Stop, stare, appreciate, consider, compose, capture
10th December 2007 As long as I have taking treks through the countryside, a camera or two have come too to capture any of the glorious sights that have awaited me. Digital and film SLR's have been my staple for most of those treks. From a photography point of view though, the idea of being a walker with a camera does place some constraints on the quality of the photography.
Let's take landscape photography as an example since the capture of scenic delights is a likely occupation for the avid hillwalker. A high quality landscape image demands a high level of sharpness and that means that tripods are a staple need. Carrying one adds weight and using one slows you down, an advantage for when it comes to making considered images but a nuisance for the impatient too. A monopod with a spirit level is an option but tripods reign supreme.
Continuing the landscaper theme, times of day are another consideration. Golden hours around dawn and dusk come to mind and they in themselves place additional demands on those of us who use public transport. It's not so bad in winter but summer is another story and thoughts of bivvying and camping come to mind; both of which are journeys that I have yet to undertake, let alone reach an advanced stage on their respective trajectories. Maybe, trots into the local hills from my home would be a good starting point.
Then, there's the weather. Some sun really helps but clear blue skies are not necessarily the be all and end all that some might think them to be. In fact, having a lot of cloud in the sky with an unobscured sun can produce far more interesting results than a day with a clear blue sky. I certainly find the sun/cloud combination intriguing and enjoy being out in those conditions.
Next up for consideration is the whole area of planning and getting to know an area to find out what it offers. This is where the hillwalking habit really comes into its own. A first visit would allow one to get a deeper appreciation of a location and its photographic opportunities. Noting down what is found and making a number of documentary photos would help too. Apart from the lack of note taking, that is probably the stage that I usually reach. thinking about it, it is from there that I need to progress. Returning to the noted opportunity spots would follow and a spot of scouting for foreground interest would ensue. That might be the point when I start taking out my rarely used Mandrotto tripod in anger or other visits might be needed, especially when the weather doesn't play ball or my photographic vision isn't yet what it should be; hopefully, practice and reviewing photos, both others' and mine, should help the latter.
Time is another commodity of which good photography demands its fair share. There's a big difference between a standard bimble though the countryside and a trot with a photographic objective. The latter needs a few walks beforehand to get to know the area and plenty of time planned in for one or more stops along the way. That certainly means some adjustments to the way that I do things and 2008 might be a good time to start. I'll hopefully continue to ply my way along long distance trails but walking with a more avowedly photographic purpose sounds like a good way to make me revisit places where I already have been. Now, I must find a way for that Mandrotto to travel into the great outdoors...
A step forward for the opening up of the countryside in Éire?
3rd November 2007 Access to the countryside in my native Éire has always remained a grey area, often tolerated even if it is not strictly legal. It is also a matter that has been complicated by history. For one thing, it hasn't bequeathed us a network of public footpaths and bridleways like that which criss-crosses England and Wales. In that respect, the Irish situation is somewhat akin to Scotland's, though that country does have known rights of way even if they are not marked on any OS map and so take some finding. Of course, Scotland has imported some Scandinavian enlightenment with its access legislation as well, while it places an emphasis on those out enjoying their rights also knowing their responsibilities.
Continuing the Scotland versus Ireland theme, there is also the matter of how land is owned to be considered. A feudal land ownership system still pervades in parts of Scotland, but was all but banished from Ireland in the early years of the twentieth century. Scotland suffered the Clearances, while the Irish largely resisted any such attempts at a free for approach that might have ended up there. The result of the former is that we see vast tracts of Scottish land sparsely populated and owned by far fewer people, with the people who actually farm the land renting it. Land agitation in the Ireland resulted in several land acts that resulted in loans being given to Irish farmers to buy their own land. This has meant that holdings in Ireland hardly ever top a few hundred acres and a 40 acre farm far from an uncommon situation; the questionable economic viability of the latter is perhaps why EU subsidies are so important to Irish farming families. That has meant that the Irish countryside is more peopled than its Scottish equivalent, and the fight for the right to own land has made for an emotional attachment to it that only now may be slackening.
Putting the lack of traditional rights of way and a strong emotional attachment both to the idea of owning land and handing on to the next generation should they be interested in farming, a waning pattern given the rise of the Celtic Tiger and the opportunities that it has presented, it is remarkable that there is any off-road walking on offer at all. Indeed, the Waymarked Ways, Ireland's long-distance walking trail network, sadly goes over a lot of tarmac and that's a pity, even if the roads are quiet affairs.
