Pooley Country Park, Tamworth

Last week before talking to Tamworth Photographic club, I visited Pooley Country Park, which used to be a Mining Area. It was the first mine to generate its own electricity (from excess steam) in the early 1920s, and also the first to have pit head baths, which were opened in 1928. The Colliery eventually closed in 1965 and parts of the house, outbuildings and the colliery buildings had to be demolished due to mining subsidence. Now it is a patchwork of silver birches, other trees and pools with the Coventry Canal and boatyards along one side.

Stowe Landscape Gardens with Infrared

 I visited Stowe Landscape Gardens on the way down to Bath on Tuesday with my Digital Infrared Camera. Lots of trees, buildings and wide vistas.

Crufts Dog show 2015

It was very crowded at Crufts on Saturday but possible to find space to photograph the very popular Afghans being judged - real poetry in motion. I also enjoyed photographing owners and their dogs - so often they share physical similarities as well as emotional ties.

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.