Hard work!

I've been working really hard to get my flat into shape, so hard that I have callouses on my hand from the paint roller I've been using! It is slowly but surely rising from the ashes, as it were, and becoming the home I hoped for. I'm building in some breaks, of course. Normal life has to go on. There are everyday chores to do, and exercise is necessary. I walked into Saltaire to stretch my legs and all I encountered were other people also working hard. 

There was the groundsman mowing the cricket pitch. 

There were contractors removing all the pontoons and temporary buildings that had been erected in the park for last weekend's Dragon Boat Racing. (I didn't go down this year; I was too busy with other things. It's more or less the same format every year and, whilst fun for those who participate and a great way to raise money for charity, photographically there's not much new.)

Such large scale events produce a lot of rubbish! 

In Saltaire village, I found scaffolders just finishing a structure around the Dining Hall, now part of Shipley College... and another up at the College's old school building...

and another at the almshouses. It must be the time for roof and stonework repairs. 

Finally, at Hirst Weir, there are big diggers doing some work to rearrange the boulders that have over the years broken down and spread the weir into a rocky cascade. I think they are trying to smooth out some of the slope so that fish can more easily make their way upstream to their spawning grounds. It happened to be the lunch break as I walked past. The machines were idle and the workmen were chatting and eating their sandwiches. 

After seeing all that hard work going on, I came home exhausted! 

Alphabet

This was another exercise from the 'Mindful Photography' workshop: to find letters of the alphabet in non textual form. It was easier said than done but I think I managed quite well. It was a good project to focus on (pun intended!) on a very wet day as it could be undertaken largely inside.

The Scargill Estate

Before it became a Christian community in the 1950s, Scargill House was a country house owned by the Holdsworth family. It sits in its own, fairly large, estate with gardens and woodland extending up the side of the valley to the moor. 

It has, of course, been enlarged, with accommodation for guests and community members. Notably, its rather wonderful chapel was designed by George Pace (one of the leading ecclesiastical architects of his day) and built in 1958-61. It's now a Grade-II* listed building. It's a lovely place in which to worship, with the huge windows giving views over the dale. The octagonal building you see beyond it is the main meeting room, recently reroofed and refurbished - and again offering glorious views across the valley. 

Sheep farming is still the mainstay of the dales (and tourism of course). Something (not me!) spooked the sheep and they all went dashing off down the hill, ewes and lambs bleating loudly. 

There are a few strategically placed benches, this one having a lovely outlook up towards Kettlewell. 

In the woods there is a labyrinth, a sacred space used for walking meditation. 

The limestone pavement

The Dalesway footpath between Kettlewell and Grassington climbs high up the valley side, mostly tracing the boundary between the sheep pastures on the steep fellside and the rough moorland above. Before you reach Conistone Pie (not a pie, sadly, but a dominant outcrop of rocks) there is a small patch of limestone pavement: a flat expanse of limestone with deep, undulating fissures (grykes) carved out by water, and forming an unusual habitat for plants. 

It was a good place to stop and take photos, though the gale force winds and squally, driving rain made it a rather challenging endeavour. 

We were supposed to be taking black and white photos but the green plants, which I think are hart's-tongue ferns, looked so vibrant against the greyish rock and seemed to me to be the stand-out feature. Perhaps they would look good in mono but I like the colour versions. 

It's amazing how little plants hang on and thrive in such an apparently inhospitable environment. 

You could climb much higher up the moor but, given the inclement weather, we opted out of that and soon returned to Scargill House for afternoon tea and more cake! The walk was worth it for the wonderful views though we did get very wet. 

 

Kettlewell village

Kettlewell is a quintessential Yorkshire Dales village, sleepy during the week but a magnet for visitors at weekends and in the school holidays. It's bisected by Kettlewell Beck, which meets the River Wharfe at the west end of the village. Many of the properties are quite old - 17th and 18th century - and the area boomed in the late 18th/early 19th centuries when lead was mined in the surrounding hills. 

It's attractive in a solid, Dales kind of way, with well-kept cottage gardens overflowing with roses at this time of year.

Keep your eyes open and there are hints of its history - though I do not know how old this engraving in a barn wall is. 

There has been a church, St Mary's, here since Norman times though the present structure dates only to the 19th century. 

Surrounded by the meadows and fells of Upper Wharfedale, its churchyard is a haven of peace, and has been developed as a wildflower and wildlife sanctuary. At the entrance is a beautifully carved lych gate, erected in 1921 by George and Mabel Holdsworth in thanksgiving for their marriage. The Holdsworths lived at Scargill House until they sold it in the 1950s to the Church of England to become the Christian community that it is now. 

I took some photos inside the church on a previous visit - see HERE if you're interested. It has some lovely stained glass. 

 

In the dale

The route from Scargill House to Kettlewell village is a pleasant stroll, part of the Dalesway long-distance footpath. It meanders down a quiet lane and through grassy meadows, full of wildflowers at this time of year. The fields are separated by the Dales' typical drystone walls and punctuated by stone barns. 

I'm not that good at identifying wild flowers, but searching online has revealed that the prolific mauve/blue flowers on the roadside verge were meadow cranesbill, a type of geranium. 

There were patches of thistles:

and herb robert created a tapestry-like effect, with its pinkish flowers against leaves that had turned red, as they sometimes do. 

Sunday meditation: Quiet in the woods

'Come with me to a quiet place and rest a while.' Mark 6:31

It's true that there is a special kind of peace and healing that comes from walking alone in woodland. The Scargill estate has many meandering paths and I relished my time there, drinking in all that peacefulness and the fresh green of abundant life: sturdy tree trunks interspersed with young saplings and graceful ferns. 

I've processed this image a little differently from my usual style to try and draw out that sense of calm. 

In the walled garden

One of Scargill's many delights is its walled garden, lovingly tended by community members and volunteers. It is really peaceful, with many places to sit and contemplate. (I was playing around with creative compositions, hence the triptych above.)

Mellow yellow

One of the exercises on the 'Mindful Photography' workshop was to concentrate on finding just one colour. I chose yellow, as it's such a cheery hue. I found plenty of it and then chose to place some of my photos in a grid square. I composed it on my iPad using an app (Pic-Collage) as I didn't have access to my usual processing software. Pic-Collage is pretty easy to use but images show its logo unless you pay for the enhanced version. 

Mindful photography

"Mindfulness encourages us to use all our senses to experience the present moment in all its fullness. Mindful photography encourages us to look, to really see, to explore things from different angles, to notice how light and shade falls and alters our perception, and to reflect on what we can learn when we see 'with the eyes of the heart'." (Text from Revd Janet Heighton, the leader of the workshop on which I was a participant.) The NHS website suggests that 'paying more attention to the present moment - to your own thoughts and feelings, and to the world around you - can improve your mental wellbeing'.

It's partly for those reasons that I enjoy photography anyway. Whether out there with my camera or back home processing photos on my computer, I am very much 'in the present moment' and it helps me switch off from any anxieties, worries or problems I may be grappling with. I know, however, that I can still learn to 'go deeper' into the moment and place. 

We were encouraged to find a spot to stand or sit, to really look and see, and then take some photos. I explored the margins of a small pond, taking all these images within about ten paces of each other. I normally take photos when I'm walking so it was a lovely exercise to stay in one place for a while, finding both conventional images and some more nuanced responses to 'beauty in the ordinary'. 

It could be that even looking at photos 'mindfully' can improve your mental wellbeing. I hope so!