Festival of Speed Saturday

Serendipity has always played a part in my life, that is not to say there is no planning involved; I am fairly careful to adhere to plans laid down, so avoiding disrupting those of others, but I was only scheduled to visit Goodwood on the Friday originally but I met a group in the Sponsors’ enclosure who due to the misfortune of their engine not being ready had been unable to complete in the Rally area, Martin had two spare tickets for the Saturday, and very kindly offered them to me on learning I would not be visiting on the remaining days.

At the end of the afternoon, Claire, his wife gave me her number so we could meet back at their campervan, so Peter was destined to remain in his vehicle charging his battery whilst I rendezvoused with my benefactors to collect the tickets, the deal struck was that I photograph their car in the Rally section at next year’s event, which I will be thrilled to honour!

My journey home on Friday was doubly enjoyable as Peter invited me into his cousins’ house where he and Diana had been staying and I had a very relaxing chat and something to eat in their Hindhead home with their excitable Labradors, before setting off and getting in touch with Lizzy and Tim to decide how best to use the gift of tickets, and much as Lizzy would love to have come, Tim was thrilled to join me. We set off slightly later than planned, but we miraculously managed to sail through the traffic, but just parked slightly further away than Peter and I had managed the day before.

Duly doused with a liberal coating of sun-block cream, we gathered our camera kit and headed in as we came to the installation in front of the house, this day it was bathed in sunshine, rather than a backdrop of clouds as it had been on the previous day. The early part of the day was spent in the enclosure where we had an excellent view of the exit of the first corner, which meant we soon found ourselves amongst other like-minded souls, and I was able to help a couple of them as to how to set up their cameras to get the best out of the opportunities to pan their cameras. They were excited and keen ‘students’ and it was rewarding to see their pleasure from their improved results. Although both had very different cameras, there was considerable rivalry, and they planned a competition and envisaged a return journey of considerable argument as to who had the best shots of the day!

It was good to see the Vulcan again, but clashing with the Supercars certainly made it harder to get the best of both photographed, but the challenge was good!

Tim and I visited the commercial area where I showed him the surfing display on the Peugeot stand, and he captured interesting angles and details of cars we found on display whilst using my EOS 5D and the 72-200mm lens – he had lent his own camera to his mother prior to the weekend! There was one slight hiatus in my day when after visiting the Lotus stand I began getting the precursor blindspots to migraine, and so had to lie down in welcome shade whilst Tim went off for water so I could down two Paracetamols; fortunately I caught it in time, so was soon back on my feet and we headed for Molecomb to watch the reinstated Soapbox event.

We had bypassed the Supercars earlier in the day, so we spent some time watching the bikes setting off from the start, before visiting the cars in that area and seeing Steve Ryder talking to camera about a portrait of James Hunt; although the likeness was excellent I was less impressed than with the excellent Peter Hearsey artwork to be found within the Stables Yard.

My two days at a Festival of Speed were exhausting in the heat, but wonderfully enjoyable amidst an impressively friendly atmosphere, also due to Tim’s excellent observation of a way of avoiding the crush to exit our car park by the way we entered, we left by a different gate, and made excellent time on the return journey and one last memory: an ambulance came up behind us blue lights blazing, and we managed to immediately find a small gap on the left to pull in and let it by without losing our place in the queue, and then ahead to watch two others do precisely the same, such that we provided no hindrance to its passage with minimal fuss, sadly after passing through a village slowly we saw she had made less progress with others beyond us three.

Now the task of culling, editing and making sense of all the photos taken over the two days…

Festival of Speed, 2013 – Friday

Despite having gone to bed later than optimistically planned, I awoke before the alarm by way too much to consider going back to sleep, but I did make the effort, and failed, so by 4.36 I was abluting. Obviously the inherent excitement of going to the event prevailed over the need for sleep!

