Ian Bateson

Excursion across the border into North Devon

Monday 6th October

Waking this morning the forecast looked good and the scene in front of our motorhome confirmed the day ahead looked good.

Our intention was to visit the Blackchurch Rock, but I realised while on the road that it would have required a 2.5 mile walk from the car. This was too much for Holly to manage, so we went onto our second planned destination at Clovelly

The history of this harbour village dates back to William the Conqueror, King of England and today remains privately owned. It is well worth a visit, but you need to be warned – it’s a steep walk down and a more challenging walk back.

The path down to the harbour is on cobblestones, so only visit during dry weather as I suspect it might be slippery in the wet.

Eventually the harbour comes into view…

The journey down through the houses was almost as steep as the remainder looks to reach the harbour. The building on the left is a hotel, so a welcome watering hole while we contemplate the return trip.

Fortunately for the unadventurous there is an alternative and easier way back to the top – behind the hotel is a road and for £3.75 you can get a lift in a Land Rover back to the top. So Vanessa took Holly back in the Land Rover which saved me the challenge of carrying her (Holly that is). I wanted to take a few more photos, so opted to walk back up the hill. My smart watch informed me I’d travelled up 47 flights of stairs.

Of interest, these houses are lived in and the residents have to transport groceries etc from the upper carpark to their houses. We noticed many sledges lying around and the clue to their use is in this photo.

After the Everest climb back to the reception hall I met Vanessa in the café to enjoy a well deserved cream tea.

The entrance ticket includes entry to the gardens nearby, but we found these unimpressive. On the walk through the woods we came across a few fungi.

Leaving Clovelly, we headed over to Hartland Quay which was a location we visited about 20 years ago when I was photographing with slide film. The additional trip to the Clovelly gardens meant that we missed an opportunity of a lower tide, which would have been more ideal.

We decided to stay here to catch the late afternoon sun and then retired the the adjacent pub for a very tasty curry and chicken and chorizo pasta bake.

Camp change over day

Up the coast to Tintagel

After a great bacon and egg breakfast, we headed up the coast to Tintagel and what a view from the camp site.

As you can see the weather today was clear and dry, so we decided to get out and headed to Boscastle. The last visit here was 2 years ago on a very grey day, so hopefully we would get more interesting photos.

We headed back for a coffee, but forgot it was Sunday and everywhere shuts early, so instead we headed north for Bude. Well we were very surprised with the sea state when we arrived and headed to a viewpoint on the Levee.

There were 3 fishermen on the rock which joined to the mainland via a breakwater, which couldn’t be crossed safely at high tide. This image was taken at high tide.

Finally a long exposure image to calm down the sea state, which produces quite a pleasing image.

The really good news was that Holly has continued to improve, so hopefully if the weather remains good, we’ll be out again.

A wonderful stormy day – worth waiting for

Saturday 4th October

Last night wasn’t great as the motorhome was rocking all night and we had a sick dog. So I needed to take her out 6 times during the night. In the morning the repetitive rain showers subsided and was replaced by sandblasting with the sand blown over from the nearby dunes.

The forecast improved during the morning so we set off to a small fishing port on the south coast – Porthleven. We had to dodge a few short showers in between taking photos of the port.

Two oldies having a chat before lunch with the town hall and terraced houses in the background. We fancied a coffee and a piece of cake for lunch so headed back to a nearby café, but on arrival a lady on the next table was eating a bacon butty – so guess what we ordered…

The actual plan for the day was to end up at the Botollack tin mines for the late afternoon and evening light. We visited this location back in 2021 and I always wanted to capture it again in better light. Compare the 2 images below and conditions were definitely better the second time around.

The sea was very rough and together with the late afternoon, early evening light we had a much better series of images.

I wasn’t expecting infrared to be successful, but I thought I’d try anyway.

Tomorrow we head to our next campsite.

Storm Amy keeps us under cover (mostly)

Friday 3rd October

As anticipated, the day started wet and windy and continued for most of the day, so we both resorted to reading our books. After lunch we had a small window of opportunity to get out for some air, so we headed of to Trevaunance Cove for a view along the coast.

Luckily where we were standing was completely sheltered from the wind which also meant the sea was relatively calm in the bay. We had hoped for more significant waves. At least it meant Vanessa was safe from being blow into the sea.

As you can see, it was a very grey day with absolutely no decent light. So I tried to make something of the images in post processing, but it wasn’t really a successful day but we did manage to stay dry.

At the end of a bad day we retired for a coffee and cake at a nearby surfers café.

Let’s hope tomorrow gives us more opportunities.

