A Picture with a Story 2……

31 Jul

– – – Exploring The Countryside and Lanes of Dorset – – –

The mysterious case of the flying dog!

Sunset at Man o' War Bay

Today, I am continuing my theme of pictures with stories attached. Yesterday, I put up a post about a ‘fake?’ picture, although that depends entirely on your viewpoint. Here is a link to that post.  Today’s post though is not about the picture at all as the picture above is 100% real and undoctored, as, I should add, are most of my pictures. This is about the events surrounding the picture!

This was another occasion where I had been walking all day, timing my walk so that I would arrive at a suitable spot to capture the sunset, and on this occasion I decided that Man o’ War Bay on the Dorset coast would be perfect. I thoroughly enjoyed my day even though I was carrying all my camera equipment, tripod and so on, and I arrived at the bay in good time to set up for my shot as the colour was building in the sky. I decided on a longish exposure to catch the movement of the water and to create a nice wet, reflective foreground and I set my tripod up and waited.

When all the conditions were right, I took the picture above, and I was pleased with the result and got ready to take more shots when I heard a noise to my right. I was stood next to a 150 foot high cliff and the noise I heard was the sound of stones and small rocks falling down the cliffs onto the beach. This is not unusual where there are unstable cliffs as you often hear the trickling of stones that have been loosened by the weather. As I looked to my right however, I got a shock because coming down with the shower of stones was a dog! He had plunged from the top of the cliffs and was seemingly ‘running’ down the cliff face.

It was over in a split second but seemed like it was in slow motion – it was one of those surreal moments. The dog hit the beach with a thud and a very loud yelp, and just laid there! I ran straight across to the poor animal to check him over and I comforted him for a long time whilst he recovered. Fortunately, and amazingly, he seemed to have suffered no ill effects from his fall apart from being seriously winded, and after about 15 minutes he stood up somewhat unsteadily and eventually ran happily off down the beach. Whilst he was recovering, I could hear his owners calling him from 150 feet above my head and I shouted out to them that he was ok. I’m not sure if they were expecting him to run back up the cliff but that’s the way it seemed! In fact, the only way for them to reach him was to run along the clifftop to reach the steps down to the beach which I assume they did.

I often wonder what saved that dog from death. It could be that dogs also have nine lives 😉 ! It could be the fact that the cliffs at the point he fell are not quite vertical. It could be that he was a long legged, athletic looking dog and was somehow able to at least partly keep his feet. It could be that he was fortunate enough to fall onto shingle rather than onto one of the many large rocks that also litter the beach. Who knows, but the happy fact is he did survive.

The problem for me of course was that since sunsets are fleeting, by the time I got back to my camera having done my vet impersonation, the sky had lost all its colour. So on that lovely evening, after humping my camera gear all day in order to get some competition winning shots, I in fact got just one picture. But, hey, there will be other sunsets and I’m just glad that this lovely dog was ok.

I guess the moral of this tale is that if you are a dog owner and you are walking the clifftops…….well I think you know what I am going to say………keep it on a lead! Otherwise you might just spoil some other photographer’s pictures 😉 !

Thanks for stopping by.

Until next time,
Your friend The Dorset Rambler

If you would like to contact me, my email address is terry.yarrow@gmail.com – comments and feedback are always welcomed.

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A Picture With a Story…..

29 Jul

– – – Exploring The Countryside and Lanes of Dorset – – –

I thought I would just do a short series on what I have called. ‘A Picture with a Story’. These are all pictures that have a story behind them which is not necessarily the obvious story 🙂 ! Some of these will have been taken in unusual circumstances and others might be of unusual subjects, and the first of these I have entitled, ‘What Might Have Been’!

What might have been

 

What Might Have Been

It was a cold February day when I set out on a 16 mile walk. I anticipated a good sunset so I did what I often do and planned my walk so that I would arrive at a good spot in time to capture the setting sun. On this day, I decided that Corfe Castle would be just such a spot so that I could capture the castle in semi silhouette against the sunset sky or that lovely post sunset glow that can be so special with its soft light.

Now the problem with such a long walk, especially in winter is that it is difficult to gauge the time right so that you have an enjoyable walk but still get to take some photographs at the end. Arguably perhaps you should do one or the other, enjoy a walk or just take pictures, because then you can get in position with lots of time to spare. But I was determined to do both! And in fact it all worked out perfectly and I reached the top of East Hill perfectly…..except the weather didn’t play ball!