When I awoke it was looking clear, but as I prepared it got cloudier. The trip down at first surprised me by the level of traffic, until it dawned on my enfeebled brain, that in fact it was a working day that I had selected to go to Goodwood to avoid the heaviest onslaught of the general public, but completely forgot that I had always gone on Saturdays or Sundays in the past. Did I mention my brain was enfeebled?

I broke the journey to pick up my guest for the day, Peter Knab, another but far more celebrated photographer, at Hindhead. From there the journey was to be in his Range Rover, and so I was chauffeured for the final stint. We definitely were correct in choosing to arrive early, as the Super Car Paddock was far less crowded, than it would be just a mere two hours later. We tarried awhile there overloading our glands of Envy, before We toured the Style et Luxe lawn and Peter renewed his acquaintance with a car that he had photographed at the height of his career as a fashion photographer, and he reminisced over the other cars from an earlier era. He was then completely blown away by the elegance and mechanical achievement that was the installation right outside the house, they made a very etherial and unreal picture against the clouds, and this was in stark contrast to how they would look when we were to revisit the area under blue sky and sunlight.

We moved then to the Sponsors’ Enclosure where we spent quite a time preening our panning skills from the far corner, close to the track, before going walkabout and witnessing firsthand the inherent dangers of motor racing by being directly opposite the point at which one driver shed his car’s body dramatically as he hit the straw bales and ending safely right by the marshals, this meant that the delay in the programme forced by the Red flag was only slight as we all heaved sighs of relief that the driver was unharmed, though undoubtedly he was somewhat shaken. We moved down into the commercial area after that where once again Peter admired the elegance and engineering brilliance to be found on the Rolls Royce and BMW stands and the very crowd-pulling surfing spectacle being put on by Peugeot. It was here that Peter’s knee decided it had a part to play, and forced him to make for his car for a rest, where unbeknownst to him his car had set its alarm off and duly flattened his battery resulting in a troubled time searching for one of the fourth Emergency Service, which curtailed his full enjoyment of the day.

Meanwhile I was back at my panning post unaware for some time the drama unfolding with Peter, but Lady Luck was favouring me by my being offered two tickets for the Saturday! So another early rise beckons…

Gravely Cricket Club visits Bamville

The Sunday was far too hot to be inside, so initially I headed for Childwickbury (pronounced as if there was a double ‘d’ and a silent ‘w’), just south of Harpenden as I had been led to believe the wildlife was worth a visit, however, I did not take into account that an Art Fair was being held there, making the park somewhat inaccessible for my plans, so I soon came back out of the grounds and thought I would take a look at Bamville Cricket ground in case they were playing at home. At first I saw little activity, and was about to move off when I caught sight of Peter Carr, and realised that I was early enough for the start. The visitors this day were a team from Gravely.

At this time there were still golfers wheeling their caddies across what would become the pitch, so I took a good long long look before proceeding across the sward, heading for the pavilion. I ascertained that there was indeed going to be a match, and so I retraced my steps to my car and put the 100 - 400mm lens on the 7D, and put the 24-105mm on the 5D MkII, and returned and was promptly offered a drink, which I speedily accepted.

For once I was able to capture the coin-toss between the two team captains, with the pavilion in the background and a few shots of the erection of the sight-screens. Not being a cricketer, nor a cricket photographer, I shoot really to test my skills at timing, and trying to vary the viewpoints which often means that I can find myself at the wrong end for some of the action as each over changes ends. Ideally I need to be the other end alternately, but that is rarely possible, and on a hot steamy day definitely not an option!

I tried to shoot bursts on this occasion, but still twice missed the best shots by lifting off too soon. This meant I did a lot of ‘chimping’ and deleting straightway to avoid the burden of too much culling back at the computer. This could also result in lost moments, so I am still very much learning how to tackle this sort of work efficiently. Often I wanted to shoot both the bowler’s delivery and the batsman’s response, and this makes focussing accurately an issue.

But I persevere, and they do say practice makes perfect.

