photography – Knightshoots Landscape Photography

Southerness Lighthouse, Rockliffe and Balcary Bay

South West Scotland 2021: Part Twenty One

25 September 2021

I awoke to more grim weather, but trotted around the car park with River just so she could go to the loo, and stretch her legs a bit. They had a chemical toilet disposal area here, fresh water, and grey water disposal. I didn’t need any of these, but what I did need was a bin… was there a bin? Nope! So I had to put Rivers’ morning poop in the camper bin – and as I drove, it fragranced the van in a not too pleasant way. *gag*(!!) Oh the pleasures of travelling with a dog eh?! LOL

After this delightful start, I drove to Southerness. This wasn’t originally on my map, but I had spotted a curious looking lighthouse and I had to investigate! It is listed as the second oldest lighthouse in Scotland, being commissioned back in 1748, and was built to an unusual square shape. I had high hopes of getting a nice reflection shot of this one!

It was Sunday, so I expected it to be pretty busy, but as I arrived here, I saw that it wasn’t too bad. There were several dogwalkers, and a few people dotted here and there, but not busy by any standards. Pretty much all that was here, was a golf club and a caravan/holiday park. I guessed there were a fair few bits to occupy most of the remaining holidaymakers that were still there, now the school holidays were over. I found space in the car park easily, and parked up next to a public loo with a doggy bin nearby. (You can pretty much guarantee I made a beeline for that!)

River happily plodded with me down the road to investigate the lighthouse and we were standing looking at it from the beach very soon after. Sadly, the sky was much the same colour as the lighthouse itself, which I immediately realised would hamper separating it from the sky. On top of this, the wind was quite strong – I could see this was going to be a bit of a challenge today. I had arrived at a good time with the tide though. This is definitely a spot for a lower tide, as it reveals the awesome rocks that form incredible jagged lines leading to the lighthouse. This is the spot to practice using the photographic ‘leading lines’ rule, for sure!! I wandered all over, looking at the tiny rock pool creatures, and loving all the different coloured rocks and algae. The reflection shots were very hard with the wind refusing to back down long enough to still the puddles, but I got one eventually and it did look quite good against the moody sky. Perhaps next time I would try and time it with less of a breeze and the tide slightly higher to give more water to the puddles. It would look much better and make for some incredible pictures I imagine. For today though, it was almost perfect, and totally fun to explore. This spot definitely surprised me. How did I miss this one off my original list?!!

I had a bit of lunch, then went to find a random spot, that I had just loved when I spotted someone’s painting (?) of it. OK. I knew it would be hard to find, but with careful scouring of the maps, landscape, and Google maps, I thought I might have a vague idea on where I might find it. I drove to the area I’d discovered, and just walked off in the rough direction praying I was right.

On the way, I passed some cows that had the same colouring as River, and the whole herd seemed to come over to a gate to explore this mini version of themselves. It was quite sweet to see the innocent and gentle curiosity from both sides. (see header) I continued the walk, rounding the headland and seeing the distant coastline gradually disappear into a mizzle cloud. Despite this, I pressed on, after all this was just going to be a recce mission, and if I was wrong then it would be a nice walk regardless. A few minutes later I excitedly found the spot I was after, and was over the moon that all the research had worked out! The view to the distance was pretty much obliterated by now however. All the same, I still felt that it was a good time to capture this photo because the bracken was all in bloom. I decided that now I knew exactly where this spot was, it was definitely one to come back to. It was going to need to be on this trip though – any other time of the year, and this beautiful yellow might not be here! A few minutes later and the mizzle hit my spot, so I quickly packed up and made my way back before it turned into full on rain..

After this, I aimed to try Balcary Bay to photograph the view across the bay with the castle in the background. Well.. what a disappointment this place was! I hoped to stay overnight to get a sunset and a dawn shot, but the car park clearly said no overnight camping. I was also sad to realise that there was very little here but a small beach (with a tide that was way too far out) and no castle at all. What I took to be a castle was in fact, a private house, and the only way to see it wasn’t at this spot anyway. I stayed less than fifteen minutes before I left. A little way up the road, I found a pull in spot instead, and the view from this angle was vastly improved.

Sadly, although the rain had eased off again, the evening had a heavy cloud overhead which obliterated any chance of a nice sunset. Similarly, although the tide was creeping in, it did so very slowly adding to my disappointment. There was no chance that it would get high enough before it fell too dark for me to get either, a hoped for reflection, or a smooth ethereal water effect. The whole scene just felt flat and grim. Another shot for another time I supposed, although, perhaps, there might be a nice sunrise?… I stayed there for the night full of hope…

What a naive wally.

