Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria, Winter
Merry Christmas everyone!
Merry Christmas everyone!
I hope you all find peace and rest this holiday season.
We had our usual quiet affair for Christmas. Dad came over to stay with us, and we all enjoyed a fantastic Christmas dinner that my lovely Lisabet put together. But, to the eternal question: what to do on Boxing Day? Apart from stuff ourselves silly with Christmas Day Leftover Sandwiches, of course…
Well, after early December’s sub-zero temperatures, the rain has returned in full force. Thankfully, Boxing Day was looking a little drier, so we head to beautiful Kirkby Lonsdale for a gentle wander around the town and the riverside.
All photos taken on my Fujifilm X-T2 using my Vivitar “Series 1” 28–105mm f2.8–3.8 zoom lens. Images were developed in Capture One for iPad, then finalised in Affinity Photo 2 for iPad.
Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria, Winter by Ian Cylkowski is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
In the grounds of St. Mary’s church, the way to the rectory is lit in soft and golden winter light.
We exited the grounds of St. Mary’s church and gingerly made our way down the Radical Steps to get to the riverside of the Lune. Next door to a rather splendid new house—where the old gas works used to be—some old horse boxes provided a rather timeless rustic scene.
Next to the new build is the Old Gas House, where gas workers lived. Nowadays it’s been properly pimped up in true Kirkby Lonsdale style.
From the famous Devil’s Bridge, we could see the full extent of how swollen and fast the River Lune was. Lots of rain, recently.
Even on a cold Boxing Day, there were still plenty of people paying a visit to Devil’s Bridge Snacks.
The clouds were speeding above us, intermittently covering and revealing the light from the sun in glorious ways.
From the newer Stanley Bridge, low winter light breaks through the racing clouds and drenches Devil’s Bridge.
Some brave people clambered down to the riverside near Devil’s Bridge to get near the rapids of the River Lune.
Huge storm clouds build up above the Barbondale fells of the Yorkshire Dales. Time for us to get back to the car.
Did you enjoy these photos?
Dalton Crags, Cumbria, Winter
Before the current cold snap arrived, Christmas was looking rather wet and miserable.
Before the current cold snap arrived, Christmas was looking rather wet and miserable.
So on post-Boxing Day (is that a thing?) Lisabet and I decided to throw caution to the wind and attempt a hike up and around Dalton Crags.
You can find Dalton Crags and its woodland near Hutton Roof Crags, an isolated limestone hill comprising a large portion of Britain’s limestone pavement. Dalton Crags features its own limestone pavement amongst the ancient woodland and new plantations.
We wandered around the crags shooting photos before venturing up higher towards Hutton Roof Crags. Unfortunately, the weather decided to start hailing on us, which was rather painful, so we made a hasty retreat back into the woodland of Dalton Crags.
All photos shot on my Fujifilm X-T2 using both my Samyang 35mm f/1.2 and Laowa 9mm f/2.8 lenses. Developed with RNI’s Kodachrome film profile.
Before we arrived at Dalton Crags we stopped at Beetham Nurseries for a brew, waiting for the squalls to pass. This beautiful Robin was rather brave and inquisitive.
Limestone boulders, covered in lichen and moss, cover the forest floor around Dalton Crags.
I had fun making compositions of this tree surrounded by the clints and grikes of Dalton Crag’s limestone pavements.
Life… finds a way…
More interesting lines and shapes in this composition.
A more abstract composition in a bleak setting. Proper British winter.
The main limestone crags of Dalton Crags, with an ancient woodland growing out the top of it.
A Lisabet for scale.
Latrigg, Lake District, Winter
It’s really starting to feel like winter in the Lake District now.
It’s really starting to feel like winter in the Lake District now.
As the weather improved over the Christmas Break, Lisabet and I decided to embark on a hike up a fell we’ve never done before: Latrigg.
Latrigg is a rather unassuming fell, measuring only 368 m/1,207 ft high. But what it lacks in height or stature it more than makes up for with the views it has to offer.
Technically Latrigg is part of the main Skiddaw massif, the mountain range that looms above Keswick town, disconnected by a depression that drops to 900+ ft. For those with limited mobility it’s possible to reach the summit of Latrigg via a car park near the peak. We decided instead to start in Keswick and hike up the Cumbria Way to the summit.
We certainly weren’t alone and we could easily see why. The day was ice-cold and clear, with gorgeous low winter light filtering through an atmosphere of ice crystals, resulting in shows of 22° halos around the sun and mist lingering around the fells. Skiddaw, Blencathra, and the Derwentwater fells also had plenty of snow on their peaks, adding to the sense of awe.
I hope these photos convey the beauty we experienced on this hike.
All photos shot on my Fujifilm X-T2 using both my Samyang 35mm f/1.2 and Laowa 9mm f/2.8 lenses. A variety of Fuji’s film profiles were utilised in the RAW developing.
As we ascended up the steep section of the Cumbria Way, the views looking back west and southwest grew more impossible to resist photographing. The sun was too weak to burn away the morning’s temperature inversion, leaving floating tufts of mist to meander around the fells.
As we broke off the Cumbria Way to take the path up towards the Latrigg summit, and patch of mist floated our way and obscured views back towards Skiddaw (931 m/3,054 ft). I quickly nabbed this 35mm composition of what turned out to be a fleeting moment.
We joined, at a distance, other groups of people near the summit of Latrigg, admiring the views and the incredible light show. The halo around the sun is known as a 22° Halo, caused by sunlight refracting through millions of hexagonal ice crystals in the atmosphere. The lake in the distance is Derwentwater.
From the summit of Latrigg, looking back towards the Derwentwater and Whinlatter fells as another patch of mist slowly creeps up the shoulders of the fell.
Plenty of dogs were enjoying the sights and smells of the fell too.
Away from the sun we continued on the summit track back down Latrigg’s eastern shoulder, affording us wonderful views of a snow-clad Blencathra (868 m/2,848 ft). More mist streamed in to partially obscure the views of the mighty fell.
Following, at a distance, other hikers back down the Cumbria Way, with extraordinary views towards the Whinlatter and Lorton fells.
Christmas Wanderings
I enjoyed a wonderfully chilled and wholesome Christmas with my Dad and Lisabet, at Dad’s farm cottage in the middle of nowhere.
How was your Christmas? I enjoyed a wonderfully chilled and wholesome Christmas with my Dad and Lisabet, at Dad’s farm cottage in the middle of nowhere.
In between the gifting, the presents, the drinking, and the cooking, Dad and I had a wander around the glorious rural area he lives in. Being the sneaky bugger he is, Dad got me a new lens for Christmas: a Fujinon XC 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS. So now I can finally zoom in on my landscapes and get some fresh perspectives! Here’s a couple of shots from our wander using my new lens, all shot on the Fujifilm X-T2.