Wigtwizzle - Norman Smith's Travel Blog.: February 2021

Goit Stock Waterfall In Winter

Another day and another lockdown walk, this time back to and old favourite Goit Stock Wood and Falls. The path and road up as far as the Holiday Home Park were very slippy in places but I managed to navigate them fairly easily. From there onwards, the tree cover had kept most of the ice at bay even though there were still a fair amount of icicles on the rocks in the beck.

Surprisingly it was very quiet, I only came across two people on my walk in and then two taking photos up at the falls. There was just about the right amount of water flowing over the falls to facilitate good slow shutter speed photos, but the layout of the falls makes it hard to get a good composition. Over the years a tree has grown at exactly the place you would want to place your tripod. If you move further to the left then a large rock blocks out part of the view and the beck is to the right, so the only alternative would be to don some wellies and wade out in to the beck itself.

That wasn't an option as I was only wearing a pair of low quality walking boots but I still think I managed to make the most of the options given to me. All in all it had been a very enjoyable visit and I had come away with some decent shots.

Icicles, Goit Stock Beck

Goit Stock Waterfall

Icicles, Goit Stock Beck

Goit Stock Beck

Goit Stock Woods

Goit Stock Beck

Icicles, Goit Stock Beck

Local Moorlands in the snow

One of the things this pandemic has opened my eyes to, is the variety of scenery situated more or less on my doorstep. St Ives Country Park, along with Myrtle Park and the River Aire in Bingley have more or less become my second home and Goit Stock waterfall and woods have also become firm favourites but one area that I have neglected until the last few weeks is the moorland above Thornton and Denholme.

I have visited Ogden Water which sits adjacent to the moors many times, but I have not ventured much further, so the obvious way forward would be to amalgamate both walks. My visit today was curtailed at the stile leading on to the moors and wind farm after I had a conversation with a walker who said the snow had been drifting up to his thighs in places, and the path was very sketchy. With not being familiar with the area, the obvious thing to do was to turn around and retrace my steps back to the car. It was a bitterly cold day anyway, so I was glad to get back to a bit of warmth.

There will be lots more opportunities over the coming months to revisit and explore further.

Broadstones Farm

Foursome

Moorland Trees

Dry-stone walls

The Survivor

Two Becomes One

Threatening Skies

Storm clouds

Moorland Track

Drifting Snow

Groovy Path

Hollin Hill Wind Farm

Foreside Top

Wind Turbine

Ovenden Moor

Boundary Line

No Entry

Fenced In

Snowdrift

No Parking In Front Of The gate

Moorland Bridleway

Ogden Water Country Park

I hadn't been to Ogden water for a couple of years so thought I would pay it a visit and try out my new 85 mm lens. I arrived quite early so managed to get a parking spot by the roadside.

I didn't really get any decent photo opportunities until I got into Odgen Clough with its many small cascades, mossy rocks and fallen trees. Unfortunately the deeper I got in to the Clough, the icier it got which eventually forced me to turn back as the last thing I wanted was to have a fall whilst holding the camara.

I was quite pleased with the way it performed, mainly because it let me take handheld close up slow shutter speed shots. I found that I could easily use a shutter speed of one eighth of a second which gave good enough water motion without it being overexposed.

The next time I use it, I will try it out taking close-up shots, I believe its minimum focusing distance is two feet six inches, which should be ideal for flower photography. For anything closer, I still have a 60 mm macro lens.

I was surprised how good the paths were as many of my local paths (plus the paths at St Ives) are very muddy due to the weather and increased footfall. I did leave the main path and walk up in to the woods, partly to get away from the crowds but mainly for variety because I find the path around the reservoir rather flat and boring whereas the woodland path has many ups and downs.

By the time I got back to the car, it was getting very busy, so I think I picked the right time of day to visit. All shots below are taken with that lens.