I could see the sun setting beautifully as I was walking along Nine Barrow Down, and even took pictures of it although with nothing of interest in the foreground, but then ‘Murphy’s Law’ kicked in and the sun did what it often seems to do – by the time I had reached the castle, it had dropped into a bank of cloud on the horizon to be seen no more. And no post sunset glow either, just a dull grey sky! But I took my pictures of the castle anyway because I had an idea how I could achieve what I wanted.

Back home, using Adobe Photoshop, I amalgamated two pictures, using one picture of the castle and dropping in the sky from one of my earlier pictures (the two pictures are above). The result is pretty much what I had in mind. But it does pose a slight moral dilemma, especially if you are a purist photographer. Is it right to manipulate an image? If so, how much manipulation is too much?

I actually don’t have a problem with it if you are producing an image which is obviously manipulated as with a lot of fine art. With a ‘normal’ landscape though I am less comfortable with heavy manipulation although I think this is more about people trying to pass the final picture off as genuine when in fact it is not.

In my case, both pictures were taken the same day and in fact had I walked quicker and reached the castle 15 minutes earlier, the main picture is exactly the picture I would have captured….hence my title, ‘What might have been’. In that sense it is genuine anyway…..or could have been. Plus of course all photographers process their images and make adjustments and enhancements on the computer, be it to increase contrast, brighten a picture up or whatever. This is something that has been done since photography began. Even if you go back to the old days of ‘steam driven’ film cameras, we were pretty adept at manipulating black and white prints in the darkroom using bits of card or our hands, or a second negative, so it is nothing new.

At the end of the day, image manipulation is all part of the overall creative process to produce a final picture that is pleasing or meaningful to look at, but I guess I am a purist at heart and with landscapes particularly I prefer to get it right in the camera in the first place. Besides which, it means less time spent at the computer and more time out on the trail, and that’s got to be good 🙂 !

Thanks for stopping by.

Until next time,
Your friend The Dorset Rambler

If you would like to contact me, my email address is terry.yarrow@gmail.com – comments and feedback are always welcomed.

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Under the Arch

27 Jul

– – – Exploring The Countryside and Lanes of Dorset – – –

Riding

This was taken yesterday on a rather lovely walk which took in part of the trailway that was once the track bed of the Somerset and Dorset Railway, otherwise known as the S & D (or Slow and Dirty 🙂 ) ! The line ran from Bournemouth to Bath and it closed in 1966.

This bridge carries the trailway over what is now a footpath and as I walked through it, the contrast between the lovely red brick arch illuminated by the warm tungsten light and the much cooler light beyond caught my eye. Being evening, the balance between the two different light sources was perfect for the picture I had in mind but I needed a bit of human interest……….and so I waited, feeling like I was lurking suspiciously for something 🙂 ! Anyway, my wait was rewarded as this cyclist conveniently dropped down the ramp off the trailway and turned to ride under the bridge and I managed to get my picture.

It isn’t a classic landscape nor necessarily a pretty picture because the arch is quite functional but I love the effect and the depth created by the lines of bricks. I also love those beautifully warm brick tones and the semi-silhouetted cyclist to draw the eye. Most of all perhaps I love it because I had a picture in my mind and it came out exactly as I had planned, and that is always satisfying.

I hope you like it too.

Thanks for stopping by.

Until next time,
Your friend The Dorset Rambler

If you would like to contact me, my email address is terry.yarrow@gmail.com – comments and feedback are always welcomed.

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The Footprints of Life

22 Jul

– – – Exploring The Countryside and Lanes of Dorset – – –

Footprints to the Sea

When we walk, we always leave an imprint behind, whether it is footprints in the sand, bent over blades of grass, deep impressions in the mud, a tiny bit of wear on a tarmac path, a little rubber off our soles. We never walk anywhere without leaving something of ourselves behind. Sometimes these imprints are permanent such as when we walk across wet concrete and some times they are very short lived such as footprints in the sand on a dry, windy day when the breeze soon ensures that all traces of our passing are obliterated. But however long lasting, we always leave a trace behind.