Thankfully, the opportunities remain and Walking World Ireland does have some good ideas for routes that I must explore some time; this was also borne out by Andy Howell's outings along the coast and among the mountains of West Cork (excursions that put me to shame...). However, the said magazine also reports tussles arising from the whole land access issue, and that's why a recent item on the RTÉ News website was an encouraging sign. The idea of an expanded network of paths for off-road walking can only be a good, and it is also promising that there is now a willingness at government level to fund can only be a good thing. Let's hope that it comes to pass and worries about spurious insurance claims and bad walker behaviour will come to nothing. We all owe it to the proposal to make it a success and then ensure that it is the start of something greater.
Another way of delaying trains…
27th October 2007 The fact that Manchester's main railway station, Piccadilly, has only got two through platforms (13 and 14) and the fact that they seem to bolted onto the side of the station like an afternoon does surprise me. The disappointingly underused Manchester Victoria is far better in that respect and, given a more usable tram service, would be a great asset. I know that some may disagree with me regarding the Metrolink but I always feel that there is a certain detachment about the thing and now resort to walking instead; I have my own ideas about how it might be routed. As things are, I may press taxis into service for those occasions when time is not in plentiful supply.
As it is, funnelling people onto two train platforms at an otherwise busy station can only cause overcrowding, particularly if they are the only ones served by northbound and westbound services. And I saw plenty of evidence of that last Sunday morning while headed for the South Pennines.
In fact, a Virgin service to Glasgow that I had used when coming from Macclesfield was delayed by people not being able to board it. Admittedly, it was a Voyager but there were two four car sets forming the train. Nevertheless, passengers didn't realise this and all crowded onto the first four coaches. Amazingly, the train manager didn't put them right for five minutes and the train got delayed more than the thirteen minutes of lateness that it had when it reached the station. it didn't look good and I was glad that I didn't get an idea of heading to the Lake District on the day that I witnessed this.
The following service was delayed by the Virgin one ahead of it and it too was afflicted by slow boarding. In contrast to the service preceding it, a robust vocal intervention from the train conductor attempted to speed things up. And that was on a Transpennine Express to Blackpool North so Virgin could learn a thing or two.
The whole exhibition brings another thing to mind: going north from Manchester. This will soon be entirely in the hands of Transpennine Express if one is to travel without any changes of train during the journey. Quite how they will cope with passenger and luggage volumes will be interesting to see. Modern trains aren't particularly brilliant when it comes to luggage storage anyway. Thankfully, the Virgin option will remain north of Crewe since there might be a lot of lessons to be learnt by the powers that be before they realise how it should be done. Let's hope that such learning doesn't take as long as the Piccadilly through platform saga to result in improvements.
A return to Brontë country
24th October 2007 In public transport terms, the day didn't start too well, yet I did get to do some hillwalking last Sunday. The first bus service from Macclesfield to Manchester didn't happen for me, either through it not running or my missing the thing by a mere minute. It doesn't matter what actually happened because the result was the same anyway. The alternative plot of catching the 10:29 train to Manchester Piccadilly was set into action. Once in Piccadilly, the next step was to make my way to Manchester Victoria to catch the 11:08 departure to Hebden Bridge, as I had originally planned. Things were looking hopeful until Stockport, but it went downhill after that. The result was that I ended up on the 12:09 to Hebden Bridge. The final leg of the journey was a ride on Transdev Keighley and District service 500 to Oxenhope.
Those obstacles overcome, I began my walk a good hour later than I had intended, but the day continued to be as sunny as it had started. If it had done otherwise, I would have had grounds for irritation. After finding my bearings, I started to make my way out of Oxenhope and took advantage of roadside footways all the way until I made it onto a minor road that I was soon to leave for the moorland public footpath network. I climbed steadily but not too steeply with views of Leeshaw reservoir to my left. Looking down gained me views of pleasant farmland with the moors overhead. I made my way around Haworth Moor and Harbour Hill to pick up the Brontë Way before it joined the Pennine Way and headed for Top Withins. I was to join the Pennine Way myself, but I had another footpath in mind. However, there was no sign of it in the heather, so I made my own crossing with a navigationally useful wall to my left.
