Norfolk in summer

31st August 202131st August 2021 By cpadmin

Norfolk in the summer brings lots of photographic opportunities. Our visit was in July 2021, with facemasks, distancing and limits of the number of people allowed in shops.

Weeting

Summer in Norfolk — The row at Weeting, built before 1777

Weeting was one of the first places we stopped. It is an old village with the remains of a castle nearby. “The Row” on the village green is a row of thatched cottages build before 1777. No one is sure exactly when, the records have been lost! The compass photography website has a page with 14 images of Norfolk in the summer including Thetford Priory and Wells-next-the-sea, which is a great base for travelling around the county.

Gooderstone Water Gardens

Norfolk in summer — Weeping Willows overhang one of the ponds at Gooderstone Water Gardens, Norfolk

The image above is of the still waters at Gooderstone Watergardens. Here the willows weep over the water and the empty rowing boat. They reflect in the water making a gentle, very English scene.

Norfolk has some wonderful village names. The page includes images of Great Snoring and secondly Little Snoring. Both villages have remarkable village signs. Great Snoring’s sign is shown, reflecting agriculture and the village’s position in the Stiffkey valley, whereas Little Snoring’s sign is dilapidated.

The image from Little Snoring shows its church with the separate round tower. One opportunity not to be missed, was capturing images from the top of Blakeney Church. Despite of the long climb up the tower the view was marvellous. Here an image of the windmill at Cley-next-the-sea is shown along with the sea in the background.

Beeston Bump is a hill just east of Sheringham. The views from the top undoubtedly make the climb worthwhile. Besides the sea views you can see Sheringham to the west and Cromer to the east.

Arundel Castle’s tulips

15th May 202115th May 2021 By cpadmin

BBC Breakfast TV featured Arundel Castle’s tulips. Carol the BBC weather forecaster gave us a tour one morning and definitely showed the nation how nice it was. Last weekend we drove down there to look for ourselves. While some of the tulips had started to ‘go over’ and the daffodils were well past their best it was a truly magnificent display.

Pots and pots had been filled with bulbs in addition to those planted in the grass. One group of pots surrounded a tree that was just coming into leaf. Orange, different pinks and yellow tulips clustered around the otherwise uninteresting tree in a blaze of colour. Subsequently, we came across a gazebo around which were many more colourful pots.

By now Arundel Castle’s tulips will have ‘gone over’ however you can see more images of the time we spent there by using this link or visiting the website of Arundel Castle itself.

Arundel Castle’s website has the following text. “There are nearly 1,000 years of history at this great castle, situated in magnificent grounds overlooking the River Arun in West Sussex and built at the end of the 11th century by Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Arundel.

Great view of Maldon

14th May 202114th May 2021 By cpadmin

You get a great view of Maldon from over the water on the Heybridge side of the Blackwater. Its a long walk round from the carpark, especially on a hot summers day. It was going to be 30 degrees centigrade on the last day of July in 2020 and so I was in position here before 10am to catch the high tide. This image shows the Hythe Quay, with a line of Thames barges moored alongside. There is a row of old buildings at the back of the quay including the Maldon little ships club. This recalls the “little ships” which went to Dunkirk in 1940 to collect the troops from the beaches. Sitting majestically atop the image is the church and its which steeple. The water tower also pokes its head above the trees, however we are not high enough to catch site of the Moot Hall.

A surprise?

It was a surprise to me that there was a grassy bank between the Heybridge side of the River Blackwater and the Hythe Quay. When you stand on the Hythe Quay side you are not aware of the bank and the further water after it. It must be visible from higher up though. Perhaps if you know where to look you can make out the bank in the middle of the water?

Still when all is said and one it is a great view of Maldon! More images from this shoot can be seen on the Compass Website. You can find out more about Hythe Quay here

Both ends of the rainbow

5th May 20215th May 2021 By cpadmin

Both ends of the rainbow is an image captured at Clare Castle in Suffolk.

Clare castle and Clare are interesting places to wander around and the castle has things for children to do.

The images on the web page include ones captured at Bures and Bures St. Mary, separated by the River Stour. Two images of the river are shown. Both are from near the bridge over the river. Firstly, an image has nice reflections of a multi-stemmed tree whereas the second image has deep blue coloured water coming down the straight, canal like part of the river. Imagine being able to sit on the deckchairs by the river in the summer! use the link above to see them all.

Bright day at Hadleigh Castle

21st January 202121st January 2021 By cpadmin

Bright day at Hadleigh Castle. Hadleigh Castle in Essex is an English Heritage property near Southend. English Heritage’s website describes it as “The romantic ruins of a royal castle overlooking the Essex marshes”. Hadleigh was begun in about 1215 by Hubert de Burgh, but extensively refortified by Edward III during the Hundred Years War, becoming a favourite residence of the ageing king John. See more on the English Heritage website

Falling over — The falling tower at Hadleigh Castle

My visit to Hadleigh Castle in Essex took place in the week before Christmas 2020. It was a week day and there were not too many people about. A selfish thought but it was good for capturing images. The website also tells us that In 1215 King John gave this area of land, known as the manor of Hadleigh, along with many other gifts, to Hubert de Burgh, his chief minister. The castle is a ruin. Two towers are still visible, one of them leaning precariously. The other one is upright and it is possible to go inside it.

The bright day at Hadleigh Castle provided some magnificent views from the castle and its surroundings. Looking up the Thames the Great Cranes at Tilbury are visible. Looking down the Thames, the pier at Southend is visible. A bracing walk along the grass offers lots of opportunities to capture interesting images.

