The “New” Severn Bridge

Alastair BegleyLandscape Short Link

I have seen many stunning photos of a local landmark over the past few years on various photography sites but have never had the urge to visit at sunset myself. This week however my shiny new Canon 5D mark 3 arrived and put me back in the world of SLR ownership. After work when it arrived I was itching to go out and use it in anger. As it was late and the sun was setting I didn’t have much time so jumped in the car and headed out of Bristol to the new Severn Bridge which is about 15 mins from my house if there isn’t any traffic. As I was driving there I was dubious about if I would get a sunset as there was lots of cloud about especially towards the west, however as I got closer I realised the sun was sitting in just about the only hole in the stormy sky which made for a lovely sunset with some ominous looking clouds which I always enjoy in a landscape photo rather than just a plain “normal” sky. However, I have always found conditions like these. Read the full article…

Day trips climbing in far away places

Alastair BegleyRock Climbing Short Link

On Monday I start working at Rolls-Royce so I have been making the most of the last few weeks where I am free to go off climbing whenever the weather allows. Due to lots of unsettled weather over the past week I have been on two day trips to venues slightly further away than most people would call day trips as last week I headed down to Swanage in Dorset and yesterday headed to Baggy Point in North Devon both of which are around a 2.5 hour drive from Bristol. On arriving at Swanage we headed straight to the Boulder Ruckle which is approached by a very committing 40m free hanging abseil, which was made even more committing due to the fact that with high tide and the swell the easiest route out was the route I was planning on climbing combined with the fact that we were the only people there. The first route that we climbed was Lightning Wall a HVS 5a, the climb went up a groove to a huge overhang which was then avoided by traversing left to a line of weakness and some very committing. Read the full article…

North Herefordshire Hunt fun ride

Alastair BegleyEquestrian Short Link

It has been two and a half years since I last rode a horse, though I haven’t just abandoned the equestrian world as I have been regularly going out and taking photos of my sister eventing and making money from equestrian photography. However, this weekend I headed up to my grans where the horses are based and on the Saturday decided to go out for a ride. Due to a SJ lesson everyone else was busy, so after 2.5 years I went out for a ride on the rather excitable horse that I used to own. The ride was great fun and surprisingly considering the amount of grey clouds it stayed dry. The next day the North Herefordshire Hunt was running a fun ride which is where you get to ride over farmers land which would normally only be accessible during hunting in the summer for fun. The weather was great as it was warm and the sun was out for a large amount of the ride. I quickly discovered that it is hard to take photos while on horseback due to the movement of the horse but I persevered and even started getting. Read the full article…

First time Climbing on Pembrokeshire’s Sea Cliffs

Alastair BegleyRock Climbing Short Link

I have been waiting to go to Pembrokshire in order to climb on the steep limestone sea cliffs there but it’s not just a case of turning up and climbing there due to an assortment of bird bans until the end of July, many of the cliffs are within the Castlemartin firing range so they can only be accessed when the range is not being used, many of the sea cliffs can only be accessed at low tides and finally wanting good weather so it is enjoyable to be on the cliffs. Last week most of these happened so I headed over to Pembrokeshire for three days with mum, although tides were not ideal but due to calm seas and neap tides it wasn’t an issue. On the first day we arrived in the afternoon and headed to Mowing Word which is home to the classic traverse line Heart of Darkness which is given HVS 4c. This was the first route we climbed and we combined it with New Morning which is E1 5b to make it a truly fantastic three star climb by climbing the first pitch of Heart of Darkness. Read the full article…