Goin Down South.........

October 20, 2024

Well dear reader, I ended the last blog, “A Week with Mary” as we left Queen Mary 2 and boarded a Cunard shuttle bound for Newark Airport in New Jersey.

I guess we could have taken a taxi but Cunard had done a wonderful job so far so we closed our eyes, paid the money (USD 120) and sat back and relaxed as we were duly delivered to Newark Airport, Terminal A with our usual 8 hours to spare, just in case we missed the flight. As I reminded Mrs. C the early bird always catches the first worm!

Now US domestic airports are a bit like catching a bus so we were expecting no frills and Newark Airport ensured that we were not disappointed. Going through security was a breeze until we were invited to check in our fire arms! Hmmmm, I did have some lip moisturiser which was the nearest thing I had to an offensive weapon other than my camera gear.

Once security saw my beautiful Leica Type 246 and associated lenses I almost caused the presence of a SWAT Team. Everything had to come out of my back-pack and be inspected. It would have been far easier to check in an assault rifle.

As I went through the body scanner all seemed fine until security cried out “halt, do not move, take off the bandana”! This I where I realised that the UK and USA are nations separated by a common language. I was not wearing a “bandana” but in fact a blue and white “neckerchief” around my neck, which by the way, I was wearing in rather a jaunty fashion (its called style). Given that our security guard was carrying a sidearm and was glaring at me in a rather alarming fashion, his rather contradictory instruction gave me cause for thought. Should I (a) freeze as instructed or, (b) should I move and remove my neckerchief (aka Bandana). I decided to risk it and remove my lethal neckerchief. Fortunately the situation de-escalated back to DEFCON 5 and I was allowed to pass through security. It makes you think though doesn’t it.

Once in the terminal I needed something to calm my nerves. Clearly a Snickers bar was the order of the day. Then to my horror they wanted USD 5 for a single Snickers Bar and that was before tax! Those that know me well will testify that I am not mean-spirited in the wallet department. However, USD 5 before tax was above and beyond all things reasonable. Shaken but not stirred I settled for a USD 7 (before tax) cup of coffee! I soon realised that Newark airport had been designed to take as much cash off you as possible in the shortest space of time.

As I supped the most expensive coffee known to man I checked my phone to see where my luggage was currently located. To my surprise the Apple Tag lodged in the luggage showed it somewhere over the US mainland en-route to Houston! We then saw that United Airlines had changed our flight to go from Terminal C. So there was an earlier flight with room for luggage but United did not think to ask us if we would like to join our luggage on the earlier flight. We had also passed through security and now found ourselves in the wrong terminal! That week of carefree relaxation aboard QM2 already seemed like a million years ago.

Eventually we managed to find a shuttle and were dispatched to Terminal C where we boarded our flight to George Bush Airport in Houston Texas.

The flight was actually quite comfortable and as we left arrivals and went in to baggage reclaim Rachel and Jon were waiting for us with beaming smiles.

After much hugging Rachel lept in to action like a coiled spring. Within 5 minutes she had organised the United Airline ground staff, located said luggage and we were en-route to Chez Ward.

The next morning we were all up early to be treated with Rachel’s analogue scheduling system:

Now, the creative juices were in full flow and I was already busy with the Type 246 shooting imagery for this blog, when I should have been watching the toast that was under the grill.

It was only when flames were spotted that Kate lept to the rescue, said flames were doused and calm was restored. At this point the technology defeats me but my blog would have been playing “Burning Down the House” by Talking Heads.

I then said to Mrs. C that it wasn’t my fault (mistake one) and that I didn’t mind carcinogenic toast (mistake two). It then became a little difficult to capture any further imagery with manual focus lenses with Mrs. C’s foot on my neck! I was already on a roll……

Panic Over and fresh toast being inserted in to the grill and not where Mrs. c said it should be inserted!

A welcome from the “Ward Watchdog” at the top of the stairs.

After a rather delicious coffee and un-carcenogenic toast, we headed straight out for our first adventure, a visit to “Mission Control”, The Space Centre Houston.

On the move with the Type 246 set to range focusing.

Even the storage tanks looked like flying saucers.

The benefit of our week across the Atlantic on QM2, other than the fine food and rather excellent Martinis, was that we arrived as fresh as a daisy and with zero jet lag.

Before arriving at the Space Centre Rachel advised that we would check out a local souvenir store that would provide all the usual NASA souvenirs but at a fraction of the cost. We eventually arrived at Amy’s Souvenir store. We were warmly welcomed by Amy herself and sure enough we left with armfuls of souvenirs at very friendly prices. We then took the 10 minute drive to Houston Space Centre itself.

First glimpse that we were getting close.

Now let me tell you, this place is not just for kids but has been specifically designed for big kids liked Jon and me. This is all “Boys Own” stuff and from the minute we entered I knew we were going to have a great day.

Our first objective of the day was to get up close and personal with a space shuttle, which was sitting on top of an actual Boeing 747.

Note the angry sky in the distance - This was hurricane season.

Houston we have a problem……Where is the cup-holder?

We then wandered around a mock-up of Skylab and a history of space exploration and I managed to grab the following imagery.

Even in space, when you have to go…… you have to go!

Yours truly would definitely need to lose some weight to fit in there.

What we didn’t realise was that in addition to the visitor centre, Space Centre Houston is still a fully functional federal facility. We were taken to the actual “Mission Control” from which the first moon landings were directed. It really was tremendous and took me back to those black and white BBC TV programmes where Michael Burke would present and analyse the various Apollo missions. They even recreated the whole landing and then we were allowed to capture a few images.

“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”.

Great capture of our dear friends and hosts Rachel & Johnathon.

Unfortunately the Apollo Saturn V exhibit was not open but this gives you an idea of its size.

Artemis - Man is going back to the moon.

What a day! you could spend a whole week at Space Centre Houston and it is something not to be missed.

On our return Rachel wanted to introduce us to some local cuisine and we stopped off at “Crazy Alan’s Swamp Shack”.

The food was great cajun seafood. All manner of shrimp, crawfish, catfish and of course alligator. Our waiter said that if we wanted gator that they had a small one in the tank which could be easily dispatched and served with French fries and a cajun sauce! We decided to allow the Gator a stay of execution and went with blackened swamp shrimp pittas….delicious!

Day two involved me not burning down the house and we visited the Glenwood Cemetery. This cemetery is located in the centre of Houston and provides both a fantastic view of the downtown Houston skyline as well as the history of the great and the good of Houston in a beautiful, tranquil setting. Everywhere I looked was a photo opportunity.

I loved the Juxtaposition of someone buried within something that is living.

My personal favourite from our Glenwood visit.

As we headed down to breakfast on day three Rachel’s analogue schedule puzzled me. How could a petrol station be a destination? However, as we pulled off the interstate in to Buc-ee’s all became clear.

Like everything else in Texas Buc -ee’s is larger than life. Built around Buc-ee the beaver (yes I have heard all the beaver jokes both clean and near the knuckle), they allegedly have the longest car wash in the world, almost 300 petrol pumps at each station and a store containing all the things that I didn’t know I wanted, all at very attractive prices.

Add meat, more meat and then extra meat, mix in some chilli, drown in gravy and serve in a bread roll.

For all Chivers family members, can you guess where we bought this years Christmas presents? :-)

After our pit-stop at Buc-ee’s we headed on to Brenham, Texas to Jon’a all time favourite ice cream maker.

Blue Bell have been making ice cream for over 100 years. This is a home grown Texas company who only started exporting outside of Texas in the 1980’s. Whilst they no longer do formal factory tours there is an observation deck from where you can see the entire operation.

Moreover, they have an old-school ice cream parlour which serves all its flavours at USD 1 per scoop and by scoop I mean a Texas Scoop, so huge. There was a constant stream of locals visiting with their families and everybody seemed to be in their individual happy places.

Blue Bell manufacturing facility, Brenham, Texas.

I loved this image from its advertising campaign from the 1970’s.

This image is from another of their advertising campaigns and reflects the company’s roots within the local community.

What a great day! We had experienced the Beaver and got sugared-out in Brenham. We were now en-route to Frericksburg, Texas for yet more adventures. Look out for my next blog, “The Devils Backbone”.

See Y’all.

A Week With Mary…….

October 9, 2024

Regular readers will already know that the past 18 months have been life changing for Mrs. C and me.

Some of you will also know that we both reached one of life’s milestones. I became a “man of a certain age” and after being 39 for the past 20 years, Mrs. C also joined me in what we now call our “decade of discovery”.

You will no doubt be surprised to learn that even after 37 years of marriage (of course, Mrs. C was a child bride) we still have many firsts to celebrate together.

So without wasting a further minute we Carpe Diem’d and booked our first trans-Atlantic cruise. Having always been somewhat sceptical about being locked aboard a vessel with 2000 other “inmates” we decided to do it properly and booked our crossing from Southampton to New York on the flagship of the Cunard fleet, the wonderful Queen Mary 2.

Her Majesty awaits at Southampton's Mayflower Cruise Terminal.

Now as you all know, in another life Mrs. C would have been a military planner and set about the booking of our trip with a laser-like focus. “Stateroom” number 5139 was subsequently selected and reserved. This was located on deck 5; not too high, not too low and in the middle of our vessel so as to benefit from the smoothest of crossings possible. Also an enclosed balcony to allow us some fresh air with privacy (and also the quickest route over the side in the event of an emergency!).

Now these cruises are popular and indeed we booked ours over a year in advance so as to secure the time spot we required. Our logic was to go outside of the main holiday season but early enough to have the chance of some warm weather. Of course, we forgot that this was the North Atlantic, where the only constant is change and that September was the middle of the hurricane season! What could possibly go wrong with that plan?

Arrival at the Southampton Mayflower Cruise Terminal was courtesy of my brother Phil. In another life he had in fact worked aboard the Queen Elizabeth II as a chef and indeed, our dad had worked on both the original Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary. So for me this trip had some added emotion as I squared the family circle so to speak.

Being an old sea-farer, Phil said he would send us off with a seaman’s breakfast and earlier that morning had knocked up a light serving of egg, bacon, sausage, steak, mushroom, baked beans and tomato, on the basis that we would at least have something to throw up in the event of inclement weather!!

The boarding procedure was just like boarding an airplane. We left our luggage with a charming gentlemen whom we assumed worked for Cunard and about an hour later, having negotiated check-in, customs and security, we arrived at our stateroom, to find our luggage waiting for us. If only British Airways could provide a similar service!

A friendly smile and directions to our stateroom.

We quickly unpacked and spent our first afternoon exploring the ship, which I must say is vast. Some 6,000 steps later and goodness knows how many flights of stairs, we felt like we had found our bearings.

For our departure we went up to Deck 13 which gave us a panoramic view across Southampton, the town of my birth.

Some stormy clouds above looking ominous,,,fingers crossed for a smooth crossing.

Bon Voyage as we gently pull away from the quayside at Mayflower Terminal Southampton.

We were given a send off by this steamer as she passed between us and the quayside with Southampton in the background.

Our departure was planned for 5 pm but we were third in line as the Disney cruise ship was first to leave with the Freudian tones of “Under the Sea” from The Little Mermaid blaring out from her speakers.

Next up was the departure of what may only be described as a Norwegian party/cruise ship which we believe was called the S.S. Halfpissed: clearly named after a town in the far north of Norway where the days are short and they don’t have T.V. The sun had clearly passed over the yard-arm of their vessel at about 10.30 a.m. that morning and lets just say that some people looked to be at least half dressed and a quarter sober.

Disney in the distance as the S.S. Halfpissed crosses our starboard bow in a somewhat zig-zag fashion.

Then it was our turn. With a majesty and elegance that befits her name, our Mary deftly maneuvered away from the dockside and progressed along Southampton Water. It was all quite emotional for me. How many times had my dear dad undertaken this same voyage? We passed the Itchen bridge, over which I had driven to and from my first ever job, at the good old Midland Bank International Division in Castle Way Southampton, along Weston Shore, where as a kid we used to play as my nan and grandad lived just up the road in Barnfield Close, off Weston Lane. As we passed Netley beach, I had a video call from my oldest pal, Nick, who along with his wife Susanne had made the effort to wave us off on our maiden cruise. What absolute stars they are and expect a future cruise adventure with them.

Passing the end of the cruise terminal with the River Itchen and Itchen Bridge in the distance.

At this point and for those of a nautical persuasion, let me provide you with a few facts about QM2:

First Voyage: 12th January 2004

Length: 1,132 ft (345 metres)

Width: 131 ft (39.9 metres)

Draft: 32 ft (9.75 metres)

Height: 236 ft (71.9 metres)

Guest Capacity: 2,691

Guest Decks: 13

Ships Crew: 1,292

In summary, unlike the Norwegian Party Boat the QM2 is not a pleasure cruiser; she is truly an Ocean going liner and very much fit for purpose. With approximately 1 member of crew for every two passengers I sensed we were in for a luxury experience.

QM2 is basically a floating hotel and restaurant where breakfast, lunch, dinner and even supper can be taken in numerous restaurants, along with 24 hour room service. In addition to the Britannia dining room there is a large buffet in the Kings Court, something less substantial in the Carinthia Lounge or if pub grub was to your fancy, the Golden Lion Pub.

Of course for those not travelling steerage and who have a more substantial wallet, there are the exclusive Princess & Queens Grills.

However for our dinner, we were assigned table number 457, a table for two in the Britannia Dining Room, a beautifully elegant dining room.

Not a bad view from our breakfast Table.

The delightful Mrs. C providing rather lovely foreground interest.

Our breakfast table is the table for two directly under the beautiful tapestry of QM2

Our near-neighbors were an absolutely delightful American couple, John and Nancy Jenkins, who hailed from the Windy City (Chicago) and an American Diplomat and his wife, David and Connie Cummings, who were returning to the U.S. following a stint in Iraq, before taking up a new posting in Germany. With such company we were certainly in for many wonderful evenings.

Now, John and Nan had been visiting Devon and Cornwall for the very first time. They seemed to enjoy it, although they did enquire if it always rained so much!

So as the sun slowly disappeared across the horizon and darkness set in, we enjoyed our first dinner afloat, accompanied by a message and a welcome drink from our Captain, Andrew Hall.

Dinner was a nod to the 1970’s comprising a delicate beef consommé, followed by Steak Dianne accompanied by pommes dauphinoise and haricots verts, topped off with a dessert of apple strudel swimming in brandy custard, with coffee and petite fours to finish.

Given our first night’s dinner experience we quickly realized that 7 nights on the Queen Mary 2 was going to be a combined eat & drinkathon, so I decided that “pacing” was definitely in order. Oh yes I liked the idea of this kind of pacing and I was definitely in my happy place.

So with all the food and libations that are available it was clear that we would have to remain pretty active during the voyage. No need to hit the torture room (a.k.a. the gym) as you forget how large the QM2 actually is. Three times around deck 7, the promenade deck, is approx 1.1 miles and with 13 passenger decks and assuming you only take the stairs and avoid the lifts (which we did) you feel like you are climbing a mountain every day. By the end of our week we had averaged 9,944 steps per day and had climbed an average of 18 flights per day!

Passengers getting in their steps on the promenade deck.

Of course, the Promenade deck has other uses and there are plenty of steamer chairs laid out ready for that after dinner snooze.

The other question I had was whether I might get bored spending a week on a ship (remember once aboard you can’t get off). No chance of that. Each day we are presented with a schedule of choice for the day and there appeared to be something for everyone. There were classes to attend, guest speakers, matinée performances of evening shows and the worlds largest floating planetarium.

Mrs. C and I do enjoy any excuse to put on our glad rags and indeed we had two gala evenings to pack for. The first of these was a black and white evening. Mrs. C looked absolutely stunning and I did my best to rock the George Clooney / James Bond look. We decided on a pre-dinner sharpener at the Champagne Bar which certainly set the taste buds tingling.

The second was a nod to the 1920’s and as always Mrs. C looked wonderful as she accessorized in to a 1920’s look.

Generally during the daytime dress code is very informal and shorts and a t-shirt were the order of the day. However, after 6pm they do encourage guests to make a effort and smart casual (no denim) is the norm.

But what about the weather I hear you cry? Well we had a mixture of sun, cloud, light rain and mist. Although the one thing you could be assured of every day was a strong breeze or what golfers might describe as “a three club wind” so a fleece or light jacket is definitely advisable. We are used to this as our apartment in Plymouth looks out across Sutton Harbour and Plymouth Sound and the one thing that is constant by the sea is weather conditions changing at a moments notice.

The Angry Atlantic - Keeping everything crossed that things remain calm.

The sea-state was at times beautifully calm and at others a turmoil. Even though we had our travel wrist bands and took a travel sickness tablet every day, we experienced nothing more than a gentle motion of our trusty vessel, even though at its worst the wind speed reached Force 9 and the wave height 4 metres. This is all due to the design of QM2 with its four huge retractable stabilizers which really do limit the roll of the ship. This is what makes her a true ocean going cruise liner.

The aft decks of our ship were somewhat sheltered and often, despite the weather, people could be seen relaxing in the various hot-tubs whilst others on the promenade deck sat huddled on loungers in their coats and fleeces. Of course we had to have a go and on one of the particularly sunny days we were lightly poached in the outside hot tub and then took a cooling swim in the aft outdoor swimming pool.

The Aft Hot Tub - Temperature set to lightly poached!

Out of the breeze the aft deck is very pleasant to relax and enjoy the view.

Deck 12 was the activity deck. There was a fabulous indoor pool area with a heated pool, hot tubs and very comfortable loungers. A great place to while away an hour or so.

Deck thirteen is the observation deck although during many days this was closed due to the strong winds. However one sunny morning we found it open and armed with my Leica Type 246, 50mm Summarit, an orange filter and a half willing model, I was able to capture images of our glorious Mary from a different perspective.

Always good to know where the helicopter will collect you in the event of an emergency!.

Geometry and shadows - in my happy place.

Now the reason we took a cruise rather than a plane across the Atlantic was (a) it would be one of our “firsts” and (b) as we were spending another 10 days in the States visiting our old Dubai neigbours, Rachel & Johnathan Ward, who now reside in Houston Texas. So we wanted to avoid feeling jet-lagged and knackered on arrival.

Interestingly, every day the ships clock is set back by one hour so that by the time we arrived in New York, we were already on New York time and ready for the adventures ahead (see my next blog, “Going Down South”).

As we continued our gentle cruise across “The Pond” we fell in to a leisurely routine. Normally the mornings were spent exploring the ship (there wasn’t a day when we didn’t get lost) and the afternoons attending a show or activity.

As I mentioned before the evening shows were top notch. Whether is was show tunes and contemporary favorites from The Barricade Boys, Comedy from Jon Courtney, a touch of Shakespeare from members of the Royal Shakespeare Company or dance and songs from the ships own entertainment company, there appeared to be something for everyone. We had chosen the 6.00p.m. Dinner slot so as to be able to attend the 8.15 p.m. shows, which normally lasted for an hour. Then it was time for a nightcap or perhaps a cocktail or three before retiring to our stateroom. This relaxing was becoming really hard work!