This post shows two of the many images captured. Go to the Compass Photography Website www.compassphotography.co.uk to see more images captured that day

Wimpole Estate in Autumn

29th October 202029th October 2020 By cpadmin

It’s great to visit Wimpole Estate in autumn, even though It may be wet and windy. A day in half term looking round the gardens provided some wonderful autumn colours. There was a one way system to the farm where the animals could be seen. See more about Wimpole Estate in Autumn by using this link.

Many of the trees were losing their leaves. On occasion we were able to walk over a carpet of leaves. The leaves on some trees had fallen. In other cases they were changing colour. Two small trees had retained their bright orange leaves. In both cases these small trees made a really bright feature against the darker green trees in the background.

Green scene

One of the images I have called “green scene”. This shows a really green lawn, with a path sweeping across the image and round the corner into the trees. Golden leaves on some of the trees support this image by adding their colour.

These is a page on our website with more images from Wimpole Estate. Use this link to go to it

Use this link to view more of our garden galleries

Autumnal Rettendon

21st October 202021st October 2020 By cpadmin

To capture some images of autumnal Rettendon I paid a visit to the churchyard at All Saints. I had been tipped off by someone who knew, that the colours in Church Chase were nice. Before the rain came I nipped up yesterday with my camera. The churchyard and its bushes and trees offer a number of photogenic opportunities. I particularly like how the high branches of some of the bushes arch over the images to “frame” them. These images are on our website on the “Autumn in Rettendon” page. Click here to go there

This post shows three images. There are more images of Autumnal Rettendon on our website. https://www.compassphotography.co.uk/autumn-in-rettendon/

The views looking west from the churchyard are quite nice. Hedges on both sides of the A130 hide both the road and its traffic. The hedges are turning gold too. Most of the industrial buildings are hidden in the trees.

Images through a Lens Ball

18th September 202021st September 2020 By cpadmin

On a visit to RHS Hyde Hall I captured some images through a lens ball. Simply put a lens ball is a crystal ball. Refraction means that images shot through the lens appear upside down. Refraction occurs when light passes through an object of denser mass, such as water or in this case glass. The resulting image has two characteristics. Most of the image is the right way up. In contrast the element of the image within the lens ball is upside down.

The whole point of using a lens ball for me is that Photoshop allows you to isolate the circle of the lens ball within the image. You can then spin the image round so that both the main image and the contents of the lens ball are the “right” way round! You then see a microcosm of the image through the lens ball.

The images from Hyde Hall

lens ball photography — Before. Looking over the lake at Hyde Hall (Before being spun round)

The first image shows the lake at Hyde Hall as the image came from the camera and the second image shows the refraction “spun” 180 degrees. The third image shows the upper pond at Hyde Hall

More lens ball images captured at Hyde Hall and on the River Crouch appear on our website https://www.compassphotography.co.uk/latest-images/

Five star trip Godmanchester

22nd August 202022nd August 2020 By cpadmin

Five star trip Godmanchester. Had a five star trip this week. I went to five places en-route to and around Huntingdon. This post shows three of the images captured at one of the ports of call, Godmanchester. Click here to see the page on our website with ten images from that day.

First up was the United States Eighth Army Airforce Cemetery near Cambridge. It’s a very moving place, with rows and rows of white crosses. There is also a wall of remembrance and a visitor centre chronicling the events from 1942 to 1945

Next up was Paxton Pits near St Ives (Cambs). This old quarry is now a Nature Reserve with “a rich mosaic of wildlife habitats, with beautiful lakes, riverside, meadow, reed bed, scrub and woodland”. There are lots of places to wander and look at the bird life. Check out Paxton Pits

Moving on, Godmanchester was a place I had not been to before. The waterside and river Great Ouse are extremely photogenic. There is a white latticework bridge and boathouses along the side of the river. The causeway seems to be an area where people congregate. One of the images catches the white bridge (known as the Chinese Bridge) and the spire of the church hiding behind. A panoramic image shows the causeway. A shot of the two storey boathouse also manages to catch the church in the background.

Brampton Mill was the fourth port of call on the tour and I finally ended up at the National Trust property Houghton Mill, also on the Great Ouse. All in all a great day out with four of the five places visited on the Great Ouse.

Brythnoth from Heybridge

3rd August 20203rd August 2020 By cpadmin

Brythnoth from Heybridge. Two of many images captured on a walk from Heybridge Basin round the river Blackwater to face Maldon. I wanted to capture images at high tide. It was the hottest day of the year so far. The expanse of water at high tide is truly remarkable.

It is possible to get a view right across the promenade park to the boat yard and then to the Thames barges moored at Hythe Quay. One of the images shows the statue of Brythnoth on the left and the promenade snaking round in an “S” shape until it reaches the boat yard. It is amazing to recognise that things are not where you would expect them to be. Taking a view from the other side of the water is educational.

By removing the water and the foot of the image and the sky at the top of the picture panoramic images have been created. The technique emphasises the breadth of what is there to see. It’s an aspect missed with the normal proportions of an image. These images include one of Brythnoth on the extreme left and the full expanse of the Promenade Park across the long thin image.

Brythnoth from Heybridge. For more information on the statue of Brythnoth check out this website

More of the images from that walk can be seen on our website. https://www.compassphotography.co.uk/maldon-from-heybridge/

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