Sunrise?! On THIS trip?!! 😂😂

My Adventures

Mennock Pass, Morton Castle, Crichope Burn, and Caerlaverock Castle

South West Scotland 2021: Part Twenty

24 September 2021

I have no idea when the rain stopped, but when I woke up in the morning, it was all very quiet. Waking up gently was an absolute pleasure after last nights hugely stressful trip. I washed and dressed and stepped out, finding myself in the most beautiful surroundings. My mind was a little blown I wont lie! Of everything that could have been around me, I wasn’t expecting THIS!

Waking up to this spot was a real surprise!

I quickly jumped back in Fred, turned him around and went outside again with my phone. I wanted to grab a quick photo to send to the family (well, I didn’t really want a pic of his backside for this lovely portrait did I?!) Whilst standing in awe of the position I was parked in, a couple of fleeting bits of sunshine shone down on Fred, luckily I caught one with my mobile phone. There was no real blue in the sky, it was still very grim looking, so this felt like a little nod from above as an apology for last nights trauma.

After this, the drizzle inevitably started. Despite the miserable weather I thought this area was worth having a good look at. I had ended up in the Mennock Pass, and as I drove down the winding road, I didn’t know where to look first- it was a real struggle to keep my eyes on the road! I spotted bike randomly on one of the hills, so stopped to try and take a photo of it (see header). It was no good though, the drizzle was so heavy that I simply couldn’t keep the lens clean and every photo looked awful.

I decided this was too beautiful here to miss out however, so made plans to come back on a better weather day. Looking at my map I decided to try and find Morton Castle to check that out instead, since it was not too far from here and very near another location I was dying to see.

Morton Castle as you first see it on the approach.

Morton Castle was a little tricky to find, but once there I really enjoyed my visit. The drizzle had eased off, but it was very, very breezy, and I was intermittently lucky to have a few bursts of light sweep across the location when I first arrived.

As I thoroughly looked over the site, I read that there was little known about its build. There are lots of discussions and debates, but the overall assumption seems to be that it was built in the 12th century. According to the infoboard, an agreement in 1357 stated that in return for the release of the Scottish King David III, the English expected a selection of castles on the southern border with England, to be ruined. Morton was one. Whatever date it was built, the castle went on be inherited or bought by quite a few Lairds for several centuries more, so there was still use here.

Had it been rebuilt or repaired to replace the ruined version? I couldn’t tell. Looking online, apparently archetectural evidence supports a build date of around the 1300’s. I wont lie, this leaves me as confused as all the authorities on the matter. It goes on to say that Morton was in disrepair by 1714, which is how we see it today. Oh, to be a time traveller and watch its history. It really is a lovely place, and if not a fortress, cetrtainly a wonderful area to set up home.

I wandered around the back of the castle where there is a small lake. I was hoping for a nice reflection shot here and I really think it has the potential to look nice, but today it was so windy and grey that a shot like this was definitely out of the question!

Tha back of Morton Castle, sadly wind and grim sky didn’t assist on my hoped for photo here.

I finally left Morton when the wind made it clear I wouldn’t get anything better than what I had in the bag, and I excitedly drove to a much anticipated location… marked in big letters and underlined on my map.

Crichope Burn.

This is a little saught after destination, and although a once popular Victorian hotspot, it seems to have fallen out of favour today. Its now visited mostly by photographers and vloggers only. Has that increased its popularity I wondered, but looking at the empty car park today, I guessed not! I found the car park here fairly easily, and then hunted for the path to the burn. That was not as obvious as you would imagine, but I did find the entrance to the walk after walking past it once. The sign post was very faded, but visible when I actually bothered to look closely.

The walk was fascnating. The first bit was a nice little wooded section, the path, although overgrown and not used in a while, was still fairly clear. I followed it and found myself near a rockface with grafitti on. As I looked, I realised the grafitti was all from the 1800’s! I spent ages looking at the names and dates, surprised and oddly reassured that our need to let others know we were here, was not just a modern vandalism. It is said Robbie Burns had visited this area, althouigh I couldn’t see his name among the other young men and women who scrawled their presence here.

