Mountaineering in Snowdonia

Alastair BegleyLandscape, North Wales, Scrambling, Walking Short Link

This weekend I headed up to Snowdonia with the expedition society I am a member of. We went up with twenty people and braved the elements by camping in north wales at the end of November which was a tad chilly. Thankfully we were treated with good weather and it didn’t rain once all weekend which is a change to the last 3 weekends I have spent in Snowdonia! On the first morning we headed up the north ridge of Tryfan which is one of the classic scrambles of the region and is a great first scramble as many people in the group had never done it before! It took us quite a long time as 20 people move slowly but this ended up being good as early in the climb the summit became covered in hill fog but by the time we got to the summit it had started to clear and by the time we had finished lunch we were treated to a fantastic view! That evening we were treated to a cloudless sky which was stunning as we were camping in the middle of nowhere so there. Read the full article…

Burning Tar Barrels at Ottery St Mary

Alastair BegleyGeneral Short Link

This evening it was bonfire night again which meant it was time for my fourth trip to Ottery St Mary on the 5th November. At Ottery they celebrate the event by covering huge barrels with tar, setting fire to them and running down the streets which are crowded with locals and students. It is an event that I have no idea how it still happens with all the health and safety which controls everything else so tightly, but it is great fun and it will be odd possibly not going to it next year as I will have graduated. It is always a challenge to get photos at this event as there are so many people getting a view of the barrel without people in the way is only possible when it gets incredibly close to you so you have to get a photo before you get hit by a burning barrel and often there are then too many people to get out of the way! This year on the final barrel was busier than I have seen it in the past and moving out of the way was extremely difficult and I managed. Read the full article…

North Herefordshire Hunt Opening Meet 2011

Alastair BegleyEquestrian Short Link

This weekend I headed up to Herefordshire with David for the North Herefordshire Hunt’s Opening Meet. Hunting is something that I want to photograph more often but finding time is always very difficult and I live a long way away from Herefordshire which is where I used to hunt so know the countryside well and the people who hunt there so it’s ideal for going and taking photos as hunts are very suspicious of new people turning up with cameras. It is only the second time I have attempted to take photos of Hunting and last time was in an area of countryside I was not familiar with so spent most of the day driving around completely lost, but this time as I knew the countryside very well we spent the whole day on foot with a good idea of where the hunt was going to go next. This proved to be very tiring as we covered around 7 miles over hilly terrain while carrying heavy camera gear and quite a lot of the distance was done at a sprint to get ahead of the hunt for the jumps. Towards the start of the. Read the full article…