ME Hotel – the Day had not ended…

My day started in Trafalgar Square and ended in a gem of a visit after the London Fashion Show by stepping into the ME Hotel, which is a Norman Foster building apparently; sited on the former Marconi and Citibank site.

I had no idea from this corner entrance just what the building was, and by pure happenstance neither did another passer-by, and though from his conversation with his daughters, he seemed to know more than me and was equally curious, he strode in to ask, and I meekly followed him in, and listened to the answer from the Concierge – I learned it was in fact a hotel and that the staff were more than happy for me to take photos of the interior.

They went further! They suggested I go to the Mezzanine floor where the Reception was, and after photographing the decor there I bumped into the lady who was organising visits to the Roof Garden, who asked had I been? To my response she said I must; as the scenes from that viewpoint, of the London Skyline were stunning. She was not wrong!

Whilst I moved around taking photos, the reception I was given was nothing less than wonderfully warm and accommodating, which is more than can be said for the bracing breeze that met me when the glass doors to the outside were opened for me – some of the guests were huddled under duvets at the outside tables as they sipped their cocktails! Presumably these were supplied by the ever attentive staff.

I felt as if I was a Prince whilst there, and that I had stepped back in time; I still cannot believe how welcome I felt from the moment I entered to the time I left – everyone with whom I came into contact was the epitome of charm and at the same time totally natural – if only everyone in such establishments could come close to the standard I witnessed there, the world would be a far better place – Thank you.

London Fashion Weekend – from the Pit

I am not a fashion photographer, but when Park Cameras offered (by way of thanking me for purchasing the Canon 5D MkIII), the chance to be in the photographers’ pit at the London Fashion Weekend and take pictures on the catwalk, I jumped at the chance!

I made sure that I was very early, so that I could combine the opportunity of photographing in the vicinity, namely the Strand and Trafalgar Square. Some time back I had heard about the Blue Chicken atop  the fourth Plinth, but I was not prepared for its size, nor just how prominent it would be set against the black of the Landseer Lions or the pale green fountain statues, the cream stonework, or the grey of Nelson’s Column. This was a dull London Sunday, but even despite the overcast, this cock was the brightest sight in the square; it brought a smile to my face.

I just had to shoot it in contrast to its well-established neighbours. I spent a few casual minutes in the square, before walking slowly down the Strand and to the One Aldwych Hotel where the day’s briefing was to take place. Having travelled with a leather jacket, I was extremely grateful that the hotel would look after it despite my not being a resident, as I knew our final venue would be far from cold. I found the suite Canon and Park Cameras were using and joined other early birds to chat and sip a coffee prior to a presentation by Fashion Photographer, Tony Wellington and Mehdia from Canon.* To get into the swing of things I grabbed a few ‘snaps’ of some of the other photographers seated nearby as well as those presenting. •(Thanks to Mark Read of Park for assisting my failing short term memory here!)

At the end of the briefing we then headed out of the hotel and to Somerset House the venue of the London Fashion Week, where we reassembled to wait our time to enter the Photographers’ pit, giving us all a further chance to chat to others about our forthcoming treat. There were to be three separate opportunities and despite there being gaps when we could have wandered around outside very few did so and not out of fear that they might lose their chosen spot, simply because most of us wanted to socialise.

We had to be in place before the general paying public took their seats, so we watched the organisers efficiently bringing groups in to take up their places one row at a time either side of the catwalk in each of the two arms of the U-shaped catwalk or ‘runway’ as the Americans describe it. At the start of each show Angela Scanlon came in to describe what to expect and she also introduced us to a couple of the Designers. There was a fairly constant stream of video adverts on the screens either side of the catwalk entrance and loud rhythmic music backed the models as they appeared to strut their stuff. We had been warned that it would be fast-paced and we were not misled; it required immense concentration and it was all too easy to fail to follow the guidelines we had been given as to how to aim for the forward foot being flat on the deck with the other trailing, but after a while I began to realise exactly what that meant, however that did not mean I met with much success!

I hope the resulting shots can still give pleasure; it certainly gave me great pleasure to take them, then I had to start an impressive culling operation!

Jonah Jones – Bond at Sixty!

