Yorkshire Dales National Park

I love the tee-shirt that says "All those who wander are not lost". At breakfast this morning Julie and I decided that we were not up for driving to some local lord's manor to pay an admission fee to see his house. We were up for taking advantage of the promise of the BBC of clearing skies as the afternoon unfolded. After a wonderful pub lunch at the Three Greyhounds we headed off to the east to the Yorkshire Dales National park. Julie and I love to do this at home in our beloved Blueridge and today's adventure did not disappoint. We wandered all day through this glorious region and were treated to some beautiful scenery. We definitely expeirened many Hills and Dales. So...lets see the pictures.

Today was another tripod day as I was attempting to get pictures as sharp as possible. My new Nikon D7200 is preforming nicely and the 18-300mm lens is very sharp in spite of the large focal length. It is nice to be not changing lenses all the time. The park region has very few cars in comparison to our parks but it is filled with walkers.  Stopping by the side of the road did not turn into a problem. This does look like a wonderful place to walk the public foot paths. After a long day your destination is one of the many pubs catering to walkers.  Hike and Brew - I like it!.

I must say I have never seen so many sheep and so many varieties. Instead of the Bird Guide I picked up I should have picked up a Sheep Guide. As we drove through the countryside we came across a shepherd training his border collie. What fun to listen to the whistles and calls and have the dog run through his paces. These are one smart breed of dog.

The rural life of these folk appears to be absolutely idyllic. It is so desirable that rural property and rural village homes have sky-rocketed in price.  Our humble farm owners who have renovated the space we are staying in are both chemical engineers working for Proctor and Gamble. An Audi sports car has replaced a tractor in the farm yard.  Like so many Americans, a commute to work must be a small price to pay for living their dream.

Say hello to Squirrel Nutkin! We were lucky to see one of the rare Red Squirrels that resides on this farm. Red squirrel signs are everywhere cautioning you to slow down and be careful of them. Hey in my neighborhood people speed up when a squirrel crosses the road. These Reds were almost eliminated over the years and now, as protected, are making a come back. Gray Squirrels - look out - residents are urged to shoot them.

Tonight I am determined to take a flashlight and find a hedgehog. I'm woking on my Beatrix Potter "life list". With that thought, I'll leave you until tomorrow. Bye for now!

The Picturesque Lake District of England

A forecast of afternoon rain motivated Julie and I to get on the road and drive through the beautiful Lake district. The scenery is absolutely stunning. As the driver of our rented Vauxhall it was difficult to keep my eyes on the road as I crested the hills and was struck by the scenes unfolding. We were not treated to any sunshine but we were happy to have a break in the rain. 

Photographing in this gray weather presents challenges but rewards us with a muted pallet of colors and shades that are very pleasing to the eye. This was a day to get out the tripod and try some serious landscape photos. My new software has a panorama “stitching feature” which I was able to try, and is demonstrated in the photos below. 

a note on driving through the countryside-

English country roads are very narrow and require learning new rules of driving etiquette. Many roads are too narrow for two cars to pass side by side. If you see a car coming towards you, you look for a small “way-bye” to pull off and let the other driver pass. I place emphasis on “Small Way-Bye”. If your oncoming driver has done this for you, you pass them giving the obligatory wave of thanks. If neither driver pulls off you continue facing each other with a determined posture until one driver gives in and backs up to a way-bye. These confrontations do not usually generate the “thank you wave”. My New Jersey aggressive driving skills serve me well in these situations. Many of the cars we see have a feature that automatically retracts the side view mirror to assist in these passes. So far so good with the driving yet I am glad I purchased the extended full coverage option on the insurance. 

This following picture is of a working ford where the road passes right through a small stream. We are treated to a vision of days gone by as this was the way you crossed a river for thousands of years. Think of all the names of towns that have ford in them i.e. Gilford, Bradford etc. 

Thanks for following my blog. Hope you are having a nice DRY day. Oh yes, I can't forget the bird of the day...this lovely female Pheasant. Cheerio!

Roman Occupation and their Northern Border- Hadrian’s Wall

We all have our bucket lists in life and Julie and I share a few items in common. We both have had a desire to walk Hadrian’s Wall, the ancient barrier between England and Scotland. Now my vision has always been my pack on my back, hiking stick in hand, singing away as I go “Val-de-re….Val-de-ra” as I trek from my B&B.  In this vision I am 35 years old, 50 pounds lighter and a well oiled machine. This is not exactly how it came down today at the creaky age of 68 but it was a wonderful day just the same. We awoke to sunshine and took off on a hour and a half drive north-east to the village of Birdoswald. We were met by Julie’s cousin Christine who drove over from Durham to spend the day with us. 