Cunard do mix a rather good Vodka Martini - Of course, shaken not stirred!

For me I also enjoyed some creativity of my own, looking to record the voyage with my Leica Type 246 Monochrom. I had brought two lenses, a 28mm Elmarit and 50mm Summarit. At F2.8 and F2.5 respectively, these lenses are both relatively slow in the world of Leica. However, the low level light capability of the Type 246 is superb so no worries on that front. I also had my little Fuji XF10 and for times when a physical camera was too obtrusive, my Iphone with the Leica Lux App.

Cunard Luxury and The Leica Type 246 Monochrom - a perfect match!

The key was portability and damage limitation in the event that I damaged or lost my Leica lenses in some of the sketchier destinations that I intended to visit whilst in the States. As both lenses take an E39 filter, I would share a four stop ND filter (essential to shoot wide open in bright conditions) and an orange filter between the two.

A rather splendid mid Atlantic full moon.

I can't help myself can I - Simply love all the geometry.

Our favourite morning location was the Commodore Club, a delightful lounge on deck 9 at the very front of the ship. We normally accessed this by using a little known glass elevator which also provided its own photo opportunities.

View from the Glass Lift en route to Deck 11. by Day

The Commodore Club was completely up my street. The discreet waiters were on hand to serve morning coffee, or for days when the sun reached over the proverbial yard arm a little early, a pre-lunch Martini. Another happy place for yours truly.

We were also visited each day by our Captain. He would collect his morning coffee and chat with the passengers. Then at 12.00 noon every day the ships horn would sound and he would provide us with an update on our progress, likely weather conditions and interesting facts about our cruise.

The Commodore Club - A great place to chill for an hour or so - Did I mention they serve Martinis as well.

Just a reminder that the weather can be changeable.

The bow displaying "The Commodore's Cufflinks.

You can see in the previous image what look like metal sculptures. These are nicknamed “The Commodore’s Cufflinks” and are in fact spare propeller blades.

Our arrival in to New York was around 6.00a.m. on the Sunday morning. We were determined not to miss it and along with everyone else on the ship we huddled together on deck 13 to celebrate our arrival.

To the resounding applause and cheers of the passengers we made it under the Verrazzano Bridge with a few feet to spare, after which we sailed past the beautiful Statue of Liberty with the lights of Manhattan twinkling in the background. It was pitch black and I had the Type 246 set to an ISO of 10,000 and the 50 Summarit wide-open.

Passing under the Verrazzano Bridge with only feet to spare.

Our first sight of the Statue of Liberty with Manhattan in the background.

Having got my images we headed back to the cabin for a quick shower and change, during which time our Mary had docked at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal. As I pulled back our curtain and walked on to the balcony of our cabin I was presented with two beautiful shots of the Statue of Liberty and Downtown Manhattan! So we could have had an extra hour in bed! Truthfully, the arrival was breathtaking and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

Disembarking at Brooklyn Cruise Terminal.

Au revoir Queen Mary 2 and onwards to Houston.

Some two hours later we had fought our way through U.S. Immigration, located our bags and were on a Cunard shuttle bus en-route to Newark Airport and our flight to Houston. Our week with Mary had been truly spectacular and we can’t wait to do it again…. what was that?…oh that was the sound of our bank manager just going in to anaphylactic shock :-)

Ah yes, you thought I had forgotten about The Bench of Contemplation. Well given that we have a nautical theme I decide to capture Mrs. C on the “Deck of Contemplation” as she had a quiet moment of reflection whilst gazing out to sea across the Grand Banks.

What a week. We shared so many happy moments but above all we shared them together. I count myself a very lucky man to have the opportunity to do these things and above all, to do them with the woman I love more than anything else in the world.

What adventures do we have in store as we head off to the Lone Star State. Look out for my next Blog, “Going Down South” as Mrs. C and I continue our decade of discovery.

See Y’all in Texas.

On My Doorstep...........

August 7, 2024

Mrs. C and I love to travel, whether in UK or overseas. I always treat travel as an opportunity to refresh the creative juices and as a source of new imagery for my website and blogs.

However, now that I live full-time in Plymouth UK, I have come to appreciate just how beautiful it is in the area in which we live and just how much there is on our doorstep, that we tend to ignore, just because we see it every day.

So I have started my first ever photo project which I have called “On My Doorstep”. It involves me documenting what I can see on my regular photowalks that are with 15 minutes of my front door.

I view this as a long-term project to cover all four seasons and which will enable me to delve much deeper in to the community where I live.

This initial blog is based on imagery rather than words and I hope to giver you a taster of what is outside of my front door.

1. The view from our balcony.

When we bought our apartment the view from our Balcony was the clincher. Each day its the same yet different. The seasons, the weather and the sun (when it eventually comes out) makes every day so different.

No matter how much I try I can’t seem to capture its beauty in a manner which truly reflects what I can see with my eyes.

Perhaps this is more a case of me needing to develop my skills as a photographer, refining composition and waiting for the right lighting? However, I treat this view as a juxtaposition, on one hand it is something I find deeply calming and relaxing, on the other it has become a challenge as I strive to capture that perfect image (assuming there is such a thing).

Perhaps I should listen to the wisdom of Mrs. C who is constantly quoting Voltaire at me, “not to let perfect be the enemy of good”.

View from my balcony across Sutton Harbour with Plymouth Sound in the distance.

2. Morning Coffee.

Morning coffee at the wonderful Cornish Bakery on Plymouth Barbican @cornishbakery plays a huge part in our daily lifestyle. We have always been coffee people; we like to make an effort and get out, irrespective of the weather, especially with family and friends.

Indeed, it is an opportunity to spend time both talking and listening to each other, skills that are increasingly diminishing in this modern world of social media and screen-based communication.

Cornish Bakery with its view across Sutton Harbour.

We are a family of habit and routine. So, when we walk through the door of the Cornish Bakery, the team are already preparing our order. I guess that’s the benefit of being local and supporting them in summer, winter, rain or shine.

I captured a few images of the Cornish Bakery team. They don’t always dress like this but this was Plymouth Pirate Weekend so they had all entered in to the spirit.

Our walk to the Cornish Bakery is the same each day yet, there is so much to see and imagery to capture.

All peaceful at The Three Crowns but try walking by on a Saturday night!

As you walk along the Plymouth Barbican you come to two well known “Plymouth Establishments”, Coffee and Donuts and Cap’n Jaspers. This is where the motorcycle crowd gather for their morning bacon sandwich and coffee.

Morning coffee and an environmental portrait.

Southside Street with eh famous Plymouth Gin Distillery in the background.

3. Plymouth Hoe.

If you ask most people about Plymouth Hoe, they will tell you it is where Sir Francis Drake played a game of bowls, before vanquishing the Spanish Armada. Indeed it allegedly is, yet it is so much more.

If you are a people watcher and love ever changing scenery, then the walk from our apartment up on to Plymouth Hoe and back again is for you. So much to see en-route as well as when you get there.

Catch a ferry to Mount Batten, Royal William Yard or Cawsand.

Grab a coffee at Alfrescos but watch out for those pesky gulls.

Ocean View - A great stop-off for a lunch or afternoon cocktail.

In my images of Plymouth, you will see that the iconic Smeaton’s Tower, the lighthouse that once stood on the Eddystone Reef, will always figure prominently. The challenge is how to capture it from different perspectives.

Picnic Time - Plymouth Health Food - A Pasty with No Chips!

Those Pilgrims who sailed on the Mayflower to create a life in the “new world”.

We must remember that Plymouth is still a military town and is steeped in history. It is still important for the modern generation to take time to honour the memory of those who gave their lives to ensure the safety of ours.

In memory of those who gave their lives to protect our way of life.

So there you have it. A selection of imagery from within 15 minutes of my doorstep. I will put a specific gallery on my gallery page which I will look to regularly update.

I have to be honest, Plymouth is rather like a football match, a game of two halves. I have only shown you the best bits. However, like all English cities, there is a darker side, one of decay, decline, of desperation and despair and of a cry for help. I have decided to leave that half for the time being. There is so much anger and despair in the world that for the time-being and for the sake of my mental health, I prefer to focus my lens in a more positive direction.

I hope you have enjoyed this initial glimpse of where I live and what effectively has become the area for my local photo walks. It really is a beautiful place and one I would encourage you to visit.

With warmest regards from a warm and sunny Plymouth.

It Ony Takes A Half A Day……

August 3, 2024

In the words of the Carmen Jones Lyric, “it only takes a half a day to be a thousand miles away” or in our case approximately 240 miles by train. So we booked two first class returns and headed off for a week in the big city. Actually I was quite desperate for a trip to London to spend time with the kids and to attend a few special events.

During June we had a similar trip cancelled as I once again caught the dreaded Covid. I know, you thought it was all over. However, I can tell you it is still rife out there and when you have it, it is still not pleasant. Fortunately I am super-inoculated and so it lasted about a week with the usual flu-like symptoms along with a seven day headache. Anyways, enough of the C word and let us move on to things more pleasant.

The beauty about visiting the kids in London is that they all enjoy good food and a libation or three, especially when the bank of mum and dad blows in to town.

I tend not to take photos of our family dinners as I generally find that red wine and manual focus are not necessarily kindred spirits.

As always we hit the ground running with a fabulous Japanese dinner at Stiks N Sushi Greenwich. Being the Patriarch and to help my bank manager retain his sanity I had taken control of ordering the food and if I say so myself all was going pretty “Genki” until I was distracted for just a moment, during which time Anna was let loose on the Yuzu Saki! Ah well, no point being the wealthiest guy in the cemetery.

Next morning we were all together again for a fabulous brunch at Grind Greenwich and “sin alcohol” my focus skills were back in order.

Each day we travelled in to central London on the DLR followed by either the Jubilee or Elizabeth lines. I have found the initial journey through the Canary Wharf district to be a target rich environment from a photographic standpoint. I love the modern architecture and the way it interacts with light and shadows. Here are a selection of my Canary Wharf images.

The motto of this Image is “always look behind you”.

This particular visit to London was going to be quite hectic as we had Many things planned. The first was a visit to Wimbledon to have lunch with Shelagh, one or our oldest and dearest friends. No matter how long it has been since we last got together, we immediately pick-up where we left off. Shelagh is a fantastic cook and as usually produced a wonderful meal accompanied by more than a few bottles of wine. Some say I might have over-participated on the wine front and fallen asleep in the chair. There is, allegedly, an image doing the rounds showing me in the process of “resting my eyes”. I am claiming the 5th Amendment on that front although the next morning I did have one of my heads. Must have been the onions!

The next day also involved food and wine as the young people had treated Mrs. C and me to afternoon tea at the Ritz. Let me assure you tea at the Ritz is everything you would expect to be and more. As we took our seats a charming waiter asked if we would mind starting with a glass of chilled champagne followed by some exquisite finger sandwiches, (of which there were many top-ups), after which the fresh-baked scones arrived with jam and the obligatory clotted cream.

At this point I must digress as there is some debate among the young people as to how to build the perfect scone. Whilst we live in Devon, I hate to admit that we actually prefer the Cornish approach:

Cut the Scone in to two halves. Never eat the Scone like a sandwich.
Spread copious amounts of jam on to each piece as if it were butter. Above all, be generous!
Then you have the perfect platform to add as much clotted cream as possible. If you are concerned that you have not added sufficient clotted cream, then you most certainly haven’t, so keep piling it on.
Finally eat the end result with a large smile while making soothing noises.

The surroundings were sublime, the service was top notch, the food was delightful and Mrs. C was looking radiant. It is fair to say that we were both very much in our happy places.

After this wonderful lunch we left the Ritz, turned right towards Piccadilly and headed to nearby Fortnum & Masons to purchase some loose-leaf tea (their breakfast blend is simply the best) and a few extra goodies, just in case we were unable to maintain our calorie levels.

The next day involved a further treat. Cousin John, a member of the venerable M.C.C. had invited us to Lords to watch the first day of the Test Match between England and the West Indies.

For those lovers of what we cricket fans term as “The Summer Game”, a visit to H.Q. (Lords) is the highlight of the cricketing year. This was to be an extra special visit as it marked the final match for England’s greatest ever fast bowler, James “Jimmy” Anderson. The cricketing glitterati were all there and the powers that be were ensuring that this occasion and Jimmy’s achievements were to be suitably celebrated. His family were there to ring the 5 minute bell, the teams performed a guard of honour and our famous gladiator took to the pitch for the final time to a standing ovation from a crowd of 30,000.

There was a hush in the crowd as Jimmy started his run-up to deliver his last ever “first ball”. As he increased the pace of his run-up the expectation of the crowd reached fever pitch and I was reminded of the opening line of Alfred Lord Tennyson’s famous poem, “Half a league, half a league, half a league onward” although in this case it was not in to the Valley of Death but to deliver a rapier-like delivery straight down the “corridor of uncertainty” almost turning the batsman inside out. The crowd were on their feet as they let out a thunderous roar of appreciation. For certain, there will never be another quite like our Jimmy.

The remainder of the day was a joy, a couple of pints of Pedigree Bitter to wash down some delicious sandwiches and all topped off with a couple of bottles of champagne in the Harris Garden. England Glorious England! Oh and our brave lads also performed well as we skittled-out the West Indies for a modest total.

As always John was the perfect host and we are looking forward to more adventures with him as we darken his door at Great Shoddesden later in the year.

Meantime here are a few memories of this wonderful day:

The Field of Dreams - The atmosphere is building.

As I have said many times to be a tourist for a day in London is such fun and there is so much to do.

Mrs C and I always enjoy a visit to the Victoria & Albert Museum in South Kensington. My advice is to always start the day in their wonderful café and then go straight to the top floor and work your way down. There is so much to see but as a photographer I am always seeking out light and shadows:

Another wonderful place to spend a morning is the Royal Acadamy. I always like to start out at their café (regular readers will have already spotted a theme in my approach to culture) and order a steaming americano accompanied by their sumptuous breakfast bap.

Our specific reason for visiting was to view a picture called “Flaming June” by the artist Frederic, Lord Leighton. Now I am a man that sees the world in monochrome but even to me, this picture was so vibrant that I am breaking my no color rule for the very first time. My image does not do it justice but if I were to ever hang just one color picture on the wall of my living room, this would be it.

We then took the underground to Gloucester Road and after a 30 minute walk through leafy Chelsea we arrived at the wonderful Physic Gardens. This oasis in the heart of London borders the Thames and is an homage to the various uses of plants. Once again on arrival, which conveniently coincided with lunch, we enjoyed a most delicious endive salad with blue-cheese dressing accompanied by roasted honey-glazed carrots. Now, although my natural environment is somewhat protein rich, this no carb vegetarian interlude was a complete delight.

Suitably replete, we spent a wonderful couple of hours roaming through the various flowerbeds. It was such a restful environment and many people had come simply to sit and reflect or perhaps read a book. The image I have chosen to reflect our visit is also my choice for the “Bench of Contemplation”. A finely dressed gent is sitting alone on a bench, enjoying an immaculate packed lunch whilst reading a novel. After all, what does a gentleman do in Chelsea on a quiet Thursday?

We were both very much at peace as we headed towards Sloane Square to catch our train back to Greenwich. En-route I managed to capture an image of the Royal Chelsea Hospital, home to the iconic Chelsea Pensioners, who are all retired soldiers of the British Army.

We always like to spend our final day in London by taking a visit to Covent Garden. We grabbed a modest breakfast of coffee and croissant from Paul’s and whilst Mrs. C swept off on her retail therapy mission to boost the U.K’s flagging GDP, I was left to wander the streets and grab a few images.

Avoiding Eye Contact - The London Underground.

What a fabulous week in our glorious capital. Precious time spent with loved ones while enjoying the sights like a tourist and we still don’t believe we have scratched the surface of what London has to offer.

I do hope you have enjoyed joining us on our London adventure. So Carpe Diem and remember, “It only Takes A Half A Day”!

We have so much planned for the rest of the year so stay tuned and warmest regards from a sunny Plymouth U.K.

Breton Chic!..........

June 18, 2024

Its hard to believe that we are already mid-way through June. 2024 has been such an exciting year for Madam. C et moi and there was no letting up as we prepared to join Aunty Sarah and Mike on yet another adventure, this time with a nautical bent; yes a weekend trip to Roscoff in glorious Brittany.

As many readers know we live in Plymouth located on the coast in the South West of the U.K. and for us, Brittany has a similar coastline, a not dissimilar climate but with the addition of that wonderful Breton cuisine and of course the most wonderful grape!.

It was to be a short trip, just two nights and we had planned to do much walking, some photography and to combine both with plenty of eating and drinking, with Fruit De Mer firmly at the top of my wish-list. Now I wouldn’t say we were keen but we had already telephoned the restaurant to ensure they would guarantee to have everything ready for us on arrival.

For me every trip involves two key decisions:

(a) Choice of headwear and outfit - I firmly believe that there is a hat for every occasion.

As many of you know I may be semi retired but I am definitely not shy and retiring. So, with my Breton Fishermans hat, salty sea-dog beard and a rather jaunty blue and white neckerchief to accompany my blue and white Deal jacket, I would say that the look was what I would term as “Breton Chic”! The other members of our team used various other non-complimentary adjectives and were not so enthusiastic about my attempt to “blend in” with the locals. I merely informed them that it was called style, that I did not want to look like a tourist and that it is always better to be a leader not a follower. The consensus was that I may be a leader but I might like to follow and remain a few steps behind them, especially when passing through French customs. “Qui s’en soucie”! Indeed, little did they all know that whilst in Roscoff I would be looking for an addition to my burgeoning hat collection, that would raise my Breton outfit to the next level. Hold that thought…….

(b) Choice of photography gear.

From a photography stand-point I was travelling light as we would be foot passengers on the ferry and I also intended to do a great deal of walking. I had decided to give the Leica M Type 246 Monochrom an outing accompanied by the wonderful 50mm Apo Summicron (with 4 stop ND filter to avoid clipping the highlights) and the 90mm Leica Summarit F2.4. I felt that should cover most bases. Both lenses were in silver which accented my beard perfectly (you see, the modern style-conscious man thinks of everything). I had also downloaded the Leica Lux app on to my iPhone as I wanted to see if this would give my iPhone imagery a more complimentary look to my camera images.

As La Tante Sarah (LTS) is an executive of Brittany Ferries, our “mode de passage” for this trip would naturally be the flagship ferry of the Brittany Ferries fleet, the rather luxurious MV Pont-Aven. Indeed LTS had kindly taken care of all arrangements and so we knew that our visit would be planned with a military precision. Eh Bien, all we had to do was to be at Brittany Ferries Millbay Docks by 12.30 p.m. As we only live about a 30 minute walk away we decided to go ”à pied” and stop off for un sandwich au bacon en route. Gosh, I am already slipping in to the “Franglais” and we haven’t even crossed La Manche. As regular readers will know its a Chivers family routine to have at least one portion of pork product every day whilst on holiday so this little stop-off was to maintain the family honour and reputation.