Jonah Jones invited me to Babraham to join in celebrations for his sixtieth birthday; the theme being James Bond, and the plan was that I would help Catherine (Katy) to create a montage of himself sporting the body of one of his heroes, Daniel Craig as he steps from the water. This request came on the night before, so any plans I might have of sensibly having an early night went out the window! Catherine emailed me both a picture of her hero, Jonah, and Daniel taken on her phone, and neither stood a chance, so I sourced the picture from something at least a generation or two earlier and screenshotted a picture of my own to match the similar low quality of the Internet image. I also interpolated the image to nearer the size she had in mind, and sent that by email.

I arrived at Jonah's in time to take some shots of the girls getting their nails ready, and later we all headed for the Institute to prepare Catherine's other idea  which was to set up a scene such that I took shots at the venue through the rifled barrel of the guests, and had duly brought portable flash gear, but as with many last minute ideas, this failed because I was unable to sync both of my lights, so only had the single light, which was my fault and meant that despite all the setting up was never used!

For the rest of the event I planned to take handheld shots without flash at the impressive 128,000 ISO, and except for when the light was totally unavailable or the subjects moved too fast, this proved to be successful, towards the end of the evening the theatre area was used but in the opposite direction and sadly I had not been able to move all that stuff sufficiently out of view, so can be seen in the background of some of the impromptu group shots I took later from the elevation of a chair on the stage.

The whole place was brilliantly decorated for the theme; the costumes were excellent and the atmosphere of the event was fantastic with its Casino tables for both card games and Roulette wheel, and extra chips were able to be purchased and the money taken over the evening went to the NSPCC, the amount of money collected was £300 as can be seen by Liz Heard holding the jug aloft!

The whole evening was very much an extended family affair, bringing together several different strands from Jonah's six decades with everyone really enjoying themselves. Jonah himself was pleased to learn that his present had nothing to do with the Circus, unless of course one thinks of Silverstone as one!

I am splitting the shots into separate galleries: the Lodge, the main party, and the groups I photographed in the theatre.
Girls Prepare
My Setup Models
Theatre Groups
The Party Shots

Sunny Interlude – Flight Theme

 

It is extremely frustrating that when a free moment occurs the weather turns foul, so when the sun appeared to be coming out between showers for a change I decided I just had to go out for a drive and see whether any red kites were aloft. Normally this would mean I end up photographing friendly robins or hot rod cars, but not on this occasion – I did actually catch sight of a few elusive kites, but the first few times, by the time I was out of the car having found somewhere to park, they had soared high or simply flown to another, more distant hilltop, so since low-flying aircraft are once again newsworthy hereabouts, I grabbed a few of them in passing.

 Parking was not as easy a prospect as in the past since many of the likely spots were quagmires or were alongside deep, full road width puddles that passing cars would use to cover my car with muddy and grit-laden water. This meant often lengthy walks to a suitable vantage point. Once again I became aware that wildlife is fully cognisant of the limitations humans, in particular photographers, have when trying to get close to them! I started from Tea Green, via Lilley Bottom and Whitwell,  returning by Peters Green.

One advantage of windy and showery weather is the different light that plays upon the landscape and the differing cloud shapes that occur. A horse-riding mother was being accompanied by her cycle-riding son as they took advantage of the break in the afternoon weather, and they were silhouetted against the bright road surface as they climbed the hill beyond me, making a striking shot.

On my journey back via Peters Green, I again spotted a lone kite flying low, but only managed a couple of shots before it disappeared beyond the tree line, but a young lad bid me “Hi” as he came from his cottage to walk his dog, I returned the compliment, but after several minutes I turned around and he had gone no further than a puddle a few gates down, and was squatting down with what at a distance, looked like a paper boat that he seemed to be photographing, so as the kite had decided not to return, I strolled closer and we chatted. It turned out he was studying A-level photography at St Georges’ School, and he had a project that seemed to involve fire and water, so he was taking closeups of burning newspaper floating on the puddle’s surface. I gathered from this conversation he was actually more interested in film, but this course seemed close. He was familiar with Photoshop, but I felt that he might consider Lightroom as this was likely to benefit his still camera work and provide him with a different way of handling the post processing, so I suggested he look at the 30-day free trial for his Mac. I wished him all the best and returned to the car and home.