Sweltering Reservoirs Afternoon

It was very hot, so being near water appealed, and I hoped to see dragonflies out and about, but I only glimpsed one at high speed as it shot by whilst I was at the Tringford reservoir, though what I refer to as standard damselflies abounded and many were now flying tandem. I always assumed if they were blue they were male, if brown – female, but I caught sight of at least two occasions where I saw blue on blue or blue on blueheaded, brown damselflies, so I need to look into this assumption further.

On Tringford the tern were successfully fishing and were around in fair numbers with only the occasional gull coming in, whereas later on Marsworth, black-headed gulls predominated. I was invited to be rowed to the bottom end of Tringford in case I could get slightly closer to the egrets which had seemingly supplanted the grey herons of earlier seasons, but they were mostly far more nervous than herons and our rowing soon displaced them from a greater distance than herons. According to the water bailliff, the cormorants had taken a day off from their recent massive incursions, but he was not there during my visit and they still came in, so maybe his presence earlier this day had deterred them temporarily as I saw at least four during my stay, and one in particular seemed anchored to the middle tower, presumably using the extra height and the still waters to keep an eye on its prey. Certainly whilst we were on the water we spotted at least half a dozen fish clearly, keeping close to the edges of the weeds, as they made there way to the bottom end.

I moved to Marsworth and the canal, where I only saw a few tern, but did get a glimpse of a grey wagtail on the steep sloping banks of Startops. The brightness of the day and the heat seemed to keep the fish from feeding on Marsworth, where the fish though often right at the surface, took the flies rather than from the bait offered by the anglers, so most of those to whom I spoke were hoping for better luck towards evening.

What was noticeable was the abundance of tadpoles close to the shore in places, so if they can avoid massive predation, frogs could be having a resurgence later in the season. This day then, was to prove to be the day of the damselflies.

A Brief Visit To Discovery Centre

I was delayed in setting off for the Stockwood Discovery Centre garden, and am now down to earth – literally the gardens there, where I was hoping to thank Jan Tysoe, one of the gardeners for suggesting another garden I should visit. One of the Victorian greenhouses is undergoing a total refurbishment, because it had deteriorated badly and was no longer safe. This means it is far less easy to navigate from one side of the garden to the other, so it was a while before I caught up with Jan, Bridey and Sam, and it was as I was making my way around that I spotted another familiar face, and this lady accused me of following her, but I reckoned she was stalking me, as I was there first!

Anyway we both then went in search of Jan and found them on the other side, beyond the fenced off area around the greenhouse. As I was under the impression the greenhouse I was planning to visit was locked Jan came over with me to unlock it to allow me to photograph a flowering cactus and some Morning Glory, that she had mentioned were looking splendid.

I was in there for a short while, then went around other areas, and despite my initial comment that I thought there was less than I had expected, I soon found more, so Bridey had been correct in her mentioning that there was quite a lot to see.

Flash Red Ford Special

What am I supposed to do? I walk out of my front door with camera gear, and there parked right outside was this bright red naked-engined, old-bodied Ford, sporting the name HotRod atop the Offenhauser twin Rocker Covers – was I just going to walk on by, without succumbing to its blatant invitation? “Take my photo, mister” – no chance!

As I peer inside I spot movement and start to speak, but the man in the driver’s seat leaned towards the passenger side and said “I’ll come out”. It turns out he is more than happy for me to oblige his steed’s request to take some photos, and in the ensuing conversation I learn that his wife has bought it for him, and he tells me a little more about it, as I walk around taking different views, and try to ensure I have a minimum of a dozen shots so the gallery looks tidy, he then mentions that the rear suspension has something different, so I find myself on the deck looking up its backside, where I spot the King Dick Spanner.

We chat some more and he invites me to a show, I think he said ‘The Outlaws’ at the Feathers in Markyate the following Thursday, where there will be more cars of the same ilk. So I have an idea where I might find myself a week from now. He accepts my card, so he can see what I have taken and we go our separate ways; him in a subtle masculine rumble from his car’s exhaust, me to get in my more mundane car, to photograph some flowers.

