reflection shots proved impossible. From my perspective, the whole of the wider view was filled with a confusing foreground that completely detracted from the lighthouse. This was a challenge indeed! For now however, the sun was beginning to set, and the sky lit up beautifully. I found myself a position further back still, and lowered the camera right down to try and cut out all the middle ground. I think this worked a bit better.

Sunset at St Marys Lighthouse, with the sky putting on an awesome performance.

The red light turned the rocks all a lovely pink, and although not totally thrilled with the shot, I loved sitting out in this light. The colour stayed for ages in the sky once the initial sunset had faded and I felt that it truly was a beautiful place. I really need to dedicate several days to this spot to explore it better though I think – at different times – to guage the tides and the varying looks it offered. What a location!!

As I wandered back to the van at the end, there were still people around, one of which, somewhat annoyingly, was flying a drone near to the lighthouse and all the rocks there. This made me feel a little sad for the seals, and birds, since I am sure it would have alarmed them a fair bit at some points, especially when I noted where the guy was actually flying it. Some people arn’t very thoughtful or considerate sadly. When I got back to the car park I decided that, as I was here for dawn, I might as well see if I could stay here the night, since it was literally only a few hours away now. I had been told by several people that they don’t really check, and indeed, on my return to the camper this morning at that car park, I had noted there were ‘no overnight camping’ signs.. (Oops didn’t see those when I pulled in all bleary eyed last night!) and no-one had knocked on my door to move me on from there. As I sat pondering this decision, I realised there were a lot of cars gathering, so I just waited it out. The cars building turned out to be boy racers, and though no-one bothered me (I have always found these kids to be pretty respectful) it was quite alarming at points hearing them. This was by far the noisiest gathering I have ever experienced, with lots of chatter, loud music, constant revving of engines, and the roaring of their cars as they raced up and down the long road to this spot. If anyone complained, or tried to move me on tonight – for quietly sleeping in a dark corner, keeping my space clean and being respectful- while all this was going on, I’d certainly be arguing the point! Because the youngsters were not bothering me, I managed to doze, and even sleep a little until, at around 1am, I realised they had all gone – then I finally fell fully asleep.

My Adventures

Filming, ailments and Bamburgh Castle

Northumberland 2021: Part Six

8 and 9 June 2021

After struggling to sleep, I got up at 4, got ready and bounced down to the check in point – only apparently we were all in the wrong place so had to follow in convoy to the correct one. What a start – it kind of forewarned of the day I was about to have, although I had no idea at the time of course. The day proved to be one of the harder days on set, and much worse than I expected. The shoes hurt my feet terribly, and by 2, I was hobbling badly everywhere, fluids were minimal (well for someone that doesn’t like water they were – few chances to get tea and no squash to flavour the water they offered). Any breaks to get them anyway, were in short supply, and strongly curtailed, so the queues at the tea table made it almost impossible to actually grab a cuppa in time before being called back, although I did manage to get to my own squash bottle to get a drink on two occasions. Food was a running lunch – translation: a few of you are sent to eat as fast as possible and you have to get back to set as soon as you are finished – others are waiting! Rest breaks were few and far between, and rather annoyingly, the lead actors kept playing around, making us stand about waiting all the time. By 3, the icing on this cake was the rumour that had started to spread – we were all being cancelled tomorrow (which worried and annoyed a number of us who had come a distance or who had paid for digs for 2+ days)

Sure enough, when I eventually got to my phone, we were cancelled. 🙁 One day pay for all of this discomfort and inconvenience. Thank goodness I had planned to utilise this time for a mini photographic break for myself… others weren’t as fortunate and it had cost them financially for this productions pleasure. I can’t say that I wasn’t chronically disappointed as well however, despite my alternative plans and the pain I was in. The money I expected to earn from this was supposed to cover costs of my own trip at least… Le sigh – thus is the nature of this job these days! We wrapped at 5, and were duly released. Feeling very dejected I decided not to stay there the night and headed instead to Bamburgh. If there was a nice sunset at least I would be there this time!

