Catching up at the Clog

Lunchtime was an opportunity to catch up with Paul and Bev and enjoy a relaxed lunch at the Clog & Billycock, one of our favourite places for good quality food. The menus at the Clog are packed with traditional dishes, many are regional and all are made with locally sourced ingredients - perfect for a leisurely lunch with good friends.

Over our main courses such as my steak & kidney pudding we found out about Paul's plans for May: travelling to Venice along with a group of friends from the Army, who are cycling from the UK to raise money for charity.

Paul's role is that of official event photographer, and you have to admire his dedication to the cause: he's learning to ride a motorbike so he can keep up with the lads and document their efforts properly. With the planned route taking in several countries along the way, and some of the steepest climbs in the Alps, it's certainly some challenge but promises to be a great experience too!

Whitehall Park

My two visits to the cemetery so far in Darwen have produced some photos for the competition that I'm reasonably happy with, but wandering around an old cemetery isn't particularly inspiring. Just alongside the old cemetery though is Whitehall Park, one of three areas of parkland in Darwen, and just like the others, planned and laid out in the late Victorian period.

Despite living in the area all my life, this was another place I'd never explored, so with a 'free' afternoon (Carole was at the hairdressers and then shopping with her mum so it could have been much worse - I could have been shopping with her) I packed all my gear and parked up near the back of the park, next to where footpaths stretch out onto the moors.




Perhaps the moors on this side of town will be explored another day; today's plan was to take a leisurely stroll through the park, with a secondary mission to look for some new pictures that were distinctively of Darwen in some way.

This was a little challenge I'd set all the camera club members when I launched our new website last month, with the aim of putting the best on the website as part of the main heading on each page, but refreshing them each month just to keep the site interesting.

The 16 acre park was created in phases, the first 14 acres being opened in 1879 with several smaller additions taking the park up to 16 acres by 1902. From what I can gather, the steeper end of the park bordering the moors beyond is the older part, one clue being the cast iron Lighbown Fountain presented by the town's mayoress in 1886.

Close by the fountain is another Victorian structure, the Catlow drinking fountain. Looking at some photos on the web this was in a sorry state only three to four years ago, however since then it has been restored and is now very impressive and a great subject to photograph.

Sadly the fountain itself no longer works, but as a Victorian iron canopy you'd struggle to find a better example.

Further down towards the main road and the park isn't as interesting, but without many people about it was easy to find some of the resident wildlife in the trees. A few minutes resting on a bench and they soon lost their shyness.

As for the photo for the website (which has to be strictly in 'letterbox' format), this was my effort - I need to give the other members a chance too, but I'm sure it will be on the site at some point later this year.


(Since taking this picture, I found a shot from Francis Frith's website dated 1955 taken from almost the same spot)

Meeting family for the first time

Over the last few years we've got to know Dad's cousin Lynne and her family very well since they relocated back in the UK from their former home in Perth, Australia. Dad has another cousin though, Paul, who still lives in Perth, but whenever he's been in the UK he's only been able to spend a short time with Dad and it's never worked out that I could meet him too. So when I heard he was over here with his wife Sheridan for a holiday I was looking forward to the chance to finally meet up.

We'd heard that Paul and Sheridan had planned their break in a remote part of the Lakes and that Sunday was a possibility for a get together over lunch, so provisional plans were made to meet up in Ambleside. I've known of them throughout my life, so it was great to be meeting them at last, and the added bonus was that I would be meeting their daughter Sarah (my second cousin). I knew Sarah had been living in London for the last year or so but again we'd never met so it was promising to be an exciting day!

Finalising plans proved a little challenging as Paul found out on arrival late the previous night that there's no mobile signal in Eskdale, but fortunately in the morning an old BT payphone was found in the village and lunch arrangements could be confirmed.

However they hadn't accounted for the winding lakeland roads, a delay due to an orienteering event blocking the lane plus couple of wrong turns too. It all meant we were outside the restaurant wondering if they would make it!

Anyway, the meal was booked for 1pm, and right on cue we heard they'd arrived and so we went to meet them on the car park. Straight away on the walk back I found out that Sarah actually works for the same company as me and Carole, proving that the world isn't as big as we think.

Over an excellent Sunday roast dinner there was plenty of chat as Carole and I began to get to know our new relatives, learning about their holiday plans, their work and finding out too about my other second cousin still in Australia, Michael.

The afternoon passed very quickly, and before long it was time to say goodbye with promises to keep in touch and meet up again. These days with wifi, internet enabled mobiles and the like there's no excuses!

Quiet please! we're birdwatching!

Another day off, a sunny day too, so with boots at the ready our destination today was Silverdale, in the north of the county. Over a packed lunch on a chilly picnic table at nearby Leighton Moss our plans changed, so rather than the 4 mile walk we'd thought of, instead we spent the day exploring the wetlands of the nature reserve. The network of paths meant we'd still enjoy a fair walk, and as well we could visit the hides and explore the scenery.


There's a variety of trails leading from the well equipped visitor centre (and cafe, which we tested later on), all leading to or passing a number of hides along the way.

The nearest hide is Lilian's hide, only a short walk from the visitor centre, so very convenient, especially if carrying some heavy gear as many of the birdwatchers inside were. Some of the lenses being trained on the birds on the lake outside put my basic telephoto to shame!

From Lilian's hide we found our bearings and then set off on the longest leg of all the trails out towards the causeway, a straight public bridleway cutting straight across the reedbeds. On the way a plump robin on a tree posed for photos - they must train the birdlife well here! Right in the middle of the mere is another large hide, though the wheelchair sign on the disabled entrance confused some in our group who thought it was a public toilet. At least we worked it out before any mishaps!

Aside from the gulls, geese and ducks, out on the island was a large cormorant but our cameras weren't powerful enough to capture it clearly.

The experts in the hides were becoming a little distracted though by our clumsiness and inability to identify anything but the simplest of ducks and our already short attention spans were starting to wane.

Before heading back though we visited the farthest hide in the reserve, and along the way we alost fell over a very tame pheasant on the path. This hide was the most disappointing though as even the birds considered it too far to bother with.

From here it was a long walk back to the visitor centre and the cafe for a little refreshment.




Out across the other side, there were two more hides to visit. Talking to some of the experts outside Tim Jackson's hide (why they are named after former work colleagues is a mystery) we learned about a Pintail to be seen, but the hide was a 'bit crowded' (our parents had already gone in). Not long after and not surprisingly we were the only people left inside, Mum was enthusiastically pointing out another duck as the rest of us prided ourselves for recognising a heron fishing on the opposite bank.

By now the real experts had learned to stay well clear of our group as we visited the last of the hides in the main reserve. There are a couple more by the coast about a mile down the road but we were thinking of food and decided to walk back to the cars and head back for a pub meal at the Boar's Head at Barton. There was plenty of laughter as we recollected our first (and perhaps last) attempt at birdwatching!

Introducing Martha

Beautiful baby Martha came into the world three weeks ago and we were delighted to have the chance to pop along to Lightwood to say hello to her. Julie looked really well and was pleased to see us and we had a lovely afternoon catching up and fussing over the baby. I even managed to hold Martha for a good while without making her cry!



The lighting in the conservatory meant I could use natural light with my fastest lens, and to avoid some bold colours in the backgrounds on certain shots all the pictures I took suited a mono conversion.


Before heading home, we took Jules and the baby down the hill to the Masons, probably the best pub in the Lakes, for a pub meal in front of a roaring fire - bliss!

The castle at Clitheroe

Clitheroe castle dates back to at least 1186 and perhaps even further back to the Domesday Book in 1086. It stands on a natural rock outcrop overlooking the Ribble Valley so its strategic importance is easy to understand.

The castle was a motte and bailey construction (the motte being the circular mound and bailey the courtyard and walls that surrounded it) with a square keep. and was originally defended by a moat, which has long since disappeared.

The walls of the square castle keep are still very much intact, although the floors have long gone, but as the basic shape of the castle is still in place the castle is a striking landmark for miles around.


