Misty Mornings

A selection of images from the last week or so.

Wynch Bridge

If you are out and about early in Upper Teesdale you can feel that summer is coming to an end.  Most mornings now have a bite to them, but this particular morning was the first for a while where I experienced really cold fingers.

River Tees and Wynch Bridge 

Great Stony Hill via Coldberry End. 

This is a grand little viewpoint set on a broad ridge which runs the length of Upper Teesdale all the way to the Cumbria border.  It is an easy hill and perfect for a pre-dawn wander.

Cairn at Coldberry End and the view towards Mickle Fell with Cow Green reservoir just visible.

 

View East

An easy, short walk over boggy moorland takes you onto Great Stony Hill, which in reality is just a small bump with a trig point.  The views are not bad though.

View south across the watershed.

Shacklesborough.

This is a grand little hill set above Baldersdale and while I cannot find any records, I suspect the top may actually be an ancient burial site as the cairn appears to be set on top of rocks reminiscent of Cists I have seen in other places such as Bodmin Moor. 

View down Baldersdale

Surrounded by featureless moors, like its sister Goldsborough this hill feels more remote than it really is, its gritstone cap giving it a somewhat lofty and craggy appearance with extensive views eastwards down Baldersdale. In fact it is possible to see all the way to the coast at Teesside from several points on these moors.

Sadly the area has now been desecrated by two new hill tracks, one of which goes within a hundred meters of the summit.  This will probably have been created to carry shooters too lazy to walk up to the grouse killing grounds.  Not only do these tracks spoil the view, they destroy the underlying peat so why these tracks are allowed when they are only used by shooters for a few weeks a year is beyond me. 

Anyway before I head off on a total rant....  I visited the summit twice this week.  On the first occasion I was pretty much forced off the hill by midges.  Not only did they drive me crazy with their biting, they ruined all my images as well.  Cloning out hundreds of little black dots from every shot was actually more time consuming than revisiting the summit, so a few days later when it was much cooler I headed back up and enjoyed a bivy on the summit. 

 I had actually planned some star shots, but a thin veil of mist meant only the moon was visible at times. 

The sunrise was also a bit of a disappointment photography wise due to cloud in the east, but it was worth it simply for the enjoyment of being up here. 

Breakfast on the summit.

View down Baldersdale from the craggy south side of the summit.

Kirkcarrion

Kirkcarrion, also known as Caryn’s Castle is an ancient pre historic burial ground and a place I have visited many times.  Set above the Lune and Tees valleys it is easy to see why it had such significance for our ancestors.

 Wonderful views despite the flat light

As I said before mist and low cloud has been a feature of early morning photography over the last couple of weeks and I thought this morning was going to be such a day, fortunately the sun broke through for a few brief minutes and I managed to grab a few shots.

Not HDR, this shot was captured the old fashioned way using 2 stacked graduated ND filters. 

Text/images copyright David Forster www.bluestoneimages.com

The Lang Man O'Bollihope

My original plan had been to head up onto How Tallon for the sunrise, but as the hills were in cloud, I decided to put one of my many plan B's into action and head to a location nearer the road - namely the Long Man, also known as the Lang Man O'Bollihope on the Teesdale/Weardale Border.

 
Cloud was still a problem here as well, but I did manage half a dozen shots on the rare occasions the sun did manage to break through.

View East towards Hamsterley Forest

One of the Curricks

Heather and Bilberry with the View Towards Raven Seat

Text/images copyright David Forster www.bluestoneimages.com

A Close Encounter with Voles

I often see voles sneaking about in my garden, but like most people I rarely get to see them really close up.  Some time ago I did manage to grab some shots of one feeding and identified it as a Bank Vole (Clethrionomys glareolus).




Bank Vole (Clethrionomys glareolus) feeding on Honeysuckle Berries.   This vole was far too timid to photograph close up and I had to use a 400mm lens.

Then the other day I spotted five young voles feeding in the garden. I originally thought they were bank voles as well, but after looking closely at the pics and video I have come to the conclusion they are actually young Field Voles (Microtus agrestis) as they are much lighter in colour and have very short tails.