It was empty when I parked up, but my feet were terribly painful still so I decided to relax for a bit before I needed to go out. Once seated on my bed, chilling and waiting for the sunset, I fell asleep – I didn’t even feel it coming. I was out! It was a couple of hours later when I finally woke but I felt really, REALLY, strange and very out of it. I picked up my phone to text my friend, and my son, but I couldn’t feel anything in my hands. This left me a little concerned so I did no more than have a cup of sweet tea, and a little supper before just sitting and watching a programme on my tablet. By the time that was finished an hour later, I could barely keep my eyes open, and decided that, no matter what was going on outside, I was definitely not going to play tonight. So, despite being barely 9pm, I went back to sleep and didn’t wake fully until gone 8am the next morning.

After a better sleep, and the weird evening last night, I decided that today I needed to rest, and that I wasn’t going to push anything. I couldn’t focus on where to go or what to do anyway, so decided to just stay put. I think a big bulk of the weird sensations of last night, and in fact the fuzzy lack of being unable to focus on anything today and on the Dunstanburgh day, may have been dehydration and exhaustion – so fluids and gentleness were my self prescribed instructions for the next day or two. I slowly got myself ready, had plenty to drink, some food, and at 11 thought I would go for a gentle walk just to get myself moving. My feet still hurt, so I took it slowly down the beach, taking a large bottle of squash with me.

On the walk, I spotted a group of interesting looking sea birds sitting on the seaweed through my binoculars, and after getting a reference photo (using my mobile up to the eyepiece… that was a weirdly complicated effort!) I headed back. I successfully identified the birds as Eider Ducks (yes, those of the ‘down’ fame, I had no idea that was from a specific bird – gotta love Google!) and planned a return to photograph them at some point before I left here. I mooched around in the camper for several hours after, making lunch, having a bit of a tidy and trying to take photos of a particularly loud pheasant in the field next to me (so good with the bird photography yesterday, so pants today!!!) I then tried to take a photo of the castle from the rape field next to me, after I saw another photographer nip up there.. As I left the camper though, the clouds rolled across, and by the time I got into the position I used last time, the sun was well and truly gone, so I walked all the way back feeling just a bit disappointed. Ultimately, the rape was well past its best, so it probably wouldn’t have been any improvement on the shot I took 10 days ago, anyway. On my return, I had a nap (I was obviously still exhausted!) then went out for a gentle walk in the evening. I had extraordinary light on the castle for a short while, and as luck would have it, had my Canon on me, so I snapped the shots while I could.

Beautiful Evening light on Bamburgh Castle

As I did, some other tourists took the same photos next to me, and I got stopped 3 times by people asking if I was trying to photograph Indie/Harrison Ford. Apparently they had been filming the new Indiana Jones movie here over the last few days. (Northumberland – the new Hollywood? Seemed like a whole bunch of filming was going on here right now!!) This put me off a little, as I felt like everyone was assuming I was a stalking paparazzi photographer even though I was anything but! – so went back to the camper, ate dinner, and watched the light outside just dim again without any drama. I found myself in bed relatively early again, and was asleep before the darkness was complete.

My Adventures

Alnwick Castle, Warkworth, Blythe, Newbiggin-on-sea, and Hadrians Wall

Northumberland 2021: Part Four

29 and 30 May 2021

I woke to fog. This would, in some situations, be awesome news to a photographer, but it was so thick, I couldn’t see very far out of Freds windows. This wasn’t looking like ‘good’ fog at all. I still got ready fairly slowly however, in the vain hope that it would lift – but it wasn’t happening. I didn’t want to waste my last day, but there didn’t seem to be anything I would be able to do. If it was like this everywhere, was it going to be worth staying on at all?

I decided that if I was going home, I may as well check out parking spots on the way, for the locations I hoped to visit when I came back, in just over a weeks time. I left heading for Alnwick castle, passing a curious tower called Outchester Ducket. It was a bit of a random thing to pass, so I stopped anyway to read the little plaque. It wasn’t very informative, pretty much saying that very little was known about it, and that it was now a holiday cottage. Though out in the middle of nowhere, its not set in a particularly pretty setting, so I took a snap on my phone for reference. I don’t think its a ‘spot’ I would bother with ordinarily.

