October 31st 2013

The name Halloween, or All Hallows' Eve, which itself comes from the Old English halga or "holy". Until late Medieval  times “hallow" referred to a holy person and so Halloween was the night before All Saint’s Day. But Samhain on which Halloween is based is a much older festival, actually believed to be a combination of two festivals: the Celtic festival of Samhain (meaning "summer's end") and Pomona, in honour of the Roman fruit (harvest) goddess Pomona. Samhain is sometimes called the Feast of the Dead and refers to our belief that at this time of the year the distance between our world and some other world where our ancestors roam is at its thinnest, so the dead and the living could meet. Interestingly Samhain is a time for firelight. It was said all the houses in the village would extinguish their fires, and everyone would gather around a single fire all night to help ward off the spirits. More recently candles and lanterns have been used to do the same job, a naked flame is a healing process.

Sadly in the last 20 years the gawd awful Trick or Treat Halloween has arrived here from the States. That is a freak-show circus of the celebration, and not a celebration of life and death. In my youth we’d carve what we called turnips in the North East (actually swede) and walk around the village with these lanterns. We didn’t bother anyone, or knock on doors to frighten old people, we just quietly enjoyed being out in the darkness as children on this one night, when normally we’d be told to stay indoors. Last night I sat quietly with my candle, lantern and for those of you on Facebook, Brian the snail.  For Brian’s fans, there was going to be a video, but I ran out of time. Maybe for Bonfire Night?

 

October 30th 2013

A cold start to the day in deepest Wiltshire with the temperature hovering around freezing, meaning it was the first time I'd had ice on my car, with frost on the lawn and house roof. Having said that it was a fantastic dawn with the merest sliver of a crescent moon on a rapidly blueing sky. Very atmospheric, made all the more so when a large flock of fieldfare flew over, chattering noisily to themselves. All too soon though my commute to Bristol was underway and by then the sun was up, mist filling the valley bottoms, but driving through Avebury, I had to stop as the light was spectacular. No time to faff about getting the composition right, just half a dozen quick photos of the Avenue leading to the circle itself, and then back into the car and along the M4. I love these colder mornings, the light is so intense, it's like being given new eyes all over again.

I've been away for a few days somewhere where there's no Internet access, therefore the last 4 days will be updated tonight.

October 29th 2013

Back home now after our trip up north this weekend. We missed the St Jude's storm which blew in on Sunday night into Monday morning, producing a top windspeed gust of 99mph on the Isle of Wight and about 70mph gusts along the south coast. Up in Tyneside it was sunny, calm and a wonderful weekend. It was surreal to be hearing about the wind and the nearly 2 inches of rain that fell in Somerset. It was good therefore to get back to Wiltshire and check everything was ok. The trees are still standing (although the one on the left is destined for the chainsaw over the winter) and the fence panels have stayed up. I'm glad though we took down the three fence panels which were flopping about on Friday. Personally I'd be happy to see the fence panels not replaced, I like the open plan look to the garden, but I guess we need a bit of privacy.

October 28th 2103

Its not often as a family we get together, especially on my mothers side, but today was a special day, my Mother's 80th Birthday (seated in middle). October 28th 1933 seems a long time ago even for me, but for my 2nd cousins in the front of this photo it must seem like Victorian Britain felt to me, recent but ancient history. And that makes me think, my mother was born less than 40 years from the Victorian age, she is a product of two people who were born well into the Victorian age, and looking forward, I am connected to that past through this image and those boys in the front in 60 years time will look back and remember 2013 as a long time ago. My mother knew her Norwegian grandmother born about 1860, and I know my mother in 2013. History, or at least the timescales of history often play memory tricks. It wasn't that long ago really. Having said that it was great to all meet up, we think the first time we have done so since 2000.

Today was also the infamous St Jude's storm across Southern England. In Tyneside where this photo was taken, not a breath of wind.