Hot Sunday in the Country

It was destined to become the hottest day of the year so far, but it started very fresh with a gusty wind, and I had set my computer to record the Silverstone Grand Prix, to leave me the whole day in which to take photographs. Initially I had hoped to be receiving a new macro with image stabilisation, but what was delivered was a bitter disappointment that cost me close on twenty pounds to return, because it was for Nikon, not Canon. But that made me even more determined that I should take my mind off that blow and make it a day when I would take beautiful pictures, and subject matter did not matter!

And so it turned out, carried three cameras and an extra lens to cope with any eventuality. The extra warmth had at long last tempted damselflies to leave the water and seek the sky, and I cannot believe many people could have been inside, because I found cyclists, dog walkers, joggers, families with children, courting couples, people setting up picnics, people heading towards fairs, village fêtes and all by ten o’clock – no one was going to miss this spell of un-British weather of a Sunday! For a change also everyone I came across was smiling and willing to pass the time of day.

Not only that, seeing that I obviously mean t business by having two cameras around my neck, they even volunteered where I might find particular species without my even asking. However, with so many humans out and about finding shy birds such as kingfishers by the river, would seem to be ambitious! The suggestions of red kite was more realistic, and ironically later I was to see one alone overhead later in the afternoon. My first subjects were wild flowers, tree blossom being buffeted by the wind and the travelling shades across a field of grass. Not long afterwards, I thought I spotted some butterflies, but soon realised they were Demoiselle damselflies, and so I became determined to really try to get decent shots of both males and females, there turned out to be many more males, and when paired in flight seemed to be competing for the few females’ attention.

I drove to likely spots then walked deeper into woodland, or followed the tracks of disused railway lines, and on several occasions would spend time desperately trying to capture hoverflies in flight, but this was a day when I failed miserably and spent as much time erasing blurred images as actually shooting, I followed one river through waist high grass and nettles and on one occasion a dog disturbed a heron which took to the wing, but i failed to get a reasonable shot, but later I spotted it returning, but failed to see where it landed, so having retraced my steps, I turned again and walked quietly by the bank where the trees and bushes gave complete shade, and spotted it beyond some branches at the same time as it saw me, but I did get three shots off, one of which was passable. What really amazed me was just how many families with families were bathing or paddling in the river by the weirs, something I had not seen since swimming at Newnham had been stopped due to the Polio scare.

Whenever the chance occurs to photograph flowers I grab the opportunity, even though I can barely discern the difference between weeds and flowers and certainly can only name the most common half a dozen, but I choose viewpoints that accentuate their surrounding or contrast them against others of different hues, also I do love textures, and so leaves more often catch my eye.

Moving in close to attempt to capture the pollinators from bees to hoverflies is something else I endeavour to capture, but I do see fewer this time around, so I am very aware that crops in general are not going to enjoy a productive yield, so prices for our food are inevitably going to rise by the end of the growing season as producers ask higher prices in relation to lower amounts.

The gallery this time around reflects the variety I found and took correspondingly longer to process and make some sense, but also on my return I had the recording of the British Grand Prix to watch and that was quite a rollercoaster with fortunes changing frequently. It was a highly emotional several hours, but that filled me with dismay as to what should or could be done by the end of the week when the Nurburgring race is run. So many tyre failures is simply not acceptable.

PENHA Branding & Network Event

PENHA is a pastoral and environmental organisation dedicated to improve the perceptions and hence the aid and support to countries within the Horn of Africa; they held an event at the Adulis Eritrean Restaurant in Brixton Road, London. One of the organisers of the event, Vanessa Champion of Dragonfly Communications invited me along, and as a consequence I invited a talented photographer, Karena Perronet-Miller, who has done photographic assignments in India, to come along too.

We set off from our very different points mine from outside London, Karena’s from North London, yet as I came along the Brixton Road, Karena spotted me before I sailed by unknowingly as she had stopped by one of the shops en route, so we entered together giving me the opportunity to introduce Karena to Ness downstairs, having been greeted by the owners and  Zeremariam Fre at the entrance.