A Return to Cornwall in October 2025

Staying near St Ives

During our last tour of Cornwall back in 2020, we managed to follow the coastline westwards from Dorset along the south coast and ended near Lands End. This trip was a continuation of that tour for 10 days along the Cornish north coast. We have two camp sites booked, the first near St Ives and the second near Tintagel.

We arrived at the St Ives location yesterday afternoon after a trouble-free drive from Southampton. The weather looked promising for a sunset during most of the trip down so a brief outing back to Godrevy point was planned. We got the cameras ready and managed a few photos as the sun disappeared behind some low cloud on the horizon. But as photographers, we get used to these setbacks.

The following day we had a lunch appointment with one of our relations, so we decided to take a morning walk from the campsite over the sand dunes and down to the beach. However, before this trip we’ve been very concerned with the health of our 14 year old dog, Holly, as 2 weeks ago she suffered an episode of Vertigo with eyes flickering around and completely unable to walk as her balance was completely compromised. The vet advised this might take a 5 or 6 days for her to recover, but then after not eating for 3 days, she’s been quite weak and shorter walks have been planned to ease her back into better health.

The walk through the sand dunes was about 1.5 miles and Holly managed this with a few short carries on some uphill sections. There were loads of wind surfers on the beach but this time we didn’t take our cameras. On the return journey Holly hitched a lift in a special animal ruck sack that we bought 2nd hand.

After lunch the wind had picked up significantly so we returned to Godrevy Point to capture a few stormy sea images. It wasn’t as rough as we had hoped, but here’s a few shots.

Weather forecast deteriorates tomorrow, so we’ll have to see if we get more opportunities with the camera.

The Sun Shines on our Last Day

Friday 9th May

Up at 6am to crystal clear skies, so we had a cuppa and headed off to a new location. We had a walk planned from Toads Mouth on the A6187 to Carl Wark to take a photo of Higger Tor. But with nowhere close to park we changed the walk from a car park further west and walked past Mother Cap to get a more distant view of Higger Tor.

The temperature when we started was 5C, so Holly had her winter coat on.

This was quite an interesting plateau to settle for a few images. Higger Tor is the flat mound in the distance in the following image.

I then decided to try a few Infrared shots, especially as the sun was so bright.

We then returned to the car as our stomachs were craving a bacon butty, so we headed off towards Bakewell but stopped at Café 19 in the Hope Valley as we knew they were dog friendly. After a quick stop-off in Bakewell for Vanessa to change a T-Shirt, we returned to the Magpie Mine as the sunlight would hopefully improve our previous photos. But with the strong sunlight I thought I’d try Infrared again, quite liking the effect it produced.

With the sun at 12 O’Clock we gave Winatts Pass another try as the photos needed the contrasting shadows to make them interesting.

Infrared wasn’t as successful here, so clearly I’ll have learn more as to when I get a good effect or not. These shots were closely followed by an ice cream as we were hot, especially when carrying the camera bag up the slopes. I wanted one last shot of Hathersage before returning to the motorhome. But before that I had to have a pint.

You can just see the church in the trees, with Hathersage out of shot to the right.

After our evening meal, with the sun still shining we headed back out to the Roaches again, but this time a higher climb to get a sunset on the rocks from above. I also tried out the drone to take pictures in front of the rock face.

The rest of the images were taken during the last 3/4 hour of daylight with the OM camera.

Well, we had a great last day of the holiday and with a new battery in the motorhome, hopefully we’ll have a trouble free journey home tomorrow.

Unexpectedly, another Grey Day

Thursday 8th May

Some sunshine was expected but I woke up to be disappointed. The weather remained grey all day, so we had a very lazy morning in the motorhome and ventured out in search of a few waterfalls. The first had Park Rangers on the adjacent bridge who confirmed there was no direct access to the waterfall. So we had to respect their advice and moved on to locate the next.

These were not as expected either, as the amount of water over the Winter/Spring period has been very low, so here’s a few images of a trickle.

We attempted one further trek, but the terrain was a little challenging for Holly, so we decided to call it a day, but this was the valley we would have travelled along.

Let’s hope tomorrow’s weather improves as it will be our last day before returning home.

Overcast Conditions, so Took it Easy Today

Wednesday 7th May

We can’t really grumble about the weather during the last week as the only shower we had was overnight and most days we have seen the sun shine. But today was forecast to remain overcast and this afternoon we spent with our friend in Stoke-on-Trent which ended up in a nice pub nearby for an evening meal. So we went back to Three Shires Head as Vanessa hadn’t seen it before. For me I took the drone to get a different perspective on the area and then tried my skills at bird photography.