Two of the most noticeable pieces of grafitti. Interestingly, I found a William W. Clarke, a commercial traveller born in Scotland, and his wife Charlotte E Clarke, living in Oswestry in the 1881 census… I wonder if they are the pair from the right piece…

Why this place had fallen out of favour was a surprise to me, and I mused on the thought as I followed the track further, and up a set of stone steps. When I found the spot I’d been excitedly looking for, I was both amazed and just a little disappointed. The path led up, and then thinned around a rocky prominentry. Curving round, the path then revealed a natural arch and a short gorge beyond. As I stood in the space under the arch, I just stared at the view. My amazement came because I was looking at what appeared to be a totally prehistoric landscape, with high moss covered rocks untouched by people, and looking very ancient.

My disappointment came because the much anticipated waterfall that should be here, was nowhere to be seen.

I still took some time taking photos though, because the lush green of the gorge here, just looked amazing. Then I had a bit of an explore a little further up and behind, to try and find the watercourse that should have led to the falls. There was nothing up there so I finally called it and decided to leave. This one was a definate location to come back to, and since it was only a little off route on the way up to my daughter in Glasgow, I was absolutely sure that I would get back here easily.

The ancient looking gorge at Crickhope Burn

Caerlaverock Castle was next, a beautiful red brick triangular castle that I was also keen to visit. The wind had eased and blue skies were appearing, so I had my fingers crossed for a pretty sunset at last, and drove to the location with a few hopes in my pocket. I parked up easily enough, but on getting to the gorgeous ruin, I found the water was covered in algae. The photos I had seen of this castle had a lovely reflection, but with this nasty green covering, no reflection was possible. I walked round the outside anyway, and found to my surprise that where the back had collapsed you could see there was a secondary brick building inside that looked pretty intact. I don’t think I had ever seen something like this taking up such a large area inside a castle before, and it looked very intreguing. I really wanted to go and have a proper look, but of course it was closed due to Covid, and the lateness of the day would have hampered a visit anyway. Such a shame! – but a good reason to come back.

On my return home, I couldn’t help but try and have an online ‘visit’ to find out about this one. To my joy, I found this site, with a link on the page that pretty much takes you in and around the castle! https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/caerlaverock-castle/overview/ Big YAY for modern technology right?!!!

Curious brick building taking up a chunk of space inside the castle.

As I completed my circuit, the sun set with the sky doing nothing exciting, so I could do little else but leave. Down the road, their overflow car park was allowing campers to stay for a donation. Since they had a toilet disposal point, this had been my intended stop for the night anyway, although I didn’t need this service tonight. When I arrived it was fairly full, and I struggled to find a spot where some had parked inconsiderately. Since I was just a small van though, I managed to squeeze into one last spot. There was nothing for a bigger motorhome, so I was thankful for my size! Despite the other vans here (at least 6), it was still a quiet night with everyone sticking to their own private spaces, and noone spreading out. It felt perfect here and I slept very well.

Dec 2021

I returned to Crickhope Burn just before my daughters graduation. It was going to be my first port of call and my impatience meant this was going to be a visit on my way up before I even got to hers! I drove up through a vicious storm the day before, and got to the car park late into the evening, deciding to stop here in the cover of the trees, for protection against the weather.

First thing in the morning, with the storm now gone, I jumped out and went straight over to see if the falls were here this time. Signs were good as I advanced, a boggy path, sizeable puddles to dodge around and the steps up to the last bit running with water almost like a small river. I climbed through the rocky arch to the precipice and was greeted with the roaring of falling water and this incredible view

This was EXACTLY what I had hoped to find, and the view took my breath away! I spent ages here taking photos. Although the space was quite restrictive, the small ledge still had a little movement to the left and right. Its pretty impossible to get any other angle, as the gorge was very slippery, and covered in damp leaves, but I did try what I could without being too silly. Taking a dunk off the edge was definitely not on the plan for today! Ohhh, what a happy bunny I was when I eventually pulled myself away.

My Adventures

Girvan, Turnberry Lighthouse, and Greenan Castle

South West Scotland 2021: Part Seventeen

21 September 2021

When I awoke I felt a bit more refreshed, but didn’t want to push myself too hard to start, so I took River for a short walk to have a look around and a bit of an explore. Although Girvan was a stopover location, it wasn’t marked as a photographic one, so I wasn’t too sure what else might be here. We were parked right by the beach, so it was a really pleasant start listening to the sounds of the sea! I looked first to see if there was fresh or waste water service points, but couldn’t find anything but another loo disposal. I didn’t need that sadly, so just left it and took River down to the beach. She liked it here (as did I to be fair!) but she still didn’t venture into the water. This pooch loves a river or lake, but hates going into the sea. Fussy or what?! As we walked, I noticed some lovely light on the harbour arm, that also hit two houses way off in the background, so I went back for my camera and decided to try my first photos of the day right here.