Already music could be heard from below, and although we were early there were already other guests who had arrived still more promptly. Karena, despite having told me she was apprehensive about such meetings was soon very much at home, and I realised I need not have worried. The atmosphere was very welcoming all round, and having checked with Ness about photographing was assured it was just fine – it was not long before I was far from alone in taking the opportunity to capture the event for a wider audience! It proved to be difficult to avoid each of us finding other photographers featuring in our images.

It was a wonderful opportunity to listen to some lively music, some introductory speeches, explanations of some of the instruments being played and their origins. Naturally, it was also the chance to gain further experience of ‘unavailable light photography’ by having to shoot at 5000 ISO to get exposures as short as 1/15th second with some semblance of sharpness somewhere in the picture – especially challenging when trying to capture speakers whose heads seemed capable of swivelling 360 degrees and hands that moved faster than the speed of light, and musicians whose virtuosic fingers operated at similar velocity.

In some instances due to moments of humour, or subtle changes in expressions I have shown images that at first sight may seem duplicates, but often taken together provide a greater truth to what was happening. Mixed lighting sometimes enhanced the images at others proved quite challenging when I was processing them for display in the gallery, but I hope overall, I have captured the essence and ambiance of the evening which I thoroughly enjoyed as did my feet and toes as they often followed the beat with abandon.

It was a well-organised and successful event with splendid food, wonderful hospitality and incredible friendliness; I met several new people and was very grateful to be invited and I hope in this record have contributed in some small way.

Another Muggy Day

This time I am in the Walled Garden at Luton Hoo. After a brief chat with Charlotte Phillips who is the leader of the project to restore the Gardens to their former Glory, I take a look at display of flowers within the garden that forms one half of the octagonal enclosing walls.

I have two cameras with me; the EOS 7D has the 100mm macro, and the 5D MkII has the 24-105mm, and both come into use depending on the distance from my subject and the angle of view, though ironically using the 7D which has the smaller chip, I sometimes swap to the zoom because the distance does not seem quite right compared to using it on the 5D MkII, but when I use the earlier 5D, the issue is the review screen is too small. I am just too fussy!

Walking around and often kneeling down means it is easy to work up a sweat, yet compared to the volunteers all around me, I must simply be unfit, as they are really toiling, pulling out weeds wheeling barrows and raking.

There are now three Mallard ducks that have taken residence; two males and one female, and I learned that apparently there were some eggs, that they had been incubating, but last week they were found to be cracked and the presumption is a fox possibly feasted on them. That is sad. Certainly they do not seem fazed by all the people around them, whereas the ducks I see on the reservoir are far more wary of human proximity.

Today was definitely not a day for a visit to the cactus greenhouse, so when I felt I had a good collection of images, I left and returned to my car which I had carefully parked in the shade, but before sitting inside I grabbed a rug from the boot to keep my cloth driving seat dry and fresh.

Muggy Weather at Tring Reservoirs

The sky was overcast, the temperature warm, and the mugginess attracted midges, so damselflies were feeding well and pairing successfully. The swans at Tringford had at last been blessed with a brood and were showing their offspring their stretch of water. The Terns were enjoying the opportunity of the low water level to fish in the shallows at the edge of the reservoir and doing reasonably well, one brought its catch to the old Rothschild boat.

After a spell on this lake, I then moved to Marsworth where I was lucky several times to capture a heron in flight, and likewise the terns here were patrolling the margins giving me reasonable scope and they were having a good feed here too. I was really lucky to hear the approach of a heron and turned just in time to capture his successful taking of a Roach from right beneath a pair of Grebe! And then to follow it as it flew off with its bounty.

I was also fortunate that an angler threw some bait to lure the terns in close to me whilst we chatted, so despite the lack of sun and a spell of rain, by shooting at 1600 ISO I was able to get some reasonable if grainy images for my stay.