 

At first they were not too sure if I could be trusted and would hide under the path, or disappear down their hole. 

 



After a few minutes they would come back out if I stayed still. 



 



  Eventually they allowed me so close I could photograph them with a 100mm macro lens







After a while they would even take grass shoots from my hand.





We must be doing something right with our garden.

 

Text/images copyright David Forster www.bluestoneimages.com

 

Going Bodmin

The Bodmin moors, lair of the Beast of Bodmin.  The story of a mythical wildcat that stalks the moors is of course yet another layer of myth and legend for an area that seems to have more than its fair share of stories. It's hardly surprising I suppose considering the number of ancient sites spread across the moors. Stone circles, burial chambers, ancient cairns, standing stones, abandoned villages and homesteads, all hidden in every fold of the landscape.

The weather too plays its part. Walk these moors in the dark as a heavy mist settles around you and it is easy to understand the folklore that surrounds the area. 

Take this morning for example. As I make my way across the top of Stowe's Hill, strange rock formations come and go as the mist swirls around its rocky Tors.  The normal sounds of cows, horses and sheep floating up from the lower ground sound muffled and surreal, but the most poignant sound for me, and one I will now always associate with the area is that of the Raven.

While waiting for the mist to clear I listen to two calling to each other less than twenty metres away.  I cannot see them, but can't resist calling across to them "Oy quiet".  They do indeed go quiet, but only a few seconds later I hear the rustle of feathers as they fly above me to investigate the mad man talking to them in the mist.

These moors do that to you, especially when you are on your own.  "Going Bodmin or Gone Bodmin" is a phrase used to describe anyone who is just a little odd - not quite barmy mind - just a bit different.  It seems a fair label for a photographer sitting on a hilltop at sunrise talking to Ravens don't you think.



The Cheesewring Stones as the Mist Sinks Back into the Valley.  The Cheesewring gets its name as it looks similar to the Cheeses used during the pressing in cider production.

One of several Rocky Tors on Stowe's Hill

Caradon Hill with its TV masts from Stowe's Hill

Stone Pinnacle and the Cheesewring. 

Weathered top of one of the summit tors. - the mist all but gone now on the west side of the hill. 

The light around sunrise truly is transient and within half an hour the sun was far too harsh.  A further half-hour all this mist had lifted into high cloud.

Text/images copyright David Forster www.bluestoneimages.com

Greeting the Solstice Sun

In need of some solstice solace after a week stuck in front of a computer processing images and other business distractions (it's not all wandering the hills grabbing the odd pic as you go along you know ;-) we decided to head west to the coastline and low wooded valleys on the Silverdale side of Morecambe Bay.  It's an ideal spot to enjoy some nice circular walks, spend a bit of time wildlife watching and simply sit and immerse yourself in the outdoors. 

Sunset on the 20th June 2014



Accompanied by the sounds of birds we had a walk along the rocky shore, returning much later in the dark.

This image, believe it or not, was shot in the dark with only the slightest hint of afterglow in the sky.  It just shows what modern digital compact system cameras are capable of.  To get the ghost simply ask the person to walk out of the pic part way through the exposure.

 

The next morning we headed back along the coast to enjoy the solstice sunrise.  With high tide due around 6.am we were careful to make sure we could get back well above the high tide line. 



We stood on the cliffs and watched the tide racing in.  It was both beautiful and frightening at the same time.

From our high point we could see how the tide sneaks in behind any sandbanks cutting off any possible escape.

 The atmosphere feels really menacing when the tide turns.  To start with the sand starts to make a crackling, popping noise.  This is then followed by strange hissing, gurgling and whispering sounds as the sea rushes over the sand, filling in the hollows and encircling the sandbanks. 

I took some real time video shots of the tide coming in and it took around a minute to race up the sandbank and cover it completely. I will add these to the blog when I get time.

 

Solstice Sunrise

 

After a couple of hours sleep we headed out for a nice easy circular walk from Silverdale via Jenny Brown's Point.  

 

Old Quay which dates from around 1790? when copper smelting was carried out at the point.

