A basket of flowers

I came across this delightful basket of flowers in the garden of Brantwood, John Ruskin's former home on Coniston (see yesterday's post).  It appealed to me as an artless, natural still-life so I crouched down to photograph it.  When I walked back up the same path a few minutes later it was gone, which - in some funny way - pleased me even more!

BTW, it's the big Arts Trail Weekend 2011 in Saltaire this weekend.  If you live in the north of England do come and visit.  There are all kinds of interesting things - a maker's fair, open houses in the village and exhibitions - including our own photography exhibition: 'Yorkshire - God's Own County', in St Peter's Church, Moorhead Lane, Shipley (take no notice of the brochure, which says Victoria Road!)   Would love to see  you!  Look on the website for a full programme.

Brantwood

This is the view through a window at Brantwood on Coniston, the former home of the eminent Victorian, John Ruskin (1819-1900).  A very talented man, he was an artist, writer, philosopher, critic, social reformer, conservationist - a hugely inspirational thinker.  (His writings had a profound influence on many, including Mahatma Gandhi.)  He lived at Brantwood from 1872 until his death in 1900.  Described as a powerhouse of ideas, this is where he did most of his writing and entertaining in his later years and from where his ideas spread to influence art, economics and social thinking in England and internationally.  (Think what he'd have done with the internet!)

It is in many ways a modest house, though attractive and interesting, full of treasures and lovely watercolours by Ruskin himself, JMW Turner and others.  It sits on the hillside above Coniston Water, giving amazing views across the lake and mountains.  The gardens are a delight.  Ruskin himself oversaw their development, using his land to explore a variety of gardening experiments and engineering projects (including a small harbour on the lakeside)  .  When I visited, the whole place was alive with vibrantly coloured azaleas and the woods full of bluebells.  I wandered around the gardens in a blissed-out state for over two hours!  If you ever visit the Lakes, then Brantwood is well worth seeing.

Coniston Water

Coniston Water is the third largest lake in the Lake District, in the south-western corner of the National Park.  Another ribbon lake, it's five miles long.  The little town of Coniston sits on its western shore.  The area has three famous connections.  Coniston Water was the site of many attempts to break the world water-speed record and on one attempt in 1967 Donald Campbell was killed in his craft Bluebird when it somersaulted at 320 mph and sank.  The lake was also the inspiration for Arthur Ransome's famous children's novel "Swallows and Amazons" and some of its sequels.  (A must-read, if you haven't read it already!)  It is also the setting for the house known as Brantwood, home to the eminent Victorian artist, writer and philosopher John Ruskin.... more on that tomorrow...

Sheep ... and a funny way of counting

You can't fail to notice the sheep in the Lake District.  They're everywhere, bred to live out on the fells (hillsides) in all weathers.  Now I can't pretend to be an expert but, whilst we were talking to a pair of friendly shepherds who were marking this year's lambs with dye, I got busy taking portraits. The wonders of the internet mean that I have fairly confidently identified these! 

The top left and bottom right are, I think, Swaledale (or possibly Rough Fell) sheep: hardy upland breeds bred for their meat and recognisable by the white mark across the face.  The suspicious-looking one bottom left is,  I'm pretty sure, a Herdwick, native to the Lake District and bred both for their coarse grey wool and for meat. (Apparently they ate Herdwick lamb at Queen Elizabeth II's coronation feast in 1953.)  They have been shaped by the Cumbrian fells and in turn they have shaped the landscape, keeping the fellsides cropped and largely treeless and criss-crossed by the numerous dry stone walls built to contain the flocks.  It's a little known fact that the children's author, Beatrix Potter, who lived most of her life in the Lake District, was a celebrated breeder of Herdwicks.  The lambs, top right, are more of a puzzle but they're not Herdwicks.  Herdwick lambs are pure black and look delightful leaping about in the fields.

My dad used to amuse me as a child by reciting the ancient shepherd's counting system - Yan, Tyan, Tethera, Methera, Pimp, Sethera, Lethera, Hovera, Dovera, Dick is the equivalent of one to ten in the North Lakes! Bumfit (15) used to make me laugh the most!

Nice weather for ducks...

Oh dear, I'm struggling to keep up with my blogging at the moment.  I'm sure everyone has spells like this sometimes.  I arrived back from holiday and, of course, was straight back to work.  Out every evening last week, a busy family weekend (lovely, but busy!) and still trying to do the last minute things for our Photography Exhibition next weekend.  Normal service will be resumed soon!  There's no time to go out and actually take photos, more is the pity.  I still have lots from my holiday that I'd like to share but they do need a bit of prepping and writing about.  This one doesn't need much explanation..... a duck enjoying a puddle in a car park in Keswick.  We'd had a very dry spring until the week I went on holiday!