Dull Day at Marston Forest Country Park

The Weather was certainly uninspiring as I visited the Country Park at Marston Moretaine, hoping that the mugginess might tempt dragonflies and damselflies onto the wing. On that score I was to be disappointed, as the wind was both gusty and quite strong, and although I caught a fleeting glimpse of one male damselfly I only managed to photograph a dull female.

I was luckier with the butterflies as a male Common Blue stuck around one small area, and did land from time to time. I also captured a Checquered Skipper with its characteristic antennae with floppy socks on the ends. The blossom which I thought surely should be gone from hawthorn bushes by June was still in abundance and fresh. One bee was still managing to fight the gusting wind despite carrying a very full load of pollen like saddlebags. And as I returned via the walkway through the reedbeds, I spotted that the birds were being so careless with their feeding that several lazy squirrels did not need to find their way to the feeder as there was a plentiful supply of nuts beneath.

I would like to visit later when there is greater warmth and a better chance of shooting dragonflies as they remain a fair challenge to capture them in flight.

Langleybury Cricket Match

I pondered for some while as to where to travel on Saturday morning and decided to head for Lady Capel's Wharf in Watford, this turned out to be impossible as I was to discover later, I had already planned exactly where to park – Hunton Bridge, just off the A41 where from past experience I knew that close by a church and on the opposite side of the main road to the building which housed the Advertising Agency, Clock. The sun was out fairly strongly and I did wonder at the number of Police vehicles that kept passing, and also noted helicopters overhead, but apart from wondering whether there was a Policeman's Ball taking place or there were criminals at large, I took little notice and seeing the nearby cricket ground and a match being played, decided my canalside walk could wait awhile.

I did not need to enter the grounds I could stay by the boundary and take shots from a low wooden fence, and so it was that I spent probably around an hour just trying to see whether I might hone my skills at capturing some of the action. I missed some of the important action from a fielder stepping between me and stumps as one batsman was clean-bowled, and missed a catch by the wicket keeper at the far end, when I was slightly less attentive. I also varied my position to add some interest by altering the angle, then whilst the teams took their customary drinks I wandered back to my car and took some coffee myself together with some crisps, then wandered towards the entrance to the ground.

Spotting a couple of players I enquired the names of the sides playing, which in turn meant that I handed the camera over to one of them to scan through the shots I had taken, and we chatted and I mentioned where the shots might appear, and gave him my blog address. Little did I know that we shared a mutual friend in Peter Carr of Bamville Cricket Club!

We parted and I set off under the main road with three cameras around my neck to walk south along the Grand Union Canal tow path. A couple of locks further I learned the significance of the Police presence from a couple who informed me that it was all due to the Bilderberg Conference being held at the Grove, and soon I was to be directed away from the canal by a pair of policemen who had travelled from Leicester, and later some from Thames Valley, however despite not being able to reach the stretch of canal I had intended visiting I did learn precisely where Lady Capel's Wharf was and also spotted Lady C's Cottage (not Chatterley!) I certainly got plenty of exercise and I also saw just how extensive the closure of the surrounding area was, and hope that Taxpayers do not have to foot any part of the bill, because I have never seen anything like it, and considering how much disruption was caused I am staggered that somewhere more easy to police was not selected by the organisers, such as Leeds Castle. I now fully understand just how disruptive this was for local residents, and sincerely hope something like this is not repeated.

Byways of Hertfordshire

I was planning to take a wander along the Grand Union Canal near Hunton Bridge, but decided I would take the scenic route through the lanes, and along the way I spotted the interesting edge of a wood where the land changed directions multiple times and the sunshine which came and went was likely to provide some interesting lighting to the various slopes, so I stayed some time waiting for the sun to do my bidding and light different parts of the scene, until I could get an interesting shot – it never quite provide exactly the shading I wanted, but it came close a few times, and I took at least twenty shots hoping that I might finally get one I was reasonably happy to use.