River and I walked the length of the concrete bit of harbour, aiming for the lighthouse at the end, but I didn’t find it too pretty and the sun refused to hit it to help any chance of an image. I turned round to face back towards the rocky arm and the view that had first caught my eye. The sun was now only on the two white houses, but I took a number of photos here, waiting for the light – which flatly refused to move back to my subject. Eventually I gave up. The breeze was a little too much and I got cold, so I packed everything away, and started back towards the van. It was a real bonus seeing the view walking from the opposite direction, as I realised that the composition of my scene started looking better, and then as if to prove a point, the sun suddenly hit the arm again! I quickly got everything out and managed to capture a much better image. This not only had the sun on it, but where the framing was much better, I was over the moon! What I’d realised was that by walking back halfway down the concrete arm, the end position of the stone one moved more out in the open compared to it being cluttered and lost in with the rest of the land. Perspective. Not a thing I consider usually. How many other shots might I have missed?! By the time I got back to the van I felt a little chuffed, since this was a location I had stumbled on by accident. What a start to today!

From here I decided to check out Turnberry lighthouse. I knew I wanted this for a sunset shot, but right now it was fairly close so worth checking out for the parking, if nothing else. The parking was easy, and as I walked over to the lighthouse itself, the sky cleared and offered a warm start to the day. Walking in the sunshine felt lovely and calming so I took my time really enjoying myself as I checked out some nice positions for later. To get to this lighthouse, you have to walk through the Turnberry golf course, but River was very good and didn’t venture near the golfers, choosing to sniff the edges of the paths and the rocky outcrops near the beach area instead. Where the weather was so nice, I dropped back to the camper and picked up my camera. River didn’t want to come back out so I left her in there while I ventured back to get a shot of the lighthouse in the sunshine. It looked quite nice, though it definitely would have benefited from some side light to give the building some shading. As it was, my timing, and its position meant you either had it in full light, or total shadow by photographing from the other side into the sun. I knew I was aiming to come back later anyway, so wasn’t too worried.

Once back at the camper, I had a lunch, and headed back to Greenan, just for one last chance, and found myself there at almost the right time for the tides. I was still slightly late, but watching the water recede at such a pace, I realised it would take some fine timing to get it perfect, and quite likely, a need to walk out into the water before it receded too much. I set up nonetheless, with the weather flicking between sun and cloud in just a short time. As soon as the wind dropped, I managed some pretty reflections, which satisfied my hopes for this location a little. Yes, I could think of better conditions, but on my third attempt, I was happy to get this much! I noticed the light hitting the curve in the rock base really nicely, so I took shots from a different angle until I was happy that I had done all that I could today.

The breeze was still a bit of a pain, and the tide just a tad bit low, but I almost managed the reflection shot I hoped for.

With 2 hours to sunset, I headed back to Turnberry, and couldn’t resist taking a simple shot of a golfing green in a burst of sunshine (see header). The green looked incredibly lush against the growing black clouds in the sky. Then I realised that the clouds were building where the sun was going to set, and my sunset hopes were being dashed again. I went straight one spot I had checked out earlier, and set up anyway, grabbing a nice shot of sunbeams over a fisherman. He wasn’t there for long after I took this, and I often wonder if he was as in awe of this light as I was, or whether he was too engaged in his own hobby to even notice.

What gorgeous sun rays tonight. and the fisherman just finished this one off perfectly

I hadn’t checked out the tide level so was disappointed to find that the water was totally out when I got back to my final position of the day. However, I was really pleased to notice that the volcanic plug turned island, Ailsa Craig, could be seen really clearly in the background from here. I moved a little left and right, up on a rock, and lower to the ground until I managed to position it nicely in shot… then one thin bit of light hit the lighthouse… I had to shoot right now!

Turnberry Lighthouse just as the sun was setting. Would love to retry this with a higher tide.

As I was taking the photo I heard River crying a little, over to the side of me. Concerned she was stuck on a rock, I called her over only to notice her acting a little strange. I immediately left my camera and dashed over to her talking calmly, and trying to encourage her down, but I noticed her moving a little oddly. She seemed fixed in place, and on one side, one front leg and one back leg seemed to be doing their own thing. The look in her eyes showed absolute fear. Concerned I gently stroked and reassured her, checking to see if she had hurt herself or was caught on anything. Eventually, after finding nothing obviously wrong, I was terrified she was having some kind of stroke. However, within a minute, whatever was happening passed, and she began moving normally again, acting like nothing had happened. I just brushed it off in the end, keeping her much closer to me so I could keep an eye on her. She carried on as normal after that, and on seeing her happy wagging tail, the worry fell to the back of my mind.

