Guiding Light

The River Mersey is an incredibly busy shipping lane as ships arrive from all around the world, including oil tankers bound for the refinery at Stanlow and the container port at Seaforth as well as the freight terminal at 12 Quays. The river also hosts some of the worlds biggest cruise liners that call in at Liverpool's Pier Head in the shadow of its Three Graces; a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Some of the bigger ships like this Greek registered tanker need a little help to navigate the channels into port so the river pilot will guide them in. 

In times past the Lighthouse would have also played its part in marking the safe passage into the river from the often stormy Liverpool Bay and the Irish Sea.

 

Across the Lake

So here we are at the end of our second day in France. We have been staying in Sevrier on the shores of Lac d'Annecy in the Haute Savoie region of France. It really is a beautiful area and like everywhere else we have visited on our roadtrip we simply haven't had the time to explore properly or see everything.

The first picture is a panoramic shot taken during a cruise along the lake this afternoon, it has been quite cloudy here, yesterday we had yet another cracking thunder storm, so the scenery has been quite dramatic.

Thus evening things have brightened up a little and the second shot was taken from the jetty at the local rowing club 2 minutes walk from our apartment. As you can see the sun was obviously setting behind me and  lighting up the mountain top on the far shore of the lake. I like the way the wisps of cloud are blowing across the peak like smoke.

I would quite happily spend a few more days here just relaxing but tomorrow we are heading north to Alsace, with a short detour  through Switzerland. We have just two more full days before our roadtrip ends and then we will be heading home.

Windy Promenade

In spite of the miserable conditions there were plenty of people out "taking the air". Perhaps in some ways it actually was the wild conditions which drew people to the shore to watch the crashing waves. 

When I was on my way back to my car I turned and saw the distant clouds rising up and rolling in. I thought they made a dramatic image especially with the white highlights.

To Hilbre At Dawn

On Saturday I got up at the crack of dawn (04:45am) and set off across the sands to Hilbre Island, a wonderful nature reserve off the coast of Wirral. I followed the tide out as the sun was rising behind me. Unfortunately the sky was very overcast and so I didn't get the best of the sunrise however the early morning sky was quite dramatic.

I was completely alone apart from the flocks of seabirds and waders and I really enjoyed some moments of quiet reflection. I am so lucky to live so close to such a beautiful place.

The first shot shows Hilbre Island itself which is the largest of a group of three islands with Middle Eye just to the left. 

The final two images show different views of Little Eye, the first and smallest of the group and it is the point that you head towards following the safest route across the sands.

I have some more nice views from my brief visit which was cut short by the rain and I will share these and a few more details of the trip over the next few days.

Under Heavy Skies

An alternate title for today's blog was going to be "Breaking Through".

At the end of the day, after several hours of walking across moorland over rocky ledges and through cool woodland the final part of our day was a stretch along a narrow country lane. There had been threats of heavy rain and storms but fortunately it didn't materialise and at times the sun managed to break through and cast a golden glow upon the green fields, the moors and the valley.

In the first picture looking in the direction of Wildboarclough I love the pattern of dry stone walls.

In the second picture you can make out the rays of the sun fanning out through the clouds. I have cropped the image to cut out some lens flare but if you look at the bottom of the image there is an unusual flare like a smiley face emoticon, I have no idea how this was formed but it is genuine and not a trick of post production.

In the third picture the sun is lighting up the surface of Tittesworth reservoir, which was constructed in 1858 to supply the town of Stoke on Trent.

Cloudy Cumbrian Skies

Here we are again, on the edge of the Cumbrian Fells near Millom. Today's pictures focus on the cloudy skies (perhaps a common feature in this part of the country) but over the next few days you will see that the clouds gave way to a beautiful sunny clear evening.

The first picture shows the view from the campsite as I was pitching up around about 4pm. It looked a bit ominous but fortunately it did not develop into anything.

The campsite was along a narrow lane referred to on my Sat Nav as "the alley" but known locally as "the frying pan".  The story behind the name is that about 100 years ago a man staying in a guest house on the lane had stayed out late at a local pub.  He returned very late in a drunken state and then slept late in the morning.  The landlady having had a disturbed night refused to serve the man breakfast and as a consequence he killed her.  He was hanged for his crime in Carlisle.

The second picture was of clouds forming over Ulverston, they were quite dramatic, and I like the way the big Cumulus cloud rose up through the other layers of cloud.

Picture three is looking inland across the marina with a glimpse of the old harbour wall. The original harbour wall collapsed sometime around 1900.  This a result of the old mine workings under the sea bed having caved in.  The current marina was formed in 1905 when the "new" sea wall was built.

The final picture today is more about the shadows cast on the mountainside by the clouds and the glimpse of light breaking through. 

Menai Strait

Today could be a real milestone for me and this blog as I expect to reach/pass 10,000 page views since I started in September last year. I am really pleased that so many people have taken time to view my pictures over that time, from the UK, USA, Canada, all across Europe, Ghana, South Africa, UAE, South Korea, Australia, Russia and Ukraine and many more.  I can scarcely believe how far my pictures have gone around the world and it inspires me to keep going.

Today I have been out to Anglesey in North Wales and taken some more pictures a selection of which I will share over the next few days; starting today with images of the two bridges which connect the island to the mainland, the older more ornate Menai Bridge and the Britannia Bridge which span a stretch of water known as "The Swellies".

It was quite overcast at times today but I think the cloudy skies add atmosphere to the images.  I hope you agree and enjoy this selection of photos.

Keep coming back to enjoy more pictures and if you like what you see please share them with friends.