Mam Tor is a large hill that sits at the top of the Hope Valley above Castleton. It translates as “Mother Hill”, and is so named because frequent landslips have resulted in a series of smaller hills on its slopes. Another name for the hill is “The Shivering Mountain”, which I like because it sounds like some place in Middle Earth. Mam Tor is 1,692 feet tall and forms part of a line of hills known as the Great Ridge which separate the Hope Valley from Edale.
I took this photo on my recently acquired Tamron 28-300mm superzoom, which I bought as a useful all-round lens for hikes in the countryside. I’ve found that compact cameras, while being convenient to carry, tend to limit my ability to photograph more distant subjects. This outing to Castleton was a bit of a test outing for the lens, and I’m happy with the results, especially the vibration reduction which works perfectly with my Nikon F80. Any zoom lens with a focal length range as large as this will have some shortcomings, but they’re not too noticeable on 35mm film.
For some reason, this particular shot of Mam Tor has ended up very grainy – much more so than the other frames from the same roll.
Nikon F80, Tamron 28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°
Taken on 18 May 2024
Steel City Snapper photography 