Olympic Park Stratford. 1 Contrasts

We had the almost perfect day weatherwise for our CCC outing to Stratford, London yesterday. It started cold and misty, with ice on the canal and soft colours, and ended with an orange sunset.

Pilmer Woods, Crowborough, East Sussex

When I was 18, my parents moved from South East London to Crowborough in Sussex and one of my favourite places was the woods down Pilmer Lane. I visited them on Monday and they looked much the same with pines and silver birch and lots of moss and toad stools. Glistening Ink caps and Dead Man's fingers shown here. We lived at 37 Pleasant View Road, the frontage of which has been considerably altered. In our time it had a balcony etc as in number 33,

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.