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I am currently working on three books – North Downs Landscapes is complete and we’re doing final proof reading so it can go to the printers for publication in March – very exciting!
I’m well on the way with Norfolk images but want to get there to get some good wintry shots, preferably with snow. There are also seals on Blakeney Point that would be good to capture in a photo, but it’s a good 4 hour journey….
And I’ve made a good start on Yorkshire,but only covered the west side so far. Also I must have snowy shots and bleak moorland, and it’s snowy up there currently. The weather forecast isn’t good, and every time it is I seem to be have the something already booked (there’s always a balance with domestic life and other work). However I need to get on with it, so I got up at 5am this morning and drove up to Helmsley on the southern edge of the Yorkshire Moors, taking a chance on the light and weather. Had an easy, though long, drive and stopped at Thirsk for breakfast at Weatherpoon’s, which was excellent and very good value. The snow started as I reached the edge of the Moors and there were moments when a weak sun showed itself, only to be consumed by dark clouds again. There is also that grey mist that makes everything feel even colder than the 0 degrees it is.
The road to Helmsley climbs nearly 500 feet up Sutton Bank where everything was white and frosted. I stopped at the closed National Park Centre, where volunteers were doing maintenance work, and a nice local lady advised me to walk to the nearby lookout. According to the noticeboards, it is ‘The best view in England!’, which might be a slight exaggeration, but then the weather didn’t help.
So, following my final trip to Folkestone earlier this month, my luck with winter weather remains poor, and I’m having to work hard to get interesting images. A shaft of light makes all the difference. There was one moment today when I could have got a spectacular pic of the sun emerging from clouds, but I was driving and couldn’t stop.
Anyway, it all looks very atmospheric and often lovely, if dark, and Helmsley is a very sweet place and probably nicer for it being off-season.
I drove to Rievaulx Abbey and climbed over the locked gate and walked around it. The snow sitting on the dark ruins created a nice contrast.
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On the tops, the moors look very wintry indeed, with wind-blasted snow and black skeletal trees fading into the murky distance.
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I’m staying at The Feathers in Helmsley, which is a nice, well managed, busy pub and am sitting on my bed after dinner as I write this. Tomorrow’s forecast is for dark clouds & snow so it won’t be easy to get good images. I think I’ll go and look at Hutton-le-Hole, unless it’s too snowy – I don’t want to get stuck!
Doug Kennedy – The Earth's fragile beauty sustains us
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