Windmill? Meat store? Navigation point? It seems its past is a little mysterious, but Outchester Ducket is now a holiday home!

As I looked around I realised the fog had lifted, so continued on my way to the castle, happy with the thought that I might have a photographic day after all. Once I found the parking spot and went for a walk, hopes there were dashed however, when I saw the castle was covered with scaffolding. I walked around the area for a bit, but any shots I hoped for would have to wait until they had finished the work they were doing. Within the hour I had left again, and was headed for Warkworth castle instead. Here would be a lovely shot reflecting in the river maybe, and hopes were high, until I turned up, parked and looked at the scene… The castle was barely visible through thick fog that covered everything on the hill it stood on. I sat for a while, then just made a spot of lunch and looked out on the river I was parked next to. I spotted a man in a boat with a camera happily photographing a tree, and then two men on the bank near me, looking through binoculars. ‘What’s he photographing?’ I asked, so they pointed to the tree and told me that there was a heron in it. I hurriedly went in, changed my lens on the camera to the zoom, and headed out to see what I could see myself … nothing it seemed.. as the flipping bird had flown away, and the photographer was rowing his boat back upstream. Gagh!!! It really wasn’t feeling like my day!

I just sat and sadly ate my lunch on the camper step, torn with what to do, then, some 30 minutes later I spotted movement on the far bank. I looked through my own binoculars, and my heart leaped. There was the heron – he had come back! I carefully got out my camera, and tried what I could. Even with the camera at its maximum zoom, he was a little dot where he was so far away, but I still managed some fairly reasonable pictures of him that I am not too sad about. I am no bird photographer, but just following the movements of this one, being patient, waiting until he calmly moved a little closer, and trying what I could, brought me immense, and really unexpected joy. Now I get the reason why people enjoy birding and the reward of bird photography!

Once I finished here, my drive brought me inland, and the sky was looking beautifully clear and blue. Thinking the fog had finally cleared, I adjusted my drive to take in the coastal spots I originally hoped to get – first on the list was Newbiggin, where I hoped to photograph the rather unusual ‘Couple’ sculpture. Once again, I was thwarted, and the sculpture was invisible behind the thick wall of white. I altered my miserable attitude, laughed at the situation, and simply worked out the best parking spot, and, after walking the beach, the best position for the photo I eventually hoped to get. On the way back, I spotted some beautiful markings in the sand. The tide at this spot had washed the tiny grains of worn black coal that form some of this areas stratum, into beautiful patterns. I didn’t have my camera with me, but thankfully the mobile was as helpful as ever in capturing it…

When I left here, the sky cleared inland, and I again made a detour back to the coast… to once again be fooled – ‘will I actually learn?!’ I asked, laughing at myself… this sea fog was clearly in for the duration!! I sat mildly frustrated for a while, in the car park at Blythe, just looking out on a drab view that was fading into obscurity. I shook myself down again, and did go to check possible spots, and once again took a picture with my mobile just for reference (see blogger head) – but I didn’t waste time checking anything else out. There was a lighthouse here that I needed to find, but it was invisible to me today and I felt that it just wasn’t worth it for now. Within half an hour I was on the road again, this time I gave up and headed inland proper. One of the locations I knew I needed to check out in advance, was near Hadrian’s wall, so sod this for a game of soldiers, this fog had fooled me enough today!!!

I got to Steel Rigg car park at 6, but in my unfit state, it took the best part of an hour to actually get to Sycamore gap. This was partly because I decided that as I was here I would actually walk the wall, and the hike up and down the steep crags was HARD work. I am a plodder anyway, and I was in no hurry to be fair, stopping every 5 mins to take in the view (alright… yes… and to breathe!!) The sky was a mix of clear blue patches and cloud, and the horizon had a lovely orange tint to it, even this early – was I in for an amazing sunset I wondered?!! I met another photographer, Steve, and we chatted for a short while, before he headed off towards a hill further on, having no intention of stopping at the tree. I did stop at Sycamore gap when I got there though, because it was such a gorgeous spot, despite all the people here. Its no wonder this location is photographed as often as it is – its perfectly balanced, and the tree is a stunning example of a sycamore! After a while I moved on, since there was still loads of time, and I continued my plod to meet Steve up the hill overlooking a cottage and Crag Lough. The view was lovely, but definitely needed light. I took the photo anyway, hoping to recapture this view with a bit of sunlight across the scene, on my trip next time. This was just my scouting one for now. As the evening progressed, Steve and I took a slow walk back to the tree, getting there as the sun started to set. All the tourists had gone by now, and other than sheep walking through the scene, there was nothing to spoil it. The clouds went a light pink – then all the colour just faded into blue hour without any added drama – much to our disappointment. We still managed to capture some lovely photos however.