Thanks to LTS’s admin skills our check-in was a breeze and we were soon aboard the rather plush ferry, the MV Port-Aven. Once on board we headed straight for our cabin to deposit our luggage. I digress but a trick for young players is to aways book a cabin; when the weather is stormy one can endure “vomissements et nausées” in the privacy of one’s own stateroom and thereafter have a bed to collapse in to and when the ferry is full it might be the only place available in which to find a seat.

Next stop was to head up to the top deck as I wanted to capture some imagery of Plymouth, but with a maritime perspective.

My first aim was to capture the view across Millbay Docks towards the Hoe. Interestingly this was the view that the survivors from the sinking of the Titanic saw when they first arrived back in Plymouth. A sobering thought as we headed out to sea.

Then in to Plymouth Sound and passing West Hoe with the War Memorial and Smeaton’s Tower in the distance.

As we reached the outer limits of the Plymouth Sound I was determined to capture a view of the breakwater and fort.

The foundation stone of the breakwater was laid on 8th August 1812 and the entire structure completed in 1841. This 1,560 metre breakwater not only protects Plymouth Sound and its shipping from storms but also acted to defend Plymouth and its deep-water port during the wars with Napoleon and subsequently during WWI & WWII. To gain a sense of what it took to build, back in 1841 it cost some £1.5 million, which is today equivalent to £126 million. Imagine what that would do to your council tax bill if such a project was considered today.

The breakwater lighthouse was first operational in 1844 and still provides ships with guidance as they enter Plymouth Sound via the deep-water Chanel.

Having successfully captured the required imagery I looked to find the other members of our merry band of brothers. As I met up with them I heard LTS, who as you know is head of family hydration, mention that key phrase to one of the crew members, “Bonjour Matelot ou-est le bar”! I am sure that even if your colloquial french is a bit rusty, you get the drift.

Determined to maximise our use of the facilities we had a few pints of the on-board grog before finding some seats on the upper deck, to take in some rays and also enjoy a few zzz’s.

LTS having an Audrey Hepburn moment on the top deck.

Thankfully our crossing was very smooth and so no problem with sea sickness. As a rule I don’t suffer with it but when needs must the devil drives and like all good boy-scouts I came fully prepared and was wearing a rather stylish pair of travel sickness bracelets acquired from boots for £6.50 in a 2 for 1 offer (you know it makes sense) which were complimented by a double-dose of Stugeron sea sickness tablets (always go big for maximum results). Do they work….well they certainly didn’t make me sick so that’s all good then!

On arrival in Roscoff I passed through customs (some ten feet behind the others) and I noticed the customs officer could not take his eyes off my hat and jaunty neckerchief. Clearly the French appreciate haute-couture.

As the weather was so lovely (and incredibly there were no taxis…well it was dinner time and we were in France so….) we decided to walk the 15 minute journey in to the centre of Roscoff.

Being a ferry port most people, including me, normally drive off the ferry and head off on holiday without giving Roscoff a second glance. What a mistake we have all been making for as I walked through the streets with my Type 246 at the ready, I was clearly having an epiphany (no that is not a euphemism) at the old-world charm of this lovely town.

We arrived at our hotel mid evening and were checked in to an absolutely delightful room with a sea-front view.

After a quick night cap of the local Calvados (apple brandy) we retired for an early night as we were going to have a very busy day ahead of us.

Now when I say sea-view I mean sea-view. I woke up very early and when I opened the curtains to try and catch the sunrise this was the view from my bedroom window.

After a quick shower it was downstairs for breakfast. The French certainly know how to put on a spread. I took the continental option but with a twist. I had a selection of hams and saucisson with cheese, brie and Tomme and of course beautiful crispy local baked baguette all washed down with a steaming hot coffee. The twist, I added some crispy cooked bacon to a fresh baguette, topped with brie, just to keep up the family tradition.

With the tank full we headed off to the port to find our ferry to the nearby Île-de-Batz. Like any French fishing port the first thing you come across are the local fishing boats so I grabbed the obligatory image.

We then found our ferry to the nearby island and bought return tickets for Euros 11 each. Tip of the day, buy a return ticket as the ferry is the only way you are going to get on and off the island. The journey each way is 15 minutes dependent upon the state of the tide; hold that thought……

MV L’Hermine - our trusty ferry pretty much fully loaded.

Mike Apo Summicroned in Monochrom at F2.

A bit of sightseeing en route to the Island.

Now we chose to spend our day on the Island as it offers a good 3 hour walk, the coast line and beaches are picturesque and there are lots of indigenous birds and with Mike, our resident Twitcher present, we had our quick identification resource available to us.

Now I had my Type 246 with me to capture the bigger scene and was not attempting bird photography. Next visit, and there will be a next visit, I will bring my SL2 and the 100-400mm Zoom for some nature photography.

As we disembarked the ferry I grabbed my first shot along the quay wall. I was already in my happy place and as we wondered through the main town I was able to collate the following images.

First view after disembarking the ferry.

Across the bay with the lighthouse “Phare de Lîle-de-Batz in the background.

Now Mike is also a keen photographer and had brought his Fuji XT3 and 18-50mm zoom. He captured this image of the girls searching for things to go in the “nature pocket” whilst yours truly emerged from the shrubbery, Type 246 in hand. He called this “Gorillas in the Mist”.

Guerillas in the Mist - Courtesy of Mike Williams.

Now we are on an island; how difficult is it to get lost? Well it wasn’t long before there was a “discussion” between the girls as to the route we should take. Fortunately yours truly was there with my mountain goat instincts. As I am an ambi-turner, I suggested we turn right (in case of doubt I always turn right) and keep the light house to our right at all times, (given the lighthouse is located in the centre of the island) and we would never be wrong. Voila! we were back on our way again.

So given my sage-like advice and that whenever I looked to the right I could see the light house, I decided to make a series of images of the same, but with different perspectives.

I forgot to mention that as a good boy-scout I had come prepared and en-route to the ferry I had purchased a couple of baguettes of Jambon Beurre as sustenance. After a couple of hours of walking my tummy was rumbling and so we found a quiet beach to consume our picnic and explore.

We then headed off to town for a coffee. We had delicious “Noisettes” which are very similar to macchiatos and really hit the spot when energy levels begin to flag.

As we arrived back to the ferry the words “Huston we have a problem” came to mind. We didn’t appear to have any water!

Oh bugger - where has all the water gone?

However the locals had thought of everything and had build a special concrete jetty out in to the bay, which you don’t normally see when the tide is in. On the Roscoff side we were equally devoid of de L’eau. Then I realised why there was that enormous jetty that was seemingly built in to the sea for no apparent reason. This was our dropping off point when the tide was out.

Crikey what can possibly go wrong, especially after the 2nd bottle of red.

Lobster Pots - already thinking about our dinner and the impending Fruits de Mer.

We now had a real thirst and so we did what most of the locals seemed to be doing, we stopped off at one of the local bars, enjoyed the sun and order a few glasses of the local grog.

A perfect combination - Hydration by Saint Erwann, imagery bt Leica.

It was then back to the hotel (whilst we could still walk in a straight line) for an afternoon siesta and a freshen-up. We agreed to meet downstairs in the bar before dinner for an apero.

When we arrived at the bar LTS was already interrogating Lucas, our young Grog Wallah, as to what was available. In the end Mike and I being easy to please had a couple of beers whilst the girls had two large kir Royals. I have never liked a cheap date and good job as when our Grog Wallah gave me the bill lets just say they weren’t giving them away! Anyway we were on holiday and the girls said it didn’t matter………so it didn’t matter!

Lucas - Our resident Grog Wallah. Image captured with Leica Lux App

A five minute walk away was Le Restaurant Surcouf and Madam was waiting for us. Already primed she served us a most excellent Fruits De Mer sans Nobbly Bits (the nobbly bits being whelks and cockles which no-one wanted).

We were presented with our lobster, who we shall call Francoise. Only problem was Francoise was still twitching. Its a bit like ordering a sirloin steak and trotting in Daisy the cow for approval. However, having crossed that particular ethical rubicon we decided that Francoise would do very nicely grilled and covered in local butter, accompanied by Spider Crab, langoustines and large prawns, backed up by a lovely green salad and a steaming bowl of French fries. All this, on the recommendation of LTS, was to be washed down with a cinq deci of the local chilled white wine.

Now I must digress but a tip from someone who loves lobster. Always order a female of the species as there is more meat on the breast. I am not sure where I heard this little nugget or whether it is in fact true. However It always seems to turn out ok so what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger….except for Francoise who went straight on to grill.

What is it the French say, “A fish must swim three times, once in water, once in butter and once in white wine”. Well bon appetite to that!

When our feast was presented it came along with various implements to crack, prong and scoop. I noticed a charming women on the next table to seemed to have completely eviscerated her crab in to a neat pile of crab meat whilst I seemed to be completely covered in mine. Not to worry Fruit De Mer is a participative dinner and lets say it was absolutely delicious and I fully participated.

Spider Crab - Now where to start with this bad boy? Image captured with Leica Lux App

Job Done! Image captured with Leica Lux App

Its fair to say that after a couple of pre-bed Calvados’s and a couple of Omeprazole I slept like a baby.

Again I woke up early, opened the windows in time to see that whilst the tide had gone out, the MV Amourique, our ride home, was just coming in.

The tide has gone out but the MV Amourique was coming in.

We had a couple of hours to kill before heading off to the port so LTS said they knew of a little beach nearby with great views and an excellent coffee.

Never a good sign - Out with the analogue sat-nav. Image captured with Leica Lux App

There must be something here for La Poche Nature. Image captured with Leica Lux App

A perfect end to a perfect weekend. Image captured with Leica Lux App

They always say that “better a good weekend than a poor fortnight”. I second that and thanks to LTS for organising a fantastic getaway. As we pulled out of Roscoff it was definitely à bientôt.

Ah yes, for those of you still reading you remember I mentioned that I would be looking to upgrade my Breton Chic look. Well I found this wonderful Breton Fishermans cap in the same material as my stylelish hat. What is the difference you may ask? Well it has no peak and as a result it is so much easier to use a camera, especially in portrait aspect. You see, once again I am mixing style with practicality. It is fair to say that our team were a tad harsh when commenting on my new look. I love it but what do you think?

And finally….even in the middle of the English Channel I managed to find Madam C. on a bench of contemplation.

We had a wonderful time in France and I hope you have enjoyed joining us on this visit.

We have so much more planned for the rest of the year so stay tuned and warmest regards to you all from a sunny Plymouth U.K.

Stourhead.......

June 1, 2024

Summer is almost upon us and as I go all Rogers and Hammerstein, “June will soon be bustin out all over”. So much to do and always so little time. This retirement lark is becoming increasingly hectic!

We were very excited to be meeting up with our dear friends Cathie and Nick Eagle. We spent many a great time when we were all “Au Moyen L’Orient” and we see no reason not to do the same now we are all based back in good old Blighty.

We had planned a little get-together in Frome, Somerset and thought it would be silly not to include a visit to glorious Stourhead. So we fired up Bucephalus, typed Stourhead in to Trixie and headed up the A38.

The Stourhead Estate is located in Wiltshire, a 20 minute drive from our hotel in Frome and if you want to see how the other half lived back in the day, then the Stourhead Estate is a great place to start.

Upon arrival we dropped in to our usual role; Mrs. C. procured an analogue sat-nav from arrivals and I dropped in behind looking for compositions and soaking up the information, as Mrs. C. effortlessly guided us around the grounds.

Now before I get in to the imagery let me give you a brief potted history of the Stourhead Estate.

Stourhead was originally owned by and was the home of the Hoare Family. Whilst the estate (comprising some 2000 acres or so) is now owned and managed by the National Trust, I believe The Hoare Family still own a neighbouring estate of similar size.

The family originally made their fortune through Banking and indeed, still own C. Hoare & Co, the Uk’s oldest Privately owned bank, which has remained in the Hoare family for 12 generations. Who was it said “never a borrower or lender be”!

Over the years each generation of the family have left their mark but in my opinion the house is un-impressive for an estate of this size and it is the gardens which are truly magnificent, having been widely regarded as “a living work of art”.

It was Henry Hoare II who originally conceived the gardens. In fact he went by the nickname of “Henry The Magnificent”. He sounds quite a character and was clearly a visionary, drawing inspiration for his garden from his many travels.

As we passed through the courtyard containing the usual Café and Shop and walked past the Spread Eagle Inn, we came to the beautiful St. Peter’s Church.

Having sorted my composition of the Church Mrs. C said “look behind you”…. As I turned the view took my breath away.

The next image comprises the Bristol Cross, flanked by The Palladian Bridge with the Pantheon across the lake.

The High Cross originally stood in Bristol at the junction of High Street, Broad Street, Wine Street and Corn Street, the four principal thoroughfares of Bristol. There were niches containing the statues of Kings John, Henry III, Edward III and Edward IV. In later years it was viewed as an obstruction in the busy streets of Bristol. In 1733 the deputy chamberlain Mr Vaughan, who lived at the corner of High and Wine Street, claimed his life and house were in danger from it every time the wind blew. The 'progressive' magistrates ordered that the Cross be put away in the Guidhall and later re-erected on College Green. However, in 1763 it was declared a nuisance by locals and as it stood on land owned by the Cathedral it was deposited in a corner. In 1768 it was given away by the Dean of Bristol to his friend Henry Hoare of Stourhead, to use as an estate ornament.

The Bristol Cross with The Pantheon across the lake.

If you asked me about the image that epitomises Stourhead, it is the next image with the Palladian Bridge in the foreground and the Pantheon with its reflection shimmering in the lake. I was particularly pleased to have captured the two swans swimming through the reflection.

The Palladian Bridge with its five arches sits very neatly at the entrance to the lake. However, it is only for ornamental purposes. It has been quite cleverly designed to draw the eye through the arches and on to the vista behind.

Classic Stourhead - The Palladian Bridge & The Pantheon.

Our walk continued clockwise around the lake and as we wondered at the beautiful plants we came across the Temple of Apollo, its location surveying the entire lake scene. It is worth a walk up to the Temple purely for the view but the building was locked and so it really is just a folly.

I was like a kid in a candy store and wherever I looked I could see compositions. As we walked there was complete serenity and I believe this next image sums up the tranquility of a balmy afternoon by the side of the lake.

We were only 30 mins in to the walk and Mrs. C was keen to press on. As we came around a bend in the path the Pantheon stood before us in all its glory. I believe that the Pantheon was built in the mid 1700’s. It is quite stunning and would have been a wonderful location for a lakeside residence. However, when you enter you will see it filled with ornate statues and a beautiful domed ceiling with stained glass at its pinnacle. An amazing construction for something which could only have been used for entertaining or simply enjoying the view. It makes you consider the wealth of the landed gentry at that time that they could afford to create such follies.

The path continues to wind around the lake and out of nowhere you come across The Gothic Cottage. My understanding was that it was originally built as a lakeside dwelling for servants. Can you imagine being told I am ever so sorry but would you mind living next to the lake in this quant thatched cottage!

I was really pleased that from a photography standpoint I had kept things simple. I wanted that 50mm perspective to try and capture what the eye actually sees. The 50mm Summilux never seems to fail whether wide open or stopped down.

We were on a bit of a route march as we wanted to reach the main house before forecasted showers set in but there were so many opportunities to capture the simple beauty of nature.

Temple of Apollo from a different perspective.

As we continued our walk we came across another small building called the Temple of Flora. Perched in a secluded spot overlooking the lake it really was rather romantic. Other than our family motto “Magis Farciminis Placere” ( it means more sausage please) my colloquial Latin is a little rusty. However, I am reliably informed that above the door is a Latin inscription which means “Keep away anyone profane, keep away”. Not sure what to read in to that other than all who are kind, gentle and of good nature are welcome.

The planting is so clever and there always seems to be an opening through which one of the buildings can be viewed from a completely different perspective. One of my favourite images of the day is this view of the Pantheon from the opposite side of the lake.

Emerging from the shadows - The Pantheon from a different perspective.

Despite rain being forecast it was warm and sunny so a hat and a comfortable pair of walking shoes are definitely the order off the day. However, for some it was all a bit too much!

We then returned back to the courtyard where we took lunch under the shade of one of the trees. The food and coffee from the café were excellent although I am told, should you prefer something a little more substantive, that the food in the Spread Eagle Inn is excellent.

Time to move on to the main House, which I believe is a Neo-Palladian Grade 1 listed building. My consultation with Google revealed that Neo-Palladian is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio, involving concepts of symmetry and perspective. There you go I am still none the wiser other than to say, from a personal standpoint, although it is clearly grand I do not find it aesthetically pleasing.

The main house was originally built between 17-21 to 1724. after a terrible fire it was rebuilt in 1906.

I normally enjoy capturing the interiors of these grand houses but in this instance I found the house cluttered and so dark as to make it extremely difficult to appreciate the beautiful artwork that adorned the walls let alone capture it with my camera.

The only floor available to view is the ground floor and there is no access to either kitchens or bedrooms. I was most disappointed about this as you can very much tell how people lived by looking at the kitchens, seeing how they dined and the way they decorated and maintain the bedrooms and their private quarters.

For me the most impressive room was the library and the main desk which stood at its head.

I wasn’t about to let this spoil my day and as I walked out of the front door and on to the terrace I was presented with a quintessentially English view as “The Gentlemen Players” were enjoying an afternoon of what we know as “The Summer Game”.

What a fabulous day we had at Stourhead. Most importantly we shared the day with our dear friends the Eagle’s. What better place to capture the family picture than on the steps of the Pantheon overlooking the beautiful lake. A beautiful scene to capture beautiful people.

No blog in surroundings such as this could finish without including the Mrs. C. on the “Bench of Contemplation”.

So if you are travelling through Somerset or Wiltshire take a diversion and spend a day at Stourhead Estate. If you are a member of The National Trust (which I highly recommend you become) then entrance is free. If not adult entry is approx £20 per head and a family ticket is £50.

So there you have it dear readers, I hope I have given you a glimpse of the wonderful Stourhead Estate. The rest is for you to discover when you visit in person.

Stay tuned as Mrs. C and I have many adventures planned during the coming months. Meantime may I wish you all best regards from a warm and sunny Plymouth.

On Holiday With The Countess..........

April 26, 2024

Hello dear readers and welcome to a nautical episode of my Blog. Indeed, this adventure had been a trip planned for years only to have been thwarted by the dreaded “C” word (The Global Pandemic). Well, now we are semi-retired and back in the UK, Mrs. C and I have a new “C” word, Carpe Diem!

So, Mrs.C booked us on a 3.5 day epic canal adventure with the lovely people at The Wyvern Shipping Company, on the Grand Union Canal between Leighton Buzzard and Cosgrove.

Where is Leighton Buzzard (or as the locals refer to it Leighton-Be-Buggered) I hear your cry. To be fair I had to dig out the atlas myself (for those readers under the age of 30 that’s a book with maps in; call it an analogue sat-nav) and found it to be located somewhere in the vicinity of those two great British cultural icons of Milton Keynes and Luton. Well that’s all I needed to know so I packed the Billingham with the Leica SL2 with the 24-90 Vario Elmarit and the 50mm Noctilux F0.95 as well as my little Fuji XF10.

