West Coast Of Scotland - Part 4

Eilean Donan Castle, Kyle Of Lochalsh

The final instalment of my recent trip to Scotland comes in the shape of one of the countries most famous and much photographed castles - Eilean Donan, near Dornie, one of the focal points of the Kyle Of Lochalsh. To familiarise yourself with the exact location of this castle, click here for a map. You'll get an insight as to how many road miles I covered to reach my destination, but it was as picturesque as I could have imagined as I made the 66 mile trip north from Fort William to Dornie. A few stop-offs on the way broke up the journey - these being brief photograph opportunities at such places as Spean Bridge, Glen Garry, Loch Cluanie and Morvich. The weather was kind, so I intended to take advantage - my first real visit to Scotland and there wasn't a hint of rain in the air. Infact,  by the time I reached Morvich, which was only 7 miles from Dornie, it was sun all the way, and big temperatures! I entered the burial ground, briefly chatting to an American couple on my approach - the place was silent - just the sound of occasional traffic on the main road nearby where I parked up. Morvich Burial Ground, or Clachan (klockan) Duich (duhie) is the ancient church and burial ground of the MacRaes of Kintail. Located near the banks of Loch Duich, and a few miles south of Eilean Donan Castle, Clachan Duich has been in existence for at least 1,000 years and probably was in use three centuries earlier. Surrounding the ruins of the old church lie MacRae ancestors in graves marked and unmarked—some of them clan heroes and warriors, some of them simple folk of the Highlands. Clachan is the Scottish Gaelic word for “stones” and is used throughout Scotland to describe a village built of stones. Duich is name of the nearby Loch and is derived from the Scottish Gaelic term for St.Dubhthaich, or St. Duthac, a venerated religious figure. To view a selection of 'Morvich' photographs, click here for my West Scotland Slideshow - you'll find a few in there, with accompanying music written by Mike Oldfield. 

Out of Morvich and back on the road, I made the relatively short journey to Dornie, home of Eilean Donan Castle. This was the highlight of my short tour of Scotland, and a location that I'd waited a long time to visit. I drove through Dornie and the excitement level increased as I caught my first site of the castle. There it was, sitting on an outcrop at the edge of Loch Alsh, with the Isle Of Skye in the distance. It was a landcape scene that was just waiting to be picked off, and I was ready to park up and hit the ground running, so to speak. There were dozens of like-minded tourists, snapping away and taking in the scenery as the sun shone hard. A free car park! Bleedin 'eck - who said the Scots were a mean bunch? Lots of foriegn folk around, standing mesmerised next to a lone piper, who was busking near the bridge entry to the castle, and raking in the coin judging by the contents of his leather case! I threw in 50p, a kind of 'Thankyou' for letting me fire off a few frames, with the castle as a backdrop. I got my 'Ten Bob' worth - too right, no short change for the roaming photographer!

I photographed from either side of the bridge, although the most photogenic of the two was where the sun was bouncing off, so I was quite lucky there - perfect timing upon arrival. Here is a small selection of shots, with extra's currently showing on my slideshow (click link above). And that just about wraps up my Blog of West Scotland. Hope you enjoyed the ride. Where oh where will I end up next?

Totty Bye,

Ash

West Coast Of Scotland - Part 3

Castle Stalker, Appin

 

It was day two of my tour of Scotland's West Coast, and after a flat sunrise at Oban I drove north on the A828 towards Loch Creran. It was 8am and there was very little traffic to contend with, so I covered a lot of road, with no delays. I passed Benderloch and the Scottish Seabird Sanctuary, with Barcaldine now appearing to my right, and Loch Creran to my left. Once over the Creagan Bridge, Castle Stalker was right in front of me, appearing almost from nowhere as I negotiated a blind summit near Appin, North Argyll. I slowed down, not wanting to miss my turn as I looked for an access path to the castle, which was now to my left down a hill. Then, just ahead of me I noticed a signpost which directed me to Castle Stalker View Cafe, which had its own viewpoint - just what I was looking for. I pulled into the empty car park, and although the cafe wasn't open yet I took advantage of the access path to the viewpoint, where Castle Stalker could be seen from above the trees below me. Although it was dry the light was poor, offering very little to my photographs, but as this was my first ever visit to Stalker, I was just glad to be here and to see this typical Scottish scene unfold in front of me. And typical it certainly was, with Castle Stalker, the Island of Lismore, Loch Linnhe and the Morvern Hills in the distance. As I lifted the camera to take my first shot I could hear the sound of cackling Geese. I managed to capture their V-formation as they flew by, which was a stroke of luck and it certainly added a little extra to the shot (shown here). I stood for a while, wondering whether I should make an attempt to get closer to the castle, as I wasn't content with a handful of shots from one angle only, but there was a thick wooded area directly in front of me and down the bank, with no footpath or designated route to Castle Stalker. I decided to pack up my gear and head back to the car, settling for the shots I managed to pull in at the viewpoint.

