I Walk to the Forest Centre with my Camera

          It was not a day of brilliant sunshine, but it was not unpleasant, and it was definitely good to be outside, and in walking along the main road and passing by the main entrance to the Forest Centre, I headed along the footpath on the opposite side of the road, which in addition to the safety of the path, offered the opportunity to capture images from the front gardens of the houses alongside. As a result, I continued beyond the side entrance to the park, up until the end of the houses, before entering. The preliminary diversion had proved rewarding.
          As I walked along the path within the park, I also climbed the bank at each viewing area to see what the prospects were in the enclosure beyond; noting that the steps were being restored at two of them. I spent quite some time watching a fox family, and from that time onward, I chose to put the Sigma telephoto lens on the camera, in place of the 24-70mm with its macro facility I had been using up till that point. As the fox family appeared to be heading towards a corner and possibly out of my sight, I did not waste further time in adding a multiplier to the long Sigma, since it would reduce the time I had for any shots before they disappeared from view. Now that I know the fox family might be in this area, I will try to visit earlier, with that specific intention, rather than happenstance, even though it might mean no sighting at all!
          The rest of the trip covered the cattle in the same area, foliage I found of interest, billowing clouds of steam at the Waste Disposal site, and some interesting woodland housing structures at various stages of construction, and a fleeting view of a couple of horse riders. Altogether a very worthwhile but short trip with a camera again. Sadly, it would seem it maybe a while before we see the sun again. So, before the rains descend, I will be a mowing!

Waddesdon in Sun & Showers

I was invited by my daughter to visit Waddesdon with her two children for a Day with Scooters, and naturally another visit to the splendid setting of house and gardens, the first this year was an opportunity I was not going to miss. They now have a car park area in the lower part of the park, and one then takes a coach to the fountain roundabout that is the start of the main drive to the front of the house, one of several houses belonging to the Rothschild Banking dynasty. The guide we met was bubbly, helpful and on seeing the scooters, she said if we hand these to the driver, he will stow them in the front of the coach, and after taking the ticket from us we boarded, with the two children heading straight for the back seats!

Soon the coach filled with other families, but on that coach we were the only ones with scooters, and seemingly we were early as when we reached the drop-off point we only saw a couple of others with scooters in the distance by the house. We headed for the small tent to get our maps for the ‘Tour de France’ trail and chat to further, friendly volunteer guides – you are made to feel warmly welcomed at every turn.

My daughter had prepared lunch for us all, so we headed for a bench and whilst she prepared everything the two children happily scooted back and forth along the path, eventually coming to sit down to eat and drink, then we consulted the maps and began the trail, after the first stop which had been reasonably level, the path sloped more steeply and the boy’s brake on the rear wheel proved difficult to slow down safely, so for a spell he had to walk (not what he had hoped), but we were not killjoys: we had already had minor spills and with thin summer clothes, knees and elbows are easily grazed.

Every so often I took opportunities to take photographs, though generally close at hand should mishaps occur. The two of them found a den that appealed and later when the rain came all of us found welcome shelter there.

We broke for tea where we did have a minor disaster with our little girl whilst trying to sit on the chain between heavy iron barriers managed to pull one over on herself, which did open the floodgates for tears, but fortunately though she did receive a bump, it was mainly the shock that caused her to sob.

As we collected or drinks and both children had ice creams, it began to rain and we sat down at the front of the house, with both children seeking temporary shelter beneath a table! We donned wet weather gear and headed for the children’s ‘base’ before heading back to the trail after the rain, and soon the sun returned.

On completing the trail we headed once more to the tent for the collection of their trophies. It was while we were there we noticed the three step plinth, on which some parents were placing their children for photos – one inventive father placed his child on the top step, then dived his head beneath her legs and carried the child off on his shoulders! I was impressed by his lateral thinking!

We left after a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon. The gallery of images has flowers, leaves, butterflies, bees, landscapes, and colour.