The idea that I had in my mind was to knock off another section of the Pennine Way, but the reality was that I took a mere nibble of the portion between Haworth and Gargrave that I have yet to do. I did get as far as Ponden Reservoir and pondered going further, but the time that I had was limited. Launching further into remote country means that you have to return afterwards, and all of that was likely cost a lot of a commodity of which I didn't have a lot: time. Getting back to Macclesfield was actually a bigger consideration than when the sun was due to go down. So, I decided to head onto Stanbury via Ponden Mill and then onto Haworth for the last bus to Hebden Bridge so that I could retrace my way home. Otherwise, I would have had to get a bus to Keighley and then take a longer journey from there. As it turned out, I was home by a very timely 19:30; getting to the Worth Valley via Hebden Bridge is easily an hour shorter than going around by Keighley.
Something that had started out as an opportunity to bag another part of the Pennine Way turned into an enjoyable reconnaissance ramble in rustic moorland on a sunny October day. Naturally, my thoughts turned to how I might advance the PW cause in this area, so here goes. Getting into the Worth Valley via Hebden Bridge is a practical public transport option, and a quicker one than the obvious alternative. Trying on a Saturday would get me there earlier in the day and would also have the added advantage of there being a bus service to the pleasant village of Stanbury, assuming that the times worked out. A good supply of off-road walking would get me to Ponden Reservoir and the PW again. It's a plan, but who knows if or when I'll put it into action?
Postscript: Visiting land belonging to Yorkshire Water
Yorkshire Water seem to very keen on encouraging people to enjoy the land around their reservoirs. After all, they do have a website containing useful ideas for walkers, cyclists, horse riders and so on. Unsurprisingly, I took a look from the walker's perspective and there are walking route ideas with full descriptions and the same seems to be on offer to cyclists.
It's all a far cry from the way that things were once upon a time. Before the advent of water treatment plants and their like, reservoirs and the land round about them were out of bounds for the general public lest the supplies got contaminated. That mindset certain applied in Longdendale and also was behind the building of the Mourne Wall among the mountains of the same name in Northern Ireland. Aren't we lucky that we live in more enlightened times? And yes, I know that they are far from perfect...
Following brooks in Cheshire hill country
20th October 2007 On a bus journey from Macclesfield to New Mills some time back, I made a mental note of the pleasant hill country through which the B5470 threads its way from Rainow to Kettleshulme. Even though the memory remained with me, for some reason unbeknownst to me, I never managed to take a walk among the glorious surroundings until last Thursday afternoon. And that amazes me all the more when I look at the map and consider my ventures: there are many places in the vicinity where I have wandered, but this gap in my explorations still remained.
The morning was taken up with the main reason for my day off from work, an unsuccessful venture that left me feeling annoyed with myself, so a walk on a fine October day seemed as good a distraction as any. It may have not been the complete cure for my annoyance that I was hoping it would have been, but my head was clearer than before I popped out.
The sun was unsure of itself while I was readying myself for the outing, so I was wondering whether I would be seeing the landscape in the best light. I carried onto to Bollington anyway, and I'm glad that I did because the sun returned and, apart from some stutters, stayed away from clouds for the whole afternoon. I pottered up a minor road and picked up the Gritstone Trail for a while before I left it for a vehicle track taking me along the slopes above Harrop Brook. Looking back now at the route that I took, it could be said that I followed the same brook to its source on the slopes of Cook Hill and Broad Moss. A closer look at the map revealed a number of names accompanying Harrop Brook: Black Brook and Moss Brook are but two. My journey following these took me past the end of the vehicle track and onto muddier underfoot conditions as I passed through woodland and over fields, crossing the B5470 along the way.
Once across the aforementioned road, the views really opened up. I ascended the minor heights of Broad Moss, and views north towards the moors of the High Peak were mine to enjoy. That wasn't all since Taxal Edge, Pym Chair and Cats Tor all blocked any view of the Goyt Valley and its reservoirs. Those hills and the valley in question have been frequented by my boots on other walks, so I made my way towards Charles Head and Kettleshulme. Getting to the latter proved tricky because the B5470 is a busy if narrow road devoid of footways, so careful progress is a must if you are not to get knocked down. This is not an escape route to civilisation for the hill wanderer until you reach Rainow, and it certainly is no road to be walking in the dark.
Kettleshulme was to be the end of my walk on a wonderful day in equally wonderful surroundings. The public footpaths followed shared a property that pervades much of the public footpath network in England and Wales: haphazard waymarking. This makes it essential to be on the ball with your map and your compass; GPS would help too. Where things got tricky, I kept it simple and, since my plan was fluid, any diversions taken were no disappointment. In fact, they added to the experience.
