This walk was expected to be fairly dull: just a quick walk to a tiny village and back to obtain two specific shots: one of an Eve 0.4 D60 and one of a Balfour Beatty L6 D30. It turned out a lot better than expected, although as usual the weather wasn’t great.
After several evenings of wrestling with levels and colour balance around and around in circles, these images are still wrong but they are as good as they are ever going to be …
Streatley is north of Luton. However, the Eve D60 is in Lower Sundon, so that is the first stop. Walking through Sundon Park (north Luton) having alighted at Leagrave station:
For SnakesInBowties on Imgur and just to give a more balanced perspective I tried to include built-up areas moreStrange enough, an L6 pylon appears in the distance and then disappears from view again
Leaving Luton …
The last houseFields from here onFollowing the road to SundonThis is also the way to Sundon substationLadybird beetle; this caught my eye as I was walking (one reason I could never do this on a bicycle!)St Mary the Virgin, Lower SundonApproaching the side-by-side 400 kV and 132 kV lines
Every time I pass through Lower Sundon there is something new on the post box there; there is now a whole Lower Sundon post box page.
This time the decoration is for HalloweenIf I had realised at the time that it spelt out “BOO” I would have stood the middle letter back up!
Pylon time …
L6 line tower in the distanceEve D60Eve D60 with the L6 D behind itClose-up on the Eve D60Eve 132 kV line
From Lower Sundon, we walk roughly east (ENE) to Streatley:
There turned out to be no pavement along the road; the walk turned into something of a slog after a while, trudging through the rough grass at the side of the road.Balfour Beatty L6 DPassing under the 400 kV lineFarm buildings in the distanceDistant L6 angle towerApproaching StreatleyStreatley
Streatley has an interesting variety of houses:
Church of St Margaret in the distanceLeft is where we came in, while right takes you to Sharpenhoe; from there it’s right to Barton-le-Clay and left to Harlington
A very quick look around Streatley village, in what little time was available:
This village turned out to be larger than I expectedProbably flowersJust some autumn leavesColour balance says “no”Chequers pubPost box embedded in a wall, with the Chequers pub in the background (no time to stop for a drink there!)Turns out it’s an Edward VII post box; the strange-shaped door looks like someone has repaired some significant damage.Church in the background again
It’s already time to leave! A few more houses on the way back to Luton:
Dynamic range says “no”Cottage out of a fairy tale
The other pylon I came for, the L6 D30:
Sadly, it’s been converted into a mobile phone mast!
Heading back to Luton by way of the public footpath:
Lots and lots of mud!Scenic landscapeA brief passage through trees …Back out the other side
Back at Luton; rather than walking through Luton itself, I followed the path that goes all the way along the north edge, which is visually much more interesting:
Houses in Bramingham, LutonWalking along behind the houses, with fields to the right (north)A bit overgrown, but prettyWild raspberries?Still following the edge of townSome more houses on the leftKeeping going …Passing back under the 132 kV line that we saw previously, which feeds Luton from Sundon substationNot quite at the end of the greenery yetNot the tidiest place either, with lots of litter dumped along the route
The Luton water tower served as a landmark to tell me when to turn left and head into Luton:
Luton water tower
I then followed a public footpath through Luton. I was expecting nothing but concrete and villains; I was amazed to find that it was a woodland path in its full autumnal glory:
Not far from the built-up area, which we pass throughPeering out at “civilisation”HousesOne of the interesting blue high rises that you see in LutonThis is the River Lea just downstream from its source; there was a large placard close to the sourceMallard ducks on the River Lea
After leaving the train, I came across some interesting Halloween decorations:
