Postcards – Page 95 – TRAVEL WORDS

A walk in the past

West Penwith. The furthest west you can go on British mainland and where you will find Land’s End. An area which was once rich in mineral wealth and is therefore riddled with mine shafts and abandoned engine houses. It is also an area rich in megalithic and archaeological sites. Fields of standing stones, stone circles, rocks with holes in the middle and a quoit or two.

Staying near the former mining village of Pendeen which lies between the sea and moorland gave me a chance to explore this wild and rugged region. The sun shone brightly every day, although the accompanying wind from the north reduced the temperature to a mere 14°C and made walks on the exposed coastline ‘~~interesting~~‘ difficult to stand up in.

A rather more pleasant walk was inland to find Chûn Quoit and Chûn Castle (though the castle is reduced to a heap of stones as most of it was used to pave the streets of Penzance) as much of the route was along a sheltered lane with high Cornish hedges at either side.

Finding the start of the public bridleway was the first hurdle as it isn’t marked from the road, but consulting the Ordnance Survey map we had with us it appeared to start at the back of a group of houses/farm in Higher Bojewyan just around the corner from our cottage.

Continue reading A walk in the past

Bench series #27

For the month of July I’m looking for a bench with ‘Unusual Details’

(This month I want to see photos of a bench which is different to the norm. It may be the shape, style, length, height, colour, material or even location that attracts your attention)

Promenade de la Treille in the old town of Geneva overlooks the Bastions park. This is the most ancient walk of Geneva, created at the beginning of the 16th century. The square is lined by the longest bench of the world which is more than 120 metres long. It was built in 1767. It is made of 180 wooden boards. The Treille Walk is planted with many old chestnut trees. One of them (on the east side of the square) is the official “Spring tree:” when it gets its first leaf, the spring season is officially declared in Geneva.

If you would like to join in with the Bench photo challenge then please take a look at my Bench Series page. No complicated rules, just a bench and a camera required 🙂

Create your own post and title it Bench Series: July
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 August.

My Picks of the Week:

The last ones in the post-editing theme come from Tgeriatrix who has been playing around with different effects on picnic benches that look like toadstools.
Polianthus (a newcomer so please make her welcome) introduces us to an old-fashioned double exposure effect.
Warning: Sunglasses required if you pop over to Lisa (Daily Musings) who takes a whimsical approach to the challenge this week. (Or she’s been listening to Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band too many times)
And another newcomer joins us this week with her Spanish bench in a tranquil courtyard. I hope you’ll say “Hi” to Swagata.
My final choice comes from Pauline who has taken a lot of pleasure over her ‘painting’ of Silver Birches

Thanks to everyone who contributed during the ‘arty’ month of June. Nice to see all those different effects 😀

The difference a year makes…

Last year I was involved in a fascinating project run by Lisa of the blog NorthWest Frame of Mind to show what was happening in different parts of the world at the same time of day. One of the most interesting and challenging projects I have participated in. Anyway, one of my ‘hours‘ was to show the back of my Ludlow house and the abandoned allotment.

Last year poppies flourished and all matter of ~~weeds~~ wild-flowers grew. This year the plot is smothered in Valerian of all shades – deep red, deep pink and even white. Of the poppies there has been no sign. But the most magnificent rambling rose is tumbling over the wall and the potting shed has practically disappeared from view as the ivy reclaims it.

Last Year

Wild flowers flourish

Nature reclaims

The demise of the potting-shed

This Year

Lovely elderflowers

Beautiful roses

Valerian on the wall

White Valerian

Somewhere amongst this there is a potting shed

And a neigbourhood cat has claimed it for his crash-pad.

I shall link this post to the WPC Muse as Ludlow seems to have been a major source of inspiration for my photography over the last four years. The history of this Medieval town is fascinating; its importance hundreds of years ago when royalty lived in and visited the castle; the battles fought here in the War of the Roses. Its very position on the Marches – the turbulent Welsh/English border. With the rolling countryside surrounding the town and the wonderful open-air markets selling local produce along with all the festivals held each year this place has contributed enormously to my blog. I just hope I haven’t bored you 😀

Pendeen Watch

It was our first day in Bojewyan – a bright cornflower blue sky, cloudless and bright. Though the wind was sharp for the time of year and lazy at that as it cut straight through you. We walked the mile into Pendeen for a cooked breakfast at Heather’s café and sat outside in the minuscule courtyard, sheltered from the wind, basking in the sun and ate a full English along with a mango smoothie, followed by a flat white. It tasted good. It felt good. And it set us up for our stroll down to the coast to look for a lighthouse.

Looking back at Pendeen from the lighthouse road

It’s only about a mile, but it took us a while as we stopped every few yards to take a photograph. So much to stop and look at. Chimneys on the horizon of abandoned and disused tin mines. Drystone walls brimming with wild flowers. A ruined cottage. The sea. Interesting gates featuring roses and an engine house. Continue reading Pendeen Watch

Bench series #26

For the month of June I’m looking for a bench with ‘Art Effects’

lake burley griffin — Split screen, monochrome and colour – Lake Burly Griffin, Canberra

(This month I want to see photos with some post-processing – use your imagination, it can be subtle or bold as long as it includes a bench or even part of a bench!)

If you would like to join in with the Bench photo challenge then please take a look at my Bench Series page. No complicated rules, just a bench and a camera required 🙂

Create your own post and title it Bench Series: June
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 July.

This is your last chance to post your arty benches as next week we move on to another theme 🙂

And for those of you who are interested here is the original:

DSCF8549 — Cropped at right-hand side to reposition the Carillion more to the right and the pathway on the left. Contrast adjusted, then Creative effect ‘Helena’ applied in Pixlr which splits the image into two B&W sections and a colour section in the middle.

My Picks of the Week:

Karen has been playing around with arty effects. See if there is anything you fancy here.
Jo sneaked in with some delightful edits at the end of last week and only a slight hint of rebelliousness.
Aletta has produced a pretty effect with her bench
Gilly has gone Gothic on me and Lisa (Daily Musings) has created a comic-book effect that is rather impressive. Finally one from Sylvia which is not only an amazing photo, but also beautifully enhanced.

Thanks to everyone for joining in with the creative benches, I have enjoyed seeing the results of you clever, artistic people and realise I need to ~~play with~~ learn how to use software editing packages.