Last full day of the holiday.
Sigh.
As we enjoyed the early morning encounter with nature on Tuesday, we decided to repeat this on Wednesday. You see, it seems that getting the camera set up so the shutter speed in the shadow under the trees at the squirrel hide was no so easy after all. I usually listen to the noise the shutter makes, and can usually tell by the sound whether the exposure is good enough to get usable shots. Now, that might work with the 400 or 50, but i can tell you it does not work with the 6. As the day before shooting on ISO 800 meant I got very few good shots. So on Wednesday I tried ISO 1000. In the end it was still not high enough, and it would take yet another return on Thursday to get the shots I wanted that were not blurred.
It was a glorious morning as we stepped out of the cabin after:
1. Coffee
2. Feeding the birds
There was no wind at all, and the sun shone from an almost cloudless sky. Once at the lake shore, we were greeted by perfect reflections, which we both recorded of course. Once at the hide, there was not much movement at first, but soon enough the Siskins were feeding, and in time the red squirrels came out to feed too, although they kept their distance.
We did see them playing, and could hear their claws digging into the tree bark as they zoomed up and down tree trunks, apparently playing hide and seek.
It was time to head back to the cabin, wake Bradey and then we can head out. The plan, or the best one we had was to head to Alnwick first, on the way snap some churches, have lunch, then head round to Hexham to find yet another orchid before heading into Hexham to a great Indian place we had been in before for dinner.
And off we went, sadly, the skies began to cloud over, but it was bright enough. I stopped at a couple of churches, met some kind people, and got some fine shots, or so I think. Everyone seems so kind, offering advice on where to go next, handing out leaflets and generally being interested.
Time was getting on towards lunch, and so we had better get to Alnwick. Parking was hard enough as most of the roadside parking was all taken, but we managed a place by one of the ancient town gates and set off. Visiting a place for the first time is always a thrill, as you never know what you might find around each corner. Anyway, first thing first; lunch. We ended up at Subway and had a sandwich and a drink as we sat on a bench looking out over the old market square.
I said to Bradey that we would split up so he did not have to suffer the inevitable trip to a church, and we would meet up in an hour. Jools and I walked across the square, down some ancient streets, arriving at the castle and then onto the parish church. As is the way all over the country, on entering it, it was hard to tell whether it was a grand Victorian church, or an ancient one that had been 'improved' by the Victorians. It had what must have been fine glass at some point, but the colours had faded in parts, and now just looked awful. As ever, there was a friendly warden to point out the interesting things, and facts.
I whizzed round, making sure I would be done I was done in time to get back to the square to meet up with Bradey. We were in time, and only had to wait a minute or so for him, so we walked back to the car and then off to Hexham.
It was an hour or so journey, and we had to travel down the A1 and then back along the A69, heading towards Carlisle. The orchid book gave what seemed detailed directions to the reserve, so what could go wrong? Well, for one, the places were so small they featured on none of the road signs at all. We drove round for what seemed like ages, before ending up in a village on the main line between Newcastle and Carlisle, hoping for a brew in the tea shop, which was closed. So the pub would just have to do!
After getting the round in, I asked if they had heard of the reserve, and much to our surprise they had, and that it was just a 5 minute or so walk away. So, after supping up, we set off for the station, crossed the line, then over a footbridge of the Tyne, and there we were. Or we just had to follow the riverside path to the reserve and then find the orchids.
Yes, orchids. Dune, or in this case the inland version, the Tyne Helleborine. Only problem was, it was a big site, the plants were green, the leaves were green and the flowers were green. But, we had seen Helleborines before, so we knew what we were looking for. And so once in the reserve, the search began. We walked down both sides of the reserve, and I even walked up the middle of it, off path, and saw almost nothing orchid-shaped, except two Common Spotted. I search the surrounding area, but still nothing.
It was now 5, and so I gave up, Jools and Bradey had sensibly given up ages before and were waiting for me on the bridge. It was a 20 minute drive to Hexham, we knew where to park, near the station. walked up the steep path to the town centre, and overlooking the abbey was the place, and it was open.
So, we went in, had a great meal, and me a couple of beers. And it was all over by half six, we were back on the road by quarter to seven with just a 45 minute drive back to the cabin, if only we could find a shop so we could buy some milk......
Amazingly, on the way we found a Co-Op open, and they had milk, so we would have breakfast before we hit to road south the next morning, as the holiday was drawing to an end. At the cabin the birds were waiting for their supper, aand so once feeding them I put the coffee pot on for a brew, and so we could watch yet more football on TV. Perfect.
No comments:
Post a Comment