Bollocks to Brexit

We are now 21 months on from the EU referendum and 12 months from when Theresa May handed in the Article 50 notification. The UK and EU have just agreed a transition arrangement so that we can leave the EU without crashing out, but this means that we will formally leave the EU long before anyone knows just how good or bad the final deal will be.

I’ve found it difficult to put into words exactly what I think about Brexit. Might sound funny given that I have a blog, but I always feel that I need ALL THE FACTS before I can express a view.

Anyway, this weekend I attended a rally, part of a weekend of events, hosted by North East for Europe. I would have attended the Leeds March for Europe as well, but I’m not that organised and basically I’d forgotten that we’re in March now, not February.

One of the speakers at the rally made the point that we need to talk to each other about Brexit. It’s no good just shouting out of our bubbles. So here’s me not ranting, just pointing out exactly why, as we were encouraged to chant at the rally, Brexit is Bollocks.

That bus. There simply is not going to be £350 million a week that we can spend on the NHS. Even if the Government wanted to give it to the NHS, leaving the EU was always going to make us worse off, not better off.

Keeping the immigrants out. Even if we were under siege from hordes of EU immigrants (which we’re not), leaving the EU only stops those pesky Europeans, while trade deals further afield are likely to lead to increased immigration from other countries. Immigrants are generally good for our country. They come for the work (you know, all those jobs us Brits don’t want to do), and oh yes, it’s a two way street. We can live and work anywhere in the EU whenever it takes our fancy. But not for much longer.

In order to keep the immigrants out, we need border checks. That means delays at ports, and a border across Ireland. No border in Ireland leaves a route open for illegal immigrants to cross. A border across Ireland potentially starts the bombing again. I’m struggling to see any benefits here.

Better together. I’m betting that we’re going to find out pretty quickly that we’re only a small island, and are more prosperous as part of a larger community. Farmers need EU exports and EU labour. Fishermen are currently being shafted in EU trade negotiations and will lose access to wider EU fisheries post-Brexit. Science and medicine will suffer with a funding and brain drain. UK-based companies are already leaving. Politically we will be much smaller. The world is full of bullies, and by leaving the EU we lose our big buddy and gain another bully looking to beat us up.

Parliamentary sovereignty. This one seems to really rile a certain kind of Europhobe. Unfortunately, our politicians are so desperate to be seen to ‘honour the results of the referendum’ that they are happy to sign over this sacred sovereignty (while claiming that this is exactly why we must leave the EU), accede to anything our minority government wishes, and are just generally not to be trusted. Goodbye human rights, goodbye NHS, goodbye animal welfare standards, goodbye environmental protection. We have no idea how much the EU protects us from bad government. By the time we realise it will be way too late.

So, how’s that for a not-too-ranty expression of my point of view?

Bollocks to Brexit.

Photos from the Newcastle rally, Sunday 25 March 2018.

Walking in Weardale – St John’s Chapel Two Hills

Here is another post for my occasional series of Weardale walking routes. This route is approximately 6 miles. Starting at St John’s Chapel, the walk climbs up the northern flank of the dale before dropping down into Ireshopeburn and returning to St John’s via the southern flank. While the terrain is not difficult, there are steep climbs and descents, and one section requires basic navigation skills and a compass (there is an alternative route to avoid this section).

Looking down on Ireshopeburn from Hill no. 1

If you want to try this walk, you will need to take an OS map (OL31) and know how to use it. One stretch requires basic navigation skills and a willingness to clamber over walls and fences (there is an easier alternative). The directions below should be considered as a general guide only. 

Start at St John’s Chapel. There is ample free parking next to the Farmers Mart at the east end of the village.

Head north through the village past the primary school. Do not continue along the road as it curves to the right. Bear left past the school gates; there is a footpath on your right, through a private yard and a small field (usually full of chickens), then over a narrow footbridge. (If you have come to a ford with a broad footbridge, you have missed your turning. Go back to the school).

Our first field is home to a flock of chickens and this piebald cob

You will now see some stone steps straight ahead. This is the start of a long uphill section. Remember to look back at the view whenever you need to take a breather. Take the steps and continue up the hill until you come to a road. Cross the road and continue uphill through another field. When you come to another road, turn left and walk along the road for a short distance until you see a public bridleway on your right. Take this track, continuing uphill. The track is enclosed on both sides by stone walls.