October 27th 2013

Coffee plays quite a part in our lives, possibly too much time is spent reading the papers and imbibing caffeine in coffee shops. But today we ventured to a special seaside cafe, one perched on the edge of a promenade in Roker, Sunderland. This is the Cat & Dogs cafe. It has been here for decades, battered by storms in the winter, but when not being battered is a haven for walkers, holidaymakers, or anyone out for a gentle stroll along the windswept coast of this part of Tyneside (strictly speaking Wearside). My mother and her girlfriends walk here every Monday and then giggle over a tea and macaroon before walking back. It is a fantastic place. We had coffee and a bovril, £1 each in a big mug and one can sit in the sun and watch the surf lashing the concrete seawall.

Interesting too today was that I met up with an old friend by chance and his wife. I'd not seen Paul since 1993, as we had both moved away from the North East but now they have returned. Great to catch up, but he then told me why this area is called "the cat and dog steps". A bit gruesome. Apparently in Victorian times a lot of pets were thrown into the River Tyne and the River Wear to be got rid of. The way the North Sea currents form here, the bodies of these disguarded pets were washed up on the small beach where the above photo was taken on. Lovely. So hands up who says life was better in the old days?

October 26th 2013

There is nothing better than a nice cup of coffee, and there is possibly no better coffee shop than that attached to the Black Swan Hotel in Helmsley, North Yorkshire. Today we were driving the 330 miles north to my parents for my mothers 80th birthday on Monday. But as is becoming a tradition now, we took a bit of a detour at Thirsk, up Sutton Bank and spent an hour or so enjoying coffee, and a banana bread slice, in the coffee shop. There is nothing better than having coffee properly made and served in heavyweight silver coffee pots, cream warmed to the correct temperature and then consumed in the best china. Almost worth the drive up there just for the coffee, but that may be a bit indulgent....

October 25th 2013

A busy and exciting morning. Julie had ordered some Christmas cards based on one of her designs and yesterday got a call to say they were ready for collection, 100 cheeky chappie dog cards (with a Santa's hat). So after a trip to the vets with Molly the aged cat, we stopped off at the Wessex Print Centre and picked them up. And very good they look too. So this is the embryonic beginning of Julie's art career. She's branching out into animal portraits, and in the year or so she's been doing it had 1 commission and a few enquiries which are coming to fruition now. Exciting times and it's good to have a positive outlook to the future. From today's Christmas cards, who knows where this will take her.

October 24th 2013

Breaking my own laws of this diary for the second time today, because, well just because it's brief moments, the happenchance of a moment that lift the soul to a new plane. And that's why there are 2 photographs.

Bobbling along on my daily commute through the lanes of Somerset before dawn I passed a misty field full of milkers, and those milkers were giving off their own mist as they ruminated on the day ahead. It was half an hour before dawn. I reversed the car. Luckily I had my camera with me and so for 20 minutes i stood in a field full of cows and shot off a few photos, some artistic such as below and some like the one above just capturing the essence of the scene in front of me. Perfect. There is something about stumbling across a pastoral view, one with a mixture of emotional uplift and artistic composition that really does make my whole body tingle. Either that or it was the 3 shredded wheat I'd had this morning.

I'd recommend everyone gets out there before dawn to see the countryside at its best. I love early mornings, I am more in tune with the World and my emotions than any other time of the day. Add a fleeting moment of beauty in a crowded world of grim distraction and you can't say fairer than that.

October 23rd 2013

A juxtaposition of thought caught my mind today. This morning I found myself enclosed in a windowless studio with a studio manager Dave, for 3 hours, final mixing programme 18 of Shared Planet, a programme looking at the effect of rubbish on wildlife. As I emerged blinking into the bright sunlight of an autumn day I walked past 4 recycling bins in the car park the colours of which matched not only the day (blue skies and white clouds - the orange and yellow of autumn leaves) but also matched the focus of the programme, in that we all produce too much physical waste, and we need to reduce the amount we do produce, 177 million tonnes per annum in the UK. A sobering thought on such a bright autumnal day.

But then I thought the 'faces' of the recycling bins were quite jolly - I'm quite taken with such left field thoughts such images provide - always look at the world sideways.

October 22nd 2013

Mix bag of a day. Torrential rain, bright sunshine, half a day at work, half a day working at home. While working from home the mix of weather outside entertained me and in a break in the downpours, one of the collard doves I have resident in the garden sat on a streetlight in the lane behind the garden and took in a minute or two of sunshine. 50 years ago or so I'd not have seen this species in Somerset as they only arrived in the 1970's over here. Species come and species go, and on a day like this I'm quite happy to spend a minute or two watching this neat little bird.

