Northwich Flashes

It's odd - I used to dislike the Flashes just on the outskirts of Northwich - I saw them as a flat, featureless expanse of water & manmade pathways - a poor attempt at landscaping over a industrial wasteland. It's now one of my favourite places to walk with Daisy. I don't think it's just the fact that the trees and plants have all had chance to mature and that Daisy makes almost anywhere fun to go. I think my whole outlook and mood has changed since leaving the corporate world and I am able to appreciate much simpler things (sounds a bit sickly and cliche ridden but it's so true). Instead of my head being full of deadlines and endless pages of red emails and constantly having too many plates in the air - or shattered on the floor, my mind is now free to enjoy the scenery and the fresh air, often with the result that I come up with my best ideas to grow my own business, whilst I am out walking.

I could wax lyrical about the diversity of scenery offered by the Flashes and interlinking park- and woodland - I think that's what I love about it so much. On today's short walk, I passed through mature woodland, grasslands alongside the river Weaver and had views across the wetlands and expanses of water. Today was bright and cold, with a thin haze of cloud creating the ideal light for photography, especially given the low angle of the sun at this time of year. No harsh shadows and the possibility to shoot backlit subjects. The teasels against the backdrop of tall, pale and straw coloured grasses were a great example of this. The single dead leaf, curled in on itself as if in a bid to protect itself and resist the pull of the wind, in contrast to the vibrant colours of the new wood and buds marking the start of a new year's growth.

I couldn't end this entry without including a shot of Daisy looking thoroughly miserable, partly from suffering the head collar which limits her ability to pull my arm out of its socket, and also down to putting up with the constant interruptions to her walk, when I tether her to a post and get the camera out. I am sure she wishes I would take up another interest - much like the kids do too!

By Jane Burkinshaw. Share this post by clicking on one of the Share buttons on the right hand side. I'd love to hear your comments too!

Landscapes & lazy luxury in Llangollen

We just celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary in style - an overnight spa break in one of my favourite Welsh towns, Llangollen. With a father who made canoes and paddled them, much of my childhood was spent on the banks of wild water rivers in various locations in the UK and Europe. My brothers and I would explore the river banks from dawn to dusk, seemingly with no adult supervision (although most of the canoeing fraternity knew who we were and probably kept half an eye on us). Llangollen is a well known centre for white water canoeing and conjures up memories of sunbathing on the large flat rocks in the river, with the white water swirling and rushing past us. I must say the very thought of a child being allowed on them horrifies me now - but what wonderful freedom we had back then. We hid under the platforms of the railway station and played on the tracks - I can only think that it lay disused for a while in the 70's. I'm sure as a child I didn't appreciate the scenery around the town in the same way that I do now - the drama of Horseshoe Pass with its wild moorland and racing sheep (!). Then the wooded mountains rising steeply around the relatively narrow valley and steam trains pulling in and out of the mostly unchanged train station. Narrow boats make their lazy way along the calm waters of the canals cut into the side of the valley, in contrast to the river Dee, which rushes under the 13th century bridge, its roar ever present in the background.

Phew!! Now that I've got that out of my system, more about the more luxurious side of our stay in Llangollen. We splashed out on a room with our own hot tub on the balcony - it was a very interesting experience getting in and out of it in broad daylight - I was convinced that binoculars were trained on us from nearby houses. Once night had fallen, I relaxed a bit and we sat watching the stars appear (and icicles form on our noses). In the morning we did a sprint from the warmth of our very large bed into the hot tub, admired the frosty landscape and drank the remains of the previous night's Cava (perfectly chilled on the balcony overnight). Sheer decadence. Monday morning was going to seem even worse than ever after this! The rest of our brief stay was spent being further pampered, then a drive up through Horseshoe Pass, then back down via an alternative route courtesy of the sat nav - it seems to love single track roads with grass growing down the middle! As a last act of rebellion before collecting kids and dog from various places, we spent the end of the afternoon in a cosy bar over looking the river, with a large glass of wine (locally brewed ale for Nic) and an early tea. Roll on our 10th anniversary when we'll be able to escape from the chaos of family life once again!

Inaugurations all round

Almost to the minute that Barack Obama was being sworn in as president, my daughter was making her own solemn promise to keep the Brownie Guide law. Yet another emotional landmark in her short life, with much clicking of the camera and blinking away tears. And a couple of days later her younger brother joined his own little club, as he put on his brand new jujitsu costume and stood proudly next to the other little warriors. Amazingly we have seen improvements in behaviour from both of them since attending their respective clubs. Should we find it alarming that they listen to and obey other grown ups much better than they do to us?! Sam's other guru would appear to be the Wii Fit machine - he obeys it to the letter. "Mummy, the Wii Fit says I should take a break now and get a drink of water" and off he trots. Can it be programmed to instruct him to do his homework, clean his teeth and not get out of bed 10 times before he goes to sleep?!

By Jane Burkinshaw. Share this post by clicking on one of the Share buttons on the right hand side. I'd love to hear your comments too!

Oi - get off my lake!!

A quick walk to Pickmere Lake this morning, avoiding the field where the cows were grazing as Daisy and cows spell diaster for me. I'll never view them as gentle, doe-eyed creatures ever again. When you're lying inches from their hooves in mud and fresh cow pat, having been pulled over by bolting dog, they are fearsome, lumbering, crushing machines. (Can you tell that I still carry the mental scars from this incident?). Anyway, no misadventures today. I am only bothering to do this post as the swans were particularly entertaining today. A family of youngsters were having a gentle paddle about with mum and dad when some bruiser came on the scene and was eventually forced to retreat to a safe distance by the protective parents. It was actually quite something to hear the power of those mighty wings as they flapped just enough for the swans to skim across the surface of the water, aggressively seeing the unwelcome visitor off.

By Jane Burkinshaw. Share this post by clicking on one of the Share buttons on the right hand side. I'd love to hear your comments too!

Birthday boy

Nic's (the husband) birthday today so we headed up into Derbyshire so that he could see some hills. The only negative Nic can find about where we now live is that it's too flat. Having spent some happy bachelor years living in Alstonefield in the Peak District, supping real ales by roaring log fires, he pines for the hills (although prefers to observe them through a pub window rather than conquer them!). With 4 children aged 7 and under in tow (not all our's as we met up with family from Derby) and mad dog on lead, we wanted a short, easy stroll in dramatic scenery, so we chose Dovedale, knowing full well that we wouldn't exactly be getting away from it all. Daisy was in full-on mad dog mode, straining on the end of the leash, desperate to make friends with fellow walkers, not fussy whether they were on two or four legs. And there were plenty of them, queuing to get through the bottlenecks caused by narrow, steep and slippery footpaths littered with small people! We did well to end the walk with only one minor casualty - Abigail tackled to the ground by a very muddy Daisy. Tears were wiped away, mud ineffectively dabbed at and we headed to the hospitality of the Knockerdown, another favourite haunt of Nic's in a previous life.

Apart from this exciting outing Daisy has had to make do with walks around Wincham and Pickmere this week. Must be wierd being a dog and never quite knowing what the day holds - a quick route march around the village checking out familiar lamp posts or a trip in the car to a whole new world of smells. She definitely prefers outings which involve water or steaming piles of horse dung. In Daisy's world a fresh cow pat simply completes the day! A walk to Pickmere Lake ticks all the boxes - lots of mud, a few horses to bark bravely at (as long as they are on the other side of an inpenetrable hedge), rapidly scarpering ducks - whose quacks sound a lot like they're laughing at us - and plenty of familiar canine friends to greet by sniffing them at both ends.

By Jane Burkinshaw. Share this post by clicking on one of the Share buttons on the right hand side. I'd love to hear your comments too!

First ever blog!!

Well – a new year and a resolution to start a blog! Like most of my great decisions and ideas in life, it came to me as I was walking Daisy. She is our 19 month old boxer dog, a bouncing, tireless, over-exuberant and slobbery beast who ensures that we get daily exercise in the fresh air. It’s also thanks to Daisy that I have explored many local parks, walkways and nature reserves and come to really appreciate how lucky we are to have so much to offer on our doorstep.
So, back to why suddenly start blogging? Well, yet again, I headed out with Daisy on a beautiful, frosty bright morning without my camera and spent the entire walk regretting it and blaming it on the dog. I should explain that we are still training her (a very long process as we find lots of excuses not to do the homework we are given by our “dog whisperer”) and she is not yet allowed off the lead, as she tends to greet other people with excessive enthusiasm i.e. bowls them over like skittles. Owners of like-minded dogs don’t tend to mind, but those walking (or carrying...) smaller pooches of a more delicate disposition can get quite upset!! Hence, I have not quite got to grips with controlling straining, bouncing dog and carrying any of my camera gear.
But today I decided that this had to change, as our daily walks offer so many wonderful photo opportunities. Having spent the last year building the picture-it-big business, which has been predominantly portraits of children, I’ve found little opportunity to photograph anything else for my own pleasure. Today’s walk across Carey Park, along the river Weaver to the Anderton Boat Lift and back via the canal to Newman Flashes offered such a variety of scenery and points of interest. During most of the walk, the winter sun had a kind of rainbow around it – tricky to photograph but I would have liked to have tried. The dried brown grasses and teasels in the meadows along the river were topped with frost, which gradually melted as the sun reached it, to form sparkling carpets as far as the eye could see. The industrial structures of the Northwich salt mines provided a spectacular backdrop, pumping columns of steam into the sky. The low angle of the sun at this time of year results in magical lighting for a good part of the day and the canal looked particularly atmospheric, with steam rising off the melting ice and wood smoke puffing from the chimneys on the canal boats. Not to mention the wild life along the river and canal banks and in the meadows. A heron perched motionless on a rusted wreck of a barge, red flashes as robins flitted from branch to branch - just to mention a few.It’s all very well to describe all of this, but I was kicking myself for not being able to photograph it. So, from now on, it’s poo bags, flask and camera in the rucksack. Initially it will be just my Panasonic Lumix compact camera as it’s light, doesn’t matter if it gets dropped or slobbered on and gives lovely crisp and punchy images. It also has a 12X zoom which should give me the flexibility to shoot landscapes, close ups and wild life. My favourite shots will make it on to this blog, no doubt painting a far better picture than my painful, cliché ridden prose.

By Jane Burkinshaw. Share this post by clicking on one of the Share buttons on the right hand side. I'd love to hear your comments too!