Photography

Ol' Man River  Saône

View of dawn over the river Saône at Macon, a major tributary to the Rhône. Our motel room and terrace opened directly on to the river banks: it's surprisingly reassuring the way a major river “just keeps on rolling” past. The textures of the surface constantly changing but always moving steadily and incessantly downstream. Local wine excellent... we chose and enjoyed a bottle of Azé (Maconnais) as we had driven amongst the vineyeards.

Early Spring Bank Holiday - Rain on the window

The British weather knows what is expected of it for a Bank Holiday!
(With apologies to E. H. Shepard's drawing of Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh staring out of a window laden with rain drops).

Tower Bridge and the City of London viewed from Rotherhithe

Tower Bridge, the BT Tower, St. Pauls cathedral (surrounded by a forest of cranes) and the City of London, featuring (from right to left) “The Walkie-Talkie”, “The Cheese-grater” and “The Gherkin”. Plus a creditable amount of boat traffic. All viewed from King’s Stairs Gardens, Rotherhithe at one the first high tides after the vernal equinox.

Thanks to Michael for our lunch together enjoying his magnificent view of the ever-changing river scene.

Queueing for Hot Cross Buns at Ravens Bakery, Brighton

Heartening to see (and join) the queue for Hot Cross buns this Good Friday morning in at Ravens Bakery, Fiveways, Brighton. So many craft bakers have given up, but Donald Raven’s bakery continues to offer a range of good quality and expertly baked, no-nonsense British bakery products. His “signature” brown loaf is a sunflower seed tin loaf, made with a tasty and high gluten flour. Joining the Good Friday bakery queue is an opportunity for talking with neighbours and finding out about the area, to step back from the one-stop shopping mentality lure of the supermarkets. The Hot Cross buns were – as usual – well worth waiting for and delicious either straight from the bag whilst walking home (see the guy with dog in my photo) or on a warmed plate for breakfast.

Seagulls flocking around ploughing

Seagulls flocking around a tractor ploughing the flint-laden soil of the South Downs National Park in Sussex.