Dunstanbrough Castle

Dunstanbrough Castle

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010


Day-trips to interesting places are becoming a possibility again as the weather begins to (slowly) improve. Last Sunday we visited Dunstanbrough castle on the Northumberland coast.

Its a truly impressive place, set on a cliff top looking out on the north sea to one side and open fields to the other. Its stood in this spot since 1313, but the land was apparently occupied even before the castle was built.

Theres a bit of a walk to get there which isn’t so bad going as excitement carries little legs on, but coming back its a different story!

As always there are more photos, including some of the castle itself, on my flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chill_chris/

Prudhoe Castle in the snow

Monday, January 11th, 2010

It can’t have escaped anyone’s attention that we’ve been [a nation gripped] by a [cold snap] (substitute for your own media-frenzy style phrases) for the past couple of weeks. I can’t honestly remember the last time I saw snow as deep as it has been around where I live in Gateshead and even more-so where I work in Northumberland. It’s given everything an air of Narnia (or Hoth, as the Star Wars fans would have it) and has the ability to create some lovely images where ordinarily there would be nothing to see.

Mid-way through last week, although cold, the skies were beautifully clear and blue so I decided to take advantage of the conditions and get out with my camera at lunchtime. I had no real plan of where I would head, but hoped inspiration would find me as I drove.

I ended up at Prudhoe Castle, which unfortunately was closed for the winter. As a result the best views were to be had by the main entrance and the small pond in front of the castle, so long as you were tall enough to look over the wall.

As always you can view this larger and also see more of my photos on my flickr pages

Continental Market

Saturday, November 28th, 2009

More images available on my Flickr pages in the ‘Newcastle Continental Market 2009‘ set.

The area around Greys Monument in Newcastle is host to two Christmas markets each year. We had a wander around the first of the two today; the continental market, at which stall holders from countries such as Germany, Belgium, Holland, France and Spain offer a huge variety of jewellery, ornaments, clothing and most commonly, mouthwatering food.

The market is of course always very popular and busy, especially on a Saturday, so photos have to be snapped quickly and with respect to the stall holders so as not to block the way of any shoppers and cause a nuisance. As long as you’re wary of the people around you though, there are some great opportunities.

Had I more time and a little more courage I might have turned the camera the other way and turned my attention to the shoppers, perhaps that’s something to work in to the Christmas market when it arrives in mid December.

Light goods

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

Long exposure over the Tyne Bridge

stroll on the sand

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

We wandered on the beach at Alnmouth for a while with pretty cloudy weather overhead, then the sun finally began to break through and I got off a few shots in to the light.