Much of Great Britain is rife with local myth and legend.  Something I love about the country is that every hill, rock, copse, lane and trickle of a stream have a local name and with it a story! 

The Ridgeway is described as Britain oldest road and runs though such amazing historic areas as Avebury and the White Horse at Uffington.  The landscape in this corner of the country, around south Oxfordshire and Wiltshire is rife with ancient sites.  Stonehenge being the most famous, the Kennet long barrows, Silbury Hill...but Wayland’s Smithy was new to us and it prompted a family day out, being about 2-3 hours from home.

The legend’s and myths of the long barrow are long, but very interesting. Wayland the giant smith that shoes the Uffington White horse when it comes down off the hillside..find the full story here.

What it is? Well, it’s a neolithic long barrow.  Honestly, on the way to visit this place I was hoping for mist or fog, something to bring up a haunting atmosphere.  Typical this was one of those few summer days that was really a summer's day! Bright sun, blue sky...and hot!  It did nothing for the atmosphere, but at least it meant for a nicer day out!

We knew the car park for the White Horse, but what about getting closer to the Smithy? Well, Google Maps worked a treat and actually directed us along a dirt track that we would never contemplate taking...but it led us right to the grove of trees surrounding the barrow.  Perfect.  On the way though we stopped in the small village of Woolstone and had a wonderful coffee at the The White Horse pub, great coffee and a friendly atmosphere!  It's a bed and breakfast too so, if ever I find myself walking the Ridgeway, I know a great place to stop!  I have the feeling the English Breakfast would be epic!

Anyway, after coffee, and of course loos, we headed up to the barrow.  As I said the weather didn’t lend atmosphere to the neolithic burial site, but it did present a quintessential image of English summer landscapes.

Crop Waiting f/8, 1/80, 42mm, ISO125

How to describe the long barrow?

Well it’s a long...erm barrow! Ok, sorry.  Typical neolithic burial chamber.  Large rocks at one end, sloping mound of earth.  The great thing about Wayland’s Smithy are the magestic sentinel stones at the entry, and the copse of trees surrounding, protecting the long barrow.  Even on a bright summer’s day, it has a peculiar atmosphere.  The cold, silent stone, the chattering of the trees as their leaves speak on the wind, an occasional caw of a crow or twitter of other birds.  No other sounds.  The only sounds are natural around this chamber where humans were buried.  Some metaphor there somewhere!  The shots had to be bracketed to try and capture some detail in the shadowy barrow, and the bright sky above and the even brighter dappled sunlight on the stones.

Wayland's Smithy Long Barrow f/8, 1/40, 24mm, ISO250  (bracketed - HDR in Lightroom)

The Ridgeway itself runs right behind the barrow with another gorgeous unspoilt small woodland, the sun finding it’s way to the floor through the canopy of green.  Gorgeous!

Avenue of Trees f/4, 1/130, 15mm, ISO400

Definitely worth a visit, even just to get a sense of the myth and history, whether or not you choose to hike the Ridgeway or drive up close.  It’s rural England, and it’s beautiful with the red kites soaring near by and view over Oxfordshire and beyond...sadly I couldn't capture a kite on this village, but the landscape is beautiful nonetheless.

Over the vales f/4.5, 1/1000, 35mm, ISO400

For the atmospheric shot, an early misty autumn morning should do the trick to really capture the spirit of the silent grave! 

Do you have any photos or stories of visits to ancient places?  Share them here!  I’ll reply and comment!

Best wishes

The Frustrated Photog.

What is it? Well, to me, it is a traditional English windmill.  As I was growing up and being taken to all sorts of places by my parents, it’s the kind of mill I got used to seeing.  Stevington, like the mills of Buckinghamshire (have a read of my earlier post here), is close to my original home town in Bedfordshire, England.  Also, just like those mills, it has a similar design; that is, it is built around a central post so that the mill can be turned to face the wind.  A post mill, I think they call it.

But unlike the mills at Pitsone and Brill, the Stevington Mill was not the intended photo location.  I had been on a day out with family to the Odell-Harrold country park, near the village of Harrold, in Bedfordshire and we passed this gem of a mill on the way.   We didn’t stop, the lunch time picnic was already due and we had planned a stop near the entrance to the village to photograph the picturesque bridge. 

This I did and I also shot the church on the hill away towards Chellington, but it was too far for the lens I had and the sky too flat to get any good compositions.  With more time a hike to move nearer to the Chillington church would probably yield some good shots.  The bridge over the River Great Ouse at Harrold also didn’t produce many good shots.  The undergrowth was too high to get a good clear composition, and the barbed fence too sharp to climb, (also I would never break laws by climbing fences anyway - least of all barbed ones!). 

Perhaps the best shots of the bridge were actually the long raised walkway leading up to the bridge.  Interesting, but nothing more.  I was more intrigued by the spine of cloud away in the opposite direction...that stubbornly refused to move to a point where sky, foreground and background would come together. 

These were all taken handheld, looking for any composition that would warrant a full set up.  No.  Nothing special and nothing coming together.  Never mind.  Lunch!

