Bare Trees Blue Sky Durham

Canon 5DII 24-105 L

Man walking dog at Seaburn

Sunderland in November. A man, walking along the beach at Seaburn, throws a ball for his dog to chase. The running dog is blurred, but the man sharp. If you look click to look at the enlarged image you can see the ball flying away to the right of the picture.

Canon 5DII 24-105L

Durham Food Festival

German wine, Italian Chocolate, Paella and Thai cooking, all featured within the market stalls at Durham Festival of Food.

Canon 5D II 24-105L Nissin Di622 flashgun

Tyne Pedestrian and Cycle Tunnel

The Tyne pedestrian and cycle tunnels are due for a major refurbishment, involving the closure of both tunnels for up to a year ( assuming the work goes to plan!). I've no idea what they will look like when the job's done, so thought it would be wise to record the present situation.

If you've not been through the tunnels you should give it a try. The noise made when a ship goes overhead is interesting, to say the least!

The escalators have all been switched off for a few months now, only the lifts are working.

Rumour has it that the wooden escalators, once the longest in the world, are to be replaced by a funicular railway. Given the number of cyclists using the tunnel, this can only be an improvement as the existing lifts struggle to take three bikes, while holding on to a cycle while descending those steep escalators is a scary experience! 

Canon 5DII 24-105L f4

Debris on Roker Beach, Sunderland

Following torrential rain and high winds the beach at Roker was covered with driftwood and other more unusual items.

A hay bale and what looks like a mattress amongst the debris, with Roker Pier in the background

From a distance this tree trunk with roots in the air looked like a modern art sculpture

Canon 5DII 24-105 F4

Inside Souter Lighthouse

 Souter, the first electrically operated lighthouse, opened in 1871.

The spiral staircase

The rotating lenses, floating on a bed of mercury.

An auxiliary beam warned ships of the rocks through this aperture

Looking out to sea with the foghorn in the right foreground

Inside the lighthouse keeper's quarters

From the top of the tower there is a splendid view north. Here a Thompson's cruise ship leaves the Tyne. Just above the bow of the ship are the orange painted silos in Blyth harbour, and just to the right of them you can see St Mary's lighthouse.

 

A rainbow behind the lighthouse. 

Wallington Hall and Gardens

We are fortunate in this neck of the woods in that there are two of possibly the finest National Trust properties within maybe 15 miles of each other.

Cragside, in Rothbury, Northumberland, has so much to offer with an interesting, if eccentric, house, thousands of azalea bushes and rhododenrons, extensive moorland walks, and the world's first application of hydro power to light a domestic building.

The house at Wallington is not quite so attractive, at least to me, but the walled garden is a real jewel. I have known it for years, but it seems to become more entrancing every time that I visit.

No visit to the North East of England should be without a trip to these places!

These few snaps show Wallington, I apologise in advance that I find it impossible to properly show the garden in a 2D photograph. You have to be there to enjoy it to the full.

First the house

Taken from the public road, this one is on sale at Alamy C4DN44 and will shortly be appearing on a calendar.

From the rear, showing cattle grazing. Taken from a public path, but not good enough to offer for sale!

The interior, no flash or tripods allowed, so only the advent of cameras that work well at an ISO speed of 1600 or above will adequately record what's on offer.

The glorious mural within the main hall, the original painting for the scene on the right is hanging within the Laing art gallery in Newcastle.

How the other half lived. My 24-105 lens shows considerable distortion at its widest setting, and, although  Canon's DPP program provides a fix, it comes at the cost of sacrificed sharpness.

The servants would have to hump the hot and then cold water back and forwards so that their betters could bath in comfort.

The knife cleaning machine within the kitchen.

That fabulous garden!

Canon 5D 24-70L and 5DII 24-105L and 70-200L lenses