Back on the road I drove in a North-Easterly direction, continuing my journey on the A828, with Loch Linnhe to my left. Loch Linnhe is about 31 miles long. It opens onto the Firth of Lorne at its south-western end. The part of the loch upstream of Corran is 9 miles long and only about an average of 1.2 miles wide. The southern part of the loch is wider, and its branch which lies to the south-east of the island of Lismore is known as the Lynn of Lorne. Loch Eil feeds into Loch Linnhe at the latter's northernmost point, while from the east Loch Leven feeds in the loch just downstream of Corran and Loch Creran feeds into the Lynn of Lorne. The town of Fort William, my next stop-off,  lies at the northeast end of the loch, at the mouth of the River Lochy. It wasn't too long before I dropped anchor at Fort William, grabbing a nice cup of coffee from McDonalds and supping it whilst studying my AA Road Atlas to see how much road I had covered, and more importantly, what lay ahead of me. A rough calculation told me I had covered 44 miles since I set off from Oban, but there was quite a drive ahead of me if I decided to travel further north to the Kyle Of Lochalsh, location of Eilean Donan Castle, near Dornie. I sat for a while - should I, shouldn't I? I 'd seen photographs of this famous castle on many a biscuit tin, amongst other things, but I wasn't sure whether to drive another 66 miles to grab photographs of my own. It seemed a bit daft to come all this way and not go the extra mile (or 66 to be precise) to see Eilean Donan for myself. I took one look out of the car window, seeing clear blue sky and bright sunshine - my decision was made! Off I went, feeling quite excited at the prospect of what lay ahead, including other places en route that I may discover, and that I did.

Eilean Donan Castle is now on my radar...
Coming next.
Cheers, Ash

West Coast Of Scotland - Part 2

Glencoe & Loch Leven

Welcome back to my Blog page - thanks for visiting!
The Scottish tale continues as I recall my recent travels across the border and share with you some of the photographs I captured on location. From Glen Etive and its forest, in Argyll & Bute, I headed the short distance to picturesque Glencoe.

Glencoe Village is the main settlement near Glen Coe, Lochaber, Highland, Scotland. It lies at the north-west end of the glen, on the southern bank of the River Coe where it enters Loch Leven, a salt-water loch off Loch Linnhe. Glencoe is the most famous and perhaps most impressively dramatic of all Scottish glens, the perfect scenic match for its dark history of the massacre of the Macdonalds. For walkers, this is a true Mecca, epitomised by pyramid of Buachaille Etive Mor, the guardian at the entrance to the glen. The highest peak is the great multi-summited massif of Bidean nam Bian whose three great buttresses rise impressively above the road and are known as the 'Three Sisters', whereas the north wall of the glen is the turreted and notorious ridge of the Aonach Eagach. Just to the south is the much quieter and secluded Glen Etive, with its own ranges of impressive mountains (which I visited and wrote about on my last blog entry). North and east of Glencoe is Loch Leven, with the town of Kinlochleven at its eastern end nestled beneath the great mountain range of the Mamores. My visit was a rather short one, to be honest, as heavy rain was forecast, and judging by the deep grey skies above, it was going to hoy down at given moment! I'd heard so much about this place that it dawned on me that I wouldn't see it anywhere near its best, due to the lack of light, which threw a blanket of dullness over the whole landscape that sat in front of me. Nevertheless, this place had real potential for those stunning landscape shots, so let there be no doubt whatsoever that I'll be back again soon, hopefully in totally different conditions. Despite the fact it was early evening there was no-one around as I stood at the waters edge taking photographs. Just the noise from passing vehicles on the road behind me was all I could hear - this place was ideal to chill out. Water was calm, just a handful of boats were anchored on the loch near the jetty where I stood. I wasn't snap happy - just grabbed four shots before heading off to another location. Light began to fall, so it was time to head to my hotel in Oban and to start thinking about food (no surprise there then). Haggis and Chips was on the menu, inside my head - it was now time to do something about it. All this mileage and regular pit-stops equate to one rumble tum. Time to silence it.