When I was doing my post processing I spotted a very distinctive end of wing feather on one kite over Whitwell, and realised I had photographed this same bird around a year ago over Tea Green!

First of February – Country Sunshine

I had decided to get up reasonably early as sunshine was forecast from the start of Sunday, but the initial destination I chose proved futile, as did the second, but undaunted I pursued my first general idea of sticking close to the river.

The first two locations did still provide images, the determined and speedy duck, a bushes remaining trunk's sawcuts to ensure its ultimate demise, and the fascination of fast moving water at a weir by Batford Springs.

There was a good deal of walking across fields to see whether I might get closer to a herd of deer, and a pond on the outskirts of Ley Green was very typically rural English fare, but my reason for stopping there was originally because a red kite was low overhead, but once I had found a place to park it and its occasional partner had soared into the far distance, so apart from the rural idyll here and at Gosmore, I captured the farmer's wife collecting bales of straw from one location to the main farm with a yellow JCB – a formidable vehicle to meet head-on in the narrow lanes when without a bale onboard!

But it was good to be out and to see that despite the numerous lakes on the roads, many of the crops in the fields were looking far better than last year in the same area.

Bitterly cold, but Otter at Marsworth

I must make a correction to this article – for those more erudite than me, the picture above is that of a Mink, not an Otter. Please accept my honest apologies, I will leave the headline though.

A young robin must have felt I needed consolation and company as it (for I have no way to define its sex) was either simply curious or liked the idea of company. Although wary he (as I decided I should decided ‘it’ was far too impersonal for such a personable bird) flew around me to take up different positions in the branches, seemingly shivering, but also softly muttering when it alighted. I had arrived with some ends of frozen loaves from home, so I broke a few and threw them around by way of a reward for keeping me company, and rather than risk displaying signs of incipient madness by talking to myself, tried to talk quietly to him to give him reassurance.

He followed me as I changed the spot from which I might hope to get a glimpse of a kingfisher or other bird or animal life at the water’s edge close to the reed beds of Marsworth reservoir. As time wore on he came ever closer, landing on my dangling boot on one occasion, and within arm’s length on the tip of the branch I rode as if on horseback (hence the dangling feet either side) when he came close he stayed for only a few seconds; fifteen or so at the most, but at other times when just beyond arm’s length he might rest for a minute or two, and every so often he would disappear for three to five minutes and return with a worm that he would pick at and shake whilst on the muddy path by which I had entered the bushes.

All the while I would divide my time looking around for signs of elusive kingfishers and other stirrings in the scene before me and what he was up to, talking re-assuringly to him to let him know he was either too close for me to get a shot of him or asking him to persuade his kingfisher friends to visit.

During one of the times when I was concentrating ahead of me, not being distracted by my robin companion, there was a little splashing only a few feet away and an otter came out of the crystal clear water and clambered onto the half-submerged fallen tree trunk I was on and looked me straight in the eye before calmly deciding I might just be a threat and he slid back into the water. I also was visited by a squirrel, three moorhens, an overflying heron that did a prompt U-turn, several pigeons, a lone young grebe, a grey wagtail, a crow, yet few stayed in sight for long.
Seeing the otter so close was the reward for my perseverance, and as I returned to the canal path I became exposed to a bitter and rising wind, with the reservoir water being churned into choppy white horses. When I had arrived earlier I had only seen two people, one an optimistic angler, the other a taciturn pessimist who took a while to respond to my “Morning” with “Not much good about it!” When I was leaving more people were around, many out with dogs or babes in buggies, and a pair of men who engaged me in conversation asking whether I had had any luck. When I mentioned the otter they immediately told me that they had been talking to that same lone angler about otters and their propensity apparently for only eating the gill areas of fishes, yet saying that he knew of none in the vicinity. They told me after they had viewed my shots I should let the angler see them as he would be really interested in the coincidence of their conversation and my sighting. I naturally did just that when caught up with him, before heading back to the car.

