ABOUT ME

I live in a camper van with a West Highland Terrier for company.
My passion is creating images but it is a work in progress.
I am always willing to share what knowledge I have and can be contacted through the comments on this post or e-mail ADRIAN
ALL IMAGES WILL ENLARGE WITH A LEFT CLICK

Friday 6 January 2012

SOMEWHERE NEW (06/01/12)

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image  Yesterday I braved the wind and rain and crossed the Pennines on the A66 from Teesside to Brough. Alf hates the truck rocking whilst it’s moving……I’m not keen……He is a real backseat driver. I told him to shut the Duck Up! Bad enough driving without a dog whinging away. Molly is good she curls up and sleeps till we stop. I say she is good….as soon as we slow she is barking at things….just to let folk know we have arrived. I have avoided this place on the edge of Morecambe Bay and on the banks of the Kent river as it is full of static caravans. It’s fine this time of year.

I know I was heading for Scotland but it is blasted wild up there. I also got a phone call from a mate who is here….he said the birds are demolishing his feeders so could I drop some seed off on my way. I thought I’d give the place the once over. The feeders are doing brisk business. All the usual visitors but also Bullfinch and, I think, a pair of marsh tits, could be willow tits, the wee buggers won’t stop still for a picture. I love watching the feeders. Better than the television they are.

This morning dawned bright and clear the wind is away and all was calm, crisp and dry.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Sunrise over the Kent Estuary……………..this isn’t Kent as invy Sarf.  This is the river Kent invy Norf.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Same place, slightly different view. It is repetition but good sunrises are few and far between. I moved quarter of a mile for this vista.

Back and breakfasted I walked into Grange over Sands. It’s a six to seven mile walk with the dogs dodging off this way and that but Higginsons are renowned for their pies. Seemed a pity not to get one whilst within striking distance. I like pies….so much so I ate it on the way home so no picture but it was worth the walk.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA I just remembered Bob purchased three so here it is a perfect pie and one out of a considerable range they bake.

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If you want one you can always phone and ask for them to pop it on the train.

_1060723_4_5_6_7_tonemapped_edited-1 They are connected to the rest of the world by rail at Grange over sands. Now I’ll have to break for a minute as Bob is braving the rain to reclaim his pie………….and it’s bag…….Untrusting folk we are in the north. I had to leave him my watch as pie security. That’s why I’m rambling on, I’ve lost track of time.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA It’s a little like a Holland in miniature here, drainage dykes and that sort of thing every few yards. This is a raised one. I was impressed but there again I had been walking for half an hour and this was the first photo I took.

lthrop20612 Morcambe Bay from the promenade at Grange over Sands. This one is a multi-exposure shot and stitched. It’s as good as I got today. It is a surreal place…..The daft buggers have built a Promenade overlooking salt marsh and mud….No wonder my ancestors could conquer the world………mad as a sack of spiders they are up here.

On we wandered into town. It was getting awful dark again and it wasn’t even noon. Just as I entered the metropolis of Grange over Sands I noticed a sign saying Ornamental Gardens. Worth a look, I thought, this time of year they will not have sold out of pies, we diverted from the main drag for a peep.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA  Brilliant it was…………or they are. Different Ducks by the Dozen. Help please!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA  This is a small goose or a big duck.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA There are a several of them and……………………..

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Whilst I have little idea what they are, I’m hoping these are Mr and Mrs Eider duck. Serendipity is a wonderful thing. It restores my faith in the world. Three or four miles walking on tarmac to get here and then I’m miserable and then I’m happy……Thank you ducks, geese and pie man.

We’ll walk the other way tomorrow. It’s raining again but tomorrow the sun will shine.

22 comments:

  1. I gather Grange over Sands did originally have sand rather than saltmarsh along the promenade. We spent a weekend there a few years ago and overheard a couple in the Tourist Information office who had spent their honeymoon there asking where the sand had gone that they recalled from their early days of married bliss. Apparently Spartina grass took hold in bay, trapped silt and turned the golden sands into saltmarsh. there used to be an open-air swimming pool along the prom for hardy folk - is it still there? Interesting train ride into Ulverston, across pictureseque trestle bridges that span the estuary....

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  2. A lovely place to be in, I think. The sunrise is superb and the Bar-headed Geese are brilliant.

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  3. It is a bit blasted wild up here at the moment! Wind died down and most snow has gone - just day after day of rain and damp! I love the sunrise and the pie looks pretty good too!

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  4. What a beautiful sunrise. And that view of the tracks is just wonderful.

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  5. Great post Adrian.
    The birds....the predominately white ones, as Bob said, are Bar-headed Geese; the brown ones are Ruddy Shelduck; not sure about the brown one in the foreground though.
    Lovely sunrise.

