autofantasia's photos with the keyword: rural

For this week's Sunday Challenge which had the theme of green landscapes . As I've not been able to get out much with the camera this week I took a dip into the archives and came up with this shot, which was taken at Beamish Open Air Museum earlier in the year. The church you see here is, or at least was, St. Helen's the old Parish church of Eston, Middlesbrough, and it dates back to the 12th Century. However, by 1998, with the church having been disused for around 15 years and it having been partially demolished by local vandals it was in a very sorry state. So, despite it being a Grade II listed building, permission was granted for its demolition and it appeared then that its fate was sealed ... that was until Beamish stepped in at the last moment to rescue the church for preservation. They carefully deconstructed it stone by stone so that it could be rebuilt on the Museum site in County Durham next to Pockerley Old Hall, which can be seen behind the church high up on the hill. Some of the bricks still have numbers written on them, which I can only assume have been left to illustrate how the Beamish team were able to reconstruct the church exactly as it had been when it stood in Eston, albeit now fully refurbished and fitted out with replacement fittings including some beautiful Georgian pews. Please view on black for best effect. www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-21108837/church-moved-and-rebuilt-at-beamish-museum www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3315277/Vandalised-medieval-church-rebuilt-brick-brick-40-miles-away.html

Been wanting to try and get some shots of the oilseed rape that loads of farmers around here seem to be growing at the moment and finally got a chance yesterday. This was a field I came across on whilst exploring some of the small roads near to Kiplin Hall, North Yorkshire. I know many people hate it as a crop as it can play havoc with their hay fever, but is sure adds some colour to the landscape.

Contrary to what people often say and what this lamb obviously believes the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence. For HFF - Happy Fence Friday . Wishing everyone a good weekend and hoping that next week brings further news of the IMA takeover of ipernity. Oh, and in case you're wondering this shot was taken at the same time as I took the one of The Three Lambs as used for last week's Sunday Challenge .

Well, it appears that the wait is over as Christophe Ruelle, the President and CEO of Ipernity SA, has finally accepted the IMA proposals as announced in a brief update posted by William Sutherland. The next few days should see further announcements being made on both sides once they have finalised the logistics of the transfer. Got to be honest I'd almost given up hope that a deal could be struck and even today there's still a little voice inside my head saying "I'll believe it when it happens", but this isn't really a day to be negative ... it's a day to celebrate and to try and be as optimistic as we can be about the future. It's also a day to say a big thank you to those involved within the 'inner circle' of the IMA, and not just William although I suspect his part has been significant, for all they've done to get us to this stage. Thanks also to Christophe who it appears has finally showed us all that he does indeed still care about this great platform his team created all those years ago and the community that come to call it home.

Running late again, but for what it's worth here is my entry for this week's, or should that be last week's, Sunday Challenge . In keeping with recent challenges there were a few options around a central theme and I elected to go with a combination of Spring and New Growth . I had been hoping to use one of the shots I took whilst doing the Farndale Daffodil Walk , but in the end I wasn't all that happy with the shots I got on the day and so decided to look for inspiration elsewhere. As it happens, that was to be found much closer to home, in a small field on the outskirts of Northallerton that contained a few sheep along with their fairly young looking lambs. Initially, when I came upon them and moved in to try and get a close up shot there were only two lambs in my sights - the two in the foreground. However, once I'd started snapping away a third lamb came across and nuzzled in behind them. I guess he just didn't want to miss the opportunity of having his photo taken! Please view on black for best effect.

Or maybe it's a girl ... whatever sex it was this calf was extremely cute and being carefully watched over by its mother. As seen on the way into Mount Grace Priory in North Yorkshire and taken for this week's Sunday Challenge which had the theme of looking down . Hit z to view large and get added cuteness!