Once it became clear there was not going to be any colour in the sky, I packed up and intended to drive down to Loch Doon ready for my East Ayrshire stint. I hadn’t really wanted to do that drive in the dark, but today felt like a such a success I wanted to leave on a high note. I hadn’t actually plotted anywhere to stop the night, so I began the drive as the last of the light faded, trusting to chance at finding somewhere en route. I stopped a fair bit later when I spotted some motorhomes nestled in among some trees nearer my location. I had no idea where I was, but I was too tired to continue driving safely, and I knew I wasn’t too far from where I hoped to be tomorrow. This seemed like a good enough spot for sure, and once bedded down, I was asleep in minutes!

My Adventures

Fairlee Waterfall, Castle and The Pencil Monument

South West Scotland 2021: Part Fourteen

17 September 2021

Today when I woke up the view was pretty much non existent. A grim cloud sat over the area, drizzling heavily, leaving me with not much to see here, and leaving everything just a flat grey. I was parked up by the river and could see that the other campers were still here. None of them seemed to make any moves to leave early, so, without any set plans I just chilled for a few hours, taking my time, having breakfast, playing a game, and just having a casual think on what I fancied doing today. After the other vans eventually started drifting off to get on with their days, I jumped out and took a photo of Fred before finally getting on with mine. It was a very relaxing start.

Fred in North Ayrshire. A flat grey morning

I ended up settling on a waterfall at Fairlee. I had only found this one the other day, and although I didn’t really hold up much hope, it might be better than just sitting here in the camper all day, looking out at a non view of a misly river. I found parking easily, and the walk, although steep didn’t appear complicated – she says, hitting one spot that seemed to be a wrong turn for the falls. I retraced my steps and continued up the steep hill until I realised I had then overshot past my turn, and found myself much further away from the burn. I couldn’t hear any water at all from here. Mildly frustrated with myself, I backtracked again, stopping a couple of times to take pictures. Although I wasn’t particularly excited by them, it seemed the main waterfall wasn’t even there. Confused, I wondered whether the prolonged dry spell had depleted the falls to nothing. I went back to double check the spot where I thought I had taken the first wrong turn, and leaned out as far as I could, to try and see the river from here. As I strained to see over a muddy outcrop, I caught a glimpse of the fall. It wasn’t gone at all, it was just a little inaccessible from this spot.

I looked around, following the river with my eyes, and had an idea. I slipped down the steep muddy bit on my bum (thank goodness I was in waterproofs today, that saved my jeans some!), and managed to get down to the waters edge. From here I just walked boldly into the shallow river, and strode up the (pretty non existent) lower part of the falls and around a bit of a bend until the upper falls came into view. There might be an easier way, although several online comments mentioned that they had to do this as well. The falls were a good height, but not quite as photogenic as I might have liked, with fallen trees everywhere and the water flow, as has been the kicker on this trip, very minimal. I worked the scene as much as possible though, with a couple of the shots showing a little promise of being useable post edit. I suspect this one would look amazing in full spate, although the walk in and along the river would definitely be far more challenging. I didn’t see a bank that could be traversed particularly easily, so it remains to be seen if this might be as possible as one might like at that point ..

Fairlee Waterfall. Not completely dry, but it still took a lot of work to find a way of photographing this one today.

Once finished, I climbed back out and made my way further down stream. As I walked in this direction, I noticed someone had pitched a blue tent off to the side, tucked well into the wooded growth. I had a tentative look, and there was a possibly that someone had abandoned it, because there seemed to be no one about, but behind that, I spotted a worn footpath. Curious I followed the footpath, and found another smaller fall. I was sure this would look better with more water, but once again climbed down and walked into the river itself to explore the site. I looked at all angles for a composition I liked, but nothing really jumped out at me. I ended up going a little further downstream to capture the entire cascade, although even that proved tricky to capture well. When I saw the shot on screen however, I noticed all the early autumn leaves were really adding colour that I loved. This one felt much better for me, and it was a beautiful peaceful spot that I really enjoyed being in.

