Cloudy days are getting me down

We seem to be wrapped up in a big grey blanket at the moment over on the west side of the UK.

It's so depressing not to see any 'light' for days on end.

Occasionally it brightens just before sunset, aand as soon as I saw a patch of blue I was out of the house and heading to Walltown Crags. I was hopeful that I might get a sunset but maybe that was being greedy.

The Crags at Walltown are a lovely place for an evening walk, if the air is clear you can see the sea glinting right over to the Solway. Some nice bits of Hadrian's Wall remain here and access isn't bad.

The sheep have cropped the grass to a lovely finish that would make any greenkeeper proud and for some reason Walltown is the only place you really notice this. As usual it was windy up on the top but even that didn't matter, gave the cobwebs a good blow through.

Hopes of a sunset faded away as the cloud moved back in but I didn't mind too much, I'd spent a happy hour in lovely fresh air, with sheep for company and one impressive sky shot of the Walltown Tree - enough for anyone.

While we've had cloud I've been taking pictures of the various helicopters zooming around Gilsland and up to Spadeadam - it's the Dutch airforce on manouvres at the moment.

They fly through the gap between our house and those up the hill from us and come over quite low - I was happily snapping away, practising my panning techniques and it was only when I uploaded the shots to the computer that I noticed the gunner had his gun trained on me the whole time!

For those who like to know, this was taken with a 200mm lens. Click the pictures to see them at a larger size.

Catch you later.

Joan

http://www.joanthirlaway.com/

Another game of catch up

8.30am and I was out at Once Brewed as requested.

Managed to have a catch up chat with Michael the Ranger until the crew from Radio 2 arrived at 9ish after breakfast at the Twice Brewed.

Off up to Steel Rigg so they could be filmed by for a bit on Look North.

They were suitably impressed by the scene at Steel Rigg, Stuart Maconi is doing a tweet with photographs he's taken along the way.

They walked back and forward for the camera and while they stopped on the top of Peel Crags to be interviewed, I legged it along the bottom track to catch them at Sycamore Gap.

I don't know who planned the trip for them but I'm guessing they looked at a map measured the distance and thought it was an easy trek.

Of course the terrain isn't flat, the climbs are steep and the descents are too, especially when it's muddy underfoot.

Because they were doing a show at 8pm they were in powerwalk mode, way above my speed, so I was taking the flatter tracks that run parallel to the actual Wall to try and get ahead of them.

I'm definately too old for this :) At Cuddys Crag, Mark Radcliffe and his team flashed past without stopping.

Stuart was walking with David McGlade, the Hadrian's Wall National Trail manager, they kind enough to wait for me and so I have more photographs of Stuart.

The publicity they're giving the Hadrian's Wall Path is priceless and they seem to be mentioning everyone they come into contact with ( except me which probably means I was a total nuisance)

Be nice to get back to proper landscape photography, the view never has a deadline to meet, much more my pace.

Catch you later.

I can see for miles...

Some people say that Hadrian's Wall was built as a defensive measure, others say it was built as a way of controlling movement, a sort of customs post.

What is indisputable is that the Roman Army chose a great place to build Hadrian's Wall, using the natural contours and landform to accentuate the mighty Wall riding on top.

Todays slot belongs to the zigzag tree high above Simonsburn Common between Chesters Fort and Limestone Corner. There are bits of the Wall still in existence on this stretch but I chose to picture the hawthorn tree that's been growing on the line of the Wall for many years. One lady told me her son used to look out for the tree as he went back and forward to school each day, he's now in his 40's. The views behind it show the flatter plains to the north and, for me, the tree illustrates the harsh conditions the soldiers would encounter as the winds roared up the valley.

Just to the west of this tree is Limestone corner where huge boulders have been strewn like dice across the hill. Some of the stones bear the marks where the Roman builders tried to break them apart. Pass this and the Hadrian's Wall Path takes you over Fozzy Moss towards Sewingshields Crag, walking on the crest of the Vallum Ditch for some of the way. b A flatter stretch and perhap some might not think it very interesting but because it's a moss and there's water, in the summer months your feet are buzzed by beautifully coloured red of turquoise Darter's.

Catch you later.

27 04 09

Most people seem to walk the Wall from east to west.

In most cases I think the best views are to be seen looking west to east but there are exceptions and, in my humble opinion, the view over Crag Lough from Hotbank Crag, is one of them.

Yesterday was a mixed day weather wise but there was a good build up of my type of clouds as evening approached. It's been a while since I climbed up Hotbank so that was my first destination for the evening. NNPA has been hard at work over the winter and they've much improved the path and gate just after you cross the entrance track to Hotbank Farm. Some very large, and I imagine unwieldy boulders now make a good sturdy set of steps, great if you're rushing to 'catch the light' like I usually am.

As with most of this section of Hadrian's Wall the climb up to Hotbank Crag gives you a good anaerobic workout, or that's what I tell myself.

Last night I got my timings all wrong and was way too early for the sunset. On a nice night I might be tempted to hang around and wait, but there was a chill wind up on the top. I scouted out a few new spots for a sunrise shot looking east along the Hadrian's Wall Path as it follows the contours over Hotbank Crag, laughed at the antics of some of the Bradley Farm lambs, then decided to head somewhere a bit warmer.

As I came back down to Crag Lough the sun came out and just caught the slopes of Winshields Crag, making a nice picture, with no time to set up the tripod I just did a point and shoot.

(NY772680 - the grid references I post should take you to a map and the centre spot of the map is where I stood to take the photo)

I sit here writing away each day never knowing if anyone actually read what I write, if you'd like to comment please feel free.

Catch you later.