Our arrival at the wall and the beautiful view was all that we anticipated. The rolling pastoral hills run off to the horizon with the stone wall, built of chiseled block, appearing like a ribbon laid out on the land. For 300 hundred years during the Roman rule of Britannia the wall stood as the Northern most border of the Roman Empire. The extent of the empire at this zenith stretched to present day Iraq and south to the Sahara desert. The border at this point runs 73 miles (80 Roman miles) at the narrowest point on the land.

There has been much research on the Roman rule and it continues most actively today. New finds as recently as 2014 can be seen from the active dig in a beautiful museum at the Vindolanda site. We visited two portions of the wall, that of the fort at Birdoswald and the main base of operations at Vindolanda. The main base housed barracks for the three legions that  occupied the area, baths, storage buildings and an extensive home for the commander of the force and his family. An active dig was in progress and we just happened to meet the director of research who we later recognized as the principal in the recent National Geographic film. As I talked with him at the edge of the dig he explained that thinking about the wall has changed in recent years. The long held idea of a barrier to keep out the raiding Picts and Scots is true but it served much more as a gate for controlling trade and collecting taxes. Military bases and the villages to support them are being discovered pointing to the great number of people who resided in this area. While I stood at the site one of the student archeologists gave out a shout  of excitement as she dug up a roman coin. This site is unique in the study of the Roman Empire as it is the largest and most extensive archeological dig of a border site for the empire.

The building skills of the Romans are legend and this site does not disappoint. We learned how the local population would have been involved in the construction. Roman masons would have trained skilled workers over many generations. The Romans during the later period of their occupation would have also brought strong Christian influence. When the Romans withdrew in the 400’s they would have left a skilled labor force who then deconstructed the Roman buildings and built the magnificent Homes, Cathedrals and Abbeys which remain today. 

A days visit to the wall of course does not do it justice  but our little glimpse of this period added to our fascination with travel and history. It was a lovely reunion with Christine. We had a nice pub lunch together and said goodbyes with the hope of seeing each other again in the future. Christine, who owns with her husband a craft brewery, left me a gift of a case of wonderful beer samples from her brewery. I can’t bring these home so my work is cut out for me over the next week and a half. 

Julie and I drove back to our cottage in hopes of some good weather for the rest of the week and a good nights rest. We were light on the  hiking today but not light on the memories. Strolling, history, photography  and a partner to share it with is a pleasant pursuit of which I feel truly blessed.

Windermere, Peter Rabbit and the Lake District

Awaking to a drizzly day did not discourage Julie and I  but sent us off on a search for properties of the National Trust. We prepared a light breakfast in our cottage of "egg in a cup" lovely crumpets and of course tea. I couldn't resist taking a picture of the bird feeder hanging outside our window and feeding my well known bird obsession.

This little fellow is a Blue Tit, a bird we do not have in the USA. This beautiful Pheasant seems to hang out at the floor of the feeder picking up scraps falling from above. 

Our drive today took us to the home of William Wordsworth. Those non-poetry fans will remember from high school english class his beautiful poems such as Clouds aka Daffodils.

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o’er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

The 18th Century Wordsworth is revered throughout England and was selected by queen Victoria to be the Crown's Poet Laureate. William at a ripe old age said to the queen you must choose a younger man. Why not Tennyson? She insisted and he accepted under the condition that he would not be forced to write poetry; it must come from inspiration. She agreed and gave him a handsome salary which he enjoyed for the remainder of his long life. The problem was, he was never again was inspired and wrote no poetry from that point on. As a comfortable retiree, not having to work, I can relate to this problem.

We then headed through the lake district stopping for our pub lunch and then off to Lake Windermere. The Lake operates a small cable ferry and we decided to take it across the lake and take some photos.

The Lake district is indeed beautiful, even on a rainy day. The area is an attraction to holiday walkers who take advantage of the many public footpaths and walk from town to town. As we met walkers all togged out in their rain suits we realized that wet weather is the norm and not for the faint of heart.

