Macro shots of findings around Leek and Leekbrook

When it is a nice sunny day (I say when, because they are few and far between at the minute), our daughter and I take our walk to town via the Leekbrook Line. It is a very picturesque track walk and if you are quiet you get to see many forms of nature, not only butterflies but we have seen the odd large rabbit (and sometimes the white bob-tail end of one) and snails kissing (I'll get to that in a bit). Yet as you walk along the line (overgrown as it is at present) you also get to see ducks flying over head, herons, and we get around 5 buzzards in our area.

I would like to now post the nature part of Leekbrook and Leek, I will also add that we heard a Pheasant makign its mating calls back on the 1st July, on our way to town, we had passed the side of Leek golf club as we came out of the long Leekbrook tunnel and we just couldnt see it, we heard its noise several times during our walk to town (before it was sounded out by the noises of cattle and sheep at Leek cattle market).

So here are some photos (and bitty blog bits) of our explorations in the sunshine.... our daughter pointed these snails out to me on a walk one day a fair few weeks ago, I couldnt help but take a picture of what looked like "kissing snails", I used selective coouring on the shells as the colouring was so beautiful.

now our daughter was tracing her stick along the lines on this graffiti (not that I like graffitti anywhere but on special canvasses and NOT painted on old tunnels like this) but I couldnt resist this capture of her, making it look like she was the one doing the tagging!

the capture of Leekbrook Tunnel here is wicked, the shadows of the trees and bushes, and the darkness within the tunnel is captured beautifully in my opinion yet I did take the photo so of course I am biased.

Any volunteers to trim these bushes? we ventured down them on 1st July and it was like walking through "a jungle mummy" as our 3 year old politely puts it.
The gorse bushes in full bloom (on macro feature) These flowers have now gone (they were out in May) but im sure they will be back in full bloom next year.
This was taken at the start of the train line by the Leekbrook Junction control box, I was only testing my macro feature out on my new camera at the time and it came out like this, so I was pretty impressed to say the least, another example of the nature we have on our doorstep.

The Age of Steam

I cannot really express how lovely it is to benefit from the age of steam on our doorstep. The Churnet Valley Railway journeys from Cheddleton to Consall Forge, onto Froghall and Kingsley and then back again via the latter stations and towards Leekbrook Junction almost every weekend during nearly every month of the year. The ironic factor of this is that my better half, Phil is by far, not a train spotter, however, this has become due to years of being drove from one station to another by his father, train spotting! Not only does my partners father love his trains but so does my partners step father, brother and nephew, LOVE locomotives! So us living by the Leekbrook Junction is very ironic.

I do love the steam trains and I think the CVR volunteers have gathered this as they will generally see me snapping away with my camera either at Leekbrook OR at the Cheddleton station. I assure you this is more a love of photography and editing that just of steam trains and the love of the family whom do love trains that I take the photographs for (I even make them into gift cards for family and friends, friends of friends etc to purchase).
I took this on the 29th June (2008) and edited it as I just feel any age of steam photos should be shown more antique and textured than more of a modern day capture.
One of those images that looks so much better in large format, one of my ultimate faves of the regular BR80098 - taken at Leekbrook Junction (29/06/2008)
Leekbrook Junction 29th June 2008. Again another of my favourites, I edited the texture and the colouring to make it look olde world.

I dont often get chance to capture the engine travelling from one end of the carriages to the other as I am normally stood at the other side of the track from this, and further down track near home.