That is all.
Next Stop, Castle Stalker...

Ta ta, Ash

West Coast Of Scotland - Part 1

Glen Etive

My first 'Real' visit to Scotland happened during the August Bank Holiday weekend of 2012. I say 'Real' because this was the first time I travelled past either Glasgow or Edinburgh - two major Cities, and a far cry from the Mountains and Lochs that represent true Scottish scenery. As far as the landscape is concerned, it doesn't get much better than this for a photographer in the UK, so my eyes were well and truly opened to the natural beauty that greeted me during my recent visit. Equipped with all the necessary tools, including a rather bulging Goody Bag (prepared by Mrs Corr), I travelled north, across the border through Otterburn and heading towards Jedburgh. The weather was awful, but the forecast had reassured me that later today I would see an upturn in fortunes, with much brighter weather ahead. The following day (Sunday) was the purpose of the whole weekend - a full day of sunshine, blue sky and broken clouds, just what I was looking for. But would the weather forecast be inaccurate, or on the mark, only time would tell. Heading west from Edinburgh the rain worsened and driving conditions were very poor, to say the least. My first pit-stop was a service station not far from Falkirk, at which point I began to ask myself whether this trip was a good idea, and maybe I should play safe and head back home. Conditions were so bad that I thought there was very little chance that the weather forecast was going to be right - the skies were almost black and it was typical 'Rain all the way' for a place like Scotland. I made the decision to drive on, making the journey further north towards The Trossachs and Loch Lomond.  

Some time later, as I passed through the town of Callendar, there was a very noticeable change in the weather. Temperature was up and gone was the rain - there was even a break in the clouds and the first blue sky of the day presented itself. Things were definitely looking up. Chomping away at the contents of the Goody Bag, I was soon driving past the banks of Loch Lomond, to the chill-out sound of Schiller - perfect soundscapes to match the landscape. By this time I had driven through some picturesque villages and towns, as well as great countryside, getting a small sample of what hopefully lay ahead en route to Argyll & Bute. Heading north on the A82, I ticked off Glen Falloch, Tyndrum and Bridge Of Orchy, before passing Loch Tulla and Black Mount, and by now I was ready for my first stop to unload the camera. The dominating, and rather intimidating site of Buachaille Etive Mor was directly ahead of me on a very long and straight stretch of the A82 - it was here that I took a left turn and followed the signpost for Glen Etive, a place that had been highly recommended to me by Beely Bootleg (Scottish traveller and music download guru - sells biscuits too!). The road I now found myself on was a single track affair, probably laid during the Battle Of Culloden, but it came with staggered passing places, which help the likes of me who was covering it for the very first time. There was barely a soul around. The place was peaceful and desolate as I drove the winding path through Glen Etive, towards the forest and the end of road at Gualachulain. I stopped to photograph a waterfall (shown here), before leaving my car for the second time to photograph a lone tree at the end of Loch Etive - this scene was calling out to be photographed, so here it is, a great example of the Scottish Landscape.

I was attacked by thousands of Midgey's whilst photographing my surroundings. It was now that I realised I forgot to bring the repellant spray, and how did I regret this as the weekend wore on! But battle on and stop being a pussy.

Next instalment - Glencoe...coming soon...

Ash   

Just A Quick One

It's a quick one, alright...

Hello again! A quick blog to let everyone know that I'll be uploading my latest batch of photographs to my website over the next couple of days. There will be the usual blog entries to accompany the new gallery at ashleycorr.com - all photographs were taken during last weekends tour of  Scotland's West Coast. A memorable trip, taking in such places as The Trossachs, Glencoe, Oban, Fort William and finally the most northern point of my travels, Dornie, the location of Eilean Donan Castle - a place I have wanted to visit for many a year. Stay tuned for the new photographs.

Finally, the hit counter at ashleycorr.com has almost passed the 70,000 mark!!! Many thanks to all who have bumped up those figures down the years. It seems like yesterday that I was commemorating my 40,000th hit. Time flies. Hat tipped once again.