Sycamore Gap with only the locals sharing the view

With the light now fading, the two of us headed back to the car park, following a different route back (the Pennine way – a route that doesn’t involve the up and down hikes over the crags!) Steve suddenly pulled up short. ‘I cant go that way’ he said as he looked ahead. I followed his gaze. The gate and the style at the wall in front of us, had about 8 cows crowded right up to them. He told me that he’d had a really scary incident where he had been chased by cows, and that he was not comfortable near them now – well, OK – Yes – he was terrified of them. He would have to take the hike (up and down the hills) back from this spot. For me however, my feet were hurting by now, so I told him I would be fine continuing this way and I’d see him back at the car park. Truth be told, I was WAYYYY more scared of the pain climbing the steep hills, than I was of these bovine girls. I went on ahead, climbed the style and started chatting to the cows, confidently asking them to move out of the way, because I was going to come through, then I just started forward, being bossy and verbal with them all. They all moved to the side dutifully, and I just strode through. A minute later, Steve was walking at a far faster stride by my side. I chuckled and made a playful comment about him not wanting to be outdone by an old girl, and he hastened his speed, laughing but pretending to ignore my comment. We all know of course, he was just being the gentleman and was making sure that this irresponsible old girl wasn’t getting into trouble with the wild animals… don’t we…?!! In all seriousness, I applaud his bravery in following me, and in beating his fear on this evening.

Back at the car park, we swapped Instagram details, and both went our separate ways. I went back to Fred, and since it was now quite late, I decided that I would stay the night and leave for home in the early hours. Driving through the night while I was this tired would be stupid, unnecessary and dangerous. I climbed into bed but my feet were so painful that sleep was very fitful – with stabbing pains shooting across the soles of my feet constantly waking me.

At 3am I woke again, and saw daylight beginning to seep through the curtains. I looked outside to see the early pre light, with a beautiful pink glow on the horizon, and stunning light mists over by the hills. Since sleep was being a struggle, I made the quick decision to just get up and capture the view from where I was. My feet screamed at me as I dressed, grabbed my kit and hobbled over the road, but I ignored them… this was too beautiful to miss!

View towards Steel Rigg in the early hours of dawn

I spent an hour and a half just standing here in the silent, chill, air, photographing the mists rising and falling. I heard the birds wake and sing, watched the cows on a distant hill grazing peacefully, undisturbed, I filmed a spider on a gate, building his web for the day, and watched the sun gently rise. I just soaked up the incredible experience of being here, right now, as the whole world woke up to a brand new day. The peace I felt was immeasurable, filling my soul with something it had been lacking, and it was all for me alone to witness. There are no words to describe how this felt.

Once the sun had climbed high enough, I went back to bed and slept well until 9, when, far more refreshed, I finally got myself ready and drove home.

My Adventures

Dunstanburgh Castle, Howick Bathing House and Bamburgh Castle

Northumberland 2021: Part Three

28 May 2021

I woke up in good time, had breakfast and wandered over for my costume fitting. Once this was done I had a think of what to do today, and settled on having a look at Dunstanburgh castle, and Howick bathing house. To start with I thought I would just gauge the area, so headed to Craster to look at the nearest car park in readiness for a higher tide later today. There were only a couple of spaces in the car park, and, (much to my irritation) I had to park in one of them just to get out and have a look at the parking prices for later. It took a couple of minutes to read the prices and then get back to the van to leave, but several cars passed through in those moments and found no available spaces for themselves. My apologies to those that were right behind me but who had to leave when I ‘took’ the last space!