Botanical Gardens, Cambridge

Catherine, who is now offering reflexology sessions, was free by the afternoon, so had invited me over to join her for a walk, and had settled on a visit to the Botanical Gardens in Cambridge. The journey over to Babraham was uneventful with generally light traffic, and as I had run slightly late because there were last minute tidyings necessary for a midday house viewing whilst I was away, I gratefully accepted a cup of tea before setting off.

Parking close by the Gardens was easy and we entered by the new gatehouse and it was interesting to note the snowdrops were already out here, and later I even spotted crocuses. As I had three cameras Catherine was able to use one or other and so lessen my burden of carrying all three! And she alternated these with her iPhone. After paying for our tickets, there was a strong scent which apparently was from some form of box, but try as we might we never found the actual bush, but it was certainly a wonderful way to start the visit.

 We took in the glasshouses, where for a while the sun shone milkily and earlier Catherine had found her iPhone battery was low and switched it off, which meant we had lost the alarm to remind us when to return to the car, and we panicked as we had completely lost track of time! Fortunately we found we still had a few minutes to spare, so we headed off to take a look at the new Sainsbury's building before wending our way back to the entry gates to return to Babraham.

Catherine then made toast and we had a late snack lunch before she had to head for home, and I stayed a short while longer with Jonah, before making my way back, but the weather which had till then at least been dry now began tipping it down with lightning and rumbles of thunder, and I set off with hailstones rattling on the windscreen. The roads were now awash with standing water, many times spanning the entire road width, and it continued like this till I cleared Duxford, when although it was still raining it was of a lesser strength, and by the time I entered Luton, it was just a light drizzle.

Stockwood Discovery Centre – Greenhouse Colour

The last time I visited the Discovery Centre, I chose to capture the visitors to the British Wildlife photos on the first day, however I ran out of time to take a good look at the pictures that justly deserved their awards, I therefore chose this visit to make amends and devote time to studying them and reading something of those who had been rewarded.

Once again not only are the standards high, but the younger photographers are up there with the best of them. I highly recommend anyone to visit and look at. what these people have not just seen, but captured.

The sun was out and warm and there were puffy white clouds after the earlier downpour, so I took the opportunity first to catch up with the gardeners and then to take up the suggestion of taking a look at the heliotrope which had defied the odds and was looking splendid in the greenhouse. I had not expected to be there long, but was pleasantly surprised – there was more on offer.

After a while inside I then made my way slowly over to the exhibition and took my tour around, and it was good to hear the soft approving murmurs from other members of the public as I took my time to admire the work and read the details as to where the shots were taken and sometimes what equipment had been used.

British Wildlife Photographic Awards – Stockwood Discovery Centre

I had spotted just one mention a while back that the exhibition of the award-winning entries to the most recent British Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition was due to open in the exhibition area within the Stockwood Discovery Centre, so  around half-one I arrived to see whether I could capture members of the public grasping the opportunity to view this excellent tableau of images taken by a wide range of talented photographers of all ages, sex and styles. I was a tad disappointed upon arrival to see so few, but it was not long before the numbers grew, and they seemed to peak as the public address counted down to the closure for the day!

I had set up CamRanger once again, this time the iPad was propped up on my camera bag, and I used it for two purposes, the most important being to check on my exposures and composition, and secondly after being granted permission of those in my view, I used the iPad to show those I photographed what I had captured to gain reassurance I was not painting them in a bad light. It was whilst I was taking the first few images that I found myself in conversation with a lady about how high the standard of quality was, and why I was there. A few minutes later a gentleman I knew came round to me, greeting me with the words: "You have just been speaking to my wife!" – it was Ron Taylor, author of the online magazine, Harpendia, who was visiting with much the same idea; that of publicising the event.

We chatted for a while and he asked could he use some of the shots, and would I also take some photos of himself, to which I then duly complied. It was good to see that young families were coming in, and that provided further interest to the shots I was taking, the response from the visitors was genuine approval, and many spent time learning more about the authors of the pictures and the birds and animals depicted.

I just hope that more publicity can be given to ensure that visitor numbers grow as this is a wonderful opportunity to view these outstanding images in bright and well balanced lighting and display conditions, a considerable amount of care has gone into how the area is lit to ensure the very best viewing environment. There is also a large monitor displaying movies, which I noted had attracted a family group watching engrossed.