Towards Harrold from the walkway f/8, 1/200, 35mm, ISO100

A Spine of Cloud f/8, 1/250, 15mm, ISO100

The country park itself, nice, a pleasant area, ok facilities, but in the strong light of midday in summer it meant that no great shots were possible.  Even the wildlife was too shy, far off in the middle of the lake.  That windmill, where was it?

Stevington! Appropriately enough, in Windmill Lane, is, according to the internet (!) the last working mill in Bedfordshire. No doubt it is the last, but that it is working is impressive.  An 18th century building of England’s rural heritage, sits beautiful and proud on the ridge of a hill just outside the village.  It can be accessed, but for me I was content with these shots from the roadside through the hedgerow as it gave some nice rural context to the building. 

Over the Hedgerow f/11, 1/125, 70mm, ISO100

There's something traditionally English about such a scene, though as I mentioned in the post about the mills in Buckinghamshire, English mills are not as globally famous as those of La Mancha or in Holland, but nonetheless, they’re a wonderful reminder of an earlier time. I used Lightroom to slightly tint the image.  The main reason for this wasn’t to depict the structure as of bygone times, but due to the flat bright light that now dominated the sky and robbed the scene of any interesting colour or shadow. 

Stevington Mill f/11, 1/80, 63mm, ISO125

As frustrated photographers, it’s always a good idea to make a note of interesting locations that you pass.  You never know when you may get the opportunity to photograph them.  Not always on the same day, as with this visit to Harrold, it could be months later when you are close by.

A simple tip:

A tool or the trade. A notebook!  You could write them in your phones memopad, (most of us now have such an ‘app’), but I keep the old fashioned version with me.  Perhaps, like the windmill, it's a relic of an earlier time, a notepad inspires more note-taking than cold pixels in a phone ever could.  Though I shouldn’t berate modernity too much...afterall...this DSLR...ahem, change the subject!

Have you had any plans changed and ended up finding a gem of a scene to photograph? Share links here, I’ll be sure to reply and comment!

Best wishes

The Frustrated Photog.

Little known grandeur that must be seen (and photographed) - Aizanoi is a very large piece of history...why is it hidden, or at least, hardly known of?

Troy and Epheseus...you’ve probably heard of these historical sites in Turkey.  But the truth is, the country is FULL of them, perhaps fortunately many are not well known.  Locally, perhaps, the hotels near by will advertise tours to places such as Tlos or Aspendos, or the ruins near the beaches at Patara or Phaselis. The list of possible places is very long...

One such little known gem is that of Aizanoi, near the modern city of Kutahya.  Aizanoi is, well, not to be rude, in the middle of nowhere!  It’s in what was ancient Phrygian.  One thing that still astounds me about my adopted home (Turkey), is that so many places are those spoken off in those ancient books by Homer, Hesiod and alike.  Amazing!  Even my new home city is close to the site of Dorelyeum, (a site of a major battle of the first crusade back in the 11th century), now, sadly, it's little more than a mound of earth and the site of never ending (never happening) excavation.

Anyway, back to the subject.  Aizanoi, and the best thing was, we pretty much had the place to ourselves, except for the local villages (and sheep...and street dogs and cats).

It was first a settlement in the 3rd millenium BC, conquered by the Romans in 133BC and features many of the expected buildings of an ancient civilisation.  It was a Roman city, with ampitheatre and baths.  With, what one site describes as, one of the best preserved Roman temples in Turkey and possibly the world.

Temple of Zeus f/11, 1/30, 40mm, ISO100

The city also had the world’s first stock exchange, the remains of which can still be seen by the picturesque remains of a colonnade.  A Roman bridge still stands over the river Penkalas that runs through the current, small village of Aizanoi.

The Colonnade f/10, 1/100, 40mm, ISO100

Penkalas Bridge f/10, 1/80, 15mm, ISO100

Sadly, the village itself is a little scruffy.  It hasn’t embraced the gem right in its heart and, typical of the region, old cottages are left to decrepitude, and rubbish unfortunately litters the river and the ancient sites.  Not hideously, not full of bad smells, but nevertheless, it could be better looked after.  The temple itself has paid entry, a few lira so that, at least, is litter free, and near the entrance stand very clean toilets (no photo, sorry but maybe useful info).

Perhaps though the most outstanding feature of Aizanoi is that even people living in cities fairly local have never heard of it! Yes, as I said, it is in the middle of nowhere, see the shot below taken from the area of the baths to the temple and the mountains beyond.  It's some 40 minutes by local bus from the nearest city, but just 5 minutes walk from the small town of Çavdarhisar.  Culturally, it’s a gem that is waiting to shine.  In the meantime the benefit of this is that it can be explored without the hordes of tourists that can detract from the enjoyment of other, more famous, historic sites.

Temple and the Mountains f/10, 1/160, 70mm, ISO100

Found any gems? Or have you been lucky enough to have a famous landmark all to yourself?  Share your stories!

Best wishes

The Frustrated Photog.