Now in an adventure like this, regular readers will know that Mrs. C takes over the admin and planning role whilst I ensure that the no less important but more esoteric matters are fully considered. In this case I ensured that I had appropriate head wear and that I had cultivated a look that was a panaché and would scream “salty sea dog meets semi-retired merchant banker”! Of course, that is for you to judge dear reader.

Uncle Phil was assigned the role as Captain on account that he has a boat and actually has some clue as to what he is doing. The Girls would take care of the handling and operation of all Locks as well as preparation of in-trip sustenance (Mrs. C had baked her famous lime drizzle cake and Aunty Jackie had prepared her mega flapjacks). For me they had kindly reserved the role of First Mate. Naturally I assumed this was a more supervisory role that would allow me to monitor operations from the poop deck of our vessel, offering advice and guidance whilst recording our adventures in glorious monochrome. How wrong that assumption turned out to be!

So we fired up the Polo, dialed Leighton Buzzard in to Trixie (that’s the lady in my car’s sat-nav) and headed up the M3 to Leighton Buzzard.

Mrs. C had set me some homework to learn a few knots that might prove useful in the operation of our vessel. I attach below said homework for those Topologists who wish to delve deeper in to this dark art. For me, I just settled on the old nautical favourite of left over right, right over left and cross your fingers.

We finally arrived at the Wyvern Shipping Co, situated in Linslade, Leighton Buzzard and a 5 minute drive from the local Tescos where we collected our vittles.

What a beautiful scene with our trusty vessel, The Countess, moored and gleaming in the sun, fully prepped and ready for us to assume command. Mrs. C was on top of the admin and the lovely people at Wyvern made the handover a breeze.

Once we loaded everything on to the Countess we were joined by Shaun, who provided a full tour of the boat and its facilities, gave a mechanical briefing, as well as explaining some basic need to know items about canal etiquette and boat handling. I saw him looking at my hat and it was clear that he had acknowledged my nautical origins.

Shaun would be accompanying us for the first mile of so, to provide on the go instruction and to take us through the first lock, before alighting just before the Globe pub, at which point we would be left to our own devices.

And Away - Giving the Countess the “Full Noctilux”.

Now all went very smoothly during Shaun’s short tenure as part of our crew. The only worry was what started as a sunny afternoon with a gentle breeze had now turned to darkened skies, intermittent rain and a 35 mph cross-wind!

As Shaun alighted, just before the Globe pub, he waved goodbye and clearly had a religious bent as he made the sign of the cross. What could possibly go wrong?

From that point onwards the weather went from bad to worse. The skies darkened, the rain started (there is no cover on the back of a canal boat) and the wind was blowing in gusts of up to 35 mph.

Most sane canal goers had moored up for the afternoon and called it a day. Not the Chivers boys. “When Needs Must the Devil Drives” and we were determined to push-on through to our planned first night’s mooring at Fenny Stratford.

Just when we thought we were getting the hang of things we approached a very severe hairpin bend with a broad beam canal boat coming in the opposite direction. The other skipper was clearly of questionable parentage and even though he could see we were novices clearly wasn’t going to give way. The fickle finger of fate seemed to be pointing directly at us. At that moment Uncle Phil looked me in the eyes and that telepathy that only brothers have kicked in. In that instant we both new that there was only one thing to do…..Engage the Warp Drive!

Phil opened up the engine and with some pretty deft steering, the holding of breath and with squinty eyes we narrowly avoided the oncoming vessel. No time to be complacent because up ahead the bank of the canal was approaching at a rate of knotts (well about 4 mph actually). Again Wharp Drive engaged but this time in reverse. Suffice to say we narrowly avoided disaster and soon had The Countess back on the straight and narrow.

Things were strangely quiet on the bridge of the Countess for about 5 minutes as we both regained our composure. As we continued onwards the rain continued to sting our faces and the wind grew ever stronger.

Our respite was only a short one for up ahead loomed our next challenge. The Three Locks. The Three Locks are a series of three locks located next to a pub called The Three Locks. You can see where I am going with this.

We were passing through these locks with another boat, also from Wyvern. We successfully navigated the first lock but as we were waiting our turn in the waiting pool, a strong gust of wind caught our bow and pushed us sideways. Now the pool was about 40 feet wide and our boat had a length of 65 feet so we were in danger of being wedged.

I was immediately dispatched to the pointy end which required a 65 foot dash through two bedrooms, the kitchen and the lounge before I was able to retrieve the “Pole of Panic” and push us away from the concrete wall, all whilst trying not to fall in. Meantime, Uncle Phil was undertaking a similar activity at the rear of the boat whilst also operating the rudder and throttle. This is what you call real teamwork and finally we managed to regain control and we passed through the remaining two locks without incident.

Fortunately for us, the bad weather had ensured that there were no alcohol enthused locals outside of the pub, who would have no doubt proffered their “encouragement” as we fought to save our vessel and our pride. With both intact we pressed on although we knew that we had definitely dodged a bullet.

It goes without saying that I did not have one opportunity to capture any of the aforesaid events. It was literally all hands on deck. As we cruised to our planned mooring point at Fenny Stratford both Uncle Phil and I were completely knackered. This was supposed to be a relaxing canal boat holiday but my back was aching, my knees were throbbing and we were already at stress level ten! The remainder of the afternoon passed without controversy or incident and we managed to find a suitable mooring at Fenny Stratford.

This seems to be a sensible moment to mention Mooring:

Ideally steer towards the bank at nothing more than 0 mph to avoid sinking.
Put the fenders over the side of the boat that will be next to the bank whilst not falling in to the canal. NOTE: Canals are filthy. If you fall in there is a danger of contracting Weils disease. Google it; You do not want to contract Weils disease.
One of the crew steps off the pointy end on to the bank with a rope attached to the boat. If you do not attach the rope to the boat you are buggered ( nautical terminology referring to placing oneself in an unforeseen unfortunate position).
Our skipper then points the rudder to the right and gives it some throttle and the back of the boat comes in to the bank.
At this point The First Mate, yours truly, steps off the stern of the boat with a rope in hand, said rope being attached to the centre of the boat. It is my job to hold all 20 tons steady whist the skipper drives a mooring pin in to the ground, both fore and aft, before attaching the mooring ropes. Then for good measure, we put a third mooring pin in to the ground at the centre of the boat where I was standing and attach the centre rope.
We decided that my right over left, left over right and cross fingers didn’t actually cut it. So we used the old yachting knot of 0800 or Locking Hitch / Cleat Hitch. Basically wrap the line once around the base of the cleat and bring it over the top. Then wrap the line around the opposite side of the cleat and bring it over the top of the cleat again. Wrap the line under the first arm again forming a figure eight pattern over and around the cleat. Then form an underhand loop and slip it over the first arm you started with. Then pull the free end of the rope to firmly secure the cleat hitch. Finally, always tie the knots on the cleat on the boat and not on the mooring pins. This will secure the boat but allows for easy release. Clear as mud. Then perform such operation in fading light, torrential rain and a 35 mph gale. You get the picture!
You are now successfully moored and can go back on board and crash out on your bed in order to overcome your nervous breakdown.

Our skipper, windswept, soaking wet and shell-shocked after our first afternoon’s adventure.

That evening we walked in to Fenny Stratford and after a few beers and a delicious Thai curry we relaxed and were able to have a giggle about the days adventures, or should I say mis-adventures. The main thing was that we had overcome adversity and worked as a team. The Chivers Boys can deal with anything.

I don’t remember my head hitting the pillow and I slept like a baby and snored like a Lion according to the rest of the crew. Harsh but true :-)

However, everything starts early on the canal and by 6.30 a.m. I was wide awake and captured the following image of tranquility and calm (to my relief) through the rear door of the boat.

Whilst the girls were knocking up a hearty breakfast of steaming coffee and bacon rolls, we performed the necessary daily engine checks and left the engine on tick-over so as to keep the batteries charged whilst we used the appliances such as toaster and microwave. On this particular type of boat you can only use two appliances at any one time.

The skipper working through engine checks.

The First Mate ensuring everything is ship-shape.

Like coiled springs our crew prepares for the day-ahead.

As we slipped our mooring we then gently cruised in to the centre of the canal with a view to reaching The Black Horse Pub for lunch and then mooring for the evening just before the Cosgrove Aquaduct…hold that thought.

Finally we were in control which enabled me to take in the beauty of our surroundings and also grab a few images. I started with some of the wildlife.

Serene and beautiful but with a beak like a chainsaw.

Posing for the camera - A Heron looking for its lunch.

Canal folk are in interesting bunch. Most are just like you and me except that they have decided to step off life’s treadmill and seek a more tranquil existence on the canal. I am a believer that all that glitters is certainly not gold and we met a number who had definitely gone off the radar for one reason or another. However, I found most genuinely hospitable, eager to lend a hand and often keen to stop and have a chat. Indeed, there were many living a solitary life although perhaps they may have lived a similarly solitary life on land. Loneliness can be a dreadful thing and perhaps a friendly chat with a stranger is often enough to keep up one’s motivation.

You could also see many vessels projected the nature and state of mind of their owners:

One thing is for sure, when you are chugging along at a snails pace I found it all a very zen-like experience and it was very easy to let your mind wander and lose concentration. That is when accidents happen and there was plenty of evidence of this along the way. So for all canal newbies, be alert at all times.

Not much leeway when passing under bridges.

This is when concentration is really required.

By this time the girls were operating the locks with consummate ease. Generally they are straightforward and come either singularly or in series. Some have added complications like the one below at Fenny Stratford which had a swing bridge in the middle of the lock, which acted as a pedestrian bridge. This had to be unlocked and manually swung to one side before the lock could be operated and we could pass through. Remember to put the bridge in place afterwards. It is a methodical process but there are often locals or volunteers on hand to help you out if you have a problem.

Shaun from Wyvern had helpfully explained the operations of the locks but one thing is for sure, you will know when the lock gate is ready to open as the water levels and pressure will equalize and it will move quite easily. Until that moment, there is no way you can open the lock gate.

Note: When operating the locks take your time, take care not to fall in and do not drop the winding handle in to the lock.

I managed to grab the girls operating the swing bridge using my little Fuji XF10 whist stood on the towpath holding the boat steady with the centre rope.

The girls operating the in-lock swingbridge at Fenny Stratford Lock.

I found the most comfortable and safest position to capture imagery was in the bow of the boat. I regretted forgetting my polarizing filter and the light could sometimes prove to be challenging. However, there are many opportunities to grab interesting reflections and also catalogue the changing environments as we passed through country side, through towns and past industrial locations.

We had two main challenges. The first was crossing the two aquaducts, at Bradwell Mill and Cosgrove and the second was to turn our vessel around at the Cosgrove Winding Point … hold that thought.

The narrow approach to the Bradwell Aquaduct.

Having passed through the Bradwell Aquaduct without incident we found a suitable mooring point and settled in for the evening. As it happens luck was on our side as just as we finished mooring and battening down the hatches we had thunder & lightening, followed by very large hailstones and then pouring rain.

We had a lovely dinner on-board in the lounge of the boat, played board games and generally chilled out. This was the canal boating I had been promised and a welcome detox from everyday life.

The next morning were were up early and ready to meet the morning’s challenges. The first was to cross over the Cosgrove Aquaduct. You can see below that it is narrow and there is only room for one vessel. Fortunately the canal is quiet in April and so there were no queues and we slipped across without delay.

You will note that on one side there are railing and on the other nothing but a 100 foot drop. However, from the middle of the aquaduct the view was stunning.

The Cosgrove Aquaduct - Note the sheer drop on the right.

We then entered the Cosgrove winding point, a 70 foot wide pool that was situated in front of Cosgrove Lock. Again, we were the only vessel there and this could have proved much trickier in the middle of summer.

By now our crew was operating like a well-oiled machine. The girls were on look-out on either side of the boat, I was positioned at the pointy end, ready to spring in to action with The Pole of Panic and Uncle Phil operated the rudder and throttles with the dexterity of a concert pianist.

In no time we had made the turn without any incident and were back on our way across the Cosgrove Aquaduct.

The First Mate positioned at the pointy end.

Whoop whoop we had made it - Well done team!

Our elation lasted but a minute as up ahead there seemed to be something moored on the Bradwell Aquaduct. as we moved closer we found that someone had decided to moor on the acquaduct even though there was ample room before and after the aquaduct. We passed the boat with literally inches to spare as the vessel owner came around the corner grinning saying that he just had to walk his dog! Don’t even get me started on that one!

Is that something moored on the viaduct!

Some people are extremely inconsiderate.

We had made such good time that we were able to take a very leisurely cruise on our final full day. In fact 800 rpm or slightly less than 2 mph is the way to go.

We had planned to go through The Three Locks and moor-up by the Globe Pub for the night, before passing through Leighton Lock and deliver the vessel back to Wyvern by 9.00 a.m. the next morning.

It was time for elevenses so we pulled over, moored up and soaked up the sun and scenery over a cup of tea and a slice of cake. We were all in our happy places.

Our skipper being given the full Noctilux.

You had to be there to appreciate how beautiful and relaxing it was.

Now that we were in complete control I thought that I would be able to record us passing through The three Locks on our return journey.

Fortunately this time the weather was calm and although the girls were in full control of operating the locks there were volunteers present from the Canal Trust to help smooth our way through.

The waters rise and so do we as the locals watch with a degree of respect at our competence.

Volunteer James asking where I had bought my hat - clear a man of style and taste.

We moored up Just after the Globe Pub and settle in for a coffee and a flapjack. At that point a large Heron was seen walking along the towpath and stopped directly in front of our boat to undertake a spot of fishing. This is my favorite image of the trip. I particularly liked the Pigeon on the branch above seemingly waiting to see if there might be any leftovers should the Heron be successful.

The First Man - I had finally earned the right to wear my hat.

The next morning we cruised through Leighton Lock and on to Wyvern to hand back our trusty vessel.

Shaun was waiting for us on the dock and as we gently slipped in to our mooring berth, without the slightest hitch, he gave us a smile and simple nod, which said it all. We were now canal people.

What a wonderful 3.5 days on this beautiful stretch of canal. We always have such a great time with Uncle Phil and Aunty Jackie. We all like the same things and everyone is prepared to muck-in and roll-up their sleeves. For me it is a wonderful thing to spend quality time with my little brother, my best mate and someone I love dearly.

Having well and truly scratched the itch that is canal boating we will definitely be returning for a second go. However, that will be after the trip to Seville, Rhonda and Cadiz so watch this space.

Ah, you thought I had forgotten. Even on a canal boat I managed to find a Bench of contemplation.

I do hope you have enjoyed this nautical episode but stay tuned as Mrs. C and I have much more planned for the rest of the year.

Warmest regards to you all from a relatively warm and sunny Plymouth.

Pound Farm........

March 27, 2024

For my regular readers you will have seen a recurring theme….Family. Mrs. C and I have always made family a priority, especially when we lived overseas. All our holidays were spent either with family and friends visiting us or in us traveling back to Uk or Spain. With our children growing up in an expatriate environment, we always felt it was important to keep them grounded, to make sure they retained a sense of belonging to the UK and above all, ensure they spent time with family.

One of the ways we have tried to achieve this togetherness is, on an annual basis, to bring as much of the family together as possible at a particular location. We have tried a few but for the past few years we have chosen the wonderful Pound Farm.

Situated a 5 minute walk from the sleepy Somerset village of Bishops Lydeard and located in the foothills of the Quantocks, this beautiful farm house sleeps 18, has all mod-cons, but above all, has a dining table that seats 18 and which is the focal point of our family holidays. I love to sit back and see everybody sitting around the dinner table, eating, drinking, chatting and laughing.

This year we had full attendance and as the last of the clan arrived and were hugging and saying their hellos in the family kitchen, I was already welling up with tears of happiness.

The “young people” have finally arrived.

This was also to be a special visit to Pound Farm. Our Matriarch, “Mother”, had broken her hip over the Christmas period and had experienced a very tough time during rehab. Thankfully all went well and this was an opportunity to focus on something positive and joyous and surround her with the people she loves.

From previous blogs the reader will be aware that between Mrs. C and Aunty Sarah, everything is managed and organized with military precision. As a result nothing is left to chance, everything has its place and everyone has a role:

Grandad Robert: Our Patriarch and actually believes he is in charge.

Mother: She is actually in charge.

Mrs. C: Logistics, baking and providing me with regular “advice and guidance”.

Alice: Alpha female.

Eleanor and Anna: Trainee Alpha Females

Mark, Kevin & Matthew: Eating and drinking as much as possible.

Simon & Joe: I.T.

Mike: Our resident “Twitcher”.

Kitty: Our resident “Horse Whisperer”.

Eleise: All things interior design & fashion.

Maggie: being cute and cuddly at all times.

Aunty Sarah: Aunty Sarah retains her role in charge of family hydration and always ensures there is plenty of grog to go around.

Uncle Chunkle: All matters photographic.

For this visit I was anticipating the possibility of precipitation. So, I brought the Leica SL2 with the Leica 24-90mm Zoom (both are weather sealed), as well as the 50mmm Noctilux F0.95 which I manually adapt.

What I love about Pound Farm is the light and shadows, particularly when using the Noctilux.

Big Ted in his usual place in the window at the top of the stairs.

Grandad Robert’s 2023 Curried Pear Chutney - An excellent Vintage.

Ofcourse, regular readers will be familiar with our 4th generation, the wonderful Maggie. She filled the house with laughter and giggles and for Uncle Chunkle (that’s me) the camera loves her and she loves the camera. So I make no apologies for sharing lots of images of her whenever possible.

A family tradition is that every year our Patriarch calls for a family meeting, to be held at the nearby Quantock Brewery Tap Room. Needless to say there is always 100% attendance.

This year I was delighted to sample one of the stouts, “Pleasant Pheasant”. Lets say it was really good and lets agree that I might have over-sampled. Perhaps that is why, even with auto-focus, my “hit-rate” declined after the the third pint!

All filled with that beautiful nectar, brewed from that special water that flows down from the Quantocks.

Mark - Our expert on all matters pertaining to Beer, seen sampling a cheeky little IPA.

Us older folk could not keep up with the young people so as the beer haze descended we headed back though the village and across the fields for an afternoon snooze.

Bishops Lydeard - Centre of the Village.

I am old enough to remember when these contained telephones.

Busted! - Aunty Sarah and Mike having a sneaky hot tub.

The “Young People” maximizing use of the facilities.

Another highlight of this years visit was the celebration of a number of significant birthdays. Joe and Kitty were turning 30. Grandad Robert was about to hit 90 and after 20 years at the age of 39 Mrs. C has final become a women of a certain age.

As we actually celebrated these significant events on my birthday, I was allowed to blow out the candles. I must also thank everybody for all the cards and wonderful presents.

I also use our annual get together to update family portraits:

Grandma and Grandad with all the young People.

It is fair to say that we had all detoxed from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and everybody disappeared to do their own thing. Some took to the hot tub, some took the opportunity for an afternoon snooze, others went off for some pitch and put and some of us headed off across the fields to soak up the beautiful Somerset countryside.

