Category: landscapes

Light in the Midnight Garden

Why would I be out in the garden at midnight? Good question. It’s the collie, you see. A good night’s sleep is greatly assisted by a dog who’s gone wee wees just before we all retire. It often falls to me, as I’m a bit of a night-owl. So out we go. And I have to walk around with Tess, because she’s clever enough … Read More Light in the Midnight Garden

Following the curves of the Kent

The sky was blue and windswept. The clouds had a definite formation to them. They were pointing at the nearest part of the coast, their central blue line line exactly mirroring the River Kent, whose last two miles curve through Levens Park, ancestral home of the Bagot Family. We are fortunate in the village of Sedgwick to have two points of access to Levens … Read More Following the curves of the Kent

Fear No Object

I was looking through some photographs from various trips we had taken, when prepping Silent Eye weekends. The beautiful hills of Derbyshire were a home for our monthly get-togethers, largely because they gave a sensible meeting-point for journeys from home that began in Buckinghamshire, South Yorkshire and Cumbria. The opening shot is the only one of this post that is not Derbyshire. Tess is … Read More Fear No Object

The hidden Birdhouse Meadows

It’s largely unvisited by people passing this way en-route to busy Ambleside – just a mile up the road. I’ve been coming to the Lake District most of my life, and we now live on its southern edge, yet, until two weeks ago, I had never heard of the small triangle of land between the ancient Roman Fort and the Rivers Brathay and Rothay, … Read More The hidden Birdhouse Meadows

Led by Bent Metal #Phoetry

Voice of war from a wizened tower Orchestrating irony, avoiding boulders An iron stave of howling notes Issues forth. And throws its force of straightening iron, Slick by rocks that tear and sands that grind To arm the ninety, ready soldiers of the right Angled mage-like, she guides her seeing out to sea And does not deign to turn and watch the curves Of … Read More Led by Bent Metal #Phoetry

Spring Oak

From a distance it’s just another tree. Yet, as you get closer there’s something about this oak that makes it a kind of ‘king of the hill’. It sits on the highest point of a track that used to be the path of a canal linking Preston with Kendal. The stretch of landscape was known among the barge folk as the most beautiful of … Read More Spring Oak

To Boldly Glow…

We’d like to thank Stuart France for his decade of insightful contributions to the Silent Eye, his companionship, and the depth of his historical spiritual knowledge. We will miss him, very much, and wish him well in his future work. And now we have to move on… Deeper into cyberspace may not the only place we glow.  The world is changing, and we must, … Read More To Boldly Glow…

Treachery and Morecambe Bay

The treachery of Morecambe Bay has been well-documented throughout its history. Volatile, unpredictable and downright dangerous are words often used to describe it by those in the know. A ‘sister’ resort to Blackpool, forty miles to the South – Morecambe has managed to cling to a little of its former Victorian glamour partly due to such iconic buildings as the renowned Art Deco Midland … Read More Treachery and Morecambe Bay

Scaling the Heights

As a child, I remember asking the local vicar, “Where is God?” He looked at me, a little startled, and said, “God is everywhere!” I looked around, not meaning to mock him, but he took it that way. My simplistic feeling was that God was in the high places, open, accepting and taking things are they were. My family were Rosicrucians and it was … Read More Scaling the Heights

A most unlikely castle…

James Dawson had an eye for a view. In 1840, he stood on the spot from which the photo below was taken. and decided to buy it. His advisors explained that he couldn’t buy all of that, but could have the land down to Lake Windermere, on which he could more or less do what he wanted… planning control were not expected along for … Read More A most unlikely castle…

No strangers on the shore

“Lead them in,” said the man who taught me much about composition in photography. “You’ve got to ferry those looking at your images into the core of the shot…” The steps, alone, were a perfect ‘lead’ down to the beach. Add in the storm wall and the high level of the promenade’s main body and you have a harmonic set of ‘pointers’. The third … Read More No strangers on the shore

Faro2 : The Shape that fell to Earth

Looking back, it could have been the sunshine… The bright blue sky was such a contrast to the cold grey clouds of Cumbria in early March. But it wasn’t. There was something about the shape of Faro2 that actually spoke to me… It looks crazy – the words emerging on the screen here. Sounds even more lunatic putting it into a mystically oriented blog-slot, … Read More Faro2 : The Shape that fell to Earth