#Words and #PictureOfTheDay: 26/Mar/22

On 26/03/202210/03/2022 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Nature, Photography4 Comments

Unseen here, the trees to the left harbour the nest of a buzzard pair. And, around the corner at the end, the path drops steeply toward the village. A short time ago, some trees were felled and then the trail was rutted by the tracks of heavy vehicles, the silence rent by the noise of …

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#Words and #PictureOfTheDay: 21/Mar/22

On 21/03/202210/03/2022 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Nature, Photography10 Comments

Walking down this valley through the oaks on a day with bright sunshine and a soft breeze calms the spirit in a world so full of trouble. This is our sanctuary, our cathedral, our place of connection with the natural world. We come here often, a mile or so from our front door, and never …

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#Words and #PictureOfTheDay: 18/Mar/22

On 18/03/202209/03/2022 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Nature, opinion, Photography12 Comments

When first planted on the sloping field, these larch trees were placed in rows. It made it easier to put them in and will make it easier to harvest them. For they are a crop. The forest is a working forest, trees grown for timber. But, because it is also a nationally owned enterprise, Forestry …

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#Words and #PictureOfTheDay: 12/Mar/22

On 12/03/202207/03/2022 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Nature, Photography, Progress5 Comments

To reach this place we take a path diversion leading to a valley carrying the brook that forms this pool above a small waterfall. We cross a bridge, a slab of solid stone, across what once was a small stream but now is no more than a depression leading to a dry, steep sided former …

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#Words and #PictureOfTheDay: 10/Mar/22

On 10/03/202206/03/2022 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Nature, Photography17 Comments

There are days of magic, when the light and clear air throw everything into stark focus. Such days beg commemoration, demand recording, present opportunities for spectacular creation. This was taken on such a day. The brook that tumbles in its rocky course flowed only gently into the swollen river, water levels overriding the normal obstruction …

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#Words and #PictureOfTheDay: 07/Mar/22

On 07/03/202206/03/2022 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Nature, Photography12 Comments

To climb or stay on the flat?It’s a dry day, so the path following the fence to the left will be free of the sometime, shallow, flowing stream it harbours after heavy rain. Down there is the nearest route home, and now, after much work has been completed, that rough fence has been replaced by …

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#Words and #PictureOfTheDay: 04/Mar/22

On 04/03/202226/02/2022 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Nature, opinion, Photography6 Comments

The ground here is rarely dry, as witnessed by the growth of juncus. A little used track carries walkers, and the occasional mountain biker, to a wild plateau that overlooks a railway cutting last used over 60 years ago, and now seasonally swamped by a small stream that flows from the tunnel that leads from …

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#Words and #PictureOfTheDay: 01/Mar/22

On 01/03/202226/02/2022 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Nature, Photography6 Comments

The 1st of March is the beginning of meteorological spring here in the UK. Where I live, in the Forest of Dean, we see snow only rarely, and even less frequently in March. In fact, this winter we’ve had no more than a few flurries. The shot above is from the middle of March 2018, …

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#Words and #PictureOfTheDay: 25/Feb/22

On 25/02/202217/02/2022 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Nature, Photography

Cold was the night this fallen leaf encountered as it lay among the autumn discards of its neighbouring oaks and beeches. The elegant finger of green that brought life to the sweet chestnut that bore it through spring and summer now lies drained of active colour and frilled with frost following a sub-zero February night. …

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#Words and #PictureOfTheDay: 11/Feb/22

On 11/02/202206/02/2022 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Nature, opinion, Photography17 Comments

Uneasy lies the truce between footfalls and wheels in the forest. Multitudes of narrow circles of rubber coated steel press harsh upon wet ground, forming grooves the rain cannot escape and making waterways of once sound walking paths. Slowly, those small streams erode the ground until the soil under walkers’ boots slips away to flood …

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#PictureOfTheDay: 30/Jan/22

On 30/01/202215/01/2022 By stuartakenIn Creative Writer, Nature, Photography5 Comments

*****………………………….*****A few of my pictures appear in the Gallery.But, if you’re looking for images to decorate your home or office, use in calendars, greetings cards, jigsaws, advertising, or anything else you fancy in print or online, you will find more here.