Back soon.

Ash

New Postcard Designs

A couple of years ago I received an enquiry from the owner of a local outlet where I display and sell my work, asking whether I produced postcards. At the time I did not, but after a little bit of research I decided to 'dip my feet in the water' and design one or two. As the first design looked quite good I decided to move onto my second creation, with the idea of creating a matching set using a single template. The idea worked well and the cards looked good, in PDF form at least, but going into print was a different matter. Anyway, after shopping around I found a printer that offered great quality cards at very reasonable prices, so the designs were submitted and the wait for the results was on.

A few days later the cards were delivered and I was well impressed, with quality and appearance. Seeing them on a PC monitor is one thing, but having a hard copy in your hands is quite different. The set originally started life as four cards, each featuring a different image of Penshaw Monument, a well known iconic Landmark near Sunderland, but as interest in the cards grew, so did the set itself, as more cards were designed and produced. Two years on and the set consists of 33 postcards! I approached several outlets in the region and was met with plenty of enthusiasm regarding the cards, which has resulted in each outlet buying good quantities from me, and later replenishing their stocks due to popular demand. To date I have sold over 5,000 postcards and that number continues to rise. Only last week I was commissioned to produce another batch, of a different design, all featuring snow scenes of local interest. The cards are to be used on the front of boxes containing biscuits and other confectionery - the packaging is known in the trade as 'Postcard Packs'. Christmas shoppers are the target and here's hoping the boxes will 'fly out'. Should this be the case then I have the option to produce an 'Everyday card' which will replace any unsold stock once the festive season is over, as the actual box does not carry a Christmas theme - the cards rotate, depending on the current season or theme. So, if you're partial to dunking biscuits or chewing toffee, amongst other things, then get yourself along to Clay's Garden Centre in Washington and grab a box while you can. As you have now gathered, I'm on a commission for every box sold, he he.

Just to wrap up this blog entry - here are a couple of pictures of the actual product, along with another  Postcard design, a quad-multi card, featuring four local landmarks, after a good old snowfall.

Catch ya later...

AC  

Tour Of Cornwall, Summer 2012

In July 2009 we toured Cornwall for the first time, visiting many towns and beaches along the Cornish coastline. The whole experience was an eye-opener to say the least, as we covered most of the places we wanted to visit, although there were still outstanding areas that we simply didn't have time to tick off the list. The Summer of 2010 presented an opportunity for us to put that right by making another long journey south, with an overnight stay in Bath to split the journey in two - ideal for AC (Chauffeur). I know I mention the weather a lot in my blog entries, but when the game is photography the elements play a massive part in what you're hoping to achieve, and the end result is king. Of course, photographic excellence can be achieved during all types of weather, but I prefer wall to wall sun, blue sky and broken clouds for the picture-postcard landscape shots that I predominantly shoot. So, after a mixed bag of weather during our first two visits we were hoping for a much better return in 2012, and we certainly got it. For a full week we were treated to constant sunshine from the moment the sun was up, until sunset around 9.30pm. For three days we hardly saw a cloud and temperatures were up towards the 30 degrees mark, making this a holiday to remember in more ways than one. To view my 2009 slide show, click this link Cornwall. If you like what you see then you may like to view the sequel which can be viewed here - Cornwall Revisited. In the next week or so I will be adding my latest Cornwall slide show to ashleycorr.com, but until then, here is a sneak preview of what to expect, as I photographed even more Towns and Beaches along the Cornish Riviera. Highlights of the week were visits to Porthcurno, which included the Minack Theatre, which is built into the cliff face - definitely one of the jewels in the crown. Padstow, who's inhabitants include world renowned seafood chef Rick Stein, which is always a pre-planned destination of ours. Other places on the tick list were Looe, Polperro and Port Isaac (location of the BBC series Doc Martin), as well as hidden gems such as Goran Haven and Talland Bay, scene of the lone fisherman (below). Tick list complete!
As always, click an image to reveal enlarged versions.