 

Copper Smelting Mill chimney further along from the Quay at Jenny Brown's Point

 

We then heading inland via Fleagarth wood to the village of Silverdale.  The final stretch from the village took us back along the coast via Cove and Know End Point.

 

In the evening we sat on the rocky shore and watched the sun set across Morecambe Bay and the Kent Channel.

Calm

 

As it got dark we made a small fire just below the tide line for a brew.

Afterglow across Morecambe Bay.

All in all a nice change from mountains.

 Text/images copyright David Forster www.bluestoneimages.com

 

Standards Hill - Lunedale

I am afraid the next few posts will be a bit random and not in date order.  Blogger is being a right pain and at times and I simply cannot be bothered battling on getting posts up when it goes slow, won't save or add images, refuses to acknowledge I even have a blog at times, or any number of other issues.  I know others are experiencing issues as well so perhaps it is time to move to a new blog such as wordpress.

Anyway yesterday it was rather overcast in Lunedale, but even so despite the poor light I had a wander (or perhaps more accurately heather bash) up onto Standards Hill, returning via the Closehouse mine track

On the way visited another air crash site, this time of a Blenheim Mk1 aircraft which crashed up here in bad weather on 26th October 1938. 



What is left is slowly being claimed by the moor with the rest well buried in the soft peat.

That said despite the passing of over 80 years you can still see the green paint on the aluminium fuselage

Sadly Pilot John Owen Sowerbutts aged 25, Wireless Operator William Ashbridege aged 21 and Wireless Operator/Air Gunner Horace Redfern aged only 18 all died in the accident.

Moving on I headed to the summit of Standards which is a bit like Nine Standards over in Cumbria, only here most of the cairns seem to have fallen down.  There is also a strange little partially roofed cairn/howf with no entrance on the summit.

Not sure about the history of this hill top but clearly a lot of effort has gone into building cairns over the years.  Most have fallen down though.

 

 

Despite the cloud there were good views from the summit towards Mickle Fell. 

 

Text images copyright David Forster www.bluestoneimages.com

 

 

Curtiss P40 Tomahawk AH744

As you will probably have noticed on the blog I have visited several air crash sites in the Pennines over the last year or so and recently began recording what is left of them.  Part of my motivation comes from the fact that some of these sites are disappearing due to the actions of collectors - an activity I understand is illegal nowadays without a license. 
 

I have to be honest and say that I have mixed feelings about writing about such sites, which is why I do not provide any location details, but on the other hand I do feel these sites deserve to be recognised as memorials to those who died.  This latter point was brought home to me recently when I was contacted by a relative of a crewmember who lost their life in one of these accidents so that they could visit the place themselves.
 

In April I visited another site, namely that of a Curtiss P40 Tomahawk AH744 that crashed on a remote Teesdale moor on 10th February 1943 while on a training exercise.
 

There is some conflicting information about the aircraft and the reasons why it was actually in the Teesdale area, but the general consensus regarding the accident itself is that the aircraft hit the ground with one of its wings while trying to turn in cloud and then broke up across the moor. 
 

Despite the fact the aircraft had been spotted earlier in the day by a Royal Observer Corps post based in Barnard Castle, continuing poor weather and low cloud hampered the search and it was not until the 13 February that the crash site was spotted from the air.  Once located, a team approached the site on foot, but sadly the 29 year old pilot Flying Officer Henry (Harry) E Wright had not survived the initial impact.
 

Again I only had a very general location for the crash site, but with clear weather did not have too much trouble in finding it. 

 Impact crater

Despite the passing of some 70 years and the actions of collectors who have taken the tail fin, wing, engine and propeller as well as other smaller items it looked as if the accident had only recently occurred.
 

 

 

Wing section.  The dark material is the anti-slip material on the walk area

There are thought to be at least two other crash sites within a few miles of this one, a Tiger Moth NM213 in which the pilot was flung out on impact and survived and a Master T8614 in which the Pilot - 2nd Officer Richard Horry Winn was killed, however the actual locations do not appear to be known. 

Text/images copyright David Forster www.bluestoneimages.com.