A watery sky over Loch Bay, Waternish, on the Isle of Skye, Scotland
No matter your mood this Monday…
Please Remember to ….
Stay Safe …. Be Kind…. Look After Each Other
8th March
(C) David Oakes 2021
Tag Archives: Everyday Life
Silent Sunday…. a Hall with a Chapel
Haddon Hall, Derbyshire…… standing high above the River Wye
Over 900 years Haddon Hall has towered over the River Wye. It has withstood all the turmoil and dangers that time and English history has endured over the intervening centuries.
It is also one of the oldest Houses in the country. Surprisingly Haddon Hall is still owned by the Manners Family over all those years…. it has also remained very much as it was built, avoiding all the fashionable Georgian and Victorian restyling that many other old houses have undergone.
Stand in the Lower Courtyard, you can literally drink in the historical atmosphere created by the passage of time…
Like so many Castles and Country Houses, Haddon has its own Chapel.
The Chapel may well be small… but it is well worth a visit in its own right. It is an intriguing Medieval Chapel. Wooden Box Pews and Carved Screen, Flagged Stone Floor, Exposed Timbered ceiling, Coloured Glass window, and even more stimulating the rather stylish 15th century fresco wall paintings. A design ,that would not be out of place, on a designer wall covering in the 2021’s
If your visit is a summer visit, then you can also enjoy the bonus of a walk arround the Terraced Rose Gardens….. a treat in their own right.
Haddon Hall is a worth inclusion on any tour….but until we can all start planning such trips…
Please Remember to ….
Stay Safe …. Be Kind…. Look After Each Other
7th March
(C) David Oakes 2021
A Mountain Memory……… Slioch
Loch Maree and Slioch
Whilst in CV19 mode, of searching through old files and boxes, I came across this old Postcard.
It is a shot I took back in 1964 when I worked for Valentines of Dundee, assigned to capture images in colour for their Postcard range and for travel books and posters. It was at the time when colour printing technology changed, becoming easier and cheaper and for once able to compete with the Black and White printing on low cost items. This image was shot on a 5″x4″ MPP Technical Camera, on Ektachrome Sheet Film, with an ISO speed equivalent of 10 ASA, yes 10 ASA/ISO….. I recall the joy when a little while later we had film that was rated at 25ASA.
Loch Maree and Slioch, located in the Torridon region of the Scottish Highlands, has always remained a favourite location for me. Many visits have followed and always the Loch and Mountain demand that the camera is pressed to record the view… a view that hardly changes….. here is one taken in 2017..
I had long forgotten just where I had ‘stored’ this and other Postcards….so I guess CV19 had some unexpected benefits
We still though have to live with this virus so…
Please Remember to ….
Stay Safe …. Be Kind…. Look After Each Other
6th March
(C) David Oakes 2021
Winter Slowly Slides Away…..
I am enjoying the last of the Snowdrops. Snowdrops have always bridged that gap where Winter slides very slowly, and at times hesitantly into Spring. In gardens, and in the woodlands, Snowdrops are the indicator that spring is just around the corner, it maybe slow coming… but it will arrive. Though I guess winter weather will still have the occasional harsh sting in its tail.
As individual flowers they show a resilience to resist the frosts, snows and rains, yet they show such grace with their sweeping, drooping white bell like flower on such a tender stem. They hardly look tough enough, to fragile to survive, yet they do.
It is the mass woodland displays that so dramatically make the statement that Spring is on the way. Those white carpets, giving light to woodland areas, areas that will soon be cast into darkness as the tree canopy comes into leaf.
Those woodland settings are for me the place to enjoy the splendour of such simple flowers.
They are soon to leave us again, reminding us that Spring really is on the way.
Till then, be resilient and……
Please Remember to ….
Stay Safe …. Be Kind…. Look After Each Other
5th March
(C) David Oakes 2021
Winter can still be colourful…
Hathersage Moor, looking towards Higger Tor. Positively glowing in some welcome winter sunshine. It was also taken prior to the winter snows and frosts, which would blacken and flatten, the rich bracken that covers these moors.
A welcome winter glow, a reminder of the autumn that has long gone. Spring will eventually bring a fresh green glow of its own.
Till then…. Remember to ….
Stay Safe …. Be Kind…. Look After Each Other
4th March
(C) David Oakes 2021
