Beaumaris Castle

A new location for us, 

 

Anglesey Sea Zoo, Spring 2022

With some of the family having moved to Anglesey, the Sea Zoo on the south of the island is fast becoming one of our regular haunts.

Given we don't have the budget for either a proper underwater camera, or for flights to exotic beaches, so this sort of thing will have to do; it was also another good chance for Amy to have a play with her newer SLR.

 

Worth Valley DMU Spring 2022

Yet another trip on the KWVR earlier in the year, to get some reference pictures for a planned miniatures project (technically a reshoot of an older one from way back, the InterCity project).

The Class 101 was out, on a relatively quiet day, where most people were riding the steam-hauled service.  A positive, as it meant we could bag the front seats of the DMU, and get the required view along the tracks over the shoulder of the driver.

Damems Loop, with 78022 passing.

Damems Halt.

Ingrow Tunnel, this was pretty much the shot I was after for the research phase of the project, so a successful trip (and, as ever, a nice day out on our local line).  There was also some interest from a railway mag for some high-res versions for a possible future publication, and a shot ended up in the KWVR's house mag a few weeks later.

 

Solva Railway; a research visit.

Writing freelance for Railway Magazines takes us to the most glamarous places... this was back in South Wales, where a rainy afternoon (we weren't about to waste a nice beach day) saw me -Ben- along with a mate, and Elder Child, slogging our way around Solva looking for an industrial railway line I'd read about online.

A promising start, this rather sinister-looking tunnel under the hill beside the harbour.

The interior of the tunnel looked no less sinister, especially with the dead rats visible.

Up and over the hill, following as well as we could the paths that looked like they went in the right direction.

Again, all the nicest places.  So; the Solva Waterworks Railway was an industrial narrow gauge line, built because it was the best way to service this site, which was built in the adjoining valley to the village it served.  For many years it had a battery-electric vehicle, a kind of a cross between a locomotive, a goods wagon, and a delivery lorry, which shuttled back and forth along this length of line.

Apparently, a few years ago they stopped using the line, I've heard that there was a build up of dangerous gas in the tunnel through the ridge.

The railway looked in reasonably good order, but sadly there was no sign of the rugged little locomotive.

There was something rather nice about the railway leading away into the hillside.

Luckily, we were able to get some more glamourous railway pics in rather better weather, later in the holiday, and, it wasn't a completely wasted visit, as I got some ideas for a possible future article.

 

St.Davids Cathedral

Whilst we were in South Wales a little while ago, we paid a visit to the impressive Cathedral at St.Davids, partly just because it was a lovely building, and partly to take a few photographs that Amy could use in a project.

Bit of wildlife on the way in.

The view from where we had lunch.

The roof was particularly spectacular.

Experiment with some more creative lighting.

We thought we'd try a few shots looking at specific features of the building, such as individual windows...

...the rather ornate internal gates...

...and the crests.

Amy wanted to get some reference pictures for a development of the techniques used in her "Flowers:Abstract" series.  

A nice place to visit, and some useful shots taken for these experiments too.

 

Wrexham Sunset

Just a quick post today; earlier in the year we camped just outside Wrexham for a family do, and whilst much of the weekend was spent relaxing and catching up with the wider family and friends for the first time since Covid, there was a beautiful sunset on the second night so we got a few shots.