Because I had set myself a task to take pictures of the exhibition and its visitors, I ran out of time to spend viewing the display myself, so I shall be going again with a different aim, in the coming days.

SWPP – Hotel Metropole – Trade Show

I arrived at Edgeware Road in plenty of time to visit the SWPP Trade Show in London on Friday morning, so I strolled in the hotel’s direction with the idea of using the time to find a Post Office to pick up the forms to renew my passport, but as I crossed the road I spied the familiar bronze statue of the window cleaner. Familiar only because back in the days of film I had caught sight of it and taken some shots of it – it’s a brilliant piece of work in my eyes; he is so obviously a window cleaner complete with ladder looking up at this towering office block, and lifting his cap in awe, and to my ears is saying: “Blimey, Guv!” When I took some shots of yore, some wag had completed the picture by placing a half-smoked fag in his mouth! Obviously in these PC times that is no longer dangling from his lips! It was as I was grabbing a few shots that a photographer stopped to watch me and we got chatting; in the course of which conversation he mentioned he had come from Tring, and it turns out we have a mutual friend in Vanessa Champion who I would later be meeting at the show.

I picked up my Passport forms and headed for the Metropole and the first familiar face that greeted me was that of Ness, who was manning (or should that be womanning?) the Creativity Backgrounds stand on the ground floor. One of the reasons for my visit to the show was to see whether any dealers were likely to offer me a deal on a brand new EOS 5D MkIII, and after a brief visit to the Canon stand learned there were two sellers present, and the timing of my arrival at the Park Cameras stand was absolutely perfect, I arrived as a Canon gentleman was finalising a further reduction with presumably the Sales Manager of Park, so I was the first purchaser to benefit from a great show deal with only five more cameras to go! My day was definitely starting on a high note!

I met up with ‘Image 2’ wife and husband team Patricia and Nick Rayner and spent some time watching a demonstration from a Past President of the AoP, Simon Leach, and much later spoke to colleagues from my earlier days of working with Adobe on their exhibition stands, Peter Lovelock, Andy Johnson, Richard West, David Odouro, Keith Hern and David Mallows. Ness also mentioned I should speak to Richard Curtis of Adobe, suggesting she was sure I would know him, but I was certain we had never met, and it turned out I was right, but I did manage to catch up with him and have a good chat, which might bear fruit, as we got on really well.

Whilst I was photographing Simon Leach and the proceedings on the Creativity Backgrounds stands, a film cameraman with whom I had enjoyed a wonderful skiing holiday in Meribel a good few years back tapped me on the shoulder and had obviously thought I’d not remember him, as he said: “You probably won’t recognise me, I am Richard…” but he was wrong – I recognised him straightway from a skiing trip in Meribel Mottaret – Richard Hill and was delighted he had come up, so he promised he would email me, so there is another pleasure to come from my visit – I look forward to catching up in the next few days.

The event was really enjoyable, enlightening and thoroughly worthwhile, and there was a very positive buzz all around, and I congratulate the SWPP; I feel certain they will be very happy with all their efforts, and I hope the next two days turn out as well the first.

Tring Reservoir Trip

After Several Days of Rain, the morning was true to the forecast – frosty and bright, and this corresponded to my waking after four hours of sleep and finding that try as I might I was unable to get back and sleep a further few hours, so I was obviously destined for this trip to the reservoirs.

I did not leave particularly early, but after gathering my gear, I was out, by half past seven, but there was still the frost to clear from the car windows, so it was mint chocolate square before I arrived and parked the car close by Tringford, and took the path between Marsworth and Startops reservoirs. After passing through the gateI spotted a pair of robins flitting from bush to bush and singing brightly, so turned around and gathered a jar of seeds I had in the car, and this time started laying a few on each fence post that was either in the sun, or about to be. This turned out to be fruitless, so I got shots of one of them in the high branches trilling melodiously instead.

I had hoped that the swans might be as restless as on my last visit, but the only pair in flight took off from Startops and flew diagonally beyond the trees, till the corner before landing once more on Marsworth, all too far away even for 400mm! I never saw them in flight again this time.

