Tuesday 21 November 2017

Coniston Calendar 2018

It is becoming a tradion....

This selection of photographs, taken from my collection over the year, will be my 2018 calendar.

The centre of the Village, taken around the turn of the year. Yew dale Road, showing The Black Bull, The Yewdale Inn, Sarah's Indian Restaurant and the Co-op.


JANUARY this was taken at Tilberthwaite in January. Although it looks like an early morning shot this was actually taken at 13.00 hrs. The reason it looks like morning is because the sun has only just crept into the valley and will very soon be leaving as morning comes late and evening comes early at this time of year.


FEBRUARY An early hint of spring in February. A gentle late winter's day, capturing Coniston Hall  and the Yewdale Fells, before the campers return to the field.


MARCH Daffodil time at Tarn Hows where different species of daffodil, that flower at slightly different times, have been planted around the tarn to extend their season. 


APRIL Oh for Bluebell time! In April and into May, the woods around Coniston fill up with the sight and scent of the glorious bluebell. This particular patch are in Bleathwaite Coppice.


MAY Certain meadows around the village fill with buttercups in May.This is taken from the footpath between Coniston Hall and the village, looking across a field with the curious name of Drummer Mire.


JUNE I have to confess that this picture was taken in September. In June we were moving house and found very little time for anything else. Follow the path up through the gardens at Brantwood and out into the woods and in around 15 minutes you will reach Lawson Park. Lawson Park is an old farmstead that is now used by Grizedale Arts for artists on residencies in the area.


JULY The old railway line at Coniston is now a permissible footpath and nature has reclaimed it. The line provides a good route from the village, through Park Coppice caravan park, to Trover.


AUGUST brings the heather. Some areas of the lower fells turn purple in August. This image is of the  heather on the fells just behind Yewdale Farm. The intensity of colour can vary from year to year, but this year seemed particularly good.


SEPTEMBER The Coppermines Valley is a magnificent place where the mountains open themselves out and swallow you up emotionally.... or is it just me? The remains of the former copper mining and slate quarrying industries are evident but not intrusive. The post industrial decay adds too the drama and the grandeur of this wonderful valley.


OCTOBER The Gondola belongs to The National Trust and carries passengers up and down the lake from March to the end of October, seen here with Brantwood in the background. The Gondola  was originally built for the Furness Railway Company and run on Coniston Water in the later part of the 19th century and early part of the 20th. It later became a houseboat before being wrecked in a storm in the early 1960's. It lay on the shore at Water Park, in a broken and deteriorating condition, for most of the next twenty years. It then became a restoration project for the apprentices at Vickers Shipbuilding (now BAE). Relaunched in the early 80's and now in the care of The National Trust, Steam Yacht Gondola runs from Coniston Boating Centre to various points around the lake and is a beautiful sight as it quietly glides up and down the lake. Click here for more information.


NOVEMBER This was taken early morning in November, waiting for the sunrise. At this time of year there can often be a temperature inversion, a climatic condition that covers the lake in early morning mist. On this occasion the mist was only very light, but created an etherial look to this late autumn scene. As soon as the sun rose, the mist disappeared completely.


DECEMBER Another example of an early morning temperature inversion. This was taken on Torver Common, just above the lake. We had gone out early to photograph the sunrise from Kelly Hall Tarn near the Landrover garage at Torver. As we gazed towards the mountains waiting for the sun to come up, this scene appeared behind us and turned out to be the better photography on that morning.


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