Shropshire Hills and Skies

On Saturday morning, I put on my ice crampons and set off up the hill behind Peter and Jane's house. There was still some snow where Friday's sunshine hadn't reached and up on the top of the hill. The sky changed constantly. The first image shows the Wrekin in the distance then The Lawley and Caer Caradoc. All monochromes are quick conversions from Raw - will be fun to try with Silver Efex (when my main computer is back in action!!).

Ludlow, Shropshire

On Friday, we visited Ludlow and had a good walk around the town, the castle surrounds and the river. An amazing variety of construction materials have been used over the centuries from the native limestone and sandstone to wood, iron and brick. The River Teme has several large weirs along the stretch by Ludlow - two kingfishers were seen but only briefly.

Attingham Park, National Trust

On the way to Peter and Jane's, we stopped at Attingham Park for a loo and drink break. Beautiful sunny day showing off the house architecture and the somewhat flooded lake.

Carding Mill Valley, National Trust

There had been a light dusting of snow overnight while Friday morning was bright and sunny. After a trip to Ludlow to explore the town and meet up with Jane M, we went for an afternoon walk up the National Trust Carding Mill Valley. The light dropped quite quickly but time for a few water and tree shots.

Visit to Shropshire

We are staying a couple of nights with Peter and Jane in Church Stretton - thanks for the excellent hospitality. The first afternoon we walked up the adjacent hills and looked down the valley at their house - a wonderful location. There is a very strenuous golf course up on the hill, a lot of sheep, some isolated trees and a picturesque barn

Fenland Skies

From sun-up to sun-down, the skies at Wicken Fen on Sunday remained dramatic as shown in the following images

Barn Owls at Wicken Fen

We were treated to views of two Barn Owls hunting over the reeds from the Boardwalk Hide, some of them quite close but the light had dropped quite a long way by then. Lovely to capture the combination of reed and owl feather patterns.