From the castle walls there is normally a wonderful view around the Ribble Valley, including Pendle Hill, Longridge Fell and the Bowland Hills, however today the mist nmeant visibility was very poor and all the surrounding hills were completely obscured.

After a wander around the centre of town, including a visit to the excellent Emporium, we drove on to Bashall Eaves to visit the Barn farm shop - where there was also an opportunity to take a photo across the valley back to the castle, silhouetted in the mist against the dull sky. A leisurely way to spend a day off!

Cuerden Valley stroll

Our visits to local country parks continued today as we explored Cuerden Valley, a short drive away on the road to Leyland near Clayton Brook. Despite being only a few miles from home it's a place we'd never visited, so there was added interest for our walk.

The stroll from the car park was along a flat, straight path popular with dog walkers, not particularly inspiring at first but eventually a pond is passed before steering towards a wood and the River Lostock. Across a bridge over the river, we headed uphill towards the visitor centre and the large former Cuerden Hall, originally a wealthy family residence but during the wars it served as a hospital and then a command headquarters. Nowadays it is used as offices for the Central Lancashire Development Corporation.

Sadly the neighbouring orchard wasn't open to the public so after looking round the gardens we continued past the hall buildings and downhill back to the river. Across the river we found the lake, perhaps once an old reservoir for nearby mills, but nowadays a pleasant spot with plenty of ducks and geese looking to be fed.












On the way back to the car we got chatting to a chap walking a beautiful and shy dalmation dog, and, seeing my camera he explained that the park is home to kingfishers (Carole's desparate to see one) and even roe deer, who are often grazing in the spring and summer around sunrise. So, the challenge is to get up early one morning to get some wildlife images to be proud of!

On top of the Beacon

With the sun brightening the afternoon there was no excuse for staying in and with Kevan and Jean joining us along with Mum and Dad, we drove up to Beacon Fell for some fresh air and a little stroll.

Beacon Fell is one of the oldest country parks in the country, designated back in 1970. Over the forty years since it was created, a network of paths have been created through woods and around the top of the fell, and once we found somewhere to park (the fine weather meant the Fell was very popular today), there were plenty of routes to explore including a relatively easy climb to the summit.


The top of the fell is a modest 873ft above sea level, but as the main car parks around the visitor centre are not far from the top then the walk up to the trig point takes no time at all. The top is clear of trees and there are reasonable views west to the coast, north to the Bowland hills, most notably Fair Snape Fell and Parlick, and south to the Ribble Valley.

The summit proved popular with other visitors, meaning Dad couldn't get the shot of the trig point without people in the way, so we walked on eventually reaching the small picturesque tarn further round the fellside. From here there were several paths to choose from, leading through the woods and eventually back to the car park.

Cemetery photography

Darwen Civic Society run a photographic competition every spring, themed on the town in some way. This year's theme is Darwen Cemeteries throughout the year - not the easiest of subjects, and as the only locations available are the two public cemeteries at the southern end of the town then even the more picturesque church grounds would be off limits.

I'd never visited the western cemetery, so with some time to spare in the afternoon we went for a walk and a little look round. In all honesty it's not particularly inspiring, and with many of the older graves either vandalised or toppled by the council under daft health & safety rules there wasn't much to photograph either.



These are my best two efforts so far, one a wide-angle shot of some of the older standing gravestones under a broody sky, and another of some snowdrops growing happily inside the boudary stones of an old grave.

There's plenty of time until the May closing date, so with the chance of better weather and some springtime colour it's not a lost cause just yet!

A new website for the camera club

The author of the camera club's website hasn't wanted to do the job for a long time and as a result it hasn't been maintained all that much for well over a year now.

It's something I've been frustrated about because it's a missed opportunity to showcase the club and members, and, more importantly, attract new ones. So after sharing my thoughts on this recently I offered to do something about it, and things have moved very quickly since - I now have the site access rights and the challenge was set!

I can't profess to be a expert but I do some simple website maintenance at work, so it felt like I'd a fighting chance, and once I'd worked out how the webbuilder software works a new refreshed and completely redesigned site structure came together.


The site is now ready and I've just had the nod to publish it, so anyone can see my handiwork by going to the site at darwencameraclub.org.uk.