Amelia's photos

After 36 years in a long term relationship, Adrian and I decided to have a civil partnership ceremony yesterday, 13th January 2024. Our two witnesses, Sally and Bernard, have been our very loyal friends for over 50 years

The river Severn has now totally burst its banks in the town, this pavement and the road to the side are underwater and the road is now closed to traffic, and many properties will be pumping out water. Many other roads are also closed in town. It looks beautiful but there is a lot of damage and despair. Three of the town's car parks are closed, and buses have been rerouted. The cricket ground is flooded as are bowling greens and tennis courts. The floods are almost as bad as the record water levels of 2000. We live 8 miles from Shrewsbury, and although there is a small river running through our village, things would have to get a lot worse for flooding to affect us. There was a critical period for us mid-week when heavy rains brought mud and debris down from fields onto the road and the drains became blocked with leaves etc., but It's just a matter of getting outside and unblocking drain openings - getting soaked in the process. Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire seem to be suffering a lot more than Shropshire this time. .

A decaying tree trunk,

Look carefully and you may see adult seals on the beach, and the young pups with their mothers in the dune area. This fence is a temporary structure preventing humans and dogs from disturbing the seals, but sometimes we do silly things. Only last week a seal pup that looked a bit lost was picked up and wrapped in a coat by a well meaning lady, and taken to one of the wardens. The pup died very shortly afterwards, and should have remained near its mother. I used the zoom built in to the camera to achieve closeups.

SC 76 - Post 17 December - Composition #3. Foreground Interest and Depth #5. Leading Lines #10. Fill the Frame #25. Let the Eye Wander Around the Frame

SC75 - Post 10 December - Surreal

Horsey windpump was working, draining the surrounding area, until it was struck by lightning in 1943. It was acquired by the National Trust in 1948. The mill's damaged sails were removed in 1956, and replacement sails and fantail were installed in 1962. The Great Storm of 1987 caused further damage, and repair works were required before the building could reopen to visitors in 1990. Having succumbed to the ravages of time and the elements, the sails were removed again in 2014. A restoration project started in 2016 to repair and reinstate the cap and sails, with the ambition of restoring the Windpump to full working order. Finally, after a four-month wait of unsuccessful tests in unfavourable wind, the sails eventually turned on the evening of Wednesday 29 May 2019 for the first time since 1943. Here it's possible to see the position of the fantail, and where the fence photo was taken after climbing to the top. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horsey_Windpump

The first Pip Shows our youngest grandson, James, and how many steps we needed to climb to reach the viewing platform. The second clickable PiP shows the fantail taken from the viewing platform.

For more details about fantails go to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windmill_fantail

We had 3 days of lovely sunny and frosty days, an absolute joy to be alive, Then it snowed - about 2-3 cm, yesterday, followed by fog and rain. Good old British weather. ;-)