Pastoral...

Rydal Water is an attractive little lake, nestled between Grasmere to the north and Windermere further south.  The valley in late spring is filled with a hundred different shades of green, with hawthorn blossom, bluebells and wild garlic (ramsons) adding highlights here and there.  These cows seemed to be anticipating rain (and they were not disappointed!) - or is it an old wives' tale that cows lie down when it's going to rain?  Although I didn't get the hoped-for reflections on the lake, nevertheless bits of blue sky added soft toning to the water.

The Grot at Rydal

We spent a day exploring around Rydal Water, one of the Lake District's smallest lakes, and Rydal Hall, a historic house that originally belonged to the le Fleming family.  It is now a Christian conference centre and retreat house, run by the Diocese of Carlisle.  It has lovely, formal gardens laid out in 1909 by Thomas Mawson and now restored.  They incorporate a series of natural waterfalls crashing down a ravine.  The little building, called The Grot (grotto) was built around 1669 as a 'window' from which to view the lower Rydal Beck falls.  Nearby is a teashop in the Old School Room, which I can testify had excellent cake!

Rydal Hall is not to be confused with the nearby Rydal Mount, home of the poet William Wordsworth from 1813 until his death in 1850.

Derwentwater

Another classic Lakeland image - this time of Derwentwater, one of the lakes in the north of the Lake District.  Keswick, the main town on its shore, close to where I was staying, is one of the largest towns in the National Park.  It's a magnet for walkers and climbers; every other shop sells outdoor clothing and mountaineering gear.  This weather was typical of the week - dramatic skies with fast-moving clouds, as it was very windy.  When the sun came out it was very bright but there were also frequent heavy showers.  Not the easiest conditions for my little camera but I persevered.  I had hoped to get some wonderful reflections of the mountains in the lakes but the choppy conditions made that impossible.  And, as you can see, there was no-one foolhardy enough to risk a rowing boat! Though the nice old wooden motor launches continued their cruises up and down the lake.

Keswick has a really nice theatre on the lakeside.  John Gravett (who runs Lakeland Photographic Holidays, with whom I was holidaying) currently has a fantastic exhibition of black and white prints showing there.  See here.  His photography is truly stunning.  I came away rather humbled and hugely inspired. (And the proud owner of one of his gorgeous prints.)

Lake Windermere

Lake Windermere, at the southern end of the Lake District, is the largest natural lake in England, over 10 miles long by a mile wide.  It is what's known as a ribbon lake: a long, thin stretch of water sitting in a trough gouged out by glaciers in the Ice Age, which then filled with meltwater when the ice retreated.  There are three small towns around the lake - Ambleside, Bowness and Windermere - and the area is extremely popular with tourists.  The lake is very crowded with boats - over 10,000 registered there!  In addition there are ferries and pleasure cruisers making frequent tours.

I stopped off there on my way up to the North Lakes, just to have a look around.  As you can see, the sky was dark and there was heavy rain most of the afternoon.  In the end I retreated indoors.... to visit a wonderful house called Blackwell, built in 1900 in the Arts and Crafts style by M H Baillie Scott, as a holiday home for a wealthy Manchester brewery owner, Sir Edward Holt.  It's absolutely delightful, a real joy; wonderfully preserved and exquisite in the detailing. As a bonus, there was an excellent exhibition of beautiful and evocative photos of the house. (No photos on this blog.  I didn't take many because there was no light outside and photography wasn't allowed inside.  I might put a couple on my other blog in time.)  If you're interested, take a look at the website or, better still, visit if you can - I highly recommend it.

A good omen?

I've just returned from a week's holiday in the Lake District, a National Park in Cumbria, in the north-western corner of England.  It's not far from Yorkshire (about a two hour drive from Saltaire), but I haven't visited for years.  I went on a geography field trip to the North Lakes when I was at school (how many years ago?...) and I've had a couple of short visits since, but I have rather neglected this beautiful corner of England.  This time, I went on a photography holiday and it was great fun and very inspirational to be with a group of like-minded people.  We had some very skilled tuition and I learnt a lot - about photography and about myself as a photographer.  I'm going to indulge myself by putting a few photos on this blog. (Even though it's not Saltaire, I think people don't mind seeing other parts of the UK too).  When I have time, I'll probably put some more information and a series of photos on my other blog as well (but first there's the small matter of my club's Photography Exhibition on 27-29 May to attend to).

This was the view from my bedroom window the evening I arrived.  I stayed in Braithwaite, a small village just outside Keswick, in the North Lakes.  I took the rainbow as a good omen - though of course it means rain is not far away and we did see quite a lot of heavy showers throughout the week.