Mumbles nature reserve & Swansea Bay

Continuing Tom's walk ....Looking down on Bracelet Bay is Mumbles Hill and further afield to Swansea Bay.

Mumbles, and the first celandine of the year.

Mumbles Nature Reserve.

Swansea Bay.

The dunes of Swansea Bay, near Blackpill.

Winter-stalk ball fungi.

A portrait of a winter-stalk ball, quite a charismatic fungus.

Crocus and winter heliotrope: increasing signs of spring.

Cellar cup.

Bracelet Bay Mediterranean Gulls

While we were out and about in the north, Tom had a good trip to Bracelet Bay, Mumbles. Lots of wintering Mediterranean Gulls, in the stunning sunshine on Saturday.

Mumbles.

Rock pipit and bullfinch.

Bracelet Bay.

A mixture of Mediterranean gulls and black-headed gulls.

Crashing waves over the gulls.

A portrait of a Mediterranean gull (middle gull).

A mixture of Mediterranean gulls (lower) and black-headed gulls (upper).

Red Screes and Middle Dodd

Not as glorious as promised by the forecast, but a spectacular day nonetheless. Parking just beyond Brothers Water was nice and easy - plenty of lay-by space. Then I followed the marked footpath over to Calston Beck; a rather boggy field! Then a little way along the beck before going straight up the face of Middle Dodd to meet a small path that isn't marked on the map. Going was increasingly slippery towards the top and while 'doable' just in boots; microspikes came in handy - even more so on any descents. You could see the cloud rolling on and off the tops and it was certainly on the top of Red Screes by the time I'd got there. The benefit though - another brocken spectre! After finding the correct path down to Scandale Pass ( snow and cloud) I decided to take the track down Caiston Glen, crossing the beck to the side where I had come up as I'd managed to discard a trekking pole earlier in the day - luckily, I found it - snagged out of the rucksack by an overhanging hawthorn tree...I remember the tug - lesson learnt! A good day out and another two Wainwrights for Rocky the dog - he's now on 147.

Overlooking Brothers Water on the way up Middle Dodd.

Middle Dodd and general views across to Fairfield and Helvellyn.

Middle Dodd summit and Red Screes in the background.

Wainwrights 146 and 147 for Rocky. 

Brocken spectre from Red Screes.

Descending Caiston Glen back to the road. 

High Cup Nick from Dufton

A good walk out from Dufton to High Cup Nick along the Pennine way. Lovely views, as always, sadly no snow, but it was quite nice to see it without any for a change - we normally go when there is snow - Click here for snow!

The path and Dufton Pike.

Ice patterns on the path.

Fell ponies.

High Cup Nick with snow in the distance...and below.

An introduction to lino cutting

A great class in Carlisle last night - hosted by Sooz in the Shed in the Atlas Works on Nelson Street. Everyone did really well considering they were new to the technique and we only had two and a half hours`to design, cut and print their work.

Drypoint etching using recycled materials

In our first session of the term we had great fun etching into different materials including the card that smoked salmon is sold on and tetra packs. We also got to grips with how long to soak different thicknesses of paper....Great work and good fun ..and looking forward to next week's session.

A productive morning. 

Top is the 'smoked salmon plate' and the print is below. 

A mix of acetate, tetra pack and drypoint plastic prints.

Collagraph printing

Following on from a previous experiment with coating a collagraph plate with a thin layer of aluminium foil,  I can now concentrate on the quality of the plate ...and getting the image the correct way round! I was pleased with this first attempt - Ardnave point on Islay - I will hand colour one of them as the pools and runnels have a lovely bright green weed growing round their edge which should really lift the piece.

The plate which was then covered with aluminium foil before inking up.

Wiping off excess ink before printing onto damp paper.

The final print...