Take the steps ahead to start the long initial climb

One of a series of steep hills…

A brief rest from climbing before we reach the bridleway

The start of the bridleway. It starts off quite steep but does get easier as we climb higher

No navigation skills required (yet) as there is a wall on either side of the path

Eventually you go through a gate and into a field. The bridleway continues northwards, and you can take this if you wish to avoid the next section which will need basic navigation skills – follow the bridleway all the way until you come to a road. Turn left and follow the road, skipping the next paragraph to be back on the ‘main’ route.

To continue with the ‘main’ route, shortly after you enter the field you will come to a waymarked gate on your right. The public right of way follows a bearing NNE through a number of field boundaries, with few visible navigation features. There is a faint path at times, but do not rely on it. Stay on this NNE bearing until you come over the brow of the hill. You will see some old mine workings and ponds up ahead, in front of a road. You need to cross the field boundary – a stone wall – at a point before the wall starts to curve to the right.

There is no stile, but the wall is low enough to climb easily (ducking under the top wire fence). Make your way through the next field towards the road, being careful as you are now walking over an old fluorspar mine. You will now have to exit this field, which also has no stile. It should be easy to climb through the fence, as the wire is not very taut. Alternatively, there is a gate at the bottom of the field, which you can climb over. [NB: this section is open access land with a footpath through it. You are not trespassing.]

The navigation section. A virtually pathless stretch with few clues as to where to aim for

A boundary wall, or at least the remains of one

Bleak but beautiful

A faint path, which may or may not be pointing out the Right of Way

And now there is no path. We are now going downhill and looking for a stile in the wall…

…this is where the Public Right of Way crosses the boundary wall. No stile, but it is easy to climb over

Now we can see some features. Some old ponds left over from mining days. Be careful where you step here

Uh oh. There should be a stile or gate here, but you should be able to climb through this wire fence fairly easily

Now you can turn left and walk along the road. Initially up hill, this road will take you back down the hill and eventually to Ireshopeburn. Stay on this road until you reach the Ireshopeburn bridge. At this point you could take the Weardale Way back to St John’s Chapel if you choose. You could also visit the Weardale Museum if it is open, which we pass when we turn left after the bridge.

Back onto the road. It’s really easy now, and we will soon be enjoying a long downhill section

This is where the bridleway we were on earlier joins the road. If you skip the navigation section this is where you rejoin the main route

A single track road with fantastic views in all directions

The path is about to get steeper, and we will soon be in the village of Ireshopeburn

The Weardale Museum. Well worth a visit, but check their opening times

Now follow the main A689 a very short way until you see a footpath across the road. Follow this track uphill until you get to High Hotts farm. Here there is a crossroads, and you want to go through the gate directly ahead, continuing uphill. After a couple of fields, you will see Hawkwell Head farm ahead. Take the gate to the left of the farm, across a gravel parking/garden area, and out onto a single track lane. Turn left and South East onto this lane, until you reach the Langdon Beck road.

Cross the road and follow the footpath on the other side, still travelling South East, which takes you down into a gorge, over a footbridge, and back up the gorge. Continue across the next few fields, still South East, until you reach a track (bridleway). Turn left and downhill along this track, which can be wet at most times of the year. There is one section that is flooded at all times of the year, but you can cross with dry feet by walking on the flat stones that stick out from the wall. This track will now take you all the way back to St John’s Chapel, right next to Chatterbox Cafe.

Starting the second uphill section, which will take us back to St John’s Chapel

An abandoned farmhouse

We don’t pass through this gate on the walk, but there is actually a Right of Way down this track

The path becomes a pond here. You can walk on the ‘stepping stones’ along the bottom of the wall

Follow this track downhill all the way back to St John’s Chapel

We finish our walk alongside Chatterbox Cafe

Walking in Weardale – St John’s Chapel, Cowshill and Wearhead

Here is another post for my occasional series of Weardale walking routes. This route is approximately 7.5 miles, with some steep climbs and boggy paths, and a couple of tricky navigation spots. Well worth it for the ever-changing scenery and views.

If you want to try this walk, you will need to take an OS map (OL31) and know how to use it. The directions below should be considered as a general guide only. 

Start at St John’s Chapel. There is ample free parking next to the Farmers Mart at the east end of the village.

Head north through the village past the primary school. Do not continue along the road as it curves to the right. Bear left past the school gates; there is a footpath on your right, through a private yard and a small field (usually full of chickens), then over a narrow footbridge. (If you have come to a ford with a broad footbridge, you have missed your turning. Go back to the school). You will now see some stone steps straight ahead. Take these and continue up the hill until you come to a road. Turn left, and walk gently uphill until you come to a crossroads (the left hand road is in fact just a track, and takes you to East Blackdene). There is a fingerpost pointing north at this crossroads. Take this path uphill, to the left of a house that has a tree with a treehouse in front of it, until you get to Levelgate quarry.

Levelgate quarry is your first navigational challenge. The disused quarry is basically a big hole in the ground, and it is easy to assume that the path (still uphill and northwards) is in the quarry field. Currently the correct gate is not waymarked, but hopefully this will be rectified soon (we know this because we took the wrong route here, and were politely corrected by the farmer). The Right of Way lies on the east side of the field boundary (and east of the quarry; on the right hand side as you look at it from below). This takes you to the open access land.

Carry on northwards, across open access land until you reach a bridleway. Turn left and follow this easy, if boggy, track bearing northwest, until you reach a road. You have now finished the majority of your climb. Turn right and follow the road a short way, looking for a track on your left that takes you through a small plantation (another bridleway). Notice that there are lots of purple stones – purple fluorite – on the path here. You can now follow this track for the next mile or so, along Race Head and Sedling Rake, enjoying the commanding views to your left. Look out for a junction where a footpath crosses the bridleway you are on. You will soon need to take a left turn, but not yet. The track, now marked on the map as Sedling Vein, will start to head down hill. You will meet a gate and will be looking down on some industrial spoil heaps.

From here you will see some lonely cottages ahead in the distance. Look out for a stone wall leading off to your left, heading towards the river valley. You will now need to do a bit of orienteering (and have your map in hand). The footpath wiggles its way to the left, but in reality there are lots of sheep paths here. Keep the stone wall on your left, and take a path that keeps track of the lonely cottages in the distance to your right. You will soon see a single house (marked on the map as Queensbury). Go around the house, bearing left, and you will come to a farm track. Follow the track to the road.

Turn right and walk down the road to Burtree Ford, and into Cowshill. You will see the Cowshill Hotel on your right. Cross the road here and go over the wall at the stile, opposite the hotel. Take the footpath through a quaint collection of houses. Keep the river on your left, and look out for a millstone with The Mill engraved on it. Cross Burtreeford Bridge and you will see a sign for the Weardale Way. You can now follow the Weardale Way all the way back to St John’s Chapel.

If you have time to stop, there are cafes and pubs in St John’s Chapel, there is the Cowshill Hotel in Cowshill, the Weardale Museum is in Ireshopeburn, and there are public toilets in Wearhead and St John’s Chapel.

The map above gives a rough guide to the route – but we suggest you follow the directions above while studying your own map. The photos below give a taste of the views along the way.

*this article was co-written with my Taller Half* 

 

View from the lane leading to the East Blackdene crossroads

One of many interesting place names in Weardale

A treehouse (or maybe just tree-platform)

The view from the top of the first bridleway (and a good opportunity to rest after all that climbing)

Looking back at the bridleway you have just left

The path (another bridleway) through the small plantation. Look out for purple stones here

Sedling Rake. A track with commanding views, but lots of boggy sections

Looking towards Queensbury – the orienteering section!

Sign seen from the road leading to Burtree Ford

The Cowshill Hotel

The Mill millstone

Following the Weardale Way alongside the river Wear

The Weardale Museum is well worth a visit, and just a short detour from the route

A pretty natural ford at Pennine Lodge, near St John’s Chapel (they have a great basic camping site)

A friendly chicken greeting weary walkers

Brexit

I try not to be political here, but I want to share this letter I’ve just sent to my MP. Feedback from My Taller Half was along the lines of ‘you could have worded that more strongly’, to which I replied that he should write his own letter. If you are a UK citizen, please consider writing to your MP too.

Dear Pat Glass MP

I am writing to urge you to hold the Government to account during next week’s Article 50 debate, and vote with your conscience, not the Labour whip.

I am appalled at the abuse of democracy that both the Government and Opposition have been displaying since the Country narrowly voted to leave the EU. The Government made no plan against losing the referendum, are pursuing a hard Brexit with no mandate, and have wasted millions of pounds in its unsuccessful pursuit to deny Parliament the right to debate and vote on the Article 50 notification. On the other side, the Labour leadership have applied a three line whip to vote with the Government to trigger Article 50. This puts Labour in a terribly weak position when holding the Government to account. On Radio 4 yesterday, Diane Abbott referred to the referendum result as the only reason for pursuing this policy, despite the increasing evidence that Brexit is likely to do great harm to the very voters who thought that they were voting to bring back £350 million a week to the NHS. This very quickly turned out to be a total lie by the Leave campaign to the electorate.

I will not ask you to vote to reject Brexit, although I hope that you do, but please make up your own mind, based on what is right for your constituents and the country, rather than blindly follow both front benches.

Regards,

Yasmine

Walking in Weardale – Stanhope Dene

In an unexpected blog development, I decided this afternoon to start capturing some easy walks so that visitors and locals-new-to-walking can get out and enjoy Weardale. Don’t expect lots of detail and accuracy – these routes will give the main gist of the walk and what to look out for.

Stanhope Dene is a beautiful steep-sided wood that flanks Stanhope burn as it journeys from its source high on the fells to join the river Wear at Stanhope. The walk is just over three miles and should take less than two hours.

Parking is on the street near the Grey Bull or in the Durham Dales visitor centre, and there is an hourly bus service (Weardale Motors 101) Monday to Saturday. The route is on OS Explorer 307 (Consett).

Take the footpath north from Stanhope Hall and follow this for the first leg of the walk, keeping the field boundary to your left. The path is steep and narrow in places and crosses two steep gullies. It can be slippery in wet weather. After about a mile the path circles left and there is a sharp drop to your right where the beck races below you.

Good views of a waterfall can be had before the path terminates at a stile that takes you into the field on your left. Keep the fence to your right for a short distance until you reach the field gate. Go through the gate and follow the track until it curves sharply round to the right to take you to the other side of the dene. You will pass some abandoned quarry buildings, and there are a couple of options for exploring the fell at this point. Stay on the track, heading south, until you come to the Crawleyside road.

Cross over to take the footpath on the other side of the road and follow this until you reach a sign for Ashes Quarry (you can stop and explore the quarry at this point). Take the downhill path that comes out onto a back road. You can turn right or left here, the next downhill road will take you back to Stanhope high street, where there are many options for refreshments.

Hello 2017

2016 did not go entirely to plan. By the end of 2015 I was pretty sure that I wanted to take photography to the next level. I got myself a portfolio and dared to start thinking about selling my photos. Then I got stuck.

I blame my sister Zara. I commissioned her to install a mosaic panel during the Easter holidays. She left all her spare tiles and grout behind, and supervised my first attempt at a mosaic.

My sister’s amazing mosaics:

My first mosaic, and a more recent (slightly better) one:

The next month I dug out my pen and ink set (from an aborted attempt at calligraphy – I just do not have the patience) and gradually my creative energy became channelled into creating mosaics and pen and ink drawings (mainly winter trees, an extension to my winter tree photography obsession). When faced with a pretty view or dramatic skyline, instead of mourning the lost opportunity because I’d left my camera behind, I simply enjoyed the view. Any photographer will tell you that this is simply wrong.

On the left is one of my early pen and ink drawings. The bottom right one is my favourite so far:

It didn’t take long to start drawing horses:

It’s the last day of 2016, and this afternoon has been spent setting up a gallery of my framed pen and inks and my mosaics. I really didn’t see this coming a year ago, so I’m not even going to guess what I’ll be doing this time next year.

My gallery. Shout out to North Pennine Studios who did all the framing (including Zara’s mosaics)

Happy New Year!

Best laid plans (again)

So about this time last year I committed to a new focus on photography, and I kind of might have said that I would use this blog to chart my progress.

Well, best laid plans and all that. At first I was too busy snapping to come over here and do any blogging. Then I got stuck in an editing rut. Then I switched my creative energies into making art. I’m now caught up with my editing, but have really slowed down with my snapping. But I’m still drawing. You can see a few examples of this year’s efforts below.

So what’s in store for next year? I’m not going to make any promises or predictions. We will just have to wait and see.

(But I did enjoy writing this update).

 

Getting the hang of 500px

For those of you who don’t know, 500px is a photo sharing site aimed at photographers. A bit like Flickr used to be like but with a few little twists.

I wasn’t intending to join another photo sharing site. I’d made my peace with Flickr and had started posting again. I joined 500px purely to take advantage of their portfolio service. The photo sharing and marketplace communities were just ‘things that came attached to the portfolio’.

I joined 500px in late November, and immediately posted a load of photos to use in my portfolio. Curious, I took a peak at the community pages and I soon became hooked. With Flickr, you get more photo views if you have lots of followers, comment on friend’s photos, and post in the right groups. It takes time, but I enjoyed the community feeling, and always kept a weather eye on my photo stats. I was quite happy to upload entire sets in one go, and gradually give the best ones exposure by sharing in groups. 500px is a bit different. For a start, most people post one photo per day, maximum.

Every photo goes onto a ‘fresh’ photostream and in the first few minutes will be seen by a fair few people. If enough people like (vote for) your photo is becomes ‘upcoming’ and gets even more views. Photos with 80 points become ‘popular’ and the real goal is to get a photo with a high enough score to get onto the top of the Popular photostream. The more points you have, the harder your photo has to work – the first Like will get you about 30 points, while you need many likes to move from, say, 97 to 98 points.

The actual points you get per like depends on lots of things, including how active you are on the site, and photographers who use gaming tactics (to get more likes) are penalised. After 24 hours your pulse score (total points) is handicapped. This is to stop the same photos staying at the top of the Popular stream.

I soon felt disappointed that my early photos had such low scores. This was because I uploaded them in batches, so they didn’t make it into the Fresh photostream. I ended up deleting loads and have been re-uploading them, one at a time. I was a very happy bunny when my first photo made it to Popular.

It’s a great buzz when you post a photo you are really proud of and lots of other photographers agree, but 500px has to come with some health warnings. People are viewing lots of small photos, and scrolling down quickly, so photos that stand out from a crowd always get more votes. My beloved London street shots (eventually I’ll share them here) never got out of Fresh, and I now only post street photos if I want to put them in my portfolio. I’ve also posted photos from the same shoot, and scratched my head that one will get stuck in Fresh, then the next day a lesser photo will make it to Popular.

The other health warning is that, unlike Flickr, a lot of explicit photography is posted without being marked ‘adult content’. Some of it is tasteful, most of it is not. I’ve managed to filter most of this out of my streams, but am missing out on great photos as a result.

An unexpected benefit is that 500px is helping me to become a better photographer. There are some amazing photos on 500px, and I am feeling really inspired to take better shots myself. I am also much more critical of my own work, only choosing the best ones to share. Here is the photo that 500px members think is my best photo so far. I’m still working through my back catalogue, so I hope to be posting even better shots in the coming months.

Getting out of bad habits

I’ve made a commitment to improve my photography, I’ve made a list of areas where I want to improve this year, I’m all set to go but, oh no, what’s this?

Look at all those dust spots in the top of the photo (hides in shame)

One of the things I was determined to (I mean, I am determined to) try this year is better landscape shots. I needed to practice getting more of my photo in focus – wider depth of field. I whacked up the F number to maximum and hoped for the best.

When I got the photos up on my laptop I noticed two things – grainy images, and blotches in the sky that appeared in the same place in different photos. I still think of my camera as new, but I’ve actually had it for three years. This was the first time I’ve noticed dust in my images, and I’m ashamed to admit, the first time I’ve even thought about cleaning the sensor.

Cue mild panic and much internet searching. There’s lots of advice about sensor cleaning on the internet. The best site I found is Cleaning Digital Cameras. Then I had to gather my materials (easier said than done). Finally, today, it was time to clean my sensor.

First I had to mop the downstairs floor and hoover upstairs. The environment has to be clean and dust-free. I was not simply trying to find distractions, honest. Eventually I ran out of other-things-to-do. Time to get this done. I’ve been ‘looking after’ my Dad’s camera ever since I moved Up North. With noble intentions (no, I was not using his camera as the guinea pig) I cleaned the sensor. The process was embarrassingly easy.

Hands trembling, I did the deed on my own camera. Two swipes of the sensor swab and the job was done. I promise to take more care of my sensor in future.

Now I just have to tackle the grainy-image problem.

My sensor cleaning kit

Wilful destruction

Here are some photos taken in January 2015. It took a long time for my border collie Holly to get bored of the garden pond, but she never gets bored of ice. Holly’s job (as she sees it) is to remove all the ice from the pond. Unfortunately for the pond, ice is sharp, and there’s a puncture somewhere. My mission this winter (if we ever get one) is to find and fix it. Wish me luck!

Stretch…

Let’s get this out of the pond

Missed a bit…

…got it

What you looking at?