I am going to give up any pretence of regular blogging for a while. Maybe a scheduled post or so, maybe the odd Virtual Postcard. Daughter-in-Spain never asks for help, but for most of this week and next, she needs some. So I’m off to Catalonia. I’ll leave you with two benches. One 5 minutes walk away in our local Beatswell Woods: the other just down on the beach near Daughter’s house. Very different. But both have their charms.
Premià de Mar
For Jude’s Bench Challenge.And I think I know which one Jude will go for.
If the Dominic Cummings bench last week was a bit scary, what about this one? It was part of last year’s Scarecrow Competition in a local village last summer, and represents I guess, our King and his Consort.
Apparently, His Majesty can’t afford any shoes ….
For Jude’s Bench Challenge. (Sorry, Jude, I’m away, so this post is scheduled, and making use of a previous link)
I have thought hard about how to respond to Egidio’s Lens-Artists Challenge: Serenity. This word always calls to mind an early evening I spent, content and alone, in l’Albufera lagoon, near Valencia. The utter peace and serenity it delivered has provided me with material for several posts, including this one.
So my serenity this time will be more humdrum, more local, but restorative too. It’s a local walk I take at any time of day. The other day it was an evening walk, not long before sunset. I had only sheep for company.
It’s a very domestic sort of walk, and under three miles long. Along a quiet lane; across sheep pasture; the grounds of a spacious country estate; fields of crops; and then, turning homewards along a different path, the River Ure; and finally a stretch of woodland .. and home. Varied enough to be quietly interesting as I enjoy the changing seasons, but with positively no drama.
There’s an arboretum just along the road from here: Thorp Perrow. It’s the perfect place to wander along quiet paths between glades of trees. These days of course, it has to attract a wider audience than the botanist or the poet. So it now includes a rather good playground; a birds-of-prey centre; and slightly randomly, an area of woodland where meerkats and wallabies make ther home. Oh. And a cafe, of course. Come for a quick tour.
I’ve neglected the trees – in favour of one dead trunk carved to make a housing estate for pixies – to show instead the blossom that’s been at its best. But only a couple of shots – because really, who wants to see delicate pink blossoms in black and white?
The bird is a ferruginous hawk. In case you were wondering.
On May morning, I got up at 4.30, to celebrate daybreak, sunrise and the dawn chorus. Here is the bench I found almost at the end of my walk.
And here is the story of my walk, from my home in North Stainley to the next village along, West Tanfield: then back along the River Ure – in pictures.
Today, it’s my turn to offer a theme for Leanne’s Monochrome Madness. And I’ve chosen Mirror.
‘Magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?’ So asks the evil queen in the classic 1937 Disney film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
I haven’t used my mirror to find the answer to this question, largely because I haven’t got a magic one. But I have found some mirrors in a junk shop in Harrogate, reflecting both some of the goods on offer, and the Victorian street where you’ll find it. In fact the shop window itself serves as an extra mirror.
And here’s another street mirror, helping the motorist out into a busy road. And a car’s passenger-side mirror in Lancashire one winter’s morning.
Lee, LondonNear Ramsbottom, Lancashire
Let’s default to shop windows as mirrors.
Views in and out of a Barcelona groceryA view you’ve seen before of a bar in Newcastle
And the Baltic Gallery in Gateshead makes a ceiling into a mirror, while outside the VA in London is one in marble……
Water is an old favourite for a reflective surface. Let’s go to Studley Royal, Seville, a humble puddle in Masham, and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in Gargrave.
…. and finally, an impromptu wintry lake mirror near home.
Oh, and finally finally, a bit of fun. Two little lambs spotted last week. Using a pre-digital film analogy, one’s a negative of the other. Not quite mirror images, but please don’t quibble when they’re so sweet.
Browsing through my photos of five years ago, it was soon clear that they were all local views. Scenes taken during my solo Covid Lockdown wanderings exploring every local path that I knew, and some that I didn’t. We’re limited by having a river near our house, with no local bridge. So instead of having a whole circle of walks at our disposal, it’s only a semi-circle. That didn’t stop me discovering woodland I hadn’t explored, hitherto uninvestigated quarries and farmland, secret tracks near the river. I didn’t always take my camera, because I preferred being ‘in the moment’ as I tried to identify birdsong, enjoying clouds, grasses, emerging blossoms and flowers.
And just one from our village, where families got busy confecting scarecrows celebrating all the keyworkers who kept on working while we all stayed at home.
Today, for Jude’s Bench Challenge, I am cheating. This seat is only for one person (and not for anybody who cares about crushing flowers as they sit down either). But it’s a highly seasonal seat, so I present it as a Bench for One, and wish all of you a very Happy Easter.
Beningbrough Hall is one of our local stately homes. An English Baroque masterpiece, its real delight lies in strolling round its gardens. Let’s do that now, for Dawn‘s turn as host of Leanne’s Monochrome Madness.
There are tulips …
…. and magnolias …
… and apple and pear blossom …
…. and so much else besides. But I’m keeping it simple today. I may take you back there another day.
From Pyrenees to Pennines 
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