Today’s guest picture shows a Nottingham Inn dating from 1493 which my brother Andrew passed on his way to the university there.
It was calm and dry when I got up but it wasn’t warm. John in the shop called it ‘fresh’ and my neighbour Liz called it ‘snell’ and at a miserly 6°C when I set off on my bicycle, I agreed with both of them and had to be well wrapped up. I had remembered to pick up the key for the camera club meeting in the evening and this had given me an excuse to let the temperature rise a bit but it was still cold enough to make me glad of every layer that I was wearing.
I had had reports that there had been a landslip along the road to Lockerbie and indeed, I passed a sign saying ‘road closed ahead’ as I left the town. I went to have a look.
Not a pretty sight!
One of our other local roads has been closed for years after a landslip so everyone will hope that there is a bit more action in this case as it is a well used road.
I didn’t go any further along the road but turned back and went over the hill past the Bloch. I was anxious to see whether there were signs that the sun would come out later in the day so I looked at the clouds ahead of me…
…and behind me…
…and wondered if I was going in the right direction.
When I got to the top of the hill, I could look down on the Solway which was the intended destination of my ride.
That wasn’t water that I was looking at, it was a blanket of mist…
…shrouding the English shore.
Still, mist rises in my experience so I pedalled on down to Gretna Green where a piper in full rig….
…was cheerfully waiting to have his picture taken with a happy couple who had been just married at the Old Blacksmith’s Shop and were posing under a handy sculpture nearby.
By the time that I got to the English side of the Solway, the mist had disappeared…
…but sadly the sea had gone too.
I was puzzled once more by a roadside sign which says: When the water reaches this point maximum depth is 2 feet.
I have never been able to work out quite what it means but as the tide always seems to be out when I cycle here, it hasn’t mattered.
In the absence of any sea to photograph, I turned inland and circled round to make my way home. Although I was now heading into the wind, it was so light that I was able to keep my average speed up all the way back to Langholm.
I stopped for a picture or two on the way. This road near Rockcliffe turns sharply right just ahead so I suppose this qualifies as a colourful corner…
…and although I hadn’t seen any geese in the fields on my way down to the Solway, I saw plenty in the pond at Longtown on my way back.
I took an autumn colour shot at Irvine House…
…but resisted the urge to take yet another Skippers Bridge shot and got home after 62 miles feeling tired but happy.
I had time for a quick walk round the garden in the sun…
…and a look at the birds…
…before I had to sit down and choose 15 pictures to show at the camera club meeting in the evening.
Then Luke came for his flute lesson and I passed on some of the insights into breathing that I had got from my singing lesson. They apply to flute playing too.
The camera club meeting went well, with 10 members turning up and some very interesting images to look at. We are going to try some portrait photography at our next meeting. I hope to learn a lot as portraits are not my strong point, to say the least.
Mrs Tootlepedal returns tomorrow so whatever the weather holds, it will be a bright, bright day.
The flying chaffinches of the day are once again gender balanced.
That’s quite a land slide. They seem to happen fairly regularly there.
The white flower in the back border looks like an aster.
I hope you have better luck with portrait photography than I’ve had.
Mrs Tootlepedal tells me that it a late flowering Michaelmas daisy which she collected from beside the river.
Your bird photos are amazing?
Well done for cycling all those miles, I loved the pictures of the mist over the Solway.
Keep up the excellent, as ever work. I believe much of the art of portraiture is to get the subject relaxed, like good conversations with friends relax one?
It needs some photographic skill too! I think portraits are a bit intrusive so I never really believe in the job when I am taking them.
Lovely cloudscape. That landslip looked most alarming.
Hurrah for Mrs T’s imminent return.
Hope the road is soon fixed. Excellent bike ride. How long did the ride take?
Four and a half hours of cycling with half an hour added for snacks and photos.
Pretty darned good!
I was pleased because that is about as fast as I can go these days.
Glad you have Mrs T returning tomorrow. Your landslide does look unpleasant. We’ve had a rather testing time with the floods in the Aude yesterday. After a stressful evening, we are now surrounded by water but the house and car survived. Thousands of others weren’t so lucky.
I saw the report of the floods. My sister in law lives fairly near Mirepoix so we are hoping that she is all right.
Hope so. Haven’t heard of problems there though.
Cheerful survivors and flying birds in your garden!
Both raise a smile.
I’m always impressed by the distances you ride on some of your excursions, 62 miles is well past what I’d be able to do on a bike. I loved the photos that you shot though, along with the cheerful survivors and the flying chaffinches.
The biking distances are just a product of having enough time to take things easily. I admire the people who go out and do big distances after a working day.
Watch out for those landslips, Tom! I hope they fix that one soon.
We are not holding our breath.
The handy sculpture is a little bit creepy.
Amazing the power of water!
I agree about the sculpture. It makes you worry about who is buried under the ground with their arms sticking out.
🙂
I have some rather extended experience with landslips (we call them landslides). Would it be OK if I bragged about how ours are a bit more exciting since the road is carved out in the cliffs that drop straight into the Pacific Ocean?Ours is a well used highway that runs from the Mexican border to Canada’s. One section in southern California was closed for close to a year because of several major slips/slides. Just can’t mess with Mother Nature.
Happiness is a returning Mrs T. Enjoy!
You are naturally permitted to mention the size of your landslips. The great thing about living here is the modest scale of our natural disasters for which we are very grateful.
“…the modest scale of our natural disasters” and may it ever be so! 🙂
There’s one on the three capes scenic route in Oregon (Cape Meares) which seems semi permanently to have closed the road!
Mr T, you need a tide table!
Nice bit of journalism with the landslip. The mist shots were very good.