Until the next time, thanks for visiting

Ash

Olympics 2012

Huge Olympic rings were lowered on to the Tyne Bridge recently as the North East prepared to welcome the Olympic Flame to the region. Constructed from aluminium, the massive overlapping circles measure 25m wide and 12m high, making them the largest set of metal Olympic Rings in the UK. St James’ Park, Newcastle played host to the London 2012 Olympic Football tournament where six matches were played at the stadium, including Brazil, tournament favourites to lift the gold medal in the men's football. Not wanting to miss the opportunity, I got my arse down there last week to photograph the Tyne Bridge before the Olympics finished and the rings were removed. I had hoped for a colourful sky to finish my photo's off nicely, but I wasn't in luck. After sunset, what little colour there was quickly burned out, leaving a rather flat backdrop, but what can ya do. I might persuade myself to return to the Forbidden City again, before the rings are ditched, in the hope of pulling in some better shots. I'll keep you posted on that one.

In the meantime, here are three shots for ya. There's a panoramic effort, along with a full shot of the Tyne Bride, plus a closer abstract version. Not much else to add to this swift blog entry, folks. I'm off to bed now - beauty sleep required. Without further ado...

Ash

Edinburgh & Linlithgow, Scotland

Another blog entry from across the border - this time it's Edinburgh, capital of Scotland, plus Linlithgow, a small town which lies 19 miles west of Edinburgh. Just one day after our visit to Queensferry and the sun was shining once again, although there was a definite chill on the bones. My mobile phone done the honours once again, not that there was another option available - that's what happens when you leave the big camera at home. After stuffing Haggis down the owld hatchet it was time to get out and about in Edinburgh, starting with Princes Street Gardens before heading up the hill towards the Royal Mile. The gardens were busy and it was clear the sun had a lot to do with it. Many people sitting on the lawns just watching the world go by. Princes Street was undergoing a lot of construction work, so the road was out of bounds to all vehicles. The place was upside down, to be honest - a right old mess. I heard they were installing a tram line to run the length of the street. Time to exercise the legs and burn off some of those Haggis calories, so up the hill we went. Half way up I was blowing out of me arse - paggered! Got there eventually and headed up towards Edinburgh Castle, where its car park was now a huge temporary seated area, ready for concerts and other events, including the world famous Military Tattoo. Below is a panoramic stitch of the arena. Again, this place was thriving - the queue to gain entry to the castle was huge, with many foreign tourists making up those numbers. With only a couple of hours to spare in the capital we decided not to inside, opting for a bite to eat and a look down the Royal Mile before heading out to Livingston on a family visit, before driving the 19 miles across to Linlithgow.

Linlithgow is a historic Royal Burgh located in the central lowlands of Scotland - about 20 miles from Edinburgh and under an hour from Glasgow by train or car. It was the birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots and the preserved ruins of the Royal Palace can be visited in a picturesque setting next to Linlithgow Loch. It was here that we killed time, under the sun that had shone all day up to this point. The palace was one of the principal residences of the monarchs of Scotland in the 15th and 16th centuries. Although maintained after Scotland's monarchs left for England in 1603, the palace was little used, and was burned out in 1746. It is now a visitor attraction in the care of Historic Scotland. A Strathspey for bagpipes was composed in honour of Linlithgow Palace. The Palace, is said to be haunted by the spectre of Mary of Guise, mother to Mary Queen of Scots. The Palace was closed by the time we arrived, which must have been around 6pm. I entered the archway to the entrance, which was locked, and heard some strange noises all of a sudden. Could it be the ghost of Mary, or just bowel noises from the fettled haggis that was necked earlier in the day!

And on that little note I shall depart to watch some Olympic Games on the Beeb. I will be back soon with a good selection of photo's from our recent holiday in Cornwall, where the weather was perfect all week - 7 days of it. Until then... ta ta.

AC

South Queensferry, Scotland

It's not very often that I cross the border into Scotland and fine bright sunshine. More often than not I'm met with dull skies and more than a fair share of rain and wind, but not today, as conditions were ideal as we arrived in South Queensferry, which is 11 miles north-west of Edinburgh. This was our second stop-off en route to Livingston - our first being a lunch break in Eyemouth, slightly north of Berwick-Upon-Tweed. South Queensferry isn't a place I'm very familiar with, although I have visited this small town once before, a couple of years back, to meet up with Derek Forbes, former bass player with Simple Minds. A drum kit and money exchanged hands on that day - not bought by myself though, I was merely along for the ride. On that day the weather was miserable, which wasn't that important as we were only in South Queensferry for a matter of minutes before we headed south, back down the A1(M).  South Queensferry, sometimes also called Queensferry, sits on the south shore of the narrowest part of the Forth Estuary east of Grangemouth, looking across to North Queensferry, its twin on the Fife shore. As an obvious place to cross the river when heading into Fife from Edinburgh it is likely that settlements either side of the river here, and ferries between them, date back to ancient times. Queensferry is defined by the road and rail bridges that lie either side of it. But it is so much more as well. At times it has been an important trading and fishing port in its own right and the town still offers an environment that can transport you back to an earlier time more readily than most places in Scotland. If, that is, you can catch it in a rare traffic-free moment: cars are constrained by the narrowness and twisting of Queensferry's High Street, and as a result intrude far more than elsewhere.

