Yesterday was a beautiful day: almost windless, just above freezing and sunny. I decided on the spur of the moment in the morning to get back into my practice of walking in the Castle Grounds. So I drove into town and parked at The Woodlands Café as always and set off. The walk up into the woods and along to the River Creed was fairly quiet. There were not even many dog walkers about. Many of you will have seen pictures of the walk, or parts of it, before but I thought I'd publish some of the winter ones I took yesterday anyway.
 |
| An icy stretch |
 |
| The River Creed in full flow. |
 |
| The River Creed just above the estuary |
 |
| The estuary and slack water at low tide. Quietness after the noisy torrent. |
 |
| The estuary |
 |
| And again. |
 |
| A good place for a summer picnic |
 |
| In memory of someone or perhaps of the RAF. Fresh roses. |
 |
| I have photographed this tree in almost every month of the year. |
 |
| A gull, a cormorant and a heron sat on a rock...... |
What absolutely stunning scenes, Graham. New Year's Day was certainly a fantastic start to the year, weather-wise, here as well. It does the heart good to be able to walk in such beauty.
ReplyDeleteThank you, JayCee. I'm fortunate in that it's much more sheltered than near my home. I can usually have a coffee in The Woodlands when I've finished (closed yesterday and today though).
DeleteBeautiful. I've enjoyed walking along with you.
ReplyDeleteThere is a crop field nearby, which I like to photograph throughout the year. It's wonderful to watch how it changes through the seasons. X
Thank you, Jules. I have a huge choice of routes. My standard walk is 3.3 miles (this one) but it can be as short as I want if time is limited or I can stretch it to about 7 miles within the grounds if I'm really in the mood.
DeleteGorgeous photos Graham. Thank you for sharing your walk. I trust you enjoyed the walk again?
ReplyDeleteThank you, Carol. I did enjoy it and I was back again today doing a shorter one because the roads and paths were sheet ice in places.
DeleteWhat a wonderful blue sky! I'm glad you got a good walk, and that you decided to share your photos with us as well. I love the water reflections especially (...you know I never get tired of those...)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Monica. I never get tired of the views and the water either.
DeleteYou are blessed to have beauty like that around you for walking.
ReplyDeleteI am indeed, Maywyn, especially during lockdown.
DeleteLovely photos here and below, Graham...a stunning area, indeed. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteMy best wishes for a Happy New Year...I hope 2021 treats you and your loved ones kindly...with lots of good-humour and good health tossed in for good measure! :)
What could be better than some good humour, Lee? Thank you.
DeleteThat looks like an outstanding area to go walking in. Your photos are great, made me feel like I was there beside you :)
ReplyDeleteMargaret, thank you for those lovely words.
DeleteGreat photos of your first walk of the year.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Red.
DeleteBeautiful photos again Andrew. I heard Donald from Ness again on the radio last night. Good to know he's still there, with his delightful accent.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Cro. I must look out for Donald from Ness next year.
DeleteVery, very beautiful - what a great start of the year! It has not really been sunny here in quite a while, although we have had some rather stunning sunsets. Today, the world around me is covered in snow. I shall get my fleece-lined wellies out and go for a walk in a bit.
ReplyDeleteLove the line "A gull, a cormorant and a heron..." It sounds like the beginning of a good story, or at least of a funny joke!
Keep warm, Meike, and enjoy your walk in the snow. It's years since I have done that. I ams so pleased that you picked up that I was trying to give the impression of the start of a joke. In the UK jokes which started "An Englishman, a Scotsman and an Irishman walked into a bar....." or similar using three representatives of differing views.
DeleteBeautiful light. What's the rest of the story and punchline to "A gull, a cormorant and a heron sat on a rock."? I hope it doesn't involve depositing things on Yorkshiremen's heads.
ReplyDeleteTasker, I wish that I were good at jokes and the like. Had I been able to think of a follow on I would have included it (in brackets). As it is I can just hope that a poet like YP can do something (which doesn't involve Lancastrians!).
DeleteBeautiful photos to let us walk with you. The light is glorious and the sky so clear I assume it was freezing cold? I love the variety in the walk and coffee at start or finish would normally be very welcome I imagine. My late afternoon summer walk in a Melbourne suburb had golden light, but a few huge cumuli nimbus clouds that had a chance of being thunderstorms.
ReplyDeleteJean, it was very cold but I was well wrapped up. I usually pop into The Woodlands and either meet a friend or have a coffee on my own and that is the reward that keeps my legs going.
DeleteYour winter looks so benign! There is not a speck of snow in sight, and all is green and lovely, not a shard of ice on the water. There is no flag on the pole at the castle so I can't tell whether there was much wind, but I have the impression that it was of little consequence. What a delightful spot! I could walk there in serene happiness i have no doubt.
ReplyDeleteDavid, the ambient temperature was a degree or so above freezing. There was only the very slightest of breezes: certainly not enough to move a wet flag. There were plenty of birds too (in number if not in variety) but that is by our standards not by yours.
Deletewow you live in a lovely beautiful place. If I was there I'd feel like I was at home, so many of my ancestors come from various places around the UK/Scotland/Ireland but it is nice and refreshing getting out of the house for some fresh air, even when it's cold.
ReplyDeleteAmy, this is a relatively small area of woodland and it's very special and beautiful because the majority of the Island is exceptionally beautiful but trees, and especially deciduous trees, are rare.
DeleteIt's all very beautiful, nothing here looks anything remotely like it although we have our local forms of beauty.
ReplyDeleteI also loved your gull, heron and cormorant line!
happy new year, Graham!
Thank you, Kylie. One of the thrills of travel is seeing the different types of beauty in the world's landscapes.
DeleteI never tire of being taken on a walk around the castle grounds, they are beautiful in all seasons. And I have the image of the castle imprinted firmly in my mind as I sailed away from Lewis.
ReplyDeletePauline that is an image held by many, many Islanders after they depart.
DeleteI'm not jealous. Of course I'm not. It's not in my nature to be jealous. Especially of my family. Ì
ReplyDeleteI'm just envious, green, emulous...
Well, Bruv, just think of the 330 days a year which aren't sunny and windless and you'll be less envious. "Emulous" - now there's a word I've not heard of before.
DeleteThese views were all new ones for me, Graham, so thanks for the scenic walk views. We also took a New Years Day walk and the first of many outdoor ones this year, weather permitting. Best wishes for a better and happier new year.
ReplyDeleteBeatrice, I'm so pleased you enjoyed the walk with me. Thanks for your good wishes.
DeleteGreat catches. Your photos have stories that the water can share.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Susan.
DeleteOh, lovely pictures. I have seen the occasional one but never got a feel for the whole walk before somehow. Funny isn't it how some trees become almost like old friends? I'm recognising them as real individuals as I walk onto the heath. Always more things to see. Happy 2021 to you.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jenny. I agree about the trees becoming old friends. I look at various trees on my walks and notice changes not just in the seasons but, in some cases, the effects of gales.
DeleteStunning walk Graham, and so much more treasured considering how few areas of woodland there are on the island.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jayne.
DeleteLovely pictures. In that wonderful light it would have been hard to take a bad photograph.
ReplyDeleteThanks, YP, that sounds rather like faint praise 😂.
Delete