When I did leave, I headed further along the coast, to check out Howick bathing house. This area had looked really intriguing when I saw photos of it online, but when I got there, I realised none of the photos I had seen, were doing the area any justice. I had never seen a coastline quite like this before! The sections of sandstone were broken by swathes of a hard black/grey rock sliding down at a gentle angle into the sea. They formed a striking line against the edges of the white surf washing up against it. This location shows its former volcanic past here. It was once a lava bed and forms a huge area of volcanic dolerite in Northern England, which spreads all the way across from Cumbria. Research shows there were numerous lava flows in this area around a similar time (approx 300 million years ago) which form several small ‘sills’s’. These sills together make the overall region known as the Great Whin Sill and this particular flow, the Alnwick Sill, can be seen in patches all along the coast to Dunstanburgh. I found it awesome to stare at!

Dolerite rock revealing the volcanic past of this area

Eventually, I wandered further along a small path, just having a gentle stroll, no kit, no pressure, and making my way down to the waters edge. (being very careful as the tide was coming in, and some waves were really strong). I spent some time here just watching waves crash against big crags in the rock, falling away and making loads of mini waterfalls as they retreated… each wave being different to the last. It was very hypnotic, and I fell in love with this area as I just sat here. I had two thoughts for photos – Ideally this would look great with a high tide at sunset or sunrise… but did the two coincide for me..? Not during this visit… maybe its worth popping back later though… The second thought was to capture intimate shots of these small waterfalls… but I had sat here too long for that. The tide was getting high and missing the particularly picturesque craggy rock face which showed the waterfalls off at their best. I needed to come back and try that one at another time too…

Looking at the map, I realised Craster was the wrong side of Dunstanburgh for the shot I wanted, so I looked for an alternative spot, finding a long layby the other side of the castle that I could use instead. The sun was beaming, the temperature was hot, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. None of these lent themselves to any photographic excitement for me, so rather than trying for photos, I left my kit behind, and just went for a second long, relaxing, exploratory walk instead. I found a huge field of rapeseed in full bloom, and when I followed the farmers track into the field, the view with all this yellow – added to the beautiful fragrance here – blew me away! I sent this video to friends and family… and I ask you the question I asked them…When yellow is your favourite colour, is this the definition of being in heaven… I think it is!!

I walked down to the pebbled part of the beach and found the rough spot where many classic shots of Dunstanburgh are taken, but the sun was so hot, none of the stones stayed wet for long, and the shot I hoped to recreate looked drab and uninspiring to me. I ended up leaving this spot for now, perhaps when the tide had peaked and was on its way out, this would work better – and the light definately needed to be much gentler. For now, I decided to go back to Howick to try and capture the bathing house there, with a high tide lapping on the dolerite rock face. It was a few hours off sunset still, but the shot was worth taking now the tide was nearly at its peak.

The Howick Bathing house was built by Charles Grey, (Viscount Howick, the second Earl Grey and yes, he of the Tea fame) in the early nineteenth century. He had 16 children and built the bathing house as a spot for them to get fresh air and to bathe safely in the sea. As I stood fully enjoying the movement of the water with this lovely house in the background, I took loads of shots with the waves falling in different positions. I was loving all the variations each of the shots gave me, and I tried lots of different exposure lengths to see which worked the best… this one was my favourite in the end.

After this I sat for a while trying my hardest to get to grips with hand held photography. This has always been one of my weak points, and I am not very good at it. After some experimenting however, and careful thinking, everything finally fell into place in my head. I was able to capture pin sharp waves for the very first time, following them in with the camera and pressing the shutter at optimal moments. I was over the moon and excitedly snapped over 50 waves… now I just need to find a perfect spot and go out on a super stormy day!!!! (if I can actually remember what I did here of course – the excitement and exhilaration of an awesome storm is very likely to obliterate my memory banks entirely!!)

Woo hoo! Hand held wave shots capturing all the detail!