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  6. Brilliant Sunrise in more than one way.
    That looks like a real pork pie, unlike the artificial offerings round here.
    South Lincolnshire, especially round the Boston area, has dykes all over the place. Can be nerve racking driving in poor weather as some are wider than the roads and nowt to stop one from driving into them.

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  7. Hi Adrian....Looks like a nice spot ..I envy you and your lifestyle, adventure around every corner lol!
    Your post is a great read and that sunrise shot is just spectacular...and so is that pie ; }
    Grace

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  8. Hello Adrian! The sunrise shot is wonderful and I love the dyke reflection shot. The promenade place is very serene.Beautiful ducks. Cheers.

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  9. A wonderful read and lovely images..
    Just home from work and it's throwing it down.. fingers crossed for the weekend.
    I have crossed M/bay by train and passed through Grange..
    I have to admit I wasn't too sure crossing the sea by train.
    Take care.

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  10. Nice post. I wasn't up and out for sunrise, but later I did go out for some birdwatching of my own - swans and ducks. They'll be turning up on the blogs no doubt but not tonight ;)

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  11. Phil, It is an interesting place. I never saw sight of a swimming pool. I at first thought it soulless but am stopping for a week now. It's a wellies and get wet job. I'll find magical things here that I don't know what they are. Stop in touch for IDs. There are always little things that live in land that the sea can't has to relinquish.

    Bob, Why didn't I think of bar headed geese. A great bird. they are tame..ish.

    Annie, I was only thinking of Dunfries. You live in serious weather land. The pies are spot on.

    Hilary, the tracks are the best today for me. It is a rare view of a station.

    Keith, cheers for the shell duck ID. It is a bit odd to find them here though. I love this life. Four miles of tarmac and then posh ducks and geese. Even Eiders are a welcome sight to me.

    John, this is a mini area. No worries here, the coast is expanding and not contracting as on the east coast. Pies have to be hunted if one is a pie lover.

    Grace, the life is open to all. It's still possible to wander look and see. The blog is a tie to reality. It's as good as I get.

    Ruby, get over here and see for youself. Thanks.

    Andrew, pissing down here now. That's life. At least I saw a gooose in the drizzle.

    Monica, shame on you, we are up and waiting for dawn this time of year.

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  12. Lovely sunrise. The reward for those who rise early. Sounds like the pie was worth the walk, looks good anyway.

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  13. Wonderful sunrise photos. The colors are just fantastic. The pies look yummy, we don't have much for meat pies here in Canada. I am so amazed by the diversity of water foul in the UK, it is wonderful to see. You have a great weekend Adrian, and don't eat to many of those meat pies.

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  14. That must be a truly wonderful pie! Did I read right that you walked 14 miles for it? Wow.
    Fab images, as always. I especially love the Morecombe Bay one. And finally, please may I use you expression 'Mad as a sack of spiders'? I love it! I can't wait to be in a situation when I can use it!

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  15. Another great read and superb photographs, the sunrise is sublime. Lovely Geese the Bar-headed. We have them down at Par most years.

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  16. That pie sounds divine. I really like the stitched shot and its lonely look and feel. I'd walk there. Looks like something out of a Bronte novel, though I imagine those are set farther south.

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  17. Another interesting walk, or should I say 'pie hunt'?, Adrian.

    You certainly know where to find some amazing scenery.

    A nice steam train would set that station off a treat!...[;o)

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  18. Hi Adrian, If you take the train to Silverdale (2 stops from GoS) and flash your ticket I think you can get in to the RSPB reserve at Leightin Moss for free .... it's well worth a look.... Arnside is a good place to sit with a pint and watch the tide go in and out too ...

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  19. Pauline, Excellent pies. Sunrise is only about 8.30 at the moment.

    Horst, thanks there are dozens of pie shops in the UK.

    Katherine, no six to seven mile round trip.

    Trevor, not a goose I've ever seen before.

    Jolynne, the Bronte country is about the same latitude and fifty miles or so the the east.

    Trevor, It was a good walk in parts. I thought a steamer would improve the station. They have them at Newby Bridge about five miles away but I don't know if they send them this way.

    Phil, thanks for that....I'll have a look at Leightin Moss on the way out of here.

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  20. Golden sunrises, golden pies, golden geese. It's obviously a golden day.

    And if you think pies are good in Lancashire (which you obviously do) and Scotland (which you probably don't seeing as it's foreign and all that) then you should sample pies here in NZ. Crackin' pies Adrian.

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  21. Amazing stuff, it must be great to wake up to sunrises like that.
    I see a fantastic sunrise & silhouette this time of year going to work... unfortunately no camera and no where to stop on the motorway :-(

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  22. Graham, a good pie is a good pie. Mutton pies I don't think are the best but are ok with mushy peas and vinegar.

    Jay, they are few and far between at the moment.

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