October 21st 2013

I was having a quiet 10 minutes today leaning against a wall having a cup of tea for my lunch. The wind was blowing hard causing leaves to billow in the gusts from the trees and into a car park in front of me. As I watched this cascade of bronze shimmering in the wind I looked down and saw these 'acer' leaves in a pattern on the ground around me. A view which encapsulated the day, windy, blustery, mild but above all an invigorating example of autumn. Possibly even art in the natural world?

October 20th 2013

If I'm honest gardening is the most important thing I do, and have done since 3 years of age. It is even more important than conservation which is oft an equal at times, but gardening is always at the top. I think this is because gardening is a positive activity and therefore good for the soul. With gardening I'm always looking forward, always making the garden environment how I want it, looking for improvement. In the past my involvement with conservation touched these points, however now my involvement is of a very passive nature, often rife with problems needing to be put into the public domain. Plus as someone who craves being outdoors all day, sadness abounds in that these days gardening is taking a second fiddle to everything else spinning around my life. But this afternoon in a break in the diabolical weather I popped out to plant up the winter pots. Above a pot containing 25 'February Gold' narcissi, 5 'scarlet' cyclamen and a transplanted Heuchera 'peaches and cream' Or at least I think that's what the Heuchera is as over time the label disintegrated and I can't find reference to this plant anywhere. Also planted elsewhere Tulip 'Calypso Scarlet' and an assortment of allium. It will be 4 months before I see any benefit from this bulb planting, which is the joy of gardening, one day a shoot will pop up through the soil and I'll think "ahh yes, I remember planting those in October"

October 19th 2013

One of the joys of doing this diary for my 50th year is seeing everyday items in a different light, or as in today's posting an everyday object recalls a memory.

After being woken by the falsetto singing of a wren at full staccato at dawn, and with a busy day ahead of me editing it was time for a cup of tea. Whilst watching the kettle boil to make tea, today's image came into my mind. I drink a lot of tea, possibly more than is good for me, but it keeps me going. In 2009 after 3 years in the team bringing the best new talent in the wildlife broadcasting, I left Talent Management and joined the NHU Radio team where I am now. My colleagues in the Talent office made sure I left on a high and took me ten-pin bowling and bought me this fantastic 1 pint Emma Bridgewater mug. I use it every single day. As you can see, the decoration is of British birds, and at the bottom of the images, a wren. Very apt for my morning alarm call.

The box of Northumbrian tea was bought from Hedgeley Services near Powburn last month, and that will possibly lead to a whole different avenue of recollection at some point.

I've just finished that pint of tea writing this, time for another..........................

October 18th 2013

I've been doing a fair few 8am to 6pm days recently and after a studio session this morning I needed to unwind and download my brain just for a moment. I headed off to the Somerset Levels and spent an hour here just as dusk was beginning. I was hoping I may see an otter here but every time I visit this hide I read that otters are regularly seen in daylight, but.....they are never visible when I'm there. One day I may get lucky. But it was good to spend an hour with nature emptying my mind of programme details. As the Film hinted at last night, it grounded me!

October 17th 2013

 

 

I shall break my own rules today and add 2 images, mainly as the one above was taken as I entered Bristol Zoo's Pavilion Rooms and the one below as I left. Both will remind me of a most thought provoking evening. Along with a couple of hundred other invited guests I attended (thanks to the National Trust) a pre-release viewing of a new film; Project Wild Thing. In summary this builds on the work of a friend of mine Stephen Moss who wrote a report for the National Trust outlining the concern that children no longer connect with the natural world - they're not let out. What is the reason for this was the subject of this film involving David Bond who sets out to be the Marketing Manager for Nature. The film is excellent, and provides a thought provoking insight into how we can connect with the uninterested children out there.

 

Some excellent points are made, which I'll not say here as the film does not go on to general nationwide release until October 25th, but it interested me as I'm intrigued by distraction behaviour, something which modern technology is accelerating. I would recommend anyone with an interest in why we (children of all ages) have lost touch with our natural world, go and see this film. Helen Gosh the new Director General of the National Trust made what I thought an insightful preamble before the film, set the tone wonderfully. I was impressed. The question begs itself then to be asked, does it matter if we don't connect with nature? The discussion will rumble on.

