Category: Travel UK

Norfolk in summer

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.

Great Snoring
The village sign at Great Snoring, Norfolk

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.

Competition success last weekend

By cpadmin

I had a success last weekend in a photography competition. This competition called for an interpretation of the word “open”. The exact brief from the judge was:

“I want to see your photographic interpretations of ‘open’. The dictionary definition is ‘not closed or blocked’ which means this is a wide-open subject so you should have no difficulty in finding something physically open or a metaphor for something open. In my judging I will be openly looking for unique and out-of-the-ordinary entries.”

The competition was judged in two ways. The people who entered the 1439 images voted for their favourites. In addition the person who created the competition judged the ones he thought best. I chose four images. The first was of Tower Bridge open and a Thames Barge passing through it. Secondly there was an image of an “open” barn door. Additionally a number of sheaves were visible within the barn. Thirdly, I entered a striking image of a fully “open” purple Allium. Finally I entered an image of two friends cutting the tape to “open” the Schoolroom café in Woodham Ferrers.

The results

My interpretation of the word “open” using the Tower Bridge in London came 132nd (top 9%) in the crowd judging. The the creator of the competition judged the image of Judith and Barbara opening the tea room as 7th in the whole competition! So I am well chuffed with the competition success last weekend! The two images and the judge’s feedback is shown below.

  • Photographic Angle 1st Prize in competition
    Cutting the tape. Barbara and Judith open the Schoolroom
  • Competition success last weekend
    Close up as Tower Bridge opens for Thames Barge Hydrogen

The stars of your completely different take are the two old ladies enjoying themselves cutting a ribbon to open a local community church café. In the best tradition of street photography you successfully took your one chance to capture the moment at precisely the right time. Your zoom lens has caught the action from the perfect standpoint in front of the pensioners. I love the reaction of the celebratory crowd behind the scissor wielding lady but I can’t help wondering what the photograph looked like taken by the lady in the centre of your composition – especially as it would have included you taking your top ten judged picture.

To look at other competition successes go to the main menu on our website

Summer will be here soon

By cpadmin

We all hope summer will be here soon and this wretched wind will blow away. The image below shows the field just over the road from Papermill Lock in between Danbury and Boreham in Essex. Papermill Lock is on the River Chelmer and it forms part of the Chelmer and Blackwater navigation. It connects Maldon and Chelmsford. Additionally, a great attraction here is the teashop, called Papermill Lock Tearooms. As well as that you can walk along the towpath and look at the boats, even feed the ducks and swans. Finally, of course you can sit and have tea and cake and watch the world go by.

Summer will be here soon
Buttercup field in full bloom

On the day of my visit the field opposite Papermill Lock was full of buttercups. The yellow dots of the flowers went as far as the eye could see. Tall rye grass is also poking up in the front of the image. The sky was blue, with hardly a cloud to be seen. Summer will be here soon and I am sure we will get days like this one from 2019. To reach the Lock you go from Danbury down the Ridge and North Hill. From Boreham you travel along Mowden Hall Lane and North Hill.

To view more images of Essex click on this link and see the Great Places to go in Essex

Arundel Castle’s tulips

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.

Arundel Castle's tulips
Pots and pots of brightly coloured blooms surround a gazebo

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

By cpadmin
Great view of Maldon
Maldon from over the water on the Heybridge side

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

By cpadmin

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

Both ends of the rainbow
I ended up at Clare Castle and climbed the mound to the top. Importantly, I arrived just as a rainbow emerged from the clouds, showing both of its ends. Absolutely brilliant! Especially lucky to be in the right place at the right time. The clouds had turned black and I just about managed to get back to the car before the heavens opened. From the top of the mound you can also see the station without a railway (rainbow again visible) and get a good view of the town. In Clare I captured an image of a house emblazoned with a lot of pargetting. Lots more of the images capture on the afternoon in Suffolk are include on our website, click on this link. You can also find out more about Clare Castle by using this link

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.