So there we have it; a year in the planning and over in a flash. This is why I write my blog, to record wonderful memories in both pictures and words.

As even the young people get older our all consuming lifestyles increasingly get in the way of the important things in life. Our family is our rock, its who we can rely upon in times of trouble and who we can love and enjoy at every opportunity. So lets all make the effort to ensure we keep this tradition going, wherever and whenever possible.

I love you all and look forward to our next gathering in June at Somerset Cricket Club Taunton.

With warmest regards from Plymouth.

A Fresh Pair of Eyes

March 19, 2024

As creatives we generally tend to always be in search of fresh inspiration to ignite that creative spark. Sometimes, we forget that the things we know and love and which are most familiar to us can provide all the creativity we need. It just requires us to have a different perspective and take a look with a fresh pair of eyes.

I recently returned to Dubai, a place which I loved and where I thought I had maxed-out my creativity. Yet, upon my return, and having spent 18 months away, I really did have a different perspective on both the place and the people.

The first example is the thumbnail to this Blog, the iconic Burj Khalifa. When I lived in Dubai I must have passed it a 1,000 times. The challenge was always how to capture this wonderful building in a different way than the thousands of images posted online. For me it was all about the light and perhaps how to give this building a different perspective. Here are a few of my favorite images, each taking a slightly different perspective on the same subject.

Same building but a different look. My personal favorite is the first with the sweeping curves and is the one I have hanging on my living room wall.

When living in Dubai, Downtown and particularly Dubai Mall was a weekend destination. When it was 45 degrees centigrade outside this air-conditioned environment beckoned, not only for some retail therapy but also for our regular breakfast haunts such as Pauls and La Durée.

Familiarity and routine sometimes resulted in a creative block. However, on revisiting I suddenly remembered how much there was to capture in this wonderful place.

Reflections of Giorgio & Ralph - Fashion Avenue

Now as a resident of Dubai I was particularly guilty of driving everywhere. Walking was confined to the couple of months when temperatures dipped below 35 degrees centigrade. Otherwise, it was from air-conditioned home to air-conditioned car, to air-conditioned office, to air-conditioned mall. You get the picture. The thing I never used was the Dubai Metro. Its a bit like living in the UK and never taking the bus.

This visit was different. The traffic was manic, particularly in the downtown area and so Mrs. C bought a couple of tickets for the “Golden Sector” of the Dubai Metro so that we could enjoy this mode of transport in relative comfort. It also proved an interesting source for imagery and made me realize that I should have made more use of this when I lived in Dubai.

The Walk from Dubai Metro Station to Dubai Mall

You see, I went from wondering what I might capture to not having enough time to capture it all.

Now I am the first to admit that I am a creature of habit and I do like my routines. Anyone who knows me would testify that when I lived in Dubai, if you wanted to find me on a Saturday morning between 10.30 a.m and 12.00 that you need look no further than the wonderful Leica Store Dubai Mall.

Mrs. C and I always took our breakfast at La Durée Fashion Avenue. Our lovely waitress Ellie always showed us to the same table and then without asking brought us Americanos with hot milk accompanied by Poached Eggs with beef bacon well done. No stress, no anguishing with menus just a hour of tranquility to start our Saturday morning.

Mrs. C then headed off to “Brands For Less” for some retail therapy and I headed of to my Xanadu, the wonderful Leica Store Dubai Mall.

I was always welcomed by Gina with a smile and an espresso and during the next hour or so we would talk cameras and all things photography indispersed with various members of the Dubai Leica community popping in.

During these visits the wonderful Gina helped me enter the world of Leica, my first acquisition being the glorious Leica M10P and 50mm Summilux Asph. So on this return to Dubai I thought it best to revisit Gina with my original purchase, so as to square the circle so to speak.

The rest is history and over the years Gina helped me put together a rather extensive collection of cameras and lenses. So much for my original one camera one lens! If you want to know more have a read of my recent Blog “Pandora’s Box” where you can see some of my gear and my thoughts about it (spoiler alert; I am a complete Leica Fanboy so all views are utterly and completely biased!).

So I can’t tell you how much I was looking forward to returning for my Saturday morning coffee at Leica Store Dubai. It was like coming home. Gina had come in especially and Eman and Maria were also there. More coffee, lots of catch-up over what had happened since my departure but no purchases, even though that Silver SL2 kept winking at me. Perhaps on my next visit; hold that thought and note to Gina!

For any of your Leica needs I cannot recommend enough that you contact the team at Leica Store Dubai Mall. They are the No.1 Leica Store globally and the level of service is absolutely top notch.

Notwithstanding all of this the people we missed the most were our “Dubai Family”, Claire, Seth and the boys. We spent so much time together over the years and they were and still are a huge part of our lives.

Claire did point out that they were short of a few pictures of the boys since we had left and so I did not need asking twice.

What a wonderful time we had and two weeks passed in an instant. So much had changed around Dubai in 18 months but all the important things remained the same. At the end of the day it is not about the place, its all about the people.

Speaking of people, following the recent change in my profile picture on the various social media platforms I did receive some comments that I was looking rather Ernest Hemingway. I leave it for the reader to judge!

The Silver Fox - Sporting the monochrome look!

I hope you all enjoyed my brief return to Dubai and I look forward to sharing more adventures in the very near future.

Warmest regards from Plymouth.

Pandora's Box

March 12, 2024

Well its a wet and window afternoon in Plymouth U.K. I have tried to go outside and brave the rain and wind, which can only be described as biblical and which would even make Noah abandon his Ark and take to the lifeboats. So, I decided to make a coffee and write a blog that up until now I had refused to write.

You see, I love creating imagery and equally enjoy telling the stories behind my images through my various blogs. I am also not a hypocrite and like most photographers I love buying gear, particularly lenses and have permeant G.A.S. What is it they say, “you date the camera but marry the lens”? I think I would agree with that and over the years, aided by Gina at Leica Store Dubai, I have managed to curate a not insubstantial lens collection which I continue to enjoy to this day.

So, in putting this short blog together, I thought I would answer the many questions that I am regularly asked via instagram or on this website, and show those of you who seem to be interested about the cameras and lenses that I use on a daily basis, along with my thoughts and general observations of the same.

I called this Blog “Pandora’s Box” as I knew that once open, the gear discussions will go on and on; But hey, who doesn’t love a new toy!

So whenever I discuss anything relating to Leica lets first of all deal with the elephant in the room; entering the world of Leica is expensive. However, its all relative. When you buy something that is precision made and for some an iconic design, you expect to pay a premium. This is polarizing, those that agree and understand it embrace it, those that don’t will never be convinced.

Fortunately, if Leica is above your budget or simply not for you, we are so lucky that there are a plethora of fantastic cameras available, across all brands and suiting all budgets. I firmly believe that with advances in technology pretty much all cameras and top end phones have the ability to assist photographers to generate fantastic imagery.

Whether the imagery is any good or not often lies in the eye of the beholder and down to the vision and skill of the person pressing the shutter. We tend to forget it is the photographer who takes the image, the camera and lens are merely tools of the trade.

Leica M10P & Leica 50mm Summilux F1.4 Asph

As you can see the M10P is simply a thing of beauty. In the world of Leica “less costs more” but what you do get is simply a work of art and craftsmanship. I have often heard the term “camera porn”; well for me, this is it. No detail has been spared in putting this camera together. It feels just right in the hand and when paired with the wonderful 50mm Summilux Asph the magic begins.

If you want video and flippy screens and lots of customizable buttons contained in a nondescript black box, you need not read any further. This camera is stripped back and built for stills photography.

The Leica M10P is a rangefinder with all controls at at your fingertips, Aperture, Shutterspeed and ISO and whilst you can shoot in aperture priority, the camera beckons you in to the world of full manual mode, allowing you complete control over the creative process.

The menu system of this camera has been designed by people who simply understand and in fact, as I shoot in full manual, I rarely have to delve in to said menu other than to format a memory card or update firmware.

I am often asked about camera settings:

I always shoot in manual.
I have no fixed settings as these very much depend upon the situation, lighting and artistic approach which is required at the time.
I tend to decide upon ISO (dependent upon available light), then the depth of field I am looking for (more often wide open as Leica lenses tend to shine at their widest aperture) and then play with the shutter speed to ensure correct exposure.
I like the process to be considered so I rarely use the continuous modes and set to single shot. As I have always said I am built for comfort not speed and I particularly enjoy the art of manual focus..
Metering is set to centre weighted. I only use Spot when I have some very difficult lighting situations such as when my subject is strongly backlit.
I rarely use auto ISO and tend to keep it simple. I normally shoot outside at ISO 200 and inside at 3200 although up to ISO 6400 is great should you quire it.
White balance I keep in Auto which for 95% of the time seems to work well.
I do not like to clutter up memory cards so I only shoot in DNG (RAW) and post process the images to create JPEGS on my laptop.
On the LCD I like to see the various exposure elements as well as the exposure gauge and the spirit level. That pretty much does it for me as 99% of the time I use the optical view finder, which after all is why you have a range finder.
The M10P does have limited touch screen functionality but I never use it. I told you I was old school!
I have the Visoflex Type 020 which I only use in the rare instances when I break out the 50mm Noctilux or the 135mm Apo Telyt. However, I have the SL2 to accommodate these lenses. More on that later.
Finally, as I only shoot in bnw / monochrome, so I set the exposure simulation to monochrome. This allows me to review my exposure and image in bnw / monochrome in the LCD but still gives me the RAW file in color.

That is pretty much all I need to do to set up the camera. I don’t use flash with this camera and I have not upgraded to later models as 24 mps is fine for my purposes and If I want more I have the wonderful Leica SL2 (hold that thought).

Given that I rarely use the live view for shooting and only shoot in single shot mode, I find battery life perfectly fine. I always have three batteries for all my cameras although I rarely need more than two.

The only thing I would recommend is to buy an ND filter, especially if you want to shoot at wide apertures such as F1.4 in very bright conditions, as the shutter speed tops out as 1/4000. I use a ND16 (4 stop) which pretty much has me covered. Indeed I tend to generally slightly underexpose and then if required, bring back the shadows in post.

Many people ask me about the optical viewfinder and how difficult is it to manually focus. I have to say that like many things it is just down to practice and muscle memory. I rarely have a problem these days for the subject matter I shoot. Lets face it there are horses for courses and If I was a sports and wildlife photographer then I might be looking for another piece of kit. However for travel, street and portrait I have no issues. Indeed, when on the street I can manually zone focus and the camera almost becomes point and shoot and thus is extremely fast to use.

It is testament to this lens combination and my love of 50mm, that I very rarely switch out lenses on the M10P. The only time I tend to use another lens is when traveling and I have my wonderful little Leica 28mm Elmarit F 2.8. Just for those wide angle shots.

The only real downside living in the UK is that the camera and lenses are not weather sealed. As a result I really do hesitate to use in rainy conditions.

Not that much more to say about the M10P. The shutter is extremely quiet and the camera itself looks like a traditional film camera and is very discreet in use. I cannot tell you how many times people have come up to me to ask me why I am still using a film camera, only to be surprised when I tell them its a digital rangefinder.

However, I let the imagery speak for itself. Any limitations are down to my ability, not the equipment.

Leica Type 246 Monochrome & Leica 50mm Apo Summicron F2

If you thought that buying a Leica rangefinder was polarizing, how about buying a version that only produces monochrome images! Welcome to the Leica Type 246. In fact this version was issued in 2015 and would be seen as old technology since then there have been a couple of updated iterations.

The Type 246 is based on the M240 platform and uses a full frame 24 Megapixels CMOS sensor with no Bayer filter. As you can see it is produced all in black with no Leica Red Dot although, as usual, I like Silver lenses on my M bodies and in this case I have the superb 50mm Apo Summicron, one of Leicas highest resolving M lenses, which rarely leaves the front of this camera. IMHO it looks so sexy on the Type 246 and its image resolution is just stunning.

Shooting with the Type 246 is basically the same as the M10P with some significant differences:

Great care must be taken not to blow out the highlights. Once they are gone they are gone and it is so easy to do. Exposing too much to the right can be an image killer.
An ND filter is a must. Minimum ISO is 320 although I generally use 400 as my base ISO. I am not sure why I use ISO 400 but I guess I shoot this camera on a similar basis as BNW film, where I use Ilford delta 400.
Creativity can be enhanced through the use of color filters. I use both yellow and orange filters.
You must learn to “embrace your shadows” as this camera will encourage you to shoot in low light with no flash required.

Why haven’t I upgraded to the latest range of Leica Monochrom cameras? Well honestly I am simply comfortable with my trusty Type 246. It ticks all the boxes for me. This camera had great image quality when I bought it and still does today. If I were starting out today I would probably buy the latest and greatest but honestly I am super happy with how it operates and resolves and would wholeheartedly recommend anyone wishing to step in to Monochrome only cameras to try one.

If find I tend to do minimal post-processing on my monochrome images. I either seem to get it basically right in camera, just requiring tweaks and crop adjustment or else I get it completely wrong and bin the image.

Also I have no skin in the megapixel debate and for my rangefinders and computer limitations 24 mps still remains more than adequate. I have some large prints on my living room walls to prove it.

If I could change one thing it would be to remove the video capability. I know this sounds strange but I never use it so would rather free up all processing power and design to accommodate stills photography. Thats simply how I roll. although your use case may differ.

As I constrain myself creatively to BNW / Monochrom, I am often asked why I don’t exclusively use a camera with a monochrome sensor such as the Type 246 and sell all the others. I have thought about it and I guess that sometimes I would like a raw file that gives me the option to use the color version. Indeed family members often ask me for a color version. It doesn’t necessary suit me creatively but I ham more than happy to have the option to oblige.

Here are a few images taken with the Type 246 & 50mm Apo combo.

Leica SL2 & Leica 50mm Noctilux F0.95

If you have read this far, you will have guessed how much I love Leica Rangefinders and 50mm lenses. So why buy a traditional style EVF driven camera? You will be surprised to learn that my primary reason for buying the SL2 was as an advanced platform to make better use of certain Leica M mount lenses; primarily the 50mm Noctilux F0.95 and the 135mm Apo Telyt. You only have to pick up an SL2 and look through that 5.76 million pixel electronic viewfinder to understand why.

For me, it brought both these lenses to life and focussing became a doddle. Also, due to the fact that it has an electronic shutter and allows sutterspeeds up to 1/40,000 I don’t need to use an ND filter when using the Noctilux wide open at F0.95.

I do have SL lenses, which I primarily use for landscape and nature, namely the 24-90mm Vario Elmarit, the 100mm-400mm Vario Elmar and one of my most favorite lenses the wonderful 90mm Apo Summicron SL.

Everything has its specific use case. If the weather is bad and I am just wanting a walk around I will take the SL2 and 90 mm Apo. It is compact. weather sealed and in my opinion the rendering from the 90mm Apo is absolutely stellar.

However for 90% of the time I have the 50mm Noctilux F0.95 welded to the front of the SL2. At 47 mps the camera gives me a higher image resolution, bearing in mind that for my website I am limited to an image size of 20mps. However, it aids the process of cropping when and if that is necessary.

If I could only have one lens and one camera, it would have to be the SL2 with the 50mm Noctilux F0.95 manually adapted. That is how much I enjoy this set-up. On an M body the Noctilux is super front heavy. On the SL2 it balances beautifully.

Again my principal set-up with the Noctilux manually adapted is as follows:

I generally shoot at F0.95 unless creatively I want a much deeper depth of field.
The SL2 is set up in full manual mode. Aperture controlled on Lens, ISO via the bottom of the two custom function buttons on the front of the camera and shutter speed via the control wheel on the top of the camera.
I use the top function button on the front of the camera to zoom in when precise focussing is required. This allows me to keep my eye looking through the EVF and simply moves my finger from the grip the to the button in a seamless manner.
I use the FN button on the back of the to toggle between my user profiles. These are both BNW but one has red focus peaking and one is without focus peaking. I generally find focus peaking distracting but sometimes it has its uses.
I have the EVF set up so that when looking through the screen it is devoid of information other than what I need namely, the level gauge, focus point and the Histogram top left. When I half press the shutter button I get the shutter speed, ISO and the exposure meter along the bottom. Note: when manually adapting M lenses with the Leica M to L adapter, there are no electronic connections so the aperture doesn’t register.
I almost always shoot in single shot unless the subject matter demands differently.
Consistent with my M bodies on the SL2 I use centre weighted metering most of the time. Again, I tend to only use spot when the lighting situation is challenging and demands it. Maybe there is a better way but this seems to work for me.
White balance is set to auto.
I only shoot in DNG (RAW).
I have two SD cards and unless I am shooting something where I absolutely must have back-up in camera I have the SD cards set up to switch to card 2 once card one is full. Anyways, I always down load my images at the end of a days shooting on to my laptop and external hard drive.

Once I am in this set up I hardly ever have to delve in to the menu and can focus 100% on composition and the creative process.

This is what works for me and I am sure that each of you will have your own way of setting up your camera and I would love to hear your thoughts, comments and advice in the comments section.

Here is some imagery with the SL2 and 50mm Noctilux F0.95:

Leica Q Type 116

I have to confess that I own a Leica point and shoot. Admitted not just any point and shoot but a silver one! Yes this is the camera I was never going to buy but which I have grown to love.

Every Saturday morning I would walk in to the Leica Store Dubai to have coffee with Gina and just inside the door was a stand with the various iterations of the Leica Q. Each time I would pick one up and say, “Looks great, nice auto-focus but I love to manually focus and being a 50mm man, the 28 mm focal length is just not me”.

Of course that fateful day happened when just after giving me an expresso and a biscuit Gina pulled out a Leica Q Type 116 in SILVER! I immediately crumbled and after taking it for a quick test run around Dubai Mall the deal was done. Although a used version, the camera was immaculate and as usual I left Gina smiling but with my wallet just a little lighter.

I actually think this was a smart purchase. The 24 mps lines up nicely with my M bodies and the size and build makes this a great travel / street camera. Sometimes when I have the M10P or SL2 with 50mm or longer, the Leica Q gives me a wide angle without having to stop and change the lens.

Auto-focus was fine for me as I only usually focus manually and so me autofocus did take a bit of getting used to. As did the 28mm lens….but what a lens!

In the world of Leica, Summilux generally refers to a lens with a widest aperture of F1.4. On the Leica Q the 28mm Summilux has a widest aperture of F1.7 but what is 0.3 amongst friends! Let me assure you this lens is absolutely fantastic in the way it renders and just when you think you have witnessed all the magic a twist of the lens near its base turns it to Macro Mode and a whole new world of creativity emerges.

When I tire of autofocus by pressing a button on the focus tab you can manually focus the lens lust like my other M lenses. Steve is very much in his happy place with this set-up.

This camera and lens set up often comes with me on short overseas trips or when walking around sketchier locations where I don’t want $20k of Noctilux and SL2 removed from my person at knife point. Have you visited Barcelona recently!

