Happy New Year

Thanks to you all for your kind comments in 2009 and and a happy new year to you all for 2010!

Here are my last pictures from 2009 taken today. They are: Blue Tit, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Pied Wagtail, Starling and Woodpigeon.

Local Churches No 1: Pool Quay

I think that Churches are wonderful historic buildings and are of course very photogenic (as are the graveyards). So I'm going to - over the next few months - photograph as many of my local Churches as possible. I started today in the freezing fog!
This is the first: St John the Evangelist, Church in Wales, Pool Quay. Built in 1862. I don't know any more about than that I'm afraid!

Pied Wagtail

Taken in my garden today.

A nice little bird.

Boxing Day Walk

I Went for a Boxing Day walk today with my daughter along the Montgomery Canal which passes literally about 50 yards from my home.

The photo's for some reason looked okay on my camera but transferring to my PC were all underexposed!

Still, I've fiddled about with them a bit to try and get them looking passable.

Hope you like them.

Weather report for the day: 5c (42f) with a stiff and chilly breeze. All the snow has now melted but more is predicted for Tuesday.

Happy Christmas

I was hoping to take some nice photo's today as there is quite a bit of snow about locally, but after a pretty hectic morning at work (I'm a postman) followed by the Christingle service at my local Church it was well after dark before I'd settled down. I had to pop out in my car at about 6pm (it's dark at 4) and decided to take my camera with me.

The weather was foggy and the temp was 1c (33f) and all I could take was these couple of gloomy pictures of the gloom.

Personally I like fog (not good for driving in though obviously) but there is something eerie and very still about it.

Anyhow - happy Christmas!

Starlings

I took this shot a few months ago and stumbled across it yesterday. It's not much of a shot really but I think that it shows a little bit of the 'character' of Starlings.
A lot of people for some reason don't like Starlings, they say that they are 'dirty' birds and somebody told me recently that he shoots Starlings because they spread diseases!
But I like them, they are very colourful (especially in sunlight) and real characters with their squabbling and whistling.
I have some in my garden at the moment and will look out for them and hopefully post more 'Starling shots' soon.

Breidden Woods

On our way up to Rodney's Pillar last week we walked through the Breidden Woods.

In this area there is apparently an Iron age hill fort with connections to Caractacus. Although I didn't see it (maybe I should have looked harder).

Hope you enjoy the few pics I took

Rodney's Pillar

I went for a walk today with my five year old daughter to Rodney's Pillar.

This is a monument on the Breidden Hill to the Admiral Rodney of the British Navy and was built in 1782 to celebrate the Admiral's victory over the French fleet in the West Indies. The ships used in the battle were apparently built from the oak trees of the Breidden Hill area.

It was a seven mile drive from my home followed by a walk up to the top of twelve hundred feet.

And it never rained until we got back to the car!

Out and About

Out and about with my youngest two children last weekend I took these few photo's.

A Dark Day at Lake Vyrnwy

I went to Lake Vyrnwy today. I tried to take pictures of some birds there from the bird hide but the day was so very dark that I really needed a tripod because of the slow shutter speeds. I didn't have one but managed to salvage one bird pic. It's a Chaffinch.
We've had lots and lots of rain here recently and I photographed the water coming from the dam (which was built in about 1880 I think). It's still raining as I type this four hours later actually and more is forecast for tonight and tomorrow. It was by general opinion a 'miserable' day with rain, wind and a chilly 5c (41f), but as I may have mentioned previously I have a bit of a soft spot for the so called 'poor' weather - although when you don't see the sun sometimes for weeks on end it can get a smidge depressing!

The Last Days of Autumn

We're being battered by some pretty dark and stormy weather at the moment. There's a mixture of blue skies, dark skies, drizzle, heavy rain, occasional (very) glimpses of the sun - and all accompanied by a seemingly permanently howling gale (gusts up to 80mph reported). This has been going on for about a week now with no let up apparently for at least several days more - but at least it's mild with max temps around about 13c (55f).
But I for one love the stormy weather, it's traditional British autumn weather, so here are a few pictures taken over the last couple of days by myself - during breaks in the rain!

Look Around

On making the short journey today from my mother's house to the local park (200 yds?) with my dogs and two of my children I took these photo's of some of the rickety old buildings in my town. I don't normally take much notice of them as I'm used to them and never give them a second look really. But I think that in future I'll have a bit of a look around and take some more. It's surprising what's about!

School Run

I took these having dropped my daughter off at school yesterday morning - always handy to have the camera in the car!

The railway line is the Welshpool to Llanfair light railway (steam).