October 16th 2013

Well its been a very busy few days but today was a workathon Wednesday as I was producing 2 Shared Planet episodes for Radio 4 plus an additional few pieces for other episodes in the series. That's 6 half hour interviews, plus script read through, discussions and field pieces packaged; working in the studio with the team and all the paraphernalia which goes towards making 1 hour of radio. Interestingly the 'Soils' programme which went out yesterday has received huge correspondence from the public, thankfully mostly positive. The vulnerability of soil really does seem to have touched the consciousness of the listener, a much overlooked topic in my book, but of equal, if not greater, importance than climate change. Without soils, we don't have food.

I quickly took this shot of Kelvin Boot and Monty Don discussing programme 18, Restrictions and Choice, to remind me of these 11 hour studio days. What a job!

October 15th 2013

Autumn is really gathering pace now. Not only is it dark when I wake up now, but this morning, although beautiful with mist in valley bottoms and a sunset too enliven any sleepy heart on the drive into work, the temperature had dipped at dawn dangerously close to being quite cold (for a hardened Geordie from the north). 2 degrees!.

It's a long time since I've seen that low a temperature on the car.

October 14th 2013

Some days are best assigned to history. Today seems to have been one of these. Horrendous traffic in the morning, bad day at work, which 11 hours after I walked through the door, I left to head home, and a near miss accident on my commute home. But as I left work I realised this is the first evening going home this autumn it has felt properly dark - good job there was a glow from the BBC bar outdoor lights to guide me.

October 13th 2013

 

I can smell winter's approach today. The false summer which extended into early autumn and the warm temperatures of early October now seem to have been banished for another year. That though is the joy of seasons, each day remains the same but subtly each day is quite different. A week ago I was taking landscape photographs on the Somerset Levels in hot sunshine, today the rain is brazenly falling from on high making the countryside, and the garden above, smell of damp earth. Actually a scent I like, an indication the wheel of life is still rotating. I had to pop into the greenhouse today and the rain falling on the glass was quite soporific. Any of you who have read my Wessex Reiver blog will know I like rain. And so an experiment today. I recorded 1 minute of rain falling on the greenhouse roof, from inside, and published it on my Soundcloud page. Should be open access to listen to, I hope so at least.

 

Link to recording - Raindrops falling on glass - October 13th Wiltshire

 



 

October 12th 2013

Interior of Grape Expectations, Newbury, Berkshire

The whole point of this photo-diary-blog is to record over 12 months the things that I stumble across in my daily life.  Today I literally did stumble across this gem of a shop in Newbury, Berkshire. The shop is called 'Grape Expectations' (great name) and is in essence a cheese and wine shop. We were not looking for cheese or wine this morning, but as I like both in about equal amounts the freshness of this shop invited me in. One half of the shop is a smorgasbord of unusual cheeses including the biggest Isle of Mull Cheddar I've ever seen lurking invitingly on the counter. The rest of the shop is a wine tasting area also selling unusual and interesting wines. Separating the two like a citadel of calm is a small seating area ideal to while away a moment or two enjoying the samples of either wine, or cheese, or even both.

 

What a cracking place, open just 10 months and (I later discovered his name via Twitter) Greg Brighouse couldn't have been more accommodating or friendly. We came away with a bottle of red wine enticingly named 'Coffee Pinotage'  and a small amount of blue veined cheese (sadly I have forgotten the name already). The latter I was told is a mixture of cow and sheep milk matured in damp caves somewhere in deepest Spain and then wrapped in maple leaves. A small sample confirmed a quality cheese with flavours to enhance any autumnal day. I may have to pop back again soon .....

October 11th 2013

 

 

I'm 11 days into this blog and my first visit to 'my other home' in Wiltshire, where I spend a lot of time. I'm being welcomed to the domicile by Julie so here is a record of my arrival at 6pm. I envisage a few diary entries over the coming months from this lovely part of the world.