Despite not being weather sealed I have used it in all weathers and during a recent blizzard in Prague, when temperatures dropped to minus 8, this little camera did not miss a beat.

So how do I generally set it up:

I generally set ISO, aperture and shitter speed manually except for the autofocus where i use auto focus single shot.
ISO I set to 200 when outside and then only adjust when light fails sufficiently that my shutter speed is too slow. Inside I generally set to ISO 3200. I generally have had no problem with image noise and the camera performs well in low light.
I generally shoot in single shot unless the creative situation demands otherwise.
Exposure metering centre weighted.
I know the camera has a digital zoom capability whereby it can crop in camera to either a 35mm or 50mm view but I prefer to keep at 28mm and any cropping is undertaken in post.
White balance primarily set to auto.
I only capture images in DNG (RAW).
Generally when walking around the streets I am at F5.6 but wide open at F1.7 I find the Bokeh pleasing.
The camera has a video capability but I have never used it.
To protect the camera body Gina sold me a half case with an integral grip which I really like.
The camera came with this super cool push on silver Leica Lens cap. That was going to be lost in 2 minutes so that stays in the box and I bought a rubberized lens cap online that I saw on red dot forum which is perfect.
With autofocus I have started to learn to shoot from the hip when walking the streets but I have found this little camera to be extremely nimble. The later variants, Q2 and Q3 will no doubt be even more refined and have a higher megapixel count but you know, I have never been tempted to upgrade. This simply does the job and I would whole-heartedly recommend anyone wishing for a gateway drug in to Leica to scour the web and try and pick up a used Q. If you like it, then you will move to an M in a heart beat and will be well and truly hooked. I did have a Fuji X100F, which by the way is a fantastic little camera. However, once I bought the Leica Q I found the Fuji got little use and eventually I sold it.
Is there is anything that I would change on the Leica Q? Three things really:
(a) I wish it had an internal ND filter like the X100 series.
(b) I wish the on-off switch was simply that. However it has the option of single and continuous shot. I sometimes move this by mistake and end up taking multiple images.
(c) I would remove the video button to somewhere else on the camera as it is too close to the shutter button for my fat fingers. In fact you probably have guessed that I have never used the video so they could remove that functionality all together and I wouldn’t mind. These things may have already been changed in the newer iterations.

Here is a selection of imagery take with the Leica Q Type 116:

I am often asked about straps. I have no affiliation but all of my straps are from Rock and Roll. I have the brown “Hendrix” strap on the SL2, a black soft leather braided strap on the Q and simple classic leather straps on the M10P and Type 246 in yellow and Burgundy respectively. I know, yellow, but its how I roll!

I have not included my Leica MP film camera in this review because I still have not put enough rolls of film through it to feel qualified enough to discuss film shooting and perhaps I will write an Analogue Blog in the future. I have a 35mm Summilux glued to the front for that reportage feel. All I will say is it is truly a liberating experience shooting film with this beautiful camera although, in these inflationary times, it is an experience that comes with a cost. Hold that thought until a later “Analogue” Blog.

So if you have reached this point thank you! In summary, what might you have learned from this Blog:

I am a self confessed “Leica Fanboy” so my reviews are suitably and unashamedly biased :-)
I have more 50mm lenses than god!
You may have correctly assumed that I do not aspire to be a camera reviewer. There are plenty of people on YouTube who are much better qualified to do so.
The best place for specifications are in the user manual. I have not yet met a photographer who reads the user manual. Enough said!
For me photography is a passion and I am blessed to have these wonderful cameras and lenses to help me to express my creativity.
You have hopefully gained some idea as to how and why I use the various combinations of cameras and lenses. I have a number of other lenses but what you have seen is what I use for the majority of my imagery.
Could I do it all with one camera and one lens? Probably, but what would be the fun in that.
If you want to enter the world of Leica call Gina at Leica Store Dubai. You will not regret it, you will get a fabulous service and support and they do serve excellent coffee!

I hope you enjoyed this slightly different Blog but stay tuned as Mrs. C and I continue to record our various adventures. 2024 looks to be an exciting year.

Warmest regards from Plymouth and yes, it is still raining!!!

Glorious Gidleigh

March 9, 2024

Some say that a man is only as old as the women he feels! Well given that Mrs. C has spent the past 20 years basking between the magic ages of 39 and 40, I guess I have continued to feel extremely young at heart.

Another wise man once told me that ageing is just another word for living. As I look in to the bathroom mirror it would appear that I have certainly lived!

So as Mrs. C verges on becoming “a women of a certain age” (we have been married for 37 years and she tells everyone that she was a child bride) and given that we continue embrace the theory of “Carpe Diem” too its fullest extent, we decided to celebrate the occasion and book in to the wonderful Gidleigh Park Hotel, located just on the edge of the village of Chagford.

So we fired up the Polo, dialled Gidleigh in to the Sat Nav and headed across Dartmoor in search of paradise.

Now, I have neglected to mention that the wind was approaching 50 miles an hour and the rain was horizontal and coming across the moors like tracer bullets. Inclement weather can sometimes be an issue when driving across Dartmoor. However, regular readers will know that the Chivs have what is known as “Churchillian Fortitude” and basically this was a summers day for us hardy residents of Plymouth.

Now the problem with a Sat Nav is the propensity to blindly follow its instructions. As we headed through Princetown “Trixie” (yes that is the lady on my Sat Nav), instructed me in a polite yet domineering manner to turn left.

As an ambi-turner I immediately obliged only to immediately regret it! She had directed me down a country lane with grass growing down the centre of the road (always a bad sign in the West Country) that was only six inches wider than my car. As there was no turning point, the rain was getting harder and the light was beginning to fail I pressed on. Just when I thought things could not get any worse they did; we reached the bottom of the hill to be confronted with something that resembled the Sea of Galilee. The water stretched on for about 30 metres and there was no indication of how deep it was. I certainly could not reverse back up the road so “when needs must the devil drives” and I put my foot down and went for it.

Eventually and with some considerable relief on my part, we emerged on the other side relatively un-scathed and breathed a huge sigh of relief. Having crossed that particular rubicon we were greatly relieved to see the signs for Gidleigh along with another sign underneath which said “don’t give up you are nearly there”! Clearly there had been others who did not have our frontier spirit.

Then all of a sudden we turned a corner and there it was, our Xanadu, the Glorious Gidleigh Park Hotel.

As we walked through the main door I knew we had made the right choice. There were pairs of Dubarry Wellies of all sizes tucked behind the door, just incase we had forgotten ours (we had by the way).

Dubarry - Just in case you had forgotten yours.

We walked past the inviting lounge which seemed to have the words “please indulge in a rather superior brandy and then snooze” written all over it.

The ideal place for a brandy and a snooze

Then we were welcomed by Simon, our General manager and as if by magic our bags disappeared and we were sashayed in to said lounge to enjoy a plate of smoked salmon sandwiches and a couple of glasses of red. Yes we were both in our happy places.

Gidleigh may be termed as “old school quality” so photographically I tooled myself up in a similar vein with the Leica M10P and 50 summilux. I was in 7th heaven with the surroundings and mood lighting.

A bit of still life en route to the room

I believe that someone had spotted that we were in danger of spending the entire afternoon eating smoked salmon and drinking red wine. Not a bad way to spend a wet afternoon, when a charming young man appeared and offered to take us to our room.

As we walked in a smile came across my face. The room was beautiful and on the window sill was a decanter of Medeira and a flask of cold water. I assumed the water was there in case of fire so we proceeded to tuck in to the rather cheeky medeira, accompanied by some rather lovely chocolate truffles.

Madeira and chocolates - The flask of water was in case of a fire!

At this point I had a serious look outside the window and we certainly had a room with a view!

Room with a view - I spy a potential bench of contemplation

So reluctantly we tore ourself away from the Madeira, borrowed a couple of pairs of Dubarry’s and headed off for a walk through the grounds.

As you can see the grounds are absolutely beautiful. Everything is of course wet and damp, after all this is Dartmoor England although, the woodland is in fact almost like a tropical rainforest.

We managed our 5000 steps and headed back to our room, only to find that a bottle of Champagne had been placed on the dressing table with the compliments of the Management. That was going to make that long soak in a hot bath even more enjoyable!

Dinner was booked for 7.30 and Management had suggested that we might like to arrive a little earlier for an aperitif. Always polite Mrs. C and I duly obliged.

Dinner was absolutely delightful. There was no rush and each course was carefully explained by the Maître D’. I have included the menu for reference.

For the record, I started with the prawns, followed by the venison and ended with the cheese, all accompanied by a cheeky little claret. In addition there were various amuse bouches and pre-deserts and the whole culinary experience was quite fantastic.

Following dinner we moved back in to the lounge for coffees and petit fours and with a very nice touch our hosts sent a delightful message in celebration of our birthdays.

What a fabulous way to have a joint celebration of us both becoming personages of a certain age. Next morning we rounded things off with a traditional “Full English”; basically a pork-fest including wonderful black pudding and a local delicacy, hogs pudding!

Good things always come to an end and it was then time to fire up the polo and head back to Plymouth (this time ignoring Trixie and taking the A38 dual carriageway).

Ah, you thought I had forgotten. No blog can end without the Bench of Contemplation.

So that was a little Glimpse of us celebrating a major milestone in our lives. Still very much in love we continue to Carpe Diem and make the most of every minute together.

Lots of adventures to come so stay tuned and warmest regards from a wet and windy Plymouth.

Vodičkova 9 Prague..........

December 10, 2023

Well Christmas is coming which in the Chivers household means “Road Trip”!

Yes indeed, we like to travel to Europe to search out a Christmas Market and get in to the festive spirit (which normally means over indulgence on my part). This year was to be very special on three counts:

It was our first Christmas Market since relocating back to the UK.
We would be meeting up with our best friends from Dubai, Seth & Claire and their lovely boys.
We had chosen Prague, somewhere we had never visited.

Now as regular readers will already know our overseas visits are planned by Mrs C. With what can only be described as a military precision.

Of course, what everybody was really thinking was what camera I would be taking. As we were travelling super light I had decided on the Leica Q. I had been enjoying the 28mm focal length, especially for cityscapes and I also wanted something that was good in low light.

So it was off to London City Airport and on to a British Airways flight to Prague. For once the planets aligned and we all arrived within half an hour and there were lots of hugs and kisses as we met up in the arrivals hall at Václav Havel Aiport.

It is always so great to meet up with the people you love. As you can see I am already sporting my Santa look.

Our driver Vassel seemed to be a man on a mission; his mission being to get us in to town as quickly as possible. I am not sure what red light or stop sign is in Czech but to Vassel they seemed to be more inference than obligatory. I did not want to scare the kids so I only screamed out loud once!

Within what seemed a heart-stopping twenty minute drive we were outside our apartment, located at Vodičkova 9 and Vassel collected his fare, (approx 50 Euros) gave us a toothy grin and sped off to collect his next victims (Passengers).

As we entered our beautiful top-floor apartment it was clear that Claire had absolutely outdone herself on the accommodation front. This was my first image captured from the lounge window and I already knew that I was going to enjoy my visit to Prague:

Now they call Prague ”The City of 1000 spires” but truly it delivers on so many fronts. The minute I stepped outside the door my shutter finger went in to overdrive.

In addition to my attempts at being a bit arty there are also the many attractions that are obligatory to capture. The first of these was the Prague Orloj, otherwise known as The Prague Astronomical Clock, attached to the side of the Old Town Hall.

Installed in 1410 it is the third oldest astronomical clock in the world and the oldest clock in operation. It certainly is spectacular but a word to the wise, get there early in the morning as the crowds are huge, even during a freezing cold winter.

Which brings me to the subject of weather. As we arrived in Prague the snow started to fall and the temperature fluctuated between about minus 3 degrees centigrade to absolutely brass monkeys. So plenty of layers, walking boots and a good hat and gloves are essential.

There is no need to worry about self catering as the food is wholesome and inexpensive when compared to UK or Dubai. Well everything is inexpensive when compared to Dubai!

Our first morning we stopped off at Cafe 11 ( Instagram: @cafe11praha ). The girls really looked after us and plates of steaming mushroom and cheese omlette really set us up for the day.

Horatio is always the star of the show and like all 2 year olds can be seen here enjoying a post-omelette babychino.

Suitably fed and watered we set off for our destination for the day, The Prague Castle via Charles Bridge.

The entrance to Charles Bridge - The Malà Strana Bridge Tower.

Through the gloom you can see Prague Castle.

The Charles Bridge is a photographer’s dream. Spanning the Vltava River, it is a medieval stone arch bridge which has been fully pedestrianized. As a result, even in a full-on blizzard, it is packed with tourists and from a street photography perspective may be termed as a “target rich environment”.

The bridge is adorned with 30 mostly Baroque style statues situated on the balustrade which really lends a sense of theatre as you cross towards Prague Castle.

Prague Castle as viewed from Charles Bridge.

CAPTION COMPETITION: Please leave your suggestions in the comments section.

Approaching the end of Charles Bridge - Spot the Brit abroad bottom left.

Who doesn’t like steaming hot chimney cake?

As we walked across Charles Bridge the snow almost became a whiteout and it was so cold my hands hurt, even through my gloves. Fortunately my Leica Q didn’t miss a beat and I kept capturing images. However, it then came time to make a decision. Do we climb the three hundred or so steps to the castle or do we go back to the apartment for a steaming mug of hot chocolate.

You’ve already guessed it, “when needs must the devil drives” and with our usual Churchillian fortitude it was head down, teeth well and truly gritted and across the rubicon of pain to the castle.

At that point Horatio decided to fall asleep in his push chair. Not to be defeated, Seth and I manned-up and carried Horatio, asleep in his pushchair, up the three hundred steps to the castle.

Having recently become a “man of a certain age” it is fair to say that at about step 250 (yes I was counting) the legs were shaking, the snow had iced up my nose so I had trouble breathing and it is fair to say that the old heart was pumping in overdrive!

Once we reached the top I surprised myself as despite my trembling hands I grabbed this image of Prague Castle.

I could not understand why there were so many people milling around in the middle of a blizzard. I then realized that we had arrived just in time for the changing of the palace guard ceremony. Indeed I heard a guy say that there was a someone behind me with his chopper in his hand! Of course, it was the commander of the palace guard and his troop marching back to barracks.

I decided to be brave and capture some images of one of the sentries that was guarding the palace gate. These guys did not move a muscle, despite the freezing cold, but this was as close as I dared get to a man carrying a gun with a big knife attached to the end of it!

On the way back we took a detour via Wenceslas Square (and yes I did sing the song). The snow had really begun to settle and provided some excellent opportunities to capture Prague in its full winter coat.

Wenceslas Square with the National Museum in the distance.

Mrs. C still working the Prague Chic look.

After about 20,000 steps and chilled to the bone lunch was beckoning. We had booked a table at one of the establishments serving local Czech food aptly named Bar & Restaurant Local. It was a good job we had booked as the waiting time without a reservation was about 1 hour.

As you can see the restaurant might be described as Spartan and indeed was only nominally warmer than the street outside! However the staff were super friendly and the local Czech food delicious. We started with marinated pork belly accompanied by a spread of crushed pork crackling followed by roasted beef cheek, potato dumplings and steaming hot gravy. All this was washed down with a half litre of their local grog. All of this came to approximately £10 per head. You know it makes sense, unless of course you are a vegan!

Now the original purpose of our visit was to visit the Prague Christmas market. I have to be honest, the market itself was a real disappointment. It was full of fast food stalls interspersed with vendors selling what might generously be termed as tat. You would be better to shop for souvenirs in the local shops. This seems to be an ever increasing theme for Christmas markets in Europe but I did grab a couple of images for posterity.

Night out in Prague - One of the smaller local Christmas Markets.

There was so much to do in Prague and we simply scratched the surface. This bodes well for a return visit during warmer climes.

Being an avid supporter of all things Leica, I did search out the local Leica hub. As it happened it was situated a stones throw from our apartment and comprised the Leica Cafe (coffee was excellent) and the Leica Gallery where we viewed an exhibition called “ Private Journeys” by a local photographer.

“Framed” - Mrs. C whilst viewing the exhibition at the Leica Gallery.

Our final morning had arrived so we were up especially early and took our coffee and croissants to a nearby park to watch the sun come up and allow the boys some time to play in the snow. The light was super and I was able to capture some of my favourite images of the entire trip.

Let there be light - Sunrise over Prague.

So our time in Prague had come to an end and what a fantastic time was had by all although, for some, it was all a bit too much……..

So my creative year has finally come to an end, as we focus in earnest on preparations for Christmas and New Year celebrations with family.

I would like to thank all of you who have supported me across all the various platforms where I am active. Your support, advice and encouragement is always gratefully received.

2024 looks to be a fabulous year from a creative standpoint so until then, may I wish you and your families a very merry Christmas and a happy and peaceful New Year.

Warmest regards from Plymouth. U.K.

Cotehele......

October 28, 2023

Well, it is surprising what a trip to Waitrose supermarket turns up. Living in Plymouth our local Waitrose Supermarket is in fact in Saltash, which involves a drive across the Tamar Bridge in to Cornwall. Its free to get in to Cornwall but they charge you £2.60 to get out! At this point I normally go in to my rant about paying to go across the bridge but, in my new relaxed semi-retired state, I simply smile, take a breath and enjoy what Cornwall has to offer (even if it does cost £2.60!).

In this case a visit to our local Waitrose not only resulted in two bottles of Primitivo and a Bottle of Morganhoff Chenin Blanc (don’t forget Aunty Sarah was with us and regular readers are aware that she is head of family hydration) but also included a visit to Cotehele House, a National Trust property some 20 minutes drive from Waitrose Saltash and situated next to the River Tamar in a beautiful estate of some 1,300 acres.

As usual we arrived precisely as the café opened and so we settled down to a steaming coffee and croissant. Always best to start these visits from my happy place.

For this visit I was armed with my usual “National Trust Kit”; the Leica SL2 and the manually adapted 50mm Noctilux F0.95. You have to be prepared for low light and the Noctilux is a low-light beast.

With one eye on the weather (It rains a lot in Cornwall, about 400 days a year) we decided to leave the house for this visit and head down through the woods to Cotehele Quay, about a 15 minute walk.

I can feel myself relaxing as I press the shutter

Through an archway and the garden emerges

All of our sudden we had views of the River Tamar and quite different from the Tamar Estuary with its dockyards and marinas.

We then came to Cotehele Quay, which was a total revelation. Our first stop was a carpenters workshop, where we were warmly welcomed by Chris, a carpenter by profession, who was working on the restoration of what looked like an old wooden river boat. As we talked it was clear that Chris was a man who had definitely found his happy place and was doing something he really loved.

So generous with his time, even though he clearly had so much to do

I look forward to returning to speak with Chris once his restoration project has been completed. I really do envy someone who has the ability to visualize what they want to make, and then have the skill to bring the vision to a reality.

Leaving Chris to his work we continue to wander around the Quay, with its discovery centre and Edgecumbe Café, definitely a lunch spot for our next visit. Here are a few of the images I captured:

Is that a future Bench of Contemplation that I spotted in the foreground?