I chose to walk along the path towards Bulbourne in the vain hope of catching sight of kingfishers, but that was not to be either, despite patiently waiting some two hours. However whilst there I was visited by a very friendly, though somewhat nervous young Robin who did finally take some seeds from my hand, but he was always far too close for me to get any shots, so it was that as I traced my steps, I was greeted by yet another cheerful robin, this time in the branches at an acceptable distance.

I returned to where the car was parked and crossed the main road to walk along the far side of Tringford, but although there was a young family of cygnets with their parents, there was nothing beyond coots and Canada geese. So I returned to the car and journeyed to Wilstone where the only slightly less common Pochard were, and after a couple of dives they paddled away from the shore, beyond my reach and also into the sun!

It was not the most productive of visits, but it had become warmer, so a welcome change from grey skies and near constant rain.

Bright Sun at Marsworth

After a spell of really dismally grey and blustery days, it was a delight to see blue sky and high clouds and less of a wind, so there was now ay I was going to miss out. Rather than venture in the direction of Hertfordshire, I headed towards Buckinghamshire and the Marsworth Reservoir, taking just the 100-400mm lens on the 5D MkII.

As I walked between the two lakes, I heard the very distinct sound of heavy flapping and over Startops I spotted a lone swan that had just taken off, but it was both too distant, and only glimpsed through branches, but little did I know it then, but it was to be a feature of that afternoon; the swans were definitely restless and spent a good proportion of the time, taking to the air and moving to a different spot. This was noticeably a weekday when those lucky enough to be still off were taking advantage of the sunshine and comparative warmth to exercise their dogs, walk off their Christmas excesses, play with their young families or fish.

I got a call from one of my daughters asking whether I wished to join them with their two over at Towersey and take a walk along the Phoenix way, so I was destined not to be at the reservoir for too long, and the numbers of families out for their constitutionals steadily grew as I returned from the locks towards Bulbourne. On my outward trip I came across a wonderfully vocal robin presumably doing his best to woo a mate, and I am sure he would succeed as his was the most song I have ever heard from a robin, and it was very melodious!

Though I was only there for a short spell, my time was well-rewarded, and it was not long before I was heading towards Thame during which time I received an invitation to London to meet up with my niece and nephew before they both returned to India. Later I was to receive another call, this time to ask whether I was happy to have two different viewings for the house on Saturday; so two nice pieces of news in one afternoon.

Bright Winter Saturday Sun

Late morning, and I gather my camera gear and head off into bright sunshine blue sky and wispy high clouds. I am going beyond the Lower Luton road heading towards Tea Green and I spot a kite soaring high, but I soon lost sight of it, and have to content myself with landscapes with trimmed bald hedges. In the narrow lanes it is not possible to avoid the flooding from the recent heavy rain, but I drive calmly to ensure I am not forced to drive through them by oncoming cars.

Am I alone in observing that four-by-four vehicles force me into taking to the mud, potholes and soft verges as they leave a full two feet clear of any such hazard? It would seem that unless they are farm Landrovers, the ‘almost saloon’ four-by-fours seem to consider that it is infra dig to get their wheels dirty, and that I must be a ‘Towny’ driving a saloon car, and should therefore expect to dirty my wheels and be scuffed by hawthorn branches! I was driving with consideration, yet these same drivers rarely held up a hand in thanks, yet every saloon car that I either slowed or stopped for, waved in grateful acknowledgement.

I was never to see a kite or buzzard for the rest of the day. I captured landscapes in the main, before passing the River Lea at East Hyde where I decided to stop as the bridge was thronged by stopped vehicles and people gazing across the fields. I spotted the heron in the far distance, and later a Little Egret, and I took a chance to change from my 70-200mm to the 100-400mm and was lucky enough to catch sight of him beyond a pair of swans, and on the second occasion of it flying, managed to get two shots before bad light stopped play.

As I climbed the hill beyond, the sun was setting behind a large tree, and a father and son pair of cyclists stopped alongside for a refreshing drink after the climb, which meant a nice silhouette or two to round off the afternoon.

