After a recent preview of the proofs for John Lenehan's http://www.johnlenehan.com/ up & coming photography exhibition at Sunnyhurst Woods in Darwen, and more recently a visit to see Matt Donnelly's http://mattdonnellyphotography.com/ current photographic exhibition also at Sunnyhurst Woods I was finally inspired to display some of my snaps! So out with the camera and on with the boots and an evening walk up to Darwen Tower ensued.
After a very indifferent summer (i.e. WET) and on a day of sunshine & showers I drove out to Sunnyhurst Woods in Darwen and on the way had seen some stunning images of Darwen Tower & the Moors bathed in early evening sunshine against a backdrop of very black skies.
I set off walking from Lychgate up the track to Watermans Cottage, in this short space of time the sky had become overcast and grey and hopes of some nice evening or sunset photos faded, however I climbed on and up to the small reservoir, Sunnyhurst Hey, which I hadn't visited for years, because although I spend a lot of time running on the moors it is not on one of my regular running routes.
I set off walking from Lychgate up the track to Watermans Cottage, in this short space of time the sky had become overcast and grey and hopes of some nice evening or sunset photos faded, however I climbed on and up to the small reservoir, Sunnyhurst Hey, which I hadn't visited for years, because although I spend a lot of time running on the moors it is not on one of my regular running routes.
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| Sunnyhurst Hey Reservoir |
From the reservoir I climbed up to the "Diagonal Path" and followed it to the the top where I was rewarded with a fine view of Blackburn.
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| Top of Diagonal Path |
My original thoughts were to just go to the tower for some evening shots but the evening lighting wasn't as dramatic as I had hoped for and it was still a bit early so I walked on in the direction of Cartridge Hill and as the light dipped below the clouds I got some great shots:
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| Sunlight on Tockholes
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| Darwen Tower (Topless) |
A quick look at the stormy skies over the tower, I much prefer it without the top, which blew off in a storm last year, and now I think it looks like a chess piece! much better. Also notice the tree, over the last few years quite a few trees have become established on the eastern side of the moor, is this the start of re-forestation of our moor and how different it would look? (It wouldn't be a moor any more!)
Then over the moors towards Darwen, reminding me of the saying/poem (Beneath the 'ills so bleak and barren lies mucky scruffy little Darrun) or the version I prefer "O'er the moors so bleak & barren lies the pretty little town of Darren". The picture below tells which is the correct version.
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| Darwen "a pretty little town" |
You can see the old landmarks i.e. India Mill Chimney, the Parish Church, the Town/Market Hall, the Library and the new i.e. The Academy. By now it was getting cold and I hadn't seen anybody since I set off an hour and a half ago, at these times the moor brings its own atmosphere and you feel the solitude despite the fact that below you are thousands of people, that you can't see, going about their business.
I took another photograph, this time of Blackburn from the Triangulation Point by the Tower. The clouds where low and dark but the sun kept finding gaps and illuminating the landscape giving great clarity to the scene.
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| Blackburn |
Not only was it going cold but rain was in the air, sometimes it is in adverse conditions that the best shots are taken. Scrambling round the base of the tower I managed to capture some great silhouettes.
While I was concentrating on getting some good silhouette shots I looked behind to discover I was missing a rainbow over Darwen.
By now it was getting too cold for standing around even though I had just put on my hat, gloves and a jacket so I set off towards the top of the diagonal path again, drawn by the moody skies over Hoghton Tower.
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| Moody Skies Over HoghtonTower |
After two hours of being on the moor was it time to descend the diagonal path and call it a day? but not being known as a man who knows when to call a day a day I took a last look around and what I saw had me turning back to Darwen Tower, a red glow from the setting sun had illuminated it beautifully so I ran back (the lighting can change very quickly in these conditions and sometimes you have to move quick) and I grabbed this shot of the tower. I think there are only two colours in this photograph, orange & grey.
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| Evening Sunlight On Darwen Tower |
Back at the tower I was finally rewarded with the sunset I had wanted, and for which I had endured the cold and patiently waited for, for two & a half hours and I was happy.
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| It's grim up North!
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Time for home and the quickest way down from the tower, especially if you jog because you are cold, is the steep track down to Lychgate, but the day wasn't done yet and I managed to get one last shot of the moody skies and the afterglow. What an encore.
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| Day's Done |
Travelling home I was optimistic about my results but you never know till you get to see them on the computer, as my Dad used to say "if it were easy to get good photographs there would be no fun in it"
Hope you enjoyed looking at the photos as much as I had taking them.
Thanks for looking. Keith.
