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Cracks Hill

by Damien Walmsley Posted on
Cracks Hill, Sunrise

This hill is the remnant of a glacier and has a prominent view of the nearby village of Crick and the surrounding Northamptonshire country side.  I have visited the hill before as Sunset and captured a beautiful scene.  On a recent visit to my daughter, I took the opportunity to capture the sunrise.  Whilst there were no clouds in the sky the rising sun was still beautiful and I was able to frame the sun in the beacon.  Whilst I was on the beacon there were several walkers who passed through for a chat.  The subsequent light was beautiful and made a perfect start up for the rest of the day.

Cracks Hill, Sunrise
The view of Crick Village from Cracks Hill
Cracks Hill, Sunrise
The Grand Union Canal next to Cracks Hill
Cracks Hill, Sunrise
The canal bridge that leads onto Cracks Hill

If you want to learn more about Cracks Hill then read the West Northamptonshire Council Web pages
and I have been there before at sunset visiting both the Hill and Crick’s Wood.

Cracks Hill, Sunrise
Another view from Cracks Hill.
Categories blog

Cricks Wood and Cracks Hill

by Damien Walmsley Posted on
Sunset, Cricks Wood and Cracks Hill, Northamptonshire

On one side of the M1 is Warwickshire, on the other is Northamptonshire. Most of the time, I am in Warwickshire visiting my daughter and so Rugby is my final destination. Google maps is a wonderful tool for browsing and looking for new places to visit. Often, I use canals as my compass and it was following the Grand Union canal along Google maps that I was intrigued not only by Cracks Hill but also the surrounding area. I discovered the Friends of Cricks Wood web site and learnt about the good work being done by the community there. Close by is Cracks Hill which was formed by a retreating glacier during the last ice age. Running through this area of natural beauty is the Grand Union Canal. This looked like a good place to photograph especially if the conditions were just right. The one ingredient that is needed is good light and on an evening in December, it looked as if there would be a good sunset. I packed my camera gear and set off to the woods. On arrival, I spent some time in the Jubilee woodland as the sun was setting. The colour on the leaves in the light at the end of day was something to behold.

  • Sunset, Cricks Wood and Cracks Hill, Northamptonshire
    Evening light on the leaves.
  • Sunset, Cricks Wood and Cracks Hill, Northamptonshire
    The trees looked wonderful
  • Sunset, Cricks Wood and Cracks Hill, Northamptonshire
    Even the bare trees have beauty about them.
  • Sunset, Cricks Wood and Cracks Hill, Northamptonshire
    Drops of moisture on pine needles reflect the sunlight.

The next place to visit was the summit of Cracks Hill. It was not disappointing and I was pleased that I had brought along my Canon D5 Mk4 with tripod. The windmills were fascinating to watch at such a distance and at a height. I was also taken by a lone tree on the side of the hill. Needless to say the tree featured in a few photographs. So it was a successful day and I made my way back to the car.

Sunset, Cricks Wood and Cracks Hill, Northamptonshire
The soft light on the surrounding countryside
Sunset, Cricks Wood and Cracks Hill, Northamptonshire
The colours of the sunset from Cracks Hill.
Sunset, Cricks Wood and Cracks Hill, Northamptonshire
Loving the Windmill silhouette.
Sunset, Cricks Wood and Cracks Hill, Northamptonshire
A lone tree on Cracks Hill

As I reached the bridge over the Grand Union, I met a dog walker and I let him pass. He moved onto the bridge and started walking into the embers of the sunset. I fumbled but I got my Fujifilm x100v just in time to capture a picture of the walker on the bridge. The resulting picture was dark but I used my editing suite to bring out the colours of the sunset. So part capturing the scene and then relying on a preset edit to produce the scene that I observed over that bridge and far away.

Sunset, Cricks Wood and Cracks Hill, Northamptonshire
Over the Bridge and far away. On the Canal bridge over the Grand Union walking towards Cricks Wood

The final part to this series of photographs is the selection of the walker over the bridge by England’s Big Picture. It was my second feature of the year on the BBC site. I was very pleased with the outcome.

Categories blog

A Glorious Day

by Damien Walmsley Posted on

Saturday was a glorious day so I ventured further afield to one of the Warwickshire country parks.  The one I was interested in was Burton Dassett Hills Country Park. There was no sign of the impending Storm Ciara and the skies were clear.  When I got to the park, I was a little annoyed as the payment machines took my £2.50 but did not give me a ticket to display in the car.  It happened last time I was there as well.  It just unsettles me but I put a note in the windscreen and set off with my camera and tripod.  Why I bothered with the tripod I do not know and I guess it just feels comfortable holding it.  I never used it as the light was very strong.  I brought my camera rucksack with all my filters and other lenses and the only item I used was a polariser that I put on the 24 to 105mm lens.  I do like this lens.  It is heavy but it does produce wonderful results.  I have really worked it in recent days especially as my Sony Compact has started to really play up on me.  

The sun was bright and it created lovely contrast of the underrating hill tops

The light was fantastic but I could see the impending weather change in the west and therefore I moved briskly around the park.  Burton Dassett Hills Country Park has an interesting history which dates back to Saxon times.  There has been a windmill on the site until just after the war.  The hill tops are uneven and with the strong light there were some wonderful shadows to be photographed.  It was very windy but not too cold.  Some of the hills required a strenuous ascent and writing the blog today my legs and other muscles below the waist are very sore.  

There are several high hills to climb and explore

I enjoyed the views and also taking photographs of several silhouettes of people walking along the hills.  I did not get a chance to go to the church but that will be my goal for my next visit.  Overall I was very pleased with myself and thought my photographs were looking good.  

The structures are interesting and can be seen for miles around
The sides of the hill still have the scars of the old Saxon style farming methods
Climbing the hills

I knew I was near to Chesterton Windmill and I did not want to miss the opportunity of not getting a quick picture of the magical place.  I set off and saw that the weather was turning.  There was less blue skies and more dark clouds coming in.  I took a cross country route to the Windmill and as I approached cracks appeared in the crowds letting rays of sun through.  I rushed to park the car and raced to the Windmill.  Two sets of sunrays were bathing the sails and it looked to my eye as a great opportunity.  Then indecision set in.  How should I  position the Windmill against the sunrays.  I tried several vantage points before the scene changed and I had to go back to my car to get my phone that I had left on the dashboard.  When I returned the cloud formation had really changed.  I took a few more shots and got home.

Sun rays coming through the sky

Burton Dassett Hills Country Park pictures looked great on the Mac and I tidied them up.  Imagine my surprise when I saw the Windmill pictures they looked amazing.  However I posted the Burton Dassett Hills Country Park pictures and left the others to the morning.  Even then I asked Sandy what she thought of them.  I was thinking everyone has seen a picture of the windmill before, this one will be no different.  When I posted the picture Instagram went crazy and scored many “likes”.  I have a slightly different edit for #WexMondays and I will see how that performs.  As it happens the Burton Dassett Hills Country Park ones did well on Flickr.

People around the Windmill add some interest to the pictures

A good day for photographing and I would never have guessed that I would come back with such a story about the pictures that I took.  

My Instagram picture

Epilogue for the Geeks out there.  Pictures taken on the Canon D4 with a 24-105mm lens.  All the pictures were taken on manual and the Lightroom/Photoshop was my normal run through.  Maybe that is another blog on how I process my pictures.