A year ago, we got English Heritage family membership, which paid for a years’ entry to a large number of castles and other historical sites over England. We got our money’s worth, but won’t be renewing — we’ve seen all the castles we can conveniently get to. However, the membership was about to end, so we used that as an excuse to visit nearby Old Sarum.
I’ve posted about Old Sarum before, and visited so many times that it was hard to get excited about photographing it, so I experimented with highlighting details of the castle rather than the whole castle itself.
A dandelion finds a foothold in the castle wall.
The main courtyard of the castle, from the ruins of the back entrance.
The ruins around the back entrance.
The foundations give an idea of what once was here.
The cathedral and town were once located in the castle grounds.
Psychological warfare against would-be attackers.
Although the castle is a ruin, the earthworks are very impressive.
Spring is here. I drove the kids to school one morning (it’s a 25 minute drive through the countryside) and was dazzled by the bluebells, so stopped to take a few pictures.
It’s been a while since I’ve had time to take some snaps, so I made some time on a Sunday morning while my family was at church, and went for a walk to a local wetland reservation.
Over the Easter break, we spent two days in Cornwall. I say that, but it was really one day in Cornwall and one day driving, spread over two day. We went to Tintagel Castle and Pendennis Castle, which were both amazing. The kids were most excited, however, about staying in a hotel.
Tintagel Castle
We arrived in the late afternoon with enough time to see the castle. The weather was surprisingly good (this area of England is known for it’s windy, rainy spring weather) and we had a relaxing couple of hours walking around the castle. It seemed less of a castle and more of a large park with some ruins in it. The views down the coast were stunning.
Tintagel Door
The Mainland Bit
The Mainland King Arthur’s Castle Hotel
The Island
The Coast
The Tunnel
The Stairs
Merlin’s Cave
Inside Merlin’s Cave
Pendennis Castle
After a night’s sleep at a travelodge (which was actually the main purpose of the trip — the kids wanted to stay in a hotel), we went looking for Pendennis castle. I have become over-reliant on my smartphone for navigation, so the first step was to find a place with a good signal, which took about an hour of driving in approximately the right direction.
Pendennis Castle was built to protect Falmouth bay, and is another stunning place to go on a fine day. They had a special event going on, with re-enactors playing the part of smugglers to entertain the children.
My colleague Pat just finished painting a Griffon, and asked me to take photos. This gave me the first real excuse to make use of the macro extension tube that I bought at a charity shop for £5. It goes with the £5 50mm lens I bought at the same charity shop. I’m happy with the results, but that’s probably due to the stunning job that Patrick did.
My brother Ben and his friend Nathaniel are starting a band. They have a regular gig at a bar in Worthing. I popped along to watch him, and I had fun taking pictures and video of them and the bar.
Noah is always eager to get out on his Skateboard. Out skate-park of choice is just outside of Romsey, and is generally quite quiet. Noah’s confidence has grown, and he goes up and down most of the ramps (though not the half-pipe). Hetty tends to be a little more pedestrian with her scooter.
I went to London for a meeting, and while waiting for rush hour to clear (I hate travelling on crowded trains), I took some night shots on the South Bank just outside of Waterloo station.
I was lucky enough to find an old 50mm lens in a charity shop for a very reasonable price. I have been wanting to play with a legacy lens for a while. I ordered an adaptor on ebay, and when it finally came, I took the lens out for a spin.
Where was I precisely ten years ago? Why, I was in China.
These pictures were taken with my first digital camera, a Kodak DC-4800. As an early adopter, I was the only person on the tour that had a digital camera — image that!
This was six months into my first contract teaching English in Korea, and we had a rare break and went on a three-day tour of Beijing. Read all about it here.