October 10th 2013

One of the things this diary is doing is making me look more closely at what takes my eye than normal, and a photo opportunity. The walk home this evening is a case in point. For nearly 20 years I have walked past this plaque twice a day at 9 Oakfield Road in Clifton, and apart from knowing this lady was a doctor, I knew nothing about her. Tonight due to the diary I took this photograph and did a bit of Internet research. This is what I found. I'm intrigued to know more..... 

Eliza Walker was one of the "Zurich 7", the first group of women to be admitted to and receive a medical degree from the University of Zurich. Originally from Edinburgh, Walker was the youngest of the Zurich 7 women, beginning her medical studies at age 19. During her studies, she became the first woman assistant in the Zurich canton hospital's women's ward. She wrote her thesis on the blockage of arteries based on a complete literature review and on 14 cases she observed in Zurich. She passed her final examination with special distinction and received her degree in 1872. In 1873, Walker was appointed house surgeon at the Hospital for Sick Children in Bristol, resulting in a great deal of controversy. She was officially admitted to practice medicine in Great Britain in 1877, along with her co-student Louisa Atkins.

 

Source : http://hsl.lib.unc.edu/specialcollections/bios/dunbar

October 9th 2013

One of the joys, and there are many, of working for the World's leading wildlife media department, the BBC's Natural History Unit is that we are sent interesting things to read. These BTO Annual Reviews for 2013 are hot off the press (or should that be hot off the nest) and so I've just put the kettle on and will spend half an hour reading through to see what's happened in the last 12 months. Best of all is the picture of snipe on the cover. Fantastic little waders; a couple of winters back I saw over 100 at the RSPB's Graylake reserve feeding over a newly created scrape, a memorable sight.

October 8th 2013

Sometimes it is the simplest of things which can bring pleasure. Each day I walk through the grounds of the Clifton Cathedral on my way into work. Alongside the massive 1960's structure (which I love for it stark beauty) are small informal gardens. The flowers and shrubs here are simple as reflects a place of worship, but provide me with pleasure through the passing seasons, a haven of tranquillity in the bustle of a city. Today however my walk was assaulted by the glorious scent of 2 Elaeagnus shrubs which are now in flower. Small insignificant flowers, but packed with honey and candyfloss aroma and even at 7.30am covered in a number of bees and flies gathering nectar. A lovely start to the day.  

October 7th 2013

Yesterday I posted a thought or two on the experiment of digital or film. Before work today I had a quick look through the digital images and the best one's (in my opinion) are these which also have a blue graduated filter over the sky. The images without a blue filter would need enhancing post production to lift the colours to resembe what they were in real life. The book I mentioned yesterday was by Mark Denton

http://www.markdentonphotographic.co.uk/dales.htm

October 6th 2013

20 years ago everyone shot on film, and then the pixilation revolution happened and we all went digital. And there's a reason. Digital is easy, it allows you to instantly see images and take another one if its a bit pants. Download and instantly send them to friends and therefore in a world of ever quickening social media, the role of 35mm film collapsed faster than a glass champagne tower the best men fell into. I was of that change, ever more mega-pixels, ever more gizmo's on a camera, it had to be better. Well maybe.

Film still is the best media for landscapes and fine grain photography for the professional. Nothing comes close. In September I bought a book of landscape photographs taken in the Yorkshire Dales in 2012 by a young emerging photographer who now only uses a medium format film camera. They were stunning, no grainy distant views, no strange bleaching of cloud edges no matter how much image manipulation went on post shutter release. Just stunning clear photographs that can be easily enlarged to A1 size.

Today then saw me dust off my hardly used Minolta (left) 35mm SLR. Okay it's not a medium or large format camera but this camera was bought a year before I went digital, so has a few gizmo's too as they tried to compete with the DSLR revolution. On the Somerset Levels I took the same photographs with my new Digital Canon SX50HS (right) and will compare (eventually once developed) digital and 35mm prints. Not scientific, but the question is, will I go back to film for landscapes?