Christmas Day at Babraham

Jonah’s Family Christmas – Babraham

Once again, I was honoured by being invited to join Jonah, Catherine, Holly, Poppy, Carla, Paul, Carol and Barry for Christmas Day. I arrived after midday through my losing track of time despite being woken at just after seven, having only retired to bed after two the same morning! For the first time for a very long time it was a Christmas Day that was bathed in bright sunshine, so the journey over was very pleasant and rather than having Classic FM on, I was treating myself to a CD of varied recordings that were my personal favourites.

The last track had not finished playing when I reversed in through the lodge gates, so since this was one of my all-time Rock greats, there was no way I was going to cut off Free as they played ‘It’s All Right Now’ full blast with plenty of Bass, so I continued with my rhythmic pounding of the steering wheel, and foot stomping till the very end, little realising I was the subject of an iPhone movie directed by Holly from within the house!

I gathered all my presents and gear, and tried ringing the bell, and knocking, but finally opened the door and joined the family throng. There were hugs all around, followed by a swapping of gifts and we soon found ourselves gathered in the kitchen which glowed from the bright winter sunlight streaming through the windows. We later moved out to the lounge to chat and watch Holly and Poppy practised playing a game of table netball, and excited chatter soon filled the air as many of the presents were opened and discussed.

To make way for the repast to follow several of us took a walk to view a new housing estate then back to the High Street, where I grabbed a shot of the words beneath a statue to  Jonas Webb before continuing to follow other public rights of way and along the side of the fairly fast flowing Granta river, passing a both a bridge and weir before crossing one after the Babraham main house and entering a churchyard. The principal reason for taking the shot of the statue’s inscription was in case I could somehow use it in relation to Jonah, however Paul and I were both intrigued as to who this man might be; it turns out he bred a new strain of the previously rare Southdown sheep he had bought from a Sussex farmer which seems to have become one of the predominant breeds in this country and around the world. In wandering amongst the graves we came across members of his family buried in the churchyard.
Noting the flow of the Granta beneath the nearby bridge, it behoved us to play Pooh Sticks, before choosing to walk further along till we reached a security gate for the Institute – there was a contemplation to walk beyond and through the grounds, but we resisted the temptation, though nevertheless this still attracted the interest of a security patrol, so we had a friendly banter with him before returning the way we came. By the time we arrived back at the lodge, Carol and Barry had arrived and Jonah and Catherine had the table laid so after further present-opening we sat down to savour the fruits of their labour. There is nothing like a brisk walk in the fresh air to work up an appetite, which made space for us to eat our fill and enjoy the spread before us and the sounds of much laughter soon filled the room.
We played games such as Articulate and Charades to more hilarity, and I continued to take pictures and display them on the iPad as they were taken, this may have let the lads down through a lack of total concentration on my part as the Lads lost to the Lassies after a close fought battle. In Charades, it rapidly became the Carla and Paul Show as the rest of us were no match for either of them. Sadly all good things come to an end and Carol and Barry were soon bidding us farewell, and I was concerned that Holly and Poppy were due to be up very early the following morning, and the lounge was to be their bedroom, so it was not long before I was doing my round of thank-yous and heading for the door and the drive home; this time to the more sedate sounds of Classic FM and the increasing amount of rain.

Sawston Village Concert – Trinity College

As a family we all headed for the centre of Cambridge and grabbed a quick snack before making our way to Trinity College Chapel in light drizzle. We were all looking forward to listening to the choirs, in particular obviously the one in which Holly and Poppy were performing, and for us to join in.

We had to queue for a short while outside, which gave us a chance to catch up on news, before finding seats from which to get a good view of the girls. I had hoped I might be able to photograph the proceedings, and simply took a handful of shots before the service started, but the first announcement that was made was no mobile electronic devices or cameras during the service, so I confined myself to taking shots afterwards to add to those I managed beforehand.

As we came out into the vestibule I took shots of the beautiful statues and the magnificent organ, whilst waiting for the girls to ready themselves for the return, and it was now no longer a drizzle outside, but a downpour! So reaching the cars in the car park was very welcome. The service was well-organise, beautifully sung and the harp playing was excellent, my only disappointment was that there had not been a raised platform for this instrument such that the audience could have seen the harpist at work. One piece she played managed to sound like a plucked Lute or Mandolin, which I found very unusual, and in conversation I learned I was not alone in this thought.