Our next stop was the home of Beatrix Potter and her lovely stories about animals which I had read my children and am now reading to my grandchildren. Her cottage home is on the National Trust and is surrounded by her garden, home to Peter Rabbit and Mr McGregor.

As we toured the Potter home we learned about this enterprising spinster who was an accomplished artist and business women. Her books were so successful that she used the money to buy adjacent farms to protect her property which would be left to the nation in her will. She left all the rights to her work to a good friend who later sold them to Penguin books who capitalizes on her work to this day. This is not the picture of the reclusive simple artist portrayed in the recent movie about her life. Her legacy will live on for future generations to enjoy.

As we headed home for the evening after a wet but busy day we are reminded that tomorrow is the national election here in Britain. Throughout the towns we have been seeing these tasteful signs promoting local candidates standing for election tomorrow. The party with the largest number of wining candidates will be given the opportunity to choose a prime minister and run country. The national is abuzz however with the fact that there most likely will not be a majority party win and the parties with the most votes will be forced to form a coalition government. England is very tough on sign laws so the political signs are temporary and are unobtrusive. I can't say the same for the retoric on the radio and TV. More on this tomorrow night.  

We end our day after a lovely visit with our cottage neighbors who invited us in for glass of wine. We had much in common with each other through our travels and we enjoyed a delightful chat that went on for a long time. I sit tonight in the little outbuilding that serves as a laundry and the WiFi modum. Such is my dedication to reflecting on my day and sharing this blog. Tomorrow we are off to Hadrian's Wall further north. 

Arriving in Eden Valley, Cumbria

After a long day of air travel and a three hour drive Julie and I have arrived at our first destination in the Eden Valley. We have rented a farm cottage nestled in a rural valley situated between the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales. As the English say it has been dipping it down with rain the whole drive however a hole in the clouds opened up for a quick run around for pictures.

Julie and I have thoroughly enjoyed on our prior trips these rural jaunts. The townsfolk you run into are delightful, very helpful and interested in these American tourists who have come so far to visit their small village. We stopped by a local pub for an early dinner to find that cooking doesn't start until 6PM. Being jet lagged and looking for an early night Julie negotiated buying two steak and kidney pies with all the trimmings to take home and cook ourselves in our cottage.

We have quickly learned how dependent we have become on all our gadgets and internet devices. I'll be limiting picture posts for a few days as we are relying on slow dial up internet service. We're happy to be here safe and sound. We enjoyed our Virgin Atlantic first class flight and looking forward to todays drive to the lakes. Ta Ta for now!

The Village of Appleby-in-Westmorland, Cumbria

Its all Free Range here in the Eden Valley. Even a light hearted traffic sign said "Caution Free Range Children"

Julie at the entrance to our Farm Cottage. A lovely renovated cow barn, Those of you who know Julie's love of cows will appreciate us living in their previous home.

Wales the Lake District and points North

Julie & Stan's Adventures through England 2015

This Monday, May 4th, Julie and I are off again on a driving tour of the backroads of England and Wales. This years trek will take us from Manchester airport up to the beautiful Lake district, a jaunt up to Hadrian's wall, a stop off in the Midlands and then over to Snowdonia in Wales.

I'll be posting pictures daily of our adventures along with my witty and astute commentary. Join us on this adventure by visiting wowpixels.blogspot.com. Ta Ta for now, Cheerio!

I have an unexplained fascination with birds

I'm sorry I just can't help it. I think its because they can do things we can't do - like fly. It may be the fact that they come in so many varieties . You never know when you might see a new one, or catch one in a behavior you haven't seen before. They are a challenge to photograph. They're tiny, they flit around and they never seem to be out in the open or in the right light. Then when you get one posing just right, you have the wrong camera aperture, shutter speed or ISO setting. In short they're frustrating. That's why after hundreds of bird shots I only seem to have a few shots worth sharing. I suppose I could have worse obsessions.

Pileated Woodpecker

Nuthatch

Northern Cardinal -male

Northern Cardinal - female

Carolina Wren

Mountain Bluebird

Praire Warbler

Eastern Bluebird

Northern Flicker

Blue Gray Gnat Catcher

Downy Woodpecker

Tufted Titmouse

Chaffinch -England

Red Bellied Woodpecker

 House Finch

Catbird

 American Goldfinch - Winter

American Robin

English House Sparrow

This one has a name - "Kevin"