This is an old barn in the village of Elmton. I was out shooting the remaining frames of film in an Olympus Sure Shot 160 I got as a freebie along with my XA3 when I made this picture. I wasn’t expecting too much from the camera – it has a pretty slow lens, especially when zoomed, and the last Superzoom model I owned, a 105G, made photos which were a little soft – but it’s surprised me with nice crisp results.
I shall drip-feed further images from the camera over the next few days.
Old barn in a field Providing shelter for trees An odd crop I think
Today’s photo shows another angle of St. Peter’s church at Elmton. This was the view that I spotted as first approaching the village by road, but there was nowhere at this spot where I could park (the roads being quite narrow with no verge that I could pull onto), so I continued into the village and parked my car on the road beside the church. After making a few photos around the church itself I decided to walk back to the vantage point I’d seen earlier. I could have followed the road which, in this picture, passes the wall just in front of the church, heads to the left of the scene, and then takes a 90-degree turn back towards a place close to this spot. But there was a shortcut…
Looking at my maps app on my phone, it was apparent that there was a public footpath through this field which cut the corner. Sure enough, I spotted an old wooden footpath signpost and a stile built into the wall beside the field. Climbing the stile I set off across the field. It quickly became apparent that the grass was longer than I expected and also that very few people must use the path as there was no real evidence of it’s existence, not even in the form of some slightly flattened grass. Nontheless I perservered and made my way down the slope to where my map showed the path exiting the field. As I progressed, the grass in the field began to be joined by clumps of large hardy weeds that I had to skirt and also, worse, nettles! Given I was wearing a pair of cargo shorts, thoughts of stung legs came to the fore of my mind, and I had to take even more care over where I walked.
Eventually I reached the spot where I made this photo, and I ducked into the grass to allow it to provide more prominent foreground interest. It turned out to be the final frame on the roll, so I continued down to the corner of the field and the exit. Unfortunately the exit was conspicuous by it’s almost complete absence, with all that I could see was a rusty kissing gate almose buried in tall weeds and more nettles and then continuous growth for about the next ten feet or so. I could have walked back the way I came, which would have been a sensible option, but the thought of forcing my way through the high grass didn’t appeal, so I decided to chance the overgrown exit instead. It probably took me as long to do this as walking back throuh the field would have done.
I had to procede with great caution, carefully placing my feet as to squash the nettles away from my legs with each step. By some miracle I wasn’t stung a single time, although the final four or five feet involved me making a daring leap across a clump of nettles right where the verge dropped down onto the road. No doubt this would have looked highly amusing to anyone passing by, but thankfully no-one was around.
In the end I had to walk back via the road anyway, so maybe it would have been simpler had I used that route for both legs of the jaunt. But then what would I have written about today? Plus the picture was worthwhile, I think.
These stinging nettles And not a dock-leaf in sight A peril for legs
While walking through Pleasley Country Park, my route took me through this metal kissing gate. While not a quaint as some of the older wooden gates I’ve seen, it still made for a nice photos I thought.
The name “kissing gate” derives from the gate itself swinging freely, “kissing” the inside of the frame rather than needing to be latched to prevent livestock from passing through. When I was young however, I was told that it was traditional to kiss the person passing the gate with you. While a nicely romantic idea, I have sometimes had to pass through such gates at the same time as complete strangers, so probably not a practical suggestion! 🙂
Kiss from a stranger? Perhaps not a good idea In a pandemic
Although it probably doesn’t look it from the photograph, the grass in these pasture fields was quite deep – probably a good 8-inches at least. As the footpath was quite loosely defined it meant there was no especially well-trodden route through the fields and so I had to walk through swathes of the tall shoots, which was pretty tiring (especially given the adventure in Monk’s Dale not long before!).
Tired legs in long grass Thighs powering through and up On towards Tideswell
The final three photos I made during my walk around Tideswell Dale, Miller’s Dale, Monk’s Dale and then across the meadows back to Tideswell itself. The final three photos from the Yashica Mat at least – I also shot a few more frames with the OM-2n which had spent most of the day tucked in my backpack.
The skies were beginning to get more threatening by this stage and veils of rain could be seen falling to the south and west. Luckily though, I managed to avoid all the showers. Unluckily, the chip shop where I thought I might treat myself to a well-deserved lunch, was closed. 😦
I wanted some chips But instead had to go for A tuna sandwich
Another couple of photos made near the village of Tideswell. I found this location on Google Maps while planning my walking route and decided it would be a good location for a photograph or two.
The puddles on the track add interest but also meant slick mud and, if you look closely, you can see evidence of my passing in the middle of the lane.
The pictures depict the lane in both directions, although not from the same precise point.
Muddy puddle track On a day with atmosphere A draw for my eye
A few weeks ago I wrote about my exhausting hike through Monk’s Dale. Today I’ll share a couple of photos from the hike – or at least the most difficult part through the steep-sided and heavily wooded limestone gorge.
This first image was a point of great relief. It looks back into the gorge that I had just exited through the gap in the wall. Ahead of me lay only a short section of grassy fields before I reached the road (although I then had to hike up the steep incline to the top). The photo is nicely atmospheric but doesn’t really convey the sweat-dripping tiredness I felt at this point.
This next image was taken part of the way through the thickly wooded area and shows the thick, dripping moss that covered the stones and trees at the foot of the valley. What it doesn’t convey is the autumnal orange colour that this moss displayed.
The valley is a very interesting place photographically, but I’m not sure if I’ll venture back just yet.
My path wandered through A place of rocks and woodland Humid and mossy
This “amusing” play on the Alec Guiness WWII movie title has been forced upon my readership once before. But this is a different bridge, so I’ll wheel out the rubbish joke once more. 🙂
Cross the River Wye Prisoners of war might not Have built this one though
I already posted a shot of this path in an earlier post – that one shot with my OM-2n on Delta 100. This was made shortly afterwards and a little further down the path.
These clear skies show how the Sure Shot Supreme tends to vignette – something I’ve found to be the case in a number of compact 35mm cameras – but it’s not an unpleasant effect.
Penny Hill turbine Stands rotating in the breeze Making clean power
I’ll be stepping back in time a few months for the next batch of blog posts as they’re all shots from a roll of Kodak Colorplus that was in tha camera I’ve been carrying in my coat pocket. Often these rolls are spread out over a few weeks or months before I complete them and get them developed.
Today’s photo was from a walk along the Trans Pennine Trail back in February. I shot a couple of rolls of black and white film with the Yashica Mat on that same day AND finished some Fuji C200 that was in the Sure Shot Supreme. The roll of colorplus was loaded after the C200 but took a while longer to be used up.
On the edge of town Industry in the landscape New Topographics
Steel City Snapper photography 