A TALE OF THE UNEXPECTED

Inspired by the Tale of Two Walks, by the Walk on the Wild Side correspondent of this Blog, I set off with the aim of following in his footsteps. I even had a location map, in the Great Man’s own hand, that would do Wainwright himself proud. I soon realised, with only an hour to spare, I needed a change of direction and headed for Steetley Magnasite works instead. I fancied attempting an homage to one of the club’s most senior members by snapping (sorry, carefully composing) pictures of the rusty, paint spattered metal container on the site, as reported on this Blog recently. To my dismay, all that remains is a pile of ash and a vague outline. Conversing with a group of lads, who seemed friendly enough (Oh, how we laughed), it transpires it has been burnt out by persons unknown and the metal remains spirited away to China.

I decided on a change of plan (nothing if not decisive) and headed left rather than my usual right. It was a grey, grey day at this point but, to my amazement, the sun came out low in the sky and the clouds were transformed. At last, I get it – this is what landscape photographers live for. This combination of beautiful light and industrial heritage of the highest order, though, caused a rush of blood to the head. Realising the light would disappear any moment, with adrenalin pumping and heart jumping, I resorted to type and frantically attempted to capture all that was before me before it disappeared forever, thus breaking my New Year resolution to take less, but more telling pictures.

Making sure not to be run over by yet more lads, this time on motorbikes, I found myself on the dunes with a view of both the works on one side and the glorious Coalfield Coast beach on the other. My immediate thought was, “What would Christine do?”. Unfortunately, I had neither a tripod nor a Big Stoppah to hand. With quickening pulse, though, I realised there were some one-legged Oystercatchers resting on the shoreline. Here was my chance to better our VP’s “fabulous” (his word not mine) Oystercatcher pictures. Sad to say, they took flight too soon. How did he do it? Soon enough it was all over. I realised I needed a “Cuppa” but have not, so far, been able to find one in any of the outdoor shops.

anon