However, I have to moan now about the trekking public – I know it’s only a few people but why litter such a lovely area (or any area). Walking down to the bridge and stream was easy going, but along the route we saw discarded dog poo bags and a bin liner full of rubbish.

On the way back we picked up 5 poo bags – If they’re not going to dispose of it properly, then at least kick it off the path and leave it for the weather to break it down – sorry, moan over!

While Vanessa was left to photograph the bridge and stream, I got the drone into the air.

View looking downstream
View looking upstream
Both waterfalls looking up – at times many more peoplestream
Most people edited out – just Vanessa remaining

I could hear birds all around but useless at spotting them, but on the way back to the car Vanessa spotted them and I photographed them using the camera’s ProCap mode.

A Grey Wagtail.

Eurasian Wren – significant photo crop as these are very small.

European Male Stonechat

Don’t think for a moment that I knew what these birds were – I’d downloaded the Merlin app on my phone, took a picture of my laptop image and hey presto, I appear to be very knowledgeable on the topic.

A Clear Morning – so an earlier start than planned.

Tuesday 6th May

I woke early to completely clear skies, so time to drag wifey out of bed. Unfortunately we couldn’t leave the campsite before 7am as the gates are closed 11pm – 7am. But that did give us time for a quick cuppa.

We travelled for about 20 minutes to the village of Sterndale where we parked the car. Then another 10 minute walk to the brow of Hitters Hill which overlooks Chrome Hill.

I took the same image in Infrared which looks as though it had snowed.

It was very chilly as the sun hadn’t been up over the hill top for long, so not ideal for Infrared. We were stood amongst the sheep and lambs which of course had to be photographed.

Back to the car to return back to the motorhome for breakfast, but we stopped off for a few more shots on the way.

Our son’s family were at Chester Zoo yesterday and returning home today, so we had pre-arranged to meet up near the M6 for lunch. Afterwards we headed over to the eastern side of the Peak District in search of the millstones where I took that picture of Misty in 2010.

To hone in on the location I compared the background details from the photo to the Google satellite view of Stanage Edge. Eventually I located the approximate area which was where we drove to and parked. We then headed up towards the rock face and soon realised that the ground was scattered with many millstones. Well it took me about 15 minutes to locate the exact spot (15 years later).

The light was too harsh when we first arrived, so I relaxed on the stones with Holly whist Vanessa went off with the long lens in search of some more birds.

Once the sunlight had subdued a little I took a few more shots of the stones.

The sky was becoming more hazy and I suspected any sunset lighting would fade away too early, so we headed back to the motorhome for dinner (and I was right about the light).

A Return to the River Wye

Monday 5th May

We are still learning how to make the best use of the features in our new cameras. My bird photos from yesterday were just about OK, but Vanessa was disappointed with all hers. So this morning we watched some OM-System videos as to the best practices to take bird photos. I then let Vanessa use the long lens and left her to try again, whilst I looked around the site for other opportunities. Here’s what I took…

Infrared image of the Waterfall and River Wye

Meanwhile Vanessa managed to take some marvellous images…

So how did Vanessa get such an improved set of images – so here’s the techy bit…

The OM-1 MK2 camera has a burst shutter mode called ‘ProCAP’ (meaning professional capture) and this is totally configurable but basically when the shutter button is partially pressed (which enables focusing) it also records a stream of images into a preset size of buffer. If the shutter is then fully depressed it saves the pre-buffer images as well as the next set of images until the shutter is released. The camera is capable of 120 frames per second, but we’ve set ours to 20fps. If you fancy understanding more, then open this tutorial link which shows a video from OM SYSTEM Ambassador Jari Peltomaki.

Here’s a few more stills from Vanessa before we headed back to the car.

It was still chilly today and the sky remained mostly cloudy so we headed off to the site of an old mine before searching for another waterfall at Padley Gorge

The Magpie Mine which used to produce Lead.

Padley Gorge wasn’t a straight forward trek. Firstly it was poorly signposted and Google froze completely when we were just a few miles away. We parked up and got our camera gear ready and put Holly’s dog coat on her, but she wasn’t keen on the walk – we think she had reached the ‘knackered’ point and just wanted to rest. Looking at the challenging rocky incline up the gorge, Vanessa agreed to take her back to the car whilst I continued. I wish I hadn’t as there were multiple paths and none were clearly marked. After about 15 minutes I gave up and returned as close to the stream as possible taking a few photos along route.

I couldn’t really recommend this walk to many people, especially those of an elderly age like me. So I returned to the car with one more stop-off planned at the Ladybower Reservoir.

It would be better with some sunlight, but we can’t always have perfect conditions.