Strangely enough, despite the nice weather, which is always a plus when photographing the landscape, I left my Canon 7D at home, which was not a good idea at all. The weather forecast on the previous day was nowt to get excited about so I took a risk by leaving the camera behind - something I'd probably regret further down the line. The photo's shown here were taken on my smart phone, which has a nice little panoramic facility on it, allowing stitches of over 6 images at a time. A couple of 'Stitches' are shown here, just for the record. There's a very small beach at Queensferry, which is accessible at low tide and is a great vantage point when looking north. If you ever find yourself in this part of the world, check out the restaurants along the main street - one in particular offers excellent panoramic views across the river through its huge windows, although its name escapes me right now.

Next stop Linlithgow...
Ash

Houghton Albion FC - Presentation Night

Rainton Arena, Houghton Le Spring - Sunday 8th July, 2012

The annual Presentation was our first, after Christopher's debut season for Houghton Albion. His registration will continue next season, which begins in September, so we look forward to plenty more football and more great goals from all of our squad. I intend to get permission to photograph as many of these games as possible after my first and only attempt to date of photographing a football match (see photo's on my previous blog entry).

Well done to Dave & Judith Smurthwaite (manager and secretary of Houghton Albion) for all their efforts during the 2011-12 season. Also to all the parents for their commitment, and most of all to the players themselves - a great bunch of kids who give 100%.

To wrap up the season, until the next one, here are a few photographs from the Presentation Night. Christopher collected two awards in his first season. He is shown on stage alongside other aged players who collected their individual 'Sportsman Of The Season' award. Also shown below is a shot of the Houghton Albion squad with their trophies.

Looking very forward to Season 2012-13...Ash

Houghton Albion FC - End Of Season 2011-12

More exploits from Houghton Albion FC.
Half way through the season we lost some players to other teams and as a result we struggled to field a full team of players for quite a few games. More often than not we were playing against eleven players, with only eight or nine of our own, and this led to some heavy defeats, both home and away. The morale took a hit on the remaining players, although they gave 100% as always. In some of these games we were lucky to get over the half-way line during the entire sixty minutes, but what can ya do when you're at such a disadvantage. Before one particular game, at Ryhope, an opposing player asked his manager before kick-off if they could even the game by only using nine players, against our nine, effectively leaving two on the touchline. The young lad was promptly told to shut his mouth and then reminded WHO was the manager! Well hey, there was a queue of parents ready to pounce on the 'Unsporting Gentleman' (look that up in the Houghton dictionary and it is also known as CHEATING B*STARD, he he). Anyway, they played the game 11 versus 9 and we got kicked off the park as well as slaughtered. I lost count of how many times James (our keeper) bent down to pick the ball out his net, around 12 times. I think the poor bairn knocked his back out after the last goal!!!


Anyway, that was the last straw for Dave (team manager). After weeks of playing with only eight or nine players he thought it best that we dropped into the 9-a-side league, mid-season. Within a couple of weeks we had done just that, and were now playing all our games at the Russell Foster HQ at nearby Newbottle. The site has numerous pitches and is packed every Saturday with teams of all ages, including parents and other spectators. The burger vans come in handy too! We had much better luck in this league, playing on our own pitch, week in week out. No more early morning starts, travelling to the likes of Ferryhill, Consett, Gateshead and Durham. A couple of new players arrived and competition for strating places hotted up. We put some great performances in, during what was left of a difficult season up to now. Goals were flying in and the kids were well and truly back on the up. Here are a few photo's from our last game of the season, against Boldon Cobra's. We were 2-0 up at half time, but after 60 minutes we lost the game 4-2. Two goals from Houghton's Jamie Fenton gave him the leading goalscorer of the season award, which was a three way tie going into this last game - Shane Smurthwaite and Christopher Corr being the other two players vying for the bragging rights.