The Edgecumbe Café - There’s a pastie with my name on it next visit!

We did have a walk around the main house but I did not have the time to do it justice with my camera. So this will be the subject of a future visit. After all, there’s a pastie with my name on it down at The Edgecumbe!

So the moral of this story is that if you go to the Supermarket, always wear a camera, as you never know what might be just down the road.

All the best from a wet and very windy Plymouth.

The City of Discovery...........

October 26, 2023

For those of you who have read my most recent Blog, “Carpe Diem”, you will know that since our return to the UK and our life-change from being full-time expatriates, both Mrs. C and I have been determined not to miss any opportunity. Above all, we are enjoying the ability to have spontaneity in our life, rather than being governed by plane schedules and planning holidays and the simplest of trips six months in advance.

Needless to say, when our daughter Anna mentioned that we had been invited to Dundee, “The City of Discovery”, by Matthew’s parents, we immediately accepted. The last time we had visited Scotland was also one of our proudest moments, to be present at Anna’s graduation from Edinburgh University, so we were long overdue a return visit.

Anna simply said “leave all the arrangements to us, just turn up to our apartment in London on this date and everything will be taken care of “. So we were faced with spontaneity and being absolved of all responsibility. It seemed like a win / win to me!

Of course, arriving in London meant we had the pleasure of meeting up not only with Anna and Matthew but our son Simon and his partner Kitty. Collectively this meant a calorie fest and a great evening was had by all in China Town where we had an evening of “Double Duck”’. That is for another blog.

Suitably fed and watered, the next morning we headed for Kings Cross and the 10.04 a.m. to Glasgow. The six hours passed very quickly and comfortably. Matthew handled the catering via the on-board catering app and delivery service (a world with which I am distinctly unfamiliar) and there was a great deal of discussion as to what we would be doing during the next few days in Dundee. Anna seemed particularly concerned as to our ability to “keep up”?!

We were warmly welcomed at Dundee station by Matthew’s father Bruce, who was keen to give us a feel for Dundee. So we headed to the highest vantage point, the Dundee Law, which provided a fantastic view across Dundee, The River Tay with its famous road bridge and beyond in to Fife and the historic golfing location that is St. Andrews.

As the sun was setting we looked to the West and the approaching rain and storm clouds provided an ominous warning that the weather might be on the change. Prophetic words as four days later, following our departure, this part of Scotland would be subjected to the ravages of Storm Babet. We were literally in the eye of the hurricane.

Ominous clouds…Storm Babet knocking on our door.

Then it was off to Broughty Ferry to meet Matthew’s mum Janet and the two dogs, Isla and Teddy. Now Mrs. C is a little nervous around dogs but we needn’t have worried, Janet had these two beautiful golden retrievers fully trained and after their initial “enthusiasm”, we were accepted like a part of the family.

The handsome Teddy - favorites are not allowed but if they were, he would be mine

This was our first opportunity to meet Janet and Bruce but as they welcomed us in to their beautiful home it soon felt that we had known them for years.

That evening they took us for a meal at a country restaurant called The Lands of Loyal. We drank an aperitif in front of a roaring log fire in a baronial style lounge before partaking in a meal of Pheasant wrapped in filo pastry followed by Gressingham Duck with all the trimmings. As usual I was firmly in my happy place and once we returned home I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

A good job really as Janet and Bruce are very much outdoors people and the next morning, after a hearty breakfast, we drove about an hour or so in to the country side to Loch Lee for a “morning walk” and to exercise the dogs. Mrs. C and I were fully prepared and had our hiking boots and multiple layers as a shield against the crisp Scottish wind and the possibility of precipitation.

To capture it all I had the Leica SL2 and the 90 mm App Summicron SL. Not a compromise in terms of image quality but for this particular trip, knowing we would do a deal of walking, I wanted to keep everything lightweight and with a degree of weather sealing.

For those of you who have never visited Scotland it is truly a land of beauty and as we walked towards the Loch there was ample opportunity to flex the shutter muscle.

We then headed off along the banks of Loch Lee. Our target to reach a small white cottage at the end of the Loch. We aimed to take lunch in the woods above the cottage. Once again calories provided the motivation to crack on.

Our lunch destination - the woods behind the white cottage at Inchgrundle in the distance

Once we arrived at our initial target the scenery changed as we entered in to a beautiful wooded area.

The perfect spot for our lunch - Janet and Bruce with their trusty hounds

Having located the perfect spot for lunch, everyone was very relaxed and an opportunity for me to grab a few images of the team.

They even took one of me and my 50 layers of clothing! - A good boy scout is always prepared!

After delicious corned beef rolls (a personal favorite of mine), a steaming cup of Bruce’s speciality coffee and Janets über delicious date and walnut bread, we set off for a rather steep climb to our final destination above Loch Lee and what a view!

View from the top - the beautiful Loch Lee

Having walked for about two hours it was not lost on me that we also had another two hour walk back to the car and going down a mountain seems much harder than going up!

The walk back seemed a lot quicker, perhaps quietly pleased that we had “kept up”.

As we passed the far end of the Loch we came to a beautiful chapel, Kirk Lees, which dates back to 1803. It is still in use today and unbelievably in this day and age was open to welcome all those who pass by.

The beautiful church organ - built in Vermont USA in 1891.

What a fantastic day. Needless to say I was once again out for the count as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Next Morning Matthew had decided to show us around Dundee. Were first headed off to the V & A which would not only give us an excellent morning coffee but was also situated next to The Discovery, the ship which was captained by Lieutenant Robert Falcon Scott, better known as Scott of the Antarctic. I just loved the Juxtaposition of the modern V&A next to a ship which was built in 1901.

The V&A is definitely a destination for a future visit as we only had time to scratch the surface.

We then headed off in to Town which gave me an opportunity for a bit of street photography.

Giving Dundee the full Noctilux at F0.95

Desperate Dan - Fans of the now defunct “Dandy” comic magazine will recognize Dan who was the comic’s mascot

Fisher and Donaldson - Bakers with a 100 year history - by Appointment to The Royal Family of course

Regular readers will already have guessed that our morning adventure would end in calories. Fisher and Donaldson are a master bakers dating back 100 years. They maintain a royal Warrant and specialise in traditional baking, renowned for their fudge doughnut.

Our mission, which we chose to accept, was to buy some bridies, a meat filled type of pastie plus some steak and haggis pie for our lunch. Janet had been quite specific that we were not to linger and were to avoid the fudge doughnuts. I could see the conflict in Matthew’s eyes as he gazed longingly at them. A testament to his will-power and good boy that he is, he resisted temptation. A treat perhaps for our next visit?

On our arrival back home with our treats, Janet (clearly a fabulous cook) had casually prepared two types of home-made soup to accompany our savories and delicious fresh-baked scones for afters with home made Lemon curd. Deep joy!

Now Janet hails from nearby Arbroath so after lunch we decided to take a restorative walk along the Seaton Cliffs at Arbroath whilst attempting to walk off the calories we had consumed during luncheon (I am afraid to admit that yours truly consumed more than others).

The view of Arbroath from the cliff path

Pebble Skimming - Anna said it wasn’t a competition, but if it was, she won!

The beautiful Isla on Seaton Cliffs always willing to pose for the camera

After our bracing walk we drove back through town. Bruce suggested we lower the car windows and we immediately had that beautiful smell of the famous Arbroath Smokies. Arbroath is famous for its smoked haddock, another treat for a future visit.

Our final day had arrived and for me was to be a real treat. We drove across the Tay road bridge and headed towards the town of St. Andrews. Famous for its great University, stunning beach but above all, is the home of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, where I was hoping to obtain one of my bucket list photos.

Upon arrival in St. Andrews we parked next to the beach and headed off to give Teddy and Isla a run.

Following a good walk along the beach we then headed off to the home of golf.

I wanted a shot of the old clubhouse as seen across the 18th Green. As I took the image I could hear in my mind the commentary from the immortal Peter Aliss, “ just a chip and a putt and Steve Chivers will be presented with the gold medal and Claret Jug, as Champion Golfer 2023”. The stuff of dreams!

The 18th Hole with Club House in the background.

The Famous Rusacks Hotel, where many a glass of Bollinger has been supped

Rusack’s “Rock Weather Station” - it merits careful attention!

Then we came to a spot near the 18th Tee. The Famous Swilken Bridge where Open champions of the past have taken that special walk up to the 18th Green. This was the photo I wanted and what better than to be accompanied by my beautiful daughter Anna. A special memory with a very special girl. Do you think I look like a proud father? The only thing that was perhaps missing was for me to be holding the famous Claret Jug after having been crowned Champion Golfer. Well we are all allowed a dream aren’t we?

The Swilken Bridge with my beautiful daughter

Our thanks have to go to Janet and Bruce. Not only have they provided their wonderful son Matthew as a partner for Anna, but they were so kind and generous in welcoming us in to their home. We look forward to returning this hospitality and showing them the beautiful South West of England at the earliest opportunity.

Ah yes, you thought I had forgotten. Let us finish with a rather special “Bench of Contemplation”.

Warmest regards from Plymouth and see you all again soon.

Carpe Diem!.......

September 30, 2023

Sometimes, as creatives, we are guilty of running out of energy as the creative juices seemingly dry up. something akin to writers block.

For me, its that in the South West of England we are prone to some inclement weather (about 365 days a year!) and so there are times, when unless you wish to photograph pouring rain, we are forced to remain indoors. As a photographer I find this somewhat limiting as there is only so much “still life” photography I can undertake.

As a result and when we do get a break in the clouds, and that beautiful light streams through natures soft box, it is definitely time to “Sieze the Day” and make the most of any opportunity to get outside.

This is what happened last weekend. As we peered through the curtains we could see the early morning sun emerging through windswept clouds and so we decided to head out first thing for coffee and breakfast and just see what the day might bring.

Now we could have just walked around to the Barbican Plymouth to one of our local haunts but that particular day, by some form of serendipity, we drove some 15 minutes to Saltram House, a National Trust Property located on the outskirts of Plymouth.

This is a prime example of taking advantage of something that is actually on our doorstep.

The house itself is set in a beautiful Georgian country estate that dates back to the 1700’s. It was actually owned by the Parker Family from 1724 to 1957 until, like many of the landed gentry, the property was transferred to HM Government in lieu of death duties and then passed over to the National Trust.

There is quite a long walk, (about an hour or so) around the perimeter of the estate, including a beautiful stretch which winds along the banks of the River Realm and includes views over wetlands and a bird sanctuary. I can’t wait for that 100-400mm zoom to arrive.

However, today we decided, for the first time, to visit the house itself. As we passed though the entrance we literally set foot in to another world.

As always we had arrived early and had about 40 minutes before we were allowed in to the house and most importantly about an hour before the Chapel Tearoom was opened! So, we decided to walk around the side of the house and through the exquisite inner gardens to find The Castle Folly. Above all dogs are banned from the inner garden so (a) we didn’t have to constantly watch where we were walking and (b) Mrs. C, who is not comfortable around our canine friends could enjoy the whole experience in a relaxed manner.

Already looking promising from a photo perspective

What a promising start to our walk. The garden was a dream and presenting all manner of interesting photo opportunities. Indeed, there are some 1,500 species of plants in the garden and so I felt duty bound to capture at least some of these (albeit in my “artistic” manner).

What better place to take a break than under a 100 year old Rhodidendra!
I was so at peace as we sauntered through the grounds and after about twenty minutes we finally came to The Castle Folly.

Yes I had died and gone to photographers heaven!

Even Mrs. C was willingly participating!

Now Mrs. C has a limited tolerance on the modeling front and so not wishing to push my luck over that particular rubicon I suggested we head back to the Chapel Tearoom for a cup of tea and slice of cake.

The route back was equally as rewarding…

What a grand place to put a deck chair - memo to me for my next visit

Tree-lined avenue back to the Great House

And then our oasis that was the Chapel Tearoom emerged. A pot of Ceylon Tea and slice of Pumpkin cake and I was well and truly in my happy place.

My way of capturing tea and cake at F0.95 using a Georgian manor house as Bokeh

Mrs. C checking the old analogue sat-nav to see if we had missed anything

Suitably refreshed we decided that we should have a quick look around the interior of the Great House. Now we intend to come back again during mid-winter and spend much more time inside this wonderful property which includes a Robert Adams neoclassical Saloon, original Chinese wallpapers, beautiful ceramics and a remarkable collection of paintings including many by Sir Joshua Reynolds and Angelica Kaufman.

For this visit I settled on trying to record and show you what we experienced before an in-depth blog later in the year.

Well that should boil a kettle in no time

No doubt the maid had plenty of polishing duties

Chinese silks in the bedroom where King George allegedly spent the night.

Back to the car via the Stables and the obligatory National Trust shop

What a day we had. It started out with a decision to go out for a cup of tea and ended up with a wonderful day out and my shutter finger fully exercised.

Now you didn’t think I had forgotten did you? As usual lets end this blog with the Bench of Contemplation. Actually, I am breaking with tradition and ending with the Benches of Contemplation as there we two images I liked so I am showing you both!

So the motto of this story…..Carpe Diem!

See you next time and warmest regards from Plymouth.

Agatha...........

September 28, 2023

Now Mrs. C. and I are great fans of Hercule Poirot, the famous Belgian detective created by the wonderful Agatha Christie. We had just finished watching one of our favorite episodes, “Dead Man’s Folly” when Mrs. C pointed out that it was filmed at Agatha Chrsitie’s holiday home, “Greenways”, located about an hour from Plymouth. Moreover, the house is now run by the National Trust!

A quick call to Aunty Sarah and we agreed that an expedition to Greenways was in order. So we fired up the Polo, dialed Greenways in to the sat-nav and headed up the A38.

Now for those of you who are also great Agatha Christie fans and would like to visit Greenways, remember that you need to book a 3 hour parking slot in advance of your visit as it is a very popular destination amongst her legions of fans.

Another tip for young players is to get there early. The first slot starts at 10.30p.m. and they have a delightful café with excellent coffee and the usual National Trust gift shop etc.

After a restorative jolt of caffeine our first stop was to visit the house itself. Its not a huge property and so an hour in the house itself is more than enough.

When I first caught sight of the house and saw its location and views across the picturesque River Dart, I immediately understood why a creative like Agatha Christie would be drawn to this wonderful slice of Devon.

Once you step through the front door your are warmly greeted by a member of staff, provided with a guide book and told to simply enjoy the experience.

The light was streaming through the panes of the front door and I immediately captured a picture of an ornate bust ordained with a rather stylish hat, my favorite image of the morning, which I used as the “thumbnail” for this blog. I was surely now in Agatha’s world.

From this point onwards I can only say that the entire experience could be termed as a sensory overload. The house was crammed with artifacts from travels, collectibles and of course many books, but it struck me that she and her family were hoarders rather than collectors.

So my images of this initial tour of the house perhaps reflects this as I picked out those singular items which drew my photographers eye and piqued my creative sensibilities.

As we entered one of the sitting rooms there was a beautiful Steinway piano upon which, was a picture of Agatha. It was then that it dawned upon me that despite having read so many of her books and watched so many of her stories on television (Hercule Poirot and Miss Marples), I didn’t actually know what she looked like!

A rather beautiful image of the lady herself.

Then on to the Kitchen. Rather plain and functional which seemed to lead one to believe that food was not perhaps her greatest creative motivation.

I can only describe some items as “eclectic”!

Then I moved upstairs ahead of the crowd to find her study. This was perhaps her inner sanctum and of course we saw where she would have committed her thoughts to paper, a library of her works and a rather lovely original script of Dead Man’s Folley, signed by Hercule himself (David Suchet).

The lady could definitely write a story!

Now Mrs. C is an absolute mine of information and asked me if I had noticed anything particularly interesting about the dining table. Indeed, whilst all place settings had wine glasses, she had a jug in front of hers as it appears she only ever drank double cream with her food!

I continued my journey around Agatha’s house still trying to make sense of who she really might have been and collecting imagery which drew my attention.

The exit, guarded by a portrait of her son-in-law, Anthony Hicks

An hour had passed and I felt that I had barely scratched the surface. However, the weather was forecast to be changeable and I was determined to see the gardens and visit the Boathouse.

So we re-grouped outside the house and it was out with the analogue sat-nav to determine the best route down to the river.

So dear reader, that is my photographers view of 2.5 hours at the holiday home of Agatha Christie. In fact I made a further visit with our dear friends Cathie and Nick and still I feel that I have yet to scratch the surface.

I think this is one of those places that will always be on our list of places to visit and for sure we will see something different at each visit.

Well by now I had worked up a thirst. As you know Aunty Sarah retains the role as “Head of Family Hydration” and immediately suggested that we visit the White Hart Inn, located some 30 mins en route back to Plymouth, for a bite of lunch and a “quick sharpener”.

Here are a few images of our sortie and a “taster” of this lovely location and its immaculate gardens, which I feel should be revisited later in the year and merit a specific blog (memo to me).

I think the cured meat ploughmans has my name on it

Well dear reader, that brings us to the end of our day out. When I entered semi-retirement a friend of mine asked me if I thought I would get bored. I think not!

As always we couldn’t finish a blog without visiting the Bench of Contemplation:

I do hope you have been enjoying our National Trust adventures and as the weather starts to change and winter approaches I wonder what will be in store for our next outing.

Wishing you all good light and warmest regards from Plymouth.

The Tower......

August 24, 2023

All of a sudden August is upon us and Mrs. C and I have been feeling the need to do a bit of traveling. So, we took cousin John up on his kind offer to spend a few days in the country, fired up the Polo, entered Great Shoddesdon in to the sat-nav and headed up the A38.

Now cousin John, although retired, has many strings to his proverbial bow. He was and continues to be a great sportsman. In his day he was a fine cricketer and “Whispering Death Hurle” is still reveered in the hallowed corridors of the Trojans Cricket Club, as the bowler who terrorized many a batsman down the “corridor of uncertainty” whilst, when fortifying the middle order, subjecting many a naive young bowler, who dared to stray fuller than a good length, to the “long handle”. To cap-it off he is a member at HQ (that’s the M.C.C.) and one of the Somerset C.C. faithful.

During retirement, he turned his hand to Bowls and became Club Champion at Salisbury Bowls Club and was capped at County level having been selected for Wiltshire. He also enjoys the odd pint of Timothy Taylors best bitter so that’s all good then! However, I digress……

Being a keen historian, John now acts as a guide for the tours of Salisbury Cathedral’s famous spire. Although Mrs. C is somewhat altitudinally challenged, she was determined to overcome her fear of heights and experience cousin John’s “Tower Experience” first hand.

To give context to our visit to Salisbury Cathedral, John felt it was important to first visit the earliest settlement of Salisbury. Located some two miles to the north of Salisbury, the Iron Age hill fort of Old Sarum dates back to around 400BC.

The site continued to be developed during the Roman occupation, the Saxons later used it as a stronghold against the marauding Vikings and the Normans created a motte-and-bailey castle, a stone curtain wall and a great cathedral.

