Down by the river (139)

Down by the river (102)

Down by the River (111)

After the rain

Sunset in Escheburg

Reflection in the drainage ditch

Down by the river (98)

Down by the river (107)

Down by the river (105)

iPhone 16Pro Belichtungszeit: 02:00 min

Down by the river (94)

iPhone 16Pro Capture time: 02:00 min

On the castle moat

And at the end of the road is a house by the lake.

Sunset at the horse paddock

The lonely cloud

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to view, fave or comment on my images this year - it's very much appreciated.

I hope you and your loved ones enjoy the festive season and my best wishes for a safe, happy and healthy 2026. Take care.

25th December 2025

David

An idyllic day out at the Chatsworth Country Fair last summer concluded with the trek back to the car park in glorious evening sunshine passing an array of classic vehicles.

It was hard to ignore this immaculate one parked up against the backdrop of Chatsworth House - two classics together you might say.

I'm no expert on buses but do admire the nostalgic lines and beauty of these oldies. My research tells me this is a 1936 Leyland Tiger chassis with a 1950 Windover body. It was finally withdrawn from service with the North Western Road Car Company (NWRCC) in 1957, and thankfully preserved in working order. These days it leads a rather more leisurely life travelling to fairs and events like this, as well as taking enthusiast groups out for short rides.

The NWRCC, better known as the North Western, was one of the largest bus operators in the north of England from the 1920s to the 1970s. Based in Aintree, Merseyside their services covered Cheshire, Merseyside, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, and even extended over to the Peak District and the outskirts of Sheffield.

iPhone16 PRO

29th August 2025

Trees in the fog

Night falls

Burning sky above the roof

We stopped the car so I could take a quick shot of that tiny bit of fence lol.... it was quiet enough though..

Grey heron in the middle of the city

The newly-minted Bombardier 'Aventra' class 730/2 5-car units are now beginning to replace the 20 year old class 350 'Desiro' 4-car units on the Birmingham - Liverpool services operated by West Midlands Trains.

One of the first ones I've seen rolls in to Acton Bridge station and, perhaps appropriately, catches some nice early morning sun. The train is the 6.34am Birmingham New St - Liverpool Lime St (1F44), with unit 730235 doing the honours.

A new dawn for this service? Perhaps not, but the 350s were starting to look a bit jaded, and the extra seating capacity on the new trains certainly won't go amiss.

iPhone16 PRO

7.52am, 10th November 2025

In the pedestrian zone

Despite lying only a mile or so away from the Kinder plateau (and even closer to the Pennine Way) the summit of Brown Knoll (569m / 1867ft) at the head of Edale, is ignored by most hikers. A walk over the summit is to indulge in a high-level 2 mile trek over fairly featureless moorland terrain linking Kinder Scout and the Lord's Seat / Mam Tor ridge.

Summer walks over the top can be a real pleasure with skylarks heard (although less often scene), along with the occasional grouse call. Winter walks here risk being exposed to biting westerly winds whipping in from the Irish Sea which can make the two mile crossing seem much longer.

This day's route didn't take me over the top but with the backlight and silhouetted effect, I couldn't resist a shot capturing the rather bleak and sinister atmosphere as I walked the last few yards to the summit.

For the rail enthusiast, no trains visible from here I'm afraid, but the 2 mile long Cowburn Tunnel does pass somewhere below and one of the ventilation shafts is clearly visible during the latter stages of the crossing.

iPhone16 PRO

10am, 30th September 2025

Afternoon nap

Life is a long, calm river

I took this last week while camping on BLM land just north of Lake Havasu City, AZ.

Taken at Cottonwood Canyon State Park in Oregon.

In the pedestrian zone

As the sun shone over Delamere Forest earlier today, it was impossible not to appreciate autumn in all its splendour.

With a nod to Bill Bryson for title inspiration.

iPhone16 PRO

8th November 2025

DB Cargo 'Shed' 66651 restarts the 10.38am Kingsbury - Humber Refinery empty petroleum tankers (6E54) away from Nottingham station's platform 3, after pausing for a quick crew-change.

Not the most original of images, but deliberately framed around the analogue clock, which I thought deserved a bit of exposure given there don't seem to be too many left on the network still telling the real time (give or take👍)

A dour day which I figured deserved a gritty edit. The tail-end of this long train can be seen to the left.

Comments off, thanks.

iPhone16 PRO

1.49pm, 10th November 2025

I spent the day at Sequoia NP and hiked the Congress Trail.

special offer

Autumn Colors in the Wood

A ticket to ride on the Dartmouth Steam Railway also comes with a free ferry crossing from the Kingswear terminus, over the river, to Dartmouth - which arguably includes one of the best views of the town.

Never mind the houses overlooking the harbour, who wouldn't want to be custodian of one of those splendidly placed (and rather less expensive) allotments top right?

iPhone16 PRO

29th June 2025

Leeds may be a (fairly) contemporarily-built train station, but this view down the platform strongly reminded me of the gloomy Victorian edifices of the 60s / early 70s which still harboured decades of soot and grime from the steam age.

I framed up the shot with that in mind and made sure to expose as best I could the bright front-end of the DMU, so as to capture a highlight in the gloom. Well, the best I could with the iPhone anyway.

Further editing was done back home to give the effect I was after. I don't normally post a couple of the same train straight after one another, but figured the unit in this instance was only a small, albeit important, component of the whole.

For the record, Northern 'Sprinter' unit 158797 stands waiting on signals at platform 9 with the late-running 9.16am Halifax - Hull (2K10). Goes to full-screen quite well.

iPhone16 PRO

9.54am, 6th May 2025

Rigoberta Bandini - in Spain we call it Soledad

* * *

Please, don't "award" my photo with copy and paste comments, gif's and other glittering self- or group-promoting stuff.

A quiet moment outside the Ministério da Justiça, Lisbon

iPhone16 PRO

3rd June 2025

The magnificent Roman Catholic Cathedral at Évora - one of the largest in Portugal, and constructed between 1280 and 1350 in the Roman-Gothic style.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it's located at the highest point of the city - just a short distance from the impressive remains of the Roman Temple of Diana.

Comments off for this one, thanks.

iPhone16 PRO

5.14pm, 5th June 2025

Westbury

iPhone16 PRO

21st March 2025

Dog and master

I am cold in our caravan and I have a window of WiFi….

Jonathan hasn’t so he is rightly p**sed off cos has no Drs Net…

So then Aldeburgh beach….The Scallop Shell Sculpture and the floor outside the lift of our apartment in Palma Nova earlier this year…I took photos of the chalets at Sandilands today so my Chalet fix has / was satiated but I’m not sure 🤔 might go back because my Fuji x100v was playing up and the focus square things kept skittering about all over the place so goodness knows if anything looks okay really…I keep trying to catch up on a few photos each day but the dogs need walking twice a day but I have been doing my best 😊

I apologise for any faves or comments given via the group HSS

Happy Sliders Sunday.

I have left the group because I honestly didn’t realise it involved so many people using AI as a large part of their processing.

I don’t personally do much manipulation using AI except for taking down excessive noise in my shots and also for upsizing my photos if I need enough pixels to print well - usually old photos taken by me and processed by me.

It is a preference but not my preference so apologies….