Refined Decay at Calke Abbey

• Calke Abbey was owned by the Harpur family for 300 years including Sir Vauncey Harpur-Crewe who amassed a huge collection of natural history specimens. When he died, his eldest daughter, Hilda Harpur-Crewe  sold some of his collection to pay death duties but there are still many specimens left. She was succeeded by her nephew, whose sudden death led to crippling death duties (£8m of an estate worth £14m) and in 1985 the estate was transferred to the National Tust by his younger brother.  It was decided to leave the house in the decayed state that it was found. The Church, on the other hand, is well maintained.

Dovedale, Derbyshire

I had a short walk at Dovedale yesterday afternoon with a mix of cloud and sunshine. Shutterspeeds between 1 and 4 seconds gave a soft look to the water and vibrant colours.

Magpie Mine Derbyshire

Very windy and very cold at Magpie Mine with flurries of sleet and rain but the skies were great including almost constant rainbows. Images 4 and 6 were 30sec exposures with 10 stop ND filter. The panoramas are in camera with the fuji XT.

Botanic Gardens, Cambridge 1 Anglesey Abbey 9

The hoverfly on a Helleborine was the only photo that I managed to take before we were told to leave the Botanic Gerdens in Cambridge due to high winds (this is the second time CCC outings have been disrupted by gales at the BGC). Undeterred, we transferred to Anglesey Abbey and joined the crowds on Snowdrop watch. I was using the 100 macro with an extension ring, hoping to get some images for focus stacking but, even where sheltered, the flowers were moving. The closeup of the crocuses is the only stacked image.

Goosanders at Paxton Pits

Paxton Pits were very quiet and very chilly on a drizzly windy morning but we still enjoyed our walk and short time in the Kingfisher hide. There were three female Goosanders swimming and arguing with the Great Crested Grebe, several goldeneye (not photographed) and lots of Tufted ducks.

Lent Bumps in Cambridge

A man balanced on a tight rope across Jesus Green and boating crews with greenery in their hair - a typical Cambridge afternoon. The Lent Bumps are rowing races held annually on the River Cam in Cambridge; they began in 1887. At the start, signalled by a cannon, each crew is separated by a distance of about 1½ boat lengths (approximately 30 m or 90 ft). Once the race has begun, a crew must attempt to catch up with the crew ahead of it and bump (physically touch or overtake it) before the crew behind does the same to them. A crew which bumps or is bumped must pull to the side of the river to allow other crews to continue racing. Any crew which bumps then swaps places with the crew that it bumped in the following day's racing and picks foliage from the bank to decorate themselves.. The process is repeated over four days, allowing crews to move up or down in the overall order of boats. 

Reflection Sculptures at Wimpole Hall

Wimpole Hall has a series of sculptures in their gardens by Theo Gayer Anderson. Certainly a change from the classical sculpture and fun to photograph. We didn't find the fifth one - another visit?