King Henry 1 built a royal palace within its walls and the site continued to be used for some 300 years until disputes between the Sheriff of Wiltshire and the Bishop of Salisbury caused the removal of the church into the nearby plain.

By the 13th century and as the ‘new Salisbury” developed, Old Sarum was slowly dismantled until the site was sold by Henry VIII in 1514.

Interestingly it continued to have a parliamentary representation and became one of the most notorious “rotten boroughs" and until the passing of The Reform Act of 1832, it served as a pocket borough the Pitt Family.

We chose a beautiful day to visit Old Sarum and here are a few images of our explorations.

What a day with views across Salisbury Plain

The ruins of the original Salisbury Cathedral

The Spire of Salisbury Cathedral as seen from Old Sarum

What must this view have looked like when the fortress was originally constructed?

Having gained an understanding of where and how it all started, we headed off for Salisbury and its beautiful Cathedral.

Salisbury Cathedral, formally the “Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary”, is an Anglican cathedral, is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury.

The Cathedral can only be described as impressive and is widely regarded as one of the leading examples of early english gothic architecture.

Its main body was completed over a 38 year period, from 1220 to 1258. The Spire (our ultimate destination), stands at a height of 404 feet (123 meters) and has been the tallest church spire in the United Kingdom since 1561.

The Cathedral continues to hold a number of other records, having the largest cathedral close (the area immediately around the main cathedral building) encompassing some 80 acres and the largest cloister.

As we walked from the car-park to the main entrance of the Cathedral, I was in awe that a building of this size and intricacy could have been constructed over 800 years ago. Just consider the logistics alone of transporting all that stone by horse and cart, let alone the craftsmanship that was required.

As I walk closer the beauty of Salisbury Cathedral emerges

Interestingly, the Cathedral holds one of four copies of the Magna Carta Libertatum (translated from the medieval Latin as “Great Charter of Freedoms”).

This royal charter of rights was first drafted by the then Arch Bishop of Cantebury, Cardinal Stephen Langton, and was agreed by King John of England, at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15th June 1215.

Its purpose was to make peace between the unpopular King and a group of rebel barons and promised protection for the barons against illegal imprisonment, provided access to swift justice and limitations on feudal payments to the Crown.

Whilst containing many good intentions none of the parties to the charter honored their commitments and the charter was annulled by Pope Innocent III.

In 1216, the regency government of Henry III reissued the document and it finally acquired the name “Magna Carta” (Great Charter). It was again reissued in 1225 and later in 1297, at which point it was confirmed as part of England’s statute law.

In order to protect this fragile document it is maintained in very low light and no photography is allowed. However there is a full translation next to the original and it makes very interesting reading.

Whilst waiting for the tour to commence, I took the opportunity to collect a few images.

Reflections in the water from the main font provides a different, albeit wonderful perspective

Now it was time for our tour. Comprising of 9 people plus our guide (cousin John), the duration of the tour is approximately 1.75 hours and involves five different climbs, comprising 332 steps, to an eventual altitude of 200 feet. It is not for the feint of heart. Oh and you better use the toilet facilities before you start, as once the tour begins there is no turning back.

Our first climb brought us to a balcony with uninterrupted views along the length of the Cathedral. It was here that I managed to capture the cathedral in all its glory (IMHO).

Having reached the base of the main Spire we were confronted with a vertical tower of spiral steps leading to the next level. I gulped and looked at Mrs. C who was keeping it together. If we were going to turn back it would have to be now.

However, “when needs must the devil drives” and always Mrs. C stepped up to the plate and we started to climb. I was trying to be brave and supportive but I must say that I had to take a few deep breaths along the way.

Crikey, you mean we actually have to climb up this!

Of course, John is an old pro and managed all the next steps in relatively easy stages and his inciteful historical knowledge and witty repartee made the whole process a joy.

Once you reach the 200 foot level, there are four doors leading to a very narrow outside viewing balcony. One is closed due to nesting by Peregrine Falcons but the other three provided spectacular views.

John and our merry band enjoying a truly spectacular climax to the tour

The Cathedral and Close from a different perspective.

I was so proud of Mrs. C for reaching the top and for coming out on to the balcony. The only way to defeat one’s fears is to confront them although easier said than done!

By the way, coming down is just as difficult as going up but buoyed by her success Mrs. C was like a gazelle and I had trouble keeping up.

I have only scratched the surface with my images and I leave the rest for you to discover when you take the Tower Tour. Trust me, go online and make the booking, you will not regret it.

Once we finished the formal part of the tour I was free to wander around the Cathedral. Here is a selection of imagery which I hope conveys the marvelous experience that awaits the visitor.

As we were leaving we came to a huge oak door which was locked. I managed to capture this image “through the keyhole”.

What a wonderful day and as all English, the best way to finish is a cup of tea in an English country garden. As I don’t take images of cups of tea here is my ‘artistic” interpretation.

As always my final image has to be Mrs. C in John’s beautiful cottage garden, sitting on “The Bench of Contemplation”.

So dear readers, another adventure comes to an end. As always we managed to combine, culture, calories and the odd libation or three with precious time spent with the people we love.

I hope you enjoyed our brief ntour of Salisbury Cathedral. There are many more adventures in the pipeline, so see you all again soon.

Warmest regards from Plymouth.

Culture In The Country .....

August 10, 2023

Well August certainly started with a bang. A visit to Doncaster to see our daughter Anna meant that Mrs. C could tick-off one of her longstanding bucket list items, a visit to the wonderful Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP).

As usual Team Chivers came fully equipped for all eventualities as the weather had been somewhat inclement and the morning weather report predicted rain of biblical proportions. I ventured to suggest that we might put-off said visit for another time but “She Who must Be Obeyed” was unanimous, we were going and that was that!

Under advice (a.k.a. pain of death) and given that this was predicted to be the best day of the week, we decided to take our chances. So, we dialed YSP in to the sat-nav, fired up the Polo and headed up the M1.

Now regular readers will already be aware that Mrs. C plans these excursions with what can only be described as a military precision. As a result, I merely point the Polo in the correct direction, ensure I have various cards for payments and light refreshments and pack my camera bag.

Given that this was going to be an “artistic” excursion, I decided to give it the full treatment with the Leica SL2 and the manually adapted 50mm Noctilux F0.95 (my favourite lens).

As aways we arrived bang on opening time at the Weston Entrance, so as to start the day with our usual steaming coffee and a croissant. The immaculate coffee shop did not disappoint and whilst everyone else was enjoying breakfast and discussing what sculptures they wished to look at, I decided to work on creating some art of my own.

“Bokeh Daisy” - Steve Chivers - Giving it the full Noctilux treatment at F0.95

Entrance to the Park is £9 for adults and parking is free. So suitably refreshed and ticket in hand we set out in to the Park.

Now walking boots and / or stout walking shoes are highly recommended as is picking up the old analogue sat-nav (for anyone under the age of 30 that is a paper map which shows you the route!).

I will not pretend to know too much about either sculptures or the artists that created them. However, we had great light, dramatic clouds and a very interesting subject matter, all set out in the 500 Acre 18th century Bretton Hall Estate in West Yorkshire.

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words so let us move forward accordingly.

I have to say that after the first 15 ,minutes of walking I was so enjoying both the art itself as well as the beautiful scenery of the Bretton Hall Estate.

Now I do not wish to provoke a debate about the nature of the sculptures but it is fair to say that Damian Hirst may not be everyones cup of tea.

However, in the next sector of the Park we came across my particular favorites by the wonderful Henry Moore. If I could afford to buy one (which I can’t), and had a garden (which I don’t), I would put one in it.

“Reclining figure:Arch Leg” - Henry Moore

“Large Two Forms” featuring Anna Chivers - Henry Moore

I loved the juxtaposition of the art amongst the beautiful Yorkshire countryside

At this point I had fully embraced the artistic concept and was up to about 4000 steps on the iPhone. Culture whilst burning calories, an interesting concept! However, we appeared to be off the beaten track and so it was out with the analogue sat-nav.

Fortunately, being a country boy, I have a natural sense of direction and I soon had us on the right track.

We had now traversed the entire Park and had arrived at the main entrance and the YSP Centre. As we walked through the centre the lighting created more photo opportunities.

“The Corridor Of Uncertainty” - Steve Chivers

Then we emerged in to a sector of the park where the exhibits somewhat challenged my concept of art although they did make me smile. An exhibition by Erwin Wurm. However, that is the beauty of art, it is all in the eye of the beholder.

Well, after the last selection of exhibits by Erwin Wurm my mind was reeling. So we headed in to the woods in search of familiar territory; Barbara Hepworth.

“Relics in the Landscape” - Daniel Arsham

Walk of Patrons - Our dear friends Rachel & Jonathan Ward

Well there we have it. Arriving back at the Weston we had covered about 4kms in about 2.5 hours. Exhausted but jubilant. To cap it off we had an excellent lunch at the Weston of cold cuts, local cheeses & steaming hot new potatoes oozing with butter. Be sure to book in advance or you will not be able to get a table. As always, I ended our visit in my happy place :-)

As per tradition the last image has to be “The Bench of Contemplation”.

“The Bench Of Contemplation” - Steve Chivers

What a fabulous morning and we felt that we had barely scratched the surface. All the more reason for another visit; something I would recommend to everybody!

See you again soon and warmest regards from Plymouth.

A Morning With Elizabeth......

August 9, 2023

Sometimes in life the planets align and a wish comes true. This just happened to me when I received a call from my brother, who asked me if I would like to spend a morning with a beautiful lady called Elizabeth and take pictures of her.

Okay, so my curiosity was piqued to say the least. Then I found out that Elizabeth was in fact a Mark IX Spitfire owned and operated by the wonderful people at Aero Legends ( aero legends.co.uk ) and that his neighbour, Mark “Maverick” Gifford, was one of the volunteers / enthusiasts who help run the air-days out of Compton Abbas Airfield, and he had arranged an all areas pass for me to take some photos of this wonderful aircraft.

For me this is “Boys Own” stuff! I have always been an aircraft enthusiast although I had strangely never combined this with my love of photography. This was going to be a very exciting and challenging photography experience and for the day I took my Leica SL2, with the 24-90mm Vario-Elmarit and the manually adapted 50mm Noctilux F0.95 M lens, plus my Leica Q Type 116.

Mark and I arrived at the airfield at 8.00 a.m. sharp. He had an operational briefing to attend and I would have an opportunity to grab some images before the crowds arrived.

I was introduced to Josh, who runs the Aero Legends side of things and to Andy, who runs the airfield itself. Josh was looking a little nervous as the good old British weather was up to its usual tricks and if it got any worse the day would have to be cancelled. Both Andy and Josh were extremely kind and basically told me to roam freely whilst avoiding getting anything chopped off by propellers……Sound advice in my book!

I was then shown in to the hanger and formally introduced to Elizabeth.

Well it was love at first sight. Such beautiful lines and even though she was made some 70 odd years ago she is still the centre of attention wherever she flies.

At this juncture I was introduced to our pilot for the day, Mr. Charlie Brown.

I have to say that Charlie is one of the coolest guys I have ever met. After all, who has a job description that simply says “Spitfire Pilot”? Absolutely charming and patient he took time to tell me about the history of the aircraft and about the work it takes to keep this wonderful aircraft in peak flying condition.

Charlie, or to be precise Flt. Lt. Charlie Brown, not only looks like a fighter pilot but is the real deal. He joined the RAF in 1981 and throughout his 30 year flying career he has flown all manner of aircraft including the Tornado GR1. A flying instructor and head of training at Aero Legends, Charlie has reached over 1000 flying hours in Spitfires and you could see the glint in his eye as he took me around the aircraft.

Charlie then politely excused himself to attend a comprehensive operational and safety briefing. Whilst the day is about giving a great deal of joy to those lucky few who get to fly with Charlie, nothing is compromised in terms of safety and operational efficiency.

The Team gathers for their morning briefing.

A great many of the team comprise volunteers / enthusiasts who gladly give their time to keep “Elizabeth” in peak condition. By the time they had finished their preparations she was absolutely gleaming and ready to be rolled out of the hangar.

Simply stunning, fuelled up and ready to be moved air-side.

At this point I decided to take a look at the cockpit. I managed to grab a few images and was amazed how simple and straightforward it all looked, albeit a little snug. I must say that if I ever have the opportunity to fly in this beautiful aircraft I might try to lose a few pounds beforehand!

Then Elizabeth was towed on to the grass airstrip ready for the first lucky passenger. Aero Legends run flights from a number of locations and if you follow the link to their excellent website you can see the various locations, aircraft and flight packages. Fair to say I am already saving up for mine!

Passenger safely installed in the rear cockpit

A puff of smoke from the exhausts and the wonderful Merlin engine roars in to life… What a sound!

Low level flypast -simply stunning and very emotional - I was already welling up at this point

One satisfied customer - I just had to record that smile

As you can see above, everyone to a man that flew in Elizabeth came back grinning from ear to ear.

Aero Legends have many different aircraft but one that caught my photographers eye was this beautiful Boeing Stearman. Formerly used as a military trainer this aircraft is in mint condition and that wonderful engine and glistening propellor just begged to be photographed.

I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Josh and Andy for giving me access to Elizabeth as well as Mark Gifford for making the necessary introductions. What a great team!

Now Compton Abbas Airfield not only provides a great flying experience but also provides plenty of great food and drink at their onsite restaurant. As I was there really early, I took a few arty shots. Let me tell you, the service is fantastic, the signature burger to die for and all washed down with a pint of the delicious local Gritchie IPA. I was once again in my happy place!

The Restaurant - Early morning before the crowds arrive

There are a couple of Gritchie Ales with my name on them

The Gritchie Brewing Co are on to a winner - My particular tipple was a cheeky IPA called “Session Lore”

Only one thing left to do and that was to have my picture taken with the beautiful Elizabeth.

As you can guess I could have taken hundreds of photos. If you want to see more please go to my gallery page and I have made a specific gallery entitled “Spitfire MK IX NH341 - Elizabeth”.

I hope you have enjoyed my Spitfire experience as much as I did capturing the images. I thoroughly recommend one of the flying days at Compton Abbas Airfield and once you have experienced the thrill of seeing this aircraft up close and personal, like me you will start saving for a flight in this wonderful piece of aeronautical history.

Stay tuned for more of my adventures and warmest regards from Plymouth.

Going For A Pastie With Drake.....

July 26, 2023

Well dear readers, we saw a break in the weather and the sun was threatening to come out from behind some very ominous clouds. So, we fired up the Polo and headed off towards Dartmoor and the wonderful Buckland Abbey, to visit the home of Drake (no not the well known Canadian rapper), Sir Francis Drake, one of England’s most historic figures.

Now for this visit our regular team was a man down, with Mike a little under the weather. So it was Mrs.C, Aunty Sarah and yours truly, armed with the Leica Monochrom Type 246 and the 50mm Apo Summicron.

Buckland Abbey from the car park…Those clouds were looking ominous!

It took about 30 mins to arrive at Buckland Abbey, located on the edge of Dartmoor near Yelverton. Unusually parking was free and for those of you who have yet to subscribe to become members of the National Trust, adult entry will cost you £14. If like us you are a regular visitor to National Trust properties, the annual membership at £139 for a couple is a no-brainer.

As always we are one of the first to arrive and headed to the lovely cafe, manned by super friendly volunteers and producing excellent coffee. Over a steaming hot flat white the girls convened to determine the order for the day.

Actually, the order of play was to be dictated by the weather, for as we looked out the window the heavens opened and it was like a monsoon for about twenty minutes. Seems like we were in the best place to wait it out.

It was decided that once we had a break in the weather we would take a walk around the grounds of the property before returning for a tour of the house. If I was good, Aunty Sarah was promising a steaming hot pastie for lunch! Sold to the man with the monochrome Leica!

All of a sudden our collective prayers were answered, the rain stopped and there was light! So without further ado we set about our tour.

Buckland Abbey dates back to 1278. It was originally a Cistercian monastery, the last one that was constructed in England and Wales. However, in 1541, during the reign of King Henry VIII and as a consequence of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the entire Buckland Estate was sold to Sir Richard Grenville.

The Abbey was subsequently converted in to a Tudor mansion home. It was then that it was sold to Sir Francis Drake, the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

One can only imagine the opulence during the 16th century.

With Mrs.C in charge of the analogue satnav (in older times we called this a map) and ably assisted by her partner in crime Columbus (a.k.a. Aunty Sarah), we headed off in to the grounds.

The light was challenging; when it was out is was super but it kept changing mid-shot. I used a four-stop ND filter on the 50 APO in order to avoid blowing out the highlights.

There is nothing like the countryside after the rain

Mrs. C and Aunty Sarah at one with nature!

It was all going so well until I spotted the girls scratching their head and consulting the aforementioned analogue satnav. Alas I made the fatal error of suggesting that we may be in fact lost. Have you ever tried taking photos when your wife has her foot on your neck?

However, quickly retrieving the situation I suggested that at times like this the best advice is to always turn left. Being an ambi-turner, left is my favorite direction and lo and behold we found ourselves back on the correct path!

The warmth of the sun disguising the fact that we weren’t so much lost again but merely off-course!

Oh dear, we seem to have another “conversation” about direction….Columbus is saying nothing!

Uncle Chunkle saves the day……finally back at the Abbey

After our little excursion and with rain threatening we decided to venture inside to see how our Tudor ancestors lived.

I must say having recently visited Llanhydrock House and Coleton Fishacre, much newer properties, Tudor England was certainly a less opulent place. However, Buckland Abbey would have been the height of luxury during these times and it was only from the profit of Drakes famous world voyage, that he could have afforded a property like this.

I love a good hat, with some bokeh added for good measure

I believe that the heart of these old homes is the kitchen. They normally had to produce food on a grand scale. At Buckland Abbey it was more rustique and utilitarian than I had imagined.

However, Buckland Abbey does have its treasure. In the Georgian Dining Room is a self portrait by Rembrandt. It took eight months of painstaking cleaning and restoration before it was formally confirmed to have been painted by the old master. I did my best to record it but there were so many reflections on the protective glass that I fear I did not do it justice.

Rembrandt’s Self Portrait - another man who liked a hat!

Regular readers of this Blog will know my love of “Embracing The Shadows” and also that I am a sucker for a good window. All these old properties are full of light and shade and Buckland Abbey did not disappoint.

As the sun tentatively ventured out again from behind storm clouds, we grabbed the opportunity to visit the Cider House and its wonderful garden.

Cottages amongst the beautiful undergrowth

Given that everyone was now so relaxed, the sun was beaming down upon us, birds were singing and butterflies were…. well doing what butterflies do, I gamely asked the girls if they were up for another quick portrait session. I believe that a picture is worth more than a thousand words. I leave it to you to judge!

To round off our day at Buckland Abbey we lunched at their delightful cafe. Steaming hot home-made pasties, full of meat and with buttery short-crust pastry, washed down with Luscombe Sicilian Lemonade. Uncle Chunkle was back in his happy place.

On that heart warming note and in accordance with tradition I end this Blog of our Buckland Abbey exploits with Mrs. C and Aunty Sarah on “The Bench of Contemplation”.