Lake District Trek - Threlkeld to Braithwaite

Today was the first day of my annual hill walking trek with old friend Al from Gloucester.

It's just 5 days this time as I wasn't sure my bad back would last the usual 8 days.

We started from the Horse and Farrier in Threlkeld. Jolly nice Snecklifter on draught. The forecast was for a sunny day but it was overcast with low clouds on the hills.

We stayed in Threlkeld so that we could climb Blencathra and I could take some photos from the top. Unfortunately, the view extended for all of 20 yards, so no pictures.

The descent wasn't that interesting either as there was no view until we were quite low. 

As we made our way down to the river we started seeing bridges half washed away by the December storms. Then further on our route was completely blocked by fencing, 2 bridges had been washed away making the path impassable. One of the bridges was an enormous old metal railway bridge, it was sitting in the river bed quite a way from where it was 2 years ago when we walked over it!

The shortest alternative added just under 2 miles to our route but there was no choice.

We walked into Keswick and headed for the Oddfellows Arms, an old favourite in the town centre, for a swift Snecklifter. Then it was along to the Royal Oak in Braithwaite, our lodgings for the night.

I carried my Mamiya 7 camera all day but didn't take any photos, just the few snaps below on my Moto-X phone.

Tomorrow we head over Causey Pike to Loweswater to stay at the brewery!

View near Blencathra Centre

Waterfalls Above Keswick

Woods near Keswick

Keswick Oddfellows Arms Bar

Skiddaw from outskirts of Keswick

Berwick upon Tweed in Winter

We came up to Berwick yesterday in the snow and ice. Took 6 hours instead of 4 because of difficulty getting out of Peak District (snow storms and sheet ice on roads), big detour and traffic jams.

We are here planning the landscape photography course that we are running here in April 2012. It will be 1 day around Bamburgh and Dunstanburgh castles, 1 day in Berwick, Eyemouth and St Abbs, and 1 day in the Cheviot or Lammermuir hills.

Good day today, cold and clear. Big waves on the coast at Eyemouth and St Abbs, good for pics. Light went early though, by 3.30pm it was the start of night photography! Main bridge in Berwick looks great with Christmas lights and It's a full mooooon.

Tomorrow we're in the hills, hopefully. They are snow covered so should be good if clear. Will return home via Newcastle for some night shots; I have had a few requests at recent shows for shots from here.

As luck would have it, we found a Wetherspoons pub in Berwick. Just finished dinner and on to 2nd pint. Ruddles bitter and this one, Goodwill Bitter, were both cloudy but tasted fine. Looks like they're rushing them through!

Off to take more night shots soon then back to Travelodge on the north side of Berwick. Jan dozing after large Merlot, will have to wake her carefully!

New Techical Advice on Web Site

I have written some new pages for my web site in the Technical Notes section. The first is on darkroom technique. If you have been on one of my darkroom printing workshops this will provide a few reminders to help you in your own darkroom. The notes are also written so that they can be of use by anyone trying to improve their darkroom skills.

I have also written pages on hill and mountain photography. This covers a lot of the advice covered on my landscape photography courses. It's always difficult to remember everything covered so I hope this is helpful. The advice is both for film and digital camera users and covers lots of the basics of exposure and composition.

As if that wasn't enough I have also added a page on equipment advice. This may help you in selecting a suitable camera, lenses and other equipment.

Hope you find these new pages of use. In the future I will add a page on using digital cameras that will cover the basic camera settings to use, and master if you can. Unfortunately, digital cameras have lots of features that are not needed for landscape photography and just confuse when first trying to get to grips with your new digital camera. They also have a lot of features that make life easy for you once learned so don't despair.
Dave Butcher