As the time went on and sunset approached, I considered going back to Dunstanburgh and capturing the castle in a nice light, and hopefully with the tide now heading out, with wetter rocks. I reluctantly left the waves here and headed back, but as I reached the camper, my phone suddenly leapt into life and a bunch of messages pinged to my phone. (clearly I’d had no signal down by the water) Most were just rubbish, but to my dismay, one was from an agent about a job I was due to do towards the end of the following week. They told me that a covid test had been posted to my home for me to do, and that I needed to post it back first thing Monday, in time for the results to be given to the production. This was unexpected, as no-one had said anything about doing a test in advance, and I had assumed it was going to be done on the day.

My dismay was sparked because it also meant that my trip was to be cut short by 4 days.

This threw me and I struggled to think on what I wanted to do, and where my mood suddenly dropped, Dunstanburgh didn’t feel like where I needed to be. I had so many places I wanted to explore before going home!!! Do I want to stay here? Do I want to cram in another new location quickly, do I want to go somewhere familiar in the hope of a sunset… what should I do, where should I go?!! My brain went into a real tizz trying to suddenly think all the planned locations through, and the only thing I could finally settle on was going back to Bamburgh, where I knew I had somewhere safe to park for the night and calm my thinking down.

As I very sadly drove back there, I noticed a haze affecting the orange evening light. As I got closer to Bamburgh, driving into it made the sight ahead of me look stunning – Deep oranges fading into layers in the mist, and the silhouette of the castle standing high on a hill, lay in front of me. I literally gasped at the sight but once my brain had engaged enough to realise what I was looking at, the roads were lined with double yellow lines – there was nowhere for me to pull over!!!! I regretted not having the camera on the passenger seat ready to quickly grab (I might have been cheeky, and stopped for a quick shot), but my mind was so distracted that all I could do was keep driving.

I pulled into my camping spot a few minutes later, and on seeing that the haze was actually a sea fog coming in, I quickly just grabbed the camera and hurried down onto the beach. The sight here was just SO beautiful!

With my back to the setting sun, the evening colours this way were all muted into pastel tones by now. With just one cloud over the castle picking up the warm hues, and two surfers to the far left in all black, giving it a little scale, I captured what was to be my favourite photo of the trip. This eased my current mental state, and as the fog began to thicken, I went back to the camper for the evening to eat, relax and to consider my options.

My Adventures

Bamburg Castle, Holy Island and Routin Linn Waterfall

Northumberland 2021: Part Two

27 May 2021

I woke up for the dawn, and looked out the window in full hope for a pretty sky… saw the cloud cover, pulled the curtain closed, and went back to sleep…

Thus was the start to my day!

I eventually woke up, and though the sky wasn’t quite as grim looking, it still wasn’t especially exciting. Instead, I took my time getting ready, and then had a gentle wander down the beach, exploring the area a little better than I did last night. To my horror, I found a ton of flies pestering me, (mostly) around the grassy areas. They weren’t biting ones thankfully, but there were a LOT of them, and they were absolutely everywhere! (eek!) My curiosity eventually got the better of me though, and I calmed myself a little (absolutely not a fan of bugs!) and I found myself watching them closer. They were a little odd looking as they flew around me, not like the traditional fly I knew and (didn’t) love, but ones who flew with legs dangling down behind them. I’d not seen flies like this before, so I took a photo on my phone of a stationary one as a reference to look up later, and noticed that most of the rest seemed to be pairing up… I guess today was clearly mating day! I now know these to be Hawthorne Flies or St Marks Fly (as they normally appear around St Marks day- I think the cooler weather this year has put them back a couple of weeks) The lifecycle of these insects is short… very short. Once they reach adulthood, (all at the same time) they have around one week to live apparently, and once the females lay their eggs in the soil, they die. Next time I see them I will try not to be quite so worried or irritated by them, as these are the last days of their time here, and they are just completing their sole purpose for living. Interestingly, these are the flies that fishermen emulate when they make fake flies as bait for their rods… bet you didn’t know that eh?! (well, maybe you did, but humour me here, and fake ‘OOoo’ with interest along with me..!!)