The first shot (above) shows Christopher launching an attack down the left wing, watched by some of the parents. The second shot shows another attack that ended in Brennan Robinson having a shot that scraped Boldon's goalpost before going behind for a goal kick. I was situated behind Boldon's goal, using a Canon 70-300mm lens (all singing-all dancing, BTW). The photo's below show a free kick that was awarded to Boldon Cobra's. This became their fourth goal - an outstanding effort that cleared the defencive wall and ended up in the top corner, after a fingertip attempt to keep it out by our keeper (Ross Walton). I fired off quick burst frames that captured the free kick, from the second the ball left Number 14's boot, to the point where it hit the net.

Houghton Albion FC (Under 11's)

Houghton Albion FC (Under 11's) brought the curtain down on another season recently, with a few new players on board, including my son Christopher, who registered with them one-third into the season. It was completely new territory for him - the only football he'd played previously was in the school yard and with his old man round Houghton Park! He said he was ready to join a team, so where better to look than a team from 'on the doorstep'. After a couple of Thursday night training sessions with his new team-mates, and a short wait for his registration to be accepted, he was thrown into his first competitive match against Durham Juventus Soccarena. This was an away game, just a couple of miles up the road at nearby Belmont. It was a miserable Sunday morning as me and the Mrs accompanied the next Wayne Rooney (he he) to the venue.

The game was fast and furious, end to end, but with few scoring chances. Christopher's school-mate Jael Anderson (the only female player on the pitch) scored from the penalty spot to fire Soccerena ahead. Albion kicked off from the centre-spot and formed an attack which eventually led to a corner. From the resulting corner kick there was a scramble and a defencive miss kick from the goal line saw the ball in the air. It was met on the way down by the debutant Christopher Corr who was first to react. Rising like the proverbial salmon (he he), he headed the ball into the net for a deserved equaliser. What a way to to begin your life as a footballer - virtually he first real touch of the ball! I think from this moment on he was hooked. Me and the Mrs were over the moon. The half-time whistle blew and it was all even, one goal each. The second half was much the same as the first - end to end, but not many shots on goal. One shot did find the net however, but unfortunately it was Durham Soccerena who took the glory. The game ended in a 2-1 defeat for Houghton Albion, but all the kids played out of their skin and were commended by all the parents and management after the post-match handshakes. A match to remember!

Ash

Castle Howard, York

Castle Howard is a stately home in North Yorkshire, England, 15 miles (24 km) north of York. One of the grandest private residences in Britain, most of it was built between 1699 and 1712 for the 3rd Earl of Carlisle, to a design by Sir John Vanbrugh. Although Castle Howard was built near the site of the ruined Henderskelfe Castle, it is not a true castle, but this term is often used for English country houses constructed after the castle-building era (c.1500) and not intended for a military function.Castle Howard has been the home of part of the Howard family for more than 300 years. It is familiar to television and movie audiences as the fictional "Brideshead", both in Granada Television's 1981 adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited and a two-hour 2008 remake for cinema. Today, it is part of the Treasure Houses of England heritage group.

Castle Howard has extensive and diverse gardens. There is a large formal garden immediately behind the house. The house is prominently situated on a ridge and this was exploited to create an English landscape park, which opens out from the formal garden and merges with the park.
Two major garden buildings are set into this landscape: the Temple of the Four Winds at the end of the garden, and the Mausoleum in the park. There is also a lake on either side of the house. There is an arboretum called Ray Wood, and the walled garden contains decorative rose and flower gardens. Further buildings outside the preserved gardens include the ruined Pyramid currently undergoing restoration, an Obelisk and several follies and eye catchers in the form of fortifications. A John Vanbrugh ornamental pillar known as the Quatre Faces (marked as 'Four Faces' on Ordnance Survey Maps) stands in nearby Pretty Wood.

 

Four shots, taken on a red hot day - just what ya want, really. Ideal conditions - not to be sniffed at!

Not too much to say that hasn't been mentioned above, apart from a great day that was had. Came back home a shade of Lobster Red - it didn't half sting the next day. Sun cream is for pussies!

 

AC