Cascade looking much prettier than the main waterfall

I continued back towards the van stopping only once more to have a quick look at the outside of Fairlee castle. This was a tower castle, buried in the woods overlooking a steep drop to the river that I had been following. There wasn’t any information on it, so I didn’t think it was a tourist site to visit, nor did I photograph it since it was surrounded by a metal fence stopping anyone getting close. It looked to be having a little work done to it, possibly to make safe, I wasn’t sure. As I stood in the rain looking over the castle I found myself chatting to a man called Billy who, as it turned out, was actually the current owner of this Castle. He was a fascinating man to talk to, correcting some of my assumptions and telling me a little of the history. He then went on to tell me all about the work that was going on and his plans to fix the castle to a liveable condition again. He hoped that in 2 years, he might be finished, and this wonderful place might be a home once again. So far it had taken him 7 years, just to get through all the planning, testing and rope jumping! The powers that be had finally granted him the permission to go ahead with his plans, and his excitement was clear in his chatter. It was a bold idea of his to give this old home a second chance, but I totally loved his dream. It was well and truly raining by now, so we bid our goodbyes (with him telling me to come and knock on his door in 2 years, and hopefully he would be able to offer me a cup of tea!) I wish I had stopped to take a photo of the castle today, because if I ever can get back, it would have been awesome to see the changes.

Once back in Fred I made a nice coffee and sat trying to work out where else I could go. The walk I had read online for the castle/waterfall led to other sights to see in Ayrshire, most not of interest to me in this grim weather. I didn’t fancy a second waterfall today either, so missed seeing Biglees falls that was nearby too, but there’s always next time right? Google maps flagged up a monument nearby that looked like a curiosity worth trying however. It felt a bit different so I found local parking, and plotted the route there. I was really excited to find that the parking I had spotted not only had a dedicated motorhome parking spot, but it was only a few minutes walk away from the location. As an added bonus it was right by another marina, and as my second gas bottle had just given up as well, it might be worth checking to see if these sold them too.

The Pencil is a monument in Largs, dedicated to the memory of a battle in 1236, where the Scots King Alexander III fought off Vikings that had landed here. It wasn’t a huge or momentous battle by many standards, but the locals wanted to commemorate the ‘Battle of Largs’ with something in 1912, and this was the affordable option they picked. The slender tower is a scaled down replica of a similar tower at Brechin built around 1050. This type of tower was originally used as a refuge, bell tower or treasury, with the only access being via a retractable ladder to the entrance half way up. I took a quick walk out to the monument in the rain, and then returned for my camera, having seen a nice moody shot (see header) The rain got very frustrating very quickly however, spoiling many of the shots I tried to get, so instead I gave up and went back for some tea. The wet weather eased as the dinner was cooked and eaten, and then as I settled for the evening, I noticed a band of light on the horizon. I quickly grabbed my camera, jumped out and bolted over the road to a good position to capture a few handheld shots. Unfortunately, though I really tried, I was unable to get a long exposure and I cursed myself for not bringing my tripod. I ran back to the van, collected it, returned and set up within 10 minutes, but I missed the best of the strong afterglow from the setting sun as it hit the underside of the cloud. I was still able to capture some long exposure shots before the last of the light dimmed completely though, and was over the moon with how these came out because these shots all looked absolutely amazing and dramatic.

What luck this was tonight, and so totally unexpected! After such a wet and disappointing day, this magical light really made up for everything. I went back to the van with a big old smile on my face.

My Adventures

Gourock, Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park, and Cloch Lighthouse

South West Scotland 2021: Part Thirteen

16 September 2021

I woke up early after what ended up as a poor night of sleep. There was no particular reason for it but it meant I was easily awake for a possible dawn shot. Sadly, although I got out to photograph it, the sky remained cloudy and nothing exciting happened to take a photograph OF. Instead, I decided to attempt a little more sleep and tried to get another hour. That didn’t work either, so feeling a little grotty and grumpy, I just had breakfast and took my time this morning. As the early hours progressed, the sky cleared a fair bit, and the view over Gourock looked really pretty, with broken sun patches drifting across the scene. Watching this from the van window, I decided to take another shot before I left, while it looked this nice. I jumped out and as I stood taking my photos I couldn’t miss the number of other people also here with cameras out. (OK, this sight is pretty, but I didn’t think it was that pretty!) It turned out that while a couple were here just for the view – they simply snapped with their phones and left really quickly, quite a few were here just watching and waiting. One guy had a scope type camera… was it a rare bird they were watching out for? A short while passed and I finally saw what these guys were waiting for – a large cruise ship came into view and gently sailed down the firth. All of a sudden they bustled into life and started snapping like mad. It seems that much like train spotters, there are also ship spotters. (who knew?!) As I spoke to one man, he explained that this particular one was not often here, and quite anticipated. This was quite clear by the number of people that gathered to watch. Once the ship had gone, all the photographers vanished along with it, and I had the location all to myself.

