Driving from Scotland to the Northumberlands.
May 19, 2010 |
Since we returned from Scotland a little over a month ago people have not stopped asking me to post pics. I have been either shooting weddings or engagement sessions non-stop so my sweet hubby agreed to be my guest blogger and take you though some of our journey over the next few weeks! He is quite the witty writer so it should be fun! Thanks Koutsunis (aka the other babers) At the end of the series, I am planning on posted a gallery on my proofsite if any of you are interested in purchasing a fine art print from our travels. This series of photos is a highlight of our trip from Edinburgh down through the Northumberlands and to the coast!
As we drove through the countryside of Northumberland the freak spring snow had not yet melted from most of the higher elevation fields.
Though the countryside of Scotland and England is still very rural and mostly pasture land filled with the typical sheep and some cattle, it has changed a bit from the almost purely livestock based place it was in the last century. Windfarms like this are a perfect way to provide electricity to a small rural farming community that most likely never had electricity before this. If you enjoy getting away in the English countryside, perhaps self catering cottages in Silverdale on the border of Lancashire and Cumbria will take your interest.
These sheep are most likely Cotswold, raised for wool. Other types of sheep with less wool are raised mainly for meat.
The guys with the black faces are Shropshire. This one was eating what we think is a large turnip, apparently the farmers dropped a truck load of turnips into the fields for them.
It was lambing season and almost all the sheep had one or two lambs not far from them. Twins and sometimes triplets are common.
We stopped by a small enclosed pen beside a country road at the edge of a large flat of fields and I jumped over the fence and these guys came right up to me. This sheep was huge, but when I touched him it was all wool. The goats ate the grass I gave them but then ignored me. As a side note my parents have a goat named Fred. Fred acts just like a dog and will jump in your lap and follows you around where ever you go, eating random things and chasing the dogs along the way. He also loves to do laps around the porch and jump off doing a kicking flip in mid air, he is an extremely talented goat.
Pheasants were all over the place, and much like the opossums and armadillo of the South, they were constantly making bad road crossing decisions.
These stone buildings were used as barns.
Small castle structures dotted the countryside.
A curious sheep, wondering whether to come closer in the event we had turnips, or to bolt at the first sign of a pair of sheers.
Here is a short video Jenny took we replaced the audio because she was freaking out.. I really wanted to smuggle one home with us.
I almost caught this guy. Having escaped me, he gave us this look as we got back into the car.
We saw fewer cows than sheep. This cow and her calf may be a Red Heifer.
These sheep might be Bluefaced Leicester. The guy on the right with the tags in his ears may be some sort of Cheviot. Identifying all these sheep is impossible, Wikipedia you have failed me.
In all the places we have been, the freedom of having a car and exploring the countryside has been the most fun. And a shout out to Tom Tom for getting us back on track after our random wondering though the countryside.
Instead of wood or stone or wire fencing we saw a lot of hedge fencing. This fence was recently planted.
Daffodils were EVERYWHERE! Jenny had a mild obsession with photographing them… there are many more photos of daffodils to come from our trip. I am sure we will never look at them the same way again.
We saw many beautiful old churches.
The moss covered graves were especially enchanting.
We pulled randomly into an overgrown driveway and ended up at this beautiful old house.
Complete with love birds. This is one of the many bed and breakfast’s that were off the beaten path and would be a wonderful place to stay, away from the cities, for a romantic honeymoon or anniversary.
This is Jenny’s dream rock wall, I expect to be loading, unloading, stacking stones, and planting various flowering vines soon. Then I’ll sleep for at least an entire day.
This little stream was the perfect example of a burbling brook.
We decided to head east towards the ocean and found a windy, rocky shore. It smelled like salt and sea foam.
I see a future Facebook picture here.
A miss-judged timing shot came out pretty cool.
This is what we were going for!
Jenny running to climb on the rocks in her new Wellies. They were hard to find since the stores had switched to their summer products and after the snow storm everyone was out looking for them.
This shore edge picture, with the bird in “painting” type flight reminds me of the feel of this area.
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