Looking back on days passed,
Beneath the feet of god’s decay,
Looking back on what I was,
Wishing for a new-found life,
Looking back on a three-piece game,
Each of me way back when,
Looking back at the gathered crowd,
Assemble each and everyone.
Poetry © Mira Sophia Chrysostomou
This was one of our favourite walks from last year. I don’t like being asked which is my favourite walk in the Peak District, because I don’t think that we have done one yet that we have been disappointed by. But this particular walk had a bit of everything: wide open vistas, peaceful woodland, flowing streams, and a beautiful sunset to end the day with.
Continue reading “Higgar Tor – Bolehill Wood, Peak District”
The broken frame,
Beyond this life,
A silent prayer,
The bridge to beyond.
Along the frame,
The timber strong,
A peaceful moment,
Despair begone.
A reflection deep,
Echoed within,
Worshipped silence,
A moment gone
Poetry © Mira Sophia Chrysostomou
We picked up Rosie from Crewe railway station and then hurtled over to walk one of our favourite hikes in the Peak District.
As always, we start at the chimney stack overlooking the valley with the River Dane running through it. The sheep was curious and patient, but not too bothered by our presence.
Follow the river along the valley, taking care not to get stuck in the mud along the way, and eventually you arrive at one of our favourite picnic spots in the Peak District.
Back to my one-one-one project for this post. Macclesfield is the nearest big-ish town near us, and we often find ourselves there for one reason or another. On this occassion, we were there for the Treacle Market, on the last Sunday of every month. Traders are out selling their wares and the people are out to buy, but also to get in touch with their community. And this was a first real outing for my new X-Pro2.
Buskers and a town crier are as you’d expect in a market town.
Continue reading “One town, One mile, One camera – Macclesfield”
In September of 2017, we travelled to Vienna for a city break. Our daughter was about to go off to University and so we asked what she wanted to do before going, she said a city-break in Vienna.
I had been to Vienna before, but it was many years ago when I was a student. I still carry many fond memories of those two weeks spent with my cousin, who was a student in Vienna at the time. But when you’re a young student, your agenda and timetable are a bit different to when you reach your middle ages! So we had different things in mind.
We spent a couple of great days with M&K hiking in the Yorkshire Dales. The first day we stayed quite local to the Landmark house we were staying in, and took in a circular walk from Yockenthwaite to Buckden, coming back along the River Wharfe.
The ViewRanger track of this (almost) 8 mile walk is at this link.
The walk started with a climb uphill, a prerequisite to earn your sandwich, tea and cake.
Driving through the county of Lincolnshire it is tempting to think of it as one of the flatest counties in the UK. There are flatter counties and those in the East Anglia region are the flattest of all, according to Wikipedia. But you are easily misled into thinking this when driving into Lincoln. And then you park (if you can find a spot!) and decide to walk to the Cathedral quarter. The gentle ache you feel in your thighs and calfs as you do so tell you a different story.
I took my trusty Fujifilm X100S on this walk, from the University campus, on the banks of the River Witham, up to the Cathedral.
To get to the Cathedral, you walk along an aptly named street – Steep Hill.
After taking images of the Jewish House I was later surprised to learn of the Jewish Heritage that is present in the city, especially in relation with the Cathedral. When reviewing my images, I was struck by the triptich that I put together. Nothing to do with Jewish heritage, but more to do with the symbolic ascent of young man through life who then returns back down from the summit, well…. changed, and with a new perspective on life.
We walked past The Pot Shop. As we were not in Amsterdam, all we found inside was a man making and selling pots.
You are thankful when you reach the top. We will return to Lincoln soon. I shall have to bring my wider lens.
They say everyone is born a hero.
From;
The little boy
with crimson cheeks,
To;
The little girl
with her tiny button nose.
Everyone starts the same.
A blank slate
filled with chivalrous intentions.
A clean page
meant for courageous acts of bravery.
But take heed
my darling little angel.
For the world is a cruel place.
The trials of youth are endless,
The challenge of life all encompassing.
They will try to break you,
to tame you,
to change you.
But you must hold on.
The darkness of the world
will engulf each little boy,
turn each little girl to shadow.
For everyone is born a hero
But,
Life will force you to survive;
it will strive to make you a villain.
Poetry: © Mira Sophia Chrysostomou
Photography: © Antonio Chrysostomou
(click on images within grids for a bigger image)
When you’re building the world’s largest radio telescope, then you need to go and see how other observatories have done the same and learn what lessons you can – which are the good operational practices and what are the mistakes you should try to avoid.
Early in September, we went to visit the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, in New Mexico, USA. The JVLA is an iconic radio telescope with its distinctive ‘Y’ shaped configuration and featuring in various film and TV shows, most notably perhaps in the movie Contact.
At the time of our visit, the 25-metre dishes were being moved out to their very widest configuration where the furthest distance between two individual dishes reaches over 22.6 miles. They are moved, individually, by a transporter along the train tracks you can see in many of the images here.
adventures in a lightroom 
