1940's WEEKEND -SEVERN VALLEY RAILWAY

This visit was on the 28th June 2009 at the Severn Valley Railway in Shropshire.

These events seem very popular with people having the chance to dress up in 1940's clothing to add to the theme of the event. The Railway runs from Bridgenorth to Bewdley, which is also Kidderminster station. The Preserved railway line uses a separate line to the commercial rail services. The actual journey from one end of the line to the other, takes around an hour and a half. So well worth the admission fee and a very scenic route too, which also passes the West midlands Safari park. There are other stations inbetween, such as "Highley", which has a new museum and visitor centre/resturant. Events such as these make it very Interesting for photography purposes of course.

Cotswolds Visit (Part 2) April 2009.

This is "Part 2" of my Cotswolds visit, which features a few villages & places around the Cotswolds. Featured are : Lower Slaughter, Broadway, Snowshill, Hailes Abbey(National Trust), The garden of my "Whiteacres" Guest house in Broadway, Chipping Campden & Coughton Court (National Trust Property). This visit was over the weekend of April 3rd-5th 2009.

Bourton-On The-Water & Birdland : Visit April 2009 (Part1)

This Video Is of Bourton-On The-Water village , including "Birdland" a Zoo of different varieties of exotic and Interesting Birds. This was part of my stay in the Cotswolds in early April 2009.

I Stayed at a B&B in "Broadway Village" That village will be featured in Part 2.

THE COTSWOLDS - April 2009

My visit to The Cotswolds was April 3rd-5th 2009, where I met my Sister & her Husband , who were staying In "Broadway Village" at the Caravan site there. I stayed just along the road from there at a B&B called "Whiteacres", which was very nice and with a good breakfast too.

We managed to visit a few places , including "Bourton-On the- Water", known as the "Venice" of The Cotswolds, due to the stream running through the village and the small bridges over it.

Very popular place for tourists there. The village also has a place called "Birdland", with many varieties of Birds (Photos above). Other places I went, were "Snowshill", which has "Snowshill Manor" (National Trust) and "Lower Slaughter", with the Old Mill shop, which is always worth a visit. Another nice village with a stream running through and much quieter than Bourton.

Chipping Campden we had a good meal, at "The Eight Bells" Pub one evening. Not an easy village to park, but well worth a stroll around Chipping Campden. With staying in "Broadway" , it was obviously a place we spent time looking round too, with its wide street (Broad-way) and the Interesting shops it has. I also visited "Hailes Abbey", near Winchcombe, as I had been there once before and felt like going again. This is also a "National Trust" property(photo above)

So with the weather being superb that weekend, I was very lucky to be able to take so many Photos on this visit. Some of which are shown above.

LACOCK VILLAGE (Wiltshire)

Lacock Village is owned by the National Trust and was also the setting for the TV Series "Cranford". A very scenic village and well worth visiting to see the very old buildings there.

The Abbey too is very Interesting and that was used for filming scenes in a "Harry Potter" movie. The Abbey also has a window that was the subject of the very first negative taken using a Camera! Taken by Fox-Talbot. Visitors are also allowed to take a Photo of that very window.....and is the only subject allowed for photography inside the Abbey.

The village also has a very nice Tea shop (Photo above) called the "Hunting Lodge Tea Rooms" where you can get some very nice lunches and cakes. It also has a tea garden too.

The village bakery is also worth visiting.

I was lucky with the weather on my visit on 11th October 2008, as it was warm & Sunny, which helps when taking nice photos. I hope to go there again oneday.

CASTLE COOMBE Village (Wiltshire)

My Visit to the village of "Castle Coombe", was on Saturday 11th October 2008.

A very pretty village in Wiltshire, not far from Bath, on the edge of the Cotswolds.

It has been called the "Prettiest Village In England" and there are Indeed some very pretty cottages and views here. It helped having a bright sunny day on my visit here too.

Of course taking good photos is not easy when these villages are a magnet for tourists.

So having a photo with no cars and people on, are almost Impossible to achieve.

But I think I've managed to take a few scenes that show the Character of this nice village.

Although it has a couple of Pubs there, one thing missing seemed to be a Tea shop.

Unless the locals are trying not to encourage more visitors.

THE LAKE DISTRICT

My visit to the Lake District, was August 3rd-5th 2007 with my friend Dana.

We stayed In Ambleside, which is a good place as a base for touring that area. The only downside is the lack of parking!. Most appears to be by permit parking only.

So any future visits i'll make sure I find a hotel with it's own private parking!! As it can be a real problem otherwise. The weather is another factor on visiting the Lakes too, as it is well known for its "Wet" weather up there, being very mountainous of course. But as long as you are prepared well and take weather proof clothing and an umbrella......then it's still very enjoyable.

The only day it did'nt rain was our final day, when we visited "Levens Hall", which is well worth seeing, with it's Topiary Gardens. The Hall itself is also worth visiting and was one of the best I had visited. There are exhibits Inside that used to belong to the Duke of Wellington and Napoleon too. But the Gardens are superb and really well looked after. Every angle is worth a photo Itself.

Another place we visited, was "Dove Cottage", the former home of William Wordworth.

We also saw the Headstones in the graveyard at nearby Grasmere.

Lack of time prevented further visits elsewhere and the continual rain made driving conditions less than enjoyable at times, but Ambleside was Interesting and also Bowness, where we took a Lake Cruise, before having a meal at a local resturant. Plenty of Interesting shops to visit and there is also the "Beatrix Potter" visitor Centre too. I wish we'd had time to visit "Hill Top Farm", where Beatrix Potter lived, but maybe on a future visit. There is so much to see in the Lake District, that a weekend visit is not long enough.

The Photos above show some of the scenery we saw though, including "The Langdales", a very scenic area.