Hawthorne fly caught with my mobile phone

After I finished a rather long amble and explore of the beach, I went back to the camper and studied the rape seed field in full bloom next to me. Rape isn’t normally planted in the same fields year in year out, so it being here this year was a bit of a bonus for me to see, since it’s unlikely to be here next year. As I looked out on the sight of beautifully blossoming flowers, I wondered if the yellow field might make a good foreground for a castle shot, so picked my kit up and had a wander up the side of the crop to have a look. The yellow was lovely… but the sky was really letting me down. This shot would be one of those rare occasions where a clear blue sky might just set all the colour off – but alas, right now, this wasn’t going to be the case, the sky was a sad grey and not even a dramatic shade at that. I did give it a go however, it would be daft to not do so right?

I set up in a nice position where the edge of the crop dipped in a little and filled the foreground, and I was able to get the impression of being in the middle of the field, without actually standing in the crop itself. I then tried several shots, trying a set to focus stack where I struggled to get the whole view into focus in one shot. I wasn’t too excited by the photos I was getting – they just didn’t jump out at me in the way I hoped and even when I tried to focus stack during the editing stage, it was a real struggle. (Where the breeze was moving the plants, none lined up and the stack was just a mess) In the end I just settled for an image with the foreground in soft focus although I sadly couldn’t get it to ‘pop’ in the way I hoped. Despite this, I felt that although it wasn’t as nice as I imagined in the end, that it was still lovely to see such a mass of yellow flowers, and have this as a memory. They are my favourite colour after all.

Perhaps if the sun had been on this scene it would have been the striking image I had hoped for, so I will watch the area with keen interest for future opportunities!

Bamburgh Castle rising from the Rapeseed

After a spot of lunch I looked at my map and decided to find out where the popular Lindisfarne Island – or Holy Isle – was. I found the route easily, and pulled into the car park with no issue some 50 minutes later, but as I considered what I wanted here, I had a quick rethink. For me, I wanted a sunset or sunrise, and preferably tide out. Looking at the tide times on a board here I realised that the tide was actually already on its way in, and that later on tonight would be better for what I wanted. Judging by the timings listed here, this meant that I had two options right now… do I stay here and wait, or do I come back? The thing about this location is that it’s on an island with limited access. Once the tide starts coming in, the road to the mainland gets flooded and you are stuck until it goes back out far enough to drive over safely again… and right now remember, the tide was on its way back in ! The sky wasn’t too promising still, so I decided that maybe I would wait until later, and come back when the conditions were better suited to what I hoped for. I got back into Fred and made my way back out again, noting that the causeway would only have been drivable for about another 10-15 minutes, so it was lucky I had decided quickly!

Once safely on the mainland, I pulled over for a few minutes, and looked at where else I might check today, and found a waterfall I wanted to visit. Perfect for an overcast day, so I typed it into google maps and headed off. The route was easy at first, then it got to narrow roads, then it finally dropped to a single lane that seemed to go on forever. Eventually that ended at a private farmhouse and went no further. Gagh!! Where is this waterfall??!! There was no sign of it, and confused I did a (tight) turn and slowly drove back down the road looking left and right for anything that might indicate where it was. Did I miss a sign somewhere? A parking spot? A turn off?? Nope. Nothing. There was literally NOTHING there, no way off the lane and nowhere to pull over to walk – yet the sat nav persisted in trying to tell me to turn round. Eventually, frustrated, I decided to check every map and reference I could find, and found that there were actually two waterfalls in this area – both similarly spelled. Even though I had typed in the popular one (Routin Linn), and not the cascade (Roughting Linn), I realised that Google maps was actually directing me to the wrong one. Somehow (actually, it was an easy mistake by them), they have mixed the two and they direct you to the cascade instead of the falls – To my annoyance they don’t have the route for the second one however. I spent some time studying the route to the falls I wanted, and tried to guide myself there using the old fashioned method of looking at the map itself every so often… Go olde worlde methods! – I found myself finally at a spot where another car was parked and as I went for a quick explore, I bumped into two ladies who confirmed that this was indeed the spot for the falls. I grabbed my kit and headed off as they drove away.