Waterfront at Godmanchester

By cpadmin
Waterfront at Godmanchester
Panoramic of the waterfront at Godmanchester

The waterfront at Godmanchester from the water meadows. Unlike the original image, this panoramic has been created by removing proportions of the sky and the water. Consequently, this allows a focus on the ribbon of old houses on the road by the waterfront and their reflections. The age of the properties varies. Some are Georgian, whereas others may be even earlier. You reach the water meadows by crossing the Chinese bridge. It is then possible to walk to the river Great Ouse. More images of the waterfront at Godmanchester are shown on our website. Click on this link

Godmanchester is in Cambridgeshire, next to Huntingdon. It is on the site of the Roman town of Durovigutum. In addition, there is archaeological evidence of Celtic habitation prior to the establishment of a Roman town and a Mansio (Inn). people have lived here continuously for more than 2,000 years.

The website of the local paper indicates that “telling people that you come from Godmanchester” elicits a look of confusion! We visited on a bright spring day and fed the ducks. Then we wandered round the water meadows and past the boat houses. A couple of narrow boats were plying the Great Ouse and people were using magnets to fish in the water. They brought a a pistol!

See more of our images at – Compass Photography Group

RHS Hyde Hall after the snow

By cpadmin

Snow fell in Essex for the first time in several years, these images show RHS Hyde Hall after the snow. This had meant that local photographers have been short of recently captured local snowy images. Captured on two different visits the images show different aspects of the gardens in the cold conditions.

RHS Hyde Hall after the snow
RHS Hyde Hall after the snow
RHS Hyde Hall after the snow

The first image looks from the winter garden across the grass to Clover Hill. Our eye follows the tracks of an earlier visitor across the grass. The shadows tell us that winter daylight will soon be ending. Secondly, we have an image captured from the middle of the winter garden, note the cornus in the foreground. The eye follows the path as it winds this way and that up the slope to the hilltop garden.

Without doubt the red and orange of the Cornus Sanguinea midwinter fire stands out against the snow and the bright blue sky in image three. It was great to be at RHS Hyde Hall after the snow, however it was freezing cold. More images from this shoot at Hyde Hall can be found in the latest images section of the Compass Photography Website. These include inquisitive robins, lens ball images and snow blown over a frozen lake.

You can also look up the RHS Hyde Hall website from here

Wimpole Estate in Autumn

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.

  • Wimpole Estate in autumn
    Orange tree stands out
  • Wimpole Estate in autumn
    Green scene. Green lawns and a curve in the path towards the trees
  • Wimpole Estate in autumn
    Orange trees in the parkland

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

Autumn colours

By cpadmin

Autumn colours

The leaves turn from green to yellow or going straight to an orangy brown. As the song has it, “The Autumn leaves are turning to the colour of her hair!” From Windmills of your mind sung by Noel Harrison. You have to be old to remember this song!

This post has three images attached

  • Autumnal colours
    Captured from Bolsover Castle, this row of terraced houses is surrounded by autumnal colours
  • Autumn colours
    Yellow, green and brown as the leaves change colour on this oak tree at Hylands Park, Essex
  • Autumnal images
    Calm waters in the lake at Danbury reflect the trees as the leaves turn golden

The image from Bolsover in Derbyshire, is captured from the ramparts of the castle. It uses a super zoom lens to bring the trees and houses close together. Trees surround the row of houses. The leaves on the trees vary in their shades of colour.

Hylands Park in Chelmsford is the location of the second image. It is a close up of oak leaves from a tree in one of the vast open spaces in the park. The leaves next to each other are green, yellow and brown colours.

The final image is from Danbury Lakes near Chelmsford. The lakes offer lovely colours and the calm waters have created complex reflection patterns. Too complex for a jigsaw!

A page on our website entitled Autumnal Colours has more images of autumn from this year and 2019. https://www.compassphotography.co.uk/autumnal-images/