A winter ride on the Dursley Pedersen to Burwell Fen

Another Lodes Way ride (30 miles) only this time without any sun and, for the last fifteen miles, rain. I had to go out today as I was going shack-simple. The general busyness of Advent, Christmas and New Year and the bad weather in general meant that, except for pastoral calls and meetings, I had not been on a proper cycle ride for nearly five weeks - my spin out to Fleam Dyke on the 18th being more walk than cycle-ride. Not good for the soul. So I got out the Dursley Pedersen (made by Jesper Sølling) and took off across Stourbridge Common, out to Reach and then along Newnham Drove to Burwell Fen and back along the Lodes Way. Hard by Reach Lode I had a very interesting conversation with a farmer who had just been out digging a new drain. We talked of the weather, our shared love of the Fenland landscape and then, when he found out I was a minister of religion, we even got onto the subject of religion and the meaning of life. A good and life affirming encounter. Despite the rain I thoroughly I enjoyed the spin and post below some suitably moody shots I took along the way before the heavens opened. For those who doubt how wet it is out in the Fens at the end of this post is a Youtube posting of a seal that made it to Fen Drayton lakes - 50 miles inland! Here's a link to the report about it in the Guardian.

Stourbridge Common
Horse on Burwell Fen
Newnham Drove looking north west onto Burwell Fen
On Burwell Fen with the Dursely Perdersen
Reach Lode looking north west
Reach Lode looking south east


Comments

Matt said…
Hello Andrew,
What camera do you use for photographs and what software do you use to edit them?

Warm regards,

Matt
Dear Matt, Greetings once more. I use a Pentax Optio RZ18 and a program called "CameraBag" for editing etc.. CameraBag can be tried out for free for a month so it's easy to find out if you actually want to part with your money. The camera and the program suit me because I'm no professional photographer and the two together help me produce pictures that, I at least, enjoy! Low brow photography par excellence.

Warmest wishes,

A
Matt said…
Hello Andrew,
Yes that's exactly what I'm seeking - 'low brow photography par excellence'!

The wife and I recently purchased some artwork from Neil Roland - www.neilroland.co.uk. Based in Manchester, he uses an old camera from his childhood to take pictures of tiny details of the Manchester city environment that people often miss.

I was very much inspired by his approach - and having undertaken a photography day course recently using a hi-tech camera I could barely use, I think pragmatically it would be better to go down the simple camera route.

Warm regards,

Matt

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