19 August: Remarkable cloudscapes around Colemore Green, on a pleasant evening. May’s crops (see Fields of Barley) have mostly been harvested; in places, the land harrowed. The many berries in the hedgerow are ripening, and the willowherb has almost finished. Autumn begins to feel close.
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An old favourite, just right for this pleasantly-warm afternoon. The riverside path is enjoyable, despite the thickets of knotweed; on the plus side, a banded demoiselle is posing for me. There are some tiny toadstools in the woods – there will be plenty more in the coming weeks, I suspect.
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Walking down to Coalport the long way, then, after ice creams at the youth hostel café, back up the Dingle – the short way home!
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It seems rather busy today – lots of grandparents, grandchildren and dogs – but mostly they don’t venture far from the car park. We’ll start with the walled garden (lots of rapidly ripening fruit!), then head out around the deer park for a leg stretch.
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Friday 11 August: Who needs the Med! On a day like, the clear waters of the Firth of Clyde look very tempting. I’m on a day out by rail, from Dunbar to Glasgow, from where I’ll use ‘boat trains’ to visit Ardrossan, Largs and Wemyss Bay. Serving Arran, Great Cumbrae and Bute, a trip across the ‘watter’ from these ports would be most enjoyable, but time is tight. A flying (floating?) visit from Largs to Great Cumbrae, on the smallest of the ferries, will suffice. After this recce mission, a ‘proper’ visit will be in order – I’d better start planning…
There’s much more on the railway journey at Boat trains on Geoff’s Rail Diaries
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A quiet evening along the cliff path at Dunbar, followed by an afternoon in Haddington. Not much time for photography
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More hedgerow colour on a bright afternoon. The damsons will soon be ripe (perhaps they are already – but they were out of reach…)
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An amble along Shirlett Lane on a showery afternoon. There are all kinds of interesting things coming up – I think autumn is going to be particularly fruitful this year…
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29 July: Our last day on the Isle of Man. Before we board the ferry for the crossing to Liverpool, we need a leg-stretch – up to Howstrake and back. There will be trams galore! It’s quite a scenic stretch too, as the tramway climbs from sea level at Derby Castle to the clifftops at Howstrake, where there’s a great view of the Groudle Glen line to Sea Lion Rocks. Some of the views are below; to see the trams, visit Douglas Trams on Geoff’s Rail Diaries
28 July: The Manx Electric Railway runs via Laxey to Ramsey. For full details of our trip, and more rail-related photos, visit Ramsey and Laxey on Geoff’s Rail Diaries.
After visiting Ramsey and its pier, we returned to Laxey – almost. Getting off the tram at Minorca, we walked down to the harbour, then back up the glen to Laxey station.
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