The walk was fairly easy, just 5 minutes or so, with one steep-ish drop and when I saw the falls, their simple beauty had me immediately. As an added bonus, I was the only person here!

So many spots to photograph this fall from!

This was one of those falls that offered perfect photo opportunities to try out a whole bunch of shots I had seen from other falls online. The sun intermittently started breaking through, and I had so many opportunities for such ideal photos (well, for me anyway!)

There was the beautiful overall, dappled image (above), then there was the get down lower and use a specific subject to fill the frame more:

This log was perfectly positioned, and especially lovely when the sun danced across it!

There was the more intimate shot of the falls, seen from straight on…

… and the attempt at a more abstract image of the gossamer curtain of water…

I walked all around, and took as many photos as I could – well mostly because it was SO peaceful and I didn’t actually want to leave..!! Eventually, 3 hours later (!!) I had milked the scene for just about everything I could think of, so I had to leave… I took a walk around the area for a bit, and then tried a bit of bird spotting and photography. This is something I would love to do better, but I really struggle to even spot the birds sometimes (sometimes?! Be honest Sandy, you rarely spot them!!) – let alone identify or, heaven forbid, try to capture a photo of one!! – the pictures I tried were not great.. but they were good enough for a friend to identify that I had spotted both a (very noisy) chaffinch, and a buzzard – and they helped encourage my desire to try more at some point!

The dot very high above me, was this Buzzard.

After 4 hours at this wonderful spot I finally left and headed back towards Holy Island. The sky had totally cleared by now, but there was still a little hope that there would be a worthy sunset… and either way, as the tide was on its way out, I would at least be able to have a little explore without stressing about the tide cutting me off for many hours. When I got to the causeway, there were two cars tucked to the side, I think waiting, but I could see a fairly clear road, so drove on past them and made it with only a couple of puddles to drive through. It was 7.30 by now and about 2 hours to sunset, plenty of time to have a look.

The only downside to this timing was that everything was shut, so rather than explore the island fully, I decided just to head to the main attraction and look at the classic photographic positions to view the castle. The boat house spot really didn’t do it for me, so after wandering around there, I left without taking my camera out, and walked up the path towards the castle. To my pleasure, the little beach bit had a lowering water level, and the spot I wanted there was very easily accessible. Sadly the clear sky really didn’t lend itself to a fantastic photo, but it was a nice one to try, and one for the bucket list collection – been there, saw it, took the photo sort of thing, and even then, its not an entirely unsatisfactory picture. This would look so much nicer if I ever get the chance to try it with a characterful sky however. (now why wasn’t the sky like THIS. this morning?!!)

There was still a while before the sun was going to go down, so I decided to just have a slow wander right around the location. I was getting tired by now and I missed a few other possible shots, but I just wanted to wander, and considered this visit to be a recce to a look around a place I had heard a lot about but had never visited before. As I got up to the castle I noticed a path that continued round to a large grassy area to the left of the building and just followed it, enjoying the gentle stroll. As I crossed a small bridge at the back, I was struck by the sight of a gorgeous shaft of light that the lowering sun was throwing underneath me. Tired or not this was a sight that I couldn’t ignore! The colours were rich, the light just perfect, and I ended up taking a shot I haven’t actually seen anywhere else before.

Evening light behind Lindisfarne castle.

Shortly afterwards, the sun dipped behind a cloud on the horizon that wouldn’t leave, and although I hovered around the site just in case, the sky just dulled into evening light, and faded into darkness without any colour. I wandered back to the camper debating whether to try and stay for a dawn shot before leaving for my fitting in the morning (4am/8am = plenty of time), but the car park had ‘no overnight parking’ signs everywhere, and I had no idea where else I could park. More to the point actually – what would one do if you got stuck here at this sort of time – where could you park then?! The plan failed further when I also realised that the timings of the incoming tide and sunrise would be really tight to get off in the morning too, so I abandoned the idea and simply drove back to Alnwick, parking up where they had previously told me I was able to, in readiness for the morning.

It was 11:10pm when I pulled in, and boy was I ready for some sleep!

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.

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.

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….