Once I had taken my shot, I had a think on what else I could do here in Inverclyde. Yesterday had taken it out of me a little, and the poor night didn’t help, so I thought I would take things fairly easy today, and maybe just have a little explore of the Clyde Muirshiel park area. Yesterday, I had spotted a possible abandoned house near my ancestors one, so on a whim, I decided to start there and have a little explore. The pressure was off finishing Inverclyde, as I had effectively visited 3 different locations yesterday, and already had two in the bag from a few days earlier (Cloch Lighthouse and the James Watt marina), so this was a bonus trip. I got to the spot fairly quickly, and went for an initial look before I decided to come back for my camera. The weather was holding up for me perfectly for a little project idea that I’d had in mind since the highlands. When I was there, I had spotted a number of abandoned buildings. These were always interesting to visit, especially those that still had a variety of belongings scattered everywhere, despite being abandoned for quite some years.

My idea was to try getting a photo from one of the windows… basically ‘a room with a view’, but from a now unloved, ex home. I’d already picked up an old bottle from jaw reservoir, so I thought I might put it to a bit of use and collected that up from the van with my camera. On the walk back to the house (see header) I picked a few wild flowers from the area that were in bloom today -garlic, buttercup, hebe, dandelion(?) and mint, along with a few early autumn leaves, and a handful of wild mushrooms. Once inside, the idea was to arrange these in or with the old bottle and take a shot from my chosen window. It worked out OK, except that I forgot to take multiple shots to focus stack correctly. (GAGH!! * Slaps forehead in frustration) Ahh, lesson learned. For a first try though, I wasn’t too disappointed, and totally in awe of the stunning view from this one. I wonder if the previous owners and workers from this small holding ever really appreciated it as much as I did today. After taking my photos, I had a little explore. It was a single story house with what appeared to be two animal barns/holding areas to either side. I don’t know much about farming, so I couldn’t be exactly sure what use they might have been put to. What I could tell was that there was a LOT of animal poop in one of them though, so it was clearly still somewhat in use!

After this gentle and slow explore, I thought I might head back to Cloch Lighthouse. I was disappointed with the water levels on my last visit, so rather than aim for sunset, I decided to get there for high tide. The water lapping in might make a nice shot I mused. High tide wasn’t for a while however, so instead I thought I would take a very slow drive over and through the park area and just enjoy the views. It was a beautiful drive, sun shining intermittently as the cloud slowly started building. This, I felt, might be perfect for my lighthouse shot later, so I was content to take my time, stopping at a number of spots to have a gentle walk or explore. Part of my drive took me through North Ayrshire, and although I was, in my head still ‘doing’ Inverclyde, I couldn’t resist taking the odd photo from up here.

I slowly carried on to Cloch Lighthouse and on arriving just after half past 3, I could see that the conditions were going to be perfect. The cloud had chased the blue away, and the shot was going to look a fair bit moodier than last time. I found the only parking spot I knew of quickly, and didn’t faff about this time trying to find anything better. Once on the stoney beach, I saw the tide was much higher than last time, and that it was still ebbing in, so I had plenty of time to experiment with a few varying spots along the short beach here. This session felt much calmer this time, and I enjoyed myself much more. Without any added stress, I found myself taking a number of shots that worked for me as I hoped, and I was done well within time.

Cloch Lighthouse. Moodier this time, and a much less stressed photo session

Once the tide turned and started to make its way back out, I decided to simply drive up to Greenock, fill up with fuel, and do a quick shop, before heading down to an overnight spot in North Ayrshire. I would then be ready for my next county to start in the morning. There were three other vans here tonight, and although by the road, it was quiet enough for me to sleep pretty well.

My Adventures

Barr Castle, and Barcraigs Reservoir

South West Scotland 2021: Part Eleven

14 September 2021

Today I went to find Barr Castle. Now, I wont lie, it’s not exactly an inspiring castle by a long shot, but I had seen some nice reflection shots of this one, so I had added it to my county list as a possible plan b location. Since I was sitting nearby in the rain, it seemed only sensible that I should at least go and have a look. As I left the camper with River I couldn’t miss the fact that she was limping. I checked her paw and saw it look a little raw after yesterday’s walk, so I left her in Fred to rest up. I think long walks on tarmaced paths don’t do her paws any good, since I remember something similar happening on my highland trip a year earlier. I must bear this in mind for future. River didn’t object to being left, so I headed off, in the drizzly rain, on this one alone.

