A walk on the Beach

On Sunday I took a trip to the beach. It's been a few months since I've visited the coast so some sea air was well past due. Went for a lovely walk on the Downs at Brean. It was an alternating mix of blue and grey skies.

Here is a view from the Downs across to Birnbeck Pier at Weston Super Mare. As you can see this was the blue skies part of the day.

At the end of the Downs is a Fort originally built in the 1860s, as worries about the strength of the French Naval Fleet grew. It was refortified during the second world war and became the testing site for several 'secret weapons'. This is one of the ruined buildings of the fort. The light was a lot nicer than shown in this shot (still haven't gotten round to reading the manual for the new camera, lol). I also loved this rusty window frame, but it's position made it difficult to get a shot of it in all it's rusty glory.

This next shot shows I needn't have been worried about my bad hair morning the other day. A few hours in a sea breeze makes morning hair look tame :)Before leaving we had a quick stroll down the beach and watched the start of a lovely sunset. The colours were again beautiful, and again my photography was less than adequate. I have to admit that I didn't take the camera out of auto focus mode all day and I was freezing cold by the time the sun was setting (made worse by the giant but very delicious ice cream I'd eaten moments before, lol) so really didn't take the care required to get a nice shot. This one is the best of the bunch.It's way darker than what we actually saw. But lesson learned, more time and effort will be put in next time :)

Natural Magic

Went for a walk down the local footpath the other day. It was a beautiful, grey skies and sunshine kind of day. I was heading for.

Squirrels Rest is a little spot along the path where some kind souls have set a lovely bench and lots of bird feeders. There are a couple of really fat squirrels who hang out there snaffling all the peanuts and seeds so my aim was to take the new camera and get a few shots.

Is there anything better than blue skies and trees. I love trees.

Isn't it amazing what a difference perspective the weather casts over even the most familiar landscapes. Takes these trees from one of my snowy walks posts.

Don't they look different enclosed by green and blue instead of blanketed in white.

Well I got to squirrels rest, the birds were restless and there wasn't a squirrel in sight. I hung around for a bit in the cold but just couldn't get anything photo wise so decided to head back home. On the way back down the path some reflections caught my eye and on a whim I decided to stop for a photo or two. That's when Sol decided to reveal her magic to me.

This beautiful ray of perfect sunlight appeared. My picture is a poor imitation. It was beautiful to see this natural spotlight warming up the earth, making her ready for spring. With this kind of magic in the air I decided to try my luck again at Squirrels Rest so rather than return home back I went.

Low and behold Mr Squirrel was sitting there waiting for me. This guy isn't the fattest of the bunch but he was the only one who deigned to show his face.

The birds were also in friendlier mood, maybethey could tell I had been touched by magic.The long tailed tit is a favourite of mine. I was treated to not just one but a whole flock.Beautiful. I didn't want to out stay my welcome and determined to head home before the magic wore off I trode the path back.

The footpath is an old canal path, parts of the canal are currently being restored by volunteers. On the way home I came across a bag of rusty treasures that had escaped my notice on the way out. I had to stick my head in and take a quick shot. Love all the yummy textures and colours.

I also loved the way that the sunlight was hitting the remains of the lightening tree - one of my favourite sights on this particular walk.

For an instant I thought 'wouldn't it be great if all the sky behind this was all blue' but it's really only on the grey sunshiny days that you get this wonderful light that I love so much.I also loved how the outside of the tree was lit with the warming sunlight yet the hollowed out insides were still shrouded in darkness. This tree may not be whole anymore but the bark is still throwing its protective arms around the secrets this tree holds inside.
Did I tell you how I love the magic of these grey, blue and sunshine days? I did? Well I guess there is nothing more for me to say....

White World

We've been snow free for a few days now but before the memories of world covered in white fade away there is just time to share a couple more snaps from another wonderful winter walk I took last week.

More snowy adventures

I couldn't stand the thought of missing all the snow. So on Thursday I took the afternoon off and went walking along the ridgeway for a while.

Couldn't believe that I was lucky enough to find long tracks of virgin snow to play in.
And play I did :)
This is my poor attempt at a snow angel, have done this since I was a kid, no wonder I'm rusty! I'll do better next time, practise makes perfect....You can just about make out my feet in this shot, but along the furrowed bridleways in places I found myself in snow up to my knees. Even managed to find a rabbit hole or two buried under the snow to get my ankles caught in :) It's amazing what you can find in the snow covered wild. I came across this two headed monster but he was too shy to let me take a picture of anything but his shadow!

What a wonderful way to spend an afternoon, it's hard not to feel your spirit lift looking at views like these.
In the fading light there was just time to make a flying visit to Silbury Hill. Before a quick trek up hill to pay respects to the ancestors at West Kennet long Barrow
And what a privilege it was to witness this spectacular sunset at such a special location. My poor photography skills just don't do it justice.

Cotswold Countryside

As promised in my Hailes Abbey post it's time to share some pictures from a 6 mile walk that I took through the countryside around the Abbey. I was blessed with a beautiful day and the walk took me through beautiful fields and charming Cotswold villages.

The starting point for my walk was this lovely little Church at Hailes, from this point I struck out along some quiet country lanes where this ivy covered letter box caught my eye.

The notice says that there are regular collections from this box, but the ivy seems to indicate otherwise, lol.

It wasn't long before I left the lanes and was striding through the beautiful cotswold countryside, where I met a wonderful local man out walking his dog. He asked me all about where my walk was taking me and told me about his recent walking holiday with his daughter, its nice that you can still find places where people will stop and share the time of day with you.

Leaving the fields I walked through the lovely little village of Didbrook, I just loved this gate which formed the entrance to St George's church.

And this wonderful door within a door with it's beautiful faded patina and metal lock.

Through the village it was back to the fields to join part of the Cotswold way footpath, climbing up the hill was hard work but worth it for the views over the countryside.

Look at this wonderful scene is there anything which says English countryside more?

Walking in the countryside can be pretty hazardous though, I had to battle my way past this beast, the guardian of the gate, in order to finish my journey. :)

And of course I can't tell you about a walk without sharing a now obligatory picture of my feet. :)

Brean

I know two posts in as many weeks, nothing short of a miracle at the rate I have been posting recently!!

We had a beautiful day today with lots of sunshine, the perfect excuse to seek out some sea air. So I took myself to the downs and the sand at Brean today. I started nice and early and had a lovely walk over the downs with barely another soul in sight.
The steps which take you to the downs are certainly a good way to get the heart going at the start of the walk, but once at the top it's reasonably level with just a couple of small summits which are easily conquered. Bluebells and buttercups cover the down at this time of year. There are plenty of other wildflowers, butterflies and birds to be seen too. You might remember the picture of my snow covered boots from a few posts ago. Well I couldn't resist snapping another when I saw these buttercups glowing at my feet. Look at my poor worn out walking boots, I think it will be time for a new pair soon. There is a view out to the little isle of Steep Holm from the top of one of those summits I was telling you about. This is the highest point of the downs, only 97m which is pretty tiny in the scheme of things.

At the very tip of the downs are the remains of a fort which was first built in the 1870s, the defences were re-armed during the two world wars. I love how nature is reasserting itself here now.

The Officers Mess now appears to have found some new residents.

After my tramp over the downs I ambled along the beach for a few hours enjoying the blue skies and sunshine.... ...no boots required.

Whatever you are up to this weekend, I hope you have a good one!