Isn’t life like that? As we ‘walk’ through each day, do we not similarly leave traces behind as we touch other people’s lives? Whether it be family or friends who we spend time with, or people we touch more fleetingly such as the girl behind the checkout desk, the person we beeped our horn at, the postman who delivered our mail, the comment left on someone’s Facebook page, a smile and ‘hello’ exchanged on the coast path, the list is endless and varies each day. Some of these interactions will have a long lasting effect and some will be soon forgotten, some will be positive, and some may be negative, but there will always be something of ourselves left behind with each personal contact. We all affect each other in a web of relationships, fleeting or forever, as we pass through life.

Today we will have many such interactions, whether we run or stroll through our day, so lets make the footprints positive ones. Lets leave something good behind to enrich the lives of others. The world will then be a better place.

Thanks for stopping by.

Until next time,
Your friend The Dorset Rambler

If you would like to contact me, my email address is terry.yarrow@gmail.com – comments and feedback are always welcomed.

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The Smugglers’ Cave

18 Jul

– – – Exploring The Countryside and Lanes of Dorset – – –

Continuing our theme of quirky things in Dorset – I think this must be Quirky Dorset Part 25 🙂 – we return to the coast, and a very hidden part of the Jurassic Coast too. And we are visiting another part of Dorset with a really adventurous past……..ah, if only rocks could talk! This is the Smugglers’ Cave.

The Smugglers’ Cave

The Smugglers' Cave

The Smugglers’ Cave

The Smugglers’ Cave is situated in a tucked away position in Mupe Bay, or to be more exact, Bacon Hole, which is a tiny bay just west of Mupe Bay. It is rugged and remote, miles away from the nearest town or road. The only way here is on foot and that is no easy walk either, and there is no way down from the cliff top above other than to continue east to access the beach at Mupe Bay and then retrace your steps back along the rocky shore.

You could easily miss this cave as it is not easily visible from the coast path and even from the waters edge, it is still not obvious. It is sited a couple of miles east of Lulworth Cove and village and it is fairly clear why this would be a good choice for smugglers to land and store their contraband ready for onward movement inland. Goods such as brandy, wine and tea would have been landed in this sheltered cove and moved swiftly into the cave under cover of darkness.

The entrance to the cave slopes at a forty five degree angle because of the way the strata has been crumpled and upturned along this part of the coast. As you enter the mouth, you can spot the false back wall with its small square door in the gloom. It was behind this wall that the contraband would have been stored, protected from the elements.

Smugglers' Cave

The Inner Chamber

Behind the door is a small but secret hideaway that would be even harder to spot than the cave itself, hidden in the shadows as it is. The only things stored here now are numerous plastic bottles, washed in by the tide, just another sign of a severe problem that besets this beautiful land of ours in this plastic age!

Stand at the door and look out, and you see Mupe Rocks, jagged and upturned like the cave itself. These rocks stretch in a line out into the bay, a result of coastal erosion that has worn away the land that once surrounded them leaving them isolated like mini islands. It is these very rocks that would have provided some protection from the elements as the small boats headed for shore.

The Smugglers' Cave

Mupe Rocks Viewed from the Smugglers’ Cave

This is a wonderful place to visit, wild, remote, often deserted, with just the sounds of the sea and gulls for company. At times however, there will be the sound of gunfire, not the historic echoing of the coastguards as they fire at smugglers in the dead of a dark night but the sound of modern heavy military guns. You see, this cave and the bay, along with much of this part of the coast sits in the middle of an M.O.D. gunnery range and so is only open to the public at certain times.

Have a care, if you want to visit this cave, make sure you do it at the right time otherwise you might get more of a smuggler’s experience than you bargained for!

Thanks for stopping by.

Until next time,
Your friend The Dorset Rambler

If you would like to contact me, my email address is terry.yarrow@gmail.com – comments and feedback are always welcomed.

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When is a Well not Well?

15 Jul

– – – Exploring The Countryside and Lanes of Dorset – – –

Well 🙂 its not when its ill that’s for sure. The answer is when it is a spring, because a well and a spring are two different things, and despite its name, this is technically not a well at all. We are back in Dorset today, and this is the Lepers’ Well at Lyme Regis.

The Lepers’ Well, Lyme Regis

Leper's Well

The Lepers’ Well, Lyme Regis

The Lepers’ Well is at Lyme Regis in West Dorset and it dates from at least the 14th century and possibly earlier. The well, and a small section of perimeter wall, is all that remains of a medieval Lepers’ Hospital that once stood nearby. Back in the Middle Ages, leprosy had a stigma attached. It was thought to be highly contagious and also believed to be a result of some curse or a punishment for sinful behaviour, so sufferers were outcasts and isolated away from society in places where they could be treated. The hospital and its associated chapel were dedicated to St Mary and the Holy Spirit.

