Marston Lake Walk, and 'Swims'

 

 

Rather late in the day, I will decided I would see whether the wind I had in Marston Moretaine was also blowing at Brogborough, but even before reaching the turn-off, I could see by the stillness of the trees I was passing there was not even a breath stirring the leaves on trees! As I came upon the gate to the Windsurfers’ parking area, it was firmly locked. I pulled into the small lay-by opposite the entry to the Anglers area, locked the car and wandered to the water’s edge to see whether there was any activity on the lake, and confirming there was not a soul or even a ripple on the surface, and strolled further along the shore to see if there were any walkers or birdlife, and having rounded the bend to see the full stretch, turned around and headed for Marston Lake.

Approaching the lay-by close to that lake, I crossed the road and parked so that when leaving I would be facing in the direction of Marston Moretaine. I had brought some crisps and a biscuit, so before grabbing my kit, I had a bite to eat. Just in case there was some birdlife around, I decided to take my long lens in its bag over my shoulder and belted to my waist. With the benefit of twenty-twenty foresight, I should have made the decision to forego that choice and relied entirely upon the EOS 5D and it’s 24-70mm lens that I had taken along, just-in-case! I did however take along my monopod having extended it to use as a walking stick, because my back was still weak from my last trip with the heavy Benbo tripod and the Sigma Sports 150-600mm!

I had decided that since the low light from a clear blue sky really enhanced the colours of the lake and the threadbare trees along its margins, I would be able to gather views of each ‘swim’ as I understand this to be the correct term for where anglers cast from. It struck me that putting together images of each and every spot around the lake might well be of interest for the club to promote itself either in print or on the Web. And purely from my angle it meant that the images would hang together as an entity when the gallery was visited.

I managed to cover just short of half the perimeter path around the lake before I realised that my back would probably give out if. I went too far, so I cut short my trip as the added (superfluous!) weight of the heavy camera and lens in the bag, meant I had a very good chance of doing myself further harm! The sun seemed to confirm my decision as being correct, as when I turned to retrace my steps the sun dimmed as the clouds began to slowly cover it and it began to head ever closer to the distant trees.

I also noted that there might well be a shortcut to my car, but it might prove to be tricky, especially as there was not only mature brambles, but a mound of mud and rubble to negotiate; having my monopod, came in very handy in checking the terrain, and also providing extra and very welcome support as I navigated a way through — successfully! This saved my back considerably as it meant at least four hundred less yards to cover with my unused burden of the heavy camera bag and totally redundant contents!

I felt that despite the additional burden, the images captured were worth the effort, and the exercise did me no harm, and it had been pleasantly warm throughout. I also met and chatted to three anglers along the way.