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Coronavirus walk no. 189, 25th December 2023

Distance	5.6 miles

This was my third Christmas Day walk in row; in 2020 I took my walk on Boxing Day instead. I didn’t set off until 4 pm though, when it was already starting to get dark. Nothing wrong with low light aesthetically, but you do need a better camera and better techniques to make the best of such conditions.

View full-size image — Starting off down a bridleway

View full-size image — This fence has seen better days

View full-size image — Left or right …

View full-size image — Right, but not going that way today.

View full-size image — Looking back

View full-size image — Left takes us on a curving route

View full-size image — Snaking through the trees

View full-size image — Still a nice place to be, even in winter.

View full-size image — Always funny to see a little plant that seems so out of place.

View full-size image — Back out into the open.

View full-size image — The bridge over the railway.

View full-size image — No trains running today, so the railway is silent. Note the use of cantilever masts around the bridge, and headspan beyond. Strangely, at least one line in Denmark uses the same angled tube arrangement as we have on our headspan, and I cannot find any reason why.

View full-size image — Quaint old Massey Ferguson loader.

View full-size image — And the obligatory power line, this time 11 kV three-phase running left to right, with what appears to be two phases teed off.

View full-size image — Getting too dark to get a clear shot! Only ever been this way once, and gave up and turned back as it eventually became impassable.

View full-size image — That walk was in daylight; it’s so much nicer in the darkness.

View full-size image — Turns out I went the “wrong” way last time, and today I worked out where I should have gone. As a bonus, I get to walk in the rain :)

View full-size image — Some houses in case there are snakes around.

View full-size image — And some more. Hard to figure out the exposure when your camera display has backlight bleed.

View full-size image — Some decorations.

View full-size image — And some more. The house came out too dark due to limitations in dynamic range. Possibly a 1″ sensor would help … Or an anti-gravity pocket tripod.

View full-size image — Looks cosy.

I found another post box topper …

View full-size image — George VI pillar box in the rain

View full-size image — Royal cypher

View full-size image — Detail of Hannah Crompton’s topper; it was hard to illuminate it nicely with the camera’s built-in flash.

View full-size image — Topper seen from the other side.

Onwards …

View full-size image — Not sure what that dinosaur is doing …

View full-size image — Large decorated tree in front of a church.

View full-size image — Too dark to photograph this Type K post box for my post box pages; they’re hideous anyway

View full-size image — One last house … very little light left now.

Walking down a country lane in the darkness …

View full-size image — Alone in the dark

View full-size image — A passing car adds some colour

View full-size image — This shot was unplanned: a car approached while I was taking the shot, and I liked the effect.

View full-size image — Civilisation