Visual Art Weekend in Cardiff 2024

 I left Somerset feeling a little less stressed now my van was fixed.  An easy drive to Tredegar House campsite in Newport.  I walked into Newport the next day and made a few images.  On Friday I spent the morning at the RSPB Newport Wetlands  What a wonderful place.  Definitely one to return to.

Newport castle

Pigeon flight

Tredegar Country Park

Mallards

Kite

Dragonfly

The Visual Art Group weekend was excellent as usual.  We stayed at Mercure Cardiff North.  Presenters were Jonathan Vaines,  Ed Rumble and Tom Sullam.  I wished I had gone on all their workshops as they were all inspiring but I only choose one per weekend.  This gives me a day to explore the area.  

On Saturday, I set off with Carol and Jane.  We took a bus into Cardiff and walked down to the waterfront.   We walked back to the city centre and took a taxi back to the hotel.  A good day for photography.

Fishmongers in Cardiff market

Multiple exposure in Cardiff market

Multiple exposure at Cardiff castle

Multiple exposures in the government building

Ivor Novello

Millennium Centre

On Sunday we had a workshop with Tom Sullam.  We were driven to Nash Point for the morning and then to another beach in the afternoon.  The highlight for me was that there were choughs and they came down to the beach just as I was leaving.  

Carol and I took a detour from the beach and found the walled gardens

I thought this was one of the Time and Tidal bells which is an art installation around UK.  It did ring but it isn't mentioned as one of the bells.

icm

The choughs

Multiple exposure and blended in photoshop

All too soon it was time to leave.  I was up early on Monday to drive to my last campsite at Strathclyde Country Park.  Last year I was ill every time I left Scotland.  This year it appears physical pain now accompanies me when I leave.  After Berlin it was painful hamstrings from walking and this time a trapped nerve in my hip.  It lasted for 2 weeks until a massage by Anne Marie loosened it.

On my last day driving to Ullapool, my phone died.  I am still waiting for it to be fixed and had to buy a new phone.  I had photos on it from the trip so may have lost those.  

Images taken in the country park

Next post will be of the Falklands - trip starts on 4th December.

Scotland, Northumberland and Somerset 2024

 My trip to the mainland started off okay.  Ferry went on time and it was a calm crossing.  However, an hour out of Inverness, it went wrong.  There was a grinding noise from the brakes.  I made it to the campsite at North Berwick - Yellowcraig run by the Caravan and Motorhome Club.  Instead of a lovely morning on the beach the next day I had to find a garage.  I was lucky to find a garage which could fit me in but unfortunately they could not get the parts.  I spent the morning in the lovely village of Haddington and drove cautiously down to Berwick where I was camping for the week with my friends Linda and Pete and their dog Tetley.

I seemed to have brought the same weather we had on the Isle of Lewis for the whole of the summer - wind, rain and cold.  We did get one sunny day luckily.  We left the vans on the site and walked or took the bus to places - Alnwick, Coldingham and St Abbs.  

On Spittal beach

Finally managed to make images of the Spittal rocks

Whooper swans

Kestrel

Tetley

Lots of multi coloured flowers strewn on the beach

Kite surfer

A lovely walk from the campsite to the light house at Berwick

Coldingham Abbey

Beach huts at Coldingham

Window at St Abbs

Harbour at St Abbs

We moved off to the next campsite just into Derbyshire.  The weather was awful with lashing rain and winds and a lot of traffic.  Linda and Pete followed me all the way in case anything happened to the van.  I had to cancel my extra day at the campsite to so they could accompany me down to Somerset.  No chance of dropping into the Yorkshire sculpture park as the weather was not pleasant.   I made it to West Hatch and a lovely campsite at Ashe Farm.

I had a walk around the outside of the campsite sheltering under trees miss the showers

The next day I drove into Taunton and waited the arrival of my sister, niece and great nephew from Australia.  Anna, my niece had rented an apartment above the Cosy Club.  A lovely location and it had all the facilities.  I had to leave the van parked until I could take it to Toyota where I had booked it in previously for the electric sliding door to be fixed.  No chance of that as the brakes had to take priority.  It meant I had to cancel my campsites at Burnham.  Luckily my friend Debbie put me up for a few days.  

Spent a chilling week with my other two sisters living in Taunton, my nephew James and his fiancee Zoe from Canada.  Sue my sister took us all down to the donkey sanctuary and Lyme Regis on Wednesday.  In the morning we were setting out to walk down to Sue's.  However we were delayed as a drugs raid was taking place in flat 1.  I had smelt the cannabis on the staircase when we arrived.  Cannabis, heroin and other stuff including a zombie knife was recovered according to the newspaper.  The occupants had a bully dog too.  Unfortunately, they had apparently stuffed drugs down the toilet which caused flooding to the Cosy Club.  Poor Anna had to rush back to the flat to let the plumbers in.  Luckily the water wasn't coming from our flat but it did cause the toilet to back up causing a horrible smell in the hall for a few days after.

Theo with squirrel

Anna and Theo

Ady

Theo 

At the donkey sanctuary

Lyme Regis, Ady and Sue

James and Zoe

Anna and Theo

Ady at French Weir

Theo

Dr Who convention at Somerset Museum

 Ady, Anna and Theo left on Sunday morning and I was picked up by Debbie for my stay with her in Chard.  We spent the time photographing fungi, dodging the rain most of the time.  Did get drenched on one day.

Then it was time to drive to Cardiff for a couple of days at the Tredegar House campsite before the RPS Visual Arts group weekend in Cardiff.  See next post.