Photo Challenge – Page 183

Wintery Blues

Following a thread posted on my visit to Stonehenge I noticed that I had commented on my Avebury post that I still had to have a look at a local stone circle in Shropshire: Mitchell’s Fold Stones. That comment was made in March 2014.

So on Saturday, in bright sunshine I decided to take the shortish drive (25 miles) to find these stones. As we turned off the road and approached White Grit (Powys) the covering of snow on the lane alerted me to the fact that maybe this was not such a good idea.

Continuing up the lane to the car park with the ice/skid light illuminating on my dashboard I hoped that I would be able to turn around at the end. Reversing down this track was not really an option. The sun was still shining, though there was an ominous black cloud in my rear mirror.

As with many prehistoric sites Mitchell’s Fold is subject of legend. It is said that a fairy gave a magic cow in times of famine which produced an endless supply of milk. An evil witch tried to milk her into a sieve, and realising the trick the cow disappeared. The witch was turned into a stone and a circle of stones was built to ensure she could not escape.

The stone circle is not too far from the parking area, but the temperature was somewhere around 2°C and the wind was raw. The landscape (that which was still visible) looked amazing. Wrapping up in scarves and gloves and hiking boots we headed up towards the stones, which were sadly hidden in the blizzard that then hit us!

I tried – honest I did, but I can’t say that this was my best photographic venture despite risking frostbite.

Oh, well, I will try again in the summer – this vista is well-worth exploring, stones or no stones! And there are barrows and cairns in the area too.

(This stone circle was constructed in the Bronze Age, over 3,000 years ago, using dolerite stones from Stapeley Hill. Today there are 15 stones arranged in a rough circle, but there may have been as many as 30).

If you enjoy a walk, long or short, then have a look at Jo’s site where you are welcome to join in.

Bench series #3

Still on the Garden theme:

If you would like to join in with the Bench photo challenge then take a look at my Bench Series page where you will find everything you want to know (haha if only…)

Create your own post and title it Bench Series: January
Include a link to this page in your post so others can find it too
Add the tag ‘bench series’ so everyone can find the benches easily in the WP Reader
Get your post in by the end of the month, as the new bench theme comes out on the first Sunday in February

I look forward to resting my feet all around the world!

Have a look at Sydney’s Botanic Garden with Elizabeth
Debbie takes us to Kew Gardens in London
Pauline shows us all the benches in her beautiful rainforest garden.
Gilly is relaxing in Penshurst Place on a beautiful summers day.
Ailsa shows us a very unusual bench in the green of a lawn in Charlston
and Meg shows us one complete with a cow!

Thanks folks for joining in so I don’t feel like “Billy no-mates”

Serenity on the Norfolk Broads

Grey sky blushes pink

All is calm on the water

Crested Grebes head home

R G Menzies Evening Walk

During my trip to Australia I managed to have a couple of days in Canberra, Australia’s capital city, though many people think that it is Sydney. Canberra gets a bad deal I think, from a tourism POV, mainly because it is full of politicians and museums! But the attraction for me (apart from having a granddaughter living there), is the chance to wander around the many galleries and museums scattered around the lovely Lake Burley Griffin, named after Walter Burley Griffin, the American architect who won the competition to design the city of Canberra.

On our arrival in the city, my son and I stretched our legs by walking a short distance around the lake and enjoying the early evening sunshine. We parked at one end of the R G Menzies Walk and set off towards the National Carillon. You can see it in the distance, situated on Aspen Island.

‘I cannot honestly say that I liked Canberra very much; it was to me a place of exile; but I soon began to realize that the decision had been taken, that Canberra was and would continue to be the capital of the nation, and that it was therefore imperative to make it a worthy capital; something that the Australian people would come to admire and respect; something that would be a focal point for national pride and sentiment. Once I had converted myself to this faith, I became an apostle …’

Sir Robert Menzies – Senate Select Committee Report,
‘Development of Canberra’, September 1955

The R.G. Menzies Walk was named in acknowledgement of Sir Robert Menzies’ crucial contribution to the development of the nation’s capital, Canberra. During his second term as Prime Minister (1949–66), he committed his government to the task of creating a capital worthy of the nation.

The Captain Cook Memorial Globe uses meridians of longitude and parallels of latitude to form an open-cage globe, with landmasses depicted in beaten bas-relief copper. The three routes of Cook’s voyages, with explanations of ports of call, are inscribed on the surrounding handrail.

At the Nerang Pool we wandered away from the lakeside path and into the bush and marshland around the pool where we viewed wonderfully clear reflections of the white gum trees in the early evening light, found some stepping-stones leading to a ‘waterfall’, wandered past a pretty ‘Smoke Tree’ and watched a colony of rabbits nibbling at the lawns.

Looping back onto the lakeside path we came across a statue of Menzies on the foreshore and a convenient bench to sit and admire the view across the lake to the National Library, Questacon, National Gallery and the Kings Avenue Bridge.

The path is used by walkers, joggers, cyclists and skateboarders, so watch out when taking photos or you might lose a limb! If you look carefully at the duck photo you will see that the female leading her chicks back to the grass is hissing at a passing cyclist. The light was truly lovely at this time of the day with lengthening shadows and golden light.

National Carillon bell tower

Telstra Tower in the distance

Sun flares around Man Fishing

Ducks Crossing

This walk is only about 5 km return and took us about an hour and a half. It is easy-going, being quite flat and most of the route is accessible by wheelchair. There are many other interesting things to see on this side of the lake including statues, sculptures and memorials and also the National Bonsai and Penjing Collection, and it is the site of the annual Floriade, a major flower festival held each spring. (And those of you who know me know how much I’d love to be here then!)

[The lake is nine kilometres long and the lakeshore is 40.5 kilometres in length. Yass-Canberra was chosen as the site for the national capital on 8 October 1908. The city owes its origins to an international design competition won in 1912 by the American architect, Walter Burley Griffin. Today, Canberra is known as one of the world’s great planned national capitals, along with Washington DC, Ottawa and Brasilia.]

If you enjoy a walk, long or short, then have a look at Jo’s site where you are welcome to join in.

Bench series #2

It would appear from the comments left on last week’s bench that this is a topic close to the heart of many photographers (and there I was thinking that I was unique 😕 ) and that many of you would love to join in. So let’s go for it…

Please click on the Bench Photo Challenge for some simple guidelines and the proposed monthly themes

For the month of January let’s see your GARDEN benches

This is taken from a seat, but there is another one in the picture if you look very carefully.

Create your own post and title it Bench Series: January
Include a link to this page in your post so others can find it too
Add the tag ‘bench series’ so everyone can find the benches easily in the WP Reader
Get your post in by the end of the month, as the new bench theme comes out on the first Sunday in February