30 December 2013

Overstones

Sunday afternoon - ten minutes out of Sheffield by car. Though you can't see it in this particular photograph, Overstones Farm sits beneath a millstone escarpment known as Stanage Edge. It is one of Britain's foremost training grounds for rock climbers. In this picture, my aim was partly to show the texture and winter colours of the rough moorland in the foreground. That is known as Callow Bank. 

It was a great afternoon for walking. I was out for almost four hours and saw many other wondrous sights in the sharp winter light. And though the day was short, I noticed that the bright afternoon stretched a little further than it would have done just a week ago. The northern hemisphere is beginning its long climb back to mid-summertime and in months to come Overstones Farm will once again look down upon a lush green landscape.

15 comments:

  1. Despite the fact that once upon a time I considered taking my amateur refs ticket football leaves me cold these days. This, on the other hand, makes my heart sing. I could sit and look at that picture for hours losing myself in its remoteness.

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    1. It's funny GB, when I was younger, I am sure I wasn't quite as thrilled or indeed affected as I am these days by Nature's beauty. Surely one of the benefits of ageing. You learn to look more effectively, to appreciate.

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    2. Oddly, or perhaps because, I was brought up in a city I have always loved the countryside and never wanted to live anywhere else. I love the rawness of the remote places like Lewis.

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    3. That's exactly what I was thinking GB, it makes my heart sing. If I was born in that place I could never leave it. (I've lived my whole life on the same little farm in California, so I don't say that lightly.)

      I have also noticed the longer days and am thankful.

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  2. You caught it at it's best. It never looks as good in summer.

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    1. It must be a leading candidate for "Derbyshire's Most Photographed Farm".

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  3. The colours and textures are beautiful and prove that winter is nowhere near as bleak as some people make it out to be.
    A long walk is what I am missing these days - really must get out of the house more before it is time to go back to work.

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    1. Yes. You must. I am always keeping an eye on the weather forecast so that I can walk on nice dry days. It's the best antidote to the stress and confusion of everyday life.

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  4. There us something vaguely French about that photo
    Lovely

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    1. Thank you John. Perhaps it's the French stick in the farmhouse window.

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  6. Funny Tony and I were just talking about the fact that we had past the longest day ( thank goodness we said ) and that we were on the downward slope towards cooler weather. After a day of 36+C yesterday the time can't go fast enough.

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    1. We shall steal your summer and send you some coolness - but not slippery, frosty pavements, sleet or hailstorms. We'll keep them in storage.

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  7. Lovely image. And the vertical format is just right. Some time ago i spent a year painting NewbeLand scenery in this format. One day soon I'll get back to landscapes - my first love.

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  8. PS I am having to delay my trip to Yorkshire until 2015, sadly. But when you say this is so close to Sheffeild, I need no more encouragement to put this area on my itinerary.

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