SteveTanham – writing, mysticism, photography, poetry, friends

Category: Places and Prose

September 26, 2023 + #Silenti, mystical travel, Photography, Places and Prose, Travel and people, Travel and Photography

A Donegal Journey (1)

by Steve Tanham

The town of Buncrana lies in the far north-west of Ireland, in County Donegal: that part of the country that is on a line with Northern Ireland, yet is in the Republic. It’s long been our intention to visit this beautiful part of the ‘Emerald Isle’. Green it certainly is, and currently living up to its rainy reputation… But hailing from Cumbria, we’re no … Read More A Donegal Journey (1)

August 29, 2023 + #Silenti, Motorcycles, Places and Prose, Travel, Travel and Photography

Girl on a Motorcycle – Part One

by Steve Tanham

My father’s eldest sibling – my Auntie Mary – though hailing from the family hometown of Bolton, Lancashire, married a highly decorated and highly tall (6’4”) Scottish army officer at the end of WW2. In 1946, on the way to begin her new life as the wife of a now Glaswegian police officer, two English serviceman in the same train carriage advised her to … Read More Girl on a Motorcycle – Part One

August 22, 2023 + #Silenti, Consciousness, Photography, Places and Prose, Politics and Power

Sir Grayson Perry : Smash Hits

by Steve Tanham

I’ve been fascinated by the innovative and penetrating social commentary in (Sir) Grayson Perry’s work for many years, and not surprised when he was granted a knighthood, recently. While in Edinburgh for a few days of frantic ‘Fringe’, we decided to also visit the National Galleries’ exhibition of Perry’s work – comprising hundreds of his most famous pieces (many of which have been sold, … Read More Sir Grayson Perry : Smash Hits

August 13, 2023 + #Silenti, Lake District, landscapes, Photographic techniques, Photography, Places and Prose, Short stories

Yard 17

by Steve Tanham

Kendal has a network of old alleyways. I’ve written about them before. They form useful shortcuts across the town. A kind of ancient ‘worm-hole’ is how it feel when you’re striding along one, knowing that you’re shaving precious seconds off the normal time; or sheltered, collar up on the long raincoat, from the cutting wind and rain of a Cumbrian January. Yard 17 is … Read More Yard 17

July 30, 2023 + #Silenti, Consciousness, English Lake District, nature, Photographic techniques, Photography, Places and Prose

Insurgent Thistle

by Steve Tanham

The come by stealth; just when you think the summer landscape is settling down for its slow decline to autumn… Aggressive, spiky green – enough to make you walk several paces to one side. The thistle knows how to make an entrance. But then that beautiful flower emerges; an inonimate shade somewhere between vibrant pink and soothing lilac. A wonderful paradox, reminding us that … Read More Insurgent Thistle

July 25, 2023 + #Silenti, Ancient Landscapes, Consciousness, Photography, Places and Prose

Never go back?

by Steve Tanham

Never go back! It’s a frequent admonition, reminding us that the world we find on our return may not have the magic it possessed at the time it was laid down, ‘shining’ in our memories. It’s often used in the context of a romantic involvement; the futility of attempting to recreate real emotion through place. But what if the going-back involved an early first-stage … Read More Never go back?

July 11, 2023 + #Silenti, Consciousness, nature, Photography, Places and Prose, Seasons of the year, Silent Eye School

The Perfect Evening

by Steve Tanham

I begin to look for it from the start of July… The ‘perfect evening’. Highly subjective, of course. For me, it begins with a gentleness of warm (but not hot) air flowing over the land. Add in light that has a softness – as though mother-of-pearl had been ground into a fine dust and scattered, unseen. And the final ingredient is an emotional, mellow … Read More The Perfect Evening

June 6, 2023 + #Silenti, Consciousness, landscapes, Photographic techniques, Photography, Places and Prose

Lancaster’s canal – a local photo tour

by Steve Tanham

Just down from the extensive Royal Lancaster Infirmary (RLI), and passing under the busy A6 road from the south, there begins one of the most attractive sections of the old Lancaster Canal, as it leaves behind the gentle countryside of north Lancashire and enters the old industrial landscape of the former ‘county town’ from which the county name derives. The House of Lancaster features … Read More Lancaster’s canal – a local photo tour

May 28, 2023 + #Silenti, Ancient Landscapes, Consciousness, landscapes, Photography, Places and Prose

Sunrise at Amlwch

by Steve Tanham

Each May and November, we like to spend a few days on the Welsh island of Anglesey. It’s hard to say what draws us back, year after year, but there is a certain tranquility and peace about the place. The hotel we stay at is a former farm, run by a brother and sister who inherited the place and set about making it one … Read More Sunrise at Amlwch

May 23, 2023 + #Silent Eye, #Silenti, Ancient Landscapes, Collie dogs, Consciousness, English Lake District, Mindfulness, Mystery Schools, Photographic techniques, Photography, Places and Prose

From Windermere to Sedgwick

by Steve Tanham

We have just needed the Silent Eye’s ‘Water-Circle+Cross’ weekend, which took place a forty minute journey away, on the shores of Lake Windermere, England’s largest lake. The weekend had gone well; better than expected, in fact, and I will be writing up each of the days over the next couple of weeks. Our friend, Dean, had been staying with us and was due to … Read More From Windermere to Sedgwick

April 30, 2023 + #Phoetry, #Silenti, landscapes, Life and Death, Photographic techniques, Photography, Places and Prose, Poetry

Led by Bent Metal #Phoetry

by Steve Tanham

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

April 25, 2023 + #Silenti, Ancient Landscapes, Consciousness, Lake District, Photographic techniques, Photography, Places and Prose, Seasons of the year

A Rite of Spring Green

by Steve Tanham

As dwellers on the southern edge of the English Lake District, we are very conscious of the seasons. The dawning of what I call ‘the real Spring’ is a feeling rather than an exact date. It is triggered by the sight of a certain shade of green in the local forest’s foliage. I couldn’t define that green; simply state that it has a ‘voice’ … Read More A Rite of Spring Green