Leper's Well

The Plaque at the Well

Today of course we are more enlightened and know that true leprosy is caused by a bacteria so is less contagious than was originally thought so such places as this were actually unnecessary and perhaps brought about simply by people’s prejudice.

In fact, in some ways, the Lepers’ Well fails on two counts as far as its name goes because not only is it not a well, but it wasn’t exclusively for lepers either as hundreds of years ago any skin disease would have been regarded as leprosy.

Surrounding the well is a small garden and it sits in a delightful position beside the River Lym (aka Lim) that runs for some six kilometres from source to sea. It is this river that gives Lyme Regis its name.

Leper's Well

The River Lym Viewed from the Lepers’ Well Garden

I always enjoy walking up the Lym Valley, following what is almost a causeway between the diminutive river on one side, and the mill leat on the other as this drove the Town Mill that still stands in Lyme Regis. The now gently flowing stream flows quietly past the Lepers’ Well in an altogether different scene than it would have been in the days when the hospital was in place. We can only wonder what this area looked like then.

Thanks for stopping by.

Until next time,
Your friend The Dorset Rambler

If you would like to contact me, my email address is terry.yarrow@gmail.com – comments and feedback are always welcomed.

 

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Welcome to Welcombe!

11 Jul

– – – Exploring The Countryside and Lanes of Dorset – – –

One of the other places I visited in Devon was Welcombe Mouth, and it was something of an adventure!

Welcombe Mouth

Welcombe Mouth

I set out in the early morning driving down narrow, single track country lanes, often with grass growing down the middle giving the feeling that you are in some lost civilisation, to reach the small village of Welcombe.

From here, I took an even narrower road signposted Welombe Mouth – I say ‘road’ but I use the term loosely! In fact the ‘road’ became a track that became rougher and more overgrown the farther I went down, so much so that I began to wonder if I had taken a wrong turn and that this was just a footpath. Then, just as I was thinking about reversing all the way back up it, the way opened out and the bay came into view with a rough area of flat ground that could be described as a car park 🙂 ! After the drive, the view that presented itself was a revelation, almost as if I had passed through some portal into another world!

Welcombe Mouth

A Revelation of Rock Strata and Rock Pools

Although not the easiest place to get to, Welcombe Mouth is a truly delightful spot. It is a secluded cove sheltering between high headlands where a stream makes its way into the sea having snaked its way down the valley. Here, the rock strata has been crumpled and turned up on end causing jagged rocks to line the beach running from the land to the shoreline. In between are rock pools, shingle and sand, and much to explore.

Rock Pool

Pools Aplenty

Jelly

Jelly

Where the stream meets the coast, it tumbles and dances joyously down the rocks in a beautiful waterfall that just shimmers and sparkles delightfully in the morning sunshine. It chatters cheerfully as if it is pleased to see you. A series of stepping stones just above the waterfall carry the South West Coast Path across the stream for grateful walkers.

Welcombe Mouth Waterfall

A Dancing Waterfall

Welcombe Mouth is a place where you could happily spend a day as there is so much to explore and its seclusion makes it special. One could just sit for hours and soak in the atmosphere of this lovely place, and feel completely detached from the real world. Apparently it is popular with experienced surfers but there were none here on this day. In fact there was no-one else on the beach.

Limpet Campsite

Limpit Camp Site

The only sounds are the sounds of the sea as the Atlantic rollers endlessly arrive at the beach like some perpetual motion machine, dispensing their energy as if spent from the efforts of reaching the cove. Despite their endless power, the sound is gentle and relaxing and it is amazing to think that long after I have gone home, the waves will still continue to wash the sand…….for centuries to come. This is one of the wonders of nature and one that I never tire of watching.

Welcombe Mouth

Welcombe Mouth from Above

Eventually of course I did have to go home, but not before climbing one of the headlands to reach a lofty perch from which to view the bay. Then, I made my way back up the rough track with the sound of the waves diminishing and fading behind me. The memories of this place will linger though!

Thanks for stopping by.

Until next time,
Your friend The Dorset Rambler

If you would like to contact me, my email address is terry.yarrow@gmail.com – comments and feedback are always welcomed.

 

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