I also took a close-up of some infestation of leaves within the hedgerow where I stood, and some immature fern fronds, before spotting an attractive bend in the road by a field of oilseed rape. Later after covering a spell at a cricket match and my thwarted walk along the Grand Union Canal, I returned via Ashridge spotting a splendid newly painted water tower, with to my mind poorly placed microwave aerials that were put right in front of windows! At Ashridge at the end of the day I took some shots of pathways in the woods, rhododendrons in profusion and a few bluebells that were still fairly fresh; not totally disappointed by the final outcome of my day out.

Stockwood Discovery – June 6th Visit

Thursday comes with its forecast cloud cover, and promise of warmth, so I get email read make phone calls, some which actually connect. I also have numerous books collected which will help add to the stock available at the Allotments Library, and I load this into Helen Turner's car as she will be opening the Library shortly. It is a new venture opening every other Thursday for a couple of hours since the Mobile Library has been withdrawn.

Once the desk is clear, I opt for visiting Stockwood Discovery Centre to see how the gardens are coming on. By now the sun is out and the sky is edge to edge blue with a slight but pleasant breeze, and this has brought all the mothers and their toddlers, and seemingly some of the local primary schools with their charges, or should that be chargers? The sounds of happy children is occasionally interrupted by the new season's aircraft movements seemingly overhead every five or so minutes.

I soon meet an apprentice who works with Jan the Gardener and check she is in today and learn she is working in the Sauna, for that is the best way to describe that particular greenhouse, but I am happy to leave that visit till later! I note that one of the other greenhouses has been completely surrounded by a fence and black polythene sheeting as it is going to be restored to hopefully its former glory. The task is going to be mammoth as all the glass is now out and the extent of the damage to the woodwork is all too evident. The work is going to be ongoing for several months.

It was as I was on my knees obtaining some close-ups that Jan came on the scene and after a quick chat with me she asked the workmen whether I might be allowed to take some photos of the work, knowing I would relish the opportunity. They acquiesced and led me inside the enclosure and I took a few shots in the hope that later I might continue to cover the progress of the work. In that short space of time I learned that they had found that the original design incorporated a series of holes to take condensation from the inside glass panes out the gutter outside to avoid the wood suffering from the retention of that water. I therefore took two shots of these details for the future.

After a period outdoors, I entered the greenhouse sauna as Sam and Jan took their lunch break (seeing the juxtaposition of those two names reminded me of an old song: "Sam and Janet Evening" but perhaps I should keep such trivia to myself!

Although I did manage to capture a bee or two at work, I was disappointed at the scarcity overall. It was a reasonably worthwhile visit and it was good to hear that Jan is now seeing more brightly after her ops on both eyes.

Sam, Jan, Stockwood Discovery Centre, Gardens, flowers, leaves, greenhouse restoration, Luton, Bedfordshire

Walled Garden, Luton Hoo – Early Summer

Well, there looks to be a chance of some settled and more Summer-like weather this week, with even the potential of lasting into the weekend. I have not had much of a chance to visit the Walled Garden of late as I have had to contend with preparing my own garden and surroundings to improve my chances of selling the house. But having made some corrections to the new Estate Agents’ work on the brochure, and my desk being clear I dashed out for an hour to see what was on show.

I never tire of seeing the leaves on the erstwhile Garden Manager’s Office, as they start green and then change to red and white, so after some shots of that I made my way into the garden itself and whilst close to the wall and capturing a close-up, I heard the somewhat unusual twittering of some young Mallard ducks, and they then tentatively emerged from the back of the garden beds onto the path towards the grass beneath the fruit trees. A short time later a male pheasant also skittered away from near me, and not long after took to the air and departed.

The layout of the gardens has changed from earlier years, with much more fencing appearing, and unless I am mistaken a different range of plants. I spent just on an hour wandering around occasionally patiently watching bees doing their job of pollinating, and just before leaving taking a shot of the beekeepers working around the hives behind the potting sheds. Overall there were a lot of volunteers this Wednesday almost certainly due to the improved spell of weather.