The walk was easier than I thought, being flat and much closer than I expected, although as I got near I realised that access to the castle itself wasn’t anywhere near as easy. Since I had seen so many photos I assumed that there should be an entry to this one, but couldn’t find it from this path. Frustrated I ended up doing the naughty thing and climbing over the low fence here and walking up the short hill trying to see if I could find a proper way in. On walking all the way to the front, I realised that the photos I had seen online had likely been taken from the road itself! (although, where on earth did the photographers park?!) I tried as best as I could, but just about every photo was drab in the grey weather so it felt like a struggle to get a nice shot.. and with a pond full of muck, getting a reflection was even worse.

Barr Castle looking pretty drab and grim in the miserable weather

Instead, I tried a shot through a fallen tree, various framing ideas to isolate the castle, all different spots around the pond, but nothing really worked to bring this location to life for me today. I think the cluttered pond really put me off and eventually I just gave up. This needed something that I wasn’t getting today. As I went to leave I spotted an awesome tree growing with a big hole in it. How its managed to survive such an intrusion in its trunk, I have no idea, but the whole tree looked very healthy (see header), I also spotted some amazing mushrooms growing on the floor. They were seriously impressive and HUGE!! I’d never seen anything quite like this one before, and couldn’t just leave without taking a photo to remember it with. Looking at it closely, I found it quite beautiful.

Some serious mushroom growth going on here!

On the way back to Fred I had a think on what I could do today. Ideally, I wanted to redo the temple if there was a sunset, so to bide time, I went back to Barcraigs reservoir to recheck that out. Since it had been a fail the night I tried to park up there, I thought that, if nothing else, it would be a good time to recce the site. In the daylight I found a nice parking spot and took some shots from the window of the van. There was no real need to get any closer, I could tell, since the water level was so low, and the water that WAS there was being heavily distorted in the breeze. I loved some red plants I could see, but beyond this, there was nothing to leave the van for. I sat and contemplated my options instead and checked the weather for tonight. The chances of a nice sunset had dropped considerably. Giving up on a shot here then, I thought that I would just check out a possible parking spot that was closer to the temple for another time, and then maybe move back onto Inverclyde to try the county again.

I drove around the roads near to the Temple and found a spot that was much closer. Marking it on my map, I then started towards, I thought, the M8, only I accidentally made a wrong turn and ended up at Barcraigs reservoir again. Amazingly, this time round, I could instantly see that the water was as still as glass! I re parked up at the spot I’d found before, grabbed the camera and hotfooted it to the waters edge hoping to get there before the next breeze started up. This time the image looked quite a bit nicer, although I am sure with a higher water level and an interesting sky/snow element, this image would be really quite beautiful. I was just glad to get it as it was today! The reflection shot I had been hoping for for the last two days, not of a castle, but this little house (or fishing lodge?) will do me just as well thanks!

Barcraigs Reservoir. The water levels were very low sadly, but a lucky accident found me here a second time, just as the water had stilled.

I didn’t have any set plans for tonight, so found a little spot to park up that would offer views of Dumbarton Castle from across the Firth of Clyde. I drove over and checked that out, finding it pretty easily, although the tide was out so the scene was very messy and drab. It was still fairly early however, so I phoned round a couple of places looking for a gas bottle refill, and found one not too far away at the James Watt Dock Marina in Greenock. This was just a few minutes drive further on, so I headed over there quickly before they closed. The lady there was super helpful, and a little bit of a saviour as I was one bottle down, with my second desperately low. There had been a shortage of gas bottles over the last few months, and I haven’t been able to get a refill, so my relief was quite intense. As I stepped outside, I noticed just how still the water was in the marina. These places don’t usually excite me, but something about this scene encouraged me to reach for the camera and grab some shots.

James Watt Dock Marina. This sight really caught my eye.

With the gas problem sorted, I drove back to my parking spot for the evening, and plotted a few locations to consider over the next couple of days. After I’d had had something to eat I stepped out as the light began to fade, in the vain hope the river might be still as it was nearing high tide. It wasn’t and the breeze was quite consistent here, but the view across to Dumbarton castle was still quite nice so I just took a picture of the sight as it was anyway, hoping to check again in the morning. You never know right?

Dumbarton Castle from across the River Clyde

As I settled for the evening, I noticed a motorhome pull up for the night, and several cars that pulled in, waited ten or fifteen minutes before disappearing off again. I came to realise this was an area for taxi drivers to wait at until a call came in. This quietened by midnight and I found myself sleeping really well.

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

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!