Thursday, 19 March 2020

Shannon Airport to Galway


This is how I set off on my summer travels last year. At Warsaw Modlin, the temperature had been about 30 degrees Celsius, but it was 12 degrees and driving rain at Shannon Airport.

Still, I enjoyed the coach ride to Galway passing through small towns like the one below:
 

At Galway train station, which is next to the coach station, I sought shelter to change into my wet gear:


After a really rough night on a campsite at Old Salthill, where some French guys kindly helped me set up my tent and I returned the favour, it was a relief to encounter a calm morning:


Had to make my way to the bus stop to get to Galway city centre again, I was looking for the coach to Donegal.


Tuesday, 17 March 2020

Warsaw: Green Bulding at Racławicka


Really like this light green (probably an administrative) building next to Racławicka metro station in Warsaw, it just adds something to the environment.

Sunday, 15 March 2020

Tess Country Shot


Nice shot from my Thomas Hardy travels round Dorset last year. Think the actual place is somewhere between Lower Bockhampton and West Stafford, big Hardy settings, of course.

Can almost visualise Tess and Angel Clare on a courting walk in the picture, that's how magical Hardy country is.

Saturday, 14 March 2020

Faversham: Beautiful Buildings


Visited  Faversham the day before and on the morning of the New Day Festival last summer.

Of course, Faversham Town Hall, on its wooden stilts, is the grand centre-piece of Faversham:


I used to occasionally visit Faversham when I lived in Canterbury in the late 1990s/early 2000s, so I knew it was worth an hour or two photo shoot round the town centre:


The town has a nice, laid-back atmosphere:


Really think that the Town Hall is stunning:


And the incredible buildings below have stayed in my visual imagination over many years:


Couldn't take my eyes (or the lens) off the triangular-shaped buildings:


They have a wonderful character:


The setting below has stayed in my visual memory for many years as an idyllic place to have a pint:


Even on the road out of Faversham,


the beautiful rows of houses jump out at you:


The New Day Festival gave me the opportunity to revisit Faversham, Canterbury, and other parts of Kent last summer.


Friday, 13 March 2020

Quick Look at Burnley


Having visited Donegal; Kent; Dorset; and Cornwall, then while in my hometown Bury, I hopped across to Burnley to see an old schoolfriend who'd made his way up from Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire on the old canal system.

While quickly making  my way through Burnley town centre to find my friend on the canal, I was somewhat stunned to see how picturesque some of the buildings were:


Love the stone wall carvings below, they remind me of some wall carvings at the entrance to the old Russian soldiers' cemetery in Warsaw, Poland.



Have just read that the red-bricked building below is the old post office building in Burnley:


What this short saunter across Burnley town centre to the canal taught me was that I must have a proper look at Burnley some time.

Tuesday, 10 March 2020

Bury-Manchester Airport Tram Shot


Was pleased with this shot I got while travelling from Bury to Manchester Airport to fly back to Warsaw last summer.

I'd been expecting to catch a tram to Manchester, then a train from Piccadilly to Manchester Airport, but during a Wetherspoons breakfast, a friend revealed that I could get a tram straight through to Manchester Airport which cut out a lot of messing about.

Sunday, 8 March 2020

Crolly, Gweedore: Great Campsite


Camped here for four nights last summer. It was a great base for going trekking round Gweedore.

Also found the owners of the campsite, Ian and Nicola, very helpful.

And, of course, the campsite is just a stone's throw away from Leo's Tavern, the Clannad pub.