30 March 2010

Having a few days annual leave; pouring with rain, so have spent the day indoors. I bought some flowers from Tesco to cheer myself up!

27 March 2010

A lovely Spring day. I drove up to a village North of Thirsk which has the most wonderful old Norman Church that sits in a field of daffodils. Unfortunately they weren't yet in full flower, so I will have to return in a week or so. On the way back down the A19 I stopped off at another Norman church, St Mary the Virgin, otherwise known as Leake Church; I have passed so many times, and often thought about stopping to take a look. The church is large, and has some lovely relatively modern stained glass. I had often wondered about the churches location - it stands directly next to the busy A19 and, with the exception of the neighbouring farm, stands quite solitary. A little research shows that in the 14th century it was at the heart of a large and thriving village of perhaps 1,500 inhabitants. However at some time in the late 15th or the 16th century the village simply disappeared - I haven't been able to discover if it is recorded why; perhaps disease, or crop failure, or clearance by a landlord.

22 March 2010

Caught this on my way home from work - the storm clouds provided the perfect back-drop for the minster. the tele-photo lens has had a fore-shortening effect, making the minster look much closer than it really is.

19 March 2010

I was up and out of the house by 6.30 am, but I still managed to arrive at my location after the sun had come up. I drive past this flooded field every day on my way to work, and have been thinking about taking a photo here for a long time - I will have to revisit next week and see if I can actually be set up prior to the sun rise!

18 March 2010

One from the common before work. I must get up earlier, as by 7.30 the contrast is really too great.

7 March 2010

The first sunny day in a while an d every man and his dog headed for some sea air at Whitby. It might have been sunny, but it was also very cold - I was glad of my scarf and gloves! This is my first attempt at stitching together photos to make a panorama. 11 photos in total, hand-held. This is one that is definitely best viewed large (by double-clicking on the image). You can see the Duke of York pub at the bottom of the Abbey steps - highly recommended for their enormous and tasty haddock and chips.

5 March 2010

Belatedly uploaded. Friday 5th saw me with an unexpected day off. the weather was good, and so I headed to Potteric Carr for the day. This photo of a Blue Tit was taken at the feeding station, and was the most successful of my attempts to take photos of tits and other small birds in flight. They are unbelievably fast - photos of birds in flight is something I want to explore over the next couple of months.

4 March 2010

The footpath that runs through Strensall and on to Sheriff Hutton. Taken at around 7.45, before work. I shall have to go for a proper walk here one day.

3 March 2010

Another lunchtime photo from the common. This is one of my favourite spots to sit and eat my sandwiches. In the late Spring and Summer there are usually damsel flies to be seen hovering over the water.