Wigtwizzle - Norman Smith's Travel Blog.: frost

Showing posts with label frost. Show all posts

A Winter Wonderland

Sometimes beauty is sat on your doorstep and you fail to see it until you get a morning like this. This was an area I usually just drive through, either on my way home or to some other destination. Usually its the coffee shops at Brougham Hall, Lowther Castle or Larch Cottage Nurseries at Melkinthorpe that are attracting me but today it looked so breathtaking with all the hoar frost on the trees, walls and fences that it just forced me to stop.

All the photos were taken within a few miles of Penrith and in the triangle encompassing Eamont Bridge, Brougham Hall and Brougham Castle and all were roadside shots. Also the hoar frost was very localised because just a mile down the road at Clifton and beyond, everything was back to its winter drabness.

People often say that you see the world differently and more intimately when you have an interest in photography and that is true. Before my camera days, I would have probably just carried on my journey home and missed nature's stunning display.

Eamont Bridge

Brougham Castle

River Eamont

Frosted Branch, Brougham

Frosted Fence, Brougham

Frosted Seed Pods

Brougham Hall Farm

Country Lane, Brougham

Brougham Hall Farm

Frosted Berries

Frosted Coppice, Brougham

A magical and surreal Ogden Clough

The weather wasn't too good and deteriorated even further the nearer I got to Ogden Water. It had been a still morning and I had hoped for the low cloud to lift and for the sun to maybe break through. This would have given me some great light to work with plus a chance for some reflection shots but it wasn't to be.

Actually it would have been so easy not to go out at all and just stay at home and have a lazy day but sometimes its good to push yourself and work in more challenging conditions. If the photos work then its a bonus, if they don't then you haven't really lost anything; plus you will hopefully learn from your mistakes for the next time. Also, good or bad, you are getting a bit of exercise and keeping the grey matter ticking over at the same.

I've been in the Clough many times and in all sorts of weather. Today though, the snow turned it in to a rather magical and surreal place which gave it an atmosphere I have never experienced on my previous visits. With it being so cold and never getting any sun, all the snow was sticking to the branches of the and leaves on the trees, rocks and grasses; this made it as near to being a winter wonderland as you could get. I'm not too sure about all of the compositions though. Some are good, some are not so good and some are poor but, as in anything you do in life, you only learn by trial and error.

Before going back to the car, I walked up on to the golf course which was a total white out and bloody freezing. It can be a pretty bleak place even in the middle of summer as most of the holes are over 1000ft above sea level but when the snow and mist are down, its hard to imagine that there is a golf course there at all.

Anyway I took a few random shots up there and then beat a hasty retreat back down to the car. In ten minutes I was back home, the heating was on, a warm cuppa was in my hand and I was sat there feeling chuffed at having made the effort and got out. My only reservation was that I didn't take a zoom lens with me which meant I couldn't pick out closer and more intimate scenes so that is something to consider in future.

A frozen Ogden Water

Ogden Plantation

Ogden Water

Ogden Plantation

Ogden Clough

Ogden Plantation

Ogden Clough

Snow on grasses, Ogden Clough

Ogden Water

Skirden Clough

Perimeter of Ogden Plantation

The 18th, Halifax Golf Course

In the rough, Halifax Golf Course

Withens New Road

A cold and misty Ogden water

Winter at Ogden Nature Reserve

Had a couple of hours to spare in the morning so I drove up the road to Odgen Water Country Park to stretch the legs. The crowds and dog walkers usually follow the well used track around the reservoir but I much prefer to get off the beaten track as its much more interesting and more or less doubles the length of the walk.

The hidden valley of Ogden Clough is always worth a visit and seems a million miles from the reservoir whereas in reality, it is only about half a mile away. It's the same with the plantation as well; with a little extra effort you can be in the woods and far away from the madding crowds. A little more effort still and you can then be up on Ovenden Moor where it can be really bleak and windswept.

Not today though; it was bitterly cold in the plantation but warmed up considerably once I had left its confines and was out on the open moorland. With one eye on the clock, I cut back down through the woods to Chester's Bridge and then completed the circuit of the reservoir with plenty of time to spare.

A very enjoyable and refreshing walk.