Swaledale First Workshop of 2010 Blog @visitengland @inbritain
We were all on tentahooks waiting for weather forecasts wondering if this workshop was going ahead as we were in the midst of a very harsh winter with gritting, or the lack of it a serious problem for getting anywhere in Britain. I was contacting Keld Lodge for weather updates every day and in the end it went ahead.The journey for me was very slow, I had started earlier than usual in case of ice on the A1 and of course the snow in Swaledale. My main problem though was Reeth Hill with it's very slippy slush. So there I was wi' shovel in hand, trying to clear a tyre path to aid me up the hill, when a local said to me"I shouldn't bother, if you can't get up that hill, you'll never get up the other hill, Low Row, Gunnerside........" and with that he walked off.I did get a tyre path cleared and thought if I can just get up this hill......... Eventually I did. Funnily enough the roads from then on were very drivable, mainly because it was packed snow rather than slush.Everyone turned up, including the 2 Australians who had said in their email "I hope it snows, we haven't touched snow..." Someone was wishing a bit too hard methinks!Although the main roads were passable, side roads were not so we were limited to scenes from the main road.Wain Wath was frozen apart from a slight trickle under the left hand waterfall, the river above hidden by the snow into a small stream.The snow was knee high, but it was excellent for explaining how to take shots in snow, in fact exposure as a whole and within minutes, everyone was in manual mode. There was scope for abstracts in the softly sculpted boulders and tree shapes and as luck would have it there was no wind.After a very welcome coffee at Keld Lodge, we slowly made our way down the road to Thwaite, stopping at some very well known barns. The light was very kind on the pristine snow, outlining the one or two tracks of sheep that crossed the fields. Snowflakes in the light were twinkling like stardust and being so quiet that day just added to the magical feel.The snow highlighted more opportunities for photography, old run down barns looking more photogenic by the minute, sheep tracks perfect lead ins and not too clear roads kept that feeling of isolation.The day finished cold with beautiful light over the hills round Keld and I have a feeling it was a fabulous introduction to Swaledale for my Australian friends and guests.