October 5th 2013

 

 

Nature often brings with it surprises. This morning around 8am I was alerted to a clamour, commotion and a cacophony of corvid noise from the field behind my house, or to be more truthful, a hedgerow ash tree. For 20 minutes around 200 (it was hard to count) rooks, jackdaws and carrion crow bombarded this tree, falling to it like black snow from the sky. A constant vortex of movement would see tens of birds flying into the tree while others would fly out from unseen perch deep within to noisily fly off only to loop back and start the process again. The resulting noise was one of the loudest natural sounds I've heard in many a month. Along nearby electricity lines, there were dozens of black birds calling away while trying to cling onto the oscillating wire. Now corvids will "hassle" a tree if it contains a bird of prey or another predator, what struck me today though was the sheer volume of birds and that it lasted nearly half an hour before silence prevailed. I have watched nature since a child of 3, it never ceases to amaze me with something new.

October 4th 2013

It's raining quite hard this morning, and has done so all night. It's also feeling very humid and warm, 16 degrees in fact at 7am. It is one of those moist warmth's we get down here in the South West when Tropical storms scudding over the Atlantic ocean finally reach us in a much reduced state of energy. It is also very autumnal now. The long dry July and August are well behind us and as I walked into work this morning at 7.30am through the street of Bristol, a confetti of golden leaves fell all around me onto the sodden pavements of Clifton.

After early spring, I love autumn above all other seasons for the change in seasons it brings with it. A sense that its time to slow down and retreat, put the fires on and hibernate.

October 3rd 2013

Today I have been working from home, final editing the two episodes of the Radio 4 series Shared Planet which were recorded in the Bristol studio yesterday, and which I missed part of because of the M5 accident. I've been sitting at this desk most of the day; it encapsulates 90% of my working life looking at computer screens, either writing, replying to e-mails or editing. Just 10% sees me out there communing with nature. Editing is an interesting business which I still struggle with, as there is always some super nugget of a recording, some gem a contributor has said, which has to end up never making the programme.

If you're interested this programme (soil biology) goes out on Tuesday 16th October at 11.02 am on Radio 4.

October 2nd 2013

I didn't expect day two of this year in the life of blog to be so eventful. So I am glad I am doing this now. This picture was taken at 8.13am on the M5 between Portishead and Clevedon in Somerset. At 7am unbeknown to me a HGV lorry travelling south had crashed through the central reservation and spewn pallets of paper and more importantly diesel over both carriageways. I joined the queue at 7.15am and although we moved a few feet, by 7.30 the motorway had to shut. I was here until 10am until a police helicopter came over us and informed us the motorway would reopen soon. I was meant to be in a radio studio with Monty Don recording two Shared Planet episodes, but I was late

Two things struck me as I sat in the traffic listening the chaps in the refuse lorry behind me playing poker in the cab.

Firstly, the birdsong. Both carriageways were shut for over 2 hours and with everyone's engines switched off, so the birdsong not normally heard on this part of the motorway was loud and clear. Once the police helicopter informed us by loud hailer to return to our vehicles we all sat there, still in silence. And I listened to the birds trying to remember this moment, how it would have been before the motorway. Eventually one engine fired up and soon all cars were running waiting to move, that moment of tranquillity would never return.

Secondly human psychology. All the cars around me rolled to a halt. We sat engines running. A man next to me got out of his car to stretch his legs and before long everyone was out wandering about (quite an interesting privilege to walk on a motorway in use). People were chatting, smiling, phoning the office and generally being stoical about the situation. Once we began moving, people began behaving in the normal driving way, changing lanes and becoming less tolerant. Interesting, very interesting  

October 1st 2013

This is the first entry in my new blog. I am at a crossroads in my life, in that on April 1st 2014 I will be 50. Fifty years on this planet enjoying everything it had to offer, and as William Shakespear said "the best is yet to come".

When I was 21 in 1985, I bought every newspaper printed on that day, they were never read and are neatly folded in a suitcase. So in 2013 new technology exists only dreamt of in the 1980's. Self publishing.

This blog then will exist only for 365 days from today. It is going to be an image a day (mainly from my mobile) diary of what I get up to over the next 365 days.  I can't guarantee a rock and roll existence but for me it will be an important reminder of the passage of time through the year, seasons and a milestone birthday. I don't intend to write much on each posting, but will comment on each image.

Casual readers may also find it interesting too.

This image to begin the blog was taken at midnight 30 today. I was having trouble sleeping and the idea of this year long diary and record came into my head while reading my Blackberry. A quiet if not quite auspicious start, my reading matter on the bedside table.

I wonder what tomorrow will bring?