Hardwick Hall

I have often wondered about the ruin on the hill when travelling up to Sheffield etc on the M1. Hardwick Hall was built between 1590 and 1597 for the formidable Bess of Hardwick  Countess of Shrewsbury and ancestress of the Dukes of Devonshire.The first pictures show Hardwick Old Hall, a slightly earlier house which was used as guest and service accommodation after the new hall was built. The Old Hall is now a ruin. Many of the Old Hall's major rooms were decorated with ambitious schemes of plasterwork, notably above the fireplaces. Remarkably, impressive fragments of these are still to be seen (protected by preservative coatings and rain-shields), though most of the building is unroofed. The New Hardwick Hall was designed by architect Robert Smythson and is famous among other things for the long gallery whose walls are covered with fine tapestries. These have faded over the years though were originally bright and vibrant as in those on the walls of the bedroom. 

Nightingales are Back at Paxton Pits

A few pairs of Nightingales are back at Paxton though still very shy and not singing that enthusiastically. There are also several pairs of Common Terns fishing on the lake along with the masses of Black-Headed Gulls. The Great Crested Grebe did its usual catching a fish in front of the hide and the Greylags periodically flew past.

Mansfield

 We visited Mansfield on Wednesday. Mansfield is a market town with a 700-year old market tradition, and a campaign is running at the moment to Save the Market. Certainly the 1950's large store, formerly a Co-op, now known as Beales is in need of refurbishment. There is concern at  the decline of the town centre shops and an under-used main Market square. The town certainly did not give the feel of a vibrant market town, though they do seem to like hands in Mansfield.

Refurbishing Sheffield Cathedral

 Sheffield Cathedral is undergoing extensive refurbishment.  The pews have been removed and the floor taken up and replaced with underfloor heating and new stone floor. There will be a new welcoming entrance. This is all due to be complete in 10 days time so there was a lot of activity and consulting. Again compare with the Cathedral in 2010. The inner Chapels are unaffected.

Sheffield Quick Tour

 We made a quick trip into Sheffield on the tram before lecturing to Sheffield Photographic Society in the evening - thank you for a very warm welcome. Sad to see that the Parkhill housing estate refurbishment has made little progress since my last visit in 2010. A lot of building work is complete between the station and the Town Hall, including the Hubs - a set of four metallic domes housing the Sheffield Hallam Student Union, and the restaurants outside the Winter Garden. The reflectivewater feature balls still attract a lot of attention.

Abney Park Cemetery Stoke Newington London

 Abney Park Cemetery is one of the magnificant seven Victorian cemeteries in London. It is now a nature reserve as well as a still-used cemetery and is very overgrown. I was pleased that I had chosen to take my infrared-converted camera as this helps separation of the inanimate gravestones from the foliage.
The images have been processed from Raw using a custom profile that I created for this camera resulting in this subtle split toning. Some of them were then taken in Silver Efex Pro and the Selective Colour slider used to control the amount of colour in various areas as the yellower tone can be a bit intense in skies etc.
The top two were using a Shift and Tilt lens; the rest with 15mm Fisheye.

Lackford Lakes and Lakenheath Reserves

 Lackford Lakes (Suffolk Wildlife Trust)

Lakenheath RSPB Reserve

Visited Lackford Lakes in the morning on a dull day, which proved ideal for photographing an obligingly close Little Egret. The Wren, Shovellers and mating Redshank were a bit further away.
At Lakenheath in the afternoon, everything was a long way from the viewing points so some composites just as a record of three great sightings - Kingfisher retreating, Marsh Harrier including one riding a broomstick (collecting nest material!) and